Published: September 06, 2008 11:05 pm            

Public Eye - Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008

Mending fences

When Clinton County Auditor Jacque Clements captured the Republican Party nomination for the House District 38 seat, it irked Howard County GOP leader Craig Dunn.

Dunn said Clinton County chairwoman Beverly Bush used “unvarnished” strong-arm tactics during a GOP caucus to sway votes for Clements.

What bothered Dunn the most was the fact that in a separate caucus vote, Kokomo businessman Heath Vannater was selected to complete State Sen. Jim Buck’s remaining term in the District 38 seat (Buck took former Sen. Jeff Drozda’s seat earlier this year). Dunn indicated the Howard County party would not provide much support for Clements.

But Monday, Dunn will appear with Clements at GOP headquarters, 204 N. Main St., at 4 p.m. to conduct a press briefing on plans for the final eight weeks of the fall campaign.

Clements is running against Democrat Bob Snow, a local businessman, in what could prove a crucial race for control of the Indiana House.

Traveling shoes

Earlier this year Republican Luke Puckett, the party’s candidate for the 2nd Congressional District seat, made a trip to Alaska to get a first-hand look at the north slope and indicated he would support drilling for oil.

Last week, incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly led a bi-partisan congressional delegation to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit with U.S. troops and gather information about military efforts in the Middle East. The delegation also stopped in Georgia, not the southern state, but the country in Europe.

“I wanted to go to Georgia to stress to their leaders that the United States fully supports Georgia’s democracy and government,” Donnelly said of the visit.

Let them eat cake

Just before the French Revolution, word went around all the starving French peasants that soon-to-be headless Marie Antoinette had callously suggested “Let them eat cake” when warned of the peasants’ lack of bread.

As it became apparent on Wednesday that Howard County employees would not be receiving a pay increase for 2009, “Let them eat corn chips” was a suggested headline following the action by some county officials.

Ultimate back in booze

The third time was the charm for the Ultimate Place 2 B.

Owner Dan Dumoulin II once again has a liquor license for the southside strip club, at least on a temporary basis, while Dumoulin and attorneys representing a group of local remonstrators await an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling.

Dumoulin’s license was formally revoked last August, about 18 months after the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Board declined to renew it.

The State Alcohol & Tobacco Commission upheld that ruling, but in June, Special Judge Rosemary Burke threw out the state and local decisions, and ordered the license returned. The Indiana Attorney General’s office and the remonstrators’ attorney, Mark Hurt, appealed Burke’s ruling, but last month the ATC agreed to give the license back while the appeal is pending.

Hurt said Dumoulin made three separate appeals before the state commission finally relented and allowed him temporary possession of the license. Hurt said the Court of Appeals ruling should come down some time before Thanksgiving.

All for the common good

Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight, who supports the decision to close part of Lindsay Street so Syndicate Sales can expand, wasn’t happy about the recent Tribune headline “City block closes for good.”

Goodnight thought the headline cast the street closure in a negative light, until city engineer Carey Stranahan (perhaps facetiously) suggested an alternate reading.

“City block closes for good,” Stranahan joked. “As in, for the common good.”

That reading of the headline, we submitted, was certainly plausible.

Goodnight encountered The Public Eye a day later.

“No one is buying that explanation,” he said.

        

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