It appears that Princeton is in the running for a multi-million dollar grant to fix up downtown.  Mayor Bob Hurst said Princeton is in the running along with nine other cities for the “Stellar Communities” grant.

The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Housing and Community Development and the Indiana Department of Transportation, are awarding around $40 million to two of those communities.

Hurst said the money would be used for downtown development and revitalization and according to the Mayor, plans have already been drafted which include new facades for buildings, new streetlights, sidewalks and streets-capes, along with downtown living options.

We at the Bloody8th wish the Mayor well and hope the city is successful in obtaining the grant.

Today marked the first day that candidates could file for the 2011 municipal elections, and it was a busy day!   

Lets start in Evansville. In a story that we brought you back in October, Democrat Rick Davis announced that he was going to run for Mayor, and he was the first to file. But we fully expect that others will jump into the open seat as I don’t think that Mr. Davis is on the Democrat Party Chairman’s Christmas card list . Current Mayor, John Weinzapfel, announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election as he has his sites set on the Governors mansion. The common theory among many is that the Mayor did not want to risk a defeat in his re-election bid just before a state wide run. On the Republican side, Commissioner Lloyd Winnecke announced on Tuesday that he would announce on Saturday that he would run for Mayor. I would fully expect other GOP contenders as Mr. Winnecke was involved in the removal of the homestead tax last year.

Moving north to Vincennes where Democrat Bob Lechner and Republicans Keith Schroyer and Terry Mooney filed. Still expected to file are Republican Jim Streeter and current Democrat Mayor, Al Baldwin.

Further north in Terre Haute, current Mayor Duke Bennett was the first to file. He will be challenged by Democrat Fred Nation.

Individuals interested in running for office have until February 18 to file.

Senator Richard Lugar announced again this week that he will seek re-election in 2012. I have had several folks ask me why would he feel that he should announce yet again that he plans to run. Well, I have four theories as to why he felt compelled to do so, but you can be the judge and vote for yourself on the poll question of the week.

I had the opportunity to attend the open house for new State GOP Chairman Eric Holcomb and I must say, it was a packed house. Some of the biggest names in the State were there. Cam Savage was there as was Richard Murdock, Jim Shella from WISH-TV, and a host of State Senators and Representatives and other well wishers.

But the highlight of my night was when I got a “face smash” from non other than Moc from over at the Chicks on the Right. Yep, she is as perky in person as she is on the blog!

I also got to meet Abdul Hakim-Shabazz from the Indiana Barrister, another great blog site. Got to say, he was pretty cool.

But the night belonged to Eric who spoke about bringing younger people, minorities, and Latinos back to the big tent party – the party of purpose. About how being elected isn’t the objective, its about serving the people - and serving them well.  I am excited for the party that Chairman Holcomb is at the helm, but mostly, I am proud of my friend!

John “Taxzaphel” Weinzapfel announced earlier today that he will not seek re-election for Evansville Mayor. Many of the fine folks from Evansville that I have spoken with over the last several days have all said the same thing, he won’t win. His ego is huge, but he is smart enough to know that if he truly wants to run for Governor in 2012, he can’t afford to loose his re-election bid.

Will Weinzaphel runs for Governor? That is still a mystery, but he did leave the door open. In his statement to the press, Weinzaphel said that

“I’ll take a good, hard look at that,” he said. “I don’t think it’s any secret that I enjoy politics. I love public service, but I also, more importantly, love my family. They’re all things I have to take into consideration to figure out what my next step in life is, whether it’s continuing a career in public service or going back to the private sector.”

Weinzaphel first ran for Congress in 1996 loosing to Congressman John Hostettler by a margin of 50 to 48%. He was then appointed to a vacant State representative seat in HD 76 where he served five years before being elected as Mayor. Mayor Weinzaphel then got a little too big for his pants and screwed the good people of Evansville by removing the homestead tax credit without bothering to tell them about it. A story which was broke right here at bloody8th.com, Weinzapfel eliminated the credit in a secret meeting with other office holders.

Eric Holcomb was selected today as the new Indiana State GOP chairman. Below is the full press release issued by the State party.

(Indianapolis) – The Indiana Republican State Committee selected Eric Holcomb as state party chairman today. The 18 state committee members voted unanimously to select Holcomb, a long-time aide and former campaign manager to Governor Mitch Daniels.

Holcomb was unopposed for the position and will replace out-going Chairman Murray Clark, who announced in December his intention to step down at the end of 2010.

“I am honored by the opportunity the State Committee members and Governor Daniels have entrusted to me,” Holcomb said. “The Indiana Republican Party is, and will continue to be, the party of purpose in our state. I look forward to working statewide to strengthen and grow our party, win elections, and continue to put our shared ideals to work for Hoosier families.” 

Holcomb, 42, leaves his position as Deputy Chief of Staff in Daniels’ office to assume his role as chairman. Holcomb was a key member of Daniels’ 2004 and 2008 campaigns, serving as campaign manager in 2008.

Holcomb is a machine! I look forward to watching the party grow under his leadership. As a hugh fan of Murry Clark, Eric has large shoes to fill, but I know he’s the man for the job.

Its seems that the Vanderburgh County Convention and Visitors Bureau threw one heck of a Christmas party for its board members, and the tax payers got to pay the tab.

According to the Courier Press, the CVB board members blew over $3,000 at the Biaggio’s restaurant and bar including a $477.24 tip. The members have good taste! They drank five bottles of Opus One wine at $250 a pop, Cabernet at $85 a bottle and Merlot at $60 a bottle.

The expenditure of more than $3,000 in public funds on those and other items at a Dec. 13 Christmas dinner is a bit hard to swallow. In a day and age when citizens are demanding more accountability from their elected officials (and their appointees), and at a time when the CVB wants to spend 18 million dollars on a new baseball complex, one would think that the board would use common sense.

County officials said they found out about the expenditure Saturday, after interim visitors bureau Director Bob Whitehouse gave County Commissioner Marsha Abell copies of the itemized receipt in response to a request.

What do you want to bet Mr. Whitehouse won’t be around long? Think that the members of the board will step up and face the public, or will they throw him under the bus?

Board Vice President Kristen Tucker is upset with …. yep, Whitehouse.

“None of our board members saw this bill until it was posted on the Courier website,” the statement said. “It was signed for by staff member Robert Whitehouse, our acting director, and he has not called to anyone’s attention any irregularity he might have seen or felt. If he thought the expenditure was inappropriate, we certainly wish he had called it to our attention before signing for it.

“We have never had any policy about payment for alcohol, but we certainly can have that conversation. This expenditure won’t be presented to the board for review/discussion until the January board meeting so no one has been given the opportunity to review and approve.”

It was signed by Mr. Whitehouse, but you drank the alcohol and ate the food, Mrs. Tucker!

But I’m sure other board members came to Mr. Whitehouse’s defence, right?

Vezzoso made similar remarks Monday afternoon, saying several times Whitehouse took the board members out to dinner as past directors had   done. “That’s their opinion,” Vezzoso said of the county officials’ objections. “They’re certainly entitled to their opinions.”

Here is a list of those who were present at the party

The members of the CVB board at the time of the party were: Joe Vezzoso (president), Kristen Tucker (vice president), Claudette Branson (treasurer), Stacey McNeill (secretary), David Dunn, Greg Gee and Mike Roeder. According to Whitehouse, with the exception of Roeder, all   attended the party. All brought their spouses, except Tucker. Also present were Whitehouse and his spouse and Gray Loon Marketing Group executive Jon Ruthenburg.

Next question that should be asked is why was Jon Ruthenburg with Gary Loon Marketing Group there? And, why didn’t he pick up the tab?

Cheryl Musgrave has announced that she will not run for Evansville Mayor in 2012. Her announcement leaves the door open for former Mayor Russ Lloyd Jr. to make a comeback. The only other person who may be in the running on the Republican side is Commissioner Lloyd Winnecke.

It is looking more and more like Eric Holcomb will be the next Indiana State GOP Chairman. I will not mix words, Holcomb is the one who helped me get my start in politics and I have learned many lessons from him. There is is NO ONE that I think would or could do a better job than Eric.

Holcomb is currently Gov. Daniels right hand man and ran his 2008 re-election campaign. He has the ability to raise large amounts of money and no one knows Indiana politics like Eric. He is about as close to a Karl Rove as you can get.

Of course, the 18 District Chairman and Vice Chairs are the only votes that count, and they are quickly lining up behind him. The vote will be sometime in mid January possibly as early as the 13th.