The Evansville Courier Press has an editorial on time zones. Their take is that it is now incumbent upon Governor Daniels to lead the process on timezones. They point out that Daylight Saving Time would not have passed without the promise of action on time zones.
It strikes us that Daniels has a responsibility now to step up and conduct state hearings on the issue. For certain, he complied with the letter of the law, requesting hearings, but now he should comply with the spirit of the legislation and give Hoosiers an opportunity to state whether they want change.
. . .
But until such hearings are held, Hoosiers are likely to continually remind the governor and state legislators that the promise for hearings was broken.
With the approval of statewide daylight-saving time, Daniels got what he wanted from the Legislature. He felt it would reduce confusion about Indiana time, and we agreed. And as a candidate last year, he said he felt Indiana more logically belongs in the Central time zone, and we agreed. We still do, and we will be sorely disappointed if he does not now use the clout of state government to determine whether Hoosiers want to change.
I disagree that it is certain that Daniels complied with the letter of the law. But the Courier Press has a good idea. The Governor could hold hearings, try to determine where the most support is for placing the time zone line, and petition the USDOT accordingly — this time with the supporting information he was required to provide in the first place.
In any event, I am happy this Courier Press editorial is not as dismissive of the Central Time Zone as the papers in the eastern part of the state have been.
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