Liquidz progress ... Paul's?

The (by now) somewhat long and winding road for Liquidz Bar & Grill perhaps approaches a fruitful juncture, as the establishment has erected a Facebook page. It has a handful of revealing photos of the interior refit at 147-151 E. Main, and outlines a scheme for VIP cards that entices with mention of performances by "national" acts.

Meanwhile, folks on Twitter yesterday suggested that Paul's One World Cafe in the Bergman Building on Market has finished. I drove past yesterday at 3:30 p.m., and there were neither lights nor activity. Readers, do you have any information? If so, please post here, and withhold from Dan Coffey -- he's happier that way.

More summer of hot and cold showers as incomplete council centipedes annexation.

Lately the city council has been performing more often than the Rumors, except that the band's members generally show up, and when the music's over, the crowd leaves actually feeling good about the experience.

Last night, councilmen Gonder and McLaughlin were absent as the body considered annexation and found the five votes necessary to stave off Steve Price's "polly wanna cracker" abstentions.

Interestingly, one definition of abstention is "the act or habit of deliberate self-denial." In Price's case, he denied himself a "no" vote. When you're getting paid for piece work by the frequency of rejection, does that constitute a pay cut?

Learning about economic localization.

A buy local video from the National Main Street Program:



And a suggested reading list from the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE):


THE SMALL-MART REVOLUTION: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition, by Michael H. Shuman

GOING LOCAL: Building Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age, by Michael H. Shuman

DEEP ECONOMY: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben

AGENDA FOR A NEW ECONOMY: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth, by David C. Korten

THE GREAT TURNING: From Empire to Earth Community, by David C. Korten

FIELDS OF PLENTY: by Michael Abelman

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver

PLENTY: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally, by Alisa Smith, J.B. Mackinnon

THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan

SMALL GIANTS: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham

THE COMPANY WE KEEP: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community, and Place, by John Abrams

COMPANIES WE KEEP: Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place, by John Abrams

GROWING LOCAL VALUE: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community, by Laury Hammel and Gun Denhart

BIG-BOX SWINDLE: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses, by Stacy Mitchell

AMERICA BEYOND CAPITALISM: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy, by Gar Alperovitz

BUILDING POWERFUL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: A Personal Guide to Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World, by Michael Jacoby Brown

GREEN ALTERNATIVES TO GLOBALISATION: A Manifesto, by Michael Woodin and Caroline Lucas.

From The New Albanist blog: "Annexation 101: The 2010 Initiative."

The New Albanist returns with a detailed analysis of Annexation 101: The 2010 Initiative. Here are the opening paragraphs. Follow the link to read the remainder.

In my most recent posting (NAC note: see "The New Albanist on annexation, and the tail that wags the dog"), I provided a cursory review of the annexation proposed by the City of New Albany, making the assumption that readers who wanted to drill down into the details would do so and that others who have read my policy posts in the past would know that I had done the homework and could provide a reliable summary.

I also indicated that had I been a member of the council I would have voted to proceed with the annexation process despite any objections to the timing of the mayor’s initiative.

Apparently, there is more interest in the details than I had assumed – my assumption being predicated on the fact that practically no member of the general public attended the presentation of the resolution and ordinance.
I will presume that parliamentary difficulties will be resolved and that Tuesday’s special called meeting will end with a fiscal plan approved (resolution) and the annexation declared by ordinance on first reading.

Here are some key facts ...

Views from the blues fest yesterday.

At the Potable Curmudgeon blog, there is a belated Saturday report.

Or, how to properly froth a Cappuccino.

The Tribune's Chris Morris reports that City Hall has called a second council meeting in hopes of convincing more than 5/9 of the membership to attend, and then feels the lash of spittle as the Wizard of Westside searches for his political equivalent to Cialis.

However, Coffey said the council only had two days to look at the plan following Thursday’s vote, and that was not enough time to digest the plan.

“They work on this for months and we get the information one or two days before ... no,” he said. “They expect someone from the council to understand all of this. I’m tired of this administration trying to ram stuff down our throat at the last minute.”

As numerous people can attest, Dan Coffey repeats these words or a variation of them at least once at every city council meeting.

Exactly what constitutes the "last minute" in this context? What has Coffey -- what has the council -- done to alleviate the situation? Can anything be done? Should anything be done? Why can't we be friends? Or, do we merely dodge spittle and splutter forever, or until the 1st district finally upends the petty wannabeen?

Already gone.

Less that 24 hours later, it's been demolished and carted away: Charred excitement across the alleyway, circa 1:00 a.m.

The New Albanist on annexation, and the tail that wags the dog.

We've known for years that City Hall eventually would move to annex the commercial corridor outside the beltway on Charlestown Road. There are no surprises in it, and what's more, there's nothing unusual about Dan "Wizard of Westside" Coffey voting against a measure he claims to support and using his own lack of patience with reading as an excuse for saying "no".

But: Why is it that something so plainly telegraphed comes forward for consideration during a special council meeting? Why not before, packaged and positioned to inform and succeed? Why, for something this important, do only five of nine council members bother attending the special meeting?

Fortunately, the New Albanist has been analyzing these latest instances of New Albany's chronic, malingering political dysfunction, and provides welcomed clarity in this essay at his blog: Tail Wags Dog, June 2010 Edition.

Here's a teaser ... but you really must read the whole piece.

... I believe Dan Coffey’s vote was a bad vote. He favors annexation, but used this moment to strike a blow for his and the council’s prerogatives. So nobody wins. Not Coffey. Not England. Not the residents of New Albany.

In the ongoing game of Red Rover, the players again got roughed up. The barometer of ill will goes up a bit more.

There’s no excuse for bringing this annexation measure forward with so little time for the fiscal plan to be examined. And there’s no excuse for Coffey’s “no” vote or for the boycott by the other members.

For more on the annexation vote:

ANNEXATION: YES OR NO?, at the Voice of the People blog.
Dan Coffey slays the annexation dragon ... for now. (NAC)

Blues, brews, soccer, beer walks, Farmers Market ... and more brews ... this weekend.

I can remember a time not so long ago when Harvest Homecoming was the only period of the year during which anything at all might (or might not) be happening in New Albany. This is no longer the case, as the coming weekend attests.

Tonight (Friday), the Dennis Ervin Band plays at the Riverfront Amphitheater, and craft beer drinkers will note that NABC and Studio's are collaborating ("what a concept", noted frequent reader Mike) to bring Progressive Pints to the New Albany Riverfront Amphitheater for this performance, the blues festival, and next weekend's Independence Weekend activities. After that, we reassess and plan for events to follow.

Tomorrow is packed with possibilities. The Farmers Market is in full session (Josh and I had a great time there last week), and only one firkin of "USA vs Ghana – Former Colonies Bitter" will be tapped for the World Cup match at Bank Street Brewhouse.

On Saturday from 3:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m., the Booty Shakin' Blues Festival is happening at the Riverfront Amphitheater, again with NABC beer as vended by Studio's.

On top of it all, Saturday is the first of three summertime beer walks in New Albany, kicking off a bit after the soccer match: NA 1 Night Stand Triple Up Beer Walk.

You can rest on Sunday, okay?

Dan Coffey slays the annexation dragon ... for now.

In our latest episode of "Shower After Filing," the Tribune's Chris Morris draws the short straw.

New Albany annexation suffers setback; Mayor plans to call another special meeting Tuesday

The New Albany City Council failed to approve a fiscal plan for the project by a 4 to 1 vote at a special meeting. The proposal needed five yes votes, and with four members absent, there was no room for a no vote.

Dan Coffey voted no while John Gonder, Bob Caesar, Pat McLaughlin and Kevin Zurschmiede voted for the fiscal plan. Jeff Gahan, Steve Price, Jack Messer and Diane McCartin-Benedetti were absent.

As Councilman Cappuccino contemplates updating his blog (moribund since April 4), Mayor England pledges another meeting, this time presumably sending squad cars to rope in the non-attendees.

Charred excitement across the alleyway, circa 1:00 a.m.

To my knowledge, there wasn't even a deep fryer in there.

It's at the rear of 1116 (1118?) E. Elm, with the 1117 ESSNA's official garbage receptacle visible on our side of the alley. Whether anyone currently lives at the house is unknown to me, but in seven years residing here, I've never seen a human being inside the ex-garage. Last summer I painted over graffiti on the garage door that was visible to us since the hurricane destroyed our privacy fence, and I recently had been considering going to cut the weeds and (perhaps) remove the turf from the gutters.

As we await the fire department's verdict ... and the clean-up?

Today's Tribune column: "Italian idyll--Pecetto to Venice."

The 25th anniversary travel series continues today in the Tribune. In unrelated news, yesterday at Potable Curmudgeon, I posted what would have been the next LEO beer column, and intend to do weekly long-form Wednesday pieces in lieu of Mug Shots. In fact, I fully intend to keep shedding responsibilities (and sanity) until I get it right. New Albany's the perfect place for that, don't you think?

BAYLOR: Italian idyll--Pecetto to Venice

It was June 1985, and I'd somehow reached the village of Pecetto in the northern Italian hills. The ensuing six-day sojourn with my cousin Don and his friend (and host) Scott provided an ideal chance to stop, relax and enjoy a slice of rural Europe in temperate summer.

Dead trees gone.

Kudos to the street department, Board of Works or whomsoever sent the crews around earlier today to remove dead trees along Spring Street, including this one in front of the 1117 ESSNA. We are sincerely thankful, and now there's space for an expanded condom machine: World's largest condom machine to eliminate the need for membership dues at the 1117 East Spring Neighborhood Association.

Now, about that stump grinding ...

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

I just received a draft of One Southern Indiana's 2010-2011 Legislative Agenda, suitable for sharing with blog readers.

You're sure to have questions and comments, but the omission that baffles me is the 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt parrot the blatherings of Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana."

It must be on the double secret draft.

---

Dear 1SI Members,

Our Public Policy Council is a group of business leaders who work together to promote pro-business advocacy at the local, state and federal level. Each year, the council formulates policies on issues that affect business. Over the last few months the group has developed a draft One Southern Indiana 2010-2011 Legislative Agenda. This is your opportunity to comment on issues that affect your business. Please click here to review the draft agenda, and email any comments or additional issues back to us by June 28th. Your input will help us craft our business advocacy positions for 2010-2011.

Should you have any questions please call or email Tonya Fischer, TonyaF@1si.org (812) 945-0266 ext. 204 or Michael Dalby, MichaelD@1si.org (812) 945-0266 ext. 202. Please note your comments at the end of each issue on the agenda and fax back to us at 948.4664.

Thank you

---

2010 - 2011 Legislative Agenda

General Policy Position:
One Southern Indiana supports public policy that facilitates high-wage / high-skill job creation, capital investment and business retention and expansion. We also support public policy that contributes to a strong quality of life that will attract and retain jobs and investment.

Federal/State Issues
o River Ridge Development

o Support their efforts to obtain utility Infrastructure funding for on-site improvements (Federal & state funds – water, wastewater, roads, fiber)

o Completion of the I-265 extension and the approach to the east end bridge component of the Ohio River Bridges Project

o Designation of the “River Ridge Commerce Corridor” – Port Road and Highway 62 E (from I-265 interchange to Hwy 3). [Rep Stemler’s proposed HB 1225.]

o Port of Jeffersonville – Coordinate with local and State of Indiana port leadership and gain support for their capital needs.

o Immigration – We oppose the hiring of illegal workers. However, immigration is essentially a matter that must be legislated at the federal level. The General Assembly should not attempt to address the immigration issue at the state level.

State Issues
o Unemployment Insurance – In 2009 the Legislature made changes to Indiana's unemployment insurance system that were intended to replenish the totally depleted Unemployment Trust Fund by increasing the taxable wage base and the maximum tax rate paid by employers. In 2010 any changes were delayed for one year. Increasing the taxable wage base would have put too heavy of a burden on business owners who were already dealing with a bad economy.

o We support a statewide smoking ban in recognition of the message it sends that Indiana values the health of its citizens and recognizes the connection between going “smoke free” and attracting innovative companies that boost our region’s economy.

o Monitor utility rate issues and their potential impact on business, and give testimony and member survey responses to State Regulatory Commission.

o Inform members on the impact of the “1-2-3%” tax caps on property tax prior to the constitutional vote in November.

Education
o We support the funding and construction of the Education and Technology Building proposed for the IU Southeast campus. It will provide critical classrooms, labs, and technology needed to educate our future teachers and engineering technologists. The building project will help to attract and retain top talent and demonstrate a valuable partnership between IU Southeast and the Purdue College of Technology to support two rapidly growing programs that contribute directly to a bright future for the region.

o Encourage and support collaboration between Ivy Tech, Purdue, IUS and Louisville higher education institutions in providing post-secondary education offerings that translate into higher skill – higher value business innovation.

o Just as our member businesses had to make cuts during the recession, our school districts need the tools and authority to adjust their budgets. Therefore, we support the elimination of Public Law 217 (collective bargaining) and/or give administrators more flexibility and input on decisions regarding promotion, retention, reduction of certified staff.

Transportation/Infrastructure
o We support the entire Ohio River Bridges Project (two bridges and the redevelopment of the I-65, I-71 and I-64 interchange in Louisville) and will continue to engage the issue via the Bridges Coalition.

o We support the work of the Bi-State Authority.

o We encourage the immediate development of the Old Salem Road Interchange (Gateway to River Ridge) with visible progress by the end of 2010.

o Major Moves – Our position is to ensure funds designated for the Ohio River Bridges Project remain committed.
o We support the process that has been put in place by both Kentucky and Indiana - the formation of the Bi-State Authority - and giving them the ability to review any and all funding options. Let the Bridges Authority do its job and develop funding options. If viable funding options emerge that don't include tolling, we fully support that approach. Nobody wants to pay tolls. However, if including high-speed electronic tolling is the only way to fund the project and get it built in a timely manner, then we will accept a funding solution that includes tolling.

Local Government Issues
o Continue to support local government simplification efforts that can increase government efficiency, increase inter-governmental cooperation and, where appropriate decrease the number of elected officials.

o We commend the progress that has been made and support the push to continue to improve efforts to get tax bills out on time. We will work to show the negative impacts of Municipalities and school districts always having to borrow funds to get through the year, and we will also celebrate successes.

o Support local Government funding for job creation and economic development efforts from the locally collected Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).

Federal Issues
o Card Check – 1SI surveyed our members in early 2009 and the response was overwhelmingly against the Employee Free Choice Act in its then form. If a new form is proposed, we will again survey, but all indications are that it will be strongly opposed.

o Cap & Trade – As our region’s power is derived from coal-fired power plants, and as our region’s low electricity costs have been and are currently an incentive for industrial jobs, we oppose this legislation in its current form. We do support the development of clean energy alternatives and the jobs associated with production of “green” technology systems.

o Healthcare – As details on the Healthcare Reform bill emerge, we will inform, poll and survey our members as to the impact and report to our Federal Elected Officials.

o We are dismayed by unrestricted Federal Government spending fueled by debt. As a business organization, our members know that this is a formula for failure in business. Just as our member businesses had to make difficult cuts during the recession, we encourage our federal elected officials to make the hard choices necessary to get our federal debt under control.

NABC, Studio's collaborate to bring Progressive Pints to the New Albany Riverfront Amphitheater.

In conjunction with the catering arm of Studio’s Grille & Pub, the New Albanian Brewing Company is pleased to make locally brewed craft beer available at New Albany’s Riverfront Amphitheater for these upcoming events:

June 25
CONCERT SERIES: Dennis Ervin Band, 7:30-10:00 pm

June 26
HERITAGE FESTIVAL SERIES: Blues Festival with Josh Garret and the Bottom Line from Nashville, 3:00-10:00 pm

July 2
CONCERT SERIES: Persuasion, 7:30-10:00 pm

July 3
HOLIDAY SERIES: Riverfront Independence Festival with Wulfe Brothers and 100% Poly, 7:30-10:00 pm

Coming on the heels of the craft-friendly Celts on the River concert two weeks ago, these first four cooperative ventures between Studio’s and NABC are intended to gauge interest in craft beer to accompany music by the river at a gorgeous venue.

Progressive Pints at the Riverfront Amphitheater benefit whole notion of locally-based food, drink and entertainment. In addition to the four dates above, NABC beer will be on hand at the Amphitheater to complement the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Festival (July 31); Relic Bluegrass (August 6) and German Strassenfest (September 25). Depending on the success of the overall experiment, we may announce further dates soon.

NABC thanks Trish Meyer, Studio’s and the riverfront steering committee for their support of locally brewed craft beer in New Albany. Look for our banner, and enjoy the shows.

This round goes to the Liteweights, as Mr. Mug Shot is no more.

This just in: LEO's editor, Sarah Kelley, has fired intrepid "Mug Shot" columnist Roger A. Baylor for myriad offenses against taste and decency.

Which is why I thought the "independent" "alt"-weekly hired me in the first place, but verily, times and people change. There'll be time later to discuss. Until then:

Under-employed former LEO beer columnist with pompous proclivities and a large, loyal fan base desires biweekly forum for fermentable truth-telling. Pay is negotiable. Note that the columnist is allergic to censorship and poor taste. You know where I am. Have beer -- will write/right.

The Story of Stuff.

21 minutes and 25 seconds that can save your life. And mine. And your grandchildren's.

One fine morning at the Farmers Market.

Photo credit: AW

“The statue can be destroyed and gone, but Jesus can’t be.”

Amy pointed to this news item last week. First the oil spill; now this. I just can't believe Jeeebus is gone.

Jesus statue fire damages estimated at $700,000

MONROE — Charred remnants remained this morning, June 15, of the large Jesus statue iconic to Interstate 75 that was destroyed following an apparent lightning strike during a thunderstorm late Monday night.

An entire generation of Internet cynics knew the sculptural embarrassment as Jeeebus a.k.a Big Butter Jesus. For believers, the ontological argument from rabbit ears can be glimpsed here: Viewing…

Photo credit

Exclusively New Albany, version 2010.

Amanda Arnold provides the Tribune account of Thursday’s Exclusively New Albany fete at the home of Mayor and Mrs. England, the highlight of which for me was Guy Tedesco's sculpture.

Mayor England opens house for Develop New Albany event

NEW ALBANY — On Thursday evening, Mayor Doug England and Michelle England welcomed Develop New Albany onto the lawn of their 1837 restored home where art and community came together for the Third Annual Exclusively New Albany. The mix of art and a social gathering complimented this year’s theme of "It Takes a Village."

It was another in a series of brutally hot and humid days, but a big crowd still turned out. There was music ...

... and even ice for the NABC beer samples.

Other personal highlights included the Windsor's rack of lamb, Tommy Kaiser's cigar bar, and the admirable pre-council meeting "beer abstinence" displayed by Matt Lorch.