NA Confidential: July

Showing posts with label July. Show all posts

Monday, August 05, 2019

Gahan's violence against the homeless dominates NA Confidential's Top Ten list of posts for July, 2019.

The Democratic Party's raging
self-delusion was a hot topic in July.

Thanks for reading NA Confidential, where we enjoy reconnoitering the neglected periphery for uniquely local perspectives on life in New Albany. Otherwise your only choice would be the Jeffersonville News and Evangelbune.

For July there are five honorable mention followed by the top ten posts, in ascending order.

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JULY HONORABLE MENTION (5)

789

It's the morning after the Sherman Minton Bridge meeting, and Alka-Seltzer isn't helping Dear Leader's mood.

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825

DemoDisneyDixiecratic Party chairman releases stunning statement about Gahan's violent homeless encampment takedown today -- and more on our Dear Leader's drumpf envy.

For the real poop, read the Courier-Journal: After 3-day delay, New Albany tears down secluded homeless camp.

For the self-serving bullshit, read Jeff Gahan's re-election page: But the beautiful people all love me dearly.

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847

There won't be any new restaurants in New Albany this week.

Thanks for indulging this test of NA Confidential's theory that any post explicitly mentioning restaurants or food in the title can be relied upon to quintuple the views of the ones that don't.

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872

Jimmy's Music Center has a new owner and will become Kentuckiana Music Center in a new location.

We were out of town when Anna Blanton announced the purchase of Jimmy's Music Center and a forthcoming move to the corner of Pearl and Elm opposite Harvest Homecoming's headquarters, which many of us remember as the space that never housed the cider bar.

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904

One fine anniversary evening at Brooklyn and The Butcher.

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JULY TOP 10

917

This just in: "Insider Louisville to cease publishing on August 7."

"It is a sad day for the Insider Louisville team as well as its dedicated board to report that the nonprofit’s last day of publication is Aug. 7, 2019."

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963

Gahan's boom that crashed: "Quite the tab (for taxpayers) for making vulnerable people's lives harder."

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1,023

Sherman Minton Bridge leadership litmus test as Mark Seabrook stays for the entire meeting, while Jeff Gahan lasts seven whole minutes.

As more than one onlooker confirmed, evidently one glance of 125 persons milling around the third floor ballroom caused Gahan's agoraphobia to kick in with a vengeance, and he turned tail and skedaddled, terrified of an unscripted setting in an enclosed space amid uncontrollable people. Probably there exists medication for this condition, maybe even marijuana-laced Rice Krispies Treats with a Kool-Aid chaser, although first the patient must concede to being ill.

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1,034

Sherman Minton Bridge refurbishment: "Construction is scheduled to start in early 2021 and take two to three years."

All we can do at this point is humbly beseech Horseshoe/Caesar/Whatever the multi-national gaming entity is calling itself this decade to help save us from a total shutdown.

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1,044

The Harvest Homecoming Parade has a new starting time of 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 5.

I'm told the reasoning for the later starting time is to encourage parade participation (iffy) and to provide a natural segue into evening dining hours for participants and spectators alike in the hope they'll roam downtown (entirely possible). It seems like a good idea to me. Should we still begin porchside drinking at 10:00 a.m. or wait until 1:00 p.m.?

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1,049

Three eyewitness viewpoints as Governor Holcomb stumps for Mark Seabrook.

Following are three perspectives of last night's Mark Seabrook for Mayor fundraiser at the Calumet Club, written by Josh Turner, Dale Bagshaw and Nick Vaughn.

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1,088

Fresh eatery in New Albany: El Rico Taco is now open in Destinations Booksellers.

El Rico Taco is open for business at 604 East Spring Street, taking over the cafe space in the rear where Taco Steve formerly operated. But pay heed: El Rico Taco is a different cut of cloth.

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1,140

Bartender sez: "I don’t always enjoy telling people they can’t have the drink they’ve asked me for, but when I do, it’s because someone ordered an Irish car bomb."

Or maybe it should be renamed: "Hey, sweetheart, can I have one of those I'm a Culturally Illiterate American Cocktails?" No, it isn't St. Patrick's Day, although it's never too late to learn something.

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1,524

Exit 0's Paul Stensrud pulls zero punches v.v. Gahan's violence against the homeless: "In order for things to change there needs to be a change of hands within local government."

Watch the video, and ponder the true nature of Gahan's "compassion." Has a single ranking Democrat spoken publicly about the housing camp demolition?

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4,283 (posted at Facebook only)
New Albany Democrats heartily applaud as Jeff Gahan sends in the bulldozers to demolish a homeless camp.

Hmm, where are the voices of the progressive social justice advocates who idolize the mayor? Seems all we're hearing is cowardly static. Thanks to Marty Miller of The Aggregate for this photo.

Sunday, August 05, 2018

Taco, Tiki and the Top Ten posts at NA Confidential for July 2018.

Longboard's Taco & Tiki grabbed July's top spot.

If you're on Twitter and aren't following Hon. Deaf Gahan, go there immediately and enjoy the shadow mayoral account.

Thanks for reading NA Confidential, where we enjoy reconnoitering the neglected periphery for uniquely local perspectives on life in New Albany.

City Hall's allegations to the contrary, it can be grasped quite clearly that hundreds of you are reading, and we believe this fact attests to a keen ongoing interest in grassroots New Albany stories, perhaps because they're being chronically under-served elsewhere. After all, fawning stenography and inexorably multiplying religion columnists can get a newspaper only so far.

The July list begins with five "honorable mention" posts, before concluding with the Top Ten, escalating to No. 1. These statistics are derived from Google's internal accounting.

JULY HONORABLE MENTION (5)

404

Illicit Summit Springs Phase Two work, redux: Can't Team Gahan's lickspittles get their damn stories straight?

Wait, is Scott Wood somehow getting his groove back?

He'd best be careful, because to contradict Mike Hall -- the city's chief propagandist and royal court food taster -- might well to bring the wrath of Dear Leader down upon him.

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419

That ugly word again: Plan Commission to consider "luxury" car sales at HyperCars on 13th and Spring.

Now the owner of HyperCars, a newly minted auto detailing shop in the former ServPro building on the southwest corner of Spring and 13th, wants to sell "luxury" used cars.

This recurring word, "luxury." But like Mayor Fouts up in Warren said, "it's still a used car lot."

I looked all over New Albany's zoning code and found no reference to "luxury" anything. The C-1b zoning classification refers to a "local" business, and it references the stipulations of C-1a, which seems to be describing small neighborhood retail shops, not car sales, hence the special exception being sought.

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421

In 2017, days after Denton Floyd closed on the Reisz building using taxpayer money, these four high rollers involved with the project all donated to Jeff Gahan's re-election campaign.

$8,500 in one day's not a bad cut, eh? In 2017,the mayor sucked in just shy of $60,000 that we know about -- and it wasn't an election year. If you want to know what the Reisz building is about, follow the money -- and keep track of the transactions.

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439

Reisz Elephant people power tonight? If we're to spend $10,000,000 on anything, it should be for as many people as possible, not one single government building.

June of 2018 will be remembered as the month when Emperor Gahan's personality cult paraded past and the voice of a child rang out:

"But he isn't wearing anything at all!"

In future years, we'll look back and see an uninterrupted arc of hypocrisy, beginning with Gahan's hostile takeover of the New Albany Housing Authority in early 2017 alongside promises of rampant demolitions to come, and now culminating with tonight's fix-is-in $10,000,000 to construct his own luxury office suite.

440

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Whither Mr. White? I'd like to be an ant at THAT picnic.

There has been no formal announcement of David White's political plans, but a second primary challenge to Gahan seems likely. There'll be plenty of time to consider the implications, so we can leave it there for now. Suffice to say that things may be getting interesting. All together now:

#FireGahan2019

JULY TOP TEN

442

ON THE AVENUES: For Deaf Gahan and the Reisz Five, their luxury city hall will prove to be a Pyrrhic victory.

The broad outlines of an anti-anchor electoral coalition in 2019 increasingly are becoming visible. With each of Gahan’s grandiose and self-referential expenditures, the disgruntlement spreads.

The city’s lofty elites are over-confident, and the governing clique suffers from profound “institutional inbreeding.” The louder Gahan’s boasting becomes, and the greater his posturing, the more threadbare his personality cult’s clothing.

It’s true that Pinocchio Jeff will have pots of money in 2019, but the successful mobilization of Reisz refuseniks convinces me that we’re putting together a solid network for communication and cooperation.

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447

This letter is so poorly written that maybe Duggins actually dictated it.

Seems he would have known about "old and antiquated systems" all the way back in 2017.

If he did know, why wait for these systems to collapse before doing something?

If he didn't know, then isn't $125k per year a bit much to pay in salary to someone to be reactive rather than proactive for the sake of political propaganda when the well-being of residents (not residences) is at stake?

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485

Duggins, Gahan log into Priceline Dot Com as Riverview Towers residents are evacuated.

It's nice to see City Hall's efforts to address the ever-widening Compassion Gap by sending the Rev. Toran to deal with the media instead of Gauleiter Duggins, who has been too busy blaming Bob Lane for Duggins' own multiplicity of shortcomings to notice that living, breathing humans are in need of attention.

It's a kinder, gentler public housing putsch, wouldn't you say?

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490

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: The forthcoming beer list at Pints&union (bottle and can edition).

Old-timers will notice the presence of "comfort beers," "neglected classics" and "greatest beer hits" alongside beers like Stroh's, Old Style and Little Kings. The juxtaposition is purely intentional.

Indeed, it's a more egalitarian list than I would have written at the peak of polemical fervor, with fewer local craft brews; as noted previously, in my view the revolution has succeeded in large measure, and there are numerous American craft beers being vended in downtown New Albany.

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501

Duggins spreads blame, manure as the air conditioning at Riverview Towers fails on HIS watch.

Can anyone remember a single instance of a Team Gahan operative admitting to error? Cults of personality are like that, you know.

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530

ON THE AVENUES: Thanks to Joe Phillips, there'll be pints, union and good times downtown.

I’d like you to meet Joe Phillips.

Joe and I have spent considerably more than a year discussing the concept henceforth to be known as Pints&union. While I contributed to the theoretical vision and will be representing the pub’s beer on a daily basis, it needs to be understood that Joe’s the main man behind Pints&union.

I’m the rhythm guitarist, a supporting actor, or maybe just a guy who fervently wishes his friend and former employee to succeed in this entrepreneurial venture, and will do whatever is necessary to contribute to this end. I'm heavy into Pints&union -- I'm just not the big guy. That's more than fine with me.

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597

Plan Commission to consider phase two of the Summit Springs Kelley Enrichment cluster muck development atrocity.

Do you really think anyone would bear the brunt of the cost to develop in the wrong place if not eased by public subsidies? Equally obvious is the connection between those public subsidies, the mayor, and a firm like Jacobi, Toombs & Lanz.

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600

Did the developer of Phase 2 at the Summit Springs Luxury Mudslide Strip Mine Fun Park violate a cease and desist order yesterday?

At a time when public housing residents face daily insults from their colonial overlords as a prelude to demolition, Team Gahan brags about million-dollar condos in the middle of a strip mine.

Amid the blather and propaganda, we can be sure of one truthful eventuality: the volume of stormwater runoff coming from Summit Springs will be matched only by the amount of kickbacks flowing into the mayor's campaign piggy bank.

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646

Let's talk about the 8% and their affordable slots in the 14-story luxury middle finger high atop Summit Springs.

Have there been public incentives and subsidies involved?

Look at it this way: the city

is paying for the road, and short of a privately financed gondola, there can be no hilltop strip mine development without a road past the white elephants (I mean, bison) to the, er, summit.

Want to bet the city's own 8 percent rule won't apply to living spaces within the Gahan Memorial Tumescence Tower?

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1,247

LIVE TO EAT: Longboard's Taco & Tiki will open this Friday, July 27.

Let the record show two verified food and drink establishments debuting in downtown New Albany on Friday, July 27: Longboard's Taco & Tiki and the Double Barrel bar. There may even be a third; more on that some other time.

Thursday, August 03, 2017

Chatting on Fb about the street grid in NA: "The push to start reclaiming some of our streets and spaces for users and uses other than cars isn't a radical change."

In advocating two-way streets and other components of urban street grid reform, we've always referenced research and experience. We've pointed to successful reforms in other cities, and not just in Europe. I've come to expect a specific rebuttal, which constitutes a form of exceptionalism: "But New Albany is different. Biology and gravity might work the same here, but not street grids."

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441

LIVE TO EAT: "What is Mesa? It's every reason to cross the bridge from Louisville and to visit."

At Mesa for Peng Looi's night, I was seated next to the "The Bluegrass Mom" (Angel Hamilton) and her husband. The conversation was much appreciated. Here is her blog post about the evening, and you'll want to click through to see the photography.

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497

Democratic Party stalwart Warren Nash: Heck, this board hasn't ever approved social research study requests. Besides, we already have a captive sociologist.

Has board chairman and Democratic Party bigwig Warren Nash ever looked quite this flagrantly out of touch?
What was that? Oh, yes; you're right. The street piano debacle two years ago was worse.

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573

THE BEER BEAT: I guess if NABC isn't celebrating its 30th birthday, then I will, with a look back at the 25th.

"(Roger’s) never done anything in a positive manner to help the city of New Albany.”

Actually, during the opening phases of Rich O’s Public House during the early- to mid-1990s, with Oasis and Nirvana playing deafeningly in the background, we often pointed to Kentucky license plates in the parking lot as proof of things working out just as we had hoped. Gahan probably didn't notice, given the pressing and frenetic weight of adulation that customarily accompanies a career in veneer sales.

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581

All hail New Gahanian crosswalk puddle-a-bility: Brand new asphalt, concrete and ramps, and the same old non-drainage problem.

JULY TOP TEN

603

Grid Control, Vol. 16: What about HWC's cross hatching correction? Will this be finished before or after Team Gahan declares victory?

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678

Parking terror! "Mexico City just made it easier for real estate developers to avoid building parking."

"But it turns out sprawling parking lots and looming garages can actually create more traffic and make housing less affordable and city streets more difficult to navigate. By limiting the growth of its parking infrastructure, the largest city in North America thinks it can return some balance to its urban ecosystem. Listen up, United States: Your southerly neighbors might be on to something ... "

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700

Our sad New Albanian reality; driver destroys sidewalk infrastructure in first recorded instance of anti-two-way street grid terrorism.

File under: "Cry for Help."

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775

Grid Control, Vol. 17: Judging by the misdirection of this "CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP" sign, we now reside in the British Empire.

As our alert contributing reader (and driver) notes, "The signs posted for when Spring Street starts being two way have the arrows going the wrong way. Didn't know if you saw that but wanted to share with you. I personally need signs to give correct info and not lead me into oncoming traffic."

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797

Grid Control, Vol. 14: Yes, you can still park on the south side of Spring Street during the stalled two-way grid project.

In short, the dental office owner at this corner decided to paint his own parking spaces on public property, leading us to surmise that if he might do so without penalty, we also were free to begin painting crosswalks wherever we wished -- on public property.

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1,007

The Sacramento Valley Mirror: "I don’t see many small papers doing what we do."

"It does get people talking, that’s for sure. Nobody will admit to reading it, but everybody seems to know what he writes."

I'm interested in hearing from readers who are or have been in the newspaper business. Why does it take a cranky country publisher/curmudgeon to be the exception to what should be the rule?

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1,227

Grid Control, Vol. 13: "Dear Deaf Gahan and minions: FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP TRYING TO BE COOL AND DESIGNER-ISH. YOU'RE NOT, AND IT'S EMBARRASSING ALL OF US."

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1,318

Grid Control, Vol. 12: Meet the artistic crosswalk design equivalent of dogs playing poker.

That's because Jeff Gahan must crush genuine creativity wherever it arises spontaneously. When you've declared yourself the font of wisdom, the source of civic knowledge and the leading role -- when you read an delight in your own press clippings -- this is what happens.

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1,479

R.I.P. Brack Howard.

Roughly ten days ago, my cousin Sabrina messaged me to relay the news that our cousin Brack Howard had died. He was born in 1955, which places him at 61 or 62 at the time of his passing. I'm unfamiliar with the details.