Don't stop with sidewalks; Slate Run's redevelopment should include room for bicycles.

JB and BWS already have noted this point in the comments section of the newspaper's web site, so permit me to reiterate: Any such redevelopment plan that does not include bicycle lanes is ridiculous, and a source indicates that at least one member of council already has scoffed at bicycles as part of this plan.

At the meeting yesterday, CM Diane Benedetti expressed the view that Slate Run Road is too busy for bike lanes.

To the contrary, Slate Run is the ideal place to initiate a bicycling connector between the vicinity of IUS and downtown -- unless, of course, we just nationalize the railroad track running along Grant Line and use it as a rail-to-trail.

I bike Slate Run regularly, and as it currently stands, autos treat the road as a high-speed thru-way. Traffic calming would be a wonderful idea there, and a wee bit of sharing, with both pedestrians and cyclists, stands to make them better drivers as they trundle off to pay tolls on Kerry Stemler's and Michael Dalby's bridges.

New Albany seeking input on Slate Run construction; Addition of sidewalks goal of project, by Daniel Suddeath (Tribune)

A multi-million dollar project, with a main goal of upgrading pedestrian traffic flow along Slate Run Road,will be the topic of a public meeting.

New Albany Redevelopment Commission members will join administration officials from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Slate Run Elementary School gymnasium for the open hearing.

A correction.

Yesterday, I gave NA/FC Schools Superintendent Bruce Hibbard a hard time for acting like Kerry Stemler. It was a solid joke precisely because a previous time Hibbard had a big decision to make he went to 1SI for counsel while ignoring parents and apparently pretty much everyone else.

However, new reporting by Tara Hettinger of The Tribune suggests that I was hasty in buying into Becky Gardenour's account of things. I emailed Tara and she says the compact with what many consider to be offensive language came from the Indiana School Boards Association. So, for being misleading, I apologize.

See, Mike Dalby, that wasn't so hard, was it?

A transit friendly sports edifice? Which planet is this?

As a woebegone fan of the Oakland Athletics, I follow a blog called New A's Ballpark. In recent days, the blogger has been reporting on visits to major league ballparks around the country, and today's entry is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the city's new field has drawn rave reviews in this, its first season. As you read, think about Louisville's new arena ... and where you'll be parking, in the absence of thoughtfulness about transit options.

Day 11: Target Field

Target Field may be the most transit-friendly ballpark in the nation. It was designed as both a ballpark and a transit hub, with a light rail station alongside it, a commuter rail station underneath it, and weatherproof bus platforms adjacent to it. It’s an extremely clever and convenient arrangement, which paid off for me in a big way.

Let the interpreters begin dissecting.

Thanks to Chuck Freiberger, Democratic candidate for the District 46 Indiana State Senate seat for responding to my question.

"I am in support of building and maintaining infrastructure, such as a bridge, to make it easier for Hoosiers to commute to and from work and other daily activities, however I do not agree with placing a toll on the bridge as it is currently presented. "

What do you think it means?

REWIND: Nobody listened to Eisenhower, either.

The following was originally published on November 19, 2007. Since then, some have taken to referring to my occasional cautionary utterances as alarmist. Granted, I don't always get it right but, given the region's current position vis-à-vis the Bridges Project circa 2010, I think I can live with that.

One Southern Indiana already has two public school systems, two colleges, four local governments, six banks, and the phone and electric companies represented on their board.

Rather than fostering inclusive, informed debate about the future of regional development from the grassroots up, however, they've fabricated a top down model, insinuating that their suggested course(s) of action are inevitable while providing little public explanation as to why their particular ideological choices are more (or less) beneficial to the region than any possible alternatives. They've yet to openly admit that plausible alternatives even exist.

If they're allowed to continue unchallenged, amassing consequential levels of financial and political support from a roster of executives with an inherent self-interest in protecting their own respective positions, 1SI could easily develop the power to dominate individual local governments, thereby lessening the degree to which public input matters and creating a situation in which our region's future would be decided by the appointed members of a private organization rather than elected public representatives.

Regardless of their intentions, that's dangerous.

The guy gets one letter of endorsement from Dalby, and now Bruce Hibbard's acting like he was appointed to the Bridges Authority.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Kerry Stemler should be proud.

New Albany-Floyd County School Board code hits snag, by Harold J. Adams(Courier-Journal).

Several members of the New Albany-Floyd County School Board say they have problems with a proposal by Superintendent Bruce Hibbard asking all board members to pledge they generally “will accept the superintendent's recommendation on all matters that come before the board.”

The provision is part of a proposed Compact & Code of Ethics scheduled for a first reading at Monday night's board meeting.

Another provision says: “The relationship between the superintendent and board members is collegial not hierarchical, based on mutual respect for their complimentary roles.””

Small business, regionalism, and Rep. Clere's public forum tomorrow.

Rep. Ed Clere is hosting a Small Businesses public forum tomorrow (Tuesday, August 24 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Purdue Technology Center, 3000 Technology Avenue, Suite N2225, Conference Room, New Albany, IN 47150.

According to the material I received, "This forum will be geared toward small businesses in New Albany and its surrounding metropolitan area ... small business owners and those interested in starting a new business are encouraged to attend the public forum. They will be given the opportunity to discuss issues concerning the process of starting or growing a business ... some of the discussion items include: Strategic Planning, Market Research and (understanding) Financial Reports ... Rep. Clere and members from the local and state offices of Indiana Small Business Development Center will be available to answer questions and address any concerns."

Sounds interesting. I'm not sure I can attend owing to a prior commitment, and so if anyone reading makes it, can you please ask this question of the experts in attendance:

"As a small business owner, what should I do when an appointed (not elected) extra-governmental agency establishes tolls for Ohio River bridges, thus discouraging a significant number of patrons to come to Indiana?"

Thanks.

Policing and cultural differences.

This story in yesterday's New York Times documents "A Fatal Encounter in a Newark Park," and it is a somber, tragic tale with no obvious lesson to be learned.

But in this brief passage, there is a definition of "21st century" policing that applies to the New Albany city policemen with whom I've become acquainted during the past few years, and to me, that's a very good thing. It's also a definition worth remembering as we contemplate public safety in the changing cultural fabric of the city.

Gerard Tucci, Officer Esposito’s boss for about two years, described him as even-tempered, “a trouble-free employee.”

“I’m not telling you that he is a zombie, but you don’t want an officer too high all the time or too low all the time,” said Mr. Tucci, who retired as a captain in 2008. “The police officer of the 21st century is no longer the rough-and-tumble person of the 1900s, where you rough up a town and leave like a marshal in the Wild West. You are part of the community and part psychologist, part sociologist, part teacher and part interpreter, someone who has to be sensitive to the immense cultural differences encountered every day.”

Like crumbs from a cocktail jacket, Dalbybuttals begin here.

Proponents of "inevitability" have always been prone to condescension, examples of which are liberally sprinkled throughout Chairman Dalby's essay in today's Tribune.

In such arguments, superior strength and iron certainty must be conveyed to the listener, the feeling that someone so far removed from the seat of power and authority essentially has no rational say in the matter.

Bob Knight expressed similar sentiments when he counseled rape victims to relax and enjoy the experience. It’s also reminiscent of medieval Europe, when flesh-and-blood men -- not gods from afar -- built huge, towering cathedrals, and then pointed to the immensity of these structures as irrefutable evidence of a higher power's inevitability.

How could mere mortals fathom such grandeur without supernatural sanction?

Supporters of the Ohio River Bridges Project now exhibit the same attitude, one unconsciously echoed by Kevin Zurschmiede at last Thursday’s council meeting: This project is so big, so impressive, so very irrefutable, that smaller minds have no place in the discussion. We can only cower in awe as the earth is moved, and lower our trousers while smiling at our good fortune to have lived and died only slightly before the bridges are finished.

Apart from a palpable irritation with area plebians for refusing to bow to the inevitable, as devised by extra-governmental functionaries who are not in any way answerable to voters, Dalby reiterates a familiar case for two bridges and a reworking of Spaghetti Junction.

However, precisely because the idea of tolling existing bridges to pay for the forthcoming boondoggle is the mother of all Achilles Heels for bridges project proponents, Dalby gives it short and dismissive shrift.

There'll be much more to say about Dalby's treatise in the coming days. In the meantime, cutting through the verbiage, the veracity of his position comes down to this single paragraph.

It is a delusional vision. They have missed a key element — reality. The reality is that to get a real transportation solution for the Louisville region that serves the needs of today and the next 50 years, we have to add capacity— and capacity comes in the form of highway lanes.

Is reality the addition of capacity, or isn't it? Let's discuss.

Opposed to tolls to finance the massive bridges boondoggle? Let's make a list.

(October 10 update)

I'm primarily surveying the Indiana side of the river. This is a working document, and will be edited as I go. Please add to the list in comments or private e-mails. Also, please correct any mistakes.

CANDIDATES FOR LOCAL OFFICE 2010
Shane Gibson, Democrat for Dist. 72 Indiana House (Tribune column 8/17/10)

Chuck Freiberger, Democrat for Dist. 46 Indiana Senate, wrote this via Facebook; we suspect it might possibly represent opposition to tolls, albeit it as phrased in political doublespeak: "I am in support of building and maintaining infrastructure, such as a bridge, to make it easier for Hoosiers to commute to and from work and other daily activities, however I do not agree with placing a toll on the bridge as it is currently presented."

Ron Grooms, Republican for Dist. 46 Indiana Senate, wrote this via Facebook. He'll not tell us what he thinks until the bi-state authority tells him the party line to parrot: "There is a bi-state bridge coalition (committee), appointed by the Governors of Indiana and Kentucky that is reviewing many options to fund the bridges project. When the coalition issues their report, I will have a comment on the Bridges Project. Thanks, Ron."

Grooms then indicated on his Facebook page that the bi-state authority would not reach a conclusion until (conveniently) after the November election. Finally, Grooms followed the lead of Ed Clere and deleted the exchange in its entirety.

Jim Freiberger, candidate for Floyd County Council, District Two (relayed to the author on 10/07/10).

GOVERNMENT

Doug England, Mayor of New Albany ... "I am firmly against using tolls as a method to finance the Bridges Project."

Marcey Wisman, New Albany City Clerk (to the author)

Mike Lockhart, member of Sellersburg Town Council (via Facebook)

New Albany City Council (resolution 8/19/10; 6-2-1; "no" votes from Kevin Zurschmiede and Bob Caesar, with Diane Benedetti abstaining). Zurschmiede later signed an anti-toll petition at the Farmers Market. The author believes that KZ regards this action as a joke, even if no one laughs.

Paul Robertson, District 70 State Representative (Corydon Democrat on October 6, 2010)

Also: The Louisville Metro Council has unanimously passed a resolution opposing tolling existing bridges.

PRINT MEDIA
Tribune & Evening News (Bridges plan not worth any cost, April 24, 2010)

ELECTRONIC/BLOGOSPHERE
NA Confidential blog (damned near every day recently)

I have sent Facebook messages to the following, soliciting a position: Ron Grooms and Ed Clere. Days are ticking away without responses from any of them. Okay, readers -- what's being missed here?

Support your local winnery, er, winery -- unless you're a troglodyte character assassin, that is.

Enjoy the following comment exchange on another recently constituted "mad as hell citizen" blog, or in other words, a forum for disgruntled naysayers to vent toward others the bile they harbor about their own congenital irrelevance in the cosmic scheme of things.

Anonymous said...
Another one bits the dust. "The Winnery" is the next bar to close. I was told by the Humphrey's they will be closing soon. U celebrate the day Bank Street Brewhouse goes how about the rest of you?
August 21, 2010 2:24 PM

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The New Albanian said...
Where's the Winnery? Can losers go there, or just winners? If winners, then you may be out of luck, anonymous -- again.

Happy to see you pulling for small business. Hopefully your Wal-Mart stock will see you through until you learn to spell.
August 21, 2010 6:11 PM

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Anonymous (the Humphreys) said...
I'll assume Anonymous is talking about the "winery" as in River City Winery. As a note, RCW is not a bar. But if there is such a term "Winnery" that would describe us well. We just won 11 medals in the Indy International Wine Competition including a Double Gold for Pomegranate Blueberry. We also just won the right to include ourselves on a very short list known as "INDIANA ARTISANS" There are less than 150 in the whole state. Not sure who Anonymous is but he or she is an obvious liar. They didn't hear anything of the sort from us. Business couldn't be better. In fact, we're looking to expand.-----The Humphreys
August 21, 2010 9:24 PM

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Anonymous (the Humphreys) said...
I've never respected nor do I take seriously others that blog anonymously. Mr. Anonymous, I offer you three tips:

1. Please educate yourself with the facts before you blog about my business downtown. If you have questions about the "WINERY" I'm there Tuesday through Sunday and would be more than happy to meet with you. I'm not sure what Humphrey you spoke to, but I assure you it wasn't the owners of River City Winery.

2. Use spell check next time you blog.

3. Take a grammar class. The plural form of Humphrey is Humphreys. Humphrey's, as you wrote, shows possession.
August 21, 2010 10:19 PM

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Anonymous said...
I was in the bookstore the other day at 6:55 and the manager told me they were closing soon. Sure enough, at 7 o'clock they kicked me out and locked the door.
August 22, 2010 8:07 AM

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The New Albanian said...
It's just a perpetual giggle for me when the social misfits courageously lie from behind their aliases, and then disappear back under their rocks when their bluffs are called. I'm about to close, too -- the lid on the toilet, so I can flush troglodyte lies with grace and confidence.
August 22, 2010 8:17 AM

"Thus, I got up early and I left early in case of a traffic jam."

Echoing former councilman Kochert's pithy exhortation to rise early, my friend Kurt made this sensible comment on a Facebook thread about the Thursday evening city council meeting -- specifically, the resolution against bridge tolling, and CM Zurschmiede's strange rationale that traffic jams cause his son to be late for work -- therefore, we should reduce traffic jams by tolling to build bridges and ... well, attract more traffic jams.

Note also that during a Facebook discussion, Zurschmiede recently compared the "choice" of bridge tolls for end users with the option of consumers to buy Starbucks coffee, and matters begin to get worrisome. Take it away, Kurt.

The Zurschmiede comment deserves a second statement.

I have been taking my son to a school off of Brownsboro Road for the past 3 years. For nearly 1 1/2 years I made this drive from Georgetown, Indiana (now I make it from Jeffersonville). I take my son in the morning - work in New Albany - and pick my son up in the afternoon, crossing the bridge 4 times.

Over three years I was late no more than a few times. How did I achieve this? I value my son's attendance record. 5-10 minutes late gets him a tardy and I view me getting him to school late as a failure on my part as a parent. Thus, I got up early and I left early in case of a traffic jam. I don't think I'm a saint for this; I just did what a responsible parent should do.

Had I been at that meeting I would have let Zurschmiede have it on that comment about his tardy son. I work in social services - i.e. I don't get paid a whole lot - and a potential $12 to cross the bridge in a day is a lot of money to me.

If Zurschmiede's son can't manage to get to work on time I would suggest he look at the lessons he instilled in his son. I would also suggest to the workplace of the tardy boy to consider hiring someone else - there are a lot of people in desperate need of employment right now - and given the opportunity for work, I am sure they wouldn't be late.

Rain and coffee can do it to a guy.

You get older, and you get these flashback moments.

This morning, with the sound of rain outside and classical music on the radio -- coffee and a newspaper -- I'm somehow thinking back to an amalgam of similarly stimulating mornings during the 1980's. The wild card in all this is a memory from nowhere: European Journal, the weekly half-hour news wrap-up that used to appear on KET.

I can't remember when it aired, only that I regularly videotaped the episodes and was so enamored of the whole idea of a news show in English about Europe that I once wrote the producers asking if tours of the studio in Cologne were available. They said yes. I never went.

Of course, the items that constituted European Journal's eagerly awaited weekly content are available to me on the information superhighway, 24 hours a day. But learning isn't entirely about content, is it? It's also about style, and a mode of presentation. Indulging my fascination with brief news stories, soaking up the scraps of information, aching to go there and to see it, to do that, to be there; perhaps I'm beyond that sort of giddy excitement now.

Perhaps, although I can still feel the adrenalin of pure discovery nipping at the frayed edges of stress-ridden consciousness. Nothing stays the same, and I know that. Nostalgia most often is a misplaced, over-romanticized emotion, and I also know that. Yet, some times, surely it's acceptable to give in.

Give me a rabbit hole or a time warp and tell me it leads back to 1985 ... would I choose it and start over? I couldn't tell you, although probably not. It was what it was, in the time it was, and it cannot be again. But I revisit it, looking for clues about who I am, now.

Upcoming events in downtown, courtesy of Develop New Albany.

Coffey vs. Denhart in the 1st District?

The Troglodyte Table blog insists that Ms. Denhart will challenge CM Cappuccino in the 1st council district in 2011.

If true, which is highly doubtful, it will be hard to tell the impersonators from the real people.

One thing's for sure: Any campaign debate featuring V & D would have to come supplied with special equipment for those daring to attend.

We'll need some twist ties on that, and maybe a hazmat suit. Can't wait, god bless, etc, and all that.

August 19 city council 3: Craig's gallant last stand against Communism, Atheism and Historical Preservation.

(Note: Satire and fatigue may creep into the following, so please don’t take it as pure news reporting. Such reporting generally does no good in New Albany, anyway)

Local property owner Ron Craig spoke during public comment time last night. Craig said that he’s been in business for a long time and recently had a property in need of repair, one located within the boundaries of a historical preservation district (on Market Street).

In 2008, he began covering the house in vinyl siding because it’s cheaper than paint, and how can anyone mandate paint when vinyl’s cheaper? This is 'Merica, right? More succinctly, this is New Albany, the place that good taste forgot -- right? Isn’t the idea to reclaim such buildings as inexpensively as possible and enable more quadplexes?

Craig promptly received a cease and desist order from the Historical Preservation Commission, itself approved by a previous council to administer standards in a delineated area … yes, an area approved by a previous council. In other words, laws had been written, a governing body established, and now, two years ago, property owner Craig is reminded of the existence of such things as laws, reacting to this belated discovery in the time-honored way: By ignoring them, and daring the city's (non) enforcement to materialize out of nowhere.

Duly outraged, he persisted with work in spite of being told he was violating a law of which he was ignorant, willfully or otherwise, and I’m reminded that the last time I told a cop that I was not aware of the law, my excuse was dismissed faster than Steve Price shuts the cover of a book with too many three-syllable words in it, and a citation was issued.

Remarkably, Craig's bluff was called.

And so, Craig hired the once-relevant lawyer Krafty John, who specializes in tricky zoning cases, and lawsuits were filed, and because the owner of Pastimes also violated the rules by tearing down a structure sans permission, and had his bluff called, too, he’s now in bed with Craig to rouse the oppressed masses against the monstrous tyranny of historical preservation, and when Craig asked everyone in the room who’d been viciously screwed by the ungodly HPC to stand and be counted, a grand total of two people actually did.

Somewhere, Todd Coleman cheered and pressed a button to erect another blow-up doll to announce a used furniture sale.

Because Li’L Stevie now sings karaoke for pickled bologna and Budweiser at the bar in question, he’s also keen to do away with these damned stinking laws foisted on us by the VFW-hating, pinko-Nazi eyeglasses wearers with degrees who he wouldn’t rent a couch to if they begged him for lice-ridden upholstery and a gentle lullaby.

When I stood to be recognized as among those having positive experiences with HPC, and noted aloud that I was under the impression that ignorance of the law should be laughed at, not accepted as a valid excuse, Price began waving his guitar pick at me and dry-mouthing impolite utterances in my general direction.

Welcome back my friends, to the show that NEVER ends.

In some fashion, it appears the city council now wants to appease the law breakers by curbing the zealotry of historical preservation and appointing a council member to the board, or in some yet undisclosed way interfering with its own useful enforcement creation without contributing to the enforcement, or by having any intelligible discussion that might lead us to believe there is a genuine issue with historical preservation, apart from Price’s anti-world-of-all-knowledge infantile blathering and the obviously biased testimony of two or three people who believe that not knowing about a law’s existence exempts them from compliance.

Except that Dan Coffey, who brought up HPC in the newspaper, voted against the ordinance, and Bob Caesar – striving as ever to oppose the best interests of his own neighborhood – voted for it. Price, who used to sleep through Urban Enterprise Area meetings and doodle on newspapers when not openly yawning, would be an ideal choice to oversee the activities of a body that he'll never understand. That's the New Albany way, isn't it?

Try figuring any of it. As Craig himself noted, “I guess it depends on how you look at it.”

Yes and no, but at least by your testimony, Ron, you provided support for the notion that rental property ownership is a business, not a product, and for that I’m grateful. Tell it to that dude up in the Knobs, will you?

August 19 city council 2: No tolls for 1SI's bridges, bitches.

When I saw Tyler Allen come into the chamber before the meeting started, I asked him if he'd ever been to a New Albany city council session. He said no. I laughed, and told him he'd find it entertaining.

Tyler, who sat on the second row with former councilman Larry Kochert on one side and the nattily attired One Southern Indiana team on the other, spoke eloquently in favor of the "no tolling" resolution, introduced by Councilman Pat McLaughlin, which subsequently passed by a tally of 6-2, with Diane Benedetti bizarrely abstaining.

As an aside, let's just say in a charitable way that CM Benedetti had an "off" night, abstaining on the tolling resolution for no stated reason, being on the wrong side of the 1SI funding question, and having earlier brought forward a proposal for a $50,000 council grant toward Farmers Market improvements that virtually no one expected last night, or could explain in any detail.

Still, in spite of the considerable (and comical) confusion, and with no substantive documentation of the plan for Farmers Market improvements, Benedetti insisted on a first reading vote; amazingly, it failed by only one vote. Significantly, Councilman Bob Caesar voted in favor of it, sans comment.

Remember that vote, because it meant that CM Caesar voted for money to improve the Farmers Market without having any way of knowing exactly how work would proceed, or in what fashion it would be performed, or when it would begin.

Granted, virtually all those in attendance, including this writer, favor improvements to the Farmers Market. That is not the point. When a plan is produced, so will the money.

The point is, Caesar evidently did not need to know how the money would be spent before indicating favor. Later, when it finally came time to address the no-tolls resolution, it was none other than Bob Caesar insisting that the council could not possibly register an opinion on something that it did not know, i.e., how and when tolls would be applied.

In fact, Caesar did not seem to even understand that the tolls being proposed would be placed on existing bridges, bridges already financed, to help build new ones.

Rather, it was Bob Caesar disgracefully performing (thrashing) as Michael Dalby's 1SI surrogate, seemingly searching frantically for Kerry Stemler's "build the bridges and none of your backtalk, peasant" bullet point list (trust me, Caesar would have been far more coherent in opposition if he'd managed to find someone else’s list), and vainly struggling to lead the way against the no-tolls resolution with this stunning argument: How can we possibly know how tolls might work, and how can we vote in favor of something we don't know?

Not sure, Bob, except you just did it a while ago, when not knowing what would happen with the Farmers Market was okay ... and, of course, you served as the pompon team and voted "yes" for a second time on a reading of the ordinance to gift 1SI with $70,000 to perform services that the organization cannot document or explain, other than periodic exaggerations, meaning that you voted twice in favor of "not knowing" when it comes to 1SI and the Farmers Market, but expressed a preference for knowledge when it comes to the exact tolling plan for the dual bridges boondoggle – although you didn’t know anything about the tolling plan you were supporting.

Does Caesar really believe that flagrant contradictions like this are not visible to us, out in the gallery? Does he believe that the conflict of interest v.v. 1SI is not plainly visible? It’s surreal, this downtown businessman striving to appease the exurban 1SI cadre, which doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about downtown New Albany businesses like his. How does Caesar rationalize his zeal for self-defeating measures?

Another council member with strong ties to One Southern Indiana, and another member who, like Caesar, emphatically should not be voting on any ordinances pertaining to 1SI owing to an obvious conflict of interest, is Kevin Zurschmiede, the council’s lone Republican.

Although he gets it right more often than not, last night -- compelled like Caesar to justify the unelected 1SI's preference for making public policy pronouncements that supersede those of elected officials -- CM Zurschmiede resorted to relating a family tale of traffic jams to make the point that two bridges need to be built, informing us that his son sometimes loses hourly pay by being late to work, a situation that would be alleviated by two bridges and the tolls necessary to build them.

Seated behind me, Larry Kochert gave voice to what most of us were thinking: Maybe your son needs to get out of bed a bit earlier.

Tyler Allen then quickly and deftly refuted Caesar's muddled inanity, Zurschmiede's frequent smirks and 1SI's subsidize-the-rich organizational platform by pointing out the example of Illinois objecting to Missouri's plans for two Mississippi bridges on grounds of the funding burden being unequally applied to citizens of Illinois, reversing a seemingly irreversible building plan and building the one needed bridge, not a second unneeded bridge ... and without tolls.

I’ve been the first to criticize the city council for spinelessness, and there has been much to criticize in this and previous councils.

However, last night’s no-toll resolution places the city of New Albany in an unprecedented position of principled regional leadership on an important issue.

Who’s next to take a stand against tolling, and by extension, a stand for re-examining the Bridges Project as a whole? Develop New Albany? Obvious, as tolls would devastate downtown New Albany. Other local entities in New Albany and Floyd County should follow suit, immediately.

Indiana House candidate Shane Gibson (D) has done so. How about the incumbent? It is two days and counting since I asked Indiana Senate candidate Chuck Freiberger for his position -- not that I’m holding my breath. I suggest that these questions be asked of all candidates this fall: Tolling – for or against? Bridges Project – valid in its current form?

Tolls are the Achilles Heel of the Bridges Project, and accordingly, tolls are the Achilles Heel of any person or organization supporting the Bridge Project. New Albany’s city council now has taken the lead in applying tire iron to weak spot. I suggest others follow suit, because tolling proponents have no way of combating the grassroots on this issue, other than trotting out the Stemlers of the area to insist that resistance is futile.

It isn’t.

August 19 city council 1: Another citizen revolt suffers from erectile dysfunction.

For the report on last evening's endless "why not make this a work session and get us out of here earlier" public safety budget debate, visit Daniel Suddeath at the Tribune's web site: Budget shortfall still in limbo: New Albany City Council defeats public safety funding request, wants other options.

On the surface, it seems that the council members (minus congenital naysayer Steve Price, who's been playing some music) agree that police and fire protection are important, even if the palsied poseur -- mistaking herself for the fictional John Galt and lashing out at critics of her persistent and cowardly anonymity -- dramatically insisted that in the modern world, underperforming citizens like her can no longer afford, well, the amenities of the modern world.

The only disagreement seems to be where shortfall bills can be shifted for payment. EDIT? Riverboat? Rainy Day? We'll see next time, when a new ordinance is introduced, and we can sit through the whole of it, again. Maybe this time, President Gonder will enforce the five minute time limit.

Why am I suddenly reminded of Bill Cochran?

Well, well. It's deja vu, all over again, in the form of a nice, glossy piece in the snail mail today.

Says that, "Shane Gibson put criminals on our streets" and "has been irresponsible and left our families in harm's way." Accuses him of cutting deals while serving as a deputy prosecutor. Doesn't mention whether current prosecutor Keith Henderson's ever cut deals, although given the burgeoning number of citizens imprisoned for jaywalking, Henderson might indeed be a virgin when it comes to such deals.

But I digress. More boilerplate attack-dog negativism, from the (wait for it) House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) in Indianapolis.

Perhaps Gibson's incumbent opponent can issue his denials and expressions of HRCC impotence now, and avoid the post-Labor Day rush.

Conversely, perhaps both candidates can jointly proclaim: "We shall run pristine campaigns on the issues, and the issues alone, absent anything negative spewing from our own mouths, while of course leaving the mudslinging to mercenary surrogates up north."

That would make me feel much better.

I think.

New Albany 1 Night Stand's final stand for 2010 is Saturday, August 21.

When you're finished walking, don't forget your designated driver, folks.

Today's Tribune column: "Cappuccino's Pendulum."

Which world is real, and which one fantasy?

In one world, as reported in today's Tribune, a New Albany councilman barely capable of finishing high school lays claim to higher legal knowledge than the interpretation by a former Indiana Attorney General holding that, "pay for elected officials may not be reduced to less than the amount of their salary from the previous year."

(1st district councilman Dan) Coffey said Tuesday he intends to proceed with the resolution, adding that he researched the state law before writing the measure and believes it to be on par with Indiana code.

In the other, which perhaps will be posted to the newspaper's web site at some point today, but that I'll reprint in its entirety below as a reproach to tardiness, an amok elected official disturbs the tranquility of a squirrel, has a siding moment, and dances to hip hop.

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BEER MONEY: Cappuccino’s Pendulum.

Somewhere down Culbertson way, a mangy brown squirrel reposed peacefully on artfully crumbling bits of disintegrating concrete at a place once known as the curb, last repaired during the giddy euphoria of the C. Pralle Erni years.

Lazily gnawing on a discarded ice cream wrapper (his favorite flavor, cherry red), the squirrel spied a faded blue pickup slowly approaching. The squirrel took no note of the truck’s perpetually scowling driver, but immediately spotted a ventriloquist’s puppet dressed vaguely like the late Porter Waggoner, propped atop the stained passenger seat.

“Some nice wood on that one,” mused the squirrel. “Too bad he’s with dummy.”

Concurrently, an agitated Councilman Cappuccino took no note of the masticating tree rat, but immediately spotted the decrepit curb.

“We’d better do something about that,” spat Cappuccino to Li’l Stevie. “Let’s make sure none of them people come here and start a business. Heck, pretty soon they’ll improve the area, property values will rise, the city will waste taxpayer money fixing the sidewalk, and then the curb, and maybe give ‘em a patio, too. Where would we be then?”

“10th Street,” said Stevie, glimpsing a tottering street sign.

“I have some rentals right near here, CC. Let’s stop and make my tenants buy us a round of cold ones, hee hee. They don’t have a choice, seeing as I don’t let ‘em keep beer on my property unless they buy it from me – and none of that microbrew %^#$, either.”

---

SCREEECH.

As Cappuccino slammed on the brakes, Li’l Stevie clattered to the floor, and the poor squirrel … well, he remained safely ensconced amid the rubble, wondering exactly what had halted the noisy humans.

“See that cash cow of a quad-plex over there? Just look at the gorgeous beige vinyl siding,” cooed Cappuccino. “It adds real character to that crappy old historical house.”

“It says, ‘Rent me, depreciate me, don’t you ever appreciate me.’ Why, it’s so fluffy, I could die!”

The infatuated councilman immediately jumped out of his truck and began running across the street to caress the cherished siding, but he didn’t see that enormous land yacht coming …

SCREEECH.

The squirrel covered his beady eyes and recoiled, but luckily, there was no sickening sound of molded aluminum meeting legislative corpulence. Out in the middle of Culbertson, Cappuccino waved his fist.

“If I’d have let myself have city council insurance, you bet your bottom dollar I wouldn’t have used it – even if you killed me!”

Suddenly trumpets sounded, and emerging from the car was a Roman centurion, complete with diamond-studded breastplate and 24-carat plumed helmet.

“Halt, vilest jaywalker, for it is I – Tiberius Severus Octavian Elagabalus Septimius Augustus Claudius Hadrian, the Protector of Pearl, Deliverer of all Downtown Datedness, Master of the Mercantile, and Guardian of the Gates. You will be brought before the municipal court, except that we have no such thing, so I shall immediately signal for the city clerk.”

“Yo,” squealed Li’l Stevie, reaching for his banjo. “It sure isn’t Halloween, and that’s no gladiator. It’s Councilman Seesaw!”

TWANGshumpaTWANGshumpa

Please let me floss my jewelry
So much ice make ya eye sight blurry
Jewelry, this ain’t even half my jewelry
It's gettin’ kinda cold ‘n here I'm serious
Everybody starrin’ cuz we rockin' big jewelry

TWANGshumpaTWANGshumpa

Seesaw’s and Cappuccino’s jaws dropped in unison.

“Thank you, thank you – it’s great to be back here on Culbertson,” exclaimed the performer, adjusting his rhinestones. “I don’t let my tenants listen to hip hop – unless I sing it for ‘em. That usually puts a stop to it, and they can get right back to good ol’ Neil Young.”

---

Tugging at his epaulets, Seesaw said, “I’m sorry I almost ran you down, Cappuccino, but I’m late for a very important date. One Southern Indiana’s secret public policy committee is meeting to decide how to spend the $70,000 we voted to give us.”

“Nay,” interjected Li’l Stevie.

“C’mon, Seesaw. There are still two readings left,” said Cappuccino. “I want that money to stay right here in New Albany, because we – I – need a new outhouse at my – our – park in Westendia.”

“Hah! But we – they – have the votes, Cappuccino. It’s 5-4, and the money goes to us, I mean to 1SI, for our – their – nifty marketing campaign.”

“I vote no – no,” Li’l Stevie repeated.

“Marketing? I thought they – I mean you – wanted the money because you – I mean they – brought all them book-readin’ alcoholics downtown.”

“Nah, Cappy, it’s for putting tolls on the bridges we already paid for, so in 25 years we’ll have still more bridges, and maybe there’ll even be some petroleum left by then to run semis across them. Here’s 1SI’s new slogan: ‘You pay more to work over there, and they pay more to shop over here.’ Catchy, huh?”

“No,” shouted Li’l Stevie, “No tolls! No Nazis! No dark beer! I’ll just play some more hip hop. That’ll keep ‘em on Frankfort Avenue.”

Cappuccino glowered. “Seesaw, you’d best not count your organic eggs before those pergessives overpay for them at the Farmer’s Market. That Naygain flip-flops more than IHOP, and then there’s McWafflin.”

“Maybe,” said Seesaw, “Although it’s hard for me to believe that Councilman Cappuccino and Li’l Stevie are voting with Ponder and the progressives, when it’s 1SI that’s got all the vinyl siding you need. See you on Thursday, gentlemen.”

The squirrel abruptly turned and ran, spooked by an emerging mandolin.

TWANG.

“Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool,
Loving you both is breaking all the rules.”

Roger is looking forward to non-stop operatic karaoke in the 1st and 3rd districts during next year’s election. For the only blog that New Albany reads, go to www.cityofnewalbany.blogspot.com

A different view of Churchill.

Definitive assertions of historical "truth" aren’t always trustworthy, not because socialistic subversives like the late Howard Zinn are perversely motivated by spite to puncture those childishly simplistic myths that help us navigate a complicated world, but precisely because the world is so complicated. The ones who insist on reminding us of it are essential, although routinely villified. They're my personal heroes.

Johann Hari's New York Times review of the book, "Churchill's Empire: The World That Made Him and the World He Made," by Richard Toye, demonstrates these shades of gray murkiness as they pertain to the familiar hagiography accorded Winston Churchill, succinctly summarized by Hari in this sentence:

“(Churchill) may have been a thug, but he knew a greater thug when he saw one — and we may owe our freedom today to this wrinkle in history.”

The Two Churchills

Winston Churchill is remembered for leading Britain through her finest hour — but what if he also led the country through her most shameful one? What if, in addition to rousing a nation to save the world from the Nazis, he fought for a raw white supremacy and a concentration camp network of his own? This question burns through Richard Toye’s superb, unsettling new history, “Churchill’s Empire” — and is even seeping into the Oval Office.

Or maybe the logo should display a slumlord dressed up like Zeus.

The Tribune reports that the Carnegie Center is to host the New Albany Bicentennial logo contest. Wouldn't it be just wonderful if one of the rules clearly stated, "no trite steamboat references?"

Truly, the logo possibilities are endless. My proposal is this: The cartoon character Pogo is depicted “By the River’s Edge” in the act of shattering a plate glass window with a sledgehammer: "New Albany Bicentennial 1813-2013: Meeting the enemy for 200 years, and he still is us."

In other news, the city government web site that customarily includes city council meeting agendas seems to have disappeared, but the Tribune provides previews of tomorrow's festivities, with a $1.8 million public safety request up for consideration, while health insurance for New Albany city workers remains hostage to hard times and the legislative body's whim.

My first bicentennial logo entry.

The seal of the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, an imperfect group to be sure but New Albany's best hope before being crushed by that bastard Washington C. DePauw and his bought and paid for local government and media.

Olbermann: "You and I speak up."

Perhaps his finest commentary, ever.

Shane Gibson: "Tolls are not good for the majority of citizens or businesses in Floyd County and New Albany."

If you're just tuning in, Shane Gibson is the New Albany city attorney, and the Democratic candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives District 72 seat in the approaching fall election. The Republican incumbent is Ed Clere, who toppled political veteran Bill Cochran two years ago.

In today's Tribune guest column, Gibson begins by somewhat awkwardly touting the building of an Education and Technology Building at Indiana University Southeast, basing his advocacy exclusively on the grounds of short-term construction jobs and their benefit to the local economy, while not commenting at all on the intrinsic long-term benefits of the structure within the context of the university's mission.

Presumably, IUS stands to be strengthened by the classrooms to be housed within the building, and the instruction to be enabled by it, but we read none of this. Obviously, building a new Education and Technology Building at IUS will put people to work – for a while, at least – but how will having the building assist the university’s future educational mission? How will having such a building help us down the road, by adding value to the university, and by creating jobs that are not temporary?

The problem with Gibson arguing the desirability of jobs created by a construction project without consideration of merits of the project itself is that there’ll be people, among them far too many building and construction “leaders” standing to profit mightily from the largesse, making the very same claim about the Ohio River Bridges Project.

(How these “leaders” politically manipulate institutions such as One Southern Indiana in pursuit of future largesse is another topic for another day).

Gibson concludes his column with the first tangible indication that maybe, just maybe, the somnolent local Democratic establishment finally has noticed the low hanging fruit of an emerging campaign issue: No Tolls.

I will reiterate that while tolls stand to be devastating to Southern Indiana small business, "no tolls" as political phraseology means less than nothing if it does not bring the listener into the tent for a broader discussion of the inexcusably massive boondoggle of the ORBP, a chat which must include straight talk about innovative 21st-century mass transportation solutions, not the planned obsolescence of 20th-century initiatives to reinforce automotive-fueled sprawl, ones that possess all the vision and deftness of Stalinist dam-building projects, even if they generate lucrative pork for the members of 1SI’s non-transparent public policy committee.

GIBSON: Time to get to work on a new IUS facility

... Only when people don't get what they want do they say it is “all or nothing.” Why is that the case? In the end, tolls are not good for the majority of citizens or businesses in Floyd County and New Albany.

Categorically brilliant.

David Harvey takes a holistic view of recent global economic activities that smell a lot like local goings on.

Pssst ... don't mention Photoshop to this guy.

Does this make you feel better or worse about New Albany? There are plausible arguments both ways, and they all make me want to head to the bar.

Thanks to my contributor ... or, thanks for nothing. I'm not sure which is more accurate.

Hammond mayor retracts claim of steakhouse meeting photo (at NWI.com)

A photograph that Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said shows six Hammond City Council members dining together at a Hessville steakhouse doesn't exist.

Speaking Friday morning during his paid radio program on station WJOB-AM (1230), McDermott said that despite his publicly saying the photograph was in his possession, no such photo ever existed.

McDermott publicly chastised City Council members Anthony Higgs, Kim Poland, Homero "Chico" Hinojosa, Robert Markovich, Kathleen Pucalik and Dan Spitale at last week's council meeting after he said he had photographic proof they attended a meeting with police and fire union officials.

On his program, McDermott said he used the imagined photograph as a "bluff" to get council members to confess they attended the meeting ...

... "I don't really feel I lied. It's a pretty common interrogation technique.".

How have they ever created a civilization without the unelected Kerry Stemler to guide them?

Back in June, we took a look at One Southern Indiana's policy positions, courtesy of its exclusive "star chamber" of a public policy committee.

1SI's legislative agenda: "Make the hard choices," so help us ROCK.

I just returned from Madison, Wisconsin, where the policy positions differ from 1SI's, so much so that I didn't make it past the first entry, Intercity Passenger Rail.

Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Policy Positions

Them damned primitive folks up north can't even include a union busting plank in the master platform.

As ROCK might say: "Atheistic heathens."

Oh, the stories we'll tell.

The last time I heard 1st District Councilman Dan Coffey go down an anti-preservation path in person, he told a council meeting crowd the story of a woman who'd spent tens of thousands of dollars to put new plastic siding on her house only to have the Historic Preservation Commission swoop in after the fact, forcing her to remove it. According to Coffey, the woman eventually lost her home due to the expense. It was and is complete fiction. Coffey's bad acting aside, it never happened.

Of course, the last time I actually went to a Historic Preservation Commission meeting, it was because of an article in the Courier-Journal in which a local preservation leader with close ties to the Commission, seeking to move an auxiliary structure and place it as a primary one on an undeveloped lot on my street (which itself would have violated numerous preservation guidelines), suggested how the relocated structure could be for the neighborhood's use.

Like much of Coffey's grandstanding, such a claim is familiar strategy to drum up support and, again like Coffey, it wasn't really accurate. Asked about it previously, the neighborhood association representing the area had already voted on the matter, very clearly expressing that it didn't want the structure and the advocate in question was well aware of it. Other relocation proponents and some members of the HPC, however, perhaps owing to the C-J article or other similar communication, seemed surprised to learn of the neighborhood's wishes. Quite frankly, they shouldn't have been. Luckily, a majority of HPC members followed the guidelines and the move was denied.

So, here's to hoping for a little more truth in advertising, regardless of the outcome of this particular skirmish.

Coffey critical of New Albany Historic Preservation Commission, by Daniel Suddeath (Tribune).

Bully or protector of New Albany’s historic property?

The question surfaced recently during a City Council budget hearing over the role of the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission.

Councilman Dan Coffey shared his rift with fellow city officials, lobbying for an overhaul of the board that meets monthly to conduct business such as reviewing Certificates of Appropriateness for building improvements within its jurisdiction.

Coffey said the commission “pushes people too hard” when it comes to historic district guidelines. That has led to tax dollars being spent on court battles, he continued..”

Institute 193 presents Shaffer's Residential Facades

TRAVIS SHAFFER: RESIDENTIAL FACADES
August 12, 2010 - September 5, 2010
Opening Reception: August 12 | 6 - 9 PM
Institute 193, Lexington, KY

Eleven Mega Churches, Thirtyfour Parking Lots, Fortyone Walmart Supercenters, Every Church in Fayette County and finally - Residential Facades. Travis Shaffer, a recent MFA graduate from the University of Kentucky, has spent the past two years documenting various aspects of America’s less-than-enthralling architectural landscape and development through his steady production of photographs, books and portfolios. His most recent project, Residental Facades, visually recalls the austere photographs of Berndand Hilla Becher, but is distinctly local in its treatment of Southern suburban architecture and the unnerving anomaly of street-oriented residential facades without doors or windows.

In anticipation of the World Equestrian Games, Lexington has entered a period of breakneck development and infrastructural improvements that will have long-lasting effects on our community.Shaffer’s work paints a sobering picture of unchecked development but is able to disguise its social and conceptual critiques in symmetry, line and form.

More photos from the exhibit are available at Shaffer's web site. His Eleven Mega Churches is worth a look, too.

NA Event Watch: The Dandy Lion launch party, 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.

I'm personally pretty jazzed about these folks and I haven't even met them yet. Anyone who references Hannah Arendt's "The Human Condition" in trying to explain themselves gets bonus points from yours truly sight unseen.

According to their blog profile, "The Dandy Lion promotes independent small business, art, design, music, and community. We thrive in the anti-mass production movement and strive to tread lightly." Amen, sister.

Lots of photos are available at their blog as well.

The launch party is tomorrow, Saturday, August 14, at 7:00 p.m. with a groovy musical line up, NABC beer, and some special treats from Dundee Candy Shop. The gallery/store/venue is located at 310 Bank Street in downtown New Albany.

Voices from elsewhere?

Neighborhood cornerstone: Ritter House needs a boost as tenants set up shop, by Chris Morris (Tribune).

Hock hopes Saturday’s S. Ellen Jones Neighborhood Association block party will bring more attention to the house, which could become the cornerstone of the area, he said. The park in the rear of the school is named after Ritter.

“It’s a beacon of hope and help for the neighborhood,” Walter said. “I hope we can get more tenants like the Home of the Innocents that can help people. I’m glad to be part of something like this that I know will be a tremendous benefit for the future of that neighborhood.”

With all due respect to good intentions, who decides what the cornerstone of a neighborhood could or should be?

Today's Tribune column: "Whips, chains and economic development."

It's time for an integrity check -- time for some overdue introspection, and time to start asking candidates for office to speak definitively on their positions with respect to the Bridges Project boondoggle, both in general terms, and in the more specific sense of the pure havoc to be wreaked on Southern Indiana if tolls are instituted on existing bridges.

One Southern Indiana's embrace of tolling to actualize an out-moded transportation "solution" is tantamount to killing the villagers in order to save them. The city council's shaky embrace of 1SI is an embarrassment, but at least is as yet reversible.

As a whole, Southern Indiana has the power to put the brakes on the madness. However, it will require brains and courage. Both exist here. It's going to be interesting to see if, for once, we'll use them.

BAYLOR: Whips, chains and economic development

For instance, there is the Godzillaesque boondoggle of the Bridges Project, which 1SI supports with a zeal bordering on the religious, and which will require tolls on existing bridges that plainly will discriminate against working Hoosiers while fatally impeding the flow of commerce into Indiana from Kentucky, all for the sake of a “fix” that will be outmoded long before completion.

Green, future-oriented, regional transportation alternatives, anyone? Don’t ask 1SI to espouse them. In a world of solar panels, 1SI is mining coal with pick and shovel.

When they said broad consensus, I guess they were referring to the women that work for them.

Insight Cable's cn|2 news channel hired Braun Research, Inc., to conduct a poll in Louisville/Jefferson County about the local bridges, tolls, and other issues. The bridges results are below:

* 50.3% said they most want to see only the construction of an East End Bridge.
* 17.3% of respondents favored building just a Downtown Bridge.
* 14.5% favored building both bridges.
* 10.1% said neither bridge should be built.

You can read more and see two Louisville mayoral candidates respond here.

I posted those numbers and a link to the story, labeling them only as "interesting results from a recent poll", to the Bridges Coalition's Facebook page this morning.

Within 10 minutes, both the results and the link had been deleted.

Folks like Kerry Stemler and Michael Dalby are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep people from the facts. What's somewhat refreshing, however, is that such expenditures have been unsuccessful due to their incompetence in making lies sound true. Bridges poll results circa the 2010 propaganda machine are amazingly similar to poll results in the 90s, back before the C-J stopped doing them in deference to King Jerry A.

Not subscribing to their serial fiction is only a first step, though. Real change will begin to occur when the propagandists are shown a collective level of respect analogous to what they've shown us and summarily dismissed from the spotlight of the community stage. Via years of misinformation, Stemler and Dalby have proven beyond a shadow of a corporate investment banker that they wouldn't recognize sustainable, equitable development if it kissed them on the mouth like a cousin. As such, there's little justification other than their bankroll for them to be "starring" in much of anything.

All Bottled Up.

Bank Street Brewhouse's favorite artist*, Leticia Bajuyo, has good news about All Bottled Up, her sculpture at BSB for the Bicentennial Art Project. But, the news as yet cannot be shared, so I'll keep the photo up until matters are official.

* Other than Tony, of course.

Oops.

Apologies. I wasn't to have published that one yet.

Kerry Stemler to Louisville mayoral candidates: "Pardon, but resistance is futile, and those bridges go through me. Got it?"

According to The 'Ville Voice blog, Hal Heiner, the Republican candidate for mayor of Louisville, has unearthed five big ideas, one of which addresses transportation:

Begin Construction on the East End Bridge by the End of the First Term: Facing uncertainty over whether Louisvillians will be asked to pay up to $3 in tolls to finance a “two-bridges” project, Hal is prepared to evaluate all options, including streamlining the project to an affordable level. The time has come to move ahead with the East End Bridge ...

The Greg Fischer (D) camp already has said something in nearly the same words. Evidently both Heiner and Fischer harbor the notion that the elected mayor of Louisville should have a part in the process, although this should not be confused embracing the correct position.

Predictably, independent Jackie Green is the only candidate having much of anything sensible to say about transportation (or, for that matter, anything at all). Green supports building world class public transportation first, and various bridges second, if at all, and probably never. Green's platform is fresh garlic to One Southern Indiana's ravenous vampire, and as such, the latter surely appreciates a river separating the two.

Meanwhile, WFPL reports that the Hoosier who hired Michael Dalby says that Louisville's mayoral hopefuls had best stay in their places.

Candidates for mayor of Louisville have expressed interest in controlling part of the Ohio River Bridges Project. But that may not be possible, as decisions about the project are made by the bi-state bridges authority.

Authority co-chair Kerry Stemler says the body will work with the new mayor to put together a timeline for construction that will affect tolls and the overall cost of the project. So calls for low tolls from Democrat Greg Fischer and Republican Hal Heiner can be heard.

Independent Jackie Green favors shelving the project to build better public transit. Stemler says that, or any other redesign, likely can’t happen at the mayor’s behest.

“This project is too big and too important for any one individual to stand in his way,” he says. “If an elected official in either state changes tomorrow or after the elections, then we’ll try our best to work with that particular individual.”

That's mighty gracious of Stemler, who's talking more like someone in charge of a military dictatorship than a construction project. Presumably, local elected officials in Southern Indiana should take the precaution of clearing their legislative initiatives with Stemler, and only after doing so, even remotely consider the wishes of the electorate.

If anyone can find the Courier's endorsement of Stemler for mayor of Southern Indiana or Louisville, or the election results that elevated him, please contact me. I can't seem to recall either occurring.

Previously at NAC: Jackie Green for mayor...of New Albany, if necessary.

Car Free Happy Hour today at La Rosita's.

(Submitted. Sorry, Josh ... it slipped through the net until now)

Holy Guacamole!!!!

It's time for Car Free Happy Hour again!

Please come join us for the first ever Indiana Car-Free Happy Hour:

Tuesday August 10
5:30-8PM
@ La Rosita Mexican Grill
1515 East Market Street
downtown New Albany, Indiana

Also, we will have a bike ride starting in front of the downtown Louisville YMCA at 2nd and Chestnut at 4:30PM and ending at Car-Free Happy Hour! Please prepare for a 15 mile round trip ride and bring water and lights.

Please join us!

For questions, or to share your own guacamole recipe, call 619-4352!

"Their Man Mitch" evidently was not abused as a child ...

... because if he had suffered abuse as a child, chances are he wouldn't say things this absurd, although I'm not factoring the inevitable GOP concept taint into it.

Really? In the "literal sense"? Here's a fun game: Let's all hold our breaths into prominent local Republicans disavow the practice of comparing fiscal matters to child abuse. One, two ... oops. Looks like I'm dead. No debt for me!

Gov. Daniels compares debt to 'child abuse'

Thomas Cook timetables live!

I concede to a fit of nostalgia: A bag filled with dirty clothes, salami and bread, Eurailpass, and the Thomas Cook timetable. Later, I fell in love with the bicycle as mode of European transport. But trains ... ahh.

In praise of ... Thomas Cook timetables Guardian Editorial

You don't have to be an obsessive to find a sort of romance in their pages - and happily they now record a growing rail service ...

La Bocca in Louisville Restaurants Forum.

There's a thread at the Forum for La Bocca, New Albany. Here's the opener:

My wife and I visited La Bocca in New Albany last night. We had a very good experience. The food was very good. My wife had a well prepared Chicken Piccata and I had Rigatoni Bolognese. The Bolognese was very light with tomatoes and meat and I enjoyed it. My wife would have preferred, on my meal, a heavier sauce. She enjoyed her meal a great deal.

If you've been, leave a comment and let us know how it was. I've been busy and have not dined at La Bocca yet. Perhaps after the Wisconsin trip.

Note also a fact that we neglected when discussing post-city council options on Mondays: La Rosita. After the new location opens with full bar, and (I trust) NABC on tap ...

Smith: "New Albany city money for 1SI can be better spent."

One Southern Indiana supports the Bridges Project, a boondoggle that reinforces dependence on automotive transport at a time when civilized areas of the planet spend time and money seeking alternatives.

For the Bridges Project, itself profoundly mistaken and tied to special interests, mistaken, to even get off the ground, there must be tolling on existing bridges -- and 1SI supports that, too.

Such tolling will have a tremendously adverse affect on small businesses, particularly those in downtown New Albany, although 1SI never has supported non-chain endeavors, anyway. 1SI is about converting green fields into industrial parks, not adaptively reusing existing infrastructure.

Bob Caesar is a councilman who owns a downtown business. He has just voted to give 1SI, of which he is an enthusiastic supporter, money to continue advocating tolls, which in turn will damage Caesar's own business and all the ones around it.

Not only is doing so injurious to every New Albany resident, but as Randy Smith makes clear in his op-ed piece, 1SI member Caesar's "for it" vote to clean out the economic development fund to suit a single entity was a conflict of interest. Of course, it also was a conflict of his own self-interest, and if he can't grasp that, how could he ever see the larger implications?

If you're looking for reasons why New Albany is the place that brains forgot, look no further, and consider which council members got this one right. Gonder and Messer ... Coffey and Price.

Alice in Wonderland's got nothing on us, does she?

SMITH: New Albany city money for 1si can be better spent

... But this appropriation to One Southern Indiana isn’t designed to do that. It is nothing more than a subsidy — a dues payment, if you will — to a private membership organization that just doesn’t get what we are trying to do in New Albany.There is a clear question, too, as to whether a “dues” payment is even a legal council expenditure.

Rita Kohn and "True Brew" at Bank Street Brewhouse this afternoon, 4:00 p.m.

Don't forget: "True Brew" author Rita Kohn is at Bank Street Brewhouse today at 4:00 p.m.: Buy the book, she signs it, and we'll all enjoy a Progressive Pint.

I know it when I see it.

This is absolutely hilarious, at least you begin to consider the same gag in the context of New Albany, and, well, gag. Ewwwwww.

Thanks to T for both making and ruining my day.

Illinois Does A Few Adult Films To Make Ends Meet, from The Onion.

Officials said that since ending the 2010 fiscal year with a record $4.7 billion in unpaid bills, Illinois has been actively pursuing roles in sexually explicit direct-to-DVD features, but is only doing so until it can get back on its feet.

Matt Nash identifies an all-embracing, ready-made platform in today's column, "We must say no to tolls."

Matt gets it right in identifying the ideal electoral platform for the fall: No tolls, and by extension, a complete re-examination of the Bridges Project.

Who wants this one? Are there any Democrats with a pulse within reading distance?

Tolls on existing bridges, instituted years in advance of the (plausible) East End bridge and (unnecessary) downtown bridge, will have the obvious and devastating effect of reversing the bulk of progress we've made over a period of decades in convincing Louisvillians to patronize Southern Indiana, and to regard us as part and parcel of metro Louisville.

Tolls will gut the very tongue-in-cheek concept of "regionalism" that non-governmental apologists like 1SI touts, its front man's eyes rolling as palms slowly extend to relieve the rubes on the New Albany city council of money for use in advocating damaging policies precisely like tolls on bridges.

Surreal does not do it justice. The various monied interests that pay to sit on the inner cabal that formulates 1SI policy to the exclusion of well-intentioned small-fry members are laughing at you, CM Gahan -- and at council persons McLaughlin, Benedetti, Zurschmiede, and especially Caesar, himself a member of 1SI, whose vote in favor of handing 1SI dollars to purchase sand to throw back in the faces of New Albany was at best a flagrant conflict of interest, and at worst a slap in the face of his own downtown and to its small business district.

We must say no to tolls, writes Nash, and it's true. Who will be the ones to pick up this heaven-sent fumble -- even 1SI cannot come up with a convincing public relations spin in favor of tolls without grimacing -- and run with it into the fall elections?

Today's Tribune column: "The importance of being ancient."

My expatriate friend D writes: "I’ve got shoes older than you; you’re still a youngster. Enjoy!"

Yeah, I know. I won't think about it again -- at least until 55.

BAYLOR: The importance of being ancient

One might turn the page, earn a wage or rattle a cage, but take away the “s” from sage and insert instead the consonant coming just before it in the alphabet, and the game changes dramatically, from ancient sage into ancient rage.

Also, as reported earlier today at the Potable Curmudgeon, Studio's Grill & Pub is winding down at its current Main Street location. Word is that the rent was going up, and owner Trish Meyer is looking for another downtown location.

Last day for Studio's at its current location apparently will be August 21.

Bank Street Brewhouse on Thursday makes sense for post-council gatherings, except then the politicians won't come.

After all, we don't serve Pabst.

Spread the word about Grasshoppers Distribution/CSA, Wednesdays at Bank Street Brewhouse, and sign up.

Lindsey Gibbs from Grasshoppers Distribution writes:

"We have the Community Supported Agriculture drop at Bank Street Brewhouse on Wednesday evenings. We are trying to increase the New Albany membership to 30 more members for the Harvest Season (August-November). I just wanted to touch base with you and see if you have any suggestions for spreading the word. Just curious if you have any input of things that have worked for you all in the past or have not. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for all that you do. Particularly giving me a place to buy beer on Sunday. (We just became New Albany residents.)"

We can thank the legislature for Sunday growlers. Here's the brochure.

Just a random spelling malfunction.

Thanks, G. The sign subsequently was corrected. The photo originally appeared on Facebook, where some viewers of it were troubled, suggesting that to post the image on line was somehow unfair to the school.

I respectfully disagree. Plainly, schools are about education, and education is about knowing how to spell. Standards should be higher at a school than other places. Children are being exhorted to do better. "Rigstration" is not a good place from which to exhort.

Some potpourri, and then I turn this thing off for the day.

Our city council gifted One Southern Indiana with cash to lobby in favor of bridge tolls that will wreck New Albany businesses. Kudos to John Gonder for at least asking the right questions.

Councilman Jack Messer's disciplinary hearing has been delayed and will now occur one month closer to the day he planned on retiring, anyway.

Lee Cotner's back on the school board. Don Sakel's still off it. That's a big 10-4.

There were balmy temperatures in the brewery this morning. Meanwhile, craft beer sales nationwide continued to rise during the first half of the year.

I'm outta here. See you tomorrow.

Nice press for Jason in the Tribune.

As Amanda notes, the benefit on the 25th was quite a success, and NABC thanks everyone who made it possible. Jason always has been the favorite of all the extended NABC family, and we're all with him now as he tackles this thing and beats it. Speaking personally, I really appreciate Amanda's article.

Community steps up to help New Albany man in need, by Amanda Arnold (Tribune).

“He’s never met a stranger. Not here, Texas, Florida, Boston or anywhere. If God was one of us, how would you treat him? That would be him, he treats others with kindness.”

Mike Sodrel on wool, sheep's cheese and those damned Vallachs.

Mike Sodrel has written a book.

The book is called "Citizen Sheep: Government Shepherds," and web citations referencing it stretch back almost two years, when chapters were released to conservative bloggers in a fit of pre-electoral fervor.

The web site for the book provides little information, and its Facebook links do not lead to anything. However, the site titillates ominously by its use of the word "control," which I certainly hope refers to sado-masochistic content ... rather in the fashion of Sodrel's many runs for office, not to mention orifice. Does this mean we must endure another?

There must be a book, because there is a book signing on August 17 at the Coffee Crossing on Charlestown Road. You are encouraged to provide an RSVP for the adulatory session, which includes photos is you please -- you know, a little something for the grand babies.

I must stop writing now. My yawns are disturbing the cats.

NA Event Watch: Lousville Craft Beer Week's Strassenfest at the Riverfront Amphitheater, September 25.

The first-ever Louisville Craft Beer Week will run from September 24 through October 2. LCBW is a cooperative venture organized by Louisville area brewers and purveyors of craft beer, designed to, "Educate ... Inspire ... Imbibe."

There'll be big beer events every night during the week, and numerous smaller happenings around the metro area staged and hosted by pubs, restaurants and package stores. The majority of American craft brewers with a presence in Louisville will be represented at some point during the week.

Facebook page with schedule
August 9 LCBW golf scramble details

Craft beer fans in New Albany should mark their calendars for Saturday, September 25, when the Strassenfest already scheduled for the Riverfront Amphitheater will partner with Louisville Craft Beer Week to produce an Oktoberfest-style party with German-themed draft beers from participating LCBW breweries, both local and regional, along with appropriate food and music.

NABC is happy to host this Sunnyside Strassenfest on behalf of the LCBW, and thanks go to the riverfront committee for so eagerly embracing the concept. It's a natural conclusion to the amphitheater's summer season and just as obvious segue into Harvest Homecoming (kickoff parade on Oct. 2).

Tribune editorial: "Landlords, who neglect their property, need to become more responsible to their renters, and to the city."

It all comes down to improving the quality of life for a substantial number of residents by enforcing the city's laws and codes pertaining to housing standards, and in this instance of a rental registry, augmenting existing laws and codes with a simple mechanism to assist transparency. It should be easier, not harder, for people to know about the business across the street.

That's because self-serving bullshit and semantics aside, rental property ownership plainly is a business, and one that is in the civic interest to regulate.

Will the city council grow some spine for this one? The body's law abiding, responsible members cravenly allowed the last effort to languish in committee at the behest of Jethro's mice roaring. Let's call the rental lobby's bluff, queue up some Progressive Pints, and see what happens this time.

TRIBUNE EDITORIAL: Rental registry will help — if enforced

... However, our concern with another ordinance is having enough bodies, and funds, to enforce and chase down violators. The city has made progress in recent years tearing down a number of condemned properties. But there is only one city attorney, one building commissioner and two code enforcement officers. There is no way, without more code enforcement employees, that a rental property ordinance could be enforced. There is no sense in passing feel-good ordinances if they are not properly funded.