There is a nice Courier Press article on Senator Greg Server who is going to serve as a Utility Regulatory Commissioner. One passage I liked in particular:

John Cardwell, a lobbyist for home health care options, recalled a time when Server called him into a meeting with Sen. Pat Miller, who runs the Senate Health Committee. They needed to ask her help to keep a bill moving.

“Greg would be his subtle, affable self and Pat would be serious and would have to suppress a smile because she knew what Greg was up to,” Cardwell said.

The Journal Gazette has a column on the taxpayer amnesty for deadbeats championed by Gov. Daniels and passed by the General Assembly.

Basically, it creates a window where those who did not shoulder their burden alongside their fellow citizens can pay their principal tax owed without paying any penalty for delinquency.

If you’re a tax scofflaw, pay attention to the Indiana Tax Amnesty program. If you’re a responsible citizen, try to ignore the troublesome message that delinquent taxpayers will be rewarded with a second chance.
. . .
Still, there’s something a bit unsettling about a program billed as an “opportunity” for individuals and businesses that have neglected their financial responsibilities. The ad campaign’s slogan is “No penalties. No interest. No problem,” and features a businessman-type tethered by a ball and chain.

Fortunately, most of us view taxes not as a burden, but as an obligation of citizenship. Indiana Tax Amnesty might be a helpful tool in enticing deadbeats to pay their taxes, but it would be a bit more palatable if the “one-time opportunity” enticement was replaced by a warning to “pay up, or else, deadbeat.”

Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an article on BMV bad boy, Joel Silverman as part of the Journal Gazette’s ongoing series about changes in state government under the Daniels administration.

To say he is a political newbie is an understatement. At one luncheon near the beginning of Daniels’ term, Silverman had to ask what several lawmakers meant when they were discussing the Lincoln Day dinner circuit – a staple of Republican politics.

Besides closures, some of the most notable changes implemented by Silverman include removing clocks from the branches, aligning chairs so they face each other, instituting uniforms and putting real-time cameras in about 25 branches, with more to come.

The cameras help keep an eye on how busy the branches are as well as provide an incentive for employees to behave. Since they have been added at a cost of about $200 each, several cameras have caught instances of fraud.

Silverman has also removed the fee for performing transactions online and instituted reviews for employees. He is now embarking on an education campaign to let people know they should avoid the branches on Tuesdays, which have 50 percent more business than other days.

I got a wonkish chuckle when the article mentioned that despite all the heat he has been willing to take, Silverman didn’t want any part of the license plate debate.

Mary Beth Schneider has an article for the Indy Star entitled Time zones put counties on defensive.

The article puts the tally as, definite Central: Daviess, Fulton, Marshall, Pulaski, and Starke. It characterizes St. Joseph as being on the fence with a quote from Commissioner Cynthia Bodle saying that it was not certain St. Joe would petition. Also on the fence is Dubois, Jay, Johnson, Pike, and Tippecanoe.

And Daniels response continues to be breathtaking in its disingenuity, acting like this patchwork approach to time zones is a great development. Part of his master plan, almost.

County commissioners in both parties, and in all areas of the state, said they are angry that the state legislature, Gov. Mitch Daniels and the federal government have stuck them with this issue.

Daniels said he doesn’t think most county commissioners feel that way.

“Oh no, they don’t,” Daniels said. “The most irresponsible thing we could have done is to try to dictate an answer from here. Some of these folks would rather not be forced to deal with an issue of local importance, but in that case they shouldn’t have run for the job.”

Daniels fought in this year’s legislative session for passage of a bill moving all of Indiana to daylight-saving time. The bill lawmakers passed required Daniels to ask the federal government for time zone hearings.

In his campaign, Daniels said Central time made the most sense for Indiana, but he refused to state a preference to the federal government.

Instead, he asked for a series of regional hearings. In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta turned down that request and said the issue should be decided county-by-county.

That was not entirely a surprise to the Daniels administration.

An e-mail the state government released to The Indianapolis Star last week shows that on May 20 — the day Daniels sent the initial letter to the federal Department of Transportation asking for the hearings — the governor’s office already was concerned that regional hearings would not be possible.

The e-mail from Debbie Hohlt, who represents Indiana in Washington, D.C., notes that “there is some concern on our part that the (transportation department) counsel may insist we have a more specific proposal in order for the DOT to conduct public hearings in Indiana.”

. . .

Yoder said the people in his county are angry the time issue ever came up at all. “Overwhelmingly people want to be left alone,” he said.

A Republican in a strongly Republican county, Yoder said Daniels’ popularity is hitting bottom in his part of the state. “I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody in the last two months that had anything good to say about the governor. I don’t think he could get 10 votes in this county now.”

. . .

Daniels said the debate has been worth the angst.

For too long, he said, Indiana has had three time zones: “Central Time, Eastern Time and the Twilight Zone.”

Now, he said, the whole state will be on daylight-saving time, with two time zones.

“The era of total confusion will be over.”

Contrast this with the Daniels statements and analysis posted by Paul yesterday:

According the Indiana Law Blog for 9 February 2004 citing the Indy Star:
“Republican candidate for governor Mitch Daniels today called for the state to adopt one time zone. On the politically sensitive topic, Daniels said Indiana should observe Daylight-Savings Time and would be best served under Central time, which is what is observed in Chicago and Northwest Indiana.”

Indy channel 6 reported:
“Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels said Monday he wants to move most of Indiana to the Central time zone and have it observe daylight-saving time statewide.”

“Daniels’ statement was part of a series of economic development initiatives he announced. He said the time change would put Indiana within two hours of everyone in the continental United States and make it easier for companies inside and outside the state to do business.”

Pretty clear that he thought the time issue was a matter of state wide concern I would think. Of course he may still think so, but is now hoping that inertia and the pull of Indianapolis will keep us “eastern” and that the issue will slowly fade. Of course, if it is the case that he has adopted stall and obfuscation on this issue, then Indianapolis will decide this issue for most of the state. Or rather, I should say the Indianapolis and Indiana Chambers of Commerce and the local political establishment in Marion County, since it appears that at least a plurality of Marion County’s residents would prefer Central.

According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Daniels sends out for prison contract.

Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration is set to give another big state contract to an out-of-state company.

This time GEO Group Inc. (formerly Wackenhut) of Boca Raton, Fla., began negotiations to run the state prison in New Castle – a first-ever endeavor for Indiana.

. . .
So what happened to Daniels’ promise to “Buy Indiana?”

The governor said he is willing to sign whatever waiver is necessary – as required by his own executive order – because the contract is a win-win for everyone.

. . .

And speaking of pocketbooks, did we mention that GEO Group – previously called Wackenhut Corrections – gave $10,000 to Daniels during his campaign in 2003 and 2004?

The company also gave $5,000 to the Indiana Republican State Central Committee in March, just a few months before the bid was due and in a non-election year.

According to the Indy Star, Fulton County wants to be on Central time

At a public hearing Thursday, the commissioners voted 3-0 to recommend joining the Central time zone, even though the county does not border any of the other Indiana counties currently in that zone.

That lede is a bit misleading in that all of the counties to the north and west of Fulton have decided to petition for Central time. Marshall, Starke, and Pulaski have voted for Central. Last I heard, there was some talk that Elkhart and Kosciusko would go for Central if St. Joseph did. (Actually, since writing that, I’ve seen where Elkhart might be opposed to central time).

Right now, it’s looking like (if the USDOT were to grant the requests), we’d have a band across the north stretching 2/3 of the way across the state and then the southwestern corner in Central time. The Eastern Time Zone would be about 2 counties thick in the eastern time zone before you’d get to a Central Time Zone county.

Oh, and in the tin-eared, passing the buck department, we have Governor Mitch Daniels. From the Evansville Courier Press:

Gov. Mitch Daniels on Friday responded to county commissioners upset that the decision on whether to apply for a time zone switch has landed squarely on their shoulders.

“I think that some of these folks would rather not have been forced to deal with an issue of local importance – but in that case they shouldn’t have run for their job,” Daniels said. He said deciding from a state-level perspective where time zone hearings should be held would have caused a backlash.

“I think the most irresponsible thing we could have done is to try to dictate an answer from (Indianapolis),” Daniel said.

Dubois County Commissioner Larry Vollmer is among thosewho wish state lawmakers or the governor’s office would have resolved the issue. He said legislators, backed by a push from Daniels, opened the debate by moving the entire state to observing daylight-saving time.

“I never had a complaint or call on the time issue until the General Assembly passed that,” he said. And Vollmer, a Democrat, said Daniels campaigned on moving most of the state to one time zone and expressed his preference for Central time.

“But then that didn’t get accomplished and it almost looks like (Daniels has) just left the ball in our court,” he said.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: Governor Daniels says that the issue of a proper time zone in Indiana is a local issue. In fact, it would have been irresponsible of the General Assembly to try to make a decision on the proper placement of a time line. In fact, County Commissioners who feel like the State passed the buck on this issue are just so many whining ninnies who shouldn’t have run for their jobs.

That’s a jaw-dropping sentiment when you think about the history of this process. Daniels can’t leave well enough alone, passes a law that only addresses half the equation, and then criticizes local officials who don’t feel like they should have to try to solve the hardest part of the problem for him. I hope local officials remember this when Gov. Daniels comes to their town or county.

Notre Dame professor John Gaski has a letter to the editor in the Indy Star entitled Economic edge goes to Central time. The crux of the letter is:

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce reports that 39 percent of Indiana’s domestic exports go to the Eastern Time zone, more than to any other single time zone. Advocates of Eastern Time for Indiana imagine this datum supports their position.

But if 39 percent goes east, that means 61 percent is shipped to the other three zones. So if Indiana is assigned to the Eastern Time zone instead of Central, we gain an hour of strategic synchronicity for 39 percent of our export business volume (relative to the other possible choice), but lose the hour with respect to 61 percent. Vice versa, put us in the Central zone and we gain the synchronicity hour for 61 percent, losing it for only 39 percent. (As you may know, imports are about a 50-50 wash.) And there is much to be said for being only two hours removed from the West Coast.

Mooresville Six more BMV branches to close: the Mooresville, Middletown, Morristown, Newburgh,
Ossian and Rockport branches will close for good Sept. 17. Once they do, it will bring the number of branches closed to 21 since June, leaving 147 statewide.

Dan Shaw for the Journal & Courier has an article on the time zone hearing in Tippecanoe County. Basically, the web poll and phone poll broke about 2 to 1 in favor of Central time whereas the speakers at the hearing last night were just slightly over 50% in favor of eastern time. The players and their arguments seemed about what you’d expect. Chamber of Commerce types pushing the party line; folks who don’t want their TV schedules changed; people who see that Indiana is far into the natural Central time zone; people who figure we’re closer to Chicago than to New York.

Another entry in the fetus wars, I suppose. Brian Zimmerman, writing for the Richmond Palladium-Item has an article on the upcoming trial of Richard Bishop for the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, Tiffany Watkins and the murder of her 28-week old fetus, Jake.

I don’t have a problem with the guy doing a whole lot of time for his attack on Ms. Watkins. I don’t even have a problem if there was an aggravator for attacking a pregnant woman. But don’t call it “murder.” Attacking a woman who happens to be pregnant is just different from attacking a woman and also attacking her baby. Both are repugnant, but they’re different.