The "well, duh" research of the week:
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A statewide survey suggests that Indiana's rural residents are more likely than their urban counterparts to be prepared for a disaster.
Researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis surveyed more than 2,000 Indiana residents in a joint project with Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
What a crappy little nothing institution UNO must be to even consider such a decrepit, useless old empty shell for a leadership position:
NEW ORLEANS (WANE) - IPFW Chancellor Michael Wartell is among five semi-finalist for the presidency at the University of New Orleans.
According to the Associated Press, Wartell was picked from 12 applicants by a search committee Tuesday.
Yesterday I meant to comment on The Journal Gazette's Sunday editorial about Occupy Fort Wayne, but time slipped away from me. The piece is a rather hamfisted exercise in belaboring the obvious:
The results of the Indianapolis city election provide an interesting comparison to Fort Wayne:
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's re-election victory benefited from thousands of crossover votes. But in giving him a vote of confidence, those Democrats, along with some independent voters, handed him what may become the greatest challenge of his second term: split government.
The Journal Gazette had a story this morning about the high demand for the new condominiums going in the old Anthond Wayne Bank building. I was intrigued by the quote from Mark Ulmschneider, identified as a downtown worker and prospective condo buyer:
“The location is just indescribable,” he said. “You almost feel like you're not in Fort Wayne.”
Stop the presses! Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels is endorsing Republican mayoral candidate Paula Hughes!
Actually, the more interesting tidbit doesn't come till the fifth paragraph:
Two sources close to Henry told NewsChannel 15 this week that the mayor's most recent internal poll -a scientific poll of 400 registered voters- shows Henry up 15 points in the race.
Just how bad have the mayoral campaign attack ads and mailers been? So bad that News-Sentinel conservative columnist Kevin Leininger criticized Republicans for going over the top about Mayor Tom Henry:
And the loser is ... the Allen County Republican Party's claim that Democratic Mayor Tom Henry is “the father of the County Option Income Tax (COIT) ... (that) since 2001 has cost taxpayers over $128 million.”
With the attack ads of Mayor Tom Henry and challenger Paula Hughes getting nastier and more cartoonish, here's something that might pass for an actual issue:
Wrapping up our candidate videos, today's feature is the at-large City Council race. It's so long that decided to break it up into two parts, and one of them still tops 15 minutes. Not much to do about that, though -- it's hard to get six candidates answering five questions in a much shorter time. A few notes:
Today's video focuses on the City Council's 4th District race between incumbent Republican Mitch Harper and Democratic challenger Mike Avila. This may be my favorite set of answers. Both candidates answer succinctly -- about six minutes total -- but not too briefly.
