January 2009 Entries
Thursday Jan. 29, 2009
I'm not the cops reporter, but I sit close enough to the police scanner here to hear tidbits of some of the emergencies that get called in to police, fire and ambulance officials.
A couple days back, someone apparently called in because he was having a hard time making a stool. Apparently this had been going on all day until the person called 911 for help. I suspect there was more to it than that -- and I don't want to make too much light of someone else's misfortune -- but that's what came across the scanner, or...
Monday Jan. 26, 2009
Some gala and pink apples offer a valuable lesson
It happened again. We went to a large grocery chain here to buy food and on leaving, discovered that we had been incorrectly charged for some apples.
Before making our way to the check-out stand, we had picked out three gala apples and, unbeknownst to us, a fourth pink apple that had somehow made its way to the gala bin. When the cashier rang up the total, she used the code from the pink apple in figuring the cost of the four apples, resulting in an overcharge of $2.65....
Friday Jan. 9, 2009
It's freshly unearthed garbage
I was driving down Main Street from Elkhart to Goshen on Thursday when a nasty stench washed over me. What the ... ?
I thought it might be a natural gas leak. It got strong and stronger. I was on Main Street (aka U.S. 33), right at C.R. 26, near the Target/OfficeMax shopping complex.
Then it dawned on me. This was the odor I had written about in that day's paper.
Here's a link to the article.
I had been told of the smell, caused by the unearthing of garbage at the Earthmovers Landfill at C.R. 26 and...
Friday Jan. 9, 2009
A short-term fix addresses immediate runoff problems, but is it enough over the long haul?
A larger drainage pipe has been installed at a problem spot in the Country Creek subdivision north of Goshen, heading off flooding to a pair of homes there, at least for now.
Still, officials and others aren't sure it's a permanent fix. And with more and more homes popping up in the unincorporated area -- snuggled between Elkhart, Goshen, Bristol and Middlebury around C.R. 20 and C.R. 23 -- Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder wonders if more needs to be done, much more.
A couple...
Friday Jan. 9, 2009
Still, there's plenty who are in need out there
A story I did last Sunday on a pair of men who took to living in a tent in Goshen after losing their jobs generated several calls and e-mails from readers who wanted to help. Not including online posts, that's about as strong a response something I've done has generated.
They're doing OK, though.
A Goshen church -- which prefers to remain anonymous -- has put the men up in a home in the Maple City and "they are very well taken care of now," a church rep says. Thus, anyone...
Jan. 8, 2009
More commissioners mean better leadership, Rodino thinks
Gov. Mitch Daniels' call to create a single elected official responsible for running county government doesn't seem to be flying in Elkhart County.
Jokingly referred to as a "county czar" at times by officials here, Terry Rodino, president of the Elkhart County Board of Commissioners, said today that he and the other two members of the body oppose Daniels' proposal. "We've just seen too many times when three minds are better than one," Rodino said.
Daniels last month endorsed a proposal put forth by a special commission that looked into streamlining government in Indiana,...