All that sidewalk/crosswalk construction on Sixth Street and along Willow Street looks like some progress for Vincennes. They are actually putting in curbing for a few feet at least. Maybe the powers that be were listening - well I like to think they were listening. They weren't - the project was long in the works before my recent blog on the subject. I do wonder why start in the area of the hospital's huge construction project. How many huge construction trucks and other heavy equipment will run over the corners in the process of building new buildings and tearing down old ones on the GSH campus? How many of the new corners will be ruined? Didn't our engineers talk with their engineers? They both are based in Indianapolis I'm sure and probably get together for lunch regularly at St. Elmo's. Maybe they could talk about working together while savoring their second bourbon on us?
Someone (we tax payers) paid for a bunch of new concrete at the corner of Weed Lane and Washington Avenue. Might have been the Vincennes Street Department - more likely Water Utilities. The drain was rebuilt, sidewalks were repaired and a small portion of Weed Lane was concreted. Looks great, will help the drainage no doubt, and will make the intersection less rough. But what about the curbs? Just a bit toward the park side of the intersection, but nothing on the other side. It looks stupid and that's the spot where the intersection will "rot". If it was Water Utilities that replaced the intersection, it probably doesn't have any responsibility to replace curbs even a little way down the street, but what about coordination with the Street Department? Probably not a priority. Nor will the probable tearing up of the intersection that will take place when the old KFC building is condemmed (about two years too late) by another city department be a priority. Maybe the various city departments should at least send each other emails about where they are working and what they are planning. Maybe they are overwhelmed with emails from all those engineering and consulting firms that promise what ever those expensive engineering and consulting firms promise and don't have time to read the emails about what some other department is planning. Maybe the city should hire one of those consulting firms to get the various departments to coordinate their work.
The Vincennes Board of Works discussing another redesign of the City's website. Like any new technology, there is a learning curve and like any new administration there is that learning curve too. While the Yochum Administration has a strong takeoff, this whole redesign thing shouldn't be about redesigning (and probably more money spent), but about learning how to use the site and then making the time and taking the effort to get the information people want on the site in a timely and accurate fashion. That's the real issue. Who's going to spend the time doing all those great things a city website can do? And if there isn't anyone at City Hall who has the skills and time or can learn the skills and take time away from their other duties, then is the money spent worth it.
This is somewhat like the pot calling the kettle black. It sounds really easy to keep up a web site, but it is very difficult - kind of like keeping up with a blog.
Now is a great time to consolidate the three public school districts in Knox County. Please finish reading this BEFORE you send the hate mail. Knox County's school age population is dropping, there is more pressure than ever before to perform better with less money, and there are two really big openings right now in the county. With the retirements of South Knox Superintendent Brad Case and Vincennes Superintendent Tom Nonte, two of the corporations need new leaders and finding good leaders to come to Knox County, while not impossible will prove difficult. If nothing is changed except combing the administration efforts of the three public school corporations Knox County would have hundreds of thousands of dollars to either give back to the community or (Hopefully) spend on children who if properly educated will give back to our community a thousand fold.
The excuses not to even study consolidation are just that - Excuses. Excuses thrown out there by people who are more interested in what color shirt to wear on Friday night or that their way is the best way. Let's take all the different "best ways" and work together to make Knox County a better place to live and work, for we cannot survive much longer with the system the way it is right now.
It doesn't matter if you just look at the numbers or look at the lives changed for the good, Knox County's Life After Meth program works for all of us. Started in 2005 in Freelandville, Life After Meth or LAM, has expanded to an in and out of jail program designed to help get men and women off drugs and keep them clean. There are a million such programs, but this one seems to work for a number of reasons:
It's Faith Based - enough said.
It's focus starts with one group of drug addicts - incarcerated people in the Knox County Jail.
It has a strong professional leadership - Peter Haskins from the beginning and for the last year Tania Willis.
It has a local board that includes every area of Knox County individuals, groups, and agencies lead by Jane Melvin.
The participants want badkly to get out of the drug life.
It's Faith Based. Said that, but it should be said more than once.
Haskin reports that Knox County has saved almost $730,000.00 in just the cost of offenders returning to jail if they were not in the LAM program and his math works. Now LAM wants to expand the services to a half-way house program for women (first) and men (second). We need to support the program AND the participants.
Need information? contact Peter Haskins at phaskins@Yahoo.com or go online to knoxcountylifeaftermeth.com.
