Take that, public
After the Tribune ran the story “Trustee ousts chief, installs son” Dec. 20, detailing the Ancil family’s takeover of the Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Department, the article received a stream of negative comments on Facebook and elsewhere.
Mainly, people were upset that firefighters were resigning over Harrison Township Trustee Joyce Ancil’s decision to get rid of the elected fire chief and make her son, Mark Ancil, fire chief.
She was aided by her other son, David Ancil, who sits on both the township board and the fire corporation board.
The one commenter in favor of the move was, unsurprisingly, David Ancil himself. We present his comments, unedited.
“To clarify for all you negative people I was elected 3times to the township boar by Harrison township residents and also elected as president of the fire department by the Fire Department in oct after the previous president resigned,” David Ancil posted. “Also if you wish to check I have a conflict of interest document on file at the county and the trustees office. I have been the president in the past but it never was an issue till some of the old members of the department went to the tribune so find someone else to write about in the tribune but they just love writing about Harrison Township so it must have been a slow news day to put that on the front page.”
To quote George Will: well then.
Tipton County secrets
Prior to the big vote Dec. 18 on the Prairie Breeze wind farm in Tipton County, we tried our best to obtain information the Tipton County Council used to decide on tax abatements.
Specifically, we wanted the report prepared by Indianapolis consultants H.J. Umbaugh, which detailed how much tax incentives were worth to both the county and the wind farm developers.
Tipton County Auditor Greg Townsend denied the request through the county’s attorney, John Brooke, on the grounds that the report was prepared to help the county in negotiations with the developer.
“[County officials] are not obligated to provide information created by a private contractor that are communicative for the purpose of decision making,” Brooke wrote in a formal denial of our request.
Tipton County Commissioner Phil Heron also denied our request, apologizing that he “wasn’t able” to get us a copy.
And county commissioner Mike Cline, Heron’s partner in the usual 2-1 commissioners’ majority, simply refused to return our phone calls.
While Brooke indicated Friday he will look into whether we can have the report, now that the county has passed tax abatements for the project, we do wonder why the county officials don’t simply make the document available to the public.
Nothing prevents them from doing exactly that, were they so inclined.
Congratulations
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has named someone well-known and loved in Kokomo to his Governor’s Planning Council for People with Disabilities.
Russell Ragland, president and CEO of Kokomo Opalescent Glass Company, will serve a term lasting until Sept. 2015.
According to the governor’s office, the council is “an independent state agency that promotes public policy which leads to the independence, productivity and inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.”
Local News
Public eye - Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012
- Local News
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Fallen comrades remembered
In the 148-year history of the Kokomo Police Department, two officers have died in the line of duty. Members of the department took part in a ceremony Friday to honor not only those two, but all fallen police officers.
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Local deputies play key role in arrest
A mother and her infant son are now safe, thanks in part to the determination of deputies with the Howard County Sheriff’s Department. The officers worked from the time Kristy Redenbaugh was reported missing in September 2012 until the man police allege was her captor was arrested Thursday.
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Charter school to open in August
Goodwill Education Initiatives will unveil the area’s first charter school for high school dropouts Aug. 15 in downtown Kokomo.
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Districts call special board meetings
Northwestern School Corp. will likely reduce the hours of about a dozen instructional assistants to avoid having to provide them with insurance.
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Windy debates
At least two central Indiana counties have established setbacks that are essentially prohibitive of wind farm developments. Counties between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne have debated whether to allow wind farms and how to regulate them. In Howard County, wind farm opponents are trying to reopen the discussion to increase setback requirements established in the county’s code.
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Police: Woman steals $70,000 from company
Police say a former employee of a Miami County concrete company stole more than $70,000 from the business after she made 55 unauthorized purchases with company money.
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Former boss accused of stealing
Floyd Ogden worked with Gary Harpe at the Tipton County Street Department for 20 years. Ogden’s mother used to handle his finances. When she got sick in 2008, his former boss, Harpe, offered to help out.
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Gas pumps open after emergency shut down
Gas pumps at a Peru convenience store reopened Thursday morning after state officials shut down the station Tuesday after inspectors say they discovered an illegal amount of water inside the fuel holding tanks.
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City pool damaged by flood
The city’s Kokomo Beach Aquatic Center sustained heavy damage from the April 19 flood and won’t be able to open on time, Kokomo officials announced Wednesday.
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SBA flood relief office now open
The U.S. Small Business Administration flood disaster relief field office is now open to help the city’s flood victims recover.
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