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10 Most Important Issues of 2011: How are we doing going into the lame duck session

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On a College Scale the City of Evansville Gets a 1.4 on a 4.0 Scale for this Semester: CVB, KEB, and the people of Evansville bail out the Government who would have scored a 0.57 on its own merit

The City County Observer kicked off 2011 with a reader’s choice of what the most important things that the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County need to get right in 2011. Well we are now approaching the municipal equivalent of finals week (the lame duck session) and some progress has being made, some things are done, and others are terribly lacking. Here is our assessment of the Grades heading into finals for the most important issues.

THE TOP TEN and THE GRADES

C-: The 2011 City Elections: What we opined would constitute getting it right is for no more partisan voting block control of the City Council and a split party make-up of independent thinkers. After the primaries we had the potential for exactly what we hoped for. What we got is a continued 8 – 1 Democrat majority just like the previous City Council. Additionally every incumbent running was re-elected and there were 5 which makes a majority. The other item of concern with the City Council is that of the 9 members of next years council a majority have been strongly associated with the puppet strings of “The Machine”. The actions and votes of the newly elected City Council will need close scrutiny.

As we stated in the mid terms our belief has always been that both candidates for Mayor of Evansville have the capacity and resilience to do the job and this certainly applies to Mayor Elect Winnecke. His biggest challenge will be getting anything through a City Council that for all practical purposes looks very much like the outgoing one.

D up from F: An Evansville for the next Decade Plan: Nothing has been done and not one our elected officials or candidates for office has mentioned such a plan. Mayor Elect Winnecke has some issue specific plans that may be the platform for a comprehensive plan and thus the grad is raised from an F to a D.

A- : Civic Beautification: We can thank Ann Ennis of Keep Evansville Beautiful for a great new fountain at Garvin Park and a northern Gateway beautification plan. There have also been several quite visible efforts by candidates for office and particularly Lloyd Winnecke for mobilizing private litter removal programs. NOTE: The City of Evansville’s Parks Department gets a big fat F for the year thus far for utter incompetence and for rudeness in dealing with the general public.

A+: The Hiring of a new Executive Director for the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau: Mission accomplished CVB Board and the plus is for doing the right thing with respect to the rotten circumstances surrounding the departure of Marilee Fowler.

D: CSO Plan for EPA: The total of the disclosed accomplishment is the recent announcement that a judge had approved the consent decree. It is time for some real design work to be budgeted and done so we are not hit with fines again at the end of 2012.

D: The MLK Entertainment Complex: John Kish gets an A for his work in keeping the Arena on budget and on schedule. The City of Evansville and the Evansville Redevelopment Commission get a big fat F for the hotel fiasco. If there were anything lower than an F they would deserve that. Actually 2010 should have resulted in academic probation for that project and this year’s efforts deserve expulsion. There is nothing that could have possibly have been done worse.

D-: Mental Health Services Improved: Coroner Annie Groves gets good marks for initiating an awareness campaign. The end result is still a D- because the suicide rate is still among the highest if not the highest in the country. This grade would have been an F but Mrs. Grove’s hard work raised it.

F: Pay Scales: Not a darn thing has been done to make the pay scales of the City of Evansville competitive. As it is time to start the process of replacing some senior positions and transforming the City of Evansville’s attitude toward its customers the paltry state of the official pay scales will soon be quite apparent.

F: Consolidated Government: Every opportunity to craft a plan that demonstrates real efficiency from consolidation has been punted to later. The current plan does not save a dime, offers no tangible benefit to anyone, and relies on trust the government to do things right after passing it. This is no way to run a County.

F: Smoking Ordinance Revisited: The Evansville City Council has not had the courage to bring this up in an election year even though it is now assured to pass if it is comprehensive. Next year if Mayor Elect Winnecke and the people who were just elected to the City Council told Martha Caine the truth Evansville will have a comprehensive smoking ban and it will pass on the first ballot by either a 5-4 or 6-3 majority.

Election Results: Final Results

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Updated Last at: 7:22

0 of 15 voting centers and 0 of 88 precincts reporting, Early Voting and Absentee tally

REGISTERED VOTERS – TOTAL . . . . . 92,990
BALLOTS CAST – TOTAL. . . . . . . 21,732
VOTER TURNOUT – TOTAL . . . . . . 23.37

STRAIGHT PARTY
Vote for no more than 1
REPUBLICAN (REP) . . . . . . . . 3,535—45.05%
DEMOCRATIC (DEM) . . . . . . . . 4,311—54.95%

MAYOR EVANSVILLE
Vote for no more than 1
LLOYD W. WINNECKE (REP). . . . . . 11,545—53.88%
RICK A. DAVIS (DEM) . . . . . . . 9,881—46.12%

CLERK EVANSVILLE
Vote for no more than 1
J. D. STROUTH (REP) . . . . . . . 9,514—45.34%
ALBERTA MATLOCK (DEM) . . . . . . 11,470—54.66%

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AT-LARGE EVANSVILLE
Vote for no more than 3
BILL KRAMER (REP). . . . . . . . 8,918—14.62%
MICHELLE C. MERCER (REP) . . . . . 9,790—16.05%
PETE SWAIM (REP) . . . . . . . . 9,469—15.53%
H. DAN ADAMS (DEM) . . . . . . . 11,225—18.41%
CONOR O’DANIEL (DEM). . . . . . . 10,456—17.14%
JOHNATHAN WEAVER (DEM) . . . . . . 11,130—18.25%

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER 2ND WARD
Vote for no more than 1
E. L. (LON) WALTERS (REP) . . . . . 1,291—40.39%
MISSY MOSBY (DEM). . . . . . . . 1,905—59.61%

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER 3RD WARD
Vote for no more than 1
ALAN LEIBUNDGUTH (REP) . . . . . . 1,128—45.71%
STEPHANIE BRINKERHOFF-RILEY (DEM). . 1,340—54.29%

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER 5TH WARD
Vote for no more than 1
BRENT GRAFTON (REP) . . . . . . . 2,184—44.35%
JOHN E. FRIEND (DEM). . . . . . . 2,741—55.65%

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER 6TH WARD
Vote for no more than 1
SHAUN SHORT (REP). . . . . . . . 1,176—38.27%
AL LINDSEY (DEM) . . . . . . . . 1,897—61.73%

The Arts Council Presents “Digitized”

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The opening reception for the digitized show will take place this Friday, from 5-7 pm at the Arts Council in The Bower-Suhrheinrich Foundation Gallery. Awards will be given at 6:00 pm.

Click Here to view the flyer for this event.

USI Community of Scholars lecture addresses emotion regulation in children with ADHD

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Dr. Paul J. Rosen, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville, will present the College of Liberal Arts Community of Scholars Lecture, sponsored this year by the Department of Psychology.

Rosen will present “Emotional Difficulties in Children with ADHD: It’s Not What, But How Much and For How Long,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, November 17, in Carter Hall in University Center West.

His talk will discuss ways in which poor control of emotions affects children with ADHD, with a focus on emotional and behavioral functioning. The talk also will review research on the development of emotion regulation problems in children, and discuss cutting-edge research on the development of programs to help children with ADHD learn to better manage and control their emotions.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Rosen also will present “Emotion Regulation in Children: An Emerging Concept for Research and Practice,” a lecture aimed at a student audience, at 11 a.m. Friday, November 18, in Couch/Renner Hall (Education Center Room 1101). The talk will review research on the development of emotion regulation in children, and discuss how emotion regulation problems are being addressed in science and practice.

Source: USI.edu

A department in the College of Liberal Arts engages a speaker for the Community of Scholars Lecture each fall

UE Physical Therapy Professor Publishes Research on Balance and Falls

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Robert Catena, assistant professor of physical therapy and director of the University of Evansville’s Dunigan Movement Analysis Lab, has recently co-authored two journal publications. “Biomechanics and Injury Risk Assessment of Falls onto Protective Floor Mats,” with collaborations at California State University, Los Angeles and Mercedes-Benz, was published in the November/December 2011 issue of Rehabilitation Nursing.
 Catena also co-authored “Balance Control During Lateral Load Transfers Over a Slippery Surface” with collaborations at Harvard University and Liberty Mutual. This research was published in the November 2011 issue of Ergonomics.

Catena received a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He received a Master of Science and PhD in biomechanics from the University of Oregon. He finished his formal education as a post-doctoral research fellow with the Harvard School of Public Health and Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety studying occupational biomechanics and ergonomics.

At UE, Catena teaches biomechanics, functional anatomy, and gait analysis. His own research focuses on prevention and rehabilitation of physical and neurological impairments. Past and current research interests include dynamic balance control, mild traumatic brain injury, and manual material handling. He has authored numerous journal publications and conference presentations on these topics.

Source: Evansville.edu

Downtown Today: 11/9/2011

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Time 6:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Subject CITY HEALTH SCREENING
Location 301
Reminder 15 minutes
DEBBY TITZER @ 4945
Categories ROOM 301

Time 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Subject DESIGN REVIEW
Location 318
Reminder 15 minutes
SARAH @ 7825
Categories ROOM 318

Time 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Subject SUBDIVISION REVIEW
Location 318
Reminder 15 minutes
KATHIE @ 5228
Categories ROOM 318

Time 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Subject DMD-EXTERIOR PROPERTY
Location 307
Reminder 15 minutes
CRYSTAL @ 7821
Categories ROOM 307

Time 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Subject Code Enforcement – Ron Beane
Location 318
Recurrence Occurs every Wednesday effective 11/2/2011 until 11/23/2011 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
Categories ROOM 318

Time 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Subject CONSTRUCTION & ROOFING BOARD
Location 307
Recurrence Occurs the second Wednesday of every 1 month effective 11/9/2011 until 11/9/2011 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Reminder 15 minutes
LINDA PENDLETON @ 7880
Categories ROOM 307

IS IT TRUE? November 8, 2011 Post Election Edition

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IS IT TRUE? November 8, 2011 Post Election Edition

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer wishes to congratulate all of the winners in the 2011 City of Evansville election?…that the people of Evansville have spoken and what they have chosen is a Republican Mayor with once again a City Council made up of 8 Democrats and Dan McGinn?…that the prospects for sweeping change do not look very good so we need to start encouraging some incremental improvements?…that was more a reflection on the total make-up of the City Council than on any individual members?…that more balance from a party perspective would have been better for Evansville’s ability to have fluid and diverse discussions about what ails the City of Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that with that statement the CCO is as pleased as anyone that this election season is over and that the newsworthy things will be more manageable with a small group of content providers?…that a nice normal schedule will be a welcome change for us?…that it was not just Evansville that chose to reject change agents in this election cycle and that unlike national politics in 2010 this year was a good time to be an incumbent in Indiana?…that Hoosiers must be a pretty content bunch with the way things are because we have not yet heard of an incumbent in a leadership elected position that lost?…that as the old folks say. “the more things change the more they stay the same”?

IS IT TRUE that we are sure that there will still be some shuffling of some patronage positions and that Mayor Winnecke will start making a list of nasty people so he can replace them with people who will be nice?…that we support the desire for the public servants in the Civic Center to be more customer friendly and wish Mayor Elect Winnecke the best in making this happen?…that we also pledge to help and support him in his campaign commitment to eradicate the litter in the City of Evansville?…that little things can mean a lot and that having a clean city is essentially free if the townspeople are on board to help?

IS IT TRUE that back to what keeps the readers reading we must remind everyone that in less than 48 hours the real estate tax bills are due?…that this includes the bill that is due from City Centre Properties LLC of just over $10,000 for the McCurdy Hotel?…that just now the Vanderburgh County Assessor’s website indicates that these taxes have not been paid?…that we will be checking regularly but given the rock and hard place that the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has put themselves into that Centre City Properties could just not pay and there will be little that can be done in the way of consequences?…that this is just one of many legacy problems that Mayor Elect Winnecke will need to start familiarizing himself with?…that this gentleman just earned himself a very difficult job.

Winnecke elected Mayor and 8 – 1 Democrat Majority on City Council Maintained

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Some are Calling it a Blowout Victory for the Machine

The votes have been counted the Republican candidate for Mayor of Evansville, Lloyd Winnecke has defeated Democrat Rick Davis by nearly 2,000 votes which was 7.7% of the total votes.

In the other races incumbents and Democrats are dominated with incumbent 2nd Ward Democrat Missy Mosby defeating E. Lon Walters by a 19 point margin, Democrat Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley defeated Republican Alan Leibundguth by 9 points in the 3rd Ward, and Democrat Al Lindsey took a 23 point win over Republican newcomer Shaun Short in the 6th Ward.

The race for Evansville City Clerk is a bit tighter with incumbent Alberta Matlock defeating J. D. Strouth by 9 points. The tightest Ward was the 5th Ward where incumbent Democrat John Friend won by an 11 point margin over Republican Brent Grafton.

The at large races are tighter across the board with less than a 4% difference separating first place Dr. H. Dan Adams and 6th place candidate Bill Kramer. Despite the closeness the three Democrats Dr. H. Dan Adams, Jonathan Weaver, and Conor O’Daniel were elected.

Salvation Army Voting Center Traffic is Consistent

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The voting center at the Salvation Army located at 1040 North Fulton has been experiencing lines of 10 to 15 minutes throughout the day. The other voting center that has experience strong and consistent turnout has been the 1st Ward voting center at the Washington Square Mall.

Roads to Voting Center Closed Disrupting Voting at St. Theresa

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The City County Observer has learned that the voting center at the St. Theresa School Gym located at 700 North Herndon Avenue is having a very low turnout that is being blamed on barricades in the road that block the normal route that people take when going to St. Theresa.

No lines have been reported at the St. Theresa voting center all day and the wait has been continuously reported as Zero minutes.

The President of the Vanderburgh County Election Board Tom Massey and attorney David Kent are in route to investigate the complaint that was filed by Vanderburgh County County Commissioner Stephen Melcher who formerly represented the 3rd Ward on the Evansville City Council.