I. Call to Order
II. Minutes – March 19, 2012
III. Old Business – Greenway Update
a) Report on Greenway Operation and Maintenance Funds – Sartore/Boberg
b) Greenway Brochures – Libs
c) Trailhead Sign – Boberg
IV.ETC Report – Roberta Heiman
V.New Business
a) Approval to Pay for Cleaning of Graffiti at the Marchand Bridge. – Boberg
b) Any Other Business the Advisory Board Wishes to Discuss
VI. Adjourn
IS IT TRUE April 5, 2012
IS IT TRUE that late yesterday the Detroit City Council grudgingly and by a single vote margin consented to move forward with a financial “save the city†plan?…that this action was taken less than 24 hours before the Governor of Michigan was set to take all authority from the Council and the Mayor and put an emergency manager into place with powers to negate existing contracts much like a bankruptcy trustee does when people or private businesses find themselves in over their head?…that to succeed the City of Detroit will have to do the same things that the emergency manager would have done or else they will be taken over in the future?…that these actions include but are not limited to tearing up union contracts and imposing terms that are consistent with a balanced budget, outsourcing work to lower cost providers, restructuring the over $13 Billion in bonded debt, cutting back on services, and revisiting the retirement plan for all workers and city retirees?…that the failure to remain competitive in world markets, continued tolerance of corruption, and a shrinking population base are the factors that lead to this point in history for Detroit?…that every city and town in America needs to learn as much as they can about the fall of Detroit and take actions that will avoid a similar fate?
IS IT TRUE that just in the last 10 years Detroit has borrowed money for a baseball stadium, a football stadium, the Renaissance Center, and has granted favorable tax an operating status to the waterfront casino?…that in spite of these things a city that once had nearly 2 Million people shrank by two Evansville’s in only 10 years to about 750,000?…that when people flee any city whether it is to escape oppressive taxation, crime, or a stagnant economy the city slowly dies?…that in the 1950’s Detroit had it all, failed to adapt, and now is the poster child for abject failure as a city?…that cities out there including Evansville who are still mimicking some of Detroit’s gimmicks had better wise up before it is too late?
IS IT TRUE that companies that offer or have offered the Langson Energy gas pressure letdown device keep coming out of the woodwork?…that just yesterday we were made aware of a company in Sacramento called California Energy Systems that has a website touting the same video that Earthcare Energy has?…that the phones are disconnected and the website is not being kept current?…that Helix Power Generators of Houston, TX also has a website that touts their status as an authorized dealer for the Langson Energy device?…that the CCO has learned that Helix Power that is in Houston just like Earthcare Energy has never heard of Earthcare Energy?…that Trans Pacific Enviro Energy of Alberta, Canada is advertising a gas pressure letdown energy recovery device that is from Electratherm, a company that Mr. Langson founded?…that the claims made for the product sound quite familiar?…that this has our count up to nearly 10 competitors in a field that supposedly has no competition?…that the chickens seem to be getting much closer to the roost for those who can recognize a chicken?
IS IT TRUE that it is about time that the documentation and plans that GAGE and the City Council used to make this loan decision are made available is now?…that it has been 5 days since the CCO asked some simple questions of Ms Dewey without a response?…that City Councilman John Friend has also been snubbed by GAGE and received limited insufficient responses to his list of questions?…that keeping people and especially elected official intentionally ignorant is not an acceptable way to run any city?
Excerpts from WSJ
“There’s nothing like bankruptcy to concentrate the mind, and that prospect finally induced the Detroit city council Wednesday to approve a consent agreement with the state of Michigan to save the day—at least for a while.
The deal will help refinance $137 million in debt but, more important, it gives Mayor Dave Bing authority to void and amend labor agreements. He’ll now have the whip hand to renegotiate contracts that unions ratified earlier this year. Employee benefits make up about half of the city’s parched general fund, and Detroit’s largest liability is $6 billion for pensions and retiree health care.
Workers who have been loathe to concede anything more than a pay freeze will have to pay more for benefits. Many haven’t been contributing a dime to their pensions. If the unions refuse to make concessions that meet the state’s cost-cutting benchmarks, the mayor can impose new contracts.
The city council, which approved the agreement kicking and screaming, will retain control of day-to-day operations. But a financial advisory board will oversee the budget and ensure that city leaders fulfill the accord. City council members resent the oversight because of the implication that they’re not up to the job.
Maybe they haven’t been outside lately. Detroit has one of the nation’s highest crime and foreclosure rates, and its schools are among the worst. The city has lost 250,000 residents in a decade and its jobless rate tops 17%. Motown’s economy has been in recession for much of the last decade, but its politicians kept ratifying generous labor agreements. To pay the bills they raised taxes, which drove out more businesses and residents.
Detroit will never recover unless its leaders recognize that government can’t grow a local economy. Mayor Bing seems to understand this, but if the city council won’t do more than claim to be victims of an authoritarian state government, they ought to step aside”
A University of Evansville alumna will star in NBC’s new comedy “Best Friends Forever,” premiering tonight at 8:30/7:30 p.m. Central Time.
Lennon Parham ’98 stars as Lennon, a devoted friend who finds herself taking in her distraught best friend, Jessica (Jessica St. Clair), as she tries to adjust to her new, unexpected single life. Parham co-created and serves as executive producer of the series with St. Clair, her writing partner and co-star.
Parham is perhaps best known for playing the supporting role of Abby Chase alongside Jenna Elfman on the television series “Accidentally on Purpose.” Additional television credits include guest roles on NBC’s popular comedy “Parks and Recreation” as well as “How I Met Your Mother.” Parham also starred in “Lady Refs” for the cable special “Funny or Die Presents…”
Her film credits include “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” “Splinterheads,” and the comedy-horror film by Dan Fogler, “Hysterical Psycho.”
Parham is an alumna of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater where she performed for nine years. Her one-woman character show, “She Tried to Be Normal,” ran in New York and Los Angeles and was selected for the Montreal “Just For Laughs” festival in 2009.
A graduate of the University of Evansville with a Bachelor of Science in Theatre, Parham taught French in the Mississippi Delta with Teach for America for two years before she began performing with UCB.
On Tuesday, April 10, USI and Albion Fellows Bacon Center will host the annual “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.” This event raises awareness of rape, sexual assault, and gender violence. Speaking this year will be local advocate Beth Baro, who will speak about her college experience with a roommate who was killed by a dating partner, and Candy Schmidt, a local survivor. A number of men from the community and campus will speak, as well as lead the march in high-heeled shoes.
Registration for the walk begins at 5 p.m. outside the Liberal Arts Center, and the walk begins at 5:30pm.
On Thursday, April 12, the Office of the Provost and the USI Sexual Assault Task Force welcome Debbie Norris to campus to present the program “Heather’s Voice.” Norris’s daughter Heather Norris was killed as a college student by an intimate partner, and was the inspiration for Heather’s Law. Debbie Norris will share her.
A full listing of events for USI’s Safety Week is available at: www.usi.edu/rfw/wellness_safetyweek.asp.
Abbey Road on the River and Axxis Productions Form Partnership
Louisville, Kentucky (April 4, 2012) – The producers of Abbey Road on the River, the largest Beatles music tribute festival in the world, announced today that they have completed a partnership agreement with Louisville-based full service production company, Axxis. Under the terms of the agreement, Axxis will become an investing partner and the lead technical producer for the festival, which takes place Memorial Day weekend in Louisville and Labor Day weekend in Washington, D.C.
“This is a great partnership for the festival and for the city of Louisville, because it assures a succession plan that will keep the event in Louisville for years to come,” states festival Founder and Executive Producer Gary Jacob. “We’ve been looking for a partner headquartered in Louisville who would improve our production and eventually take over many of the day-to-day responsibilities, and Axxis is a perfect fit.”
Stewart Davis, Vice President of Production for Axxis said, “We couldn’t be happier to be working with Gary and Abbey Road on the River. For us to have the opportunity to produce such a great event is very exciting, but becoming part of the team makes the experience that much sweeter.” Jacob founded Abbey Road on the River in 2002 in Cleveland, OH, and relocated it to Louisville in 2004. Since then, the festival has grown substantially and has expanded to include a 5-day event in Washington DC over Labor Day weekend.
The annual event annually fills approximately 2000 room nights in downtown Louisville and creates a three million dollar economic impact for the city each year.
Abbey Road on the River will return to the Belvedere and Galt House Hotel & Suites from May 24 through May 28, and will feature rock-n-roll Hall of Fame band Jefferson Starship performing a tribute to the Beatles on Saturday, May 26.
WHAS 11 Abbey Road on the River, a three time winner of the Kentucky Tourism Council Top 10 Spring Festival, is sponsored by 95.7 WQMF, Sports Radio 790, The Galt House Hotel & Suites, Kroger, the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, LEO Weekly, Louisville Magazine and Louisville.com, with additional support from Gretsch Guitar, Hard Rock Café, Republic Bank, and MillerCoors. Visit www.arotr.com to purchase festival tickets, make a reservation at the Galt House Hotel, and get more information about Abbey Road on the River, Louisville and Washington, D.C.
Based in Louisville, Axxis is the region’s premier entertainment and event technology company. For more information, visit www.axxisinc.com.
IS IT TRUE April 4, 2012
IS IT TRUE that when Evansville makes the national news it is rarely something to be proud of?…that when The Daily Show came to town and christened us to be the “poop in the street” capital of America it was embarrassing?…that then some fool got caught in a chimney in August, got beaten up by his ugly girlfriend for not bringing presents and it was humorous by humiliating?…that yesterday’s caper of a drunkard breaking into a former Commissioner’s dog pen and trying to entice the dog to lick his rear end just takes the cake (or whatever)?…that MSNBC picked it up and ran it too?…that the only explanation for this stunt is that a sequel to Jackass must have been in town filming an upcoming movie?
IS IT TRUE that Mayor Dave Bing of the City of Detroit is a man of accomplishment and class?…that Mayor Bing has found success in every endeavor that he has ever taken on from professional sports to private business?…that by success when it comes to Dave Bing outside of the political world we mean the kind of success that business books and legends about heart are made of?…that on the heels of the corrupt previous City of Detroit administration that was essentially a playground for elected Mayor Kwame Kirkpatrick and ruinous for Detroit that Mayor Bing heard the call from the city that he loves and left his life of accomplishment to lend his considerable expertise to the 50 years rescue effort of the City of Detroit?…that Mayor Bing’s winning streak is about to come to an end on Thursday when the State of Michigan will be taking over the City of Detroit and stripping the City Council and Mayor Bing of their authority?…that will happen unless the City Council votes to move boldly toward a solution to the fiscal crisis today?…that would be a first?…that it is a sin and a shame that a great man like Dave Bing has been broken on the legacy of corruption, kickbacks, shrinking population, urban violence, and government malfeasance that Detroit has come to exemplify?…that some jobs are too big and some problems are so magnanimous that the home team has no chance of righting the ship?
IS IT TRUE that is has now been 3 days since a complete technology study in real conditions of the Earthcare Energy concept was supposed to be finished?…that we encourage the members of the Evansville City Council who have been skeptical about this deal to invite Ms. Dewey to come before the council at its next meeting to address the technology study, the questions of Councilman Friend, and the questions asked by the City County Observer’s publisher?…that if you want to see a current example of what happens when a company has limited intellectual property, is easily copied, and is reluctant to share information with investors look to Chicago’s Groupon that has seen its stock collapse by over 40% during 2012?
IS IT TRUE that the State of Indiana has taken Whirlpool to task and has gotten a check for $800,000 to make up for tax breaks that were granted in 2009 to keep 260 jobs in Evansville?…that the state’s economic development arm, the IEDC, took action on Whirlpool’s non-attainment and have been rewarded with $800,000 in damages?…that we wonder just how many damages could be awarded to the City of Evansville by Whirlpool for not living up to their end of a tax abatement bargain?…that deal after deal was made by City of Evansville officials over the years to retain 10,000, then 8,000, then 5,000, then 2,500, then 1,100, and now 260 jobs?…the despite handing Whirlpool the keys to the candy store of taxes and incentives that now in 2012 there are 230 people working there from a high of 10,000 in the early 1980’s?…that the people of Evansville should be getting a big check for all of the things that any company promised to get a tax break and did not do?…that this list is very long?…that we wonder just why our city leaders and economic development agencies have not felt a need to get some of that money back?
IS IT TRUE that former Mayor Weinzapfel has taken a job at the law firm long known as Baker Daniels?…that this firm prospered in Evansville under the Weinzapfel Administration getting legal work for multiple municipal projects and most recently as counsel to the City of Evansville on the soon to be started $51 Million Johnson Controls project?…that whatever number of jobs that credit was taken for creating by the Weinzapfel Administration that number needs to have one more added to it?
