CHEERS

... to Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan and New Albany Mayor Doug England for again being good sports and joking it up to kick off a United Way fundraising campaign for employees of the two cities.

The mayors took good-hearted jabs at each other at a press conference a week ago, and an Evening News reporter said Galligan won the comedy battle.

Now it’s time to see if Jeffersonville city employees can repeat and England will again have to drive a street sweeper around City Hall to settle the mayors’ wager.

— Editor Shea Van Hoy



JEERS

... to Clark County Commissioners Ed Meyer and Les Young for their unwillingness to make a small sacrifice for the good of others.

At a Thursday meeting, Commissioner Mike Moore made a motion to take about 22 percent — $5,000 — of his next year’s commissioners’ salary and redistribute it in $1,000 increments to the payrolls of five other struggling county departments.

Moore made a similar motion at a meeting earlier this month that would have taken a percentage of all three commissioners’ salaries, but Meyer refused to second the motion and Young was not present at that meeting.

So Moore came back Thursday with a plan to just give up his own money. At last, a plan both Meyer and Young could get on board with!

The fact that Meyer and Young are unwilling to part with a small percentage of their commissioner’s salary — supplemental income to all three of the officeholders — is both disgusting and disappointing.

In case they haven’t heard, more than a few county employees are on the verge of losing their jobs because of the county’s budget crisis. People with families who may not have another source of income are going to lose their jobs and, yet, two of the county’s three commissioners are unwilling to give up $5,000 in an attempt to help in some way.

Apparently, Meyer and Young don’t believe in leading by example. Being unwilling to make one small sacrifice when others are being asked to give up a lot more kind of makes you wonder what exactly Meyer and Young are in this for in the first place.

— Presentation Editor Amy Huffman-Branham



JEERS

... to Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana for calling a press conference on Thursday to announce “big news” — only to then announce that the big news was that they would have big news to announce on Friday.

Hey, R.O.C.K., here’s the way it works: When someone calls a press conference, it’s to talk about news. Or something. Not to simply gather media and others in one place and tell them it’s “to be continued.”

That’s not a press conference. That’s a waste of time. Ever heard about the kid that cried wolf? Or the hen that said the sky was falling? Exactly.

— Presentation Editor Amy Huffman-Branham



CHEERS

... to the Bluegrass Chapter of Honor Flight, part of a program which flies World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to see war memorials there — all expenses paid.

Southern Indiana resident David Elliott, 84, had never been to see the memorials — including for Iwo Jima, where he was wounded in 1945 — until this week, when Honor Flight took him to the nation’s capital.

When I spoke with Elliott recently — and when reporter Braden Lammers interviewed him for a story — you could tell how excited, honored and humbled Elliott was to finally get to see reminders of history he helped make.

— Editor Shea Van Hoy



CHEERS

... to Clark County’s 2009 Woman of the Year, Ruthie Jackson.

Jackson was honored Friday night during the Woman of the Year banquet at Kye’s II in Jeffersonville — sponsored by The Evening News — for working tirelessly to make her community a better place to live.

Jackson, who serves as administrative assistant to Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall, also runs the North Clark Outreach Center in the city and is the organizer for the city’s Neighborhood Watch program.

In a letter to The Evening News nominating Jackson for the honor, Charlestown Redevelopment Director Bob McEwen said Jackson’s work at the North Clark Outreach Center “allows families and single mothers to live with dignity, and gives them the opportunity to better themselves ...”

“Ruthie works long hours and donates even more of her own time to make our community a better place to work, live and raise a family,” McEwen wrote. “We believe she deserves to be recognized as Clark County’s 2009 Woman of the Year.”

We agree. Congratulations Ruthie!

— Presentation Editor Amy Huffman-Branham



JEERS

... to me.

In this space last week, I cheered The Evening News’ winners in the Hoosier State Press Association’s Better Newspaper Awards contest.

Well, in my haste to get out of here before 7 p.m. on a Friday, I forgot to mention The Tribune’s individual winners, and that’s important since their work shows up in The Evening News.

Winners for their work in The Tribune are Education Reporter Tara Hettinger — who has the same title for this paper — Photographer Kevin McGloshen and Page Designer Roni Montgomery.

Congratulations, and thanks for your hard work and talent.

— Editor Shea Van Hoy



READER CHEERS

... to Mr. Tom Gross and the staff at 25 WJHS-TV.

Mr. Gross has a vision to produce some outstanding talent out of the radio and TV lab classes at Jeffersonville High School. I only wish I had that class when I attended school from 1966-70.

Seeing the final product on TV makes me proud that the students can really sink their teeth into an industry. The program has its share of potential media stars of the future.

If I start to single anyone out, I’d be afraid I’d miss someone, so I’ll just say, “what a program!” You are all terrific.

It is my hope that as you take the course, you catch a vision of what could be ahead of you as you continue. Dare to dream, dream big and reach for the stars.

Once again, all of you are terrific. Thank you so much for sharing your potential with the entire community.

— Artie Oldson, Jeffersonville