If you've had your heart set on a naked picnic in Morgan County this summer, sorry about that:
A proposed clothing optional campground in Morgan County was denied zoning approval Monday night to begin operation.
[. . .]
The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously denied the request, citing traffic concerns, road problems and a perceived adverse effect on property values, drawing a standing ovation from about 100 residents at the meeting.
Sometimes we make mistakes for no discernible reason. Then there are the slips with an easily understood origin (at least for the one making the slip).
Last week, I wrote both a blog post and an editorial inviting former City Councilman Dr. John Crawford, who is asking for public input on whether to seek elective office again, to initiate a discussion on what constitutes "small" and "big" government. He has a deserved reputation as a fiscal conservative, but he was also in on some quite activist government, e.g. the smoking ban and Harrison Square.
If we start referring to a certain Indiana college town as the People's Republic of Bloomington, would that be guilt by association?
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has said that he is a Marxist, yet credits capitalism for bringing new freedoms to the communist country that exiled him -- China.
The minute I heard about Mark Souder's planned resignation and confessed adulterous affair, I knew I was quickly going to get tired of all the schadenfreude the left would start wallowing in: Tee hee, tee hee, another self-righteous, family-values-preaching, religious right moralizer gets caught with his pants down. Oh, the hypocrisy!
Donna Brazile is a "Democratic strategist" whose op-ed columns we run occasionally. One of the things that penetrated my Vicodin haze late last week was an observation she made that I inititially agreed with but since have had mixed feelings about:
Dr. John Crawford, escorted from public service by voters in the last city election, wants to come back, but he wants us to ask him first. In an open letter to Fort Wayne citizens published in both newspapers (see Page 4a of yesterday's JG or 5a of the N-S), he says his philosophy while serving on City Council was always "fiscal constraint and keeping government as small as possible," and he wants input on whether to run for an office in city government in 2011:
It's official: Democrats chose Brad Ellsworth to run against Dan Coats for the Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh:
Off to a late start and an unorthodox selection as Indiana's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Brad Ellsworth officially launched his campaign Saturday, calling himself a former county sheriff "increasing my patrol zone.''
[. . .]
You can either credit state Sen. Mike Delph with being persistent and having the courage of his convictions, or condemn him as a stubborn jackass who won't give up on a lost cause. Spurred by Arizona's recent enactment of a tough state immigration law, he's considering his fourth try at legislation here:
They're having a little county code contretemps in St. Joseph. The code had been on the fast track, but officials slowed things down over concerns that it had become too broad in scope. Concern has been raised especially about language "that would allow building department employees to enter people's homes to look for violations." Perhaps some people didn't see the controversy coming:
The language was lifted almost word for word from the city ordinance, he said.
