ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: The unelected Mr. Dalby’s bridge politicking (2010).

ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: The unelected Mr. Dalby’s bridge politicking (2010).

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

Yesterday the junta of stooges handpicked by the region's oligarchs revealed the starting toll of the Ohio River Bridges Project, at least in terms of what we're expected to pay in order to divide the region ... and don't forget, there's a built-in annual increase.

At a future juncture, we'll begin in earnest the task of discussing civil disobedience strategies. For now, here's a look back at my "Beer Money" column of August 26, 2010, as published in the newspaper, and followed below by three comments appended at the time. 

Note those New Albany city council persons just as confused then as now, as well as other elected "leaders" who advocated for the approaching tolling madness. Recall the cyclical nature of politics, and the possibilities afforded by recurring elections. Think about these matters, and how abysmally these advocates of boondoggling will be gauged by posterity ... and please, mark those ballots accordingly.

What of the departed Dalby? These days, he advocates elsewhere for precisely the sort of public transport and urbanist planning that his former Southern Indiana paymasters reject. Verily, there's nothing worse than a shill without core beliefs ... unless it is his pimp.

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BAYLOR: The unelected Mr. Dalby’s bridge politicking

SOUTHERN INDIANA — When urging a presumably beaten and battered foe to throw in the towel, proponents of questionable positions often cite “inevitability” as the crux of their argument, usually falling prey to flights of derisory condescension, as sprinkled throughout Michael Dalby’s essay in Sunday’s Tribune, titled “There is no ‘highway fairy.’”

Seemingly exasperated, Dalby characterizes opposition to the Ohio River Bridges Project as “demonstrably small” and “delusional” in scope, transfixed by “pretty pictures,” and stubbornly unwilling to accept the irreproachable certainty, the inviolable necessity — the sheer inevitability — of the Ohio River Bridges Project’s two spans, concurrent remaking of Spaghetti Junction, $4 billion price tag, and literally, whatever is required (read: tolling) to facilitate funding for what oddly resembles the totalitarian scale of a Chinese dam project more than transportation solutions for 2060.

Never mind that polls consistently show a majority of respondents on both sides of the river rejecting the “all or nothing” bridge project in favor of an East End bridge. Forget transportation studies contradicting Dalby’s glib factoids on congestion, bottlenecks and toll payment rates. Ignore the reality of Portland, Ore., which looked into a different mirror, eliminated its riverside expressway, installed light rail and now represents palpable reality, demonstrably illustrating 8664’s platform as workable, and not at all “delusional.”

When it comes to mass transit and light rail as options for efficiently moving people in urban areas, Dalby chortles as he proposes someday using automotive traffic lanes on bridges as places to accommodate light rail and bicycles — although only for those sissies who insist on seeking green and healthy alternatives to the real, red-blooded American’s doctrine of one man, one car — forever and ever, amen.

Naturally, the ridiculously inflated price tag for the Ohio River Bridges Project has rendered moot any conceivable plans for sensible mass transit options. Dalby doesn’t mention that. Rather, he deposits all of it into 1si’s exurban landfill, because hey, didn’t you hear it the first time? The Ohio River Bridges Project is inevitable.

You needn’t be a philosophy professor to grasp that Dalby’s argument from inevitability is a form of intellectual bullying. The forces of economic “good” are righteous and immense, conveying iron certainty and superior strength, in this instance not with tanks or guns or fighter planes, but through the massed weight of 1si’s nattily attired cadres of movers and shakers.

If these many bankers, power company executives, realty magnates and construction company owners are united in this faith-based belief of nirvana as added capacity of automotive traffic lanes, who dares stand in their celestial path?

Certainly not you, a nominal plebian, one so far removed from these seats of legitimacy and authority as to have no fundamental concept of such matters as “modest” tolls, which truly successful people should have no trouble paying, especially if they live in the proper gated community and worship at the correct church.

Rather, malcontents like you need to accept wise counsel from your societal elders, line up at the trough when commanded and do as you’re told. It’s a scenario eerily reminiscent of medieval Europe (or Monty Python’s Holy Grail), when flesh-and-blood working men — not gods from afar — built huge, towering cathedrals in the sky, and then watched as their leaders pointed to the very immensity of these structures, to their own handiwork, as irrefutable evidence of a higher power’s inevitability.

How could mere stone cutters and brick layers fathom such grandeur without supernatural sanction? How can mere Hoosier working people driving across the Ohio River to be taxed yet again in Kentucky argue with “modest” tolls to enable the sheer scale of the Bridges Project? How can they disagree with plans conceived and consecrated by the shimmering exurb’s best and brightest?

And why does it matter that the people giving these tolling orders never once appeared on a ballot?

If it was good enough for Charlemagne, it’s good enough for Dalby and 1si’s chairman, Kerry Stemler, who also serves as co-chairman of the extra-governmental, unelected bi-state authority established to foster inevitability by regularly proclaiming it, and who recently responded to tolling reservations on the part of Louisville mayoral candidates with this gem of an all-for-one, one-for-Jonestown thinking:

“This project is too big and too important for any one individual to stand in his way.”

It’s doubtful that Bob Knight knew he was providing a bullet point for Stemler, but when Knight expressed those famous sentiments about the doctrine of inevitability — suggesting that prospective rape victims relax and enjoy the experience — he was giving knee-jerk supporters of the Ohio River Bridges Project an attitude to cop, one sadly endorsed by New Albany city council members Bob Caesar and Kevin Zurschmiede at last Thursday’s meeting.

Both argued that the bridges project is so big, so impressive and so very irrefutable that smaller minds like theirs could have no place in the discussion even if they, not Dalby or Stemler, were elected to do precisely that.

And so we cower in awe as Dalby admonishes us for thinking independently. We humbly bow in simplistic terror as the earth is moved around the river banks and millions of cubic yards of concrete are poured, and we dutifully lower our trousers as we smile and grin at our good fortune to have lived (and most of us surely died) only slightly prior to the happy day when the bridges are finished, and we have achieved the solution to the problems of 2010.

Except that it will be 2060, and for our grandchildren, still dutifully queuing to join 1si and network their way to well-scrubbed success, it’ll be a whole new round of inevitability as our communities rewind, tax, toll, lube and go through the whole shortsighted boondoggle yet another time.

That’s the reality. It is far from inevitable.

Who decides?

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Jeff Gillenwater wrote:
Anyone concerned about public decision making processes having even a modicum of integrity should have been up in arms about the Ohio River Bridges Project years ago regardless of which transportation options they personally favor.

To see so many so-called leaders support assertions that can't stand up to the most basic intellectual rigor is highly symbolic of what the major obstacle to a more successful region really is: a good old boy and gal network that eschews talent and knowledge in favor of maintaining their own privileged positions.

That type of attitude is why people leave for college and never come back. That type of attitude is why it's more difficult to get $50K to start a plumbing company than it is for a developer to get $5 million in government subsidy.

The money goes up and the only thing that trickles down are decisions requiring more money that don't serve the public.

Liberal or conservative, it's time we had more of a say in what's happening to us.

David Mosley wrote:
Thank you Mr. Baylor for this column. In St. Louis they are building an interstate bridge (with comparable interchange challenges) for an estimated $667 Million. (as opposed to our supposed 4.2 Billion dollar price tag.) Google newriverbridge.org/overview and you can find the facts.

We 'plebs' are being sold a bill of goods.

Shawn Reilly wrote:
It is becoming clear that Michael Dalby does not care about this community and is only interested in making money for his Wall Street banker buddies.

Tolls are a regressive tax that will burden the working family of this community and result in billions of dollars in debt to Wall Street Bankers. Tolls will also restrict our communities growth and economic development.

The design and scope of the Ohio River Bridges Project must be reduced to a scale that can be financed without tolls and connects our community in a reasonable and affordable way.

When it comes to bridge tolls, let's vote with our pants.

I hope Jeff doesn't mind my reprinting his Facebook status below. It is a valuable first step in the impending discussion of civil disobedience to tolling, which I enthusiastically support.

Curtailing or ending trips across the river because of tolls will only the hurt the small, independent businesses we all care about rather than the gutless bastards who deserve it. There's no sense in punishing those businesses, especially the ones who paid enough attention and cared enough to fight tolls. What makes sense is mass civil disobedience. Keep on crossing but just don't pay - no transponder, no registered account, no financial exchange at all. There won't be any gates to stop people. What are they going to do? Suspend everyone's license and registration? It would also be fun to put small photos of each of our backsides on our license plates so they have to look at photos of them over and over again, but that's optional.

What is One Southern Indiana's position v.v. Freedom Indiana? Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer.

Maureen Hayden's column last week was quite good: Coalition growing against state constitutional gay-marriage ban.

The coalition, called Freedom Indiana, is rapidly expanding its presence out of the state’s capitol city and into communities around Indiana by building the kind of grassroots campaign that can knock traditional political power off its pedestal. [Think of the grassroots campaign of political novice Glenda Ritz who with little money or name recognition took down her well-funded, incumbent opponent in last year’s race for Superintendent of Public Instruction].

There is a passage of particular interest to those of us who monitor One Southern Indiana's perenially slavish devotion to wrongheadedness.

Here’s where the rubber may hit the road: Indiana’s biggest job creators, including Cummins and Eli Lilly and Co., are behind Freedom Indiana. For them, HJR-6 is a stinging rebuke to the 'Hoosier hospitality' that politicians say has helped Indiana recruit jobs and economic investment for our state.

That's why I posed the question to 1Si: "What is One Southern Indiana's position v.v. Freedom Indiana?" As we endure the vigil of days/weeks/months until 1Si (for once) learns that social media is a two-way street (as most other streets should be), it's vital to recall that when the oligarch fluffers claim to be representing us, they actually are not:

One Southern Indiana does not speak for me or this local business. Repeat.

The non-elected oligarch's benevolent society otherwise known as One Southern Indiana does not speak for local business in the broader sense, and it does not speak for NABC in any sense at all -- whether on the topic of managed health care, or tax reform, or the unconscionable boondoggle of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

This special musical request goes out to Main Source Bank.

I'm opposed to physical violence. That's why I learned to write.

Yesterday was a Pulp Fiction kind of day -- metaphorically, of course.

Ezekiel 25:17

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Well, it isn't like I've never been brushed off before. It comes with the territory.

I'll find another way to get it done, and it will make me a better person. Some of the advice proffered me yesterday may even prove to be useful, but I won't be thanking the institution for it, because the institution left me to dangle for months, and it would be dishonest of me to pretend that it feels good being left to writhe on a hook like a recently snared fish gasping ... well, you get the picture, don't you?

But to knowingly mix my metaphors, I know there's a better institution out there, one that really wants me. The trick is finding it, because when the day is done, I actually live what I do. In point of fact, I feel sorry for bean counters as a class, because it turns out that Teddy Roosevelt was right, and they'll never truly get it.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Okay, so who wants to work with a growing, local, independent food, drink and brewery business? I'm open for chats, and this time, can it be with someone who actually drinks beer?

Great quotes along the one-way street to the enchanted kingdom.

I'm not a crook. -- Richard Nixon (1973)

I believe it is peace for our time. -- Neville Chamberlain (1938)

A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. -- New York Times (1936)

Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan. -- Mary Somerville (1948)

The Beatles laid the groundwork for many of the problems we are having with young people by their filthy unkempt appearances and suggestive music while entertaining in this country during the early and middle 1960s. -- Elvis Presley (1970)

If the street grid works now, keep it and save your money. What do we need to do it for? There’s zero benefit -- Bob Caesar (1815)

Two-way street study eyed in New Albany; Councilman: Zero benefit to two-way traffic downtown, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

But while we're at it, let's not neglect councilman Scott Blair's contribution:

"I think we have to try to understand [the situation] the best that we can and not just run out and do something."

By all means; yes. And since we've been talking about this for YEARS, and you seem to have arrived at the discussion just LAST THURSDAY ... I really hate to be the bearer of bad tidings ... but you may just have to try to, well, UNDERSTAND what it is we're saying -- you know, APART from the numbers you're handed for the usual "cost benefit" analysis, and MAYBE with the help of some outside reading.

Homework? For bankers? Oy (grasps head in pain), don't get me started.

Bike lanes and a perceived loss of retail access.

It isn't so much that this essay applies to the exact situation in New Albany. After all, we've been careful to place our bike lanes where they barely matter. Still, if for no other insight than the first paragraph, it's worth a read.

No, Bike Lanes Don't Hurt Retail Business, by Eric Jaffe (Atlantic Cities)

City retailers tend to overestimate the importance of parking to their business. They fail to see the many downsides of free parking (congestion and low shopper turnover, among them). They believe more people arrive at the store by car than actually do. They may not even realize that while driving customers spend more per visit, non-drivers spend as much or more in the long term.

And yet whenever a city considers installing a bike lane, rest assured some retailers will protest the perceived loss of automobile access.

It's gotten personal with me.

Slower streets, faster revitalization. We need only dispense with the reactionaries.

Boyd: Benefiting from the madness.

Offbeat title, but spot on as to the central point ... and not only as it pertains to Syria. I can hear the rednecks wail, which is the best reason to pursue it.

Terry Boyd: How Louisville can benefit from the Syrian Civil War, by Terry Boyd (Insider Louisville)

All that said, we can benefit from the madness.

We can again make a conscious effort to relocate Syrian refugees of all religious groups – Shi’a, Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Yazidis and Sufis – to Louisville.

I say “again,” because the Jewish Family and Vocational Center, Catholic Charities of Louisville and other groups have helped relocate, then support, waves of immigrants to Louisville since the 1980s including Vietnamese, Bosnians, Russians and Somalis.

The city is all the better for it.

Mellwood leasing director on the offensiveness of Jesus art: "We own these walls."

This is one of my favorite LEO pieces in recent memory, but to feel the full impact of the vituperation, continue into the comments section.

Censorship at Mellwood?, by Jo Anne Triplett (LEO Weekly)

When an artist proclaims censorship has happened, the statement is so volatile that it’s the equivalent of shouting “fire” in a crowded building. Art professionals, who are more comfortable with controversial subjects than the general public, have a knee-jerk reaction to it, recalling the First Amendment (visual art became part of “the freedom of speech” in the 1970s). As a result, the gap between what artists create and what viewers see can be miles apart.

Artists Billy Twymon and Devon Turley have accused the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center of censorship. The collaborators were asked to remove three large paintings from their exhibition “The Really Big Show” (hanging in Mellwood’s Hallway B). The removed works feature female nudity, sex and religious subject matter.

Approaching fests from cask to indie, and from flea to fringe.

Major craziness begins this weekend, as the events and festivals come fast and furious. Most of the listings below are for the next two weeks, and there are other functions with NABC participation that are not listed here:

Rock the Rocks (Falls of the Ohio fundraiser; September 21)
Howard Steamboat Museum's annual benefit on October 4

Just this morning I booked an art show at the Art Store on Market Street in New Albany (October 5) and Cannelton Heritage Festival (October 12).

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NABC Cask Festival opens Louisville Craft Beer Week 2013

On Friday, Sept, 13, NABC will kick off Louisville Craft Beer Week ...

NABC Tafelbier at Lanesville Heritage Weekend again in 2013

In 2012, NABC was delighted to work with the Lanesville Jaycees to ...

The Fall Flea, this year with NABC

The Fall Flea is a countryside vintage and antique marketplace staged concurrently ...

2nd annual NA1st Indie Fest is Sunday, September 15

We’ll be supporting the second annual Indie Fest, which takes place on ...

NABC at LIBA Louisville Brewfest on Sept. 21

For the 5th Annual Louisville Independent Business Alliance’s Brewfest at Slugger Field, ...

Get ready: Hoosier Daddy to return in October

NABC’s Hoosier Daddy, a cream ‘n’ crimson ale, will kick off seasonal ...

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NABC fall beer release dates: Strassenbrau for Harvest Homecoming's parade day (Sat., Oct. 5; both NABC locations ... both Hoosier Daddy and Wet Knobs during Fringe Fest (Oct. 10 through 13 during Harvest Homecoming both days) ... and noting that the period from Oct. 5 through the end of Fringe Fest likely will be the last hurrah for Tricentennial Ale. As of today, roughly 100 hand-numbered of the limited edition of 300 bottles remain in stock for purchase (both NABC locations) and draft is down to a handful of kegs, which will be released beginning on Oct. 5.

Finally, know that kegs and bottles of Hoosier Daddy will be available to outside accounts beginning the week of Fringe Fest. We're looking forward to much merriment in the coming weeks, and we thank our patrons for making it possible.

Cheers!

A certain resemblance, conceptually speaking.

For more on Vidkun Quisling

For more on Kerry Stemler

Any day now, we'll be seeing press releases crediting Stemler with doing his best to lessen the toll burden on his fellow Hoosiers, when of course, he was a major source of the bridges and tolling farce in the first place. As Quislings go, Stemler lacks a comprehensive written manifesto ... and no, flashing bank statements doesn't take the place of words and sentences.

Blogger screw-up, so I'll take the morning off.

No, I didn't flick the wrong switch while drinking. There is an issue with margins,
presumably pertaining to a screw-up at Google Blogger Central, and it has been
reported by people all over the world. Seeing as I have a very busy day ahead,
I'll refrain from the remainder of the morning's posts and wait to see what's
around the bend.

Thanks to Todd Coleman and Classic Furniture.

To make a lengthy story much shorter, Todd's been extremely helpful as we've worked toward furnishing the WCTU Reading Room at Bank Street Brewhouse, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him for it.

You haven't missed anything, in more ways than one.

Back in the middle of August, the "Total Access" warning popped up several times when viewing News and Tribune articles on my iPhone. I did a screen shot of one, all the while thinking that Gannett (as in "net" profit) had purchased the state of Alabama. There followed an exchange.

I'm not sure what any of this means, so it's time for a beer. I reiterate my offer: I'm happy to pay for content, but it needs to be less than newsprint price, and absent the various SpamHansons that currently plague the experience.

By the way, congratulations to the new city parks director.

New Holland on "best of" votes: "It’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we care too much to bother you with them."

I don't personally encourage anyone to vote in various reader polls, and NABC traditionally refrains from asking its customers and fans to stuff dozens of ballots for the sake of the cause. Some times we are mentioned, some times not … and some times, as an underdog from underrated New Albany that carves out a win, it just feels fine to be vindicated as a business.

But as usual, my friend Fred Bueltmann of the New Holland brewery in Michigan says it much better. Just last week, I remarked to a Bank Street Brewhouse visitor that Fred and New Holland have always been important influences for me. "Stop and Taste" is a remarkably concise way of summarizing a complex larger point about food, beverage and place. If we haven't always gotten it right at NABC, it isn't for lack of trying.

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online-voting-pledge/">Online Voting - Our Pledge

September 6, 2013 - There’s a recent blitz by local media to get online votes in a “best brewery” campaign. This is not a new thing, as we’re all inundated with “best of” lists and other online polls.

At New Holland, we work very hard to remind ourselves why we went into business, and what purpose we serve. We absolutely believe in the social and culinary benefits that good drink and good food bring to the world. We think life can be that much more enjoyable when people have interesting, quality and rewarding choices in what they drink.

In this digital age, communication, branding and self-promotion have seen some serious shifts. We’re online, plugged in and in front of screens way more than ever before. We’ve come to realize that while technology brings us terrific tools for communication, it can also tear away at our lifestyle. If we don’t find balance, the conversations about flavor can actually distract us from enjoying the flavor in its best moments.

We feel seriously enough about this that we crafted a message and principle that we try to live by, called “Stop and Taste.” It is centered around “The Rant”, featured below, which we refer back to frequently to guide our voice and actions, and to help us honor the experience of our customers over all else.

Of course, we still appreciate recognition, like everyone else. Whether it’s a customer reaching out to share what they love, how a beer or spirit changed their evening for the better, or a writer recommending us to others, we humbly accept the praise and share it with our team as reward and encouragement.

However, we find the pervasive effort to get customers to constantly vote on lists, or debate who should be on or off a list, to be a distraction from what we are here for. We’d much rather spend the time encouraging people to get to know various beers, spirits or breweries and distilleries and share what they like about them or the differences between them. This is a far cry from digging into a meritless debate about “Who is better?"

We commit ourselves to branding, promoting and engaging in social media in a way that reflects our mission; to provide quality choices to our customers, improving lives and the world by offering an opportunities to stop and taste. We are here to make our customers happy. When we feel we’re accomplishing this goal, we’re happy.

Before you call “sour grapes”, please know that we’re damn proud of what we do, and feel plenty recognized for it. We just don't feel this activity supports our craft, our customers, or the Stop and Taste Lifestyle. We appreciate any and all praise, including our customers nominating or voting on lists, but we want to explain why you won’t see us touting it, or hitting you up for votes or mentions.

We hereby pledge that we will remain politely absent from campaigns that we feel encourage online badgering for votes, and have the potential to be baseless popularity contests. It’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we care too much to bother you with them.

Instead, we encourage you to take a moment to stop and taste. For yourself, and as you please.

Cheers!
Fred Bueltmann - Beervangelist

New Holland Brewing
Owner, VP Sales & Marketing

Zirin: "The NFL’s highly selective approach to player safety."

Cock-fighting and bear-baiting gradually became socially unacceptable, too.

What Can We Learn from the Opening Game of the NFL Season? Actually A Lot, by Dave Zirin (The Nation)

... How announcers navigate the fact that we are watching an entertainment that is unsafe at any speed will be something to chart throughout the season. As much as the NFL has tried to keep the dangers in the closet, they are now part of the narrative of a sport that bells and whistles aside, has probably began a generational downturn. No amount of seven-touchdown games can obscure what is coming: a mass reassessment of how we view this most American of games.

Yo, Floyd County Health Department, your invoice is ready. Cash only, please. I'm not sure I trust your checks.

In some ways, it's too bad the health department opted out last night at the Carnegie Center. We'd taken the time to prepare an invoice for them (above).

It had been decreed yesterday afternoon that in order to ensure the department's absence from an event it shouldn't be monitoring in the first place (Carnegie is a 501c3, and the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission regulates alcoholic beverages -- not Doctah Tom), we'd have to certify beer, liquor and wine pourers as being volunteers. I invite readers to peruse the enabling ordinances for this ad hoc definition. It eluded me, but maybe you'll have more luck.

Thus relieved of the obligation to obtain a control mechanism that the department has no legal right to demand, I was able to devise one of my own making. After all, what does it matter? The penalty for not having a permit is 50% of the permit's cost, and the permit's cost is zilch (for beer-as-food vendors, as opposed to food-as-food vendors).

See you in the funny papers, Tommy Boy.

Comfy Cow (now officially?) coming to 109 E. Market.

Photo courtesy of Ian Hall.

Greener pasturers? Comfy Cow jumps the fence to New Albany, by Steve Kaufman (Insider Louisville)

S. Ellen Jones Street Festival is tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

This one went out to community garden supporters; I've received no further information, but then again, we're not journalists.

I'm forwarding information about the S. Ellen Jones Street Festival, which will be held on Sat., Sept. 7, from 10am-2pm. There will be music and a variety of booths. Floyd Action Network is the group overseeing renovation of the old Emery's building by the garden, and they will have a booth. They plan to give away ice cream cones and have a place for kids to draw pictures of the garden to eventually put in the windows of Emery's. They also will have a signup list for helping with Emery's renovations.

Want to improve the street grid?

Over the past few years, I've spoken with many people who share my belief that pro-active changes to the New Albany street grid will help alleviate coming vehicular abuses borne of bridge tolling, and better yet, help to instill a contemporary urban vibe that reinforces all previous redevelopment efforts and prefaces ones to come.

In short: Slowing down traffic = speeding up revitalization.

Two-way streets top the list, followed by any and all measures to enhance safety and walkability. We must calm and complete our streets, making them usable by all the people and not just their cars. If we fail to be out in front of this effort, we'll be left behind. New Albany could be an exciting laboratory for contemporary change and progress ... but we must push for change and progress.

However, as last night's city council meeting painfully illustrated, there is going to be bunker mole opposition to any such move. Conservatives like Bob Caesar, who seldom bother to experience the street grid away from their cars, look at what we have now and pronounce it workable -- not because they can illustrate this point, but owing to their refusal to learn about the modern world.

That's purely delusional, and very few if any of these obstructionists have ever offered a better idea, but the point is that while we surely have the numbers, and the facts are firmly on our side, failure to advocate for street grid reform merely plays into the hands of the reactionaries. All they have to do is hunker down and resist, while we must educate and push.

Not to be a nag, but if we are to educate and push forward on this front, at least some of those many folks I've met previously who agree with pro-active street grid changes must resolve to stop jawing and actually do something about it. I know you don't have time. Neither do I. There is little time to fight health department zealotry, either, but it's the right thing to do in this instance, and so I've made time.

Quite a few of you have agreed with us on these and other pressing issues, but just agreeing isn't enough. We must organize, and use the power that derives from organization, and unfortunately, organization is the point where New Albany inevitably fails.

Just saying.

Stay tuned while some ideas get fleshed out.

Howey sez: Indiana economic problems "local, not state problem."

It seems like we've been talking and writing about this for a very long time.

HOWEY: Indiana’s jobs problem may be local, not state, by Brian Howey (column in the News and Tribune)

— After 16 consecutive months of Indiana’s jobless rate above the national average — it’s 8.4 percent now, compared to 7.4 for the U.S. — the cold reality is that we have a problem with a quarter of a million Hoosiers chronically out of work.

Then came a Ball State University study showing Indiana’s per capita income has slipped from 30th in the nation to 40th with dozens of counties wallowing in wage levels in the 1990s and, some like my old home of Miami, in the 1970s range.

I wrote an analysis in which I noted that for almost the past nine years, we’ve had Republican governors who have made job creation and education reform top priorities, and yet we’ve been over 8 percent unemployment since early 2009.

At some point, a political reality comes into play, perhaps as early as 2014 and if this trend persists, by 2016. It used to be that a jobless rate over 7 percent would mean the boot from voters. Yet, Gov. Mitch Daniels left office with a 60 percent approval rating and President Obama was re-elected.

Gov. Mike Pence gets it. Speaking before the Indianapolis Kiwanis recently, he acknowledged, “There’s a great sense of optimism, there’s reason to be encouraged as Hoosiers, but this is a difficult time for too many in our state.”

At Hobart, Pence told local Realtors, “I want to see where the young people can graduate from high school and can have an industry certification or even an associates degree right that day.”

There was one interesting response to my analysis, and it came from Ball State University economics Prof. Michael Hicks.

“Indiana’s problem is not that the overall business climate for investment is poor [it is great] or that we have too few students graduating from college with the right degrees [they are] or that people outside Indiana don’t know how great these things are [they know],” he explained. “The problem is not statewide [we have 12 counties growing much faster than the nation as a whole]. These are just facts. I also don’t believe that the overall problem is one of rapid technological progress or any of the national [and hopefully transient] problems in labor markets.”

No, the problem here is much closer to home. It comes in your city or town.

Hicks explains: “This is a really a local, not state problem. Almost all our local economic policies target business investment, and masquerade as job creation efforts. We abate taxes, apply TIFs and woo businesses all over the state, but then the employees who receive middle-class wages [say $18 an hour or more] choose the nicest place to live within a 40-mile radius. So, we bring a nice factory to Muncie, and the employees all commute from Noblesville.”

The real problem here is that Indiana Republicans parade under the banners of Reaganism, of smaller government and one that stays out of our bedrooms and personal lives. But when our cities and towns seek what we call “local control” over tax options, legislative leaders politely listen, and then tell them to shove off.

Bob Caesar needs to get the hell out of modernity's way.

Allow me to begin my council recap by profusely apologizing to Greg Phipps. I began my comments at tonight's council meeting by noting that on nights like these, I regret all the bad things I ever said about Steve Price.

Emphatically, this was NOT aimed at Greg, who did the community a great service by actively transforming an otherwise routine assembly into a discussion about two-way streets. He brought Jeff Speck's book, and he advocated. Good work. 

Of course, I was referring to the enduring civic and political embarrassment that is Bob Caesar. 

Caesar on the current one-way street grid: "If it works, you should keep what you have."

Really? The way downtown "worked" all those wasted years?

The way Endris Jewelers single-handedly revitalized New Albany all those same squandered years?

In reality, a clear majority of the new generation of local indie business people who are putting New Albany back on the map are for two-way streets. Bob might try talking to them some time, rather than heading over to Chick fil-A.

The bizarre tragedy of Caesarism is that his business is precisely the sort to benefit from two-way conversions and other street grid changes. His store survived years of a moribund downtown because customers returned. Caesar seems to believe that he'll have no remaining loyal patronage if they cannot turn left onto Pearl and park smack on the street in front of his door. But all those years, they already were making a special effort to come find him. No one ever slammed on the brakes and said, "Hey! Let's buy a ring!" His store always has been an urban destination business. It does not depend on suburban conditions, and never did. And yet he worships suburban conditions. It makes no sense, and it strikes me as sad, except that he seems determined to keep us all mired in the Eisenhower Administration.

If Bob Caesar is a Democrat, Kim Jong Il is Mother Teresa.

But I can see why Caesar is confused, given that all he really knows on a daily basis is commuting by car from Pearl Street to his home in Silver Hills, and as such -- amid his protests that any money spent on rationalizing the street grid would be too much -- shall we remember (again) just how much it cost to repair Spring Street Hill ... his way home ... not once, but twice?

Caesar might not be the only council member who'll claim "zero benefit" to two-way streets, calming, and complete streets. Scott Blair sounds hazy, and Kevin Zurschmiede's assertion that drivers won't go out of their way to avoid dollar tolls is twice mistaken.

Caesar does prove that it's amazingly easy not to see the nose on his face when he's wearing blinders. He's the business owner, and the one without an excuse.

He needs to get the hell out of modernity's way.

ON THE AVENUES: Nero's story.

ON THE AVENUES: Nero's story.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor. 

The following unretouched essay was written on February 15, 2011. At the time, I told the missus that it would not be published until I could re-read my words without crying, such was my attachment to its subject. So much for resolve. However, owing to a chance conversation last week, it's now time. It isn't necessary to reveal all the details why, or to know my ultimate purpose apart from the simple observation that I seldom hold a grudge for long. Times and people change.  

Sigmund’s arrest for assault meant not only that he’d be taken into custody, but also evicted from the tiny apartment where he had lived for almost twelve years. His earthly possessions were few, but one of them was an elderly, heavyweight cat named Kitty, his fur greasy and matted, who subsisted on two daily cans of Friskies Beef ‘n’ Gravy and the voluminous atmospheric residue of Sigmund's prolific marijuana habit.

The case manager assigned to Sigmund's case let it be known that under the circumstances, his path of least resistance was to have Kitty summarily euthanized. Overhearing this admission of abject laziness, a cat-loving co-worker went ballistic, forcibly intervening in the situation and rescuing Kitty from certain death borne of capricious ineptitude. The fact that Sigmund's case manager was a rabid University of Kentucky fan should forever and absolutely be held against him.

So it was that the 17-year-old Kitty, soon to be redubbed Nero in honor of the expansive fictional detective Nero Wolfe, came to reside in the Baylor household. The year was 2006, and as you’ve surely guessed, the co-worker was my wife. I was bicycling in the Czech Republic, and heard about our new arrival over the phone. If only I could have guessed how my life was about to change!

Like so many human beings facing enforced residency in New Albany, Nero immediately began experiencing violent withdrawal symptoms. Expertly, and with amazingly agile right-left-right clawed jabs, he carved to shreds an animal shelter worker and veterinarian tending to him. The ensuing professional opinion was damning: It probably would be impossible to re-house such an elderly cat.

But to know my bride is to know that she seldom takes “no” for an answer, and we’ll leave it at that. Nero arrived at his new home, our three other cats registered their resoundingly negative viewpoints, and he took residence underneath the bed in the spare room upstairs, in the attic. He spent most of the following six months there. As his detoxification progressed, he began venturing into other areas of the house, descending floors until he came to be most comfortable at ground level.

So it was that the months passed, and gradually a semblance of normalcy prevailed. Once acclimated to the new surroundings, Nero finally began permitting us to glimpse his distinctive personality. His beautifully marked orange coat had long since faded into varied shades of brown and gray, giving him the occasional appearance of a leopard. His bearing was dignified and regal, with a lean economy of motion. An alpha male from top to bottom, there was separation from the other cats, who maintained a respectful distance most of the time.

Returned in due course to Ridgeview Animal Clinic for a checkup, the veterinarian there expressed amazement, because apart from periodic difficulties with blood sugar – treatable with diet food and human insulin, hence a treasured Walgreens prescription card in the name of Nero Baylor – he was declared to be in perfect health. We could only conclude that the stress-reducing properties of cannabis helped preserve Nero during his years with Sebastian, from youth until his retirement years with us.

The years went by, and life went on. At first, we were wary about becoming too attached to such an ancient cat, but it became increasingly evident that Nero had discovered a feline fountain of youth, and he became a household fixture. He gradually slimmed down, and his coat became luxurious again. I worked from the house most mornings, and grew accustomed to Nero’s presence as he waited for me to finish breakfast and share the crumbs. He dispensed and accepted love when it suited him, and at some point, I realized that I’d fallen for him.

Nero listened patiently when I would read my columns and other writings aloud prior to submission. He was rewarded with cat treats. They may not have been good for him, but who can resist venerable wisdom?

Not until his 21st year did an obvious slowing begin. Throughout 2010, Nero spent more and more time sleeping atop his favorite chair by the fireplace, formerly his owner’s chosen seat, now gladly turned over to the comfort of this proud creature in winter. He needed the insulin again, and assisted periodically by friends when we were out of town, Mrs. Baylor became chief caregiver. At Christmas, Nero noticeably weakened, and we feared the inevitable, but he reached down deep and rallied in January. The clarity and the strut returned, and in retrospect, it was a final display of vim and vigor.

I think we both understood the end was near, even if our fears weren’t spoken aloud.

It came on February 2. We got home after dinner at La Rosita and found Nero unconscious on the floor in the bathroom, where he’d always enjoyed drinking his water neat, from the toilet. Evidently he’d had a seizure, perhaps a stroke, and although he was as yet barely alive, and that gallant heart still kept time to the very end, his eyes were shut, and his breathing erratic. The vet kindly came to the clinic, and we said goodbye to this wonderful presence in our lives.

Nero was a month shy of 22 years old, having been born mere weeks after Ronald Reagan left office in 1989. I cried many times, perhaps hardest when it came time to discard Nero’s litter box, a spacious one meant to be used by a large dog, and the object of nonchalant and perpetual befouling that constantly tried my patience (and sense of smell) when cleaning it for four years.

Like I said, Nero was an alpha male, first to last.

We will miss him, now and always. Goodbye, friend.

Allen: "They’ll induce the situation they say they have today on the Kennedy Bridge overnight on the Sherman Minton."

If there's to be over-capacity on the Sherman Minton, can we get our street grid under control before it happens (hint: pro-actively) and not after?

Tyler Allen: We’re building a billion-dollar downtown bridge, then incentivizing drivers not to use it, by Terry Boyd (Insider Louisville)

By tomorrow afternoon, it’s likely the final phases of financing the $800 million Downtown Bridge/Interstate-65 junction redesign will begin as the bi-state tolling body considers tolling recommendations.

But New Albanians should pay heed to the last paragraph.

If they proceed with all this, what’s your main concern? My main concern is, they end up with dramatic revenue shortfalls and can’t service the bonds a la KFC Yum! Center.

That is a big concern of mine. The other big concern of mine is, we will have built more than necessary and damaged this city in the process. Not only damaged it financially, but also damaged it from the development perspective.

When you toll this way…the public money from gas taxes is enough to build the East End corridor. The predictions were, you’d have 60,000 cars per day in a few years on the East End Bridge. Under this tolling regime, by 2030, you’ll only have 45,000 cars per day using the East End Bridge. The really scary part is, we’ve justified the downtown bridge … by saying the (Kennedy) bridge is over-capacity.

The minute they open these two new bridges, instantly, they’ll put the Sherman Minton bridge over capacity according to their own diversion numbers. People trying to avoid the tolls. They said we’ll go five years from now from 78,000 cars per day on the Sherman Minton … to 110,000 cars per day on the Sherman Minton. They’ll induce the situation they say they have today on the Kennedy Bridge overnight on the Sherman Minton.

Doesn’t that seem like bad policy?

Are you ready for a Copperhead commissioner?

There's a city council meeting tonight, as moved from the Monday holiday, but council agenda items (including street department appropriations) merely pale in significance compared to the stirring announcement that Dan "Councilman Cappuccino" Coffey plans to challenge former colleague Mark Seabrook for a seat as county commissioner.

It's time to move on ... unless, of course, he loses; after all, the next city council election isn't until 2015. Will the Wizard of Westendia move up the ladder? Will Vicky Ann Denschak take her rightful spot as hag apparent? Will we make it through the day without projectile vomiting?

But seriously: When it comes to Coffey versus Seabrook, I suppose I'm a Copperhead now.

I prefer the venal over the funereal any day.

Liven like David Niven.

As spotted on the News and Tribune web site. At least it wasn't the talking dentist.

South Bend is rocking the two-way street discussion.

I suppose this "file photo" needs to be updated to include Rent Boy Park.

And what do we get in New Albany?

Caesarism, a reactive, exhausted and outmoded doctrine if ever there was one. And from a MERCHANT, no less.

Follow the link below and read the whole article (thanks JH), because it really touches on the relevant topics.

If South Bend can be having this discussion, why not New Albany?

Two-way street discussion moving ahead, by Erin Blasko (South Bend Tribune)

... "What I tend to go for are changes that help quality of life, business success, aesthetics, things that increase social exchange and economic exchange, things that make a place a richer place, a more dynamic place,” he added ...

... In urban areas, at least, two-way streets offer a number of advantages over one-way streets, Scott Ford, the city's executive director of Community Investment, said.
Not only do two-way streets tend to "calm" traffic, making for a more "walkable" environment, Ford said, but they increase business visibility and storefront exposure and provide more direct routes between locations.

"With one-way streets, you're rewarding long trips, through trips, which tends to export value out of town," Lockwood said. "Two-way streets are about access and direct routing and (social and economic) exchange, so they tend to support more vibrancy in a city."

‘Complete streets’

Any potential project would include streetscape improvements and embrace the concept of "complete streets," or streets designed to accommodate multiple users, from motorists to pedestrians to bicyclists to public transit, Ford said.

In which we learn percentages: "That minus is too low to see."

It's probably not an exaggeration to surmise that the Floyd County Health Department didn't think matters all the way through when it decided to usurp seventy years of Indiana regulatory tradition and proclaim its blissful interference in beer pouring permits.

This newfound regulatory precedent-that-isn't, already the legal equivalent of calorie-free soda, got even murkier once the FCHD's own board got through contorting it. As you recall, the board decreed that the original citation would be discarded even as the permit requirement out of thin statutory air still stood, and that beer pouring entities henceforth would not be charged a permit fee even if those fees charged improperly even by the board's own logic would not be refunded.

NABC has pulled the requisite Alcohol & Tobacco Commission permit for this Friday's "A Taste for Art and History" at the Carnegie Center. As the Indiana Court of Appeals ruling Fort Wayne v Kotsopoulos makes perfectly clear, this ATC permit is the only one we need to legally operate on Friday evening. As for the FCHD's temporary food serving permit fetish, it is just as clearly stated (below in beige) that non-profit events needn't pay a fee -- meaning that not one, but two exemptions apply for the pouring of beer and other alcoholic beverages on Friday night.

By my reckoning, 1 minus 2 = negative 1, meaning that the FCHD owes NABC the sum of $20 for the event.

But what of the requirement to obtain a temporary food serving permit, even if it comes without a fee? According to the rulebook (see section in pink below), without this permit, there'll be an assessed fee of 50% of the permit expense.

Okay, so that's $10 for each of the exempted permits; thus added to the $20 the FCHD already owes us for having dipped into negative exemption numbers, the total cost to the health department comes to $40.

I'd prefer payment in cash. Sorry, IOUs from Dr. Tom simply will not suffice. Tell you what: Add it to the $120 already owed us, and we'll go to small claims court.

All jokes (really?) aside, nothing from nothing still leaves nothing, right? With the previous errant citation thrown out by the department's board, we start from scratch, with a clean slate ... right?

I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'll pray.

---

§ 115.37 PERMIT FEES.

(A) Unlawful to operate without paying permit fee. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a bed and breakfast establishment, retail food establishment and/or temporary food establishment in Floyd County, who has not paid the permit fee required to be paid for the operation of such establishment.

(B) Fees set by Health Department. Permit fees to be paid for the issuance of a permit under this subchapter for a bed and breakfast establishment, a retail food establishment and/or a temporary food establishment shall be set by the Health Department, as provided by the statutes of the State of Indiana, (see I.C. 16-20-1-27), and as set forth and approved by Floyd County Council and Floyd County Board of Commissioners.

(C) Expiration of permits. For permits which upon initial issuance will expire in fewer than 180 days from the date thereof, the applicant shall pay one-half of the fees set forth by the Health Department.

(D) Receipt provided. A receipt for the payment of such fee shall be provided by the Health Department.

(E) Payment required. The payment of such fees shall be required for each bed and breakfast establishment, retail food establishment and/or temporary food establishment operated or to be operated by any person.

(F) Exemption from permit fees. A not for profit organization that offers food for sale to the final consumer at an event held for the benefit of the organization is exempt from the payment of fees. This exemption only applies to organizations that meet the criteria addressed in I.C. 16-42-5-4. The Health Officer shall be provided, upon request, proof of an organization's tax exemption.

(G) Late fees. A late fee (1) for failure to pay the Permit fee prior to the commencement of operation of the bed and breakfast establishment, retail food establishment, and/or temporary food establishment and (2) for failure to renew a permit prior to its expiration shall be paid in the amount of 50% of the above annual fee for such permit, or in such amount as set from time to time by the Floyd County Health Board.

(H) Credit not transferable. Credit for the payment of fees under this subchapter is not transferable or refundable.

(Ord. G-08-14, passed 5-5-2008)

Maps and uncommon sense.

I seem to recall a time when all the gas stations had nice paper maps. They give 'em away for free. This may have been round the time I was 10, but I remember it nonetheless. Of course, the tourist people also dispensed gratis maps -- still do; we picked up an Indiana map at some point this summer while transiting the state.

GPS is alien to me, and when using the directions at Google Maps, I generally insist on actually looking at the streets and not taking the disembodied voice's word for it. Driving into a lake? I'd rather not.

That's because swimming is alien to me, too.

In Maine, Even With A GPS, You Can't Get There From Here, by Jennifer Mitchell (NPR)

City populace laughs out loud at substitute teacher's red-faced bleating.

Someone please tell Mark Seabrook that an "apology after the fact" is going to quite effectively "set well with me" when it arrives from Seabrook's and Steve Bush's non-housetrained Floyd County Health Department.

Meanwhile, here is tonight's Twitter line:

@NAT_ChrisM (Chris Morris): Floyd County Commissioners give city officials a piece of their mind!

Roger: And a whole city yawns.

Bluegill: At least we know it didn't take long.

Roger: The half-life of a microdot on a flea's scrotum.

In fact, this same flea's pathetic athletic supporter is the approximate location of the world's smallest violin player, currently on track to resin up the bow and let loose with a funereal dirge for the county's biggest political whiner.

Frustrations aired before Durgee Road work approved in New Albany; Railroad crossing to close, road to be paved

NEW ALBANY — The Floyd County Commissioners approved the city’s request to close an existing railroad crossing and pave a section of Durgee Road Tuesday, but not without sharing a bit of frustration with John Rosenbarger, director of public facilities projects for New Albany ...

 ... Rosenbarger apologized to the commissioners prior to his presentation.

“We have done a very poor job communicating with you about this project,” Rosenbarger told the commissioners. “I apologize for that. We have not done our due diligence when it comes to communicating with the county.”

While Commissioners Steve Bush and Mark Seabrook appreciated the apology, they took offense to the city moving ahead with the project without their inclusion.

“It seems like a good project that will benefit both the city and county,” Bush said. “But this seems to be the theme of the city when it comes to communicating with the county. It’s a little ridiculous in my opinion. If this was the first time something like this had happened that would be one thing, but it’s not” ...

 ... “Thank you for your apology, but an apology after the fact doesn’t set well with me,” Seabrook said. “I think it’s a good project and I think it helps businesses. But I feel like we have been run over roughshod through this whole thing. It comes across as arrogance that you don’t need county approval on anything. I just wish there was better communication and I feel like we have tried. This stuff has got to stop and it has got to stop tonight.”

Photo credit

DNA's 1st Tuesday is today, at The Opal Gypsy.

I don't always take note in this space of Develop New Albany's 1st Tuesday events, but let's make a notable exception for The Opal Gypsy.

Shall we discuss the downtown business community advocating for two-way conversions and complete streets?

Your PourGate update for Tuesday, September 3, and a letter to the editor.

NABC's dispute with the Floyd County Health Department remains in a Cold War phase, and that's about all there is to say. We will continue to pursue remedies.

• As for the FCHD's over-reach as it pertains to regulation of beer pouring, we await interpretation from higher-ups in Indianapolis. There are other potential fixes, but one must be patient and follow these various threads to their outcomes.
• As for the FCHD's defamatory web site posting, and our subsequent cease and desist and tort claim notice, we await an apology and are prepared to proceed, come what may, if adults in county government do not turn up. 

As for the letter below, I submitted it to the newspaper two weeks ago and have since grown weary of the draft residing at the top of the blog's queue. I'll link to the eventual placemarker in Hansonville when it finally appears -- but be sure to turn off your laptop's sound, lest you hear the dentist explain yet again her commitment to healthy teeth.

---

To the editor of the News and Tribune:

The New Albanian Brewing Company (NABC) certainly appreciates the News and Tribune’s stance in “Cheers and Jeers” (August 17 & 18, by editor Shea Van Hoy).

Van Hoy jeers the Floyd County Health Department (FCHD) “for its petty posting of a photo on its website taken in front of a local business.”

Unfortunately, petty is the least of it.

The photo, now finally removed, is defamatory and retaliatory. It testifies eloquently to a hubris-laden institutional culture in desperate need of instruction as to the etiquette suitable for taxpayer-supported government actors.

The source of my company’s current imbroglio with the FCHD is its misstep in seeking to require temporary food serving permits for beer pouring events. Moreover, it’s about the proper regulatory jurisdiction of the FCHD in relation to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC).

Van Hoy writes, “The legality of such permitting can — and has — been debated,” and while this is true, readers may not be aware of the extent to which the FCHD’s legless argument has been demolished.

The crux is this: Who regulates NABC when it comes to pouring beer at temporary events, such as this summer’s excellent Bicentennial Park concert series?

The FCHD’s answer comes from thin air: Ignore both statute and precedent, wave a magic administrative wand, and declare without warning that henceforth, beer is food. Actually, no other county health department in Indiana currently is making this spurious claim.

That’s because seventy-plus years of Indiana regulatory history and all prevailing precedents indicate otherwise. As beer dispenser, NABC is governed solely by the ATC, and in the course of appealing the FCHD’s over-reach, we managed something the health department could not: We produced a court ruling clearly affirming our position.

In Fort Wayne v Kotsopolous (1998), the Indiana Court of Appeals clearly and succinctly confirms the ATC’s regulatory pre-eminence in Indiana. In short, NABC’s supplemental catering authority, as licensed annually by the ATC, is all we need to temporarily pour beer at Bicentennial Park or elsewhere – provided, of course, that we abide by the ATC’s guidelines … and we do.

The FCHD has absolutely no part in this permit process, and its attempted justifications to date have been arrogant, irrelevant and tortuous, reminding me of the way “The Economist” magazine once described a speech by the former British prime minister, Harold Wilson:

“It contained difficult passages in which it is impossible to disentangle what the words really meant to him from what they were intended to mean to others and what they might later be said to have meant at the time.”

Whether inventing baseless regulations or posting actionable photos, is this really the way we want county government to operate?

Perhaps it's just me, but "Reactive By Design" isn't really the civic slogan I had in mind.

Full disclosure: Diana is a member of the Human Rights Commission.

I'm fairly confident that I agree with my neighbor and 3rd district council representative Greg Phipps on many, and perhaps most, major points of city politics. Given that, I'll now publicly differ, just a bit, and politely, in the sense of suggesting that Greg's observation ...

“There’s different points of view on that, but I think we set the commission up to be more reactive than proactive."

... prompts one of my own: Why are we so resigned to accepting yet another "reactive" institution in a town chock full of them?

New Albany: A highly ethical city? Ethics, human rights commissions still haven’t heard a case, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany Human Rights and Ethics Commissions were established by the city more than a year ago, but to date, neither have heard cases.

Some see that as a positive reflection of New Albany, while others believe the boards should be more involved in the process of selecting what they review.

“It seems like the human rights commission has been kind of pushed to the back burner a little bit,” commission member Brad Bell said.

The board — which was established in July of 2012 — hasn’t heard a case, which is somewhat suspicious, he continued.

“We’d love to think it’s because the community is so diverse and open is the reason we don’t have any [complaints], but I think we all know a little better than that,” Bell said ...

But there's even more from Toll-Free New Albany.

Operators are standing by; call now and get TWO reactive institutions for the price of one.

 ... As for the Ethics Commission — which differs from the human rights commission because it only considers cases regarding public officials — the timing of the formation of the body appears to be keeping it from hearing one complaint that has been made public.

Local businessman and resident Randy Smith filed a complaint with the ethics commission against David Duggins, director of economic development and redevelopment for the city, over the firing of former New Albany Urban Enterprise Executive Director Mike Ladd.

Smith alleged that several actions made by Duggins during the process were unethical including accusing Ladd of paying claims without board approval.

However, since the alleged actions took place in March of 2012, about five months before the body was established, the ethics commission is likely not to review the case.

I'm an atheist by trade, but God, I'm tired of incremental, institutionalized timidity.

Proof of an organization's tax exemption.

Did you know that the Carnegie Center, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN
#35-1745767)? I thought it might be helpful to publish this fact, just in case it becomes relevant.

Consider it a birthday wish.

"The 95-year-old keeping traditional Vietnamese music alive."

I'm not sure how the syncopated spoons fit the musical dimensions of Vinh Bao's traditional Vietnamese music, but it is fascinating nonetheless.

The 95-year-old keeping traditional Vietnamese music alive, by Justin Rowlatt (BBC World Service)

... Vietnamese music is a product of the tonal nature of the Vietnamese language. A word with a high rising tone cannot be sung with a falling melody, and vice versa. So melodic forms have developed that allow improvised changes of notes to fit the tones of the words used.

He says that is why there is such an emphasis on what he calls "ornamentation", on bending and embellishing the note - another reason traditional music often appears "out of tune" to the Western ear.

"That is why it has been so difficult to keep the Nhac Tai Tu Nam Bo form alive," he says, clearly frustrated. "The West displays to the Vietnamese young people its flawless instruments, its accurate notation, its varied repertoire, its orchestration, and its disciplined orchestras," says Vinh Bao.

"It is hard to get them interested in old-fashioned instruments," he tells me, sweeping a hand towards the collection that adorns the walls of the small room.

One Southern Indiana does not speak for me or this local business. Repeat.

It is true that I didn't vote for Todd Young, although it didn't stop me from having a beer with him last year. The important thing about it is that I voted. There was an election, and he won. So be it.

Young: We have the leverage to push tax reform; Congressman says blocking health care funds won’t stop law, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

NEW ALBANY — U.S. Rep. Todd Young believes the public has the appetite to deal with the kind of debates that led to deadline fiscal deals in the past if it brings about change in Washington.

Young, R-Ind., met with local business owners at One Southern Indiana on Wednesday about tax reform. He said it’s an issue the House and Republican lawmakers could hold leverage over the White House on with a Sept. 30 federal government funding deadline approaching.

When I read this article, it took me a moment to grasp the part of it that galled me so tremendously. In retrospect, it can be narrowed down to the final three sentences.

As for tax reform, 1si CEO Wendy Dant Chesser said the Chamber’s members were especially interested in simplifying the tax code.

Local businesses also support changes in the tax code as a way to boost economic growth, she continued.

“I sensed an optimism as [Young] gave his presentation and they pitched their questions,” Chesser said.

Yeah, THAT's it, for sure. Let's be blunt.

The non-elected oligarch's benevolent society otherwise known as One Southern Indiana does not speak for local business in the broader sense, and it does not speak for NABC in any sense at all -- whether on the topic of managed health care, or tax reform, or the unconscionable boondoggle of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

I'll take dissonance from Todd Young, because whether I voted for him or not, at least there was an election. But I don't and won't accept it from Wendy Dant Chesser, who was selected by a cadre of elites, not elected by persons or businesses.

The problem? It isn't so much her as the ones doing the selecting.

At LouisvilleBeer.com: "No worth without principle."

My first of two September columns is up at LouisvilleBeer.com, and it's an explanation of festival strategy in a context of principle. Not a single Beer Advocate review was harmed in writing this piece. My columns at LouisvilleBeer.com appear monthly, on the 1st and 15th.

No worth without principle

Louisville’s annual Brew at the Zoo (BATZ) has come and gone, and while by most accounts it was bigger than ever in 2013, fair-minded observers can (and will) differ as to whether it was “better” this time around. So it goes, and I can’t offer a valid opinion, seeing as my weekend was spent in Lafayette, Indiana. NABC participated in the 2nd annual, Indiana-craft-only Beers Across the Wabash festival, and a wonderful time was had by all.

At this juncture some might ask, and plausibly: But Roger, you always claim to be a localist, and Lafayette is three hours away – so exactly how is that local?

There are different answers for that sort of question, some serious and others more light-hearted, as in “local is anywhere I happen to be drinking.”

The usual Labor Day antics.

We should be celebrating this holiday in May.

For more than 125 years, May Day also has been considered International Workers' Day, which we Americans eventually chucked to another time on the calendar (Labor Day, at summer’s end) so as to avoid confusion with the Commies.

I personally stick to pre-summer, primarily to avoid embarrassment such as that appearing each year around this time at Freedom to Screech.

Their (labor) movement pushed to better the conditions of the work place and strove to secure respect and appreciation for those who work hard. Now it seems like some unions are destroying our country.

If we really must, then here's a reprint worth reading.

REWIND: Will work for something real.

For Labor Day weekend consideration, here's a look back at a thoughtful piece about economic development from YES! Magazine's David Korten, reprinted in its entirety under a Creative Commons license. It originally was posted by Bluegill on Sept. 6, 2010, and you may find it useful to turn to the comments section there, where a spirited discussion ensued.

"Keith Olbermann Reflects on the Life and Career of Doug Kotar."

The NFL settled, and to me, that's too bad. We won't know the extent of its complicity with respect to generations of players and their brain injuries. In short, it was a good time for Keith Olbermann to return to ESPN, as the commentary above attests.

Brain injuries, the NFL, and my indifference ... to football.

Several times over the past two or three years, I've posted links to stories about brain injuries in sports, primarily football, but with at least one sobering report on concussions in hockey. Readers can search for them if they're interested.