July 2009 Entries
Monday July 27, 2009
The federal stimulus money meant to help jumpstart the economy is hardly just sitting there for the taking. Some pretty major bureaucratic hoops have to be jumped through to lay claim to the funds, it seems, even for run-of-the-mill projects.
It had Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder waxing sarcastic. He was asked Monday, along with the rest of the commission, to sign off on a series of projects county roads officials hope to fund via American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money.
“I love our government,” he said.
At issue were requirements to request ARRA money...
Friday July 24, 2009
In seeking support in their bid to get a weir built to help control water flow in and out of Simonton Lake, residents there cite the relatively high property tax load in the area.
“The people who are talking to you today are paying a heck of a lot of money for the jewel we have,” Lorell Nihart, a lake resident, told the Elkhart County Drainage Board last week in asking for assistance.
Touring the clogged Lily Creek, Dave Foutz echoed that. As he showed a photographer and I the overgrown stream — which supposedly hampers...
Wednesday July 22, 2009
Who knows where the push to consider rerouting of the Marion Branch rail line to a corridor outside Goshen will go. A group of Goshen residents, citing noise and traffic congestion caused by the trains that travel the track, seek closer scrutiny of the notion.
Look here and here for some background.
In the meantime, here are a few more bits and pieces related to the issue:
The branch line, which travels north-south along Ninth Street through Goshen, intersects 19 roadways between Lincoln Avenue in Goshen and New Paris to the south.
...
Monday July 13, 2009
A few snapshots from Sunday’s Headlock on Hunger wrestling action, a fundraiser sponsored by the Texas Roadhouse restaurant here:
Billy Bragg, taking a breather outside the ring during his match, seemed to lose it when his opponent, Dick the Bruiser Jr., got the audience to chanting “sissy.”
“You people be quiet,” the 232-pound Bragg replied. “I am not no sissy.”
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Steve Amani, a wrestler from Kalamazoo, Mich., said wrestling in front of a crowd is the “biggest adrenaline rush in the world.”
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A woman carried her young son, named Maverick, over to Dustin Rayz and Astonishing Aaron Williams after the wrestlers’...