Your Wednesday PourGate Update: Health department spins the web site wheel twice on Tuesday.

Well, THAT was fun ... and there's more to come, so let's review.

From about July 29, the following image (with banner and text) was displayed at the health department's web site.

At daybreak on Tuesday, it had been a full day since NABC's legal team utilized the usual certified channels to inform Floyd County's commissioners and the county health department of our cease and desist demand and tort claim notice, both pertaining to the infamously staged and defamatory tableau above.

We decided to combat county government's traditionaly stubborn opaqueness by letting the community know exactly what was coming down, as summarized here:

A cease and desist, a tort claim notice, and Dr. Tom at large.

While the record-setting hit count blog turnstile spun, apparently the health department's elephantine gears were beginning to show signs of nudging ever so inefficiently, with the result that by 3:30 p.m., there was a departmental website alteration, which was described here: Floyd County Health Department adds photo of handsome devil to its web site, but retains actionable photo.

The "stock photo" that wasn't remained, as did the banner, but a smaller headline was appended with new text detailing public access news reported here at NAC roughly three weeks ago. Timely they're not. And yet the cleverness wasn't over. Around 10:00 p.m. yesterday, the web site underwent a second change. Now the Floyd County Health Department is working to keep food safe from Roger -- not E coli.

As Typhoid Roger, a veritable human pathogen, my legend as anti-hero now is cemented -- seared into the memory of all those gazing at the health department's web site, and thinking to themselves: Is this REALLY local government at work?

Amid the health department's renewed efforts to make this summer's seminar into something personal, permit me to point out yet again what it's really all about:

The New Albanian Brewing Company’s (NABC) is in a bit of a tiff with the Floyd County Health Department (FCHD). The spat was prompted by the FCHD, and it’s all about Indiana law, and whether the law considers beer to be food.

As much as I'd like to spend the day monitoring the health department's web site to see what sort of Animal House throwbacks are posted next, it's time to drive to Indianapolis for a Brewers of Indiana Guild quarterly meeting, during which there'll be the chance to receive updates as to our progress on the state front.

In the meantime, you are encouraged to let the principle players in this melodrama know what you think. Is character assassination on a govenrment agency's web site really the best use of tax dollars? Is this really the style of county government we need?

Write the commissioners here: commissioners@floydcounty.in.gov ... and write the FCHD’s Dr. Tom Harris here: tharris@floydcounty.in.gov

It's highly doubtful that any of them will reply, but please let them know where you stand.