One whole year after our bridge fell ill, tolls still suck.

On Sunday, September 9, 2012, it will have been one year since the Sherman Minton Bridge closed "indefinitely," a period that turned out to be six months long.  The resulting snafu was so devastating that New Albany very nearly was compelled to market itself as "Come To City," although saner heads eventually prevailed.

The photo above was taken early in the evening of Friday, September 9, 2011, at the Carnegie Center's annual fundraiser.

Bring on the acid: Kerry Stemler sips, picks and grins as the Sherman Minton Bridge closes.

Looking back on it a year later, I stand by what I wrote on the following day, when the fog of uncertainty as yet enveloped us. Perhaps KStem will be back tonight when the Carnegie event reconvenes. If so, perhaps I'll ask him about CART joining the River Fields lawsuit.

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Sept.10, 2011: Sherman Minton bridge down, Kerry Stemler high like a kite.

What we know, apart from the inevitable sensationalism and multi-generational rumors, is that the Sherman Minton Bridge has been closed "indefinitely" owing to cracks, and that we'll now awake to helicopters each morning as though we were living in one of those places that we routinely bomb in order to ensure a reliable supply of petrol to feed Kerry Stemler's "mobility" solution.

Standing for a couple hours at last night's Carnegie Center fundraiser, serving beer samples and watching the inveterate bridge fetishist Stemler cradle insipid white wine while grinning like a screaming skull on acid, does nothing to inspire one's resistance to conspiracy theories, but being an adult, it is possible to compartmentalize: Nothing that Mitch Daniels says can be trusted, now or two days ago, and at the same time, nothing can be done about any of it right now.

The heavy governmental hitters now will reach a conclusion, and once they reveal it, we'll work through the resulting mess and survive, while at the same time knowing that there has been little money or effort allocated by the state of Indiana to maintain such infrastructure, even as the Tolling Authority devises methods to inflict daily incremental pain, which will be more severe in the coming weeks, and all the errant conclusions derived from the Sherman Minton's structural condition, as trumpeted by the folks at 1Si, can now be used to fluff the oligarchs -- as though they needed any more fluffing.

So it goes. Stay tuned.

ON THE AVENUES: Bridge localism lesson boogie.

ON THE AVENUES: Bridge localism lesson boogie.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor. 

Last September, my first reaction upon hearing the Sherman Minton Bridge had been closed to traffic was intemperate panic, and my second was to be profoundly embarrassed for having ever panicked in the first place.

So it goes, and fortunately, it took only a few minutes to progress from the first response to the second, thus sparing my conscience a considerable amount of accrued annoyance, of which there was plenty falling outside my immediate zone of control without having to grapple with any more dissonance internally.

It didn’t take long to grasp that amid the wailing and flagellation, public morale actually does matter, and the Sherman Minton situation taught us that there are times when it is best to ignore the recently escalating American talent for tearful talk-show disclosures, and instead emulate the stiff upper lip renowned of our British cousins. It isn’t necessary to agree with Winston Churchill’s often repugnant conservative politics to recognize his talents as a unifying symbol amid the genuine chaos of wartime.

Taken as a whole, New Albany had sufficient resolve to acquit itself well, and even if the extent of the Sherman Minton situation was exaggerated in the beginning, most of us got it right in the end.

I persist in thinking it was shortsighted of local businesses, leaders and movers of any stripe to conflate the bridge closing with any notion of disaster, particularly using the enduringly aggravating “Shermageddon” tag in reference to what was an entirely imaginary apocalypse.

I might have grudgingly accepted “Shermageddon’s” usage had the bridge fallen into the river, but happily, it did not, and when all was said and driven, it was an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. Surely the real heroes of the closure were our Southern Indiana commuters, practically all of whom had no other transit options available except automobiles for use in reaching their jobs in Louisville.

Pathetically, they still won’t have options for the foreseeable future, and this neglected future transport tense is why it was sadly predictable (and as a bonus, often outrageously hilarious) to watch One Southern Indiana and other regional oligarch enrichment cadres rushing forward like so many smirking Keystone Kops, cynically leveraging the area’s mounting commuter ire by intensifying the propaganda broadsides in favor of their pathologically (un)necessary Ohio River Bridges Project -- itself perhaps the ultimate in bloated, auto-centric “immobility solutions,” as meant to dictate regional development choices for the rest of our lives, and far beyond.

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Did an off-line Sherman Minton Bridge under repair somehow “prove” the need for the ORBP?

No, but it amply illustrated the common-sense case for the East End Bridge component of the ORBP, while just as obviously explicating the sheer, breathtaking folly of another downtown bridge to be thrown merrily into the already bottleneck-laden scrum in that vicinity.

What’s more, five months of commuter pain resulted in something so obvious that we’ve already been saying it for years:

Having a modicum of discretionary choice, numerous Louisvillians chose to remain firmly ensconced on the Kentucky side, and to my knowledge, not once did we hear a Louisville eatery in the Highlands complaining aloud about the drop in business owing to the bridge closure. Meanwhile, far larger numbers of Hoosiers grappled with their daily, entirely non-discretionary delays to travel into Kentucky and accomplish nothing more than to arrive at work on time.

If this isn’t the best-ever, real-world argument against tolling, which if implemented will inequitably tax working Hoosiers in a regressive, unforgivable manner, I’m not sure what is.

But facts are the peskiest of irritants, and we can expect none of these considerations to lodge in the granite-set craniums of ORBP advocates, whose faith in the ORBP more closely pertains to mystical religious zeal than anything remotely objective in nature.

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From a local markets standpoint, what I’m hoping will be the result of our five-month bout of bridge deprivation is an increased awareness of localism’s economic potential. We speak often of shifting, in the sense of changing ways of spending, thinking and doing, and surely a degree of shift demonstrably occurred during the time the bridge was out of service.

Although my optimism may be misplaced given New Albany’s fatal proclivity for territorial pissing, I continue to believe that lessons learned from the Sherman Minton’s convalescence will result in greater recognition of the possibilities inherent in ideas like those represented by New Albany First.

In part, this is because I believe in the utility of rising expectations, and crazily persist in thinking that the business owners doing the most to create jobs and revitalize the local economy are doing it at the small, independent, grassroots level, and should have a greater voice in economic decision-making commensurate with their greater achievements.

It’s as simple as that, and it isn’t necessarily a “political” pronouncement. Think of it as a pronouncement of personal intent during the coming months, because there’s been some measure of confusion, and I’m determined to allay it.

From its inception, New Albany First has been intended as an association of independent, local, small businesses, as defined by specific criteria – not as an arbiter of foreign-owned industrial park occupants, not as a dispenser of funding via Indiana’s enterprise zone legislation, not as a pillar of historic preservation, and not as the city’s designated event-planner.

Know this: Nothing that New Albany First might choose to do now or in the future threatens in any conceivable way these other worthy pursuits, as pursued by other variably useful community organizations. In fact, there is no reason whatever why all these aims cannot be complementary and coordinated, but this must be done in an atmosphere of shared equality; from the bottom up, and from side to side, but not from the top down.

2011 was compelling proof of top-down’s dismal Englandish failure, just as the portion of the year spent without the Sherman Minton Bridge in service was evidence that we must row in one direction when it comes to local economic development. It’s not about picking one winner and endowing it. It’s about improving the odds for as many potential winners as possible, using all the resources available.

Which tunes will we be dancing to in 2012?

Me? I like all kinds of music.

Just as long as we don't "reach out" to surrounding areas ...

The information below was received earlier today from Mandy at the Holiday Inn Express.

Of course, my suggestion would be for these Bridge To City festivities to include a significant "But We're Still Against Bridge Tolls, Damn It" component.

I'm going to assume that what follows represents some semblance of a grassroots effort, absent One Southern Indiana's typically toll-happy, leaden hand of paternalism, or other local organizations stretching out palms for someone else's seed money. Of course, I will try to attend tomorrow morning to report back to you, the loyal reader.

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I apologize for the late notice, but I would like to extend the following invitation to you:


Please join us on Tuesday morning, February 14th, 8:30 am, at the Holiday Inn Express in New Albany, located at 411 W. Spring Street, for a 1 hour brainstorm/planning discussion about a Bridge Opening celebration in New Albany.


Communities in Southern Indiana have met with Southern Indiana Convention-Tourism to identify March 2,3,4 as a Regional bridge opening celebration weekend. There will be TV and Radio ads bought to promote our celebrations. There will also be email blasts and Newspaper ads, notifying our region about the celebrations. Each of us will receive a decal to go in our windows notifying the community that we are a part of this celebration.


What does New Albany want to do -- block party, celebration at a specific location, specials for folks coming that weekend? Please join us on Tuesday to finalize the details!


Secondly, The website www.openbridgesindiana.com has been set up to share any offers businesses want to extend during the entire month of March. Please forward your information and specials to: John@interondesign.com


We have also established a Facebook Page: Open Bridges to Southern Indiana. Please like the page and feel free to post your offers on there as well. Share with all of your friends so they can "Like" the page too. Lets get some posts on this page regarding the great experiences we have had at our fellow businesses!


Please join us Tuesday to plan an event to Welcome our region BACK to New Albany! I look forward to seeing you all there!!!

Thank you, John Gonder. That's exactly what I was thinking.

"I can't help but wonder what could have been a better use of this benevolence."

Is the Horseshoe Foundation's cool million a necessary bonus, or unnecessary charity? What's a few days going to matter, anyway?

At-large councilman John Gonder's blog posting is reprinted in its entirety here.

The Little Bridge That Could ('ve)

The Horseshoe Foundation has offered an incentive of one million dollars to get the Sherman Minton Bridge open earlier. While the community spirit of this organization is well-known and welcome, I can't help but wonder what could have been a better use of this benevolence.

Since the bridge closed in September, what if that noteworthy sum had been committed to a timely reopening of the K & I Bridge? A minor, but vital, link between New Albany and Louisville would have been re-established. Access for cross-river workers may have been eased a tiny bit. Off hour traffic would have been a snap. (Direct travel to the Horseshoe Casino would have been easy, as would the directions--get off the bridge, turn left, stop at the boat.)

But now, as the imminent reopening of the Sherman Minton approaches, the renewed K & I would settle back into a pattern of reduced relevance for workers and gamblers, yet the bridge would remain. We could soon be engaged in a productive discussion of how best to incorporate The Little Bridge That Could've into a soon-to-be-unveiled Greenway and,how best to utilize that structure as a link for bike and pedestrian traffic across the river.

Those primary uses of the bridge would not preclude the use of the bridge as a steam valve to let off some of the congestion caused by a bridge closure in the future. It would also serve as a link to life saving emergency services if another bridge were blocked or closed.

Apparently, the value of having the Shermn Minton open about 25 days earlier is worth about $40,000 per day to the casino. Once the gamblers have replenished the coffers, perhaps the Horseshoe Foundation would see fit to throw about a month's worth of that forty Gs a day toward a revitalized K & I bridge. All the current incentive is buying now is some time, but a renewed K & I would be a real and lasting benefit to the community.

“I think the bridge is doing me a favor."

I think so, too. One of the most revealing aspects of the bridge closure has been watching the media watching us, don't you think? As business people, we express optimism ... and too often, they just want something to attach -geddon to.

Restaurant owners hopeful ahead of New Albany openings, by Harold J. Adams (Courier-Journal)

Walking along East Market Street in New Albany you can’t miss the bright yellow and blue colors painted outside Louis Le Francais, the French restaurant adding the latest international touch to the city’s recent downtown restaurant renaissance.

“Louie the Frenchman” is directly across the street from La Bocca Italian restaurant which is only a few doors away from the Habana Blues Cuban restaurant around the corner from La Rosita Mexican establishment.

Owner Louis Retailleau says the bright hues are typical colors of his native southwest France. “They are happy color, the sun, the sky, the earth.”

This happy Frenchman has been preparing nonstop for a Friday night private preview opening at the restaurant at 133 East Market Street. It’s a party “to give an idea of what I’m creating here in New Albany...a French restaurant with a Frenchman at the helm,” Retailleau said during a brief pause Thursday.

The Armagnac native is trying to recreate a typical small French restaurant “with a lot of atmosphere, a lot of ambiance” at a reasonable price, he said.

The menu will include such staple dishes as duck l’orange, lamb with au jus and cassoulet. Thursday afternoon he lifted the lid on a giant kettle of simmering lamb stock that would be 18 hours in the making ahead of Friday night’s invitation-only party.

Louis Le Francais will open to the general public on a yet to be determined date in early November beginning with a dinner-only prix fixe menu for somewhere in the neighborhood of $25.

“That will be an appetizer, salad, the main course (and) dessert,” he said.

Retailleau said he’s not concerned that the closure of the nearby Sherman Minton Bridge might prevent some potential Louisville customers from crossing the Ohio River to sample his fare.

“I think the bridge is doing me a favor,” he said. “Because there is a flow of people from New Albany and the North that used to go to Louisville, and I hope they will come here, try it and love it and come back.”

There is similar optimism two doors away at Quills Coffee which is also slated to open sometime in November. The coffee shop is maintaining its original Baxter Avenue location in Louisville and adding another in U of L’s Cardinal Towne center but will centralize the operation in New Albany, wholesale account manager Philip Revell said.

“We’re going to roast all the coffee there and then distribute to the Baxter location and the U of L location, and to wholesale customer’s too,” Revell said. More than a few fellow New Albany merchants are hoping the confidence of Retailleau and Revell is well placed.

Will the Sherman Minton be back on line by March 2?

News story: Bridge repairs set to be done by March 2

Photo credit: News and Tribune's Kevin McGloshen

Let's rant for a bit on opportunistic sales buzzards ...

Apart from all other considerations, it's grimly humorous to note the noticeable changes in the composition of attendees during those first two Tuesday morning "emergency" Merchant Mixer meetings, which took place at the Grand in the immediate wake of the Sherman Minton Bridge's closing on September 9.

During the first meeting, there were more business owners and the usual collection of concerned parties from government and non-profits. At the second meeting, there were fewer locals and more carrion-pickers, i.e., sales people of varying stripes looking to capitalize on anxiety by means of their proven records of successfully extracting money for advertising schemes, coupon giveaways, and social media ... whatever.

Over the weekend, a representative from Clear Channel (the radio monopoly, not Amy Adams' political fluffability barometer) contacted us with a sure-fire radio advertising plan to ease the pain of Shermageddon.

This is as good a time as any to remind her and others:

(1) There'll be no audiences for anyone who uses the term "Shermageddon," because it is what was avoided when the bridge was closed for repairs, and it did not actually occur. Exaggeration is bad, and tacky exaggeration borne of societal self-illiteracy is worse.

(2) As noted previously ...

Stop "reaching out" before I tear your arm off.

(3) Do not speak to me of coupons: Coupon Sites Are a Great Deal, but Not Always to Merchants.

What's that? You say you know the secret to small business success, and all I must do is pay you for it? But it you knew the secret, why aren't you in business yourself?

That's what I thought. Bye.

Today's gathering of politicians: "The last time I saw that many suits, I was at Value City."

Who let that last guy in?

Verdict: Six more months and a mere $20 million.

The moment we've all been waiting (and drinking) for ...

Ironically, with our weekly Bank Street Brewhouse team meeting set for 10:00 a.m., and the fire station conveniently situated along the
route downtown via the Spring Street bike lane, I might be able to flash my "These Machines Kill Fascists" shirt at St. Daniels and then still have time left over to open BSB early so as to deny entry to him when he asks for a belt o'bourbon before mounting his chopper to ride into one of those Major Move rathole cracks on the Sherman Minton Bridge

Sighhh ... a boy can dream.

Officials plan to provide time and cost of fixing bridge, by the C-J's Marcus Green.

The governors of Kentucky and Indiana plan Friday to deliver the news that thousands of people in their states have waited three weeks to hear — how long it will take to fix the Sherman Minton Bridge, and what it will cost.

While several government officials said the timeline for repairs could range between approximately three to six months, they stressed that the ultimate decision rests with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. Beyond announcing the news conference, their offices declined to comment.

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez is expected to join Beshear and Daniels at 9:30 a.m. at New Albany Fire headquarters.

Cummins on poverty and infrastructure.

It's Terry Cummins, not Stawar, and while the the OSIN columnist's essay ostensibly addresses bridges and infrastructure, he provides this devastating reminder of current American reality:

CUMMINS: A troubled bridge over stagnant waters

... Four hundred lucky Americans have more wealth than about 157 million other Americans combined. The richest 5 percent purchase 37 percent of consumer goods, and the richest fifth own 84 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 40 percent own only 0.3 percent. More than 46 million Americans now live below the poverty line, determined by a family of four existing on less than $22,000 per year, and we wonder why SAT scores go down. In 2009, 8,274 Americans made more than $10 million each, and it’s a hardship to kick in a little more to reduce the deficit and build a bridge.

86'ing heedless repetition.

"If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves...There's so much talk about the system. And so little understanding."

-Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Perhaps it's a bit early in the "adjustment" period, but the above quote shared by reader Josh and a neighbor's mention of how pleasant New Albany's downtown can be without the noise of interstate traffic have me (re)thinking.

Let's suppose the Sherman Minton Bridge needs replacement. The current projected cost of a new East End Bridge sans tunnel and other approaches is $406 million. One assumes a new Sherman Minton might come with a similar price tag. That's a lot. Given that level of expenditure, would merely replicating an interstate bridge really be the best investment of those dollars?

Haven't a lot of our issues in terms of urban devaluation and decay ridden shotgun on the destruction of Scribner Park and the insertion of an interstate into our downtown street grid and lives? The city's oft-referenced 20th century heyday was an interstate free affair.

Like Steve Wiser's better cross-river plan (PDF) in response to the Ohio River Bridges Project, could we be better served by two local access New Albany bridges, transit options, and park and rides on the perimeter and, like 8664, the removal of the Great Wall of the West End? Aren't a lot of the points we've all made about the downtown portion of the Bridges Project in general as true for New Albany specifically? That our neighborhood streets have become cut through highways and both our green and building spaces mostly unused surface parking might provide a clue.

Before we get too caught up in partisan bickering over paying for it, it may be a good idea to consider what we actually want.

Bring on the acid: Kerry Stemler sips, picks and grins as the Sherman Minton Bridge closes.

Photo taken early in the evening of Friday, September 9, at the Carnegie Center's annual fundraiser.

Horseshoe patron from Louisville takes Spring Street instead, arrives at poker table in same amount of time.

Already the "word on the street" is that Horseshoe will decamp to Jeffersonville with lightning speed if the Sherman Minton closure isn't rectified sooner rather than later. Such rumors, while grounded in a degree of fact (statutorily, Jeffersonville might now host a casino), ignore other facts, namely the ridiculously high cost of relocation as well as the state-mandated process for moving.

Far closer to reality is the closing statement of reporter Hershberg's piece, as attributed to a casino official: "If they choose to gamble, they will come to Horseshoe for an extra 10 minutes drive."

Is it time to begin tolling for the future south(west)end bridge?

Bridge shutdown hurts Horseshoe Casino; Official: Casino business down, by Ben Zion Hershberg (One Formerly Great Louisville Newspaper)

Business at Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino business was down by double digits last weekend and was slower than usual earlier this week after the closing of the Sherman Minton Bridge, an official acknowledged.

But Jonathan Jones, the casino’s vice president of operations, said business was good Wednesday, when buses brought in patrons from the metropolitan area and beyond, and Thursday morning showed continuing signs of progress.

He declined to provide more specific estimates of foot traffic this week but said “we are all very optimistic the business will come back and it will do so quickly.”

Nash: "I think we can use ... to pull together as a community and come out of this with a better grasp on what is really important.

Matt offers three excellent talking points in today's column.

NASH: Let’s put the bridge closure in perspective,by Matt Nash (OSIN)

... The most important thing to consider is this is not the end of the world. While it may be the end of the world as we knew it, we will survive just by making a few changes in our everyday lives. The first few days commuter traffic has been better than I thought it would be with most people adapting nicely ...

... Now that driving to Kentucky is not as easy an option as it was before, it is time for people to consider what Southern Indiana communities have to offer. You can get just about anything you need on the “Sunny Side” of Louisville, without the hassle of gridlock traffic standing in your way.

The news of the bridge closure had barely gotten out when members of the Ohio River Bridges Authority were basically telling us “I told you so.” The problem is that they do not understand the argument of their opponents, basically because they refuse to listen.

ON THE AVENUES: We cannot let this window close.

ON THE AVENUES: We cannot let this window close.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

When it comes to presumed birthrights, absolute freedom of mobility ranks somewhere near the top of the bucket list, at least to American eyes.

In theoretical terms, this can be a positive trait. Even a hardened cynic like me must take note of the possibilities for personal development and realization inherent in greater mobility, as compared to the limitations of hidebound social castes and conventions in other sectors of the globe.

However, in this sense we’re speaking more of social mobility than physical transportation, which moves us from one place to the other.

Arguably, the intrinsically American solution to the problem of social mobility has been to strive toward an untrammeled state of purely physical movement. The earliest settlers may well have come here in search of social, religious and economic freedoms, but once landed, the first imperative for many was to race toward wherever the land stopped and the ocean resumed.

From dirt trails to plank roads, and from Conestogas to Chryslers, we’ve concluded that freedom of movement is synonymous with economic freedom, and the freedom to accumulate wealth is the sole key to upward social mobility.

The problem: As decades pass, it becomes increasingly hard to avoid the certainty that future generations will look back on what we Americans have accomplished in the cause of unshackling humanity from its roots, and judge it to have been wasteful, unsustainable and perhaps even tragicomic.

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Here in New Albany and Southern Indiana, at least for the moment, posterity is of far less concern than posteriors, or those appendages resting atop car seats stuck in traffic, slated for transfer to office chairs once newly sticky rush hours are transcended, and ultimately destined for plopping down in sofas later that evening, when television, radio and Internet pundits comprise our Greek chorus: “Woe is to us, and how will we survive this disastrous catastrophe!”

Pfui!

Now that we’ve lost the Sherman Minton Bridge for an indefinite period of time, until its steel cracks are repaired or the entire structure replaced with Minor Moves bucks, there seems to be a prevailing temptation to parlay annoyance and self-pity into the sort of hyperbole that has become the modern world’s substitute for reasonable thought.

It’s too bad, because if we as a community conclude that the absence of immediate mobility gratification dooms us to irrelevance and impoverishment, we’ve lost the fight before the first bell is even rung.

Disaster? Hardly. Tsunamis, wars, earthquakes, plagues and famines are examples of genuine disaster, as is the collapse of a bridge carrying traffic, and in our local instance, potential disaster has been averted. This is to be celebrated, not unfairly characterized out of shapeless pique.

While it may be the first time in the lifetime of many readers that a functioning Sherman Minton Bridge has not been something to be blithely taken for granted, it also is the case that with the bridge’s sudden closure, a window has opened, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities have arisen.

I may be guilty of over-simplification, but to me the concept of localism is, at root, the operational converse of sprawl, not in any sense of localism replacing all aspects of accepted civilization in the short term, but gradually swinging the pendulum back from the extreme unsustainability of the far-flung exurb to the greater utility of sacrificing a mere jot of absolute, unrestrained mobility to gain some of the economic and spiritual benefits of community rootedness.

We’ve not always been able to articulate the tenets of localism. Now, amid the inevitable snarl of transport in the opening stages of bridge deprivation, there is the chance to illustrate localism to Hoosiers by means of shared experience. Business owners in New Albany and environs will be grasping this brave new paradigm shift, and getting it fast, or else they’ll be swept away.

For a length of time yet to be determined, we’re no longer an afterthought. Rather, we’re the very best, most efficient option for Indiana residents accustomed to using the bridge(s) for purposes of discretionary spending. We may not be able to solve the perennial metropolitan Louisville employment quandary – yet. However, we can provide most of what one needs, and do so right here.

Think of it not as a captive market, but as a soon-to-be savvier market. The game board has been upended, and the pieces are scattered across the table. The beauty of this immense opportunity is that New Albany and Southern Indiana need not re-arrange the match under the rules previously handed us. We may now rewrite the rules, or play an entirely different game.

Perhaps, in the end, the greatest freedom of all stems from seemingly narrow options.

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One last thought.

New Albany’s municipal elections approach, and while Facebook is not the ultimate arbiter of such matters, a cursory review of the 24 candidates who have a Facebook campaign presence (roughly half of them) reveals that as this monumental paradigm shift explodes in all directions through their neighborhoods, they remain primarily concerned with endless recitations of yard sign plantings and fundraisers.

Really?

Democratic council candidates John Gonder and Doug England (our current mayor) stand out as major exceptions. Republican mayoral hopeful DM Bagshaw at least seems to have noticed. Of those candidates not on Facebook, Dan Coffey is displaying a deep interest in the situation (trust me). Readers and candidates, you may enlighten us as to anyone I’ve missed.

We’ve long lamented the absence of platform content on the part of mayoral and council aspirants, but it simply beggars belief that at this juncture, they’re still prattling on about 4-by-4 monster signs and golf scrambles.

I’m not suggesting candidates panic, or rush to conclusions that cannot yet be determined. At the same time, isn’t showing the slightest semblance of recognition that the Sherman Minton’s condition is (a) not a disaster, but (b) an enormous and probably unprecedented opportunity the barest of minimums we should expect from New Albany’s slate of leaders?

Louisville Courant: "River Fields is not the evil holding up the Bridges Project."

Curt's back from the tar sand battleground, and while his blog post focuses on the River Fields angle, don't neglect reading the entirety of Shaw's original piece in LEO.

Kerry "Screaming Skull on Acid" Stemler may have spent last Friday evening doing the goosestep through Paris NA, but perhaps his Bridges Politburo should commission a typically half-hearted study of future lawsuits sure to arise as it ignores the implications of the Sherman Minton closing in order to propagandize the transport gospel according to St. Daniels.

Louisville Republicans: Leave River Fields Alone!, by Curtis Morrison (Louisville Courant blog)

If you picked up a copy of this week's LEO Weekly, in Broken Bridge you'll see one of Louisville's finest journalist fairly laying down the law in several ways, but one specifically deserves attention at the moment: River Fields is not the evil holding up the Bridges Project."

Contrary to popular myth, River Fields’ lawsuit is not delaying the project — yet."- Steve Shaw

Not quite the Bosphorus, but there's a water taxi running through it.

My friend Jennifer posted this on Facebook. Granted, she has a job in downtown Louisville. What I like is her upbeat attitude in meeting the commuter's challenge.

If you are tired of complaining about the traffic on Facebook (and everyone is tired of reading about it!), then take the ferry. It's only $1 and I took it this morning and loved it. Not to mention it's very relaxing. Park your car, board, pay the lady, sit back, enjoy the breeze & watch the sunrise on your 10 minute ride. Beats the heck out of sitting on a questionably stable bridge, getting angry, wasting your gas, and being late to work. :) Happy Hump Day!

Water taxi to ferry people across river; Spirit of Jefferson will operate during morning and afternoon rush hours for at least two weeks, by Braden Lammers (News and Tribune)

News and Tribune editorial board swiftly embraces localism.

Our newspaper expedites, and offers the major themes of cracked bridge as community building opportunity, not faux "disaster."

OUR OPINION: Let’s make the best of the bridge bummer, by the News and Tribune editorial board of Publisher Bill Hanson, Editor Shea Van Hoy and Assistant Editors Amy Huffman-Branham and Chris Morris

... Hoosiers have a chance to help each other out by being courteous and helpful — and by spending money at local businesses.

Let’s treat this like the warnings during winter weather — don’t go out unless you have to, but alter it to “don’t go to Louisville unless you must.”

Take stress off the bridges and yourself and see what Southern Indiana has to offer.

For more on yesterday's special meeting:

New Albany business leaders hope for tradeoff during bridge's closure, by Harold J. Adams at the Courier-Journal.

It’s hard to leave, so you might as well stay; With bridge closed, New Albany business leaders talk marketing Southern Indiana, by Daniel "Told You So" Suddeath at the News and Tribune

Special Merchant Mixer meeting minutes and WLKY video link.

Here are the minutes from this morning's meetings (courtesy of Curt and Pam Peters), as well as the link to WLKY-32's meeting coverage.

Business Owners Staying Positive: Bridge Closure Affecting New Albany Businesses

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NEW ALBANY DOWNTOWN MERCHANTS’ MEETING

Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 8:00 a.m.

Approximately 50 merchants representing downtown New Albany businesses met at the Grand Theater on Market Street for a motivational meeting to share ideas as to how we can work together after the closing of the Sherman Minton Bridge.

Many people expressed the idea that the key to our continued success at keeping the current momentum going in downtown New Albany is to remain positive. It is too early to tell what the impact will be for downtown merchants, but we must all begin tracking customers for at least six months so that we have a record of where customers are coming from and when they are coming. Mike Ladd of Urban Enterprise Association plans to get a picture of the economy on the Indiana side of the Ohio River by collecting such information merchants will send him. He will communicate via email the form for merchants to use in collecting the data and will create an excel spreadsheet to tabulate information. In this way we may be able to see what Kentucky brings into our community.

Many of the positive steps we can take are as follows:

• We must put forward new efforts to market Indiana communities such as Clarksville, Jeffersonville, Hamburg, Sellersburg, Georgetown, Corydon and others. This is a great opportunity to reach people who do not know about all the business venues downtown New Albany.

• Think about what other modes of transportation could be developed between southern Indiana communities of New Albany, Clarksville and Jeffersonville and others.

• DNA (Develop New Albany, Inc.) will be putting up billboards prior to Harvest Homecoming to get the word out as to what downtown New Albany has to offer. It was suggested they emphasize a website for further information.

• Re-examine all signage and highlight it.

• Harvest Homecoming should add a major theme “Support New Albany.”

• Do more with joint advertising.

• Merchants need to get their staff “on board” so they continue to be upbeat with customers.

• Employees need to be oriented as to what is available in downtown New Albany. A New Albany directory needs to be distributed to each business. DNA has already produced a map of downtown businesses which is going into its second printing.

• Service at our restaurants needs to be top-notch to keep people coming back.

• Produce something—possibly on DNA web page—highlighting various merchants.

• Create a t-shirt using the theme “I survived the Sherman Minton Bridge Closing”. Use the tag line “We are surviving” in various ways.

• DNA can be used as a clearinghouse to create links to all the business websites.

• Businesses were encouraged to keep their normal business hours, not panic or shift hours around.

• Utilize the TV morning shows to get the word out.

The meeting was extremely upbeat. Carl Malysz said it all when he expressed the following:

NEW ALBANY IS CONVENIENT, ECONOMICAL, NOT CONGESTED. NOTHING HAS CHANGED AND WE CONTINUE TO HAVE GREAT RESTAURANTS AND MANY BUSINESSES WHICH OFFER SERVICES THE PUBLIC NEEDS1

A follow-up meeting will be held at the Grand Theater next Tuesday, September 19, at 8:00 a.m.

Sherman Minton strategies: The Publican on WHAS-11, last evening.

It's only a wee bit ironic that the video is prefaced by a Nissan advertisement. WHAS's Mike Columbo did a good job, and it was a pleasure to meet him.

New Albanian Brewery hopes business will still boom with Sherman Minton closed

Tuesday morning businesses in New Albany will get together to come up with a plan to make sure customers keep coming to southern Indiana.