Resonding to anonymity

Posted on Voice of the People, questions directed to me from another anonymous “community advocate”:

1) “We know it is neither healthy, wealthy nor wise to criticize Mayor England. We understand that.”

I can’t say I am friends with Doug England, and I can’t say that I don’t like him either, regardless, he holds no interest what so ever in any of my personal or professional holdings, as such I have nothing to gain, or lose by speaking for him or against him.

2) “Why do you not insist the Council be given their monthly printouts of the financials (as required by law) so they can do their job?”

This is not my place. This is the place for the Council President and councilmen to accomplish. They have tools at their disposal to get this taken care of. If the council wanted to reports enough, they could get them, and should. So this, in my humble opinion is a 50/50 split on fault. (50% admin for not providing them / 50% council for not aggressively seeking them)

3) “Why do you tolerate the excuses about the lack of code enforcement?”
Two answers to this:
A) How many signs are around screaming no new fees or taxes, how many forums are filled with damning statements against the Code Enforcement Personnel, how many letters and forum posting are their blasting the expenditure for the truck, the uniforms and the salary of the personnel? How quick would you be to act in good faith when the ONLY public statements made for you is damnation and chiding?

B) I personally have no issues with code enforcement, as I have seen a great improvement in services in my area. And like any other citizen, when there is a problem that needs attention, and the petty excuses flow from Hartman’s office, I picked up the phone, called CM’s Gonder, Zurchmede, and McLaughlin. McLaughlin and Gonder personally came out; Zurchmede participated through emailed pictures and documents. With in 24 hours, the property in question was under condemnation orders, and has since been worked on and boarded up by the owners under orders of Carl M. and the Building commissioners office. I do not accept excuses for failure to act, so I went to their bosses, was polite, professional, provided dated, detailed photos, and documents, and in doing so, the situation was resolved. It takes more citizen participation that calling downtown and yelling “what are you going to do about this”. The Question should be polite and ask “How can WE work together to solve this?”

4) “Why do you tolerate Carl M. and John R. resigned for 30 days and are now knocking down their pension and salaries?”
I have no personal knowledge of this, nor have I seen any documentation regarding this, as such I am not able to address this.

5) “Why do you tolerate a Mayor elected but not in his office and letting Carl M. run the City? Why do you tolerate the Mayor laying drunk (which is to his demise because of the heart surgery)?”

To the best of my knowledge The Mayor has not been arrested and charged with public intoxication, OWI, nor have I any knowledge of reports of him being at work intoxicated, so making this statement is speculation at best. As far as his absence from office due to multiple surgeries, (back, neck, heart), what are we supposed to do, have him removed from office due to illness? His surgeons have not seen fit to list him as “unfit for duties” (note there is a difference between unfit for duties and medical leave), say we remove him from office, do we then open the city up for very real and very large lawsuits for violations of the ADA, etc. As I had said before, for me personally, when I call for city services, (fire, police, street department, etc.) the city offices still respond, my life has not been altered by his absence, so honestly, I hope he is doing well and recovering properly. (Bottom line, he is human, he is sick, and I do have compassion)

6) Why do you tolerate claims being paid without supporting documentation? Do you know of any business/corporation who would pay your expenses without an expense report and supporting receipts?

What makes you thing I support this? Do I oppose this practice, yes I do. Did I read where the State listed this line item in the audit as criminal, unethical, or underhanded, no I did not. Is my opinion more informed, or legal than the State Government body in charge of conducting such audits and issuing reports, recommendations, and initiating investigations by the Indiana departments of Law and Justice who would oversee any investigations? No, it is not, so I leave that to them.

7) “Why do you tolerate the lack of sufficent infrastructure (i.e. sewers, dilapidated houses) in order to get businesses located in NA?We understand; you dare not to criticize the Mayor because of the opening paragraph here!”

I do not tolerate this, never have and never will. I have advocated at great length for more enforcement, more tools to fight the degrading infrastructure. As a side note, I will point out, that the “reformists” camp fought this like mad. Many of the same people whom share views with the “no new fees, no new taxes” camp were present at many of them meetings, sitting with Harrison, et al, damning any measures to take further actions against this. I had been physically threatened over my participation in this issue. My property had been vandalized, buried a very good Black Labrador Retriever over this. There are no grounds what so ever for any informed person to question my stance on enhanced code enforcement. I strongly feel that the qualities of the infrastructure directly relates to the quality of business that are willing to locate here, or remain here, I have said that from day one. Lastly, again, I do not have reason to fear and retribution from Mayor England, I have sent him letters and emails thanking him for seeing that certain properties were cleaned up, and transversely I have sent him scorching emails, letter and phone calls when he was in support of the variance proposal by CCE to relocate at 111 and Corydon Pike, and I encouraged others to do so as well. I am not claiming that my stance alone changed his mind, but I would like to think it played a part.

8)“But, never criticize the voters. This is not healthy, wealthy nor wise either.”

Dont forget, I include myself, my family and my friends in this as well. Again, the bottom line for any real or perceived problems with the administration of city government and its operations is the voters. There is no way around this. There are not enough people in the “progressive camp” to truly change election outcomes, and the realization that there are not enough in your camp either to do so. Fact is both camps are out numbered by a few 10,000 or more voters who just vote during elections and are not involved between elections.

9) “We can only hope the picking of a candidate by Baylor has PAID THEIR DUES within the Democrat party. This is a MUST. The party is comprised of County and City and County people have friends and relatives living in the City.I'm done preaching. It's obvious to me NAC, the progressives (or whatever you wish to call yourselves) are in it for the monies. As far as we are concerned, your arguments have no merit. That's MY OPINION.It did make for a good chuckle, LOL.”

By suggesting in any manner that person(s) have received kick backs for propping up candidates, or by hand selecting certain candidates, and embarking on a subliminal campaign to control the minds of the voters in order to further an agenda of progress in this city is ludicrous, ill-informed and rates right up there with the conspiracy theories of area 51. I am sure this will not be sufficient enough, and I will not play tit for tat, and pose my liat of questions, I will pose only one:

If you ahd your choice of walking down one of two dark alleys, in one alley you saw people you recognised and knew a little about them, or alley #2 where you could not see the people, noly hear them, they stayed hidden in the shadows, or behind masks.
Which alley would you choose to walk down?

Time for a change....

Having recently had more than fill of the craziness surrounding the local political climate, I have completely decided to change directions as indicated in some recent posts.

As such I would like to announce the start up of a blog called "through the lens", a forum on local nature photography, bird watching, camping, paddle sports, and hiking.

I hope those interested in such things will join up and take part, as we do such things as local species counts, photo contests (for bragging rights), possibly group outings for some more spectacular migratory occurrences, and delve out little secrets, tips and tricks to ranging from when and where is the best place and time to catch a particular bird, the best area campsites at state parks, the best trails and when to hike them.

You can find the new blog at:

http://hoosierbirding.blogspot.com/2009/10/welcome.html

It is still under development, but I hope to bring on some other contributors very soon!

Political issues going to the birds...

Imagine if you can, being on the edge of a fog covered field that encompasses acres and acres of green space. No garbage, no rundown slumlord houses, no political signs.

Imagine if you can, the dead silence of the dawn being broken by thousands upon thousands of calls of the majestic and graceful sandhill crane, interrupted only by the faint whistling of the wings of waterfowl as it flies unseen in the veil of morning fog the wraps around you.

Hushed whispers of those around you, not speaking of EDIT funds, brown fields, corrupts businesses and politicians. But the whispers of "what lens are you using", or "good morning, haven't seen you since last year, how have you been"

Then the sky erupts in an orange glow, and a soft cool breeze meets your face, the fog slowly begins to lift, and float away, and you are greeted with the awe inspiring sight of tens of thousands of birds, some as nearly as tall as you, literally dancing with one another in dew covered fields, singing to one another in a chorus that quickly rises to a level that would rival even the greatest of sound systems at the biggest of concerts. But with more energy. The energy of life, the start of a new day.

This is where I want to be, standing on the fog covered edge of Ewing Bottoms, playing witness to the annual migration of the glorious sandhill cranes. Not where I am at now in my mind. Surrounded by political turmoil.

The simple beauty of watching the sun lazily rise over a marsh, or taking the time to sit under a crab apple tree to watch a flock of cedar waxwings building their fat reserves to make their flight to warmer climates.

Or watching a group of River Otter playing tag in a wetland, chasing one another, splashing and making a slip and slide out of a muddy stretch of bank.

These are the places I belong, these are the places that I love, and these are the places and times that deserve my focus of attention, and my dedication to documenting and preserving to ensure that future generations have the ability to relish in the sights, sounds and smells of.

And as such, I am retiring "New Albany Eyesores" for a new blog. The new blog will be about the wonderful chances we have here in this area to experience a wealth of natural beauty that is often over looked in what can be considered "greener grass syndrome".

We are blessed with bald eagle, osprey, warblers with so many different sizes, shapes and colors to rival even the brightest of rainbows, and scenes of migration that rival those depicted on national geographic. One just has to slow down, and take the time to do something almost unheard of anymore, sit and wait, and watch.

To those who continue to try and fight for the betterment of our city, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, and your tenacity, it is appreciated. As for me, its time to move on, and focus on what I know is the best thing not only for me, but for the environment as well.

Roger, on a personal note, I have promised myself to take up drinking, and I would like to issue you a challenge to find me a beer I like! (and in a show of how small of world it is, whilst hiking in the back marshes of Muscatatuck to photograph a pair of nesting bald eagle, I ran into gentleman from a company in Cincinnati that designs and manufactures tanks for beer breweries, and it would appear that NABC's reputation for creating quality craft beers can find its way into even a flooded, backwater, marsh!!)

Thats Just The Way It Is Sometimes

Northern Flickers are one of my favorite birds, they are colorful, smart, and big, but sometimes, some one comes along who is smarter and bigger.... But thats just how nature is.

A young Coopers Hawk took this Flicker right out of hte air with a sickening thudding noise, dropped him to the ground and squeezed the life out of the woodpecker. It all happened so fast I barely was able to get this shot off!

Sorry Flicker, but thats why its called survival of the fittest!

And now for another eyesore and a neglect of duty

Click this link and take a look at the photos on the first two pages of the photo stream and then come back, go ahead I will wait.

The tenants of this house were packing up and moving out today after ten months of the landlord refusing to fix the leaking roofs, leaking plumbing, clogged sewer line, electircal problems, water heater problems, mold growing on the ceilings, the floors so bad tha the tenant actually fell through one as he was leading me through the house to take pictures.

Long story short, the building commisioners office was called a little bit before 3:30pm and told the tenants are moving out, and they want to make sure this slimlord is not able to put another family in this death trap of a house.

Building Inspector Ron Hartman all but flat out refused citing that he is supposed to get off work at 4:00pm.

I put the tenant on the phone with him, and he explained everything going on in the house, and how he will not be able to have access to the house after midnight, again, more concerned with getting off at 4:00pm than to get in the house while he has a chance, knowing full well once the willing tenant was gone, he could not enter the house with out the property owner asking him to come in (are building inspectores vampires where they can not cross a threshhold to a home unless invited?)

Thankfully, Pat Mclaughlin, John Gonder and Kevin Zurchmiede realized that their duties to serve this community does not necessarily end with a certain position on the dail of a watch.

I also hope these three take Hartman to task on his basic refusal to act.

more bars in more places...

Adding a little Decor

My Daughter, my Niece and a couple of friends decided to addd a little decoration to the front windows of the Family Health Center on Spring and Tenth for the parade Saturday.

A few hours and about $20 for poster paint and foam brushes, and the fate of my windows were sealed!

Question is do they still do this downtown for Harvest Homecoming?

First lines....

Below are the first lines in some of my favorite books and stories, care to name them?
(no particular order of favoritism)


"Call me Ishmael."

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

"Not long after with my family to New HampshireI happened a path that into a wood on the edge of town."

"Barnardo: "Who's there?" "

" Lo! 'tis a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!"

"From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my temper."

"When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods..."

Excellent Birding

Double-Crested Cormorant in Flight

Black-Crowned Night Heron
Capsian Tern In Flight



Osprey catching a fish

(please excuse the low quality of these photos, they are the raw product and have not been proccessed)
The processed photos can be seen HERE

The Falls of the Ohio is a hot bed of good birding opportunities right now. The young Osprey raised on the tower by the hydro-electric are pretty much full grown and very capable apex predators.

A small flock of Caspian Terns has taken up residence, taking advantage of the low water levels to target easily caught shad and Skip Jacks.

Like wise a very healthy population of both Black-crowned Night Heron, and Double-Crested Cormorants are doing very well in the shallower than normal waters catching fish and crayfish.

A large Beaver has also been spotted on multiple occasions, and is getting more accustomed to people, making him less reclusive.

A friend of mine has also photographed a perfect example of a Peregrine Falcon, and I have finally been able to capture a return of a healthy pair of American Kestrel. Unfortunately it has been since early spring that I last saw either the juvenile or mature Bald Eagles that were nesting in Loop Island Wetlands, and hunting the falls area for fish, ground hogs, opossums and the likes.

A New Project

Praktica was never known as the cream of the crop when it came to 35mm SLR Cameras, but this one is VERY special.
This is the camera that replaced my dads Kodak Retina, a camera that my dad would curse and scream about and claim that he didn't care if he got it from my grandpa, and how worthless it was, little did he realize that Retina is a GEM, and a highly valued part of photography collectibles, but I digress, This battle worn, tired and damaged Praktica bore witness to countless family vacations, it has hiked on the Appalachian Trail, trekked through the Badlands of South Dakota, waded the Marshes of the Barrier Islands of South Carolina, driven the entire length of the Blue Ridge Mountains, shot twisters in the plain states, and the sapphire blue waters of Lake Superior and the head waters of the Mississippi river.
This old camera had shot graduations, weddings, births, a hand full of crime scenes, one horrific shoot out scene, it has captured the images of many loved ones, both friends and family who are no longer with us. And more importantly it is a link between a father and a son whose passion for photography is a skill that was learned by watching, listening and being shown step by step.

During the days when my dads health was failing, and he was feeling weaker, while climbing rocks to take a picture of God only knows what on the West Prong of the Pigeon River on the Chimney Rock Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, he lost his footing on what he loudly cursed as a "bastard of a snot rock" he fell and broke his camera, cracking the upper body and damaging the aperture selection wheel, he never got it fixed, as a few months later he got in the foot pursuit and fight at White Castles, where he felt he was having a heart attack, and the course of treatment for that led to the discovery of a small shaded area in his chest on an xray, and since then his camera has been silently sitting in a closet, waiting for the promise to be repaired.

Years and years and years later it has come to me, with a request that it take its place on my monument to borderline OCD with cameras, ranging from the late 19th century film plate cameras, through the first "daylight cartridge camera" in a new sized format of 35mm, which allowed the user to change film in broad daylight and take up to 24 shots in glorious black and white, (remember the Retina mentioned............), to the forerunners of what today are called SLR cameras (single lens reflex).

This Camera deserves more than to shield a shelf from collecting dust under its footprint, and it deserve more than bringing it down every now again and shooting a shot or two out of it as a novelty to say "look, this 80 year old camera takes just as good of shots as this Nikon D-slr"

This Camera deserves to be lovingly and completely restored, polished and fixed and brought back to the glorious photos I know it is capable of. Simple to operate for a full manual SLR, ergonomic in its design, with the perfect blend between rock steady mechanical operations aided with electronic guides, a relic of a now gone "country" the German Democratic Republic or Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), so with a little luck, some patience and a little elbow grease, the old mans baby will be working again in short order, and I would love to exact revenge on that bastard of a snot rock and take its portrait with my old mans camera that the snot rock tried to destroy........

The Ties That Bind Can Also Strangle

George Rogers Clark

“Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference.”
~ Mignon McLaughlin

There is no arguing the fact that our fair city is in a state of crisis. Crisis in the form of economics, infrastructure, politics and operations. Of that the vast majority of us can agree on.

The question is often asked “how did we get to this point?” or “Whose to blame?”. Some of us consistently point fingers and shake them blazingly in the face of our elected officials. Some of us blame other Joe Citizens who dare to express their concern or opinions. And others still feel it is prudent to keep slapping the surface of shit creek with the only paddles we have left by constantly attacking and belittling those who have valid points.

We can easily blame Colonial John Paul who purchased the land that is now New Albany from George Rogers Clark, who in turn let Joel, Abner, and Nathaniel establish the city of New Albany on this particular geographic location, or we can blame Mayor Alexander Burnett Sr. whose turn at wheel had seen the Indiana State Fair ground turned into Camp Noble, a civil war mustering grounds for Federal Troops. Or we can blame Mayor William Hart for being at the Helm when the last Steam Boat, the Robert E. Lee, was built in New Albany, sending the city into economic turmoil for a period. ( but the same railroads that some of curse is the one thing that saved this city from certain economic doom), or who can we blame for the city losing the American Plate Glass Company and its 2,000 jobs in 1893? Or what about blaming Jacob G. Hauswald for the devastating flood, which to this date is still the worst disaster ever to befall this city.

New Albany, Circa 1876

We place blame everywhere, and on everyone we can. The uncooperative business owners who bring blight and corruption to our neighborhoods, the shady slumlord who skirts his/her legal, moral, and ethical responsibilities to make a few bucks off of the backs of those who it has been said, “has no choice but to rent a place like that”.

We attack our Police and our Police Chiefs for not doing enough to deter crime, and yet other factions attack the same men and women for spending money to do their jobs.
Same with the Fire Department personnel. Blame and complain, blame and complain.
George Carlin put this best when he said: “Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?"

When we feel that we have begun to run out of figure heads to blame and complain about, we start on one another. What group are you aligned with? What Blog do you read? Who are your friends? Who are you related to?

The Reno Brothers Gang, Famous for the first peacetime train robberies, and for being killed by Lynch mobs in New Albany, the members of the Lynch mobs were never Identified or Charged with a Crime, the lynching creating an international incident, and international newpaper coverage. Yet today, factions in this city seem to think that sections of sidewalks being fixed is worthy of international protest.



Folks there is plenty of blame to go around, and there is plenty of situations going on that is worthy of placing blame somewhere, but in the end exactly where will that get you? It hasn’t worked in the last 30 years, and I doubt this game plan will start working anytime soon.

The ugly, undeniable truth is it is really easy to find who is to blame for all of these problems that are plaguing our city, and it doesn’t fall on the shoulders of the Mayor, nor does it fall on the shoulders of the City Council, the Code Enforcement Officer, or even the Police Chief, it doesn’t fall on the shoulders of the department heads of the building commission, street department, sewage department or private contractors who deal with our trash.

Steamers Robert E. Lee and the Natchez in the race from New Orleans to St. Louis, lithograph by Currier and Ives

If you want to find the people to blame, we need not look any further than our own mirrors. For generations now we, the citizens of this city, have sat back and complained and looked for people to blame, and each election that rolls around, we get wrapped up in the promises made, “elect me and it will be peaches and cream, and sunny days on easy street”, then we wait for the peaches and get the pits, and no one specified that it wasn’t going to be sour cream as we roast under the scorching sun on pothole riddled, cracked and broken Easy Street surrounded by run down rentals and mounts of yard debris.

Yes, its an ugly truth, and as the opening quote said: “Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference.”, and that’s the problem, we are always on the verge, but never quite cross the line to making a difference.

Little victories have been accomplished, but the British kept winning victories during the revolution, and we all know how that turned out for them, which leads us right back to George Rogers Clark selling what is now New Albany to Col. John Paul.

The point of this is simple, New Albany has a lot of history, some good, some horrid. And yet the city has survived. We ALL have a lot to offer this city, unique skills, and talents, but above all else we all share one thing that is more powerful than any “crooked” politician, or ineffective council member, we each have a vote, and if we each use that tool wisely we can change the landscape of this community.

Though it has become readily apparent that my opinions do not mean a damn thing to CFA, I would suggest that we come together as a community, leave the politicians out of it (Sorry John Gonder, I know you are one of the good guys), and we work TOGETHER to come up with plan to bring about change.

On its trip through New Albany's neighborhoods north of downtown around 3:30pm, widespread death and destruction resulted across a 90-block area. Many homes were destroyed and blown away and 54 people lost their lives. Several children were killed as the storm destroyed a school on the northwest side of town. Damage in New Albany, in current dollars, amounted to nearly $19 million.

Profiles of Political Suicide

Not to long ago, it seemed that a person could become involved in this community with out being subjugated to personal political attacks. It would seem to the misfortune of the entire community that this is no longer the case.

After having my fill of a "community activism" following the defeat of the toxic waste dump that was attempted to be placed in the Hoosier Panel lot, and the retirement of King Larry the Grand Poo bah of the council, I had dined at that buffet table for long enough and had my fill.

Spending the extra time that created with my pursuit of amateur nature photography, I found a niche I found rather comfortable, and even managed to get some things published.

Recently, with the cities intent to do business with CCE again, I found myself being drawn back in, and before I knew it, I was waist deep in waste. Police issues, political health care issues, budgetary issues, and so on.

Incredibly, those who would attack people from behind a mask of anonymity caught my scent and soon began the sucker punches.

More incredibly, is the fact that we ALL want the same things, we ALL want changes to our stagnant city. We want progress, we want balance between expenditures and services, and we all want transparency in Government operations.

Yet consistently this becomes a battle between citizens, and while we fight, the political landscape never changes, the bombs we drop only seem to hit the community advocates with the shrapnel.

Aristotle said "Man by nature is a political animal", and I guess that holds true over 2300 years later. Some of us are drawn into the web of politics light bugs to a street lamp. And unfortunately some of us are bats that swoop down from out of the night to scatter and destroy.

It is an unfortunate landscape when we as Country, and society have become to associate political activism with bulls eyes painted on the backs of the advocates where their personal lives, and every aspect of their character as free game for attacks, and as long as we continue to travel down that road, change will become more and more elusive. It is no big secret that I am not a very religious person, but in this instance the saying of casting the first stone comes to mind.

What damage is being done locally when the example that is being set is that anyone who is even remotely interested in community activism is subjugated to non-stop criticism on every level. Who their family is, where they come from, if they misspell a word, what hours they run their business, what business they operate, or what they have done in the spirit of giving to their community in the past. Who will fill the shoes of those whose intentions are truly that of positive change and progress? Will the void be filled with a new generation of those who feel that insults, immaturity and cowardly hiding behind fake names and organizations take over the chores of tending to the garden that we pick our elected officials from?

I kind of see it like this, Abraham Lincoln said "The ballot is stronger than the bullet.", and we all know how that turned out for him! Have we lost the ability to effectively and fairly conduct ourselves and chosen the bullet?

Regardless, through other political endeavours, I have found myself the steward of millions of dollars of funds, all of which are earmarked to the betterment of care for the medically indigent of our local communities. The capital investments that are to come with these funds will bring our local clinics not only up to par in state of the art treatment and management of our patients, but in most cases we will surpass many of the for profit, insurance driven private practices.
Electronic Medical records, digital dental xray technology, the ability to instantly communicate lab results, and diagnostics with hospitals, specialists, and the government to help speed along disability determinations, and acquiring temporary medicaid to those who need it.

Some of the capital funds will also being going to improvements of the facilities themselves. Creating a comfortable and inviting atmosphere for our clients who for so long have been a victim of the Hollywood stigma of what a clinic should look like.

After all, some of our patients we are seeing now, 4 months ago were riding high on the horse, with 6 figure incomes, and now lucky to be bringing in $20k per year.

So I leave the community advocacy in the competent hands of the guys who have been doing this for much longer than I have. Keep your chins up guys, and don't let the anon hordes get you down.

Me and this disgusting taco burger

Me and this disgusting taco burger
Originally uploaded by dsnhaus

An elusive photo of the Taco Tico Taco Burger by dsnhaus from flickr.

Its a chain, but OH MY GOD!!

TACO TICO

Remember the Taco Tico Taco Burger?!! I do and my stomach regrets it.

What was for 20 years a pit stop in Corbin, Kentucky on the way to Knoxville and points south east, is coming back to New Albany.

Looks like they are moving in to the abandoned KFC on Charlestown road (you know the one that YUM! brands abandoned to build a new one a little over a mile away on the same road).

I had seen a company car out there a week ago, and an email sent to corporate confirmed that they plan to be open by September.

Okay, Okay, there are circles who do not like chains, and generally I am one of those people, but this goes back to the days of the Ohio River front taking an hour or more to drive from West 10th street to East 6th, Big hair and Glamour Rock. LA ROSITA MEXICAN GRILL.

Even though it is another "mexican fare" restaurant, I hardly think it rises to the level of competition to cause any concern to La Rosita, or even Taco Smell for that fact.

However in the world of gut rotting fast food fare, it rates up there with White Castles, or the hard to find Crystal Burgers Crystal pups...

And the Story Continues

WORK AT NEW ALBANY SITE INVESTIGATED

Not too far back in the past, I got a bit of a sucker punch from a fellow "blogger" and local community activist for daring to say something about the SEJ neighborhood area receiving so much attention when our area of town had been largely ignored regarding a fight we had been fighting for nearly a decade now.
When I commented on that sucker punch by saying "nice jab", the person said something along the lines as " it wasn't as much of a jab as it was a counter punch". Since then there have been references made in posting about how certain people think its unfair that any part of the city get help as long as pet peeves are not attended to.

It would appear now that the pet peeve of mine, and about 150 other families has garnered the attention of Federal Agencies.

Story after story is pouring out regarding the illegal and immoral actions of CCE, inc and its owners. Council members are speaking out, the Mayor has reversed his position on supporting the move to 111 south saying in essence not in my backyard.

The more the stories come out, the more I am left to wonder, why is it such a big deal that some things have occurred on 111 south, and the media, and politician are all up in arms vowing to fight this to their last breath, yet the same violations are occurring every single day over on Silver Street, and there is no uproar in city hall?

Reports of the City still awarding this business contracts, and the land being owned by a certain real estate icon, whose business practices are questionable at best.

Folks its always the same names, time and time again....

And What of the Current Situation?

Stories have been floating around in the local media regarding CCE inc. and its continual and flagrant violations of zoning and environmental laws.

stories linked below:
http://www.newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/local_story_188135850.html

http://www.newsandtribune.com/archivesearch/local_story_185214400.html
A search of the tribune

Coffey has rallied the troops to protest the potential move.
IDEM has cited the company for messing with a flood plane before he had permits
The mayor in his own words said “I don’t want him building behind my house,”

Hundreds of households have been fighting this company for years, generally with little or no help from the city, and our council Representative have been virtually absent through out all of it.

Once the intentions we made that the company planned on moving elsewhere in the city, all hell breaks loose. basically saying, keep that shit hole where its at, but don't you DARE let that business or that man anywhere near OUR part of town.

Meanwhile, it is still business as usual out at CCE, mountains of waste tires and shredded tires piled high, against city ordinances, as well as against IDEM permits. No word on the "lawsuit" against the company from the city.
Waste tires are still showing up in alleyways through the neighborhood, and CCE has started its old tactics of pulling themselves from the agendas when opposition is ready, and they will sneak it in when interest in them dies down. (this is a game they have been playing with us for years)

So now that the Mayor KNOWS what a shitty, irresponsible "neighbor" this company is, Will he move to have them shut down and fined for every single day that the property is in violation of Light industrial zoning laws?
The last three Administrations made promises that were never kept, should we expect More and better from this one?

Good days at the nature preserve

Some Cold Coffey over grounds

http://www.newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/local_story_175111736.html

So what about the people who have to live with this mess for 8 years now?

One thing is for certain, The west end does not want Jeff Eastridge and this company over there either....

Why the city is letting this man and this business do anything in this city is beyond me.

BIO-BLITZ!!

Taking a 3 day week end to get away from work, we found ourselves immersed in some work, but it was definitely fun!
Brown County State Park was having its inaugural "bioblitz", a cataloging of all the plants and animals that inhabit the 15,696 acre park.
Volunteers, professional ornithologists, entomologists, herpetologists, botanists, colleges, Scouts, all gathered together for 72 hours of nearly non-stop crawling, netting, scooping, photographing, GPS tagging, and sampling of all manner of living things in the parks borders.
At our time for departure mid sunday, the break down was roughly:

20 different Amphibian species
300 insect species
18 species of mammals
19 species of reptiles
200 different species of flowers, weeds and shrubs
dozens of tree species
17 species of fish
dozens of bird species from the tiny runy throated Hummingbird to the Great Horned Owl, and all manner of birds in between!

This also happenned during the final transition of life for toads, and the woods and trails were covered in thousands of baby toads, that had just finished morphing from tadpoles to toads. The miniature little boogers were no bigger then the diameter of a pencil eraser coming out of every pond, creek and puddle!

I know for a fact next year we will be back for this, and anyone interested in nature should keep their eyes peeled for the date of the next one as well.

What "Shops" would you like to see move in to downtown?

As for me it would be the following;

1.) A photography and camera store with REAL cameras, film and digital, processing, and studio space to rent to photographers who need space for a shoot.

2.) a Dance supply store for all the kiddos in theater, dance lessons, etc. (have to go out in metro louisville now)

3.) a Small theater company (small scale plays put on by local actors)

4.) A locally owned and operated hardware store (yeah I know we have ace hardware)

What about you guys? What would be on the top of your lists?

A Special Thanks

A special thanks to Mr.Kozarovich of the New Albany Tribune for taking the time to get in contact with me regarding the Floyd County V.F.W. Mens Auxiliary Post #3281 offer to replace the U.S. flag that was stolen from the front of our home.

The one thing about our community, is that when something bad happens, there is ALWAYS people out there willing to do what they can to make it right.

THANK YOU MR. MARTIN, from my wife, daughter and myself.

Submitted To The New Albany Tribune

Thievery Hits A New Low In New Albany...

Sometime on April 29th, the thievishness elements of our fair city hit a new low. Aside from the all to common theft of bicycles, car stereos, and anything made of copper that is not under armed guard, a person or persons walked up to the front of my home and stole from us a monetarily inexpensive item, but an item of great sentimental value, the nostalgic value of this object is based in patriotism and remembrance of a recently deceased loved one.

Shortly before my Father-in-law passed away, he had given to me and my family a new American Flag to replace one that had been flown in front of my house for the better part of a decade. The tattered old Flag was retired, and the new flag had went up on a freshly painted pole.

The flag was mounted on the front brick column of my home, and at 6'2" I could barely reach the mount to place the Flag, and yet a kleptomaniac could not resist the urge to tresspass and steal a symbol of our country and a last gift to our family from a dying man. Shame on the person or persons who stole this flag, for what ever means they felt the need to steal it.

The ugliness of this crime is in the fact the perpetrator(s) do not stand to gain monetarily from this crime, and by choosing to steal this symbol of our Country, they have defiled the flag and everything that it stands for.

loathsome....

Breaking and Entering is perhaps one of the worst things a person can experience in their lives. The loss of the sense of security can weigh heavy on a persons mind for years after the incident.
But when a criminal piece of shit feels the need to break into a clinic that is there to help to poor who can not afford health care, smash the place up, bust the windows and walls with a brick, and scatter glass shards all over a children's table and books, well, in the interest of maintaining at least a PG-13 rating, I would get into name calling....
On March 18th at about 11:15 pm, person or persons unknown used a brick to break a window in the Family Health Center to gain entry to the waiting room area of the clinic, once inside they trashed the walls, kicked around the chairs, and ripped from the wall a television service that provided valuable health information to the patients. Fortunately the cleaning crew was actually in the building at the time, working in the basement and heard the commotion and called me right away, I instructed them to get out of the building and call 911 from their cellphones, and that I was on my way.
Hearing the cleaning crew leave the basement, the would be robbers fled... Thank GOD they chose to flee and not to do any harm to the husband and wife cleaning crew we employ, it bad enough the cleaners are elderly, and in the building alone late at night!
Being the gun toting "redneck" that I am, I strapped on my Sig .357 auto loader, and hit the road and arrived about the same time as JPD. A complete building search showed the perps were definitely gone, but the damage was done, and the cleaners very shaken.
Justice? Oh yes there is justice.... The "HDTV" is not an HDTV. It is a 32" HDM dedicated for the specific application provided by the commercial company that provides the health information programming. They did not even have the chance to get the power cord, and even with that, the HDM will not function unless attached to the specific equipment for the service.
IN YOUR FACE!! HA HA!!
After boarding up the windows in the rain, and paying the cleaning crew extra for helping to clean up the mess after pictures were taken and the police were done, I jumped in my jeep, soggy, aching, and tired and quite ready for bed since it was after 1am.
And when it rains it pours, I'm wet, I'm dirty, I have glass slivers all over my clothes, and I am damn tired. Jumping on Browns Station way, the dreamy thoughts of my comfy bed are filling my tired mind, when I see a sea of red and blue lights just across the silver street bridge in New Albany. Lo and Behold, I get stuck in the middle of an Indiana State Police sobriety check point.
Remember the inclusion of the Sig .357 auto loader???
So now I am wet, dirty, tired, ARMED, angry about the break in, surrounded by a dozen state troopers, exclaiming I am armed, and that I have my permit, and I wont make a single move unless they ask me to.
After checking my permit, and my drivers credentials, on my way again at 1:30am.....

IF ANYONE SHOULD HAVE ANY INFORMATION RELATED TO THIS BREAK IN PLEASE CALL THE JEFFERSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT OR CONTACT ME!
The money we have to pay for the repairs to walls, glass, etc is money that could have gone to paying for medications and labs for people with out insurance, and no financial means to pay for it themselves. (even though logic would indicate that this was done by a patient, unfortunately)

out and around (at least a little bit)

Arts V. Athletics

First off, I admit in this posting, that I am biased, always have been, always will be. Yet it still seems to me, bias or not, something is just not right here.

How many people out there are aware that we have 4 girls at NAHS that are among the best solo vocalists in the entire state? (and not pop, rock, or R&B, we're talking classical Aria's here)

We also have a significant number of singers who had been accepted into the Indiana All State Honors Choir. Yet during the announcements at school, when it comes to celebrating the arts, and the achievements of the students who pursue them, all that can be heard is the rustling of papers between the announcements regarding athletics.

Recently our school system saw fit to spend millions of dollars on a new weight room, yet our performance choir can not afford to have their robes cleaned more than once per year. The Theater Department is in the red, participation in the music programs are low.

Stories in the local media regarding the bravery, the skill, the pride with our local athletics have nearly daily coverage, yet I challenge any readers to find the names of the girls who took gold and silver at the state level of vocals.....

No before any sports fans blow a gasket, I am not saying I am against High School Athletics, that is not the case at all. What I am saying is the school systems has seemed to lose sight of "cultural education", and so much emphasis is placed on competetive sports, and the students engaged in such activities are treated like stars, yet those who are interested in the arts and music seem to be treated with a mild interest, kind of like a cute stray dog who is thrown a scrap now and again...

"You are all fundamentalists with a top dressing of science. That is why you are the stupidest of conservatives and reactionists in politics and the most bigoted of obstructionists in science itself. When it comes to getting a move on you are all of the same opinion: stop it, flog it, hang it, dynamite it, stamp it out."

~George Bernard Shaw

I have grown accustomed to having erred fingers pointing at me, accussing me of random things I had had not done. Hey, its part of my job to handle this.

But recently an anonymous troglodyte accused myself, Mr. Baylor, and Mr. Wimp of only wanting to remove the poor from the city of New Albany by forcing upon all landlords unequal standards of code enforcement.

And again, I ad my disclaimer here, not all landlords are slumlords, and few slumlords are landlords. A city does not notice the landlords.

I had responded in kind to one of these accusations that this is not about railroading the poor out of town, and this is not about going after every landlord in town either. Simply put, and it can not be put any simpler, yet there are those who can not seem to understand, if you keep your property up to minimum standards as set forth in city, state, and federal housing laws, then you need not lose a wink of sleep, or be over burdened with the city government demanding half of your rental income to keep "anything from happining to your property" (last bit spoken with a heavy mafia type accent)

Indeed, this measure is not only being pushed for the general well being of the city at large, but more for the "poor" than anyone else. Being of lower income should not mean that you have no choice but to rent from an unscrupulous slumlord who feels it is okay to profit from a structure with non-functioning plumbing, faulty electrical systems, no heat, and infested with rodents and/or insects.

OF INFESTATIONS AND HEALTH

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=22&cont=312

It is no secret that the number of children and adults who are developing asthma and severe allergies from exposure to excrement from Cockroaches. "From 23 percent to 60 percent of urban residents with asthma are sensitive to the cockroach allergen".

And most who fall into this demographic are also medically indigent, or reliant on government programs to substidize their health care needs. When it comes to the needs of the indigent or substidized medical needs of this demographic, who indeed pays for the emergency room visits, the nebulizers, the inhalers, and daily oral medication to control this rapidly expanding population of asthmatics due to chronic exposure to infestations of cockroaches?

They pay with their health and well being, we pay with our taxes, and increases in costs related to our own healthcare as the hospitals scramble to make up for the expenditures they have to write off. And yet the slumlord continues to take money in, month after month, profiteering from the very practice that in the long run costs us all.

Chronic exposure to mold, mildew, rodent dander and excrement also add to this toll. (http://www.afhh.org/dah/dah_rodents.htm)

I knew a family who had rented from a notorius slumlord as they awaited the purchase and completion of their new home. They stayed in the house for a mere 6 months. The youngest child, who was no more than 3 years old at the time, had been a healthy girl. By the fifth month of being exposed to the present mold, and roach droppings, the child had developed asthma, and required regular intervention and medications. The owner of the property refused to have an exterminator survey the house, and refused to allow the tenants to do so, out of fear that no one would want to rent the property if there were insecticides in the home.
Needless to say they packed up and moved out, and basically threw out much of what they owned due to in creepy crawly pests. Years later the child still remains overly sensative to exposure to roaches. Fortunately this family had the means to out, and made a crucial mistake from who they rented from, most families do not have a choice.
If we were to set property value issues aside, and tax base issues aside, should we, as a community, at least not stand together against the practice of renting out homes that are known to be infested with rodents and/or insects?
Just some food for thought........

A voice of Gold

CONGRATULATIONS MORGANNE!

On Valentines day my Daughter Morganne went to regional solo competition in Scottsburg, and sang Schirmer's arrangement of Antonio Caldera's ( 1670-1736) aria antiche "Alma del Core" (Soul of My Heart).

Being a natural soprano, with a shockingly clear, powerful voice, that still leaves family members with gaping jaws thinking " Is that our Morganne singing?", under the instruction of Ivana Conrad, and Mrs. Derungs from NAHS she nailed the Aria and took the gold at the regionals, next stop is the State solo competion in Indy the first weekend of March.

Congratulations Morganne, we are all VERY proud of you!

A big Burley surpise

In a health care finance meeting, I learned some information that does not come as much of a shock. The tobacco tax hike that Governor Mitch pushed so hard for to provide health care for thousands of Hoosiers with the money raised from the taxes, has had some funny twists and turns on its way through the coffers.

According to the information I had learned, municipal hospitals funding from the state was cut by $50 million. They were then "awarded" $32 million dollars across the state, apparently the difference went into the HIP program (the miracle plan that would provide health care to thousands of Hoosiers with out insurance). Apparently the government also wanted to implement a program called HIP 2, which was contested by the municipal hospitals because of the abysmal failure and difficulties related to the original recipe HIP.

We also learned that the reimbursement rate for medicaide is going to drop an additional 5%, while the number of people added to medicaide is expected to raise, even more so when one considers that a proposed unemployment benefit will be enrollment in medicaide.

In essence, comprehensively care for more people, with less money.

Oh yeah, about those pesky tobacco taxes, that little thing where a minority of the population is expected to carry the lions share of the tax burden for the expenditures associated with state provided insurance assistance, According to at least one highly ranked local hospital administrator, the majority of that wonderful money that was to provide health care to the uninsured has went to fluffy feel good projects for anti-tobacco education and coalitions. Sure, lets take money away from community hospitals, give them a fraction of that back, institute program riddled with hurdles and problems to the point that any self respecting practitioner with a business to run, a staff to pay, supplies to buy, and still manage to earn a living, will stay away from because of the issues related to collecting dwindling payments with extra long waits to get reimbursed for services.

So, we raised the tobacco taxes, and promised the money would go to health care for the indigent, and instead we are paying for "be smart, don't start" T-shirts, and "Anti-smokey" the bear.

Don't get me wrong, intervention is VERY important-

BUT...

Each week we are adding 15 to 25 new patients in our Clark county office alone, losing maybe one patient per month from them getting insurance, or moving to more fruitful areas. And they are "sicker" patients with more serious health issues.

While the federal government is making strides in improving the network of FQHC's (federally qualified health centers) , the state is really dropping the ball here.

Just food for thought, all in all, what will you do when your boss comes around with your pink slip?

Mitch promised that the money from tobacco taxes would be there to care for those who need medical help, and in the end, it was all a lie.

So what is the point of this rant? The can be filed under the title of the hell if I know. I just know I am mad about it. If you are going to tax a particular section of the population based on untrue data (the health care costs related to morbid obesity is outpacing the health care costs related to tobacco use), then by God, at least make damn sure that the money goes to what you say it is going for. Put OUR money where your mouth is, stop the fluff and help people!

Taking some time out of my morning commute to stop and enjoy the sunrise along the Ohio River...

Cedar Waxwings

Expecting only to get out and get a few shots of the ice and snow Saturday Morning, we were treated to a show by three cedar waxwings feeding on berries on a tree along the Ohio River.
These guys paid no attention to us, and allowed us to walk right up to them.

Getting out and around...