Locke to Clere: "We need engaged and active representation, not more status-quo political fence-sitting."

Odd that Sam Locke is a "reader", sans identity, while a letter following it identifies the writer's last name in the headline, but as the basement growers association might say -- what the hey. Inconsistency is the mother of detention, or something like that.

As Jeff previously pointed out, even the Clere Channel history lesson on the Bridges Project referenced in Locke's letter was blandly ineffective: "It might have been nice if Clere had provided some context for his 1920s/1930s comparison."

Kudos to Sam Locke, a ranking local Democrat with a pulse. We need a few more; the nuclear winter of the GOP's one party state rule in Hoosierstan is going to be a chilly one.

Reader: We need active representation

I expect to learn about history from books and the History Channel. I expect to receive news updates from a variety of media sources. From my state and federal legislators, however, I expect strong leadership — not history lessons or summaries of already widely reported public meetings.

In the Jan. 11 issue of The Tribune, State Rep. Ed Clere made a choice. He chose to provide a history lesson rather than taking a hard stance on the issue of bridge tolls, a subject of critical importance to already-struggling Southern Indiana families and small businesses. To be fair, he is not alone. It is a position of ambivalence shared by state legislators, sadly, on both sides of the political aisle and also by U.S. Rep. Todd Young.

Clere, other legislators, and Young (given the role the federal government plays in approving tolling on the project) have the ability to exercise oversight and utilize their political capital by advocating for a solution that allows for the project to enhance economic development in the metropolitan area without placing an unfair burden on Hoosiers in comparison to our friends across the river. They should be generating ideas to make the project better and conducting their own independent analysis instead of marrying their position to a Bridges Authority not representative of the most deeply impacted constituencies on either side of the river.

These legislators should join Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, and, even coming from this Democrat, Gov. Mitch Daniels in taking a hard look at finding workable solutions and learning what their constituents want, not waiting on someone else to do the legwork for them. We need engaged and active representation, not more status-quo political fence-sitting.

— Sam Locke, Treasurer, Floyd County Democratic Party, and Chairman, Ninth District Indiana Young Democrats

Gettin' Tighter: Recalling the forgotten Deep Purple Mark IV.

Deep Purple's "Mark IV" lineup featured the great, doomed Tommy Bolin on guitar (think Fats Navarro, not Bix Beiderbecke), alongside future Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, and original Purple members Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Unfortunately, the revamped band imploded after a year, laid low by fatigue and drugs.

I purchased the 35th anniversary edition of "Come Taste the Band," Mark IV's only album, and lemme tell ya: Overlooked at the time of release, it has aged incredibly well. And there'll be a film, too?

Back to the headphones.

A brief, open letter to the Redevelopment Commission.

...via a partial and paraphrased transcript of a semi-private, spoken reflection. I admittedly didn't ask my friend Rory for permission to share it, but he knows as well as anyone that I'm not worth suing.

Let me start with hospitality...

Culture is not just about meaning in some kind of abstract way. It is about the ways in which we make spaces for one another, the way that we are hospitable to people... I think of this in terms of making homes, making homes as guests..., and of making homes as in some ways the most basic work of culture, of civilization. The hearth, in the Indo-European traditions, is a very, very important thing. The fire is a worldwide thing and very important, certainly for native peoples on this continent.

How do we make a home for ourselves? What are the ways that we can come into a relationship with one another in a home... It seems to me that this a theme: a theme of home and displacement, a theme of how we make a home, how we can make a hospitable place for one another in settings where many feel displaced. And, in a sense, there's the other side of it which is hospice and hospital, the healing of trauma and the recognition and affective grace of mourning, which is also the work of cultural sustainability because we need to let some things go as well as hold on to them. - Rory Turner, January 18, 2011

My reflecting pool runneth over with beer.

It's awfully hard to select the week's funniest moment, amid mayoral press releases and the Vickster slapping herself on the back so hard that her cigarette hit the dirt floor of her hovel, but not to be overlooked is a Tribune letter to the editor from Shirley Ann Larner.

Neither Matthew Nash nor Roger Baylor will even be the real men who care about other people, like Dan Coffey and Steve Price, until they change their ways. I visited Roger Baylor’s business one time and was quite surprised that there was no reflecting pool, so he could look at his image all day. Maybe it was there, but it was just hidden away.

Shirley, I'm giggling all the way to the first post in quite a while at Citizens Faux Accountability.

SUDDEATH: So Professor, why do you keep such a low profile?

PROFESSOR ERIK: As you can see I'm African-American. Since most of my followers are bigots, I thought I'd "put on the Mask."

In other news, we've learned that Matt Nash didn't actually write his column today, and that recently deposed city council president John Gonder believes in mobility solutions that actually might solve problems instead of exacerbating them.

What was that, Mrs. Larner? I shouldn't use the word "exacerbate" in print, lest I give hormonal young men ideas which will render them blind?

Tell it to the historical society, will ya?

Casinos can't do without them?

File under hypocrisy.

The Lion in Winter.

Long the guiding force behind the 1117 East Spring Street Neighborhood Association, Commandante Nero is shown here resting after a satisfying tuna snack.

We've made incorrect assumptions before; now it seems that Nero is in eclipse, with blindness in one eye and occasional bouts of behavior not unlike dementia in humans, though as of yet these symptoms seem quite mild. But there is no sadness, because this cat has lived a very long life. In March, he will be 22.

In recognition of his advancing age and declining health, Nero has asked me to pass along this statement:

“If nominated, I will not accept; if drafted, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.”

As the Gahan for Mayor committee sees an opening ...

You've already seen the annoying official press release from the PR flacks at Peritus.

The Tribune's Daniel Suddeath plays it fairly straight: New Albany will have a new mayor; Doug England won’t run for fourth term, endorses Irv Stumler.

Here's a good angle from public radio.

New Albany Mayor England Announces Retirement, Endorses Stumler, by Gabe Bullard (89.3 FM WFPL)

... (Irv) Stumler says he wants to run an issues-oriented campaign. One of the issues he’s concerned with is the Ohio River Bridges Project. He says he supports current efforts to make the project smaller and less expensive, but thinks they should go further.

“I would kind of like to, say, hold off on the downtown bridge. Maybe redo part of Spaghetti Junction to make it more drivable, less problems,” he says. “I just don’t know if we should burden ourselves with that much money. It probably, for sure, in the future will be needed. But maybe we should build it and pay for it when it’s needed.”

Also, there is interesting analysis from a more partisan perspective, via Harrison County.

Shades of the Past and Future of Southern Indiana Politics in New Albany Mayor Race (The Hoosierpundit blog, with link to Courier-Journal coverage)

Stumler was seriously looking at running as a Republican. Why? I doubt that principles had much to do with him seeking out Dave Matthews. It's more because the establishment wouldn't have given him a fair primary in the spring against England. He is now the establishment's candidate and no longer has that problem.

Folies de pont continues record run with Nicklies upping his ante from 3% (ooh) to 5% (ahh).

As mayor-elect Irv Stumler spins the Wheel of Party Affiliation and signs warrants for the arrest of Tree Commission members in preparation for his emergency deforestation plan -- gotta get those damned tree limbs away from the street -- let's look at recent developments on the billionaire's mobility boondoggle front.

I couldn't attend Tuesday's meeting, but Braden Lammers of the Evening News explains that the fight against tolls continues, with local officials gathering with Southern Indiana No Bridge Tolls group to listen as Tom Galligan, Jeffersonville mayor-for-life, says he's heavy against tolls and will at the same time reserve judgment until final plans are announced. Profiles in re-election courage, indeed.

With a River Runyon Through the Fields hit squad in hot pursuit, the Courier-Journal's Marcus Green seeks to evade the strictures of the Hawpe Code, noting that cheaper Ohio River bridges plan may open door to more delays (that's a hopeful thing), and then offering this fly-on-the-wall view of saintly elected public advocates in prayerful action: Bridges plan changes hatched at December meeting in Indianapolis.

Green omits the wonderful story making the bedtime story rounds in which Rep. Clere heroically stows away on the Beechcraft King Air amid storms and turbulence to beseech St. Daniels thah he must listen to the earnest wailings of battered constituents, with Daniels responding, "Before or after the lashings continue?", and Clere answering, "Why, yes."

And then there's the one about the forever unctuous David Nicklies, as relayed by Lammers in his knee-slapping account of yesterday's meeting of River Ridge commerce center's budgetary bigwigs.

Bridges request

While the bulk of the revenue for River Ridge will be designated for the bond payments and infrastructure improvements, David Nicklies, chairman of the Bridges Coalition was present to ask for additional support for the Ohio River Bridges Project.

“We’re needing to raise about another $150,000 to $175,000 to get through this year of what we’ve already got committed,” he said.

Last year, River Ridge committed $50,000 to the Bridges Coalition to be disbursed in quarterly payments of $12,500. The coalition has spent the funding it has received on marketing and educational purposes.

While Nicklies said the coalition has been lobbying at the state and federal levels, part of the marketing campaign has been directed toward answering local anti-toll groups.

“There has been a huge anti-toll effort [and] they’ve actually been fairly organized,” he said.

Nicklies mentioned the groups’ frequent attendance at the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority meetings and a petition of 10,000 signatures the group’s organizers sent to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

“We’re spending a lot of time putting those fires out and talking about the silent 95 percent which you don’t hear from all the time,” Nicklies said.

Marketing and advertising efforts have been directed to outcry against the initial figure of $3 tolls used to provide an update for the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency’s long-range plan.

“We said politically that was a disaster,” Nicklies said of the $3 toll figure. “Then, we put the $1 commuter toll on the table and we were able to get the bi-state authority to roll that out, which got us into a little more positive mode.”

He continued and said the next 12 months for the project will be critical and referenced the bi-state authority’s upcoming industry forum.

“They’re going to invite design-build firms from all over the world to come in, look at the project, put teams together to come back and see how they can deliver a $3.5 billion project, hopefully for $2.5 billion or less,” Nicklies said.

Don't look at me. You're the one who keeps voting for them.

Today's Tribune column: "Pop art in one-party Hoosierstan."

It doesn't end the way it begins, and that's purely intentional.

BAYLOR: Pop art in one-party Hoosierstan

Once upon a time, I met John Warhola. He died on Christmas Eve.

In 1991, only recently arrived in Kosice, Czechoslovakia, to assume short-term duties teaching conversational English to staff members at the city’s University Hospital, I was asked by Dr. Robert Roland — the hospital’s first post-Communist administrator, who had hired me — if I’d like to accompany him to a Saturday afternoon museum opening in Medzilaborce.

Here's the official press release on today's baton passing ... not from those involved, but from Peritus.

Dear Dave Matthews,

Tell you what.

Give me someone on the ballot who (a) is younger than 60, and (b) not named Rebecca Gardenhour or Lee Ann Wiseheart, and I'll consider it.

Even Cruella de Valla.

Seriously. It should gladden your heart to know that the organized opposition has ceased to exist, and receiving notice of today's political announcement via a PR firm in Louisville has me (a) looking for a barf bag, and (b) wishing I could live somewhere else.

Thanks,

R

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


Media Contact:
Hailee Lampert
(502) 510-2349
hlampert@perituspr.com

Mayor Doug England Will Not Seek Reelection; England Endorses Local Businessman Irv Stumler to be Next Mayor of New Albany

New Albany, Ind. (January 19, 2011) – After serving three terms as Mayor of the City of New Albany, Doug England has decided not to seek another term in office, effective at the end of his current term. England announced Wednesday he would not be seeking reelection, stating he would like to begin focusing on his personal life.

“My family and I have given it great thought,” England said. “My wife has seen how the stress has weighed on me, and she wants me back. We both feel strongly that the next chapter of my life should be spent with our grandchildren who are quickly growing up.”

Following his announcement, England endorsed local businessman Irv Stumler for New Albany Mayor. Stumler has had numerous successful business ventures in energy, security, food services and contracting. He currently serves on the city’s Economic Development Commission, is actively involved in the Silver Hills Neighborhood Association and maintains numerous contacts across Kentucky, Indiana and the U.S. Stumler oversaw $1.5 million in renovations at St. Mary’s Church. In addition, Stumler’s family business relocated to New Albany in 2008, bringing with it up to 150 jobs.

“In these critical times, I cannot think of a better person to serve this city and help to continue attracting good-paying jobs to our community than Irv Stumler,” England said.

“I am honored to have the confidence and unwavering support of Mayor Doug England,” said Stumler. “Mayor England has truly been a leader and an inspiration as a public servant. I look forward to furthering the path he has set for New Albany’s future.”

England served two consecutive terms beginning in 1992, and then was elected in 2007 to serve a third term as New Albany’s mayor. During his most recent term, England worked diligently to balance and reduce the city’s operating budgets – General Fund, Street Department and Sanitation – while resisting public safety layoffs and facility closures.

In addition, England was integral in the development of the new, riverfront amphitheater and in the Spring Street Hill Road Reconstruction Project, and he facilitated several business start-ups, relocations and expansions throughout the city. Also, at his urging, the Common Council established the New Albany Bicentennial Commission.

“In just two years, New Albany will celebrate its bicentennial,” Stumler said. “Our city has come a long way, but there is more work to be done. I hope to continue the work Mayor England has achieved and further New Albany’s excellent record of job attraction.”

England will continue serving as Mayor through December 31, 2011.

There, I fixed it.

With the City retaining ownership of a smaller plaza/parking garage, this would be a much more sensible development than the proposed scars of enclosure.

WHAS says: England not running.

Whatever must be said will be said on Wednesday morning at 11:00 a.m.

http://www.whas11.com/news/local/England-not-running-for-reelection-in-New-Albany-114168559.html

Long time New Albany Mayor Doug England is not seeking re-election after all. England is expected to make the announcement at a Wednesday news conference.

In September, England announced he would seek a fourth four year term, but at the news conference, England will instead endorse a candidate who has never run for office, attorney and businessman Irv Stumler.

Stepping up, stepping back, sidestepping ...

Reader Ruthanne left a comment on my post yesterday, and said something that I anticipated when I hit the "publish" button.

It's filing time again -- they're going to grieve me ...

"If I'm not mistaken, there are at least a few regulars on this blog who reside in the 3rd District. Can we expect at least one of you to step up and make an announcement by Feb. 16th?"

Yep, more than a few ... including me, and that's why I'm elevating this comment to the front page. It is a legitimate question, and I intend to answer it by tomorrow, at least as it pertains to me, seeing as I cannot speak for everyone. This morning, there's beer business to conduct across yonder, as-yet-untolled Ohio River, so I may not get to it until later. But I'll get to it. Thanks.

Wisman-Bennett: "New Albany is at a critical point right now, and we really need to look at the people that we’re putting in office."

Daniel Suddeath reports: Run for mayor not in the cards for City Clerk Wisman-Bennett.

Long rumored to be a 2011 mayoral candidate, New Albany City Clerk Marcey Wisman-Bennett confirmed to The Tribune Monday she will not seek public office this year.

Wisman-Bennett, a Democrat, cited her desire to spend more time with her family, but also frustration with New Albany’s political scene as reasons for deciding not to run for mayor, New Albany City Council or to attempt to secure a third term as city clerk.

Fair enough, and there's more:

Wisman added that the city’s elected officials “are unwilling to even try to understand where the other person is coming from and I don’t see that getting any better.”

... Wisman-Bennett said she’s proud of New Albany and its residents, but believes the leadership has left something to be desired.

“New Albany is at a critical point right now, and we really need to look at the people that we’re putting in office. Do they really have the skill set and the knowledge to turn things around,” she said.

“It can no longer be about, oh well, I heard that name before. Or, well, they’re a good Democrat or a good Republican. It has to be, do they have the ability to make a difference?”

Right on, sister.

As an aside, the first reader to decipher exactly what Erika's trying to say over in Screechland wins a facsimile Verle Huffman for Mayor button.

ARE THE DEMOCRATS SMARTER....THAN A FIRST GRADER?

We are wondering how on earth any local "Democrat" could seek and obtain signed authority from Republican Chair Dave Matthews to run for local office and then, in an act that is as signing allegiance to the devil (England), make a deal and switch back to the Democrat Party.

It's filing time again -- they're going to grieve me ...

As the Tribune recently reminded us:

The first day candidates can file to run in the city primary is Jan. 19, and the majority of current New Albany City Council members plan to seek re-election this year ...

New Albany candidates have until noon Feb. 18 to file in the county clerk’s office, which is located in room 235 of the City-County Building at 311 Hauss Square.

A few random thoughts.

The local Democratic machine’s decline was underway long before last November's comprehensive shellacking; in the months since, it has disappeared from view. Does New Albany’s Democratic Party still have the strength (and the will) to contest municipal elections in 2011?

In spite of the Democratic drubbing, the inner city still held the line, thanks presumably to straight ticket voting. Remembering that precious few Democrats in New Albany know or care about the party’s national platform, ongoing pockets of resistance in the inner city are a good thing for Democrats overall.

But: Given that those city council’s principal dullards most in need of removal register as Democrats and benefit from these straight party votes, it makes it harder to facilitate their forced retirement without the pre-assistance of the machine – which was unwilling to cooperate when breathing, and now barely exists at all.

And yet, some insist that the unprecedented size and scope of last November’s Republican victory – albeit benefiting from county GOP cadres and without municipal offices up for grabs – make it at least possible that Republicans might do better in the inner city this time around.

Do the Republicans have candidates? One would think that success has bred greater numbers and a larger pool for selection. If the GOP has a credible candidate in a place like the 3rd district, is there any way such a candidate can beat Steve Price, who typically routs Republicans in the fall after winning divided Democratic primaries in the spring?

Is there any room for viable independent candidacies in any of this (or these)?

Discuss?

30 for 30: Vlade Divac, Drazen Petrovic, basketball and Yugoslav civil war.

I am/was a fan of both players. The documentary was first aired back in October, and it showed again yesterday; we just happened upon it, and were spellbound.

Very, very moving.

Moss and Johnson on bridges and tolls.

Taken together, these two Sunday opinion columns appearing in Louisville metro newspapers occupying opposite editorial sides of the bridge tolls debate make a unified, if unintended point.

Opposition to tolling may be misdirected, and perhaps even wasted, without a fundamental examination of future transit options as largely contradicted by the assumptions of the ORBP. Does the sacred plan and its $4 billion worth of boondoggle actually provide "mobility solutions," or might these goals be achieved by altered or entirely different means? What is the future?

Dale Moss Jeffersonville restaurant owners take on tolls (Courier-Journal)

Like many Hoosiers, Wes Johnson and Mike Kapfhammer wait impatiently for fewer maybes about the Ohio River Bridges Project. And like many – including me - they want to believe in it but still cannot.

Johnson and Kapfhammer co-own the Buckhead Mountain Grill and Rocky’s restaurants on Jeffersonville’s riverfront. They were regionalists before regionalism was cool ...

... Johnson and Kapfhammer are trying to rally people as part of the No2BridgeTolls.org effort. “When they realize, then they get excited,” Kapfhammer said.

In short, we mustn't accept recently proffered diversionary bait. It's time to take toll talk to a different level, but more on that later. For now, know that No2BridgeTolls is holding a another meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at Buckhead Mountain Grill in Jeffersonville. Now, notice how Rev. Johnson instinctively grasps certain points that seem forever to elude the iron dictates of Stemlerism.

JOHNSON: A bridge too far, by Richard Johnson (Tribune)

... When new highways and bridges are built in urban areas, they tend to have the long-term effect of encouraging more people to drive. This in turn leads to more traffic and bigger traffic jams…the opposite of the intended effect. We know this, but continue to build them anyway.

Cops and firemen as second-class citizens. Can they still vote, Ed?

Let me get this one straight.

The proposed legislation would create a new sub-class of citizen, who not unlike the convicted felon, would have basic tenets of citizenship denied to him?

Meanwhile, with conflicts of interests over salary deftly "eliminated," and presumably with another stake driven through the heart of one or another union (isn't this the goal?), luminaries like Bob Caesar remain free to vote in favor of monies destined to be given to bodies like One Southern Indiana, of which he's a member, and which also is a conflict of interest?

Perhaps when Ed Clere and Ron Grooms finish stroking St. Mitch's backside and appeasing the reigning populist instinct (horrors -- just as long as it isn't that untidy bridge toll populism -- chortle) by means of legislation like this, they can begin eliminating the other conflicts of interest which roll merrily forward.

Let's toast the emerging GOP nanny state.

New bill to ban public employees from certain government boards;Current elected officials could serve remainder of their term, by Daniel Suddeath (Tribune)

Messer redeals.

Jack Messer's campaign slogan was conjectured long before reading that his plans have changed. By offering, “That’s not what I meant,” it turns out that I wasn't far off.

Messer not retiring from New Albany Police Department; Councilman won’t seek re-election; says city should choose leaders more wisely, by Daniel Suddeath (Tribune)

New Albany City Councilman Jack Messer said Friday he will not seek a third term this year or run for another public office.

Messer also confirmed he will not retire from the New Albany Police Department May 31 as was his original intent.

Posterity can sort through the evidence, although I'll continue to maintain that Messer's overall council record is a good one.

More significantly, for eight years Messer has been just about the only council member willing to stand up to Dan Coffey's incessant bullying, and to call out Cappuccino's frequent self-aggrandizing lies. The best solution, in keeping with Messer's parting words, is for the 1st district to choose its leader more wisely. If not, an assertive replacement for Messer will be necessary.

Nash: "City council needs to address budget shortfall."

Another good one from Matt.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must get to work on Mrs. Baird's marching orders.

NASH: City council needs to address budget shortfall

... Councilman Price does not think it is proper to use “Rainy” day funds to cover the budget deficit. He equates it to living on your savings account. Under the guise of fiscal responsibility he has refused for years to use these funds for any projects that have been proposed. Now we need that money for public safety, and he still refuses to use it. What exactly is he waiting for?

The "Top Nine" New Albany city council candidate campaign slogans.

9. John Gonder: “C’mon, I tried. Do you see what I have to work with?”

8. Jack Messer: “That’s not what I meant.”

7. Diane Benedetti: “I’ll never write words you can’t understand.”

6. Kevin Zurschmiede: “Don’t you dare vote against me now just because all the Republicans won in 2010.”

5. Pat McLaughlin: “Look, it’s me or King Larry, so vote for me … I think … wait a second … I’m not sure … ”

4. Jeff Gahan: “Looks like I picked the wrong year to run for mayor.”

3. Bob Caesar: “Wee! Wee! Look at me! I’m pals with Michael Dalbeeeee!”

2. Dan Coffey: “If I get beat, them people win. Besides, if I get beat, I’ll have to get a real job.”

1. Steve Price: “No.”

Three views of the River View riverfront development project

The Tribune lays it out: $42M development may feature cut in levee: New Albany being asked to pay $12 million for garage, handle expenses of levee cut.

But Mrs. Baird still doesn't grasp public-private partnerships: THE DOWNTOWN PLAZA

Meanwhile, loony Erika's still in Gucci Land: ANOTHER PARKING GARAGE ~ ANOTHER $12 MILLION CRAP SHOOT!

Today's Tribune column: "Only sissies catch and release."

Ifuns they come back with a mess of EDITs and TIFs, maybe they kin put 'em in a Cajun cooker top o' the new parkin' gay-rodge.

BAYLOR: Only sissies catch and release

SOUTHERN INDIANA — It was dawn’s earliest light in the damp cold of an Ohio Valley winter morning, and down in the muddy creek bottoms of Falling Run, a smudgy tableau was lifting, sketched in drab shades of brown and gray.

Invisible waterborne contaminants gurgled past an exposed mound of illegally dumped tires. Nearby, where imperceptibly decaying rubber met an abandoned wooden packing crate, rustlings in the dead leaves gradually betrayed the presence of three shivering, huddled forms, two of them clad in Army surplus desert camouflage.

The third, smaller and mannequin-like, was perched on an empty plastic milk jug, wearing a straw hat and wielding an unlicensed Dobro®.

TWANG!

“A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go,

Heigh ho, the Mayor must go, a hunting we will go.”

TWANG!

From below a scarlet, grease-smeared doo rag, Councilman Cappuccino glared at his ventriloquist’s dummy.

“Be vewwwy quiet! We’re hunting EDITs.”

Levee me this, Levy.

It took me a moment to understand why the title of this Tribune article so confused me. Then, noticing that the article itself provided no relief, it finally occurred to me. Spell check provides no relief when correctly spelling the incorrect word.

Levy: To impose or collect a tax.
Levies: Money, property, or troops levied.
Levee: An embankment raised to prevent a river from overflowing.
Levees: Multiple embankments.

If we were to ask Professor Erika (but why bother?), he/she probably would begin screeching that when it comes to $12 million for an uppity pergessive parking garage, levies levied for levees are a levy too far.

Or, in Italian: "Le imposizioni sono argini," or some such Papal Nuncio.

Meanwhile, don't forget: Tomorrow marks the return of Councilman Cappuccino and Li'l Stevie to Tribune column inches, with the latter of the historically conjoined yet again heroically abstaining from the levy/levee debate.

Perhaps New Albany's most underachieving politician in generations can be leveraged out of office in 2011.

$42M development may feature cut in levy: New Albany being asked to pay $12 million for garage, handle expenses of levy cut, by Daniel Suddeath.

The commission was not asked to approve any financing for the project, but Bobo requested the city pay for its own analysis of the development to get an independent estimate of how much tax revenue New Albany could yield, which the body approved by a 4-0 count.

Councilman and commission member Steve Price abstained from voting on the financial analysis hire, as he said he would need more information before feeling comfortable casting a ballot regarding anything to do with River View.

"It might have been nice if Clere had provided some context for his 1920s/1930s comparison."

As usual, my colleague Bluegill provides laser-directed insight with respect to yesterday's Clere Channel press release. See also today's Cheers & Jeers for a "sigh of relief" from Tribune reader Sam Johnson, who mentions that most elusive of American political traits, compromise, in his cheer.

Jeff Gillenwater has left a new comment on your post "After 143 long days, Clere finally notices the ORBP, gets all cutesy, repeats discredited Stemlerisms -- and says nothing."

I realize that actual education isn't the point of propaganda but it might have been nice if Clere had provided some context for his 1920s/1930s comparison.

Car ownership rates then were low and mass transit availability high, i.e., a majority of people did not depend on autos and auto-centric bridges to get to work or for other daily activities. As an investment, the Clark Memorial Bridge was built to serve a certain segment of the population for what was still a relatively specialized purpose. People had real transportation options and a tolled automobile bridge was not only easily avoidable but of little to no use for most.

Now, commuting workers, students, shoppers, hospital goers, etc., have far fewer such options and auto bridges operate as near monopolies. The two situations aren't directly comparable. Suggesting they are is misleading.

Next meeting of No2BridgeTolls is Tuesday, January 18.

(submitted)---

Next Tuesday, January 18th Organization for a Better Southern Indiana Inc. (www.No2BridgeTolls.org) will host a meeting at Buckhead’s on Riverside Drive in Jeffersonville to update residents, businesses and organizations on current events and next steps in the process to keep tolls off existing structures over and around the Ohio River. Come early at 5:30 and network with other supporters. The meeting starts at 6:00 p.m.

All are welcome and please help spread the word about this meeting hosted by Organization for a Better Southern Indiana Inc. For info call Paul Fetter @ (812) 283-5555 ext. 27.

On another note, be sure and thank Kentucky Senators Clark, Shaughnessy, and Harper Angel for filing a bill to prohibit tolls or user fees on any existing federal highway, bridge or tunnel. With your support we are making progress. Please share this email, our web page, www.No2BridgeTolls.org, and our Facebook page, No2BridgeTolls, with your friends and family who have an interest in preserving toll-free transportation on existing structures across the Ohio River and Spaghetti Junction.

Three NABC press releases.

With Barleywine on a snowy afternoon.

An assemblage of NABCs: It’s N.A.B.C.ieged III, beginning January 25.

New Albanian Brewing Company to begin bottling in 22-oz “bomber” bottles.

Ackerman’s lives again: The 2011 BIG Winterfest ReplicAle is Imperial Double Stout ...

After 143 long days, Clere finally notices the ORBP, gets all cutesy, repeats discredited Stemlerisms -- and says nothing.

For the first time since his opinion was earnestly requested way back in August, 2010, 143 days ago, Rep. Ed Clere (R-72), has offered an essay-length public statement on the Ohio River Bridges Project and the prospect of tolls to finance them.

As always, his essay is well written. That's to be expected, as he was a journalist at one time.

But sadly, once again, he says next to nothing of genuine substance with respect to tolling and its detrimental effects on Southern Indiana working commuters and small businesses, choosing instead to parrot the propagandistic talking-point Stemlerisms of the Bridges Authority, and yet again to suggest that we must wait for the wheel to be spun a few dozen more times before hazarding even the meekest of viewpoints.

And, while lamenting the cost of monthly construction delays, this reputed fiscal conservative has absolutely nothing to say about the price tag of the boondoggle, still nearing $4 billion dollars even after largely symbolic "cuts" were suggested last week by St. Daniels.

Remember during the non-input public meeting hosted by the Tolling Authority, when I was told by his wife that Rep. Clere has been firmly opposed to tolling from the start? Somehow, that part didn't make the cut. Gee whiz.

If just once, just one of the ORBP/tolling advocates (including Rep. Clere) would try -- try, not necessarily conclusively, but try -- to respond to the question of tolling's economic impact on Southern Indiana small business, and on Southern Indiana working commuters, I'd be more inclined to listen to their Pinocchioesque exaggerations absent skepticism.

As it stands, because we've been lied to on a consistent basis throughout this process (i.e., number of jobs created by the ORBP; tolling intentions; overall costs; mobility "benefits" as opposed to mass transt; andon, and on), we really have no reason to believe what we're told. Here's the link. Scoop up some wet tea leaves, and see if you can find anything new amid the tired platitudes.

CLERE: Delay is taking a toll

Of nut jobs and nut jobbery, American-style.

I see that another of our born-and-bred American nut jobs has wreaked havoc with bullets. It’s like an assembly line that never stops running.

Before the verbal shelling begins, this is not to suggest that rhetoric alone, whether left, right or middle, is responsible for nut jobbery, only that American soil is an eternally fertile incubator for nut jobs.

Worse, like Lear’s lifeline of a Fool, we seem to crave the presence of nut jobs among us in ways that do not bode well for the future of public safety, or personal sanity.

Permit me to explain my viewpoint.

In other Western countries, nut jobs are just as prevalent as here, but lacking freely available ballistics – and more importantly, denied an accessible soapbox owing to societal indifference – they soon become reabsorbed into the hinterlands from whence they came.

Indigenous nut jobs hang out at (for instance) Norwegian or Maltese dive bars, pulling their beards, waving their arms and muttering a lot, and if particularly entertaining, they find that bored patrons will buy them drinks, treating their conspiratorial gibberish and nonsensical ramblings as part of the nightly floor show, and nothing more.

In America, nut jobs are oddly venerated, somehow emerging as role models in the strangest and highest places, ranging from the televangelist’s pulpit (Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker) to the vice-presidency (Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle), and excluding neither major league sportsmen (Dennis Rodman, Al Davis) nor captains of industry (Charles and David Koch).

Existing below this somewhat rarified level of tabloid nut job notoriety are the garden variety, localized nut jobs, who at one time in the nation’s innocent, Mayberry RFD period of post-war stolidity, may actually have been as harmless as Otis and today’s Euro-cranks, but now increasingly are feared (and rightly so) due to the easy availability of weapons of significant, if not mass, destruction.

Even more bizarre, only in America do we deign to speak to this nut job fringe of miscreants as though they mattered, and in vaguely political terms, rather than consigning nut jobs to their rightful place on the ends of bars where the spittoons used to stand, forcing me to conclude that our degraded political parties – one in particular – actively desires their votes.

In fact, America’s twisted history offers dozens of examples of pre-emptive nut job cajolery, almost always emanating from those of its kissing cousins on the right, and generally meant to counter the widespread assumption among conservative elements that unless they take the initiative to blatantly lie first, unacceptable numbers of ordinary, aimless nut jobs just might fall into the dreaded hands of leftists, socialists, miscegenationists, feminists and homosexualists, and stage a second coming of the Bolshevik fury, with Red Massacres, rapes, art exhibits and the like.

Even worst: If not properly frightened into a state of amok anti-liberalism, nut jobs might take to committing crimes against property, not people – and then what?

That’s why the historical record of armed, frothing, left-wing nut jobs takes up vastly less space in the nation's Big Chief Tablet of a hate crime ledger than the population of heavily armed survivalists in a single Idaho county (pick one, doesn't matter which, and the ratio surely will hold true).

One of them may already have been elected Senator out there.

Verily, we just don’t do left-wing nut jobbery very well in America, and at this exact moment, I’m finding no consolation whatsoever in grasping this truth. Like violence and extremism, nut jobbery is a trait that baffles me. Too bad we can't do something about it. I've often though it must be constitutionally protected.

Do we ever learn?

Wait – don’t answer that question.

High hopes for one of our own in Colorado, fewer for the same tired faces in New Albany.

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine includes a lengthy profile (by Frank Bruni) of John Hickenlooper, the recent two-term mayor of Denver, who tomorrow becomes Colorado’s governor.

For me, Hickenlooper has been an inspiration quite apart from politics, by reason of beer and brewing.

... With his geology degree in hand, he got a job with a big oil company in Denver in 1981 but was laid off after five years, during a downturn in the oil industry. He used part of his severance to buy a red ’67 Chevy convertible, took a road trip to see his brother in Berkeley, Calif., and, while there, happened to go to the Triple Rock, an early microbrewery. Denver didn’t have anything like it. Hickenlooper, in need of a project and a new career, decided to fix that.

From relatives, friends, strangers and a bank, he rounded up $575,000 and constructed the Wynkoop, named for a nearby street, in one of several neglected turn-of-the-century brick warehouses in lower downtown, which is known as LoDo. He chose the neighborhood for the cheap rent, but he also sensed potential for an urban renaissance there. He even moved into a LoDo loft. And as he restyled or bought other restaurants in LoDo and elsewhere, he spearheaded a few business and residential projects around the Wynkoop. “He wasn’t the first to buy property in that part of downtown and develop it,” says Joyce Meskis, who owns the Tattered Cover, a Denver bookstore of national renown, and who was his partner in one of those LoDo projects. “But he was one of the most influential. There were obstacles, and he kept at it and kept at it and kept at it.” The area evolved into one of the city’s favored playgrounds, and he became known as one of its patron saints.

I had the chance to shake the brewer's/mayor's/governor's hand and chat for a few minutes back in the mid-1990’s, while in Denver to attend the Great American Beer Festival. At the time, Wynkoop seemed to me the very model of what could be done in a revitalizing downtown, and how it might be done without dumbing down. My first highly favorable impressions have lingered to this very day.

---

Turning to more locally depressing topics, Sunday’s Tribune invoked the Peter Principle while revealing the terrifying news that all of New Albany’s current sitting city council members who bothered to answer their phone calls from intrepid reporter Daniel Suddeath will be seeking another term.

Count them in: Most New Albany City Council members say they’ll seek re-election

Councilman Jack Messer said he still hasn’t made up his mind, and Councilman Bob Caesar said “more than likely I will run, but no definitive decision has been made.”

Council President Jeff Gahan and Councilman Kevin Zurschmiede had not returned calls seeking comment for this story as of a Saturday press time. The remaining five council members — Diane McCartin-Benedetti, Pat McLaughlin, John Gonder, Steve Price and Dan Coffey — confirmed they would be seeking another term.

Well, uh, it's sure nice to see John Gonder's name there.

On the one hand, it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone performing less capably that Dan Coffey and Steve Price.

On the other, even a non-committal, lackadaisical council performance would require four years of time better spent on one’s own business affairs.

On the one hand, the pay packet so absolutely necessary to underachievers like Coffey and Price is easy money for the genuinely competent in this or any other the community.

On the other, any potential council replacement with a pulse and a work ethic would wind up devoting far more time to the job than is justified by the remuneration -- and exactly where to find that kind of time?

One the one hand, the city of New Albany is embarrassed on a recurring, daily basis by the presence of congenital second-raters on the council.

On the other, unless first-raters aspire to service, the city is doomed to be forever defined by a wretched Axis of Banal.

I wonder what the forever optimistic John Hickenlooper would say about all this? Would he be able to retain his legendarily sunny affability whilst surveying the council's ongoing train wreck?

After all, he does know good beer … and sometimes, oceans of good beer are required to cope with the sheer doltishness of it all. Fortunately, and personally, I've plenty of hoppy alcoholic salve.

Time. That's the issue, isn't it?

Educating the reformers, redux.

Given the zeal with which Saint Daniels and his minions intend to careen us down a highly ideological yet largely ineffectual educational path, this may become a semi-regular feature around here for a while.

For now, just kindly note that while there's currently a lot of language coming out of Indy about teachers, accountability, and transferring public money to private (including religious) schools, no one thus far has much to say about what's actually being taught, tested, and measured. In direct terms, that's because they don't have a clue themselves. When one takes a broader view, it's easy to see as an extension of the usual Daniels M.O. in which paper-based accounting methodology takes precedence over any real results in our towns and cities.

Thankfully, others are actually thinking about and working on reframing the education debate rather than relying on "reform" as a meaningless, catch-all term to talk about the only thing that really matters to them: money. If, as Daniels is wont to say, money isn't the answer to our educational problems, then why is it at the center of nearly every Daniels-led discussion on the topic? Shouldn't we figure out what we want to accomplish before deciding how much funding is needed? Only if one's goals involve actual pedagogical improvement, I suppose, rather than a bourgeois takedown of the public commons.

Though I'm not terribly fond of the insinuations that pleasing corporate CEOs has much to do with the success of our educational system, Dr. Tony Wagner, co-director of Harvard's Change Leadership Group, here presents what he believes are essential skills for students moving forward. I'd suggest they belong in the governor's office as well.

Thanks to KW for sharing.

Urban Indy: "One Year of Being Car Free in Indianapolis."

Could it be done here? As the author freely notes, housing choices play a big part in automotive disuse. I continue to marvel at all the time I've spent in Europe without once being behind the wheel, and seldom relying on the cars of others to get around.

One Year of Being Car Free in Indianapolis

Nash: "Can bridges project be changed?"

And be sure to check the adjacent comments area for "comic relief."

NASH: Can bridges project be changed?

... Before one of the “Authority” members calls me out and complains that one of the small group (somewhere between 3 and 85 percent of the public) of naysayers is making things up, let me quote from the first paragraph of their website: “The Authority is not charged with changing the project’s scope which has already been established in a Federal Highways Record of Decision.”

At that weird bridges project revival/camp meeting/pep rally yesterday ...

... a very good question was asked by a Bridges Authority member who doesn't want me using his name (he was on teevee last night, too), and here's the strange answer, as diligently provided by Curt's Louisville Courant.

NA Exchange on the North Side opens tonight.

Previously, NAC let this particular cat out of the bag, but I'm compelled to point to NA Exchange and tout a second time for two reasons.

First, as a measure of how wonderful it is to have Dave Clancy back in New Albany, and optimistic that Ian's and Dave's establishment add to steadily improving dining choices in the area.

I'll come to the second in just a moment.

MYbar no more, NA Exchange opens tonight; Restaurant and pub retooled to offer high-quality food, by Daniel Suddeath (News & Tribune)

The night club concept of the former MYbar has been scrapped by owner Ian Hall in favor of a full-service restaurant that opens tonight at the same location.

Revamped to offer high-quality food along with entertainment, the bar and restaurant is now dubbed The NA Exchange. It’s tucked off Grant Line Road in a shopping center near The New Albanian Brewing Co. Pizzeria and Pub.

Hall said he considered moving his business downtown prior to closing MYbar about two weeks ago, but decided on restoring the existing property.

“At the end of the day, we just thought it made sense to stay here and try to develop this area,” Hall said.

I met with Ian in the run-up to NA Exchange's opening tonight, and we chatted briefly about the neighborhood, by which I mean the retail area in which we're both doing business. While it's true that the past few years have diverted my attention downtown, and downtown is a job not yet finished, it remains that NABC's plan all along has been to refurbish our original digs on Plaza Drive -- an effort now underway with the smoking rules change.

In short, all of us doing business in our Grant Line Road environs need to think of it as an entertainment/dining district. My personal shorthand to describe it is North Side, which is geographically apt, although I'm open to better ideas.

In the future, when our stretch of Grant Line Road is reconditioned by its new owner, the city of New Albany, it would be wonderful if sidewalks (scandalously neglected back in the 90's during a previous refitting) and pedestrian crossings would connect Famous Recipe/El Nopal with NA Exchange with the rest of us on Plaza Drive.

In fact, recognizing that while the entire corridor was constructed as an automotive conduit, but always has connected Indiana University Southeast with Sam Peden Community Park, there is a strong case to be made for making roughly two miles of it both pedestrian and bicycle friendly, enhancing the experience for visitors and residents with cars parked.

Is it asking too much for 2011 mayoral candidates to address this thought?

In closing: Best of luck to NA Exchange. See you when there's time, guys.

Hell, it'll make you blind, son: More on the Tolling Authority's meeting this morning.

Bar none, the scariest sight in recent memory. Kerry Stemler and David Nicklies are the designated stewards of your transportation future, Kentuckiana. Are you feeling sick yet?

Coming two days after two governors and a mayor issued a largely meaningless press release, the order of the day was keeping the morale of Tolling Authority shock troops at a high level of self-congratulatoriness. Toward this end, Chairman Buddeke reminded the members that they are united as a team of unique ambassadors, selflessly undertaking sacrifice for the public good ... and we must be reminded of it at every opportunity.

No less than four times, executive director Steve Schultz (above, left) invoked the celestial intervention of Tuesday's "direct guidance from our leaders," leading me to question whether I was seated at Indiana University Southeast or Pyongyang Polytechnic.

Sounding more than ever exactly like his hero, George W. Bush, Kerry Stemler insisted to reporters that tolls are off the table for Spaghetti Junction, the Clark Memorial Bridge and the Sherman Minton, although he didn't mention whether future diversion coping measures might include the tolling of a few hundred yards of asphalt on either side of these key choke points.

Make no mistake about it: Tolls remain an integral part of the project. The new talking point to emerge today is that thanks to Tuesday's providential "guidance" from our dear celestial leaders, the Tolling Authority now can begin seeing to it that those tolls, which they denied considering for so very long, can be kept as low as possible -- just another example of the benevolence of St. Daniels, who's making all these asphaltgasms possible.

On the placard above, the Tolling Authority's freshly minted Job One is indicated right at the top: Global Developers, Global Contractors and Investors/Lenders. Political propaganda points are to be earned when St. Daniels informs voters that we are building (unnecessary; whatever) bridges with someone else's (read: China's) money, not our own.

Naturally, toll revenues will then flow outward and elsewhere for the remainder of the lifetimes of our grandchildren, but what the hey -- One Southern Indiana has its lifeline, and we have our 1950's transportation "solution" for 2050 realities.

Thirty solid minutes of these quasi-erotic buzzwords, like outsourcing, innovation, privatization, delivery models, design engineering, creativity and market options, produced a bizarre masturbatory fury -- although, like the good Puritans we'd expect St. Daniels' disciples to be, no one was much interested in prolonging the good feelings; rather, it was stressed that the element of time is crucial, and construction must begin in August 2012.

Just in time for the Republican convention in Tampa.

Goebbels snoozes as Tolling Authority congratulates itself.

Even former Courier-Journal bridges project propagandist David Hawpe could not muster consciousness during this morning's pep rally. As a friend suggested, why stay awake when you read (wrote?) the script before the meeting started?

Today's Tribune column: "A New Albanist’s Dictionary, Vol. 2."

Next week, it's the long awaited return of Councilman Cappuccino and Li'l Stevie. But now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Tolling Authorityberg Rally to catch.

BAYLOR: A New Albanist’s Dictionary, Vol. 2

Let’s begin the year with another revolving and evolving list of words, terms and concepts that provide a specialized vocabulary of life in the Open Air Museum. The first collection appeared Oct. 15, 2009.

It's a start. That's all. And there's a far bigger discussion waiting.

Cautious and guarded optimism is merited following yesterday's tepid "thaw" of a downsizing proposal, but as No 2 Bridge Tolls correctly notes, it's still very early. The timing of yesterday's press release obviously was meant to appease critics and lessen the intensity of the anti-toll effort. What this means is simple: Crank up the volume ... continue the full-court press ... trust, but more importantly, verify. Also, as Bluegill continues to presciently note:

"According to cost estimates currently in KIPDA's transportation plans, we can build the East End Bridge and a metro region-wide mass transit system for less than the cost of ORBP."

---

From: No2BridgeTolls.org

Our Indiana leaders now want to keep the Sherman Minton & Clark Memorial Toll Free! This means work is paying off! Some cost cutting measures, most importantly reduction in cost of Spaghetti Junction by the Indiana and Kentucky Governor's offices means they have initiated downsizing the project, which will lead to more victories for the No Tolls efforts in the future. Our organization is not in favor of the reduction of the East End Bridge. Indiana Governor Daniels was recently quoted as saying that a cost-cutting measure could be the reduction of the East End Bridge from 6 to 4 lanes. Our organization supports the current plan for 6 lanes and will actively push to keep it 6 lanes as planned.

Indiana Representative Todd Young, Indiana Ombudsman Carl Pearcy, and a representative from Senator Richard Lugar's office all last week said our calls are working and to make sure we keep calling.

We need to keep pressure on Indiana Representative Steve Stemler. While he may be strictly on the Bridges Projects side and a supporter of tolls, he has the Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ ear. With enough calls to Rep. Stemler’s office, our “No Tolls” message will reach Governor Daniels.

On the Kentucky side, Senators Perry Clark and Tim Shaughnessy announced they are filing an Anti-Toll bill that will prohibit tolls on existing infrastructure. No2BridgeTolls.org is opposed to Tolls on existing structures and supports a reasonable and affordable plan to improve the transportation needs of this community.

This update is good news but we must continue to raise our voices and pens to make sure our elected leaders do not allow the non-elected Bridges Authority’s tolling/finance plan to get rubber stamp approval.

Thank you for your efforts and support. Please continue to help us spread the word.

Following are links to yesterday’s news stories, in case you missed them:

Tribune/Evening News: http://newsandtribune.com/homepage/x1091524330/Governors-mayor-announce-cost-cutting-plans-for-Ohio-River-Bridges-Project

Fox 41: http://www.fox41.com/story/13784583/governors-call-for-reducing-bridge-project-by-500-m

WLKY: http://www.wlky.com/r/26363841/detail.html

WAVE: http://www.wave3.com/story/13779969/governors-mayor-announce-cost-cutting-plans-for-ohio-river-bridges-project

WHAS: http://www.whas11.com/news/Governors-mayor-announce-cost-cutting-plans-for-Ohio-River-Bridges-Project-112872194.html

Courier-Journal.com http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2011301040037

Catch? Maybe. And release? One way or the other, most definitely.

Sometimes the pure inanity of things like the bridges project gets too close for a thinking, feeling person and I start waving my white flag at daydreams of a place where life might matter just a bit more, desperately trying to get their (and my) attention.

ReWilding from Forrest Gander on Vimeo.

Photographs by Lucas Foglia, music by Brady Earnhart with Jeff Romano, poem by Forrest Gander (based on the words of the people depicted in the photographs)

About that ROD.

The News/Tribune talked with Will Wingfield, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation. Of the proposed Bridges Project changes, he says, "“What has been proposed today would not require the record-of-decision to be reopened," but that further changes would.

The Courier-Journal talked with Chuck Wolfe, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman. He says the very same proposed changes may trigger “'a re-evaluation' of the federal Record of Decision."

So, is "a re-evaluation" the same as a reopening or could one lead to the other or does anyone actually know? And should I feel better that two states who are still seeking billions of dollars for an unwanted and unneeded project are unable to coordinate a story?

LEO's Meador notes the obvious: There's still about $2 billion to cut from the ORBP.

As so many of us have been saying all damned afternoon, the very fact that two governors and a mayor now begin talking about "downsizing" the ORBP means that everyone involved has been lying all along about the impossibility of changing the scope of the project without some form of celestial intervention.

Label me suspicious, because to date, listening to virtually any of Bridges Authority kingpin Kerry Stemler's condescending spoutings has brought to mind Hunter S. Thompson's apt description of Richard Nixon:

"Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning."

LEO's Jonathan Meador is totally on course with his assessment. Who else is in for Thursday's meeting?

Small victory for common sense in Ohio River Bridges Project… maybe?

... Here’s a bet: Ask anybody who knows about this project and isn’t getting paid by the Bridges Coalition, 1 Southern Indiana or Greater Louisville, Inc., and they’ll most likely tell you that an East Bridge would alleviate roughly a third (or so) of the expected traffic a proposed Downtown bridge might experience. So, why not expand the East End bridge, not shrink it, and do away with the downtown portion altogether? Or a series of low-cost local access bridges (Warnin’: PDF)?

(Oh, shit: Now I remember why…)

Needless to say, this week’s meeting of the Bridges Authority (to be held Thursday, January 6, at 10:00 a.m. at New Albany’s Indiana University Southeast) should be interesting, indeed.

The 'Ville Voice's coverage is better: "Beshear & Fischer Make A Bridges Announcement."

Read the whole press release, and answer this question: Is the Bridges Authority referred to therein as "exceptional" and "creative" the same Stemlerite rubber stamp we've seen in action so far?

Beshear & Fischer Make A Bridges Announcement

Breaking from the C-J: "States propose scaling back bridges project."

By Marcus Green, but for my money, it still doesn't go far enough (if true): States propose scaling back bridges project to save $500 million.

Curran sets St. Daniels straight on vital bridge matters while Clere seeks legislative paging.

Evening News columnist Kelley Curran gets it 100% right, clearly and forcefully ...

CURRAN: Daniels, downsize the bridges project, by Kelley Curran (News and Tribune)

Dear Gov. Daniels,

Hi. How are you? Locally, we have some problems with this whole Ohio River Bridges Project thing, and, with all due respect, it appears you’re on the wrong side of the issue.

... while our Rep. Clere, "non-partisan" friend of the little people, remains oblivious.

CLERE: Take a page from here and visit the Statehouse

In last week’s column, I suggested some ways to connect with state government. This week, as the 2011 legislative session gets under way, I want to focus on a special opportunity. Students ages 13 to 18 may serve as a legislative page for a day.

On the one hand, kids too young to drive still have time to adjust to whatever the Tolling Authority decides.

On the other, I suppose two weeks are sufficient to conclude that my outreach experiment was a failure: Dear Ed.

Given that it's 5:00 a.m. and I've been up since three, here's NAC's official position on the collapse of talks:

"Yawn."

It's copperhead season again, folks.

Alas, 2011 managed to be a respectable, non-threatening year for almost three whole days.

Now comes the harsh reminder that your holiday officially has ended. The city council meets tonight, and it will perform the usual year's opening housekeeping tasks, including the selection of officers.

Agenda here

I'm just wondering who's going to be appointed to the CESEARS BOARD -- and, by extension, if someone can answer this question: What is a CESEARS BOARD?

But seriously: Council aficionados know that in a municipal election year, the caterwauling and screeching -- the grandstanding, posturing and coiled copperhead preening -- reach fever pitch. There'll be no more entertaining spectacles at such a bargain basement price, and man, I really hate to miss the show tonight, although it is my intention to reschedule future Monday obligations so that attendance can be fully celebrated, and flasks consumed.

Can someone take pictures of the first ejection of the year?

Nationalizing the Norfolk Southern springs immediately to mind.

Some days it actually seems that the project will be finished before I'm too old to use it.

Obstacles remain, but Ohio River 'dreamway' taking shape, by Ben Zion Hershberg (Courier-Journal)

... But there are several stumbling blocks to completing the loop that will join Louisville and Southern Indiana, including work on making the Big Four bridge a walking path across the Ohio and obtaining pedestrian and bicycle access to the K&I Bridge between New Albany and Louisville.

There is no cultural relevance to be found in my list of favorite 2010 albums.

In terms of music, I’ll remember 2010 as the year of my overdue, yet grateful passage into Old Fartdom.

I'm outdated, I no longer matter, and I don't care at all. So there.

Granted, contemporary relevance in music long has been slipping from my grasp, and in 2010, I let it go without any noticeable regrets. Now, having arrived at the half-century plateau, my tastes are almost surely fixed -- and so be it.

I’ll always enjoy big bands and archival jazz, and most forms of “classical” music with the exception of the final frontier, opera, which continues to elude my sporadic efforts at comprehension.

Whatsoever the state of hip hop, rap, or whatever identity urban music goes by these days, I’m utterly oblivious, which is not to say hostile. It simply does not move me. Insofar as country music is played with instruments more suited to rock and roll, I’m willing to listen, but those vast chunks of country music devoted to chronicling the boundaries of rural cluelessness can remain where they are, safely out of earshot.

The very fact of my continued resistance to iPods and downloading, and a stubborn adherence to compact discs, testifies to the permanent passage of youth, and to repeat, that’s perfectly fine with me.

Pop and rock releases always will comprise the bulk of yearly favorites, and picking my top new albums (that word again) of 2010 is fairly easy, with the top five enjoying excessive and repeated listens.

I cannot choose between them, and so they’re listed alphabetically. What's the main difference between the first five and the second five? Catchier ditties, that's all. To paraphrase Ray Charles, if you can't whistle the tunes while walking down the street, the game isn't worth the flame.

Crowded House – Intriguer

Bryan Ferry – Olympia

Goldfrapp – Head First

The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever

Manic Street Preachers – Postcards from a Young Man

The second five also are listed alphabetically.

Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”

Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia

Elton John & Leon Russell – The Union

Robert Plant’s Band of Joy (eponymous)

Wild Beasts: Two Dancers (technically a 2009 release, but dominant in my life in January, 2010)

Tommy's is coping, Artesia is planning, and Downtown Diner is departed.

At the Tribune, in an article by Jerod Clapp, we learn that tax-related problems plague Tommy Lancaster's.

I fully empathize with the renewal difficulties at Tommy's.

All governmental bureaucracies are less than perfect, but the degree of kinship between the ATC and the revenue collectors is unusually high, and between them, they miss very few tricks. Think: Fine tooth combs, all the time.

One year, our license renewal got flagged for a stray $100 owed from more than four years before, as uncovered in an audit. They're brutal.

Meanwhile, with Tommy Lancaster’s still open for business, albeit bone dry, another downtown restaurant has closed. Downtown Diner’s Facebook page serves up the sad notice:

We regret to inform our friends that we will be closing our doors permanently on December 31. We have enjoyed serving you and will truly miss all of our loyal customers who have now become our friends. We want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support. It has been a pleasure to serve you.

Too bad, indeed; the breakfasts were excellent and offered quite good value. I’m told that the diner will reopen under new ownership as Earl’s Country Kitchen. Finally, also at Facebook, we learn of transitions at Artesia Fusion Bistro & Catering:

Artesia will be closed temporarily in preparation for dinner service. We are very excited about the long anticipated dinner offerings and hope very much to see you all at Artesia when we have our grand (re) opening!

You know the drill. The restaurant business is difficult in the best of times, and the past two years have been extraordinarily trying for all of us. I know you’ll join me in wishing these stalwart, independent, wonderfully local operators luck, whether coming, going, or at any temporary stage in between. We need them. They need you.

Various shades of zeitgeist.

A soon as I posted the Roxy Music video clip a few minutes ago, the odometer clicked over to 2011, and another year of blogging passed into the archive.

Somewhat amazingly, 2011 will be the eighth non-anonymous year for NA Confidential. As a writer, agitator, selfish arsehole, or whatever other role defines me, my objective has been to create a body of work. I believe we have. We'll do it again this year, and see what happens.

Wrapping a wretched year, the Tribune's Daniel Suddeath has selected ten news items as biggest:

TOP FLOYD COUNTY STORIES OF 2010: Closing four elementary schools tops list

I don't have the slightest interest in going back and picking ten stories from the NAC back catalog -- do you? If so, please feel free to comment. If not, buckle up and get ready for a brutal and potentially hilarious municipal election year.

Ringing in 2011 with Roxy Music: "Remake/Remodel"