IS IT TRUE that Evansville Memorial High School’s Kyle Kuric once again was a hero for the Louisville Cardinals Coach Rick Pitino in the Cards victory over 4th ranked Pittsburgh?…that Kuric sank a three pointer in overtime to put the Cardinals up to stay and then got loose for a breakaway slam dunk to put the exclamation point on the game with 0.5 seconds remaining?…that a happy cheerleader got a technical foul called on himself and caused a bit of drama in the last 0.5 seconds but that the Cards were victorious anyway?…that seeing Kyle Kuric have such a good year with his frequent TV appearances is good for Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that there are many lessons that Evansville could learn from Louisville?…that the new YUM Center has sold out all 20 (all nationally televised) of the men’s basketball games this year with an average attendance of just over 22,000 people per game?…that the Lady Cardinals are #2 in the nation in attendance at 11,058 people per game?…that with the University of Louisville basketball teams drawing over 825,000 people since YUM Center opened in November that the overall attendance has thus far topped 1 Million people?…that with at kind of attendance and exposure it is no wonder that YUM Brands was willing to ante up over $1M per year for naming rights.

IS IT TRUE that Mole #13 tells us that Ann Arbor, Michigan has chased the abominable snow man out of town and that all of the sidewalks in the 25 square block downtown district are cleared of snow?…that caring for downtown’s must do something for commerce because empty storefronts are few and far between and the streets are relatively filled both day and night?…that the feel of the streets when the sidewalks are cleared, the streetlights work, and there are people around is SAFE?…that it is hard to find a parking place none the less?

IS IT TRUE that Roberts Stadium was sent out in style with an University of Evansville Purple Aces VICTORY and with a crowd of nearly 11,000 people?…that the sounds of the crowd and the energy of the team was a great reminder of just how those 5 national championship banners were earned by the Aces of the past?…that the City County Observer is rooting for championship seasons, banners to hang, and sell out games at the new downtown Evansville Arena for both the UE Aces and the USI Eagles?

IS IT TRUE that we and others are truly beginning to have more than a passing concern for the non-start of any activity down at the McCurdy Hotel?…that after over three years windows remain open, pigeons seek refuge, and lights eerily come on from time to time?…that neglect is a very well proven way to devalue a building, and especially a historical brick building with aging tuck pointing?…that the City of Evansville is already into this project for $1.4 Million and counting and has negative equity to show for it?…that it is time to have this developer either perform or get out of the way so the project can be opened up for another developer?…that this looks like the extended version of the Executive Inn Dilemma?…that Evansville people and Evansville money came to the rescue of the downtown Convention Hotel saga?…that maybe some local group will pull the City of Evansville’s fat out of the fire down at the McCurdy too?…that it is getting tiring to watch one Indianapolis based business after another come to Evansville to prove what they can’t or won’t do?

“Complaint Cited Police Report over Three Chickens mauled by Pit Bull to challenge Residency”

On February 24, 2011 the Vanderburgh County Election Board received a complaint from Mr. Randall Whitehouse regarding the eligibility of 6th Ward democratic City Council hopeful Evansville Firefighter Al Lindsey to be a candidate for Evansville City Council. This complaint challenges the residency requirements as set forth in Indiana law claiming that Mr. Lindsey has not resided in his residence at 433 S. Bosse Avenue in the City of Evansville long enough to be allowed to run for City Council.

In his complaint Mr. Whitehouse included a day by day diary of what he had observed over a period of two months when he claimed to have gone to Mr. Lindsey’s home to take notes twice daily regarding whether or not a vehicle was in the driveway. Mr. Whitehouse also submitted a police report regarding a dispute over three chickens belonging to Mr. Lindsey that were killed by a pit bull dog. The date of the incident report was 04/11/2010 and the address of the incident was recorded to be 10410 New Harmony Road, Evansville, IN. The responding officer was K. Chapman of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department.

On February 25, 2011 Mr. Lindsey filed a complaint with the Evansville Police Department for stalking against Mr. Whitehouse. The responding officer J. A. Becker recorded the following in the police report.

“Victim is currently a candidate running for office. Offender is a friend of the victim’s opponent. Yesterday the offender filed a complaint with the clerk’s office trying to discredit the victim and prove that the victim does not live in the city as is required for the position which he is running for. To back his claim the offender turned in two calendars showing where he has been tracking the victim’s activity for the last two months.”

The Vanderburgh County Election Board will be hearing Mr. Whitehouse’s complaint and Mr. Lindsey’s position regarding his residency on Thursday March 3, 2011 at 1:00 in the election office located in Room 214 of the Vanderburgh County Civic Center.

“Driving past here, it was very depressing,” Discon said. “It really captured a feeling of how the city was not good.”

Discon, who had moved to Mandeville shortly before the storm, said his frustration with the city’s slow pace of recovery came to a head when he was surrounded by the park-turned-wilderness.

“I was driving through the park, going to work. It was hot. At the time, (Mayor Ray) Nagin was mouthing off to the federal government that New Orleans was open for tourism, and that’s what kind of pissed me off .¤.¤. because a simple drive through the park showed that it was not,” he said.

“The grass was like 2 feet high. I would see tourists looking at it. So I just got out and started pulling some weeds.”

Volunteers continue to make a difference in a City that couldn’t or wouldn’t. Please read the whole story.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/volunteer_grasscutters_still_w.html

IS IT TRUE that the rotting shell of the Executive Inn is finally scheduled for demolition?…that Arena project manager John Kish is now saying that the demolition process will begin sometime in March?…that we are curious about the price that is being paid for this demolition?…that we are equally curious about when the request for bids went out, how many companies submitted bids, and what the range of these prices happened to be?…that as this is a public project that this should have been bid and should be made known to the public?

IS IT TRUE that no contract is in place between the City of Evansville and Woodruff Hospitality yet?…that it was expected that this important step would be completed no later than mid February?…that two demolitions under a single contract would probably be less expensive that two independent contracts?…that if the City of Evansville is going forward with the demolition of the Executive Inn that maybe that job should be upgraded to include the parking garage where the new Hyatt Place Convention Hotel will be built should be done at the same time?…that we are still completely baffled how anyone in their right mind could have ever thought that a refurbishment of the existing Executive Inn would have complemented the new Arena?…that we also wonder how equipment would have been staged into and out of the new Arena with the old Executive Inn still standing?…that it still does not seem like there is a maestro leading the orchestra down on Main Street?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville’s own Gail Riecken, one of the members of the Indiana House of Representatives who are holed up in a hotel in Urbana, IL to obstruct the agenda of the Speaker of the House made the national FOX NEWS report on the Neil Cavuto show yesterday?…that the music in the background during the report about the Indiana Democratic contingency was “Runaway” by Del Shannon?…that we once again encourage our elected representatives to stop this childish tantrum and get themselves back to Indianapolis to do the job that they were elected to do?…that if obstruction of legislation is the right thing to do that there is a right way to do it?…that running for the border to hide behind the fortress of Illinois is the exactly wrong way to do it?…that Indiana is being made into a laughing stock on national news broadcasts all across the country?...that this type of behavior is of no help whatsoever for job creation efforts by the State of Indiana?

IS IT TRUE that just yesterday a lady was attacked by four pit bull dogs while walking on a public sidewalk in South Evansville?…that just last week that the City County Observer reported that one of the negative aspects of looking over the IDEA HOME is the fact that three free roaming pit bulls were hanging out right next door?…that if city beautification programs like Front Door Pride are to ever work that the basics of a safe life must be assured?…that these basics include freedom from violent crime, freedom from property crime, freedom from free ranging pit bull dogs, and a local school that ranks highly in ISTEP achievement?…that building McMansions in unsafe places with poor school performance never really works?

The collective bargaining agreement by and between the City of Evansville and the Chauffeurs, Teamsters and Helpers Local Union #215 makes it somewhat difficult and even expensive for the Department of Parks and Recreation to accept the volunteer services of local individuals and civic organizations.

First off the time requirements prohibit any work being done by part-time or volunteer laborers during the four and a half months from November 1st to the following March 15th so volunteer snow clearance, cutting up of tree limbs that have fallen or any other winter related improvement are not allowed as per the contract.

Second, this broadly reads like the acceptance of volunteer efforts has to run a gauntlet the last of which is whether or not a full-time employee wants to work overtime. If you wish to volunteer in a park on Saturday at ZERO COST, before your offer can be accepted a full-timer has to be offered the work at overtime rate. This whole requirement makes the red tape associated with seeking volunteers or being a volunteer a deterrent to the whole volunteer process.

From an overall perspective to enter into contracts that make volunteering to do work in public parks difficult undermines civic pride and adds unnecessary costs to the budget of the City of Evansville. In prosperous times when the parks are pristine such contracts while damaging could actually be tolerable. In times like these when playground equipment is falling apart, needles are in sandboxes, and four letter graffiti artists have tagged our parks, the restrictions on volunteerism is just insane.

There are many tasks that lend themselves to volunteerism. Just as there are exceptions to pulling permits to do small maintenance types of work on a home, there should be a list of tasks that volunteers can do at will in the public parks and they should be able to be completed year round. If the City of Evansville will not or cannot pay to have our parks properly taken care of let them at least enter into contracts that allow the citizens of Evansville to do things to take care of the parks that they the citizens own.

Following is the exact wording from the collective bargaining agreement regarding staffing levels.

Article XXXIV: Staffing Levels

Failure of the City of Evansville to comply with the March 15th notification or the October 31st cut-off date, or those employees not identified prior to March 15th or who work past the October 31st cut-off date will become full-time employees of the City of Evansville.

Sometimes Words are Just Note Enough. Watch this Video

IS IT TRUE PART 2: February 25, 2011

IS IT TRUE that James Love, Jr. appeared at the February 24, 2011 Vanderburgh County Election Board meeting during the “new business” portion of the Agenda?… that Mr. Love, Jr. said he was an Evansville resident and respectfully requested a meeting the next day with County Clerk Susan Kirk to obtain materials so that Mr. Love, Jr. can run as an Independent candidate on the ballot this fall for Mayor of Evansville?…that Mr. Love, Jr. would have by noon on June 30, 2011, in which to gather and file the required number of signatures from registered voters?

IS IT TRUE that the required number of valid signatures for Mr. Love, Jr. to be placed on the fall ballot for Mayor of Evansville is only 600 or so?…that Mr. Love, Jr. told the Election Board that his employer had just fired him for taking time off from work to appear at the Election Board Meeting so that he could obtain information on how to run as an Independent candidate for Mayor of Evansville?…that Mr. Love, Jr. appeared very passionate about his desire to run for Mayor of Evansville this fall and was willing to risk his job to do so.

The Indiana Democratic legislators refusal to participate in our constitutionally established governmental process has endangered our republic.

PRESS RELEASE

Evansville, IN, February 25, 2011: The United FreedomMakers a regional group of constitutionally minded citizens denounce the Indiana Democratic legislators irresponsible and contemptuous actions of failing to perform their constitutional obligations. The Democratic legislators fleeing to other states to subvert our legislative process posses one of the greatest risks to our Republic ever perpetrated, and reveals their absolute contempt to the citizens of the state.

The irresponsible actions of the Democratic legislators sets in motion a process that could well destroy our republic. Since the inception of Indiana statehood in 1816 no political party has boycotted the Indiana legislature simply because they did not get their way. The citizens of Indiana elected both the majority and minority legislatures to continue the legislative process which has functioned for 195 years.

This reckless action of these legislators could establish a precedence enabling any democratically elected minority to undermine the legislative process. Irrespective of the legislative bills at hand all citizens in as strong a voice as possible should condemn the contemptuous and irresponsible actions that threaten the very foundations of our republic.

Source: United FreedomMakers

Contact: Michael Sandefur
United FreedomMakers
Phone 812-449-5695
Fax 812-449-5695

IS IT TRUE that it looks like the Mayor of Goosetown, Mr. Fred Cook will not be allowed to run for the democratic nomination for the 4th Ward City Council seat after all?…that he did the crime at 17 but did the time after the age of 18 making him ineligible according to the Election Board unless of course Governor Daniels steps in and pardons Mr. cook?…that with Mr. Cook out of the way that Evansville City Councilwoman Connie Robinson will be running unopposed in the 4th Ward contest this year?…that makes two seats that are already secured by unopposed candidates?…that Councilwoman Robinson and Councilman McGinn are both running unopposed and shall retain their seats on council?…that Mr. Fred Cook is a good man who we encourage to get back to his life and to continue any and all of the good things that he does for the Evansville community?

IS IT TRUE that City County Observer Mole #3 has information that a third party candidate for Mayor of Evansville is strongly considering a run?…that the Libertarian Party has ballot access and can make a place not only for Mayor of Evansville but for the other 10 offices too?…that if there has ever been a year that a third party could disrupt or even capture an election that this is the year?…that a very good post regarding ballot access in the State of Indiana is at the following link?

http://ifweonlyconnect.wordpress.com/indianas-undemocratic-ballot-access/

IS IT TRUE that Fred Cook is not the only candidate for Evansville City Council that is having the legitimacy of his candidacy challenged?…that long announced candidate for the Democratic nomination for City Council in the 6th Ward, Evansville Firefighter Al Lindsey’s candidacy is being challenged as well?…that as Mr. Cook pointed out in an interview yesterday that the art of the challenge seems to be how the members of Team Weinzapfel in 2007 are carrying out their initial campaign strategies?…that we are very interested in how this one plays out as well?…finding loopholes to be able to run unopposed is another one of those “sneaky but legal” things that seem to be how business is done in River City nowadays?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been 1,387 days since the announcement was made on May 14, 2007 that the McCurdy Hotel was to be refurbished into luxury apartments?…that it has now been 1,240 days since the Evansville Redevelopment Commission at the request of Mayor Weinzapfel approved the spending of $603,000 to purchase the parking lot?…that City Centre Properties and Scott Kosene the developers of the McCurdy project are both listed as contributors to the Weinzapfel for Mayor committee for 2010?

IS IT TRUE that there are now 624 days remaining in the two years that the EPA had given the City of Evansville to present an acceptable solution to the Combined Sewer Overflow problem?…..that this plan is an expensive and complex endeavor that needs immediate attention to avoid the embarrassment and expense of another round of fines?