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Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  District of Columbia City  :  Washington Lat/Long  :  38.8933, -77.0146 (Map)

Road repair is new county highway chief's top goal

I spoke to an unnamed Whitley County official and was told Whitley County Commission President Tom Rethlake "found" Mr. Barton and it was understood he was a close friend of Jim Banks and Jim was the one to recommend Mike to Tom Rethlake.  This official also indicated the commissioners were aware of some "issues" with Mr. Barton, but maybe not the full extent of his dismissal and subsequent prohibition from being hired in Huntington County government again without the approval of the Huntington County Commissioners.  Another official indicated Mr. Rethlake was aware of everything but Mr. Banks made a strong case for his hiring. It appears I paid attention in preschool to the whole connect the dot thing. 

This article ran in the Post & Mail on April 23. Then again, after reading this, maybe I got the wrong Mike Barton in my previous stories?

The Post & Mail 

By TJ Hemlinger

Staff Writer

There’s a new face overseeing the Whitley County Highway Department, but he has years of experience in the same position in Huntington County, so there shouldn’t be any dropoff in services while he learns the ropes of the new job.

New Gig for Mike Barton

BY GARY L. SNYDER

Former Huntington County Highway Superintendent, Mike Barton, has a new gig, beyond Huntington County Republican Party Fundraising Chairman and golf outing czar.  Mr. Barton has landed the Whitley County Highway Superintendent position.

As many of you know, Mr. Barton was fired last year by the Huntington County Commissioners and made several attempts to regain employment with the county, without any success.  My sources indicate most people in Whitley County government are aware of  Mr. Barton's "misconduct" that led to his termination, but the Whitley County Commissioners hired him anyway.  So it makes one wonder how he landed this gig up in Whitley County? 

Table Settings

BY GARY L. SNYDER

A formal table setting requires everything to be in its correct place; not because the universe will be out of balance if it's not, but because forks should just be by other forks and spoons should just be by other spoons.  It just makes dinner go a little easier, if by chance, you do need three forks or three spoons.

Dr. McGoff in town

BY GARY L. SNYDER

Former Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District, Dr. John McGoff, was in town last week meeting with a group of local Republicans to discuss the possibility of challenging Congressman Dan Burton again next year. 

Dr. McGoff put up a spirited challenge to Rep. Burton last, but could not overcome the deep institutional party support Congressman Burton enjoyed.  If Dr. McGoff does decide to jump back into the race, he will have plenty of company.  Besides Congressman Burton, Luke Messer and Brose McVey have started the process to challenge Mr. Burton.

New Andrews document requests

Since my previous document requests raised more questions than it answered, I thought it was appropriate to make a new request for public information that may shed some light on some of the documents already received.  So today, I submitted three separate public document requests in hopes of clarifying some of the very convoluted information already received.

McIntyre proposes new resolution

BY GARY L. SNYDER

Huntington Common Councilman Steve McIntyre has drafted and will propose to the Huntington Common Council a resolution that will provide a better transparency in city government for Huntington residents.  This resolution will coincide with an updated City/County website about to be introduced to the public.

Tom Carney makes it official

BY GARY L. SNYDER

On Friday, April 17, Tom Carney filed papers with the Huntington County Clerk opening an exploratory committee, paving the way for Tom to enter the Huntington County Sheriff's race in the Republican Primary next May.  Tom is the second person to file papers for the election.  This sets up what promises to a very spirited campaign.  A campaign with two different philosophies on campaigning, two different backgrounds in law enforcement and two distinct personalities. 

Tom Wall says no to any LOIT increase

BY GARY L. SNYDER

I received a phone call tonight from Huntington County Commission President Tom Wall and he wanted to go on the record in his opposition to any future increase in the Local Option Income Tax (LOIT).  Mr. Wall was responding to a recent article regarding his statements at the legislative update in March. "In no way do I support an increase in the LOIT.  Huntington's unemployment is growing and people just can't afford it right now.  We as elected officials need to do more to reduce our budgets and not tax our residents any more." said Wall. 

Dinner for 4

As most of you know, there is an annual local dinner auction planned in the near future.  One of the items up for bid is dinner with Mr. & Mrs. Mayor Steve at Market Street in Wabash. Personally, I would prefer a local eatery, but Wabash is fine.  Now, a friend just emailed me with a great idea.

I've removed the ChipIn button because of several complaints it wasn't working.  I will keep you up to date on our total in the comment section.

Surprise, surprise

BY GARY L. SNYDER

It should come as no surprise to any of us when a politician makes a public statement advocating one thing and then contradicts that statement by his actions.  The General Assembly is wrapping up its 2009 "long session" so we are going to pay close attention to State Rep. Dan over the next week and put a magnifying glass to his votes. 

Missing Credit Card Statements

BY GARY L. SNYDER

On Friday, April 17, 2009 I received an envelope from the Town of Andrews containing the credit card statements for former Town Clerk-Treasurer and current Huntington County Auditor Kathy Juillerat for the calendar year 2007.  My public document request was made on March 18, 2009.  Inside I found most of the credit card statements I requested for Kathy.

Pam, Fran, Pam, Fran...

By Gary L. Snyder

The resignation of Huntington County Clerk Vicki Stoffel is still months away and the battle royal is heating up to replace her, or is it?.  For those of you who are not familiar with the circumstances involving Mrs. Stoffel's pending resignation, she is stepping down at year's end to remove any appearance of a conflict of interest while her husband, Terry Stoffel, runs for sheriff. 

13.6%

Huntington County's unemployment rate for March skyrocketed to 13.6%, well above the state average of 10%.  If you are keeping track, which I am, that is nearly a 300% increase since January 1, 2008.

Cowboy up

Out in the wild, wild west of Andrews, Indiana, things are done a little differently than us city folk are accustomed to.  And while the town is not ruled by a gun toting marshal doing as he pleases and with the town's populous, including its elected officials cowering at the site of the marshal; oh wait, never mind.