Letters to the editor

The Ball State Plan
posted February 2, 2012 at 3:12 p.m.

 The Ball State Plan is not some mystical document that has been specially devised for Tipton County. The Ball State Plan is a common sense approach for any government, school system, business etc. to utilize when getting started to improve their entity. The Plan compliments a “Comprehensive Plan” done by a professional urban planning firm.

One important aspect of the Ball State Plan for Tipton County is to take a candid and introspective analysis of our community. We need to fully understand the age, capacity, durability, life expectancy, flexibility, expandability etc. of water systems, sewer systems, police and fire protection systems, electrical grids etc. We need to understand housing conditions, such as availability, pricing, land for expansion etc. We also need to understand our school system for performance, capacity and expandability. There are many additional items to be included in this analysis.

Many people believe that there is one area that is fundamental to building a better and more prosperous Tipton County. Citizens should fully comprehend how Tipton County is viewed around the state of Indiana.

We have to understand the Indiana Economic Development Corporation position for recommending Tipton County to businesses seeking to locate in central Indiana. We also need to understand any IEDC concerns and remedy those concerns. What steps need to be taken to become a more attractive and desirable business relocation destination?

Our community must understand how we are viewed by Purdue University as well as the state Agricultural Extension Service. We need a candid appraisal of working with Tipton County by the state association of Economic Development Directors/ Professionals and their associated vendors and site selectors. We need to understand how we are viewed by neighboring counties and communities and the people that represent them.

Tipton County should have a delegation or a professional investigator schedule a visit to Getrag Transmissions Corporation in Sterling Heights, Michigan. It is important to understand our relationship in hindsight, so we can learn from it. Eight Miles west of Getrag Transmissions Corporation is the Chrysler Corporation headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

If Tipton County is to become a more dynamic community to work and live, then we must fully understand Chrysler’s view of Tipton County. We need to understand why $260 million dollars was invested in their Kokomo facility, when the Tipton facility was new, appropriately sized and available for much less of an investment. It is essential that we all understand why our County was not considered, so that we can proceed with addressing our deficiencies.

The “Comprehensive Plan” and the “Ball State Plan” are great tools to identify a direction to grow as a community.

Furthermore, the two “Plans” are excellent tools to utilize a large and diverse number of volunteers from all over Tipton County. Citizen utilization in the PROCESS of building the end product is just as important as the end product itself.

Tom Mason - Tipton

 

Signs of life
posted January 23, 2012 at 12:50 p.m.

 How refreshing to witness the new construction and remodeling occurring at the Casey’s and McDonald's sites in Tipton. These companies are demonstrating, through their investment, a commitment and confidence in the Tipton community that is much needed.

There are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of Tipton County, the eventual occupation of the former Getrag facility being a prime example.

At the same time, there is much to be concerned about.

Continued population decline as evidenced by the 2010 census, school enrollment down, young families leaving the community, the potential for further industrialization of our rural/residential areas with wind “farm” expansion, and divisive elected leadership, are but a few concerns facing the community.

The influx of workers at the-soon-to-be Abound Solar facility, the improvement of U.S. 31 through central Indiana, possible development in the U.S. 31 and Ind. 28 area, all have the potential to bring big changes to Tipton County. How we, as a community, address and prepare for these changes, whether proactively or reactively, will affect the future of Tipton County for decades if not longer.

As a longtime resident of Tipton County, I too have decided to "invest" in Tipton County by filing my candidacy for Tipton County Council.

If elected, I would be one of seven serving the taxpayers as a county councilman. And while the council is primarily the fiscal body of the county, it also can play an important role in other areas. As appointed and volunteer members of many committees and organizations, each has an opportunity to discuss issues and engage the community in dialogue that is critical to our future.

As election time nears, I would encourage all other citizens to invest, by familiarizing yourself with the candidates and engaging others in the community with your own conversation about the direction and future of the county. And most importantly, vote.

Your voice or its absence may well determine the future of Tipton County.

Jim Ashley
At-large candidate
Tipton County Council

 

Thank you
posted December 18, 2011 at 9:30 p.m.

 Miller’s Merry Manor and the Encore Lifestyle & Enrichment Center would like to thank the local businesses that donated trees to the Festival of Trees.

STAR Financial Bank, Encompass Credit Union, the Tipton County Public Library, Wendy Comer, Lia Sophia Jewelry, Autumnwood Village and Miller’s Merry Manor all donated trees to the project.

Wendy Comer, SSD
Community Relations Director/ Social Service Designee
Miller's Merry Manor
Tipton

 

 

 

Submit your letters

The Argus is accepting letters to the editor. To be considered for publication all letters must be signed. The author’s name will be published. Your letters may be submitted via e-mail to news@tiptonargus.com, or mailed to: The Argus, 412 E. Jefferson St., Tipton, IN 46072

  

Cover to Cover
by WENDI WEST
A Walk In the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, published 1998 by Broadway Books (274 pages)

Have you ever considered taking six months out of your normal life to carry all your essentials in a backpack, sleep outdoors, and hike over 2,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail?

Jim Dashiell of Tipton County has and will be leaving in March to attempt to hike all 2,147 miles of the trail. In honor of his endeavor, I picked up Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods (again).

While I agree that life is too short to read a book more than once, this one is truly an exception.

Bryson’s hilariously candid attempt to hike the A.T. will have you laughing out loud and insisting that others listen to just one more passage. (Yep, I saw you roll your eyes, but I couldn’t stop myself!)

If you have never read a Bill Bryson book, you are in for a treat. He only writes non-fiction, and most are of the description and travel type. But nonfiction does not mean boring.

He has this wonderful sarcastic sense of humor that few can get away with. And while his barbed mockery of his fellow beings is hardly what we call politically correct, it is certainly entertaining. Unfortunately his language can be a bit offensive, but overall his books are almost all great fun to read.

My favorite part of Bryson’s book is his hiking companion, Stephen Katz. Bryson had not seen Katz for several years prior to their Appalachian adventure.

Meeting Katz at the airport, Bryson describes his friend as “arrestingly larger than when I had last seen him. He had always been kind of fleshy, but now he brought to mind Orson Welles after a very bad night. He was limping a little and breathing harder than one ought to after a walk of twenty yards.” (p. 22).

Not exactly my idea of a thru hiker on the A.T., but definitely fun to read about.

At the end of their first day on the trail, Bryson had gotten so far ahead of Katz that he had to back track to locate him. What he found was Katz “wild-haired and one-gloved and nearer hysteria than I have ever seen a grown person. It was hard to get the full story out of him in a coherent flow, because he was so furious, but I gathered he had thrown many items from his pack over a cliff in a temper. None of the things that had been dangling from the outside were there any longer.” I kept it clean for the review, but you can read page 39 to get the “rest of the story”.

Unfortunately, Katz had also flung most of their food over the cliff.

Mary Ellen is another misfortunate hiker Bryson introduces us to. He says “She talked nonstop, except when she was clearing out her eustachian tubes (which she did frequently) by pinching her nose and blowing out with a series of violent and alarming snorts of a sort that would make a dog leave the sofa and get under a table in the next room. I have long known that it is part of God’s plan for me to spend a little time with each of the most stupid people on earth, and Mary Ellen was proof that even in the Appalachian woods I would not be spared.” (p. 51)

The book is not all sardonic (but funny) descriptions of his trail venture. Bryson also gives a lot of interesting history and information about the Appalachian Trail and the surrounding region blended in with the funny anecdotes.

Not just dry, mind-numbing material like many travelogues can be; but interesting facts that make hiking the Appalachian Trail something I would like to try. Someday.

Maybe.

But for now, I wish Jim the best of luck and endurance in his upcoming adventure of the A.T. and look forward to hearing about his experience on the trail.


Wendi West owns Shabby Pages, a used book store in Tipton, and writes the Cover to Cover book reviews for The Argus. Her reviews are published on the fifteenth of every month.