A view of the river; at the The Aggregate, investigative journalism has not died.

The Aggregate is going where local mainstream media evidently fears to tread, and good on them for taking journalism seriously. But first, a number.

It's hard to write a song with bitter fingers
So much to prove, so few to tell you why
Those old die-hards in Denmark Street start laughing
At the keyboard player's hollow haunted eyes
It seems to me a change is really needed
I'm sick of tra-la-las and la-de-das
No more long days hacking hunks of garbage
Bitter fingers never swung on swinging stars, swinging stars

Bernie Taupin never wrote better lyrics, but I digress, because there isn't a trace of bitterness in my soul, just contentment that others are stepping forward to carry the baton -- or something like that.

Broken Promises: City Contradictions on the Riverview Demolition, by Daniel Johnson and Leah Wilkinson

After a series of contradicting statements from local officials concerning a public housing complex in New Albany, some feared the city was preparing to push them out. Their theories were confirmed at a building meeting in early September.

The Aggregate is planning a comeback.

The Aggregate went away for a while, but something's afoot.

The Aggregate is a news start-up that focuses on putting all of the news that matters to you in one place.

To be kept fully informed, opt in to the mailing list.

The Aggregate podcast: "Reconnecting with City Councilman Al Knable."

This is Al Knable's second visit to The Aggregate podcast (follow the link, scroll down), and he is the first candidate to appear since Nick Vaughn issued this "invitation" at Facebook on September 29.

Instead of spreading unsubstantiated rumors, I’d prefer if our elected officials and candidates would answer some questions:

• 1. What do you plan to do/what should the city do when/if the Sherman Minton Bridge closes (at least partially)? How will you help mitigate the economic impact?
• 2. Do you support public/affordable housing? What will you do to ensure people who want to live in New Albany are able to?
• 3. What are your budgeting priorities? Rank your top 4 budget priorities in order.
• 4. How do you plan to be accessible to those who elected you (or didn’t)? How will you respond to constituent questions and concerns?
• 5. Council members and candidates: how will you use your power as a co-equal branch of local government to curb executive overreach? Do you support council approval for mayoral appointments (where law allows)?

Anyone who wishes to address these questions will be given an hour on my podcast. Email me.

Previous candidate guests besides Knable have been Joshua Turner and Christina Estill, and Sam Charbonneau is coming next.

Which reminds me ...

Here are Nick's New Albany election predictions at The Aggregate.

Over at The Aggregate, Nick Vaughn has registered his New Albany Election Predictions. So far NA Confidential has issued endorsements (below), but not predictions as such.

I'll be getting around to those during the next few weeks.

New Albany Election Predictions

With the immense amount of nationally focused articles running in and around Southern Indiana, I felt that it was important to provide some more locally focused analysis of the upcoming municipal elections in New Albany.

The predictions outlined here are just that and can be taken however you'd like them to be. While no empirical data was used in determining these predictions, my experience in local politics, friendships with candidates and voters, and my gut feeling, were used to make these predictions.

These predictions will be categorized in the following ways: 1. Toss-up, meaning the race is a dead heat and could go either way, 2. Leans Republican, Democratic, or Independent, meaning the race leans between 2-4% points in one directions, and 3. Solidly Republican, Democratic, or Independent, meaning the race is 5% points or higher leaning in one direction.

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NAC Endorsement Compendium:

• Vote Stefanie Griffith for New Albany City Council District 1.
• Vote Scott Stewart for New Albany City Council District 2.
• Vote for Thunder the Wonder Ferret as a write-in for New Albany City Council District 3.
• Vote Cisa Kubley for New Albany City Council District 4.
• Vote Josh "JT" Turner for New Albany City Council District 5.
• Vote Scott Blair for New Albany City Council District 6.
• Vote Al Knable and Christina Estill for New Albany City Council At-Large.
• Vote your conscience for New Albany City Clerk, as both candidates are excellent.
• ON THE AVENUES: Socialists for Seabrook, because we desperately need a new beginning in New Albany.

Elections are coming, so participate in the Municipal Digital Forum at The Aggregate.

Here's the lowdown in their own words.

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Municipal Digital Forum

We are a little under three months away from Southern Indiana’s Municipal Elections (held on November 5th) and ideas, plans, and details have not yet been highlighted or announced by many candidates from either political party. We hope this will be a way for them to do so.

In an effort to make information more accessible and to ensure that voters know where the candidates stand on the issues of the day, The Aggregate News is hosting a Digital Forum.

Candidates from across Southern Indiana are encouraged to answer the questions we ask in this Google Form. From there, we will create a guidebook for anyone to access on our site for free.

In addition to asking candidates for more information and direct answers to our questions, we will also be conducting an informal survey (not a scientific poll) of Southern Indiana voters, you can fill out the information in this Google Form.

We will be looking for common threads, areas of bipartisan agreement, and suggested solutions to problems from voters and candidates alike. From there, we’ll do some digging and offer thoughtful analysis and investigative reporting on the results.

We hope you’ll join us in making information more accessible across our region!

For candidates and businesses who may wish to advertise on the candidate guide, fill out this form.

Forms will be closed on September 20th at midnight.

Nick thinks the city needs a flag redesign. Roger says: Start with those colors.

Yes, I know; there shouldn't be words on the flag. What if it's a hash tag? Here's the official flag of New Albany.

At The Aggregate, Nick's on a flag jag.

New Albany’s Flag Needs a Redesign

So, without being an expert (but perhaps a casual flag critic), and only being someone who loves his community, and his community’s history, here is my rough draft of a version of New Albany’s flag which I think the community could rally around and be proud of.

Click through, read the entire essay and tell Nick what you think. The Aggregate is a relatively new source for local news. Reading Nick's piece, it seemed to me that I wrote something about the city's flag fairly early in NA Confidential's run.

Sure enough, here it is -- from November 20, 2004.

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Dissonance and New Albany's green and gold?

For those who may be curious about the description of the official New Albany flag, as described by B. several times previously, here's the way the official ordinance describes it:

CHAPTER 11: CITY STANDARDS

NEW ALBANY FLAG

§ 11.01 DESCRIPTION OF FLAG.
A green background, symbolic of our green hills and of the many different kinds of trees native to our area and Indiana, on which the following are emblazoned: white shield edged in gold, symbolic of the character and courage of the varied nationalities of our ancestors, with a gold torch thereon, representing enlightenment and liberty; and the numerals “1813,” the year of the establishment of the City of New Albany, all within a semicircle of 19 gold stars, representing Indiana as the 19th state; and a gold pilot wheel in the lower right-hand corner, symbolic of our historic background as a river city.

(Res. R-62-7, passed 10-1-62)

All this bears more than a passing resemblance to the color scheme of Floyd Central High School, which is the Floyd County consolidated school and a bitter arch-rival of New Albany (city) High School, which has the colors of red and black.

The blame for this multi-hued anarchy surely must rest with Floyd Central, which came into existence five years after the resolution describing the city flag.

Ideally, none of this should matter one jot when it comes to reproducing the city flag as a symbol of our "Somehow Transform New Albany into Something Quasi-Weird" campaign.

However, we must remember that New Albany's unofficial city ethos (never codified, but tangible) is "Arrested Development," and this implies allegiances to high school that go far beyond the norm, particularly as they reflect high school basketball. 

Just ask Chris Morris of the New Albany Tribune.

A certain number of New Albanians probably won't accept the flag for this most petty and senseless of reasons. Do we attempt (reviving) it anyway?

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Late note (June 24): a comment by reader Randy Smith.

That website isn't allowing comments on the post, although it explicitly asks, "What do you think?"

I think there's a significant amount of revisionist history being put forth, but I'm willing to be persuaded I'm wrong. TO say that New Albanians were "ardent abolitionists" is the most objectionable. This region is also well known for it's "Copperhead" tendencies. I've never heard about New Albany being an abolitionist stronghold.

Incorporating the "Town Clock Church" into a municipal flag is not something I'd be happy with. I frankly question whether it is iconic. It exists and is appreciated by some, but it has nothing to do with the founding of the city and it barely represents any long-term aspect of the city's history. The inclusion of a piece of sectarian imagery is also inappropriate.

I will concede that New Albany has a slight Irish connection. The divisions in the Catholic church and the "riot" bear witness to that. But I would wager that NA had more Scots-Irish protestant residents when the Irish influx peaked. By the 1850s, if not sooner, the German influence was dominant.

It reminds me of a previous attempt to change a municipal icon. A local cop designed new patches for the police department and was compelled to include the fleur-de-lis. His rationale was a nod to New Albany's "rich" French heritage. There is no doubt that Louisville has a French Catholic heritage (Louis?) and Floyd County still has signs of its French-ness, but the only indications of a historic French influence in New Albany predates the city by decades. Yes, voyageurs encamped here. But French "settlement" was pretty much outside of the city and came much later.

Finally, if the clock were removed, Nick's proposed flag would make a decent 1970s rugby shirt. Beyond that, it leaves me cold. Analogizing to current affairs, if this sincere offering were one of the 24 Democratic candidates for president, Nick's would be the Tulsi Gabbard.

At The Aggregate: "A Quaint Discussion with New Albany City Councilman Al Knable."

Michael and Nick from The Aggregate sat down with at-large councilman Al Knable for an entertaining and informative chat about all things NA. It's an hour in length.

A Quaint Discussion with New Albany City Councilman Al Knable

I'm having trouble imagining His Highness the incumbent relenting to an unscripted interview in like fashion, although Jeff Gahan's past record suggests that he's always willing to "take the test" just so long as the answers (or in this case, questions) are provided to him in advance.

At The Aggregate, a discussion of the ethics and legality of Slick Jeffrey's 4-H Fair propaganda blitz.

As we've pointed out numerous times in the past, the campaign finance cash Jeff Gahan collects from pay-to-play special interest donors and the tax proceeds we all pay into local government are often co-mingled to the point of pea soup fog. Too many voters shrug it off. They shouldn't.

The problem is compounded by the mayor's ego, which has long since swelled past the dimensions of a dirigible. He genuinely believes the press clippings generated by his own propaganda commissariat, and he can't tell the difference between the city and himself.

We can do something about this in November: #FireGahan2019

Gahan for Mayor at the Fair?, by Daniel Johnson and Madison Miller (The Aggregate)

Last Wednesday, on a sunny day in New Albany, the Fair in Floyd County was offering everything from classic fair food to a full rodeo and grandstand events. It has been a long tradition, particularly in our smaller communities, for kids to bring their livestock and show them off before the market sale. For many of these kids, the Fair will be the highlight of the season. In the photograph above, Jeff Gahan, the current Mayor of New Albany, who is up for re-election this year, enjoys this event alongside his constituents by handing out free ride tickets in front of a Floyd County Democratic Party tent. Voters will be sure to remember this at the booth come election day. This was one of many Mayor’s Nights that have been going on for years, and it was not the first time Gahan has participated. However, this act of kindness has some political implications that, it could be argued, are unethical, or worse, illegal.

As voters in a republic, we all deserve to have the full context of actions taken by elected officials ...

It terrifies Jeff Gahan, so let's have "A Brief Look at Indiana's LGBT+ History."

So far this June the city's Facebook propaganda insemination device has shown Mayor Jeff Gahan observing youngsters at River Run, kibitzing with car owners, touting a mobile dental clinic he had nothing to do with, telling lies to 4-H fair attendees and playing air guitar at Bicentennial Park.

It's an election year, so taxpayers might yet subsidize de facto campaign videos of Gahan shaving, smoking the perfect brisket and winning multiple games of chess against 1980s-vintage Radio Shack computers.

What the Facebook feed hasn't shown, at least yet, is even a semblance of comprehension that it's LGBT Pride Month.

That's because the older DemoDisneyDixiecrats on whom the mayor relies for love (the money comes from pay-to play, out-of-town companies) feel very uncomfortable about them uppity gays -- and younger voters dazzled by Gahan's Oz-the-all-powerful bullshit won't make the slightest effort to peel away the layers and see the ethical rot underneath.

Let's have a few loaded Rice Krispies Treats, pour a glass of Gahan's high octane Kool-Aid, and restore the ideological balance. This strikes me as a balanced portryal of the topic. Maybe Gahan actually will read -- either this or anything else apart from his name on the bulging donor envelope handed him by contractors eager to score a few more no-bid bonanzas.

A Brief Look at Indiana's LGBT+ History, by Daniel Johnson (The Aggregate)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Pride, a national celebration of LGBT identity that materializes in the form of parades, concerts, drag shows, and other events that give LGBT persons the freedom to be themselves in public, mostly without fear of reproach. Yesterday, Indy Pride hosted its 2019 festival. In honor of Pride month and the legacy of Indiana’s LGBT community, we want to take a brief look at Indiana’s history to shed light on its gay community. Despite what some may think, Indiana has a long history of queer activism and scholarship, though it is counter-balanced by its more extensive history of gay oppression ...

Meanwhile, why would it be any different in 2019?

Aaron Fairbanks at The Aggregate: "Reflecting on the Heyburn Nine Trial."

I'm delighted to see Aaron Fairbanks contributing to The Aggregate News.

Check out The Aggregate News! It's a well put together site that brings all of your local, state and national news to one place, and it's put together by some incredible young people in Southern Indiana. I'm excited to be taking part in this project, and I look forward to seeing where this thing goes. In an age where obtaining reliable information is difficult, this is a welcome addition to our local media options.

What better place for Aaron to begin than a primer on civil disobedience?

Reflecting on the Heyburn Nine Trial, by Aaron Fairbanks (The Aggregate News)

... Three of the nine protesters—Courtney Kearney, Sonja DeVries and Bob Eiden—proceeded to a public two-day trial beginning on May 16, 2019 to shine a light on the atrocities that they were fighting against that day, and they were found guilty of trespassing but were lucky enough to have a sympathetic jury exercise leniency with their sentence. Each of them left the trial on the second day with a $150 fine satisfied by previous fines paid in their Federal case. But civil disobedience isn’t always given the benefit of the doubt before the law by any means with the absence of statutory protections for those who act in civil disobedience.

The many cases of civil disobedience are cemented in our history. Susan B. Anthony was arrested in Rochester, New York in 1872 and later convicted for voting preceding the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Rosa Parks was arrested and convicted for violating a city ordinance segregating public buses as well as disorderly conduct. Then perhaps most applicable to the Heyburn Nine case was the conviction of the Friendship 9, a group of student protesters who were convicted for trespassing and disturbing the peace when they staged a sit in at a private whites-only establishment at a time when there were no statutory protections prohibiting discrimination by private entities on the basis of race ...

From The Aggregate, "City Officials Need Term Limits."

The Aggregate is up and running.

The Aggregate is a new start-up that focuses on putting all of the news that matters to you in one place, for free. In the flood of information enabled by today's technologies, finding the right news for you can be difficult. The Aggregate allows you to find local to global stories that interest you. In addition, we offer news overviews, incisive opinion pieces, a podcast for our paid insiders.

The Aggregate web site
The Aggregate Facebook

Of the four contributors listed, only Nick Vaughn is known to me. You'll recall his past contributions to NA Confidential (browse here).

Articles are beginning to appear. Here's one of them, by Vaughn.

City Officials Need Term Limits, by Nick Vaughn (The Aggregate)

With the political scene being dominated by national politics, I felt that it was best to try to shift gears, get local, and talk about an issue that is especially pressing at the local level. New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Dallas all have two things in common. First, they are among America’s largest cities and second, they term limit their city officials. You can even add Philadelphia in the mix as well, although they only limit the mayor. While the cities I listed all have varying restrictions on the amount of terms and the length of terms city officials can serve, the point is that some of the largest cities in America saw the need to limit the amount of career politicians that served on their city council and in the mayor’s office. I suggest New Albany follow suit and invoke term limits on city officials ...