February 1st at Rounders II

It’s that time again! Come join us next Tuesday, February 1st 6:30PM at Rounders II on outer Green River Road for our monthy discussion group. We have a couple things we would like to cover, but other than that would like to hear any current issues that you would like to bring up as well. Hope to see you there!

PS – We would also like to encourage you to bring any friends or family members that you think might benefit our group. We have a small core group of people who come to meetings and correspond regularly through email, but in order to start seriously having our voice heard in our community, we need to continue building our membership.

Best Regards,
Bart Gadau
(812 305-0842
i_luv_itzi@yahoo.com

Author Suggests Getting at Least Three Quotes

By: Lincoln Stevens

When evaluating home insurance companies, there are three extremely important criteria you need to consider: price, coverage, and service. These three criteria can be referred to as the “three-legged insurance stool,” because the stool (or your insurance policy) can’t stand unless all three elements are present in your policy. A complete home insurance policy is one that has a great price, excellent coverage, and fantastic service.

Price. Price is extremely important when evaluating your home insurance. In today’s economic climate, everyone is looking to save a buck or two. Many companies will use their reputable name and catchy slogans to make people feel like they have the best prices. The best way to know for certain you are getting a reasonable price is to shop your insurance coverage around. Get quotes from at least three different companies to ensure that the prices you are getting quoted are reasonable and comparable to other insurance companies in the area.

Coverage. Home insurance coverage comes in many shapes and sizes. From extremely poor coverage (an HO1 policy) to excellent, near bullet-proof coverage (an HO5 policy), you have many options. One mistake you need to make sure not to make is to assume that all home insurance policies are one and the same. If you don’t know the different policy types available, you might end up with a policy that doesn’t cover important perils like water damage or falling objects. This could ultimately end up costing you hundreds to thousands of dollars! In this case, knowledge truly is power. If you don’t know too much about the different home insurance policy types, at the very least ask your agent what is and isn’t covered with the policy he’s giving you.

Service. The final leg of the “three-legged insurance stool” is service. You can have the best price and excellent coverage, but if you don’t have quality service to go along with it, you will probably end up disappointed with your insurance provider. If you need to file a claim, how important is it to have your claim taken care of quickly and efficiently? If you answered “very important,” then service should be an important element that you evaluate before you switch insurance companies. The best way to evaluate service quality is to talk to family and friends (who have preferably filed a claim) that have the same insurance carrier and love it. If you don’t know anyone who has your potential insurance provider, checking the AM Best rating, the Better Business Bureau, JD Power ratings, and your state’s insurance site are great ways to do your due diligence.

Good luck!

Lincoln Stevens is Director of Marketing for Insurance Education Group, a web-based company aimed at helping people obtain the best house insurance they possibly can. Are you looking for a better rate on your home insurance? We can help! In five minutes or less you can fill out our online quote form and receive multiple quotes from multiple companies. Insurance Education Group not only has the best and quickest online quote forms on the web, but also a library of insurance information free to all those who visit the site! Become a well-informed consumer and field multiple free insurance quotes all at Insurance Education Group!

Unedited Questionnaire Sent to Subscribers to Pops Series

Dear Pops Subscriber,

Since we didn’t have a patron name, we have just sent you a survey with the heading 10-11 Pops Subscriber. If you are not a Pops subscriber, please disregard this heading. Rest assured, the survey is the same except one question. The mailed survey included the following question, which the email survey does not:

Which is more important to you:

___ Avoiding traffic/parking problems even if it means a concert start time as early as 5:30 p.m.

___ A later concert start time, even if it may mean some traffic/parking problems.

If you’d like, you can leave this answer in one of your comment windows at the end of the survey.

Thank you for your continued interest in your Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra!

Take the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PKFF8N6

EVANSVILLE, INDIANA: A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE

Evansville is a unique place on the Ohio River, here for more than two hundred years. Its intimacy with the river has sustained it over all that time, bringing it food, settlers, and business. During World War II, Evansville stepped up as a formidable provider of the tools for victory.

The Evansville Golden Crescent is made up of roughly four parts:
Upstream has concentrated the expression of our history with the LST 325, the Evansville Museum, and the delightful historic home section.

The Golden Crescent

Next is the business engine of banks, larger corporations, courts, new Arena and government. Below that area is the Entertainment District containing Aztar, its bars and gambling. Finally, in the Evansville’s last, downstream section resides it heavy industry with its promise of rejuvenation of a slack water port in the decade to come. Here lies our city !

Surrounded by four major midwestern cities, Evansville has the major advantage of being able to easily get to those urban centers, if desired. Yet our city does retain the marvelous features of quiet sustaining neighborhoods, personal kindness, safe streets and relatively low taxes.

City of Evansville Population
(2009) – 116,584
(2010) – 116,500 with annexation areas included
Vanderburgh County Population (2009) – 175,434

GPS Location – 37.966865 -87.566724

Evansville Regional Airport, IN
Elevation 417 ft Latitude: 38.04306; Longitude –87.52028

Estimated Median Household Income: Evansville – $33,600 Indiana – $47,966
CITY OF EVANSVILLE PROJECTED REVENUES

Miscellaneous $ 88,192,216
General Fund Property Tax 56,605,735
Sewer Fund Fees 36,244,000
Water Fund Fees 23,237,700
Local County Income Tax 11,367,609
River Boat Fund 10,641,310
Park Fund Property Tax 6,247,500
Fire Pension Property Tax 105,000
Police Pension Property Tax 105,000

Grand Total Revenue Projected $232,782,070

Miscellaneous Revenues: (in Million $)
General Misc 26.4, Fire Pension 5.7, Police Pension 7.0, Parks Misc 3.9, Park Refunding 0.4, Redevelopment Bond 2011 1.3, Redevlmt Bond ret. 0.2, Print & Supply 0.5, Law Enforcement Ed 0.1, COIT Misc1.8, Cumultv Capital Improvemt 0.3, Rvboat Misc 0.03, Highwy 4.5, Rny Day 0.03, Golf 1.5, Redevlmt TIF Ret Bond 0.4, Sports 0.4, Greenway 0.3, Local Rds & Strts 1.8, Cert Tech Pk, 0.001, Pking Gargs 0.5, HUD Fair Hsing 0.03, EEOC 0.05, TIF Projects Acct 6.9, Hospitalization 19.5, Unemplmt Fd 0.1, Wrkers Comp 1.0, Liabty Ins Fd2.4, Waste Watr 0.7 = $88,192,216

CITY OF EVANSVILLE 2011 PROJECTED EXPENSES

Total Utility – Water, Sewer & Wastewater $60,133,316
Police 29,420,344
Fire 23,690,223
Total Insurance Fund 22,885,311
Local Income Tax Use Fund 15,318,892
Riverboat Fund 11,168,030
Miscellaneous 10,535,608
Parks and Recreation 10,311,606
Remainder of General Fund 9,053,661
METS 7,159,122
Master TIF Projects 6,917,997
Fire Pension 5,635,137
Highway Fund 5,498,396
Central Dispatch 3,192,956
Local Roads & Streets 2,131,186
Golf Course Non-Reverting 1,511,728
Redevelopment Bond Fund 1,375,519
Dept of Metro City 1,238,655
Code Enforcement 1,185,720

Grand Total City Projected 2011 Expenses $228,363,407

CITY OF EVANSVILLE – CHALLENGES

BACK to BASICS:

Recession – Slow recovery or double dip.? As the stimulus money’s effect has blunted the potentially catastrophic deep slope of a depression, it is now time to slow BIG government spending, until the exact length and depth of the downturn can be accurately determined. The independent variables of increased revenue from phased-in, newly annexed city areas and a hopeful increase of sales tax income may counter balance the dip caused by the constitutionally demanded property tax ceilings and the EPA sewerage judgment. New hiring for jobs is most needed and should come in one to two years. It is time to be cautious to commit money to projects other than those of the most basic nature. A full-scale attack on new business creation with continued intense encouragement of existing businesses is primary.

Basic Services – As police and fire create public safety and trash collection protects us from epidemics, these needs are paramount. The Firefighter contract must be promptly settled. In the future, arbitration legislation may be needed to push the process along. If the possible revenue crunch does become prohibitive, these primary obligations will take precedent for all other city funding, which could include administrative pay cuts. In light of these basic needs, other much less demanding, frivolous spending should be sharply curtailed.

Sewer Correction – Although an admirable start to correct a huge long-standing problem has been done, much is needed yet. The sewer/water rates have been increased regularly over recent years with each sewer project. Because of the uncertain nature of our economy, no new sewer rate increases should be entertained for at least two years. The Public’s squeal factor is beginning to be heard. The slope of sewer rate increases should be flattened, until the final bill to be paid from the EPA case is known. Ultimately soon, the decades present, eye-and-nose sore of Bee Slough should made into a cleansing fen.

New Arena – About three quarters of the way through its creation, the new Arena’s building goes apace. It IS a beautiful edifice. Hopefully, it will finish early and under budget, as it has so far. When done, it should draw crowds of people to the Downtown on more than 130+ occasions per year. Roberts Stadium costs $15,000 per month to maintain empty, which will not occur for some months. Would it not be worthwhile to retain the iconic building and create another interior use for it? Any solution should wait for at least a year, until it so apparent that the worse of the recession’s damage has passed. All other solutions should be fleshed out during this waiting period to deliver value to ALL of our citizens…not just a handful.

City-County Merger – Although many good ideas have come forth in this most recent effort, the decision not to have the referendum be on this fall’s ballot has effective paralyzed its forward progress. Now that the study has been turned in on January 11st, it may sit gathering dust for almost two years before an appropriate election cycle occurs. The public’s present apathy may well be in concrete by then. The study’s cost of $108,000 for legal and secretarial uses needs to be documented in detail. The question of whether the study was worth the money has yet to be answered.

Summary – The search for city/public consensus management is desperately needed. A kinder, gentler, less “my way or the highway” approach should be sought.

Tri-State Economy Derives Much Wealth from Coal Industry

Written by Sy A. Ali

According to the International Energy Agency and the Energy Information Administration’s joint report of July 2010:

In 2008, coal used for power generated 45 percent of U.S. electricity compared to 2 percent from wind energy in spite of major federal and state subsidies.

The 2035 projection shows coal generating 43 percent of increased U.S. electric power, compared to an estimated 5 percent from wind, and about 9 percent from all renewable sources including hydro and solar.

The criteria pollutant emissions from electric power plants decreased more than 90 percent between 1970 and 2009 while the quantity of coal burned over the same period increased up to four times. During this period, particulates were reduced by 99 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency in its 2010 report to Congress pointed out that the economic value of health benefits in the United States from these reductions in 2010 was $110 billion.

Renewable resources vary across the country based on climate and geography. Installing wind turbines offshore seems to be the most desirable location. Yet, according to a 2010 report of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Midwest led wind turbine installation in 2009. Fertile agricultural land in the Midwest appears to be a less efficient location for wind turbines.

The National Academy of Sciences in its report last year emphasized that to achieve 20 percent power from renewable sources by 2020 would cost $300 billion, plus an additional $100 billion for transmission improvements.

Wind power added to date through 2009 was 10 GW (2 percent of total electricity) at a cost of $21 billion. This addition was accomplished with major financial stimulus funds and subsidies granted by federal and state governments for renewable energy.

The Midwest was the U.S. leader in the addition of wind power. In 2009, the United States led globally in the addition of wind energy and import of wind energy equipment. It imported $2.3 billion of wind turbines in 2009 alone, which represented 34 percent of worldwide imports.

Renewable energy for electric power, despite federal and state financial stimulus, has not created many jobs.

Indiana mines 35 million tons of coal per year. One miner mines 12,000 tons per year. Each miner’s job produces an additional three jobs in the community. These 35 million tons mined in Indiana support 2,900 mining jobs plus an additional 8,700 jobs in the community, for a total of 11,600 jobs.

Fossil fuels and nuclear will remain the predominant fuel source for electric power generation globally during the first half of this century. Private enterprise and governments worldwide are continually working to achieve near zero emissions from power plants. Electric power is essential to not only maintain but also enhance the quality of life in the United States and abroad.

Recently Defeated Democratic Incumbent Senator Bags Mayoral Appointment

(EVANSVILLE, IN) – January 25, 2011 – Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel has named
Bob Deig as General Manager of Metropolitan Evansville Transit System (METS), a position he
will assume immediately.

“Between managing transit systems, operating facilities, supervising personnel, negotiating
contracts, managing large budgets, and generally serving the public, Bob Deig has the right mix
of skills and experience to effectively lead METS,” said Weinzapfel.
Deig served as the Facilities Director for the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (2004 –
2006), Facilities Director for Evansville Catholic High Schools (2002 – 2004), Facilities and
Transportation Supervisor for the Metropolitan School District of Mt. Vernon (1993 – 2002), and
Site Energy Shift Supervisor for General Electric Plastics (1979 – 1993). In addition to his
relevant experience with transportation and facility management, Deig holds licenses and
certifications in several areas related to maintenance and transit.

Most recently Deig served as Indiana State Senator for District 49 from 2006 to 2010. In this
capacity, he worked with local, State and Federal agencies to spur economic development,
improve education and enhance the quality of life for all residents; and worked with constituents
on healthcare, education, pension, social services, and many other issues of concern. He served
on the State Senate Local Government and Elections Committee, Appropriations Committee,
Small Business and Agriculture Committee, Public Policy Committee, Utilities and Technology
Committee, and Pension and Labor Committee, as well as on the National Committee on Labor
and Economic Development.

“I am excited that I’ll be able to continue serving the public through the role of General Manager
of the Metropolitan Evansville Transit System,” said Deig. “I will immediately begin
communicating and collaborating with City and other municipal representatives, community
partners and riders to not only continue current operations, but also to identify opportunities to
enhance the image of METS fixed route and mobility services, increase ridership, enhance the
rider experience, and provide better overall service to the Evansville community.”
METS, which is part of the Evansville Department of Transportation and Services, currently
operates a fleet of 11 hybrid buses, nine conventionally-fueled buses, 11 paratransit buses, six
fixed route vans, and two trolleys. METS provides transportation for the public on 17 fixed
route service areas and provides paratransit service for persons 65 years or older or those with a
documentable disability that limits their use of the METS regular fixed route system (not for
emergency use or ambulance service).

Operationally, METS is responsible for informing the public of existing routes, as well as new or
improved service; coordinating and planning routes and schedules; keeping a constant check on
the effectiveness of service; and implementing and controlling all managerial functions involved
with the METS transit operation.

METS’ maintenance responsibilities include implementing preventative maintenance programs;
providing complete mechanical failure restoration; repairing and refurbishing vehicles when
applicable; reducing operation expenses and increasing fleet productivity by monitoring
equipment; and recording and maintaining a viable inventory of parts to provide prompt and
accurate maintenance of the fleet.
More than 45 million passengers have been transported via buses and paratransit vans since
METS was created in 1971.

IS IT TRUE that the matching of expenses on the disclosure form of the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee with contributions reported by a group of 18 local Democrats seems to have taken on a life of its own?…that the City County Observer was alerted to these potential discrepancies by local Democrats after posting the entire disclosure documents of the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee last week?….that after all is said and done there are four local candidates where the disclosures do not agree with the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee’s?

IS IT TRUE that candidates Steve Smith who ran for the Indiana House of Representatives and Tim Taylor who ran for Vanderburgh County Council both were recorded as recipients of donations from the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee?…that neither of these candidates reported having received any donation?…that upon examination of the contributions to the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee both of these candidates are credited with making donations of the same amount that they were reported to have received?…that the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee wrote checks to these two candidates and then voided the checks?…that the net result of these actions is a big ZERO financially but does overstate both the contributions and expenses reported by the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee by a total of $600?

IS IT TRUE that maybe after writing the check the only way the accounting software chosen by the committee could have dealt with voiding is to report both?….that for some reason a check for $500 was written to Steve Smith’s campaign and another for $100 was written to Tim Taylor’s campaign and then voided?….we wonder why the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee changed their mind about supporting these Democratic candidates after making a decision to do so?

IS IT TRUE that the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee disclosed that it supported Maura Robinson’s campaign for Vanderburgh County Auditor with a contribution of $250?…that the committee also disclosed that it supported the campaign of Hayden Barth for Vanderburgh County Council with a contribution of $100?…that both of these candidates have filed their end of year disclosures by the January 19, 2011 deadline?….that neither Maura Robinson nor Hayden Barth have a contribution from the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee recorded in their disclosure statements?…that even though this is a small amount of money relative to the $367,930 that the Mayor’s Committee spent that the books need to be balanced?…that either the Weinzapfel for Mayor Committee was incorrect in reporting or that these two candidates were incorrect in reporting?…that whichever of these disclosures are in error need to be amended to reflect what really happened?…that none of these errors in reporting affected the outcome of any elections?….that sometimes you just gotta say “no harm, no foul”?

IS IT TRUE that winning candidate for the Pigeon Township Trustee, Mary Hart has not yet filed her disclosure statement?…that the deadline was 6 days ago?