Why Doesn't Anderson Have a Community Garden?

Kokomo has one. Maybe we could take some of the vacant lots we have?

Here is more information from Kokomo:

Mohler and Judy Netherton, her co-director, have a supply of canned and frozen fresh vegetables that will help feed the 80 to 95 people who eat lunch each Tuesday there through the winter months and into the spring thanks to the Community Garden.

“What I cannot use that week, or if they give me an abundance of vegetables, I can and put them in the freezer to be used later,” she said. “I have two freezers full of vegetables.

Vegetables grown at the Community Garden are donated to organizations in Kokomo that feed the hungry, said Cindy Rush, who is employed by Ivy Tech Community College as the Community Garden coordinator.

The Community Garden distributed 15,989.5 pounds of vegetables throughout its growing season this year to 14 groups that either supply meals or operate food pantries.

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Begun in 2003 with the help of Master Gardeners, the garden is located near Ivy Tech at the intersection of Touby Pike and North Street. Seeds, plants, fertilizer and other items needed are all donated and volunteers work to grow the vegetables.

Planning for the garden begins early in the spring.

“We take information from the last year, the things we learned and what we want to try differently,” she said. “Maybe we don’t want to plant so much zucchini. Last year, beetles ate all of our potatoes in the ground and I didn’t want to plant them this year. But, our volunteers insisted we try again and we got quite a harvest.”

A core group of 15 to 20 people regularly work in the garden, but new volunteers are always appreciated.

“We have groups who show up — Boy Scouts, Kokomo Kiwanis, Kinsey Youth Center, CAM,” Rush said. “We had a group from Delphi for Day of Caring, and Taylor students came out and worked one morning.”

Shameless Family Plug

Finally, my dad gets a web page for his business. I think it is a pretty good one. You can look at it here.

Remember The Indiana House is Also at Stake

Do we need to worry about Ron Herrell's seat? This is from The Kokomo Tribune - Miller to oppose Herrell:

"After months of searching for someone to oppose Ron Herrell for the District 30 seat in the Indiana House, the Howard County Republican Party has a candidate.

Jason C. Miller, 28, an assistant manager at the Kokomo Country Club, will challenge Herrell in the November general election.

During the last two election cycles, one of the most hotly contested races in Howard County was for the District 30 seat in the Indiana House."

Hospitals, Health Care, and Indiana's Economy

Interesting bit of reporting in the Indianapolis Business Journal's Small Towns, Big Business, although I am not sure how Kokomo became a rural community:

The hospital is planning to expand to meet rising demand, which means it will add to its 170-person staff. That’s good news for Williamsport as the nation settles into another economic downturn.

But it’s a mixed blessing for businesses in the area. They expect to see higher hospital prices, which would hike the costs of their employee health benefits. That makes it harder for employers to keep and add jobs.

***

“People get jobs. But in the long term, who pays for this?” said Les Zwirn, a former executive at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis who now is helping to organize a reform group called Hoosiers for Better Healthcare. “Well, we know who pays for this. Families pay for it through increased premiums and loss of coverage. And employers pay for it in terms of depressing wages and trying to slim down and scale down coverage.”

Even hospital leaders agree with those claims—to a point.

“We’re a source of costs for the businesses,” acknowledged Doug Leonard, president of the Indiana Hospital Association. “But on the other side of the coin, we provide a lot of benefits for the community.”

Howard Colunty: Wind farm now in the works

I picked up Wind farm now in the works from The Kokomo Tribune. The area mentioned below is pretty much nothing but farmland and rather good farmland at that.

"A group of landowners in eastern Howard County is ready to tap into the renewable energy market — one that doesn’t involve growing corn or soybeans for fuel."

If plans and studies proceed with the needed results, 10,000 to 15,000 acres of land east of Greentown would be used for a wind farm that could produce 150 to 200 megawatts of electricity.

The area from Plevna to Hackleman in southern Grant County provides the right conditions for Horizon Wind Energy, the company the landowners have picked.

“We need open land, wind and transmission lines,” said Martin Culik, project manager for Horizon Wind Energy. “The wind resource maps have shown that area to be promising. We’re excited to start the project.”

A 200-megawatt field could provide electricity to nearly 66,000 homes, according to Laura Sheets, Duke Energy’s business

Delphi Bankruptcy Judge Rips Executive Bonuses

Not seeing much news about this around which I think is a bit odd: Delphi Judge Orders Bankruptcy Emergence Bonuses Slashed, Cuts Exec Payout by 80 Percent :

"For most of the two-plus years since Delphi Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection, the auto parts maker has been bashed by union leaders. Many of the complaints centered on the cash payouts earmarked for the company’s executives once Delphi emerged from Chapter 11."

The Indiana economy

The Kokomo Tribune reprinted a Detroit Free Press article by Justin Hyde: Chrysler to slash 12,100 jobs. Howard County may be about the last refuge for Chrysler in Indiana but the story has something for the rest of us in Indiana.

"Here’s one way to describe the depth of the problems at Chrysler LLC: close to one in three."

That’s roughly the chances a Chrysler worker has seen his or her job targeted for elimination in the last nine months, between the 12,100 reductions of hourly, salaried and contract workers announced Thursday and the 13,000 cuts launched in February.

Meanwhile, a head's up for another Indiana Blog: Hoosier Jobs. Its subtitle is: "A closer look at Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' economic development record."

Kokomo's Mayoral Livelier than Anderson's

Amongst the things we can be happy about with Anderson's mayoral race. From The Kokomo Tribune, Mayoral debate gets personal:

"In a fiery exchange, the issue of the long-defunct Midwest Plating took center stage, with Republican Rick Hamilton and Democrat Greg Goodnight offering very different views on what happened to the former northside business."

But Goodnight continued, claiming U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents about the cleanup indicated Hamilton’s statement wasn’t plausible.

“They said the contamination occurred over a long period of time. It didn’t happen in the final week of the plant [operating]. It didn’t happen overnight,” Goodnight said.

At that point, Hamilton cut in.

“Councilman Goodnight, are you accusing me of contaminating that site? I’d like to hear about the proof. Be specific about what I did to contaminate that site,” Hamilton said.

At that point, Goodnight was allowed the final word on the subject.

“There were [environmental] reports done while [Hamilton] was still in charge,” Goodnight said.

The exchange clearly weighed during responses to another question, in which Kokomo Perspective reporter Patrick Munsey asked both candidates to “say something nice about each other.”

Goodnight called the passion and confrontation generated by supporters and candidates in political races “sometimes unfortunate,” but said politics aside, “Rick Hamilton is a nice person.”

That comment went noticeably unreciprocated by Hamilton, who said finally that “I’ve always been able to work well with Mr. Goodnight.”

Primaries: Muncie, Anderson and Kokomo

Anderson - Ockomon versus Smith in the Fall. Everyone give Rensel a big hand. The last thing we need in the Fall is a split party and Mr. Rensell shows his class in the Herald-Bulletin:

Ockomon said he received a call from Rensel Tuesday evening after results were in, pledging his support.

Rensel, who was seeking political office for the first time, has not ruled out another run.

“I’m ready to do it again,” said Rensel, 43, owner of Mahalo Graphics. “I’m looking forward to a good race in November.”

It appears that our Mayor hobnobbed too much with our Governor about the Interstate Commerce Connector and picked up the Governor's campaigning style:

“I think the die has been cast,” Smith said. “The election this fall will be for the future of Anderson, and it will determine whether we continue with the development, with the job growth, or whether we go back to the political machine of the previous 16 years.”

Incumbent Elwood Mayor Taylor won his primary but Alexandria's mayor lost his primary.

Anderson City Council winners were Muir, Chamberlain and Eicks. Muir and Chamberlain are incumbents and Eicks is a newbie.

Once again, a low turnout in Madison County. Which everyone will be worrying about but probably about the wrong thing. Primaries are about identifying with a party. To me, low turnout means that there is little identification with the local Democratic Party. I would say that about the Republicans too, but as Smith had no competition there was no need for a Republican turnout.

Also, I voted for the first time on one of the touchscreen machines. Interesting in one way - seeing the tech in use is just that interesting. I gritted my teeth about there being no paper trail.

No way can I describe the Kokomo mayoral race. That thing was just too weird. Here is the news from Kokomo. Sounds like they had a good turnout in Kokomo.

The Muncie paper covered their races quite well and you can find the articles here.

Kokomo's Mayoral Tax Wackiness

From today's Kokomo Perspective:

That year, the city of Kokomo asked for a $5 million hike in the city's levy to correct a fiscal error. Most officials agreed with that decision. But McKillip also asked for and received an additional $8 million.

"That $8 million is still in there," said Center Township assessor Sheila Pullen.

"Everyone seems to gloss over that," added Howard County councilman Dick Miller.

Now, as the McKillip campaign puts forth a carefully-crafted image of McKillip as a conservative crusader for lower taxes, many city and county officials - as well as McKillip's election opponents -- are calling foul.

What gives in Kokomo? Will this be an issue that a Democrat can ride into the Mayor's office? Hard to tell with Kokomo but we can hope.

Muncie Democrats Doing Their Usual and Free for All in Kokomo

Today's Star-Press editorial writes a pretty fair if simple history of the Delaware Democratic party infighting and divisions. I have seen it in operation, saw a good friend burned by the split twenty years ago, and think we in Madison County should find this a cautionary tale. (Although I do think that the minor split that helped Bob Rock lost the mayoral race four years ago seems healed as the cause of the breach is definitely MIA.) On the other hand, Muncie would not be Muncie without these fights.

Meanwhile, the Kokomo City Council three open seats and seven Democrats running for them (and the same number of Republicans). The article here has more details on the candidates.

Another Democrat running for mayor of Kokomo?

Got this from the Muncie Free Press today. At least, I think he is a Democrat.

Kokomo's Democratic mayoral candidates

From the Kokomo Tribune, Tony Taflinger made his unofficial announcement to run for mayor of Kokomo.

In a surprise announcement during the public comment period at the Kokomo Common Council meeting, Taflinger quietly said he intends to run for mayor as a Democrat.

“Like most of the community, I have concerns,” he said. “I have concerns about high taxes. I have concerns that city employees who have political statements on their vehicles are told they can’t park on city property.”

An employee of the Kokomo Police Department for the past 10 years, Taflinger also has a cleaning contract with the city through his company, TAF Cleaning Services.

Despite the fact Taflinger makes his living with the city, he said he felt compelled to run against current Mayor Matt McKillip, at least partially because of his own views on the atmosphere at City Hall.

“I work for the city, and in this administration, if your thoughts are different than what this administration is, you’re against them,” Taflinger said. “That’s not the attitude I have, and it’s time for a change.

Taflinger, 44, is a Kokomo High School graduate who has worked previously in security with St. Joseph Hospital, and has volunteered for the Howard County Emergency Agency.

Although he said he will officially file for candidacy today, and hasn’t raised any money yet, Taflinger said he hopes to have a positive effect on the municipal election.

Andy Castner, who ran in 2003, also has said he is running.