October 2008 Entries
Ed Hahn wonders if the recent discovery of trace amounts of contaminants below a construction site here might have come from a dump in the area years ago.
Back in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the 94-year-old retired letter-carrier recalls, there was a dump off the northeast corner of Johnson Street and Beardsley Avenue. That's not far from the spot - under Beardsley just west of Johnson - where state environmental authorities recently found low levels of gasoline and lead.
Hahn recalls occasional fires at the dump back in the day - he doesn't know why - and even helped out...
With political season at its height, some candidates’ signs are taking a hit around Elkhart County, getting snatched and otherwise disappearing.
Such mischief is hardly unprecedented and hardly limited to any one political party. But it came as a surprise to Perin Daniels when the John McCain sign outside her northeastern Elkhart home was targeted, in broad daylight while she was there.
“I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was almost in shock,” said the Elkhart woman, who lives on a quiet residential street. “What are they doing?”
While she watched from her dining room window Friday morning last week, an adult male...
The phones are ringing off the hook in Elkhart County Treasurer Larry Ernest's office. Homeowners are wondering when their 2008 tax bills will finally be sent, how big they'll be, and they're flooding his office with calls to get the down and dirty.
I called Wednesday morning, tried anyway, and all I got were busy signals. That continued into the afternoon, until I finally got through. County Auditor Dave Hess, too, reports a steady stream of phone calls though I had less trouble getting through to him.
Accessible or not, concrete answers are still in short supply. Though Ernest and Hess say the...
Talk of bonding to help pay for the Johnson Street Bridge upgrade got me wondering about the cost of the bonds issued a few years back to help pay for the new Elkhart County jail, a much more expensive project.
I called County Auditor Dave Hess to get the lowdown, and here are some highlights:
The Elkhart County Council issued $83.55 million in bonds to help pay for the facility and started making payments of around $6.3 million per year in 2006 to gradually retire the debt. If officials don't amortize early, the county will end up spending...
If you want to speak out, you've sometimes got to be quick.
At a public hearing last Thursday held by the Elkhart County Plan Commission, a man who lives next door to a piece of property under review by the body had a few questions to put to the officials. But the hearing, one of several matters before the body that day, opened and closed so quick, he never had a chance.
The commission subsequently recommended approval of change bringing the plot into compliance with county zoning code — Elkhart County commissioners have final say — and only then did the man...
Got an e-mail from a reader regarding a story I wrote on the Elkhart County Council's Oct. 4 decision allowing issuance of $9.8 million in bonds to help pay for the Johnson Street Bridge upgrade.
Just one member of the public queried the council during the public hearing portion of that meeting, even though going for the bonds would result in up to $6.6 million in additional interest costs for the county over their 20-year span. I alluded to the lack of public input in my story and the reader referenced that, kind of disgusted. Why bother, he seemed to...
Hello, readers. I'm Tim Vandenack, my main responsibility with the Elkhart Truth is keeping tabs on Elkhart County government. Think roads, bridges, property taxes, zoning questions, the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners and the Elkhart County Council.
I aim here to delve into stuff that, for whatever reason, doesn't make it to the regular news pages. It might be stuff that isn't necessarily of broad, broad interest. Might be ideas and proposals that are still being fleshed out. Might be something completely different. We'll see how it evolves, and I'll post as frequently as merited and as other responsibilities allow. I...