Rolando Trentini

We trust you enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day weekend. I know we did.

The next two months will be busy in the real estate business. The $8,000 first time homebuyer's tax credit is scheduled to Expire November 30^th. There is very little time to complete purchases in time to take advantage of this program and we anticipate that title companies will be scrambling to accommodate closings scheduled for the end of November.

There have been some very positive articles recently about home sales nationally. Specifically pending contracts (a forward looking indicator) have increased for six consecutive months and are at their highest level since July of 2007. Although reviewing National information is fine, local statistics are much more important to your personal housing decisions. Locally, average sales price for all of 2008 was $119,301.

This year through August average sales price is $117,390, a decline of only 1.6%. List price to sale price is also virtually unchanged from 95.61% for 2008 compared to 94.69% this year to date. These numbers suggest that prices have declined but only very slightly and that buyers who think they are going to buy homes at significant discounts from a couple of years ago will be disappointed. As we said last month sales and inventory levels in our local market remain remarkably consistent. Our market, although not booming, is still healthy. The best way to determine market value for your home is to compare it to recent sales of homes of similar condition and location. We would be happy to help you determine the market value of your home, just give us a call at 812-499-9234 or email at Rolando@TheTrentiniTEam.com

Things are going very well here at F. C. Tucker Emge Realtors and next month we will update you on some of the services we make available to our customers and clients.

The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) is implementing a program to address issues at three schools designated by the state department of education as chronically underperforming. Educators have voted in favor of what the corporation calls the Equity School Concept, which will investigate the needs of each of the schools. EVSC Superintendent Vince Bertram says the schools are in need of fundamental change if educators are going to make a difference with the students.

Educators in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation have voted in favor of the adoption of the Equity School Concept in three EVSC schools - Delaware Elementary, Howard Roosa Elementary, and McGary Middle School. The concept was developed by EVSC personnel and Evansville Teachers Association leadership. Voting through the Evansville Teachers Association took place for the past several days and was completed on Sept 2.

Excellence and Quality Unite in Transforming Youth will investigate the individual needs of each of the schools, which have been identified by the state Department of Education as chronically underperforming schools.

"We must fundamentally change these schools if we are to make a difference for our children," said Superintendent Vince Bertram during a news conference on Friday (9-4-09). Bertram explained that Equity Schools will include a professional development academy that trains educators for these schools, a longer school year and a change in the structure of the school day.

Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett believes that in many cases innovation is necessary for improvement. "The leadership of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in the quest for student success is well documented," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett. "When I look at districts that are known for innovation, the EVSC is one that always is at the front of my mind."

In order to work at one of these schools, an individual must have successfully completed the professional development academy that will be offered from October 2009 through December 2009 - for a total of 40 hours of training. Participation in this academy is by application and approximately 150 teachers, administrators and counselors will be selected. After completing the academy, teachers will be able to teach in an Equity School, or have the opportunity to take the knowledge gained in the academy out to other schools and build capacity throughout the corporation.

Evansville Teachers Association President Keith Gambill said the program will devote more resources "to teachers in the classroom who understand the children they serve each day." Applications for participation in the Equity Schools Academy were sent today to administrators, teachers and counselors in the corporation. Individuals will be selected to participate based on responses the employees submit on their application.

Bertram said additional days of instruction and a longer time in the classroom, would be a benefit to students and will be employed at these schools. Teachers and administrators will work collaboratively to determine the school's structure.

Educators selected for these positions will be compensated for the additional time and effort required to address the needs of our students in these schools. The EVSC is hopeful that these efforts undertaken by these innovative schools will be acknowledged by the awarding of Race to the Top funding, provided through the federal government for innovations in education. "This funding is critical if we are to sustain the expected ground-breaking results that our students and community deserve," Gambill said.

Source: Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation & Inside INdiana Business http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=37567

Garbage crews will begin picking up "heavy trash" from Evansville residents later this month.

The collections will run from Sept. 14 to Oct. 16. The city considers heavy trash to consist of sofas, tables, chairs, mattresses, refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, televisions, stereos, building materials and similar things.

For the collection, the city has divided the city into a number of areas. Crews will spend one day picking up heavy trash in each of the areas.

To see a map showing the collection schedule, go to HeavyTrash.

To be picked up, items must be put out before 6 a.m. on the collection day.

The heavy trash should be set in the same place where normal trash is collected. Building materials or debris must be placed in trash cans or boxes. The containers should be light enough to be lifted by two adults.

No concrete blocks or steel poles will be collected. Sections of fencing should be cut in half or to a smaller size.

The work crews will not pick up trash that can be set out for normal collections. Nor will they accept automobile parts, batteries, tires, computer equipment or hazardous substances. For more information, call Allied Waste at (812) 424-3345.

Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/02/02web-HeavyTrash/

Later this month, drivers going east or west on Newburgh Road will find themselves stopping at Burkhardt Road.

In August, local officials approved turning the intersection there into a four-way stop. That change will require placing two stop signs on Newburgh Road, work that crews plan to undertake in the next couple of weeks.

The purpose is to make the intersection safer, said Brad Mills, the executive director of the Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization. Mills said a study conducted in March found that 303 vehicles passed through there on Newburgh Road each hour. For Burkhardt, the frequency was 281 an hour.

Both counts exceeded the minimums required for stop signs to be installed at an intersection. Their concerns raised, officials next turned to accident reports.

Mills said they found 45 crashes had occurred at the intersection between Sept. 2003 and April 2009. Of those, many were "t-bones," in which a vehicle traveling Burkhardt had been hit on the side while crossing Newburgh.

Mills estimated that a four-way stop would help to prevent 87 percent of the crashes there.

Such is the hope of Rusti VonderHaar, who complained to local officials about Newburgh and Burkhardt roads about three years ago. Two of the intersection's features give rise to her fears: its being on a hill and its being formed with Newburgh Road on a diagonal.

Both make it difficult for drivers on Burkhardt to see cross traffic, VonderHaar said.

"That intersection, because of its curvature, is extremely dangerous," she said.

Still, she wondered if traffic lights wouldn't serve the purpose better. Stop signs present their own difficulties, she said.

"People can never figure out whose turn it is to go," VonderHaar said.

Others think they have a better way to make the intersection safer: simply cut down the hill on Burkhardt Road. Joe Kiefer, who sits on the Metropolitan Planning Organization's board, said that change would prevent further congestion.

Newburgh Road between Interstate 164 and Green River Road is one of the few stretches in Evansville where drivers can travel east or west without having to stop often, Kiefer said.

"Putting that four-way stop there, to me, ruins a nice little transportation artery," Kiefer said.

Mills said that is one way to look at it. Another is to consider the drivers on Burkhardt Road, who now must sometimes wait a long time for a gap in traffic on Newburgh Road.

Besides, Mills said, lowering the hill would have no effect on traffic counts, which would still dictate that a four-way stop be installed.

"And that's much more expensive than putting up a couple of signs," he said.

Even so, Mills concedes that adding stop signs may lead to other troubles, at least in the short run.

More vehicles, for one, may be rear-ended since drivers on Newburgh Road won't at first expect a stop at Burkhardt. To prevent such crashes, officials plan to install secondary signs that alert drivers to the approaching changes.

"But cutting down the hill would not solve the problem," Mills said.

Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/08/08web-Newburgh/

The 2009 Evansville Living Idea Home will be open for tours Saturday through Sept. 20. Tours will be held from 11 a.m. to7 p.m. daily.

The 8,300-square-foot showcase home is located at 5844 Cypress Pointe Drive, in The Estates at Victoria.

The home was built by Messinger Construction and features work from area designers, builders and craftsmen.

Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased at any Schnucks location or online at www.evansvilleliving.com.

All proceeds will benefit the Tri-State Food Bank, Warrick County Community Foundation and other local charities.

- John Lucas

Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/07/no-headline---07a03evansvilleliving-brf/