Scarlet letter? As New Albany hemorrhages jobs, we reveal Team Gahan's economic development argument.

(Reader Submission -- thanks)

The South does it again -- wait, Indiana did it first. No matter: "The NBA Needs to Move the 2017 All-Star Game From Charlotte."

C'mon -- you know Grooms would have voted in favor if he lived in North Carolina.

The real world, from the only sportswriter who matters.

The NBA Needs to Move the 2017 All-Star Game From Charlotte. Now. (By Dave Zirin, The Nation)

... The 2017 NBA All-Star Game is due to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Silver should announce as soon as possible that this game needs to be moved unless the state legislature overturns its new law set to go in effect April 1 “blocking local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules to grant protections to gay and transgender people.”

The law was passed as a direct response to the City of Charlotte for passing an ordinance to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people from being discriminated against by businesses. Outrageously, the North Carolina legislature scheduled an extraordinary special session—the first time they have done so in 35 years—to annul the Charlotte ordinance before it went into effect. It’s remarkable how quickly lawmakers leap to actually do their jobs when the work involves stripping people of their rights. It is also stunning how all of the Dixie paeans to local control and states’ rights go out the window when it comes to issues such as these.

The law also bans students from using restrooms that correlate with their gender identity if it is not what is listed on their birth certificate. “Legislators have gone out of their way to stigmatize and marginalize transgender North Carolinians by pushing ugly and fundamentally untrue stereotypes that are based on fear and ignorance and not supported by the experiences of more than 200 cities with these protections,” Sarah Preston, acting executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said in a statement.

This law empowers businesses across the state to put signs in their windows saying that they reserve the right to deny service to anyone whom they perceive to be part of the LGBT community. Think about that for a second: The law empowers right-wing small-business owners to legally discriminate based on their own “gaydar.”

Under the shadow of this legislation, the NBA really only has one recourse: It needs to move the 2017 All-Star Game and show the world that it is not going to “fall behind” on what is a very elemental issue of human rights and dignity. The NBA Players Association, led by the estimable Michele Roberts, should also call for Adam Silver to take this step.

10 Days In ... cooking school?

As an aside, I'll be live blogging the next New Albany city council meeting on April 4.

You know, news and shit.

February 28, 2016

154 days since we had a News and Tribune reporter in New Albany, but look: Cooking School! In Jeffersonville!

Dog daze: With Gahan back in the safe house, civilian architect Timperman now is the city's official spokesman.

You just knew there had to be a catch -- and I don't mean dogs playing Frisbee.

When Mayor Jeff Gahan donned his standard issue suit and tie for an uncharacteristic public appearance at Cannon Acres with WDRB's Gil Corsey, actually speaking on behalf of his own administration without the usual sycophants and intermediaries for protective filtration,

"Right now the last thing we'd want to do is be disrespectful to anyone," Gahan said.

Amid instantaneous and contagious community-wide laughter, it was only a matter of milliseconds until chief handler Adam Disney speed-dialed Gahan to remind the mayor that the only way he can refrain from disrespect is to remain safely ensconced in the down-low bunker.

In the emergency meeting that followed, you can almost see them looking around the room ... so, who can we use?

Hall? He already does council meetings.

Duggins? No, he's got deputy mayor shit to do, and anyway, television cameras bring out the dollar sign tattoos a bit too vividly.

Thompson? Absolutely not. He might tell the truth.

(Disney's iPad begins to glow with inspiration)

Timperman? Ah, now there's an idea. He's got more credentials than Bono Road has potholes.  Perfect. Get him out there now ...

Petition circulates after concerns over New Albany dog park location (WAVE-3)

... "If the state archeologist wanted to come down here and check again, that’s fine with me, because I don’t have any dog in this fight and I think that the city has tried very hard to comply with the state’s requirements," Timperman said.

Today's coda:

Remember when fans of the New Albany farmers market were led to believe that the market was going to be moved to the parking garage?

Of course, they were misled, and it was pure stage-managed hokum, but at least it showed there actually were fans of the farmers market.

Fast forward to the past week's dog park controversy. Zealous advocates of the dog park now are deluging social media with their support for ... dogs... wait. No, they're not. Outside of city workers and the mayor's family (is that a redundancy?), there isn't any support for a dog park.

None.

Zilch.

Nada.

Yet again, we ask: Why is money being spent on this -- Native American site or not?

---

Previously at NAC:

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Autodidact -- and how David Duggins denigrates one of them amid Team Gahan's zeal for a dog park.

One week later, the newspaper reluctantly diverts its attention from cooking school and learns that "park site in New Albany draws concerns."

In unprecedented act of territorial pissing, outraged dogs gather to protest Native Americans.

Belatedly addressing the Cannon Acres dog park fiasco, Mayor Gahan insists he watched "Dances with Wolves" on the VCR over the weekend.

Tony Nava on WDRB: "Would we want to use a church grounds as a dog park?"

4:00 p.m. today: Citizens trying to save a Native American church from being used as an inappropriate and unnecessary dog park.

Commentary: Amid quintessential City Hall arrogance, a petition to "save the Cannon Acres Native American site."

Dog crap on a sacred area: Jeff Gahan moves timeline forward, with the desecration of a 3,000-6,000 Native American site to begin Monday.

An AWOL Jeff Gahan evades Native American activist seeking dialogue about potential site destruction at the dog park.

The city of New Albany may soon try to destroy a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site to build a dog park.

ON THE AVENUES: Introducing New Albany Craft Beer Week, May 27 – June 4, 2016.

ON THE AVENUES: Introducing New Albany Craft Beer Week, May 27 – June 4, 2016.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

Earlier in 2016, it was revealed that the annual Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will relocate to New Albany’s Riverfront Amphitheater. For the past decade, Fest of Ale has been held in Clarksville.

The 2016 date for Keg Liquors Fest of Ale is Saturday, June 4, and the event is sure to attract around 1,500 craft beer devotees, with room for future growth. As in the past, proceeds are to be donated to the Crusade for Children, and if experience is any indication, there will be stellar selection of craft beer samples.

Another riverside festival dominated local headlines earlier this week, as the city of Jeffersonville announced it would be hosting Abbey Road on the River (an important Beatles-themed music festival) in 2017. Next year it will shift to Indiana from its current home on the Belvedere in downtown Louisville.

My guess is that many readers would rank Abbey Road on the River above Keg Liquors Fest of Ale in approximate order of importance. I don’t think so, and although I’m as much of a Beatles fan as anyone, it is my opinion that New Albany comes out ahead with craft beer.

That’s because there’s quite a lot of craft beer in New Albany these days, which in itself is a statement of fact once deemed unlikely, even by me.

Fest of Ale exists because of craft beer’s explosive growth. Ratings regularly confirm Keg Liquors as a major regional retail player when it comes to craft beer. Craft beer market penetration in Indiana is in the top twenty, nationwide, and there are 120 operational Hoosier breweries – three of them in New Albany.

Taken together, these factors combine to create considerable potential synergy for New Albany. Especially downtown, we’re already is a craft beer hotbed, far more so than Jeffersonville.

Fest of Ale’s presence in New Albany provides the reinforcement of an exclamation mark for what has become a formidable daily craft beer presence.

Just look at a map of downtown New Albany. Draw a line from Floyd County Brewing to Dragon King’s Daughter, then from DKD to Gospel Bird, and finally from Gospel Bird back to FCBC. There are somewhere between 75 and 100 draft spouts inside this triangle – to be sure, not all pouring craft beers, but perhaps as many as 80% are.

That’s big. If you were here ten years ago, you understand how big -- and I’m purposefully excluding the remainder of the city: NABC Pizzeria & Public House, Donum Dei Brewery, Bridge Liquors, Sunset Spirits … the list is large, indeed.

As to why this matters – why the existence of small, independently owned breweries constitutes hopeful and helpful tends – consider these words from an instructive essay in All About Beer magazine.

Breweries aren’t like the average industrial plant. They are people magnets, bringing folks in who are curious to try a pint of locally made IPA. In fairly short order, breweries can create little pockets of prosperity in cities that can (and often do) radiate out into the neighborhood. Pretty soon, other businesses see the bustle and consider moving in, too. It doesn’t hurt that breweries often find run-down parts of towns that have great buildings. Once a brewery moves in and refurbishes an old building, it reveals the innate promise of adjacent buildings to prospective renters.

In New Albany, we can extend this analogy to any number of eateries and bars that have opened during the past decade. They cannot achieve economic development miracles all by themselves, but when community pillars are unable to muster more compelling strategies, food and drink mark a good place to start.

---

The advent of Keg Liquors Fest of Ale in New Albany provides an intriguing opportunity to expand our daily municipal celebration of craft beer by incorporating a powerful promotional tool.

It’s called New Albany Craft Beer Week.

Provisional graphic. Mr. Thrasher, we need you.

Many such weeks are honored across America. They vary in size and scope, and range across districts, cities and states, but conceptually, there is relative uniformity.

The idea is to educate and disseminate craft beer consciousness, with an ulterior motive of letting consumers know more about the establishments and people who make it all possible.

In 2016, the New Albany Restaurant & Bar Association (NARBA) already is planning a New Albany Restaurant & Bar Week to bridge the days between Indie Fest (Saturday, September 24) with the Harvest Homecoming Parade and NARBA’s pop-up food and beer garden (Biers on Parade) at the Farmers Market (Saturday, October 1).

New Albany Restaurant & Bar Week in autumn is intended to emphasize food, and now we have a natural linkage in springtime to do the same for craft beer, hence New Albany Craft Beer Week.

At some point down the road, perhaps Gary can organize a wine fest in summer, or Matt something to do with cider in winter. The pairing possibilities are endless.

Though as yet unconfirmed, the city of New Albany’s third annual Boomtown Ball should fall on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, which is May 29. As noted, Keg Liquors Fest of Ale will be on June 4. Consequently, we’ll aim for a New Albany Craft Beer Week kickoff on Friday, May 27.

From May 27 through June 4, there will be numerous opportunities for restaurants, breweries, bars and retailers to build events and promotions around craft beer -- tastings, special releases and beer dinners, perhaps involving wholesale and brewer representatives, who’ll be in town for Fest of Ale, anyway.

Obviously, both Boomtown Ball and Keg Liquors Fest of Ale are stand-alone entities, each with its own playbook for participation. I’m speaking here of weaving complementary craft beer showcases in and around these bigger ticket draws.

This entire idea has risen spontaneously, and NARBA doesn’t have a comprehensive plan for it. However, several of us have been involved with similar undertakings in the past, as I was with Louisville Craft Beer Week’s launch in 2010.

NARBA’s basic task for New Albany Craft Beer Week will be to collect information, direct traffic, coordinate and do the best we can to spread the word. In the coming days, we’ll get to work designing a poster (I’m looking at you, Dave Thrasher) and some rudimentary semblance of a web site or Facebook page.

Owners and operators: Merely plan your event to interest the clientele you already have. This needn’t be nuclear physics. If Bell’s is your big seller, mention New Albany Craft Beer Week to your Bell’s sales rep, and ask for suggestions. They’re eager to serve you.

Take them up on it.

A tremendous opportunity awaits. We can expand New Albany’s footprint on the metropolitan beer map, spread the word about our incredible local food and drink community, and have some fun.

Your ideas are critical, so let me have ‘em.

---

March 17: ON THE AVENUES: Erin Go Blagh -- a timeless classic for a green-hued holiday.

March 10: ON THE AVENUES: A funny thing happened on the way to a city council nightcap.

March 3: ON THE AVENUES: Since 1960, outside looking in.

February 29: ON THE AVENUES REPRISE: Die hard the Hunter, or the political "impossibility" of rental property registration in New Albany (2015).

Independent business peeps take note: The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is far more relevant than One Southern Indiana.

The ILSR's Stacy Mitchell tweeted these words earlier today.

We need to transform “buy local" from a consumers movement into a political movement.

I pumped my fist without realizing it. Here's a page (and an organization) worth every independent business person's time to monitor .

Independent Business: Building a Community-Scaled Economy

Overview

Places that are home to numerous locally owned businesses are more prosperous, sustainable, and resilient than those in which much of the economy is controlled by a few big corporations.

For more than a decade, ILSR has worked with elected officials, grassroots organizations, and business groups to implement policies that reduce the power of dominant corporations, revitalize neighborhood commercial districts, and strengthen and rebuild independent businesses. Today, there are encouraging signs that community-scaled enterprises are on the rise, charting a path toward a more just and sustainable economy.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Autodidact -- and how David Duggins denigrates one of them amid Team Gahan's zeal for a dog park.

Welcome to another installment of SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS, a regular Wednesday feature at NA Confidential.

But why new words? Why not the old, familiar, comforting words?

It's because a healthy vocabulary isn't about trying to show rental property owners you're smarter than them. To the contrary, it's about selecting the right word and using it correctly, whatever one's pay grade or station in life.

Even municipal corporate attorneys are eligible for this enlightening expansion of personal horizons, and really, for those of us watching as every tree in town is transformed into firewood, all we really have is time on our hands -- moments enough for us to learn something.

This week, a different approach.

Autodidact (aw-toe-DIE-dakt) is a fancy Greek word meaning “self-taught.” Simply stated, an autodidact has gathered knowledge without the benefit of formal or specialized education.

Perhaps the most celebrated example of an autodidact is Leonardo Da Vinci. We now refer to him as a “Renaissance man,” because this term implies expertise in multiple areas of the human experience. In Leonardo’s case, he excelled at painting, sculpting, engineering, architecture, music, geology and astronomy. This list is by no means comprehensive.

A more recent pop culture exemplar is Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, guitar virtuoso and a former member of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. You may not know that Baxter also has worked for many years as a respected consultant to the US Department of Defense on the topic of ballistic missile defense, of which he is entirely self-taught.

Autodidact is a concept of respect, or at least it should be, except that this is New Albany.

At Tuesday’s weekly meeting of the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety, economic development director David Duggins introduced Larry Timperman. He is a local architect, and the designer of the controversial dog park to be installed at Cannon Acres.

Links to previous coverage here.

Last week local Native American activists, most notably Tony Nava, became aware of these plans and protested. Their objections are ongoing. So are is the city's plan to begin construction.

More than a decade ago, when proposals for this acreage were first made, archaeological studies were commissioned and conducted. Nava believes that these previous studies were not sufficiently comprehensive, and in any event, a further phase should be conducted prior to the dog park’s construction.

To speak with Nava about Native American history and culture is to understand that what he might lack in academic credentials, he has learned through self-motivation and study.

That's an autodidact.

Larry Timperman is quiet and personable. He exudes stolid competence. As the dog park protest crescendo began to rise last week, he quickly was chosen by Team Gahan to serve as its public shield, i.e., the soft-spoken and apolitical architect and planner whose very presence aims at diverting the discussion from the forever troublesome back corridor deal-making in which the mayor and Duggins select and reward builders, contractors and ancillaries.

Over the weekend, in an interview on WHAS, Timperman referred to the 2005 state archaeological survey, commenting that in situations like this one, trained planners always go with the most recent letter.

He fleshed out this comment at the Tuesday morning BOW meeting. According to the most recent letter from the Indiana state archaeologist (presumably, from 2005), the two previous surveys marked certain quadrants at Cannon Acres as the only ones likely to contain Native American artifacts. So long as the city builds around them -- no harm, no foul.

(Nava points out that these surveys were conveniently spaced to allow the soccer fields subsequently installed at Cannon Acres).

But to me, the most interesting aspect of Timperman’s presentation – and what returns us to autodidact – came only after he finished speaking.

Duggins rose and immediately asked Timperman to explain his professional background and credentials, which the architect was more than happy to do. Figuratively, Timperman modestly pulled his wallet from his back pocket and allowed the vinyl pouches containing degrees, certifications and endorsements to cascade like a Slinky, all the way to the floor.

The intent was unmistakable.

In a room 95% filled with mayoral appointees and functionaries, none of whom gives a damn about Native American anything, and all of whom want nothing more than to be spared the mayor’s 2:00 a.m. phone calls, Duggins was tossing bloody meat to the true believers, heaping scorn on Nava for the latter’s temerity in first trying to speak with the great and inaccessible Oz, then claiming knowledge as an autodidact.

Our deputy mayor-pretend had a point to make: It’s the nicely perfumed, well-remunerated, professionally recognized white man who should be trusted, not some crackpot activist who couldn’t possibly marshal facts without having first attended the right school – you know, like Silver Creek.

Throughout the shamelessness, Warren Nash played his familiar role of leering, biased enabler:

“Wow, Mr. Duggins, do you mean to say we’ve known all these things from the very start and exercised our stewardship with the sort of flawless aplomb that we’ve come to expect from our Dear Leader?”

Nava’s an autodidact. We should praise him, not denigrate him, but this clash was inevitable. From Gahan’s standpoint, comprehension of Native American culture is impossible precisely because it isn’t right there in front of him, like an aquatic center or Disney theme park. It’s a spiritual thing. It can’t be held in one’s hand, raffled or monetized for campaign finance.

You can keep your Philistines.

Give me the autodidact, any day.

---

Previously at NAC:

One week later, the newspaper reluctantly diverts its attention from cooking school and learns that "park site in New Albany draws concerns."

In unprecedented act of territorial pissing, outraged dogs gather to protest Native Americans.

Belatedly addressing the Cannon Acres dog park fiasco, Mayor Gahan insists he watched "Dances with Wolves" on the VCR over the weekend.

Tony Nava on WDRB: "Would we want to use a church grounds as a dog park?"

4:00 p.m. today: Citizens trying to save a Native American church from being used as an inappropriate and unnecessary dog park.

Commentary: Amid quintessential City Hall arrogance, a petition to "save the Cannon Acres Native American site."

Dog crap on a sacred area: Jeff Gahan moves timeline forward, with the desecration of a 3,000-6,000 Native American site to begin Monday.

An AWOL Jeff Gahan evades Native American activist seeking dialogue about potential site destruction at the dog park.

The city of New Albany may soon try to destroy a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site to build a dog park.

The answer to persistent stormwater runoff issues? Clear-cutting, of course.

Because a "green" way is all about unimpeded vistas?

Rorschach test? Fb reader says, "It's an homage to the mayor's head."

Previously at NAC:

Down-low forestry: "Plant some trees to save a town from flooding? Not a bad idea."

One week later, the newspaper reluctantly diverts its attention from cooking school and learns that "park site in New Albany draws concerns."

Each day, we see the ramifications of the News and Tribune's ongoing inability (unwillingness?) to hire a reporter for the New Albany city beat. It isn't just that the newspaper proves late to the table on the Cannon Acres/Native American story.

Many questions that might have been asked and should have been asked aren't, because staffers filling in aren't as familiar with the running story. That's why beat reporters cover a beat. Bill Hanson has a lot to answer for. Unfortunately, he emulates Jeff Gahan as it pertains to openness.

City Hall's case rests on architect Larry Timperman's openly stated reliance on a letter from the state of Indiana delineating what lies where at Cannon Acres. The letter references stages of archaeological examination conducted more than a decade ago. Timperman told WHAS-11 that planners in his position always trust the most recent letter.

But what if different, newer instructions were to be issued by the state? That's the crux of it. I'll have more on this later today in "Shane's Excellent New Words." If you're just tuning in, see NAC's "previous story" links below.

Park site in New Albany draws concerns, by Chris Morris

NEW ALBANY — Julia Youngblood and city officials agreed to disagree Tuesday morning as she walked out of the City-County Building.

Youngblood, Floyds Knobs, is concerned that the proposed dog park planned for Cannon Acres, which is off Budd Road, will disturb ancient Native American historic sites which includes artifacts and possible burials. But the two historic mounds identified by Indiana Department of Natural Resources Archaeologist Cathy Draeger-Williams won't be disturbed, according to David Duggins, director of Economic Development and Redevelopment for New Albany.

Duggins explained to Youngblood after the meeting that only fencing will be placed around the area designated for the dog park. He said there will be no digging or excavating on the site. There will also be gravel paths built to the dog park area at the park.

"We have have been respectful of the historic significance of the property," Duggins said.

Youngblood and Duggins, along with architect Larry Timperman and city engineer Larry Summers, talked for several minutes following Tuesday's Board of Works meeting.

---

Previously at NAC:

In unprecedented act of territorial pissing, outraged dogs gather to protest Native Americans.

Belatedly addressing the Cannon Acres dog park fiasco, Mayor Gahan insists he watched "Dances with Wolves" on the VCR over the weekend.

Tony Nava on WDRB: "Would we want to use a church grounds as a dog park?"

4:00 p.m. today: Citizens trying to save a Native American church from being used as an inappropriate and unnecessary dog park.

Commentary: Amid quintessential City Hall arrogance, a petition to "save the Cannon Acres Native American site."

Dog crap on a sacred area: Jeff Gahan moves timeline forward, with the desecration of a 3,000-6,000 Native American site to begin Monday.

An AWOL Jeff Gahan evades Native American activist seeking dialogue about potential site destruction at the dog park.

The city of New Albany may soon try to destroy a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site to build a dog park.

"Night soil," or when America's cities were full of crap (and crap-removal campaign finance enhancement).

It's been like shooting fish in a barrel this week. The more degraded Oz gets, the richer the comedic possibilities.

Is it still night soil if the doggies do-do it?

The 19th-Century Night Soil Men Who Carted Away America’s Waste, by Adee Braun (Atlas Obscura)

On a summer day in 1873, a cart stood on 6th Avenue in New York City filled to the brink with raw human waste. The cart was uncovered—its contents exposed to the air and to the passers-by who retched and gagged as they scurried away. Excrement dipped off the sides of the cart, and the sidewalks and gutters were smeared with the stuff. The stench was so strong that it could be smelled from more than a block away. It was another day in pre-sewer America.

Before municipal sewer systems, excreta piled up in the privies of people’s homes—essentially a deep hole in the ground. But these poop storage units did not have unlimited capacity.

When the privies were eventually filled, that’s when the night soil men were called in.

Twelve days later, that mattress is still right there, justified and ancient, on the Elm Street curb.

Photo taken at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, March 21. 

The last time I looked, it was March 10, and this mattress was there. The ones before it were there for three weeks, since the middle of February.

Off in the distance you can see Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats, where apartments millennials can't afford will assuredly lead to a ripple effect that submerges this and other street garbage -- unless we've reached "peak millennial," and the "business of residency" once again will be gauged by mattresses on the street, not in decrepit slumlord properties.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking that "physically cleaner" encompasses this mattress, too.

In case you were wondering how much it costs for the city to hire quality bands ...

From the minutes of last week's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.

Make no mistake: The Crashers are top-flight, and musicians should be paid when they perform. Too often, they're not.

I merely dream of the day when a fraction of the money being spent by City Hall on temporary downtown entertainment facilities is devoted to investing in amphitheater infrastructure.

In unprecedented act of territorial pissing, outraged dogs gather to protest Native Americans.

Belatedly addressing the Cannon Acres dog park fiasco, Mayor Gahan insists he watched "Dances with Wolves" on the VCR over the weekend.

"Native Americans just love Frisbee golf," said the mayor.

Gil Corsey offers a follow-up to last night's WDRB report. For the first time, Mayor Jeff Gahan has emerged from his down-low bunker, pushed David Duggins aside, and taken one himself.

Local Native Americans aim to protect New Albany's Cannon Acres Park from dog park plans

The city of New Albany wants to build a dog park on the land off Budd Road and Highway 111 as part of Mayor Jeff Gahan's recreational improvement plan.

"There's a Frisbee golf course here, as well as a dog park with a water feature," Gahan said. "A great place for people to enjoy with their family."

The city has already sketched the outline for the dog park, with orange flags dotting the land. Construction was supposed to start this week.

"Right now the last thing we'd want to do is be disrespectful to anyone," Gahan said.

There's more to come. Anyone seen the newspaper?

---

Previously at NAC:

Tony Nava on WDRB: "Would we want to use a church grounds as a dog park?"

4:00 p.m. today: Citizens trying to save a Native American church from being used as an inappropriate and unnecessary dog park.

Commentary: Amid quintessential City Hall arrogance, a petition to "save the Cannon Acres Native American site."

Dog crap on a sacred area: Jeff Gahan moves timeline forward, with the desecration of a 3,000-6,000 Native American site to begin Monday.

An AWOL Jeff Gahan evades Native American activist seeking dialogue about potential site destruction at the dog park.

The city of New Albany may soon try to destroy a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site to build a dog park.

Two very different ways of inducing a Padgett erection.

Remember: If your erection should last more than 4 years ...

"How will it affect handicapped access?"

I'll admit my sampling is small, but having attended more than a few Board of Public Works and Safety meetings over the years, I'm hard pressed to recall requests for curb cuts, sidewalk overhauls, construction projects, special event fencing or pot luck lawn suppers being greeted with a simple question:

"How will it affect handicapped access?"

In fact, any project undertaken within spitting distance of a sidewalk should be prefaced with this inquiry. A coherent response should constitute the minimum, prior to rote approvals being granted and campaign finance tithes conglomerated.

Right, Mr. Naps?

Yo, wheelchair users -- wanna head north on 5th? Just use as that OTHER side.

Tony Nava on WDRB: "Would we want to use a church grounds as a dog park?"

Above are views from yesterday's 4:00 p.m. media conference. Below is the link to WDRB's story. Follow the link to view the video. We're still transcribing the gurgling sounds emitted by Mayor Gahan in response.

New Albany residents worried Native American historical site may be turned into dog park

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some New Albany residents are concerned that a Native American historical site will be turned into a dog park.

Tony Nava says archaeologists from the Department of Natural resources found artifacts belonging to the Shawnee and Mississippian tribes at the Cannon Acres Park. While a more extensive search has not been completed to determine if the area is a burial ground, he says either way it's disrespectful to have a dog go to the bathroom in an area that he considers sacred.

Previously at NAC:

4:00 p.m. today: Citizens trying to save a Native American church from being used as an inappropriate and unnecessary dog park.

Commentary: Amid quintessential City Hall arrogance, a petition to "save the Cannon Acres Native American site."

Dog crap on a sacred area: Jeff Gahan moves timeline forward, with the desecration of a 3,000-6,000 Native American site to begin Monday.

An AWOL Jeff Gahan evades Native American activist seeking dialogue about potential site destruction at the dog park.

The city of New Albany may soon try to destroy a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site to build a dog park.

There's a stealth street piano placement underway. Let's hope Warren and the Boredettes approved it, or things might get wacky.

This being New Albany, it isn't clear whether the piano was purposefully placed at this corner, or merely dumped from a passing pickup.

Let's hope Warren and the Boredettes have approved these repurposed news racks, lest we endure the sequel to Street Piano Interruptus (2015 Remix).

4:00 p.m. today: Citizens trying to save a Native American church from being used as an inappropriate and unnecessary dog park.

Local Native American activists are meeting the media today at 4:00 p.m. at 1933 Budd Road, which I take to mean the parking area of the soccer complex. 

For some readers, it may seem that the controversy surrounding the city's decision to construct a dog park atop a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site has come out of nowhere. It hasn't. The Navas have been monitoring the disposition of the Cannon Acres land since the ideas for various parks were first minted more than a decade ago.

This is ongoing. The Navas do what they can, as they're able.

Meanwhile, the development of the dog park has taken place in the usual back corridors, largely out of sight, with no public meetings devoted to discussion, and a new found urgency to get the bulldozers moving once it was learned there would be principled opposition.

It's disgraceful.

Concurrently, there has been no groundswell of support for this dog park. It is being built in a place that is inappropriate, both by virtue of proximity to a Native American ceremonial site, and because it is completely removed from the urban center, where it might actually be useful.

Moreover, it's yet another sickening example of Team Gahan's utter refusal to communicate. Tony Nava wanted to speak to Mayor Jeff Gahan, and simply could not get past the gatekeepers. Gahan almost certainly would have responded to priests, pastors and rabbis if similar concerns were being voiced about their religious locales.

Gahan's response to Nava was to shunt the complaint to the economic development director, David Duggins, who has told all and sundry that the dog park is "his" project.

Entirely apart from the justified, long-term concerns of the Navas and their friends in the preservation community, how have we come to a juncture where the mayor won't speak to people, and the economic development director is in control of a parks project?   

Two things need to happen.

First, Gahan needs to realize that a Native American ceremonial site is as important as a boys high school basketball game, and that citizens need to be communicated WITH, as opposed to AT.

Second, the dog park project needs to be delayed, so as to afford Nava a fair hearing, and to stage a public meeting about the stakes involved with Gahan's decision to move forward with the inappropriate Cannon Acres site.

Shannon Nava has posted on Facebook.

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So meanwhile ... while people sit in their pews this morning in their designated churches, my husband is trying to save our church from the city trying to build a public dog park. 

Some of you may not know this, but New Albany is trying to destroy a potentially 6000 year old CEREMONIAL Mississippian site. There have been archaeological digs, actually two phases. Currently, no bodies have been found BUT there have been significant finds, dating back to archaic times. 

Pottery shards with intricate archaic designs, derbage, arrowheads, FRC, hammer stones, and so much more have been found. If you have ever visited the land, you would have noticed three large mounds. They are pretty hard to miss even after over 100 years of plowing (it was a family farm,and the land was used for hay). 

They even found items that proved there were slave quarters, which we confirmed yesterday through a gentleman who has lived in the area for the entirety of his 65 years. 

Anthony has been working on saving this site since 2003. We know now that the city has misallocated funds from a federal grant to use for the phase two archaeological survey. 

So, sound off folks! How do you feel about this so called "public" dog park that community members will have to pay to be members to use? 

How do you feel about the city building a dog park over a significant American Indian historical site? 

How would you feel if you someone brought their dog into your church to take a crap? If you're not happy about it, like us ... meet us today at 1933 Budd Road, New Albany @ 4 o'clock to tell the press how you feel.

The city already have construction crews and their equipment waiting to get started moving earth first thing tomorrow (Monday) morning, after they promised they would wait three weeks to talk more to the native people.

Help us save it.

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Previously at NAC:

Commentary: Amid quintessential City Hall arrogance, a petition to "save the Cannon Acres Native American site."

Dog crap on a sacred area: Jeff Gahan moves timeline forward, with the desecration of a 3,000-6,000 Native American site to begin Monday.

An AWOL Jeff Gahan evades Native American activist seeking dialogue about potential site destruction at the dog park.

The city of New Albany may soon try to destroy a 3,000 to 6,000 year old Native American site to build a dog park.

Do something fast, or else he'll start drawing up plays.

Nixon's tricks not in Redskins' playbook, by Jennifer Allen (ESPN)