Amy Hillenberg has an article in the Reporter Times entitled “House Democrat Strategy Targets Daniels”. (Hmm, the same story ran in the South Bend Tribune and elsewhere under Mike Smith’s name.) The story takes a look at Rep. Dave Crooks campaign strategy. His first ad features woman complaining about Gov. Daniels and how he was able to pass Daylight Saving Time and privatize Indiana’s Toll Road:
“Mitch Daniels is going around changing our clocks, and he let foreign companies take over our highways,†a woman says in the ad. It looks past the election, saying that’s when “we got rid of a bunch of boys who were just rubber stamps for ol’ Mitch.â€
The “boys†refers to Republicans who control the House, 52-48. All but a handful helped Daniels win passage of statewide daylight-saving time. And it took 51 of the 52 to pass a bill letting Daniels lease the Indiana Toll Road to a private, foreign venture. No House Democrat voted for it.
Hoosiers oppose Daylight Saving Time 49% to 44% and oppose the Toll Road privatization 55% to 39%. These issues have affected at least one voter, according to the story:
[Daniels] has certainly turned off Dale Shake of Washington, Ind., who said he was a lifelong Republican who voted for Daniels in 2004. He said he received a poll call that asked him to rate the governor’s performance between one and five.
“I came back and said, ‘Do you have anything below that one?â€â€™ said Shake, 65. He said he was upset about the northern Indiana toll road lease – even though he lives in Daviess County in southwest Indiana – and the time switch.
He said he had known and liked Crooks’ Republican opponent, Ron Arnold, for years. But because of Daniels, he’s going to vote for Crooks.
I have heard this radio ad many times in our area.It seems like it plays on every radio station in the area.I finally heard a Ron Arnold ad last week.I have spoken to Crooks a few times mostly about the time issue.
Crooks will win this race going away in my opinion.As I have stated before in our area Daylight savings time and the Governor are very unpopular in Southwest Indiana at least thats what you hear on the streets,grocery store and in the coffee shops from Democrats and Republicans.
The ad hits home with people when the woman says MITCH DANIELS WAS MESSING AROUND WITH OUR CLOCKS because most people thought the old system was not broken so why make the mess and trouble we are currently in down here in regard to time zones.
Hoosiers oppose Daylight Saving Time 49% to 44%
That isn’t exactly a landslide. Polls often have a margin of error around 2.5% to 5%. Also, how many of each side of that will vote? I still think the “Illegals are the DEVIL” stance will win more votes than anything. :)
No, it’s not a landslide at all. BUT, I am of the opinion that many, many more people will base their vote on feelings against DST than will base their vote on feelings in favor of DST.
Keep in mind too that the poll was a statewide poll. 20% of the State’s population lives in the Central Time Zone and, one supposes, they overwhelmingly favor DST. What is of interest is the percentage against DST in the former year round Standard Time counties.
Further, the poll was taken in early September. All along the biggest complaint against DST has been late sunrises, but they won’t occur until October. Consider that on Sept. 10th, when the poll was being taken, sunrise came at 7:20 a.m. in South Bend, but on Oct. 25th sunrise won’t occur until 8:09 a.m. And come early November 2007, sunrises will occur as late as 8:20 a.m. EDT. People’s last impressions of DST will matter more on election day.
Paul, keep in mind that many of that 20% are people like me that work in a county that did not observe DST, but live in a county that did and still does observe DST. I was okay with the fact that for five months I had a time problem and did not for seven months. Now twelve months just does not cut-it. Last I night I was called by a poll and listed DST as the leading factor in my upcoming voting decision. When asked the question,”If you could solve one problem in the state,what problem would you solve?” My answer was one state one time. So I think people are tired of the time mess caused by the governor in general.
Jason,
Depends on where you live as far as DST. In our area it is a big deal because of the time zone situation and the border counties that are set up in regard to where the boundary finally ends up.Like Larry speaks about living in one time zone and working in another.I had this problem when I worked in Evansville but like Larry states it was only 5 months a year and tolerable now it will be year round for many people depending on where the time line ends up which causes countless problems for families.
As for the illegals I and most everyoe I know are completly in agreement with the Republicans in Congress on this issue enforcement first.As you may know in the Senate a minority of Republlicans have joined with a majority of Democrats and passed what they called the Comprehensive immigration bill which is for the most part amnesty.The Senate has so far rejected a call for 700 miles of new fence because it does not address amnesty or guest a worker program.
A fence does not completly solve the problem by no means but is a help. The open borders crowd wants no part of that.A few Republicans that want cheap labor and Democrats who see potential new voters for their party and the ACLU who does not want local law enforcement to have the powers to detain illegals do not like enforcement at all.
This brings me to yet another case just this week where in Houston a police officer who had arrested a illegal immigrant on a unrelated charge was shot in the back and killed.He leaves behind a widow and five kids because his government failed to protect him!!
The illegal was convicted a few years earlier for raping a 12 year old girl and deported back to Mexico where he served no time and jumped right across our unprotected border again and killed the officer.
The Democrats and Republicans blow 24hrs a day 7 days a week about keeping us safe and securing the country yet will do nothing to secure the border it`s pathetic!!!
Paul,
You wrote: “All along the biggest complaint against DST has been late sunrises, but they won’t occur until October. Consider that on Sept. 10th, when the poll was being taken, sunrise came at 7:20 a.m. in South Bend, but on Oct. 25th sunrise won’t occur until 8:09 a.m. And come early November 2007, sunrises will occur as late as 8:20 a.m.”
Consider this:
HAMILTON TWP., Ind. (NLI) – Second-grader Jaylyn Bird was listed in critical condition at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis Thursday after she was struck by a car while waiting for the bus.
Police said Jaylyn, 7, and her brother, Jeff, 10, were hit by a car driven by Marsha Eppert, 63, shortly before 8 a.m. on County Road 500N, between Nebo Road and County Road 450W.
(Courtesy of NewsLink Indiana.)
It appears that, for once, there really is no one thinking of the children…!
Given the location of the accident Branden cites it sounds like a rural area. I don’t disagree for moment that children are being forgotten in the time issue, as well as rural areas, and most of all, children in rural areas. These kids often have to board busses well before 8:00 am. In my area we have had fog/darkness delays for schools in the rural areas since Labor Day. Still, to his credit, Mark A. Catanzarite, a County Council member in St. Joseph County very ably argued these points to the DOT.
Speaking for myself I see no benefit in sunsets pushing 8:00 p.m. in September as a trade off for sunrises coming well after 7.
Well, if it was shortly before 8:00am, then the sun was out, and it was light outside. Secondly, I was a child who boarded the bus at 7:00am every morning, but I was also the child who got off the bus at 4:15pm every evening. If we were on Central time, those cloudy winter days would have gave me a maximum of 15 minutes to have any sort of light outside. As a kid, it never bothered me getting on the bus in the dark. Now, it does not bother me to get up in the dark. However, I have been enjoying 7:30pm sunsets the past couple weeks, seeing as the weather has still be easy to enjoy outside after classes and work. I even was sitting outside one evening and realized it was 7:00pm. I was enjoying myself outside, and thought to myself, if it were not for DST, it would be dark right now, and I would not get to enjoy the cool, fall evenings. I know I am not the only one who feels this way, and I know there are people that would much rather have morning daylight. It is a matter of opinion, but I will go on record saying, I would much rather have later sunrises right now in turn for later sunsets that allow me to enjoy the weather outside before the winter is upon us. I know I am not the only one who feels this way either.
Just got done reading Tim Joyce’s rebuttal post on the docket:
http://dms.dot.gov/search/document.cfm?documentid=415984&docketid=22114
I am not aware of all the issues in Southern Indiana and I thank folks like Phillip who keep us updated. Mr. Joyce provided a detailed point/counterpoint to the multi-county Southern Indiana petition. It appears he did some heavy homework.
What is interesting about the DST topic and this blog is that there has always been a fair and civil discourse. While I do not share the views of Josh, I understand that there are many who do. Here, on this blog, we may disagree, but there is a healthy respect for all viewpoints.
The problem has always been about the process and just how screwed up it’s been. Add the complete lack of leadership and downright deceptive tactics that were used and here we all are.
For those of you interested here’s a link to Mark Catanzarite’s docket post:
http://dms.dot.gov/search/document.cfm?documentid=375727&docketid=22114
I am not voting for anyone who voted again’st Daylight Saving Time. I and everyone I know are very happy with the results of DST in the Indianapolis area, and the only comments I have heard is how people around here could care less about the people in SW Indiana that made the mistake of asking for Central Time. The schools can adjust their start and end times if they do not want students waiting in the dark. Another joke is the Time Docket. If you take the time to read it the same cry babies keep posting and posting. Some of the fanatics are from “Hoosier’s For Central Time”. The “Time Issue” really does not matter to most of the state. It would really be an issue if most of the state was forced to switch to Central Time.
The “Time Issue†really does not matter to most of the state.
You must be new here. :)
Seriously, if the “Time Issue” didn’t matter, why did it take 20+ YEARS for it to get changed? It mattered to a few people before, and it still does now.
Since myself and others from Southwest Indiana are some of the cry babies and fanatics Richard is talking about who comment to the docket I will simply respond by saying we feel we must comment to clarify the record of what has been going on in a very shady process that has brought us to where we are now in this region of the state.
The question for Richard is would he like to live in a county that bordered a time boundary with another group of counties where he may live in one time zone and work in another so when a person leaves work from a Central time zone county it`s already a hour later in their Eastern time county which causes all sorts of problems with schedules and family time.
The fact is even if our 5 counties had stayed Eastern the 5 counties to the South of us have always been Central and were staying Central causing problems for thousands of commuters.
This is as Jim has stated a total lack of leadership and untruthfulness especially by the Governor who only seems to enjoy popularity in the Indianapolis area according to a few posts back in a poll Doug posted.If he can be elected with just carrying the vote in Central Indiana more power to him.
Richard stated the people in Indianapolis he talks to cares little about the people of Southwest Indiana who made the mistake of asking for Central time that`s fine too.I guess if something doesn`t influence them they do not care.I can see that I guess.I simply comment here to let people who do not live in this part of the state know more about the situation and some of the shady tactics that have been used in regard to time zones and this whole process in Southwest Indiana for those who may be interested.
Since I respect all opinions on the subject of time zones and DST if the people Richard talks to in Indianapolis like DST and Eastern time good for them.I disagree.I will not hate on Indianapolis because I have nothing against INDY.I have just always stated we in this part of the state have more in common and are influenced more by Evansville because it is much closer.
The only people I and others such as Mr.Byrd have called out are the out of county Eastern time zone Crane workers who came to our county to tell us what time zone to be in with no regard for our residents who may be burdened by a switch back to Eastern time especially if all the repetitions are not granted.When commissioners meetings were held last summer on time zones we did not go to their counties and tell their commissioners what to do in regard to time zones for their counties!
I think it will be interesting to see how lawmakers who voted for DST fair in the November elections.I can say it is almost certain Troy Woodruff whos one vote passed DST and lied to his constituents will be defeated.
I will make one obvious commment as a non-resident of Indiana. Moving the TZ farther into Indiana as was done in the SW would divide more Hoosiers from more Hoosiers than had been the case when the TZ was in the more extreme corner of the state. The question is not ‘are there ties with Evansville?’ That’s a given. The question is ,’are the time ties to the rest of the state and to Indianapolis,the capital, less or more compelling than ties to Evansville?’.And it must be true that more people have to cross a time zone line now more often than they did previously in that area.. It’s never good to be on a different time from the state capital,and Indianapolis is smack dab in the middle of a small and compact state.I still think it’s absolutely amazing these 5 counties banded together to re-petition so quickly for ET..anything less than that and it would be a settled issue.I hope for all the people in the area that USDOT will give fair and thorough address to this issue,and the ‘losing side’will be satisfied that the process has been fair. But I doubt it.
Lou,
If you will examine the numbers of people who commute within the counties and to the 5 original Central time counties and Perry county also which chose not to repetition bringing the total to 6 counties that would still be on Central time you will see the least inconvenience for work commuters is for the area to remain on Central time.
The number of commuters from the Eastern time zone who commute to the currently 11 Central time counties with the exception of the Eastern time zone Crane workers who commute to Martin county is much smaller here are some of the numbers if things are left as is:
1,110 workers commute to Daviess county from Central time observing counties.
149 come from Eastern time
2377 leave Daviess county to work with most going to the Central time zone
4,850 workers commute into Dubois county from Central time counties
719 come from the Eastern time zone
1,688 residents of Dubois county leave the county to work most to the Central time zone
3,963 workers commute to Knox county
483 commute from Eastern time counties to work there
253 workers from Knox county commute to the Eastern time zone to work
1,504 commute to Central time counties
952 workers commute to Pike county to work all from the Central time zone
no workers from the Eastern time zone commute to Pike county to work
3019 workers leave Pike county to work and all go to the Central time zone
0 commute to the Eastern time zone
1,756 Martin county residents commute outside the county to work
1,217 commute to the Central time zone to work
539 commute to the Eastern time zone
appx 600 residents work at Crane
somewhere in the range of around 3000 workers commute to Crane in Martin county from the Eastern time zone counties
Now because there are 6 counties to our South and the largest city in the area Evansville that as Rep Crooks stated believe they are right in staying in the Central time zone which this state is most certainly geographically in this as you know is the problem.
I do conceed the point that it is inconvenient for a region of counties being in a different time zone than the rest of the state.
I will close with some DOT comments from their final reports on this matter:
DOT RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF REGIONAL CONNECTIONS AND BENEFITS OF SIMILAR TIME ZONES AND REGIONAL TIES AMONG COUNTIES.REMAINING IN THE SAME TIME ZONES AND MAINTAINING THEIR REGIONAL TIES BETTER POSITION COUNTIES TO REALIZE ADVANTAGES IN ECONOMIC,CULTURAL,SOCIAL AND CIVIC ACTIVITIES THEREBY SERVING THE CONVENIENCE OF COMMERCE.
DOT IS RELOCATING FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF COMMERCE,THE TIME ZONE BOUNDARY TO MOVE KNOX,PIKE,DAVIESS,DUBOIS,MARTIN,AND PERRY COUNTIES TO THE CENTRAL TIME ZONE.AS DESCRIBED ABOVE IN THE SUMMARY OF THE HEARINGS AND COMMENTS TO THE DOCKET,THESE SIX COUNTIES HAVE STRONG REGIONAL TIES TO EACH OTHER AND CENTRAL TIME ZONE COUNTIES.WHILE DAVIESS,DUBOIS,KNOX,MARTIN,AND PERRY BORDER OTHER INDIANA COUNTIES IN THE EASTERN TIME ZONE,THEIR TIES TO THOSE COUNTIES IS NOT AS STRONG AS THEY ARE TO EACH OTHER AND COUNTIES TO THEIR SOUTH,WHICH ARE CURRENTLY IN THE CENTRAL TIME ZONE.
ALONG WITH PIKE,THESE COUNTIES ARE LOCATED IN THE SAME WORKFORCE,COMMERCE,TRANSPORTATION,AND EDUCATION REGIONS DESIGNATED BY INDIANA.
Lou,
These are statements by the DOT not myself or Central time supporters and they were made less than a year ago.
Thank you Phillip ,for all the insights into how people in the area feel. The statistics and documentation are overwhelming.My initial reaction was the these counties will all go back to ET because that’s what the govenor wants,but on second thought , I dont think thats necessarily so.
Recently,I drove up through western Indiana( through Evansville to I-74) and also used the whole lenghth of Indiana Toll Road .I was looking out my window to see where we could best draw a time zone boundary ( as good as any way considering all the mess thats been!)In SW Indiana we could draw one almost anywhere without disrupting many people directly.It’s just a matter of ‘does Vincennes want to connect to and west and south or to north and east?’ I truly think the issue is sunrise and sunset more than anything else,but there comes a point of diminishing returns if people feel cut off from somewhere they want to be part of.So we have to go out and compile stacks of documentation that we hope is compelling but that we really dont care is acccurate or not.
I still think the best place to draw a time zone line is west of South Bend.Once you get to South Bend all that area,north and east belongs together,and ET is the widespread time there,but dont give me any documentation.. it doesnt matter.Im just looking out the window..
Lou,thank you for having a intelligent conversation about this matter.Passions on both sides if you live in a effected area run deep as you can well imagine and I also get a little too fired up at times on this subject.
Rocky Byrd did all the numbers as far as commuter patterns in his 12 page rebuttal to the DOT.I think you can see how important it is to some people that they are willing to spend hours doing research on the matter.
I always repeat the two DOT statements above because less than a year ago this is what they determined and I feel if they go against these statements they are nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Governor.
What this whole thing boils down to in my opinion is the time line and where it is placed.Most people would be happy with Central or Eastern as long as it does not have a negative impact on their work and home schedules in regard to work.If the counties to the South and Evansville were on Eastern time their would be no dispute at all.Rep Crooks told me this summer that a group of people were trying to get those counties to petition for Eastern time but they would have none of it.They believe they are in the right time zone which geographically they are and tried to go to Eastern in 1985 with the blessing of the state legislature and were turned down by the DOT.
I still believe the DOT will do just what the Governor tells them he wants but I`m a pessimist by nature especially concerning any branch of Government.
As far as I’m concerned, the sun has been coming up “late” ever since April 2nd. :( I’m also not surprised about people in Indianapolis *loving* DST. The feelings of the people in Indianapolis are not an accurate measure for the feelings of people statewide, however. The governor is fairly popular in the Indy metro area. He is not popular outside of that area.
The misery of being forced into a geographically incorrect time zone should be assuaged by ousting any supporting State Legislator from office.
The fact that they participated in the extralegal arm twisting and deceptive shenanigans needeed to pass(?) this downgrade of living standard is enough to know they can never be trusted to vote for the public good.