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IS IT TRUE: March 30, 2012

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE: March 30, 2012

IS IT TRUE that sometime this afternoon that the justices of the United States Supreme Court will be holding a closed meeting for a discussion regarding the constitutionality of the bill that is commonly referred to as Obamacare?…that this afternoon these justices will know what the outcome will be in this matter?…that the next two months will be spent by the justices writing their personal interpretations for publication about why they each voted the way that they did?…that it is even possible that in the case of a 5 – 4 initial vote that one of the moderate justices like Justice Kennedy may reconsider and change the outcome of the vote?…it is projected that the rest of the country will learn the outcome in late June?…that there are essentially no moles for anyone at the US Supreme Court so don’t look for anything to leak out?

IS IT TRUE that if and we do mean if Obamacare is overturned that it will reflect very poorly on the vetting for constitutionality that should have been done before rushing into a vote two years ago?…that if Obamacare is overturned it will significantly disrupt the direction of the United States healthcare system?…that if Obamacare is overturned it will render many millions or even billions of dollars invested by private businesses to comply to have been wasted?…that rushing to a vote, succumbing to pressure tactics, and failing to VET is not just a way of doing business in Evansville, IN, it is becoming a way of governing at all levels?

IS IT TRUE that Obamacare could have been VETTED properly and crafted in a way that the US Constitution would not have even possibly been the instrument that may strike it down?…that people who knew or should have known this would be a problem avoided and prevented that discussion from happening on the floors of Congress by RUSHING THINGS TO A VOTE WITH AN ARTIFICIAL DEADLINE?…that there is a very high probability that someone on the team that crafted the bill and did the research on constitutionality may even have WITHHELD MATERIAL INFORMATION from our elected leaders?…that our elected leaders were most certainly prevented from doing individual VETTING efforts by the RUSH TO VOTE?

IS IT TRUE that when an elected official or a surrogate for an elected official has material information with respect to an important vote and fails to disclose it to all of the elected officials whose reputation is on the line that this person has truly obstructed the unknowing elected officials ability to do their job?…that it is a tragedy when certain members of the United States Congress, the Indiana State House, or even the Evansville City Council are forced to make their decisions blindly due to withholding material information or accelerating a vote to avoid the scrutiny that can only come from research?

IS IT TRUE we are hearing that the leader of the Republican Party of Vanderburgh County is vetting a couple of well qualified individuals in order to determine which one shall run against the current County Recorder?…that after talking with many people in the political know he is totally convinced that the Vanderburgh County Recorder office can be won by a Republican?…that Wayne Parke never takes on anything unless he is knows that his political goal is achievable?…that it looks like current Democratic Vanderburgh County Recorder may be facing the political battle of her life in this coming General election?

Green Building Tour – 4/14/2012

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As part of the “Evansville Earth Days -2012 Shades of Green” celebrations, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke is pleased
to announce a FREE Green Building Tour to highlight some of the “green” and energy efficient buildings
recently completed in Evansville.

About 70 percent of the energy consumed in this country is used to heat, cool and operate buildings.
Constructing and renovating buildings using green building materials and techniques makes them more energy
efficient, easier to maintain and more durable. Over the life of the building, the initial extra cost of building
green and energy efficient is more than paid back by lower utility bills, less upkeep and healthier living
conditions. Evansville can take a lot of pride in many progressive building projects, some of which will be
featured on this Green Building Tour.

Take the tour on a METS hybrid bus. The tour will stop at the EnergyStar5+ homes just completed by
ECHO Housing; travel north to the Oaklyn Library to see the green roof and native plants; double back to
visit the UE’s Ridgeway building – the second building in Evansville to receive the U.S. Green Building
Council’s “Leadership in Energy & Environmental & Design” (LEED) certification. Next stop will be the
Wesselman Nature Center, the only building in Evansville to attain the LEED Gold certification, the second
highest LEED level possible. We’ll head west to the Bayard Park area to view HOPE of Evansville’s recently
completed energy efficient / green renovation of a home built in 1919. Our last stop is the gleaming Ford
Center, planned to achieve LEED Silver. Space is limited on the bus, so plan to reserve your seats early.

Dona Bergman, Evansville’s Director of Sustainability, Energy & Environmental Quality, added, “I’d like to
thank ECHO Housing, HOPE of Evansville, University of Evansville, the Oaklyn Branch Library, Wesselman
Nature Society and the Evansville Vanderburgh County Building Authority for allowing us to tour their
facilities. Hafer Associates, VPS Architecture and Efficient Energy Technologies have agreed to speak about
the architectural, construction and green aspects of their respective projects, so it should be a very interesting
tour.”

The tour will start at the Civic Center parking lot on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. and will return at 12:40
p.m. Please see itinerary on the next page. Space on the METS bus is limited, so please reserve your space early! For
information or to reserve your seat, please contact Dona Bergman @ 812/435-6145 or dbergman@evansvillegov.org.

Itinerary:
9:00 Board bus at Civic Center Parking Lot

9:10 100 and 102 Read Street (ECHO Housing) (Energy Star 5+)
Hosts: Stephanie Tenbarge, ECHO Director & Richard Kuhn, Efficient Energy Technologies,
Project Manager

9:30 Board bus to Oaklyn Library

9:45 Oaklyn Library; 3820 Oak Hill Road (Green roof / native plants)
Hosts: Pam Locker, EVPL & Sarah Schuler, VPS Architecture

10:15 Board bus to UE Ridgeway Center

10:30 Ridgeway Center, University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Avenue (access from Walnut
Street) (2nd LEED building in Evansville)
Hosts: Tom Blythe, Hafer Associates, Larry Horn, University of Evansville

10:50 Board bus to Wesselman Nature Center

11:00 Wesselman Nature Center, 551 N. Boeke Road (LEED Gold)
Hosts: Tom Blythe, Hafer Associates, Dr. John Foster, WNS

11:30 Board bus to 807 E. Chandler Avenue

11:45 807 E. Chandler Avenue (HOPE of Evansville) (Green / EE rehab)
Hosts: Thomas Coe, HOPE Director & Richard Kuhn, Efficient Energy
Technologies, Project Manager

12:05 Board bus to Ford Center

12:10 The Ford Center (projected for LEED Silver)
Hosts: David Rector & Mick McNally, EVCBA & Sarah Schuler, VPS Architecture

12:40 Return to Civic Center Parking lot.

UE’s April Think Outside the Lunch Box to Discuss “U.S. Health Care: The Facts Behind the Fight”

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In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Two years later, the health care reform legislation remains a national controversy, and its constitutionality was debated this week in the Supreme Court.

The University of Evansville’s Think Outside the Lunch Box Faculty Speaker Series will conclude for the 2011-12 academic year with “U.S. Health Care: The Facts Behind the Fight,” a presentation by William B. Stroube, director and professor of health services administration.

Stroube will speak at noon on Thursday, April 5, in the Blue & Gold Room on the first floor of Old National Bank’s headquarters in Downtown Evansville. The event is free and open to the public.

“Through all of the public discourse about recent legislation, it’s important for Americans to keep certain facts in mind about our country’s health care system,” said Stroube. “For example, many people say they want the government to stay out of health care, but they may not realize that the government pays for almost half of all health care costs in the nation through programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Veterans Affairs. Furthermore, our per-capita health care spending far exceeds other developed countries, and many argue the care may not be as good.”

“By comparing and contrasting the U.S. health care system with other countries’ systems,” Stroube added, “I hope to provide some information that is missing in the national dialogue over the current legislation.”

Before joining the University of Evansville faculty in 1998, Stroube spent 12 years in management positions in the pharmaceutical industry, and eight years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C.

Stroube has authored and co-authored over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. His research and teaching interests include international health care issues, health care marketing and strategy, health care regulatory issues, medical ethics, and public health.

Stroube has extensive international experience leading student groups through several health care systems. Since 2000, he has taught 15 summer classes in England, China, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria. He has spent a total of four months in China during the past four years, including teaching five-week courses in Hangzhou, China during the summers of 2009 and 2011. His popular comparative health systems courses in England have been attended by health care professionals and students from over 20 universities.

He holds a BS in chemistry from Murray State University, an MBA in finance from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in analytical and nuclear chemistry from the University of Kentucky.

UE’s Think Outside the Lunch Box Faculty Speaker Series is in its second year and is typically held the first Thursday of every month. After a summer break, the 2012-13 series will resume in October.

“One of the great things about an institution of higher learning such as the University of Evansville is our intellectual capital — our faculty’s depth of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects,” said UE President Thomas A. Kazee. “This series is a tremendous opportunity to partner with the community and share expert perspectives on current issues.”

Stroube will speak for about 30 minutes, with 15 minutes allotted for questions and answers. Attendees are welcome to eat lunch during the presentation. There is a restaurant conveniently located in the Old National Bank lobby.

Roberts Stadium Recommendation Meeting Delayed

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OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
LLOYD WINNECKE

March 29, 2012 Contact: Ella Johnson-Watson
For Immediate Release 812-436-4965

Media Advisory

EVANSVILLE, IN – Today, Roberts Stadium Task Force Chairman Larry Steenberg requested additional time to provide more detail to the report that will be submitted to Mayor Lloyd Winnecke regarding the future of Roberts Stadium. Recognizing the volume of ideas that were submitted and the time it takes to review the data and draft the final report, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke agreed to a deadline of April 20, 2012, for the task force to complete its work.

IS IT TRUE: March 29, 2012

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IS IT TRUE: March 29, 2012

IS IT TRUE that Dunn Hospitality is putting up another hotel on Evansville’s east side?…that this time the brand will be a Courtyard Marriot and that it will add 120 rooms to the mix for Evansville to play host to tourists and business people?…that Dunn Hospitality is doing this without getting any money or incentive from the City of Evansville to do so?…that we wonder how much these additional 120 rooms will affect the work in progress that is also known as the $40,000 Hunden study to tell Mayor Winnecke and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission how many rooms are needed in downtown Evansville?…that private hospitality providers like Dunn Hospitality seem to have been looking at the Evansville market for a long time and seem to have determined that Hunden’s answer should be “not enough to make it worth doing” from an investment perspective?…that we will be quite interested to see just how many rooms Hunden deems there is a need for and more importantly how much the City of Evansville will have to pay to get any worthy developer/operator to jump into this fray?

IS IT TRUE that on page 64 of the 2009 City of Evansville Audit under the heading “Audit Results and Comments” the following critique is made?

“The cash balance of the General Fund, General Obligation Loan Fund, Park Bond and Interest Retirement Fund, Police Pension Fund, Redevelopment Bond Retirement Fund, Community Development Block Grant Fund, Home Investment Trust Fund, Continuum Care Fund, Emergency Shelter Grant Fund, Accounts Payable Fund, Payroll Checking Account Fund, and Hospitalization Fund were overdrawn in 2009.

The cash balance of any fund may not be reduced below zero. Routinely overdrawn funds could
be an indicator of serious financial problems which should be investigated by the governmental unit.
(Accounting and Uniform Compliance Guidelines Manual for Cities and Towns, Chapter 7)”

And that the following critique is also enunciated:

“The Water Utility did not pay to the City the amount due in lieu of taxes for the year 2009. The amount due was $702,956.

IC 8-1.5-3-8(g) states in part: “. . . the commission shall approve rates and charges sufficient to compensate the municipality for taxes that would be due the municipality on the utility property were it privately owned.” In Cause No. 43190 the Utility Regulatory Commission established a payment in lieu of taxes amount of $702,956 for the year 2009.”

Finally the following conclusions were made regarding compliance monitoring:

“The City had insufficient controls to monitor compliance with OMB Circular A-87, “Cost Principles
for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments,” concerning allocation of salaries to be paid from federal grants. The salaries paid to most of the Department of Metropolitan Development Employees were
charged to the Community Development Block Grant for work performed that was not documented to
meet allowability criteria for activities permitted under the grant.

Governmental units should have internal controls in effect which provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial information and records, effectiveness and efficiency of operations,proper execution of management’s objectives, and compliance with laws and regulations. Among other things, segregation of duties, safeguarding controls over cash and all other assets and all forms of information processing are necessary for proper internal control. (Accounting and Uniform Compliance Guidelines Manual for Cities and Towns, Chapter 7)”

IS IT TRUE that all of this occurred under the leadership of former Mayor Weinzapfel at a time that Evansville was in the process of spending $127 Million on an arena and were fined by the EPA for spilling raw sewage into the Ohio River?…that the name on the door may have changed but now in 2012 with Mayor Winnecke’s hand on the wheel of the good ship Evansville that we are loaning $4.8 Million to an unproven start-up company with untested executives and no protected intellectual property?…that we are doing this at a time that it is alleged that Evansville can’t afford to repair or replace a fire truck?…that we wonder just how long the people of this city will continue to tolerate such things?…that a clue to that answer lies in the high probability that Charles Manson could be elected to at least 6 of the seats on the Evansville City Council if he ran as a Democrat?…that it is time to start thinking?