The South Bend Tribune editorial board says that St. Joe County should ask for Eastern. The opinion piece just isn’t consistent, however. It argues for Eastern Time because St. Joseph County and Elkhart Couty should be on the same time. Fair enough. But, a discerning reader might ask, why shouldn’t Elkhart petition for Central? The wise folks at the Tribune explain, “It is clear that Elkhart County will not petition the DOT to change to Central time.” First, if it is as big of a problem as the folks at the Tribune suggest, why wouldn’t the Elkhart County Commissioners petition for Central Time? Particularly if enough folks in Elkhart County are disgruntled enough about not having a hearing on the subject that changes are made to the Board of Commissioners? Second, wouldn’t the same rationale apply in reverse? “Elkhart County should seek Central Time because it is clear that St. Joe will not withdraw its petition?” In short, the Tribune provides us with no real explanation at all as to why the burden is on St. Joe to go with Elkhart rather than vice-versa.
Second, maybe it’s because I’m not from around there, but the Tribune editorial board writes that a split with Elkhart County would be “a frustrating, confusing split” that should be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, a split with LaPorte County and points west would just mean that St. Joseph County is an hour ahead of them. “That’s easy enough to get used to.” Seems to me, you can get used to one just as easily as the other.
I know that several media companies from the South Bend area have submitted petitions to the USDOT docket requesting Eastern Time. I’m not clear on whether the South Bend Tribune is one of them or owned by one of them. If the paper is, in fact, an active participant in this fight for its own business reasons, it should make that fact clear when it writes an editorial such as this.
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