Letter: None of the Mid-States Corridor routes are desirable
The proponents of the Mid-States Corridor have offered four alternate routes around and/or through Loogootee. None of them are desirable. The study of the proposed Mid-States Corridor should have SERIOUSLY considered the proposed Mid-States Corridor versus improvements to the existing US 231. Instead, the $7 MILLION study focused only on the misguided MSC in an attempt to…
Letter: Focus on sound financial analysis, not political statements
Rep. Bartels, The idea of preventing Indiana pension funds from investing in so-called “woke” companies could have several negative consequences. Here are a few reasons why: Overall, while some may argue that divesting from certain companies is a way to make a political statement, it could have negative consequences for pension funds and their beneficiaries….
Column: Remote work through the eyes of three 20-somethings
It must be said again and again that 48.2 percent of college graduates in the U.S. were working remotely, according to the February 2023 Census survey. That number is up slightly from late 2021, suggesting that remote work is here to stay. It is also important to connect the dots with job creation and remote…
Letter: Studies don’t address what is lost by Mid-States Corridor
The inclusion of several new “variations to the preferred route in the Loogootee area” of the proposed Mid-States Corridor clearly misses the point of the huge number of objections to this latest plan to construct yet another NAFTA highway through the region. In addition, the fact that there has been no demonstrated need for this…
Joseph D. Phillips, 82, Jasper
Joseph D. Phillips, 82, of Jasper, passed away at 12:38 a.m. on Monday, March 6, 2023, surrounded by family in The Waters of Huntingburg in Huntingburg. Joe was born in Columbus, Ind., on September 14, 1940, to Paul and Lillian (Street) Phillips. He married Georgiane Fleck on February 1, 1969. He was a high school graduate…
Opinion: The Amish in Indiana
Indiana is home to about 1 in 6 of all Amish Americans, with estimates from 2022 at about 62,000 adherents. The Amish, as most readers will know, are a Christian religious denomination who arrived from Germany and Switzerland in the early 1800s. Their members are recognizable by their style of dress and transportation. Again, most…
Letter: The proposed Mid-States Corridor – another highway boondoggle
In the summer of 2022, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund and the Frontier Group published “Highway Boondoggles 7, Wasting infrastructure funding on damaging and unnecessary road projects” (see Highway Boondoggles (pirg.org)). In its Executive Summary, it asks the question: with the new infrastructure monies available for states, will they spend the money…
Letter: Response to the letter from the executive director of Parents Supporting Educators–Jasper
In response to the letter from Emily Klein of Parents Supporting Educators–Jasper Emily, Good work and good luck. This all boggles the mind: The State is ready to throw teachers in jail for two and a half years and fine them $10,000 because they may have exposed students to books the State has decreed to…
Letter: Support educators, not unnecessary laws
As Executive Director and spokesperson for Parents Supporting Education-Jasper, I am upholding our mission which is to support public educators by amplifying the voices of our local public school families, teachers, and staff. We advocate for the future of public education in the Greater Jasper Consolidated Schools. We have been clear about our mission from…
Column: Subsidizing builders fixes the wrong housing problem
Indiana is wrestling with a housing problem. Mayors across the state grapple with ways to get new homes built in their communities. Last year, the Indiana Legislature convened a task force that listened to several groups outline their perspectives. One result is that in this session of the General Assembly, there are bills to subsidize…
Letter: Is the Indiana GOP really about empowering Hoosier parents
House Bill 1177 was introduced in the Indiana House to allow state-funded teacher firearms training. While I am not thrilled with the prospect of teachers having handguns, I do support a measure that if they are allowed they have access to training. One thing worse than a teacher with a gun is an untrained teacher…
Column: What is happening to labor supply?
Several readers have asked what is happening in labor markets, and why it is so difficult to find workers. That’s a common concern in the post-COVID world and is worthy of a deep dive into labor market data. The Indiana experience is similar to many states, but with a few notable twists. Indiana’s labor force…
Letter: We need to support public safety
Safety and public health should be a top priority for the citizens of Dubois County. The Dubois County Sheriff Department continues to do a great job in keeping our county safe even with the challenges of being short-staffed according to statistics identifying the appropriate number of law enforcement for counties by population. This information is…
Opinion: Following the big lie playbook
by Julia Vaughn, Indiana Capital Chronicle For more than a decade, Indiana has ranked in the bottom 10 for voter turnout. You would think that embarrassing statistic would motivate lawmakers to address the issue. Unfortunately, that’s not what’s happening at the Indiana General Assembly this year. Instead of proposals designed to make voting more accessible,…
Column: The 2023 forecast
In the past couple weeks, I’ve presented my 2023 economic forecast to groups here in Indiana and Ohio. My short-term economic forecast through 2023 and into 2024 is similar to that of the Federal Reserve. I’m predicting the U.S. dodges a recession in 2023 and faces instead what is often called a ‘soft landing.’ There…
Letter: Speeding trucks an issue in Haysville
Living next to Highway 231 in Haysville, I have noticed over the years that commercial semi trucks never get pulled over for speeding. They drive as if they have no fear of ever being stopped and written up. Every week of the year, I can see turkey truck semis fly through the town going 50…
Letter: Thank you for all the great arts & entertainment events, Dubois County
With the start of the new 2023 year, I found myself anxiously awaiting the announcements for what incredible arts and entertainment will once again be brought to our area. While checking websites for information, I was struck with just how lucky we are with all that is offered. I pulled up the website for the…
Column: Some labor market facts you won’t read elsewhere
One area of growing frustration for me is the low quality of information Hoosiers receive about labor markets. It isn’t the incessant political spin about the monthly jobs report, or the use of dubious jobs announcements that vexes me. Indiana is hardly alone in deploying political spin. I’m concerned that honest efforts to develop education…
Opinion: Three types of public debt
There are three types of public debt. Each imposes some risks to the economic fortunes of the nation or a state. Each type differs in important ways. Each can be politically manipulated to make searing, but often mistaken points. Indeed, it requires a rare level of political integrity to speak of them with equal concern….
Letter: Gaslighting with gas stoves
Most of what we call problems and “issues” are only symptoms of much more serious disease. Take, for example, the proposed, then denied, then proposed again as a possibility, gas stove ban. Our federal constitution’s 18th Amendment properly, though foolishly, granted the federal government authority to ban ONLY the “…manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors…” …