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!