MAY 6 2008 PRIMARY

Congratulations to all of the Floyd County winners of the May 6 Primaries. And to the runners up, I think everyone did well, many of the races were very close, and everyone ran a fine race. Most of the Republication races were unapposed with the exception of the County Council At Large.





REPUBLICANS:



County Council At Large

Larry M. Summers
Dana Fendley
Harry T. Harbison



Superior Court Judge No. 1
(no candidate)


Superior Court Judge No. 2
Chris Lane (unapposed)


Superior Court Judge No. 3
Richard R. Fox (unapposed)


County Recorder
Lois Naville Endris (unapposed)


County Treasurer
Linda L. Berger (unapposed)


County Coroner
John Patrick Click (unapposed)


County Surveyor
William B. Gibson (unapposed)


County Commissioner Dist. 2
Davd Matthews (unapposed)


County Commissioner Dist. 3
Steve Bush (unapposed)



Democrats:


County Council At Large

Randy Stumler
Carol Shope
Ted Heavrin


Superior Court Judge No. 1
Susan L. Orth


Superior Judge No. 2
Glenn G. Hancock (unapposed)


Superior Judge No. 3
Maria Granger


County Recorder
Darlene S. McCoy (unapposed)


County Treasurer
Bette A. Buechler (unapposed)


County Coroner
Leslie E. Knable


County Commissioner Dist. 2
Chuck Frieberger (unapposed)


County Commissioner Dist. 3
Dennis O. Roudenbush (unapposed)



Nonpartison:


School Board At Large
Patricia Badger-Byrd


School Board Member Dist. 3
Neal Allen Smith


School Board Member Dist. 4
Rebecca Gardenour (unapposed)



I want to personally thank everyone who ran for office. It is a difficult path to follow and extremely stressful. But we are lucky in Floyd County to have to many people willing to step up and do this important public service for our community. In my opinion you are all winners.

Shirley

HOLD THAT DESSERT CART, WE HAVEN'T HAD DINNER YET

The Tribune ran an article yesterday, May 1, 2008, about Mayor England's idea for a water park on the riverfront. I think this is a fine idea, especially along the river. It could be a beautiful spot to swim or just float on a raft and watch the boats go down the river. Maybe we could even buy that giant Ferris Wheel from California, that would be a great view.



This is all well and good for the future but we cannot ignore the present. I love "feel good" projects as much as anyone else but we have to face reality. And the reality is that we still have streets with potholes big enough to swallow a Mack truck and parts of our city without sewers.



The mayor said people could not see past the "meat and potatoes" of paving and code enforcement. Sorry but meat and potatoes are the basic meal, dessert comes after dinner.



A lot of us would like more parks, museums, ice cream parlors, etc. but we have to have streets to drive on to get there first. The city officials seem to have a "let them eat cake" attitude. We need bread now, Mr. Mayor, and we'll have cake later. I want to urge the City Council to consider the basics first, then the extras.

KEEP AMERICAN DOLLARS IN AMERICA

I found this on a column called WEEKS OF FUN by Dr. Ann Weeks.

Gmajo shares-How to use your IRS rebate check.

As you may have heard, the Bush Administration said each of us would get a rebate check to stimulate the economy.

• If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
• If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.
• If we purchase a computer it will go to India.
• If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
• If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.
• If we purchase useless stuff it will go to Taiwan.

None of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it a yard sales, since those are the only businesses still in the US.

SAD BUT TRUE.

BREAKING NEWS!

I just heard that Barack Obama will make an appearance at IUS Wednesday morning at 10:30.

ADOPT A CORNER

Realtor Pat Harrison has a great idea. Everybody talks about cleaning up New Albany and many people are doing so with neighborhood cleanups, Saturday 4/19 is a great example.

But Pat's idea covers all of New Albany, she wants everyone to "adopt" a corner and make sure it remains clean and maintained.

Several people met at the corner of Spring and Pearl Saturday at 12:00 the location was the parking lot which was covered with leaves and trash. Some of us brought garbage bags and rakes to assist with the cleanup. Those of us who had selected a corner gave Pat the info, the rest will notify her later.

My corner is at West 7th and Commerce, where the children wait for their school buses. There was a large ditch along the Commerce side. We called the Street Dept. and the problem was solved immediately. But it still needs to be kept clean and grass needs to be planted.

There will be a meeting on tomorrow evening 4/22 at 7:00 at the Realtors Bldg. in Clarksville on Lewis & Clark Blvd. I urge everyone to attend and adopt a corner. Following is a list of contacts to help with maintenance.

ADOPT A CORNER

Register Corner with

Pat Harrison, Chairperson

(812) 989-4663

NEW ALBANY

Contact Person: New Albany Police Dept., Officer Dooley

Recycling: Mark Burton, 37 W 5th St., New Albany, 948-5356

Auto Tire Disposal: CCE 2045 Silver St., New Albany, 945-8977

Toxic Waste (Fridays): Paint Etc. 837 W. Main St., New Albany, 948-4733

JEFFERSONVILLE

Contact Person: Jeffersonville Police, Officer Jason Jackson

AN OLD FASHIONED NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING

Thank you, Jones Memorial AME Zion Church.

Rev. Evans and The Jones AME Church did a real community service on Saturday, April 5th. They provided a nice meeting place for citizens to voice their opinions to Mayor England. They even cooked a delicious lunch. Nicole Yates was there to represent the NAACP and Rep. Baron Hill, she was also available to answer questions.

Mayor England responded to a wide range of subjects. Following is a list of the citizens' concerns:

1. Streets which are torn up by the utility companies and left with a rough surface for cars to travel.

2. Police patrol cars sitting around in parking lots -- should be driving through neighborhood streets to monitor drug dealers in New Albany.

3. Repeated flooding in neighborhoods without the city trying to correct this problem.

4. Trash scattered along Highway 64 in plain view of traffic on West St.

5. Repairs to Spring St. Hill.

6. Additional code enforcement needed in New Albany:

~ unsafe shabby houses

~ junk cars in yards and on the street

~ trash in yards

7. Housing Authority problems in Bono Rd. housing.

8. Sewers and sewer billing.

9. Lawsuits over no bid contracts.

10. Garbage pickup and trash pickup problems.

11. YMCA - How are children from lower income families going to afford the money for membership in the YMCA? Everyone is so excited about the YMCA building downtown. Who is working on a plan to help these children use the new "Y". We are putting city and county dollars into this project. Someone should be looking for a way to help our inner-city children.

On a personal note, I thoroughly enjoyed this meeting and hope this is only one of many. Several people expressed a desire to meet monthly or quarterly. I hope we can form a Neighborhood Association with this group, Rev. Evans said the same thing. Mayor England promised to return regularly. Maybe we can meet monthly as a group and meet with the mayor quarterly.

IN DEFENSE OF HILLARY

As everyone knows, Hillary Clinton visited New Albany on Saturday, March 29. I was privileged to be one of the supporters at the event.



I had heard a lot of negative comments about Hillary's personality and I must admit I was curious to see if she was the person people claimed her to be. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised. She came in to the Southside and talked to as many people as possible. She answered all questions openly and was courteous and pleasant.



I was not one of the lucky people allowed in the room where she was speaking but after the meeting she asked that everyone be allowed to come to her and ask questions or request autographs. She treated everyone equally, actually like a friend, and she kindly posed for pictures, yes I have a photo with Hillary & me. All of this drove the Secrect Service guys crazy but she seemed not to care.



All in all it was well worth the long wait in the cold.