Dan Coffey's last council meeting is Thursday night, and then there'll be no more Wizard of Westside.

Departing 1st district council representative Dan Coffey has missed the past three meetings of the body, on November 4th and 21st, and December 2nd.

I don't know why, but I do know that Coffey deserves recognition for two decades of service as a councilman. Fair is fair, even if we've disagreed far more often than not.

Coffey is the last continuously serving elected official linking the present era to the period in 2004/2005 when I first began attending city council meetings and writing about them here at the blog. The longest of tenured blog readers will remember the many times he and I clashed. It could be savage, vicious and occasionally hilarious. One need only search these pages for literally hours of informative reading attesting to the tenor of those times.

And yet, through it all Coffey and I still retained the ability and willingness to speak with each other. That counts for something. In the final analysis, we two have one fundamental thing in common, because we're both incurable and implacable independents -- good, bad or indifferent.

I believe Coffey could have run as an independent in the 1st district and won. He never seemed comfortable as a Democrat. He's on the right and I'm on the left, and yet I instinctively know how this discomfort feels.

Frankly, there's no defense of Coffey's behavior on those occasions, regrettably often, when he chose to bully, threaten and (in effect) single-handedly filibuster the council. I won't attempt any exoneration.

At the same time I'm prepared to embrace what probably is a minority position, and credit Coffey for caring about his district and, overall, giving a damn.

Coffey is a classic example of someone who always did the best with what he had at his disposal. His methods may or may not have produced the best results for his constituents, but he worked it hard for 20 years. This can't be taken away from him.

Obviously I don't know what Coffey is planning on doing, post-politics. Will he run for another office? Maybe we could join together for a podcast on local affairs. THAT would be supreme entertainment, wouldn't it?

As a longtime adversary of the self-described Copperhead, allow me to extend sincere thanks to Dan Coffey for his long years of service to the community, and to wish him the best of luck in the future.

Andrew Luck has some money. He took back his life. More power to him.

"No one else besides the NFL is stupid enough to keep engineering ways to sustain an unsustainable game."

Andrew Luck's description of the cycle of injury, pain and rehab sounds a lot like the current state of cancer-ridden capitalism, except that "rehab" hasn't really occurred. But good for Luck; human rationality is such an elusive thing.

What Andrew Luck Means, by Drew Magary (Deadspin)

.. They want you to enlist. They want you to serve your team for God and country. That is the blueprint. The NFL has always been in love with its war metaphors. So it’s fitting that the league now finds itself existentially lost when trying to deal with the consequences of REAL human wreckage—of players discovering that this sport will kill them, and it will kill them faster the longer they play it. The NFL doesn’t want players like that. They want something beyond mere passion. They want players too obsessed to see the danger, or to feel the pain. They want you, pardon the expression, brain damaged. Andrew Luck knew better than to give his entire life to this league. He won’t be the last. In some critical ways, he is merely the first.

R.I.P. Peter Sallis ... and from 2015, "The last of the summer beer."

Compo Simmonite: I could murder some fish and chips.

Foggy Dewhurst: You usually do.

Norman Clegg: If ever there's been a neglected subject in poetry, it's vinegar.

Peter Sallis has died at the age of 96, his agents have announced.

The actor was best known for appearing in Last of the Summer Wine and was also famous as the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit.

His agent confirmed he died peacefully with his family by his side.

Sallis played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its first episode in 1973 until the series concluded in 2010.

He was the only actor to appear in all 295 episodes of the sitcom.

Here's a 2015 flashback detailing my obsession with his quaint, old-school English television program, which I still desperately want to emulate.

Though in England, not here in Nawbany. Apologies to Mark and Graham ...

---

ON THE AVENUES: The last of the summer beer.

Lately I’ve found myself enamored of the venerable British television series, “Last of the Summer Wine.” It’s hard to imagine a more unfashionable concept in the milieu of the smart phone and driverless car, and perhaps that’s why I’m so attracted to it.

For the uninitiated, the series ran from 1973 through 2010, a staggering 37 years, with almost 300 episodes aired. Virtually all emphasize a timeless sense of place, with much location filming amid the workmanlike stone buildings and rustic, gorgeous rolling hills of Holmfirth, Yorkshire.

There is a basic narrative premise remaining unchanged throughout the program’s run.

“A whimsical comedy with a penchant for light philosophy and full-on slapstick (following) the misadventures of three elderly friends tramping around the Yorkshire countryside.”

Reruns of “Last of the Summer Wine” have been showing on KET for as long as I can remember, and while the electronic media of today’s world might enable one the selective luxury of binge viewing on-line, the series itself decidedly isn’t about today’s world. As such, I prefer the old-fashioned manner of viewing: Pouring an adult libation and sitting motionless in front of the television at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, preferably with the missus.

On those occasions when life gets in the way, there remain hundreds more episodes to watch and watch again.

Early in 2014, KET’s chronological episode spool ran all the way back to “Last of the Summer Wine’s” pilot, filmed in 1972 and aired in 1973. Astoundingly, plot elements subsequently enjoying a shelf life of decades are found to be largely intact from the very start, although I’d argue that the word “elderly” isn’t really a valid descriptor of the primary male characters, at least in the beginning.

In fact, while the first trio (Cyril, Clegg and Compo) might accurately be described as redundant, pensioned or retired, the actors portraying them, as well as their fictional characters, were in their early- to mid-50s when the series debuted in 1973. Along with various successors, they certainly became certifiably elderly, but what are the odds of a television series lasting almost four decades, anyway?

“Last of the Summer Wine” kept going and going, and along the way, there were minor changes, tweaks and periodic major cast turnovers. The character of Cyril was replaced by Foggy Dewhurst, and then Seymour Utterthwaite; Foggy later returned, and was replaced a second time by Frank Thornton’s Herbert Truelove. Actor Bill Owen (Compo) died in 2000 – and so did his character. Peter Sallis’s Clegg aged the most; he appeared in all 295 episodes and is still alive in 2015, at 94 years of age.

However, in the very beginning – insert a shocked “gasp” here – they were my approximate age now (54), or only slightly older. This, dear readers, boggles my mind, and it speaks to the endlessly convoluted mind games of time and history.

As an example, consider Foggy, who constantly exaggerates his experiences in the Asian Theater during the Second World War. When Foggy came to town in 1976, it had been only three full decades since the end of the war, which as we know initiated a post-war baby boom … which in England produced the earliest fans of a group like the Rolling Stones … who in 2015 are in the fourth year of celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.

On one of the last of the newer (1991) episodes aired on KET before the rotation began anew, Foggy encountered a man on the street in Holmfirth using an ATM. By contrast, the 1973 pilot episode might as well have been filmed in the 1920s. Modernity in Holmfirth was purely relative. One detects an absence of overall hurry, and few items appear to be made of plastic. Anglicanism isn’t dead, and there are more bicycles, buses and tractors on the street than automobiles.

Into this throwback tableau stepped Clegg, Compo and Cyril. Apart from wartime service, these former schoolmates never left their nowhere town. Once retired, with nothing to do, they wandered about hill, dale and high street, reminiscing and philosophizing, and indulging in harmless antics inspired by boredom, far more in keeping with children’s play than a senior community’s social scheduling.

A worthy ideal, indeed -- and at any age.

Where do I sign up?

The trio’s day invariably brought them to Sid’s Café for tea and sticky buns, and often included extended sessions in various Holmfirth pubs, including the White Horse Inn, Butcher’s Arms and Elephant and Castle. In these intimate bricks and mortar monuments to Real Ale when it really was real, they enjoy leisurely pints from the hand-pull while hatching the next scheme. Periodically there was disagreement over who was up to buy the next round, but three more pints generally materialized in front of them, to be deliciously drained.

Know that because the title character of the series “Inspector Morse” specifically addresses the virtues of traditional cask ale at regular intervals, he probably remains the foremost telly-centric exponent of traditional British ale-making virtues, albeit leaning a bit toward the geekier side of things.

“Last of the Summer Wine” also ranks highly, if for no other reason than its depiction of the pub experience in such affectionate fashion, as a daily component of the well-rounded ne’er-do-well’s life. Of course, this is the whole point of a pub, and I thank the series for making it.

Not only that, but I salivate and become all Pavlovian. I see the Holmfirth lads lifting their pints, and for the briefest of moments, the stress-ridden workaday routine disappears from view.

In a daydream, I join my pals Mark and Graham, shuffling through the streets of New Albany, solving the world’s problems, and repairing to a clean, well-lighted place for liquid sustenance. We hector politicians, recall the good old daze, and toss a water balloon at a passing tractor trailer.

It can’t ever be the same, although a boy – and even an older man – can dream.

Or, conversely, he can watch “Last of the Summer Wine” and envision the art of the possible.

On an Ecuadoran retirement plan.

I've known Shawn since college, and met Bill when they began coming into the Public House in the early 1990s, when their son was still very young.

When I congratulated Shawn on their emerging media notoriety, she replied "We're both thrilled and terrified, but it just feels right."

And that sounds about right. Cheers to them.

MOSSWORDS: To uncertainty and sunshine; Shawn and Bill Turner plants roots in Ecuador, by Dale Moss (News and Tribune)

"The Future of Retirement Communities: Walkable and Urban."

When all is said and done, it's a great deal more likely that NA's Breakwind Lofts at Duggins Flats apartments will attract empty-nesters rather than millennials.

As this and hundreds of other news items attest, what these age groups have in common is an interest in walkability. In the massive irony for which New Albany is renowned, the foremost opponent of walkable, bikeable two-way streets is Padgett Inc, which sits atop a slam-dunk redevelopment acreage bonanza, one made potentially even more valuable by the very mobility reforms Padgett opposes.

Literally, Padgett might have its cake and eat it, too -- but no. It's in the water, folks, and what comes of the water?

We use it to make Kool-Aid, of course.

The Future of Retirement Communities: Walkable and Urban, by John F. Wasik (New York Times)

FEW people in America walk to work. Most of us drive to the supermarket. But more older people these days are looking for a community where they can enjoy a full life without a car ...

... Enter a new paradigm: the walkable, urban space. It may range from existing neighborhoods in places like Brooklyn or San Francisco to newly built housing within city and suburban cores from coast to coast. Though not primarily for retirees, places like Reston, Va., and Seaside, Fla., were early examples of the new urbanism built from the ground up. Among senior housing projects, examples include Waterstone at Wellesley along the Charles River in the Boston area and The Lofts at McKinley in downtown Phoenix. The theme is simple: Get out and walk to basic services.

Walkability, though, is much more than a hip marketing pitch. It’s linked to better health, social engagement and higher property values.

I didn't get arrested, but I've got a new title.

Conference weekend has concluded, and as of Sunday morning, I'm now an ex-director on the board of the Brewers of Indiana Guild.

ON THE AVENUES: Hello, I must be going.

When I joined the board in 2009, there were approximately 35 breweries in Indiana. Now there are 124.

I'll always be proud of what the Guild has accomplished, especially during the past three years. There is much to be done, because that's the way it works. I'm pleased to have done my part, albeit small, in furthering the industry. That I've resolved to leave the biz does not mean I love it any less.

I humbly appreciate Guild president Greg Emig's words today, when he told the brewers in attendance that the board has awarded me an honorary title: Agitator Emeritus.

That one's going on the business cards, folks -- except, of course, that I have plenty of agitation left in me.

In closing: Cheers to all of you in Indiana who are making beer, drinking beer, and selling what's left. You've created something out of nothing, and if I'm quoting the statistic correctly, we're now 18th in the nation in per capita breweries.

Keep on rocking. I'll still be supporting the effort any way I can.

Happy retirement, chef: Louis le Francais has left the building.

Louis Retailleau opened his restaurant in October, 2011.

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

Louis did at least one Bastille Day shindig along the way, and we did a beer dinner there in March, 2012:

Advance notice: Beer dinner and Alsatian choucroute garnie at the Frenchman's. 

This was the menu. Guest writer Shane Campbell summarized it in two stellar submissions.

A Grand Pairing, Part One.

A Grand Pairing, Part Two.

Best wishes to Louis in retirement.

ON THE AVENUES: The last of the summer beer.

ON THE AVENUES: The last of the summer beer.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

Lately I’ve found myself enamored of the venerable British television series, “Last of the Summer Wine.” It’s hard to imagine a more unfashionable concept in the milieu of the smart phone and driverless car, and perhaps that’s why I’m so attracted to it.

For the uninitiated, the series ran from 1973 through 2010, a staggering 37 years, with almost 300 episodes aired. Virtually all emphasize a timeless sense of place, with much location filming amid the workmanlike stone buildings and rustic, gorgeous rolling hills of Holmfirth, Yorkshire.

There is a basic narrative premise remaining unchanged throughout the program’s run.

“A whimsical comedy with a penchant for light philosophy and full-on slapstick (following) the misadventures of three elderly friends tramping around the Yorkshire countryside.”

Reruns of “Last of the Summer Wine” have been showing on KET for as long as I can remember, and while the electronic media of today’s world might enable one the selective luxury of binge viewing on-line, the series itself decidedly isn’t about today’s world. As such, I prefer the old-fashioned manner of viewing: Pouring an adult libation and sitting motionless in front of the television at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, preferably with the missus.

On those occasions when life gets in the way, there remain hundreds more episodes to watch and watch again.

Early in 2014, KET’s chronological episode spool ran all the way back to “Last of the Summer Wine’s” pilot, filmed in 1972 and aired in 1973. Astoundingly, plot elements subsequently enjoying a shelf life of decades are found to be largely intact from the very start, although I’d argue that the word “elderly” isn’t really a valid descriptor of the primary male characters, at least in the beginning.

In fact, while the first trio (Cyril, Clegg and Compo) might accurately be described as redundant, pensioned or retired, the actors portraying them, as well as their fictional characters, were in their early- to mid-50s when the series debuted in 1973. Along with various successors, they certainly became certifiably elderly, but what are the odds of a television series lasting almost four decades, anyway?

“Last of the Summer Wine” kept going and going, and along the way, there were minor changes, tweaks and periodic major cast turnovers. The character of Cyril was replaced by Foggy Dewhurst, and then Seymour Utterthwaite; Foggy later returned, and was replaced a second time by Frank Thornton’s Herbert Truelove. Actor Bill Owen (Compo) died in 2000 – and so did his character. Peter Sallis’s Clegg aged the most; he appeared in all 295 episodes and is still alive in 2015, at 94 years of age.

However, in the very beginning – insert a shocked “gasp” here – they were my approximate age now (54), or only slightly older. This, dear readers, boggles my mind, and it speaks to the endlessly convoluted mind games of time and history.

As an example, consider Foggy, who constantly exaggerates his experiences in the Asian Theater during the Second World War. When Foggy came to town in 1976, it had been only three full decades since the end of the war, which as we know initiated a post-war baby boom … which in England produced the earliest fans of a group like the Rolling Stones … who in 2015 are in the fourth year of celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.

On one of the last of the newer (1991) episodes aired on KET before the rotation began anew, Foggy encountered a man on the street in Holmfirth using an ATM. By contrast, the 1973 pilot episode might as well have been filmed in the 1920s. Modernity in Holmfirth was purely relative. One detects an absence of overall hurry, and few items appear to be made of plastic. Anglicanism isn’t dead, and there are more bicycles, buses and tractors on the street than automobiles.

Into this throwback tableau stepped Clegg, Compo and Cyril. Apart from wartime service, these former schoolmates never left their nowhere town. Once retired, with nothing to do, they wandered about hill, dale and high street, reminiscing and philosophizing, and indulging in harmless antics inspired by boredom, far more in keeping with children’s play than a senior community’s social scheduling.

A worthy ideal, indeed -- and at any age.

Where do I sign up?

The trio’s day invariably brought them to Sid’s Café for tea and sticky buns, and often included extended sessions in various Holmfirth pubs, including the White Horse Inn, Butcher’s Arms and Elephant and Castle. In these intimate bricks and mortar monuments to Real Ale when it really was real, they enjoy leisurely pints from the hand-pull while hatching the next scheme. Periodically there was disagreement over who was up to buy the next round, but three more pints generally materialized in front of them, to be deliciously drained.

Know that because the title character of the series “Inspector Morse” specifically addresses the virtues of traditional cask ale at regular intervals, he probably remains the foremost telly-centric exponent of traditional British ale-making virtues, albeit leaning a bit toward the geekier side of things.

“Last of the Summer Wine” also ranks highly, if for no other reason than its depiction of the pub experience in such affectionate fashion, as a daily component of the well-rounded ne’er-do-well’s life. Of course, this is the whole point of a pub, and I thank the series for making it.

Not only that, but I salivate and become all Pavlovian. I see the Holmfirth lads lifting their pints, and for the briefest of moments, the stress-ridden workaday routine disappears from view.

In a daydream, I join my pals Mark and Graham, shuffling through the streets of New Albany, solving the world’s problems, and repairing to a clean, well-lighted place for liquid sustenance. We hector politicians, recall the good old daze, and toss a water balloon at a passing tractor trailer.

It can’t ever be the same, although a boy – and even an older man – can dream.

Or, conversely, he can watch “Last of the Summer Wine” and envision the art of the possible.

---

First published in 2014 at my Potable Curmudgeon blog; revised for reprinting here.

---

Recent columns:

May 21: ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: "I Just Want to Know, Can I Park Here Somewhere?”

May 14: ON THE AVENUES: Take this cult of personality and shove it.

May 7: ON THE AVENUES: In Havel I trust.

April 30: ON THE AVENUES: Until philosophers become kings.

April 27: ON THE AVENUES MONDAY SPECIAL: Et tu, Greg Phipps? Or: Anger and the electoral variability of transparency.

April 23: ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: Anachronisms and intellectuals, here and there.

Doug England heads south, and posterity starts now.

Shift happens, after all.

EXECUTIVE MOVE: Former Mayor England leaving New Albany for Florida, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

He left office in 2008 after declining to run for a fourth term as mayor. This Wednesday, on his 48th wedding anniversary, England and his wife will head south, but not just for the winter.

In a decision he said was made within the past two weeks, England will be moving to Delray Beach, Fla., as he’ll trade in the Ohio River for views of the Atlantic Ocean.

I wish the Englands well in retirement. I also wish the article weren't chock full of historical revisionism, as assembled by the former mayor himself, but that's okay. Those of us clinging to reality in New Albany have time to rectify the record. Let's examine just one instance.

England first took office in 1992, and served two terms before being defeated by Republican Mayor Regina Overton in 2000. He later defeated incumbent Democrat James Garner in the 2007 primary, and went on to win the general election.

The tale of the tape is interesting, indeed. In 1991, 58% of the turnout voted against England, led by the only considerable independent insurgency to date.

1991: Democrat Doug England (4,785) defeats independent Phyllis Garmon (4,154) and Republican Kenny Keilman (2,344).
Total votes: 11,283
Percentage: 42 – 37 - 21

Next time out, England handily defeated an elderly, spent force.

1995: England defeats Real, 6,573 to 5,628.
Total votes: 12,201
Percentage: 54 - 46

Then the high-riding, two-term mayor was absolutely annihilated in 1999.

1999: Republican challenger Regina Overton defeats England, 5,512 to 4,205.
Total votes: 9,717
Percentage: 57 - 43

England offers this explanation for the resounding rejection.

England believes the reason he was defeated by Overton was because he supported allowing riverboat gambling in Floyd County. The option was twice voted down by referendum, and the Horseshoe Casino of Southern Indiana sits barely across the county line in Harrison County.

However, the referenda were held in 1993 and 1995 ... and as we've seen, England's re-election in 1995 was a veritable cakewalk.

From England's standpoint, the most charitable rendering of these two gaming boat rejections was that they constituted a personal rebuke, given that he was engaged in remarkably non-transparent shenanigans with respect to land deals prefacing the future casino site, though not an outright rejection of his job performance as mayor -- and what's more, Real was very, very tired by this point.

The probable reason England lost in 1999 was not ongoing casino animus, but the accumulated weight of Hizzoner Fatigue, which required two terms in the wilderness to dissipate. Having presumably paid his political penance, voters welcomed him back in 2007 -- by the narrowest of margins, and with 3,500 fewer voters participating than in 1991.

2007: England defeats Randy Hubbard (R), 4,017 to 3,741.
Total votes: 7,758
Percentage: 52-48

Beginning in 2008, England proceeded to do absolutely nothing, and maintained this pace for four long years. He talked as good a game as ever, but seemed to have lost his mojo without the formerly vital, and by 2007, estranged political enforcer John Mattingly at his side (Mattingly died during England's third term, if memory serves).

England's city hall team was older, and even less efficient than before. They drifted, and England postured. The council dominated him. Then, to make matters worse, he botched the "handover" to Irv Stumler, and was defeated by Shirley Baird in an ill-considered council race.

The revitalization of downtown, garnering a $6.7 million loan to improve the Midtown neighborhood and moving forward with plans for Bicentennial Park are some of the achievements England said he’s most proud of from his latest term as mayor. He credited his staff for their hard work during his time in office.

The reality of these projects is far different than the revisionism. Perhaps this is to be expected when it comes to measuring by plaque installation.

The Rudyard Kipling may have found a buyer, and so the Pyles can retire.

Talk about fighting the good fight; Ken and Sheila Pyle have been doing it for decades, and now it appears that a win-win has materialized with the prospective sale of the Rudyard Kipling to buyers who vow to keep the establishment substantially as it is. Words like "legend" are overused, but in this case entirely appropriate. The Pyles are legendary, held in high esteem by just about everyone in the business, and fully worthy of the opportunity to retire to beers in New Albany. Kudos to them. Let's hope this works out.

The Rudyard Kipling finally finds a buyer, by Kevin Gibson

The Rudyard Kipling website, for many years, has had a “Buy a Landmark” button in its main navigation. Finally, Old Louisville’s time-tested destination for food, music and theater has found a buyer.

Thanks, and best future wishes to Kyle Ridout.

After just shy of 20 years at the helm, Kyle Ridout is retiring from his position as head of the Paul W. Ogle Cultural and Community Center at Indiana University Southeast. I worked with Kyle and his staff on several Bier Prost fundraisers to benefit the Ogle Center, and always enjoyed the experience.

Kyle circulated an e-mail informing friends and contacts of his impending departure, and I'd like to focus on just one section of it, which I believe provides insight into what goes into making such an endeavor work.

In the 18 years I have worked for the campus, I have valued the faith the community has placed in me. My charge these many years has been to serve both the campus and our community. I have tried to do that with a certain amount of humility, knowing that my success was always dependent on the interest and support of others.

Tribune: "Messer to retire from New Albany Police Department in May."

For the record, as reported in the Tribune.

Messer to retire from New Albany Police Department in May; Councilman filed for retirement in 2008 before allegations of racist remarks, by Daniel Suddeath

NEW ALBANY — New Albany City Councilman and policeman Jack Messer will retire from the force May 31.

But Messer said Tuesday the decision to end his career after more than 27 years as an officer was made in 2008 — well before accusations that he made racist comments during a January roll call meeting came to light.