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Florida Frenzy Shows How Hypocritical Politicians Are

As you are reading this there may have been a tentative decision in the presidential election in Florida. Of course, everything is tentative because the legal wrangling will undoubtedly continue. Eventually there will be a winner, but in the meantime, it has been fun watching politicians paint themselves into corners and make hypocrites of themselves throughout the madness. Let's start with the Bush campaign.Remember George W.'s campaign ads. He told us something like, "My opponent trusts government, I trust people." That hue and cry has been coming from the Republicans for decades.They favor limited government.They favor letting states control things.They favor keeping federal interference to a minimum. And at the outset, former secretary of state James Baker and GOP hired hands warned of the impending judicialization of the Florida election process. Uh huh.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

An Educated Guess About Assessments

Here's my assessment of reassessment. When the new reassessment notices came out, I think a good many people were a little confused and with good reason. Under the old system, property was assessed at somewhere around a third of market value. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that system was unconstitutional and ordered the state to come up with a new system of assessing property more near true market value. I have talked to several people about their reassessments. One person, who figures his house is worth around $60,000, got a reassessment notice telling him it was worth $14,000. Another, who would take $160,000 for his house if you wanted to buy it from him, was assessed at $50,000. When I asked County Auditor Sue Ann Mitchell about that she said those were likely mistakes.She noted that when you assess every piece of property in the county, there are bound to be some mistakes made along the way.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Law Firm Lines Up To Sue New Product

In the movie "Field of Dreams," Kevin Costner plays a corn farmer who hears voices telling him to build a baseball field in the middle of nowhere. He does, under the premise that, "If you build it, they will come." The movie was about pursuing one's dreams no matter how much effort it takes or how offbeat the dream might be You don't have to tell that to Dean Kamen. Kamen is founder and president of DEKA Research and Development Corp. He's an inventor and an entrepreneur and he loves technology and science. He is driven to apply technology to practical uses and holds more than 150 U.S.and foreign patents.Gaining the most notoriety recently was his unveiling of "It."Or Ginger.Or the Segway HT (HT stands for Human Transporter).
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Tigers Look To End Skid In Tourney

So this is what the lineup is like in the 1998 Warsaw Tiger Tournament: 10-1 Perry Meridian, 9-1 Valparaiso, 7-2 Mount Vernon and 6-3 Warsaw. The Tigers will definitely see Perry Meridian -Êthat's who they meet in the first round on Saturday.Should they win that, they will play either Valparaiso or Mount Vernon in the championship game that evening. Tall task.Tough order.Call it what you will.But Warsaw girls basketball coach Will Wienhorst wouldn't have it any other way.He enjoys playing this tournament with these good teams at this time of the season.
Jeff Holsinger, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

A Story For Christmas

Times-Union Managing Editor Each year I search the Internet for a Christmas story.Following is this year's installment. It was close to Christmas.The air was cold and everyone was running from store to store, making holiday purchases.I was only 6 years old and I still believed in Santa Clause and flying reindeer. I didn't question the magic of Christmas.It was a great feeling. My mommy pushed me through the throng of holiday shoppers as she made her way to the grocery store.I wanted so badly to walk into the other stores and see inside.The windows were decorated so nice and each store looked as though there was a party going on.My mother continued to push. The grocery store wasn't nearly as crowded as the other shops in town.It was only slightly warmer than outside.There were very few Christmas decorations up and the ones that were up were not very festive.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Tigers Drop Two In Tourney

Rarely does a buzzer-beating basket seemingly cause two losses.But it just might have been the case for the Warsaw girls' basketball team in its own Tiger Tournament Saturday. When Mt.Vernon's Courtney Howell nailed her shot from the top of the key in overtime it led directly to the Tigers' 55-53 loss in the semifinals, then indirectly to Warsaw's 57-36 loss to Valparaiso in the consolation game as well. Howell's shot, which appeared to have come after the buzzer to end overtime with the score tied at 53, drained a lot of the Tigers' fight and appeared to have left them lifeless for the third-place game against the No.11 Vikings.
Greg Jones, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

Wider Road In Syracuse No Real Benefit

I moved to Dewart Lake in the spring of 1989, making me a Syracuse resident since then. My kids go to school there, we shop there, go to church there, etc. I drive through Syracuse several times a week. I want to go on record as saying it would be silly to put a five-lane highway partially through that town. The Syracuse Town Council next month will make a decision on whether to do just that. In my view, five lanes is at least two lanes too many. This whole Ind.13 improvement journey began more than 10 years ago. At that time, the local chamber of commerce proposed the project. More than four years ago, the state did a traffic study around a July 4 weekend - arguably the busiest possible time period for Syracuse traffic. Engineers said that five lanes would be necessary to handle the level of traffic they measured during that survey. They proposed the road be widened to five lanes from Bowser Road to just north of the railroad tracks.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

The Absurdity Of Tobacco Litigation

OK, this tobacco thing is completely out of control. I have long been a critic of these tobacco settlements.To me, it is akin to legislation via litigation. If Congress wants to ban tobacco, fine.It should ban tobacco. But, of course, Congress will never ban tobacco.Government profits too much from it. Tobacco is taxed like crazy.The government is as dependent on tobacco revenue as smokers are dependent on nicotine. In fact, I bet it would be easier for everybody in the country to stop smoking than it would be to wean the government off tobacco revenue. Of course all those taxes are over and above tobacco profits.The taxes don't come out of the pockets of the tobacco companies, they come out of the pockets of consumers. You know, all those people Bill Clinton likes to talk about when he says things like, "Ah feel yer poin." I guess he feels it while simultaneously contributing to it. But I digress.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Most Times Gridlock Would Be Better

Sometimes it amazes me that civilization doesn't grind to a standstill. And, frankly, sometimes I don't think that would be all that bad of an eventuality. I remember back in the campaign that featured George H.W.Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. Perot's running mate, Admiral Stockwell or Stockdale or whatever, was in one of the debates.I remember him blurting out "Gridlock!" as if he had some kind of G-rated version of Tourette's Syndrome. I remember thinking at the time that gridlock - when it comes to government - is a good thing. If I ever run for office - which is ever so slightly less likely than me winning the next $200 million Powerball game - I already know what my slogan will be. "Lick Your Lips - No New Government." Oh, sure, you can say no new taxes, but I'd be way beyond that. My platform would be a one-year moratorium on any new government programs or new laws. Just leave things the way they are for a year and see how it goes.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Here's The Real Issue

I have been paying close attention to the presidential campaign and listening to what W and John Kerry consider important. This is not to say thatÊwhat they're talking about - terrorism, economy, jobs, war, health care - isn't important. But I think there's an issue that is more important that they're not talking about. Frankly, it tops terrorism as my No.1 concern.I know that terrorism is bad.I know it is important that we remain safe. But honestly, my risk of succumbing to terrorism runs in the same range of odds as my winning the U.S.Open.Frankly, I probably have a better shot at the Open. And I have a job and health insurance.I know lots of people don't have those things and I think it's important to help people who are truly in need. But the one thing that really concerns me - the thing that seems most ominous to me - is the impending U.S.debt disaster. And I can't believe politicians ignore it the way they do.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Republicans' Future Not So Bright

I - and apparently millions of other Americans - have come to a not-so-startling conclusion: Congress is functionally corrupt. In a recent poll, when asked if they thought Congress was corrupt, 50 percent of respondents said yes. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said Congress was more focused on special interests than their constituents. Seventy-five percent said Congress was out of touch with the average American. These results are not startling because of the way the Republicans have completely squandered any moral or ethical authority they may have had as a majority party in both houses of Congress.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Warsaw Can Weather A Storm

You know that old saying, "If you don't like the weather in Indiana, stay a day." Well, all I can say is, weather in Indiana couldn't get much worse than it was Wednesday. There is literally tens of millions of dollars in property damage throughout the county.Lots of people are calling it the worst storm ever to hit northern Indiana. I can remember some bad storms, but this one was different. Most times one area or another sustains heavy damage and the rest of us just have the more routine branch-and-limb damage. This storm dispatched severe damage all over the place.Damage was more widespread than any storm in my memory - from southwest of Mentone to southwest lower Michigan. Local cops, firemen, EMS personnel, hospital staff, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and lots of good neighbors all pitched in to aid the injured and get the cleanup under way. They all deserve a pat on the back.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Economy A Huge Election Factor

Just this week there was a report released stating that the economy grew at a "blistering" (that's AP's word) 7.2 percent in the third quarter. That's the strongest rate of growth since the first quarter of 1984. The report trumpeted the growth in gross domestic product. That's the broadest measure of the U.S.economy's performance.It measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States. In the second quarter, the GDP grew by a robust 3.3 percent, and economists predicted the third quarter number would be somewhere in the range of 6 percent. Listen to Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Economy.com: "This is a gangbuster number.Everything came together for the economy in the third quarter." Yeah, that's true, because when the GDP grows, it's pretty much universally accepted as a good thing. Remember, the GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Local Water Company Proposes Rate Hikes

Indiana-American Water Co.is proposing rate increases for the Warsaw district.The hikes range from 1.67 percent for some industrial customers to 11.70 percent for public fire protection. The proposed increases are: Indicated Increase Customer In Proposed Rates Class Over Present Rates Residential 4.39% Commercial 3.99% Industrial - Large 4.09% Industrial - Other 1.65% Public Authority 6.61% Public Fire Protection 11.70% Private Fire Protection 7.29% If approved, the new rates would be effective in the fall. Indiana-American Water Co.rates are reviewed and approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.An evidentiary hearing is set for Jan 13 at 9:30 a.m.in Indianapolis.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

'97 Budget Shows Little Improvement

The devil is in the details, the old adage goes, and it couldn't ring more true than it does when the topic is the federal budget. The 1997 budget agreement, released last month, was highly touted by President Clinton and the Republican leadership in Congress. They told us of their plan to balance the federal budget by 2002 and provide modest tax cuts for hardworking Americans. But if you take a close look at what they're proposing, it becomes fairly obvious that the deal is based on $300 billion in questionable economic assumptions. Remember Clinton's assertion that the era of big government is over? Well, it's not. The economic assumptions in the budget deal mask a substantial INCREASE in the size and scope of the federal government. The Heritage Foundation recently released an analysis of the 1997 budget deal.Scott A.Hodge, a Grover M.Hermann fellow in federal budgetary affairs, wrote the analysis.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Valley Beats Buzzer, Rival Rochester

AKRON - Friday night's boys basketball game between rivals Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley will be the source of arguments in barbershops and restaurants for years to come. With the game tied at 60-60 and just 1.5 seconds remaining, Valley's Bryce Kelley, also the Vikings starting quarterback in the fall, threw a full-court inbounds pass to Shane Drudge.Drudge caught then quickly fired a bounce pass to David Lash who banked in a three-pointer from the corner as the buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 63-60 win, which extends Valley's Three Rivers Conference winning streak to 19. The two teams battled in the championship of the Winning Edge Tournament Dec.30 at Rochester with the Zebras pulling out a 62-56 win. Valley led by four at 59-55 with less than a minute and a half left in the game before Rochester standout Luke Smith nailed a three to draw his team within a point.
DANIEL RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

McIntosh Campaign Looks A Bit Silly

Republican candidate for governor David McIntosh's campaign is looking a little silly to me these days. And some of his campaign staff are looking like a character from Saturday Night Live years ago. You remember.That "Emily" person played by Gilda Radner.She would always misunderstand something and go off on a tangent. When informed that she was completely out in left field, she would say in a whiny, nasally tone, "Ooooh, ...never mind." At issue is a TV campaign ad that McIntosh is running all over the state. It shows this average Hoosier, Bill Statom, of Muncie. He's looking kind of bummed out in the ad.He says taxes have doubled on his house over the past 10 years. Well it seems taxes haven't doubled on his house.Taxes are up around 40 percent on all his properties, which include an adjacent lot and four other buildings he rents. When confronted with this 10 or 12 days ago, McIntosh campaign staffers could have done the right thing.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Manchester 'D' Frustrates Triton Attack

BOURBON - Manchester girls basketball coach Jody Shewman wasn't worried about what happened in the second half against Triton Thursday.Maybe just a little concerned. After dominating the Trojans for a 31-19 halftime lead, the two teams battled to a 31-31 tie over the final two quarters for a 62-50 Squire win.Not bad, but Shewman was expecting the same effort the Squires had in the first 16 minutes. "In the first half, I thought we played very well," Shewman said."In the second half, we didn't.We got a little content.Things got a little rough in the second half.It started going their way.We just got laid back, and we can't afford to do that." The Trojans on the other hand picked up the intensity, especially in the fourth quarter.Triton cut a 20-point margin, 52-32, to 10 points when Jessica Kintzel got a rebound and a layup for a 54-44 game with three minutes left.
Greg Jones, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

Grace's Kessler Wins 500th Game

SPRING ARBOR, Mich - Junior David Richmond hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to play as Grace pulled off a 70-67 men's basketball victory over Spring Arbor Tuesday.With the win, head coach Jim Kessler picked up the 500th of his career, all at Grace in 28 years. "When I got started, I thought that I'd give it five years and then try something else like selling cars," Kessler said."My goal every game is to be 1-0 and I guess we've done that 500 times.I've been very fortunate." Kessler was named NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading the program to its only NAIA National Championship during the 1991-92 season and has twice been named NCCAA National Coach of the Year.As well, his teams have won the Mid-Central Conference Championship eight times.Despite all the accolades and accomplishments, Kessler learned that it isn't during those times that you become a great coach.
Jason Knavel, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Tippecanoe Valley Boys Escape With 50-41 Win Over Rochester

AKRON-Listening to Tippecanoe Valley head coach Bill Patrick talk after Friday night's contest, you get the feeling the game film may get shredded like Enron documents.The Vikings overcame a lackluster performance to garner a conference victory over Rochester 50-41. "They weren't ready to play mentally," said Patrick of his team's effort."We were a step or two late and we weren't aggressive inside." That showed early on as 6-foot-6 sophomore Shane Drudge struggled with double teams by players several inches smaller.His fellow classmate 6-foot-4 David Lash was marginally better but struggled as well. A spark for Valley was found in junior Shane Denny.Patrick will readily admit that Denny can start if he chooses but Friday night Denny decided to come in off the bench.Much like Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson of the Detroit Pistons' "Bad Boys," he heated things up.
Daniel Riordan, TImes-Union Sports Correspondent- | July 28, 2016
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