zebo143 writes:  

EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2009  IC 9-25-11-3.3 ESTABLISHES A NEW GRADUATED DRIVER LICENSE (GDL) SYSTEM. A DRIVERS LICENSE ISSUED TO A PERSON LESS THAN 18 YEARS OLD IS A PROBATIONARY LICENSE. NIGHTTIME DRIVING IS GENERALLY PROHIBITED. FOR THE FIRST 180 DAYS, THE PERSON MAY NOT OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE BETWEEN 10PM AND 5AM. THEN, UNTIL AGE 18, THE PERSON MAY NOT DRIVE FROM 11PM TO 5AM SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AND 1AM TO 5AM FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THE LAW PROVIDES AN EXEMPTION FOR EMPLOYMENT, SCHOOL, OR RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES, OR IF THE DRIVER IS ACCOMPANIED BY A LICENSED DRIVER AT LEAST 25 YEARS OLD. GENERALLY, THERE CAN BE NO PASSENGERS FOR THE FIRST 180 DAYS. FINALLY, UNTIL AGE 18, THE PERSON MAY NOT USE ANY TYPE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICE (CELL PHONES)  WHILE DRIVING EXCEPT TO MAKE A 911 CALL.

What has been an icon retail establishment in Vincennes for decades will be no more after May of 2009. The Big K (K-Mart) will close that month, releasing over sixty employees to find employment elsewhere as so many others are already doing.  Another domino falls in the current economy, leaving us all with one less place to shop.  Just casual observation as  you drive past the store anytime in the last several years since the Super Wal-Mart opened across the street shows the impact such a huge retailer has on a local economy.  The question, now, is what business will be next in line?

Before we delve into that, a little reminiscing is in order.  I can remember my first trip to a K-Mart back in the 1970's.  My father took me there looking for shoes for basketball.  Prior to the arrival of K-Mart, we had always gone to the local sport store ( I lived in Bedford at that time).  We found the very Converse shoes for a couple of dollars less than the local sport store and bought them.  A couple of bucks back then was probably in the order of $20 or $40 today.  So, if it seems I'm bashing Wal-Mart or any other big chain, K-Mart was really the same thing back then. 

Vincennes Police assisted by Knox County Sheriff , Indiana State Police and Vincennes University Police recovered a stolen 2000 Honda Accord this morning after Austin, Tx authorities informed them the stolen vehicle may be in the area. The vehicle was observed by City Police leaving the Maple Park Apartments at 12:37AM. Upon attempting to stop the vehicle the operator led  Police on a high speed chase on the south side of town for approximately 20 minutes. The pursuit came to an end when the fleeing vehicle became airborne while crossing the railroad tracks south of Vincennes on Old Decker Road causing the driver to lose control and strike a telephone pole guide wire. The driver then fled on foot and was eventually taken into custody after Officers chased him down.

We now know just how badly Charter Communications problems were that they sold of an entire region of their subscriber base, equipment and infrastructure to Avenue Broadband.  It has been announced that Charter will file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection and wipe out all outstanding stock shares, leaving those who invested in the company with nothing to show for it.  Reuters reports that as of September 20, 2008, Charter had a debt of over $20 BILLION.  By filing for protection, the company hopes to reduce the debt by $8 BILLION.

I've spent Tuesday and Wednesday digging out from the snow in our area probably the way many others here have, too.  After digging out my car and cleaning my sidewalks the best that I could, I took care of a couple of our neighbors who are elderly or in poor health.  It goes without having to mention that our city can't clear all of the streets.  It's made it very difficult for everyone to get out on the streets let alone out of their driveways.  I shovel the area of the street behind and in front of my car because it makes it easier to get into and out of my parking spot.  If I had a four-wheeler with a snow blade or a truck with one, I'd take care of the entire streets around the block.  This comes from years of experience learning to deal with a lot of snow in Michigan during my teenage years.   We would all pitch in to help out the entire neighborhood.  It made life easier for everyone when things got pretty rough.

It's been a little frustrating to see a lack of community in my own neighborhood here in Vincennes.  As I labored to take care of some of the people around me, I watched so many trucks and four-wheelers with snow blades go cruising down the street without regard to the needs of the neighborhood.  They're out there only to make a buck and they're quite bold about letting you know that's what they're doing.  Don't get me wrong.  I all for making a little money of this kind of opportunity.  But that buck should be made appropriately, not by exploiting those in real need.  Perhaps the city should pass an ordinance requiring those out charging people for snow removal to also provide some community services or pay a hefty licensing fee.  In exchange, the city could provide them with shelter against damage claims to the city streets in case they bust up a curb or sidewalk.

We are very pleased to announce that we now have DSL service available in Verizon territories that were previously unavailable.  This includes the cities and towns of Monroe City, Decker, Fritchton, Westport, Lawrenceville, Olney ... etc.  The limitations on DSL are that you must be within 16000 feet of copper wire from the central switch that provides your phone service.  The only real way to determine if you are there is to apply for service on our qualification web page found here.  

If you are lucky enough to have a job that offers a 401K plan that you have not enrolled into, yet, now is the time to start. With stock prices at a very low price, the more you can put into your 401K, the better off you will be when your time comes for retirement years down the road.

I currently put ten percent of my income into my 401K plan. I'm still learning about the various stocks and funds available in the plan and have been doing a lot of research hoping to maximize my returns with the current prices being so low. It's not easy, and if you have someone you can consult with, by all means do! Different funds focus on different aspects of stocks and bonds which will make the stock or fund perform differently during various trends in the markets. Working on my own, for the past six months, I have managed to realize a five-percent gain in the value of my 401K over my investment.

Working this morning, I overheard a conversation about four people killed at the US 50 and Indiana State Road 257 intersection in Washington, Indiana. The intersection seems to be very deadly, indeed. This particular accident took the lives of four, including two Vincennes residents who had just recently escaped a fire in their home earlier this year.

According to the Washington Times Herald, killed were Donald and Ethel Leib of Lawrenceville, IL; daughter Evelyn Grimes and granddaughter Tracy Grimes, both of Vincennes, Indiana.

In June of 2008, Evelyn and Tracy had escaped a fire in their home on Perry Street in Vincennes, according to WFIE. In that incident, Tracy Grimes was burned on her face hands and arms and was taken to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment.

As many of you may remember, I gave up the Microsoft game quite some time ago and haven't looked back. I switched to Ubuntu Linux in October of 2007 and have been very pleased with it. I have had no virus infections; no malware or spyware; no system crashes; no registry errors; no need to run defrag; I haven't even had to pay a single penny for any software.

I have left behind the annoying pop-ups, the continual, gradual slow-down of my computer, and the terror of the blue screens that are all-to-familiar with the Microsoft Windows operating systems.

If you're too scared to leave Windows behind, I do have some software that is also available for Windows. Most, if not all of it, replaces a Microsoft version and is equal or superior to the Microsoft counterpart.

A teacher, only identified as "Karen," slapped one student with detention and confiscated CD's that had a Linux distribution burned on them from other students, reports PC Pro.

In what can only be described as a rambling rant of ignorance, the teacher wrote the creators of the distribution claiming that no software was free and that allowing students to use the operating system was just holding them back.