SENATOR KENNEDY

I saw on the news this morning that Senator Ted Kennedy passed away. May he rest in peace with God's grace.

ANOTHER MARATHON CITY COUNCIL MEETING

The August 20th City Council meeting was all about rate increases. The Stormwater Board wanted to raise the monthly fee by $2.00 to cover maintenance work on the sewers. There was much discussion about this issue from the public and from the city officials.

• Jason Hublar of the Falling Run Group questioned where the money would be spent if the fees were raised. He said the $100,000 appropriated was spent in another neighborhood. A representative from the Stormwater board said the funds are used on a case by case basis.
• Vicki Denhart of Citizens for Accountability said the council members need to go out and talk to the citizens. She added that flooding is not a one time issue. Additionally she said that taxes paid are not meeting the tax payers' needs, and that the trash and garbage collection should be bid out. As for the budget, she said we cannot freeze the 2009 because we don't have a 2009 budget approved as of yet.
• Richard Berryman complimented the council but complained that the garbage truck had left a stream of filthy, smelly water in front of his home and was told to use bleach and water and clean up the mess himself.
• Brent Glotzbach wanted to lower the $5.00 request for an increase in garbage collection.

Councilman Gahan brought up the Linden Meadows problem. Asked if the council could do anything to help. Mr. Malysz said that he was aware of the problem. The Linden Meadows project was not turning out as planned. He added that the State had hired an engineer and an architect who will report back to the Administration. Mayor England suggested that the city leave the issue in the state's hands.

The mayor also added that the garbage problem needs to be resolved because the Street Dept. employees need to be working to paint the lines on the streets. This is a safety issue.

After voting, the Stormwater ordinance was amended to a $1.00 per month increase and was approved.

The garbage/trash increase was not approved.

Since the meeting lasted from 7:30 to after 10:00 this is obviously a very condensed version. Any attendees please expand the coverage if you wish.

HONK IF YOU WANT HEALTH CARE

I have been thinking about making a sign with this message. There were two rallies at Warder Park yesterday afternoon. About 100 single payer supporters gathered along the sidewalk facing Court Ave. and walked carrying signs. We were peaceful and only chanted "What do we want, health care, when do we want it, now".

Inside the park were about the same number of people who carried signs with little red hands on them saying "Hands off of my health care". They were led by several speakers, one of whom was a physician who blogs under the name "Healthblogger". He was telling a group of people, about 60% of whom appeared to be of Medicare age, that the Government was trying to control too much of their health care. He described cases where patients would be told which doctor they could see with a single payer plan. WHAT???!!! Apparently this doctor is unaware of the stunts Humana has pulled. The Humana Medicare replacement policy known as PPO restricts its members to certain physicians who are in their network, many practices have been dropped from their plan. Or maybe he has not heard about the situation with Anthem and Norton Health Care. I felt genuinely sorry for these people.

And just in case you think our group consisted of a bunch of nut cases or people at the lower end of the gene pool. There are physicians, psychologists nurses, and college professors who support single payer, and these people are right in our area and some were present yesterday.

Please join us September 22, at 8:00PM on the Indiana side of the Second St. Bridge. We will join the "Mad As Hell Doctors" who have been touring the country and hold a vigil for the more than 47,000 people who have died in the past year for lack of health care. And be sure to bring a candle.

SHE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

In case you missed it, Ruthanne Wolfe had an excellent letter to the Tribune Aug. 11. She was responding to the many people who are crying "Socialized Medicine".

The title in the paper was "Reader explains benefits of health care reform" That is an apt description. She explains that Medicare is a public option as well as VA benefits. She also sheds light on the greedy CEO's who are the people who are actually ruining our health care system.

I urge everyone to read her letter. It will educate you and make you think.

thanks

Shirley

THEY'RE FREE!!!

The two American Journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been pardoned by North Korea and will be finally coming home. They had been prisoners since March 17.

Thank you former President Clinton.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING 8/3/09 A PACKED HOUSE

Last night's city council meeting was interesting to say the least.

It began with several flood victims telling how their homes were severely flooded, some for the first time in 30 years. One person lost her furniture, and her floors had to be replaced. Two other people in separate homes were actually driven from their homes and are afraid to move back because of the fear of disease from the human waste along with the flooding.

A lady cannot plant a vegetable garden for a year because of fear of Ecoli. Another gentleman brought his beautiful little girl who can no longer play in her yard with her brothers because of the human and animal waste. They have also lost several of their possessions. People talked about refrigerators floating from their kitchens into their living rooms, and some were moved to tears.

Thankfully the council voted unanimously to allocate $100,000 to help these people, and maybe more in the future. Another person asked about FEMA funds to help the victims. Mayor England said the city is looking into that.

Several of the council members expressed concern and offered solutions. Mr. McLaughlin said there is a dire need and something needs to be done before someone gets sick or hurt. Mr. Gonder said Mr. Rosenbarger had asked about a grant to help flood victims and suggested a moratorium on building permits until the flooding issue is resolved. Mrs. Benedetti suggested a change in the ordinance to make sure building sites under an acre are regulated. Mr. Price wants to look at the development over the last few years and see why there have been so many recent problems.

Mr. Coffey appointed two committees: One will look into the flooding problems and another will work with the Commissioners and perhaps make changes the way the Stormwater Board sets it's rates. Mr. Gahan said that we cannot change our rates if the county does not.

Mr. England made a plea for a raise in rates to help the city clean up the debris out of the ditches and creeks. He said we have "picks and shovels" and we need heavy equipment. He added that the city needs the tools to work with, especially since the city took over the Stormwater Utility six months ago. He added that the street department workers are picking up debris and cleaning up after storms and are not able to do their real jobs, which is street line painting, replacing signs, cutting grass, etc. He added that "It can't be done with what we've got" and that he "Is not intimidated by the voters or the media". He also said that under the circumstances , "If I had your problems I would not be satisfied with me either". All I can say is I would not want to have his job.

Then it was time to vote. Ordinance G-09-15 to raise the Stormwater rates by $2.00 per month passed 5-4. But Ordinance G-09-16 to raise the user/service fees for garbage, refuse and yard waste by $5.00 per month failed.

After this it was 10:00 and I had to leave. Enough was enough.

ONE BIG STEP FOR HEALTH CARE

Single Payer will come to the House for a vote. Speaker Pelosi has promised that HR676 will come before the entire House of Representatives.

This happened because of all of the hard work of so many people. But we must keep up the good work.

The Washington trip was considered a success by everyone I talked to. There was a rally where Rep.Conyers and several others spoke out for Single Payer.

Our group also split into the Indiana delegation and Kentucky delegation. The Indiana people met with representatives of Senators Lugar and Bayh. Neither of our senators are in the health care committees so their influence is limited but their representatives were very gracious and listened to our concerns. Others in the Indiana group met with Rep. Baron Hill. Three members arrived early and were able to speak with Mr. Hill personally and the rest met with his representative. They reported that Mr. Hill was also very gracious and met with them for several minutes before being called into a meeting.

The Kentucky group also reported success. They met with their Representatives also. The most entertaining part was when several of us went to Senator Mitch O'Connell's office. The Kentuckians had a petition with over 7,000 signatures all taped together. It was quite a sight, they even had a couple of police officers in the hallway. But his representatives were also very gracious and even allowed themselves to be photographed with the petitions.

All in all in was a fun and educational trip.