TERRE HAUTE — Mayor Duke Bennett surviving a legal challenge launched by former Mayor Kevin Burke may have been the single biggest city government news story of 2009.
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in June that Burke’s challenge to Bennett’s eligibility for the 2007 election, which Bennett won by 110 votes, came too late — after the election was over. The justices’ 5-0 decision, which also expressed reluctance to overturn an election based on “formal or technical objections,” ended a 19-month legal battle.
In other city news, 2009 started with enthusiastic support from city officials over plans for a new Barnes and Noble bookstore and Indiana State University Foundation building at Fifth and Cherry streets.
Eager to show support, the Terre Haute City Council voted in February to spend $650,000 to help the project, which also was slated to receive about $1 million in federal funding and has a total price tag of about $5.5 million. In May, the council voted to amend the city’s downtown building regulations to suit the new facility and then, in June, voted to vacate a public alley that occupies land where the two-story building will be constructed.
Construction of the new bookstore has not started. Originally, ISU officials said the facility would be completed in late 2009 or early 2010.
Other city entities were involved in another story early in 2009. The Terre Haute Department of Redevelopment and the Terre Haute Board of Zoning Appeals squelched plans for a local recycling business to expand its operations.
Data Management Services, which operates a recycling facility in the Fort Harrison Industrial Park, sought local government approval to unload and reload recyclable waste inside an indoor transfer station. The Vigo County Area Planning Department recommended approval of the plan, but the Redevelopment Department and a majority of the BZA opposed it. Several residents of the nearby Shrine Hill neighborhood spoke out against the expansion and city officials raised their own concerns, including increased truck traffic on Steelton Road.
Over the summer, another local business had its expansion plans put on ice by local government leaders responding to nearby residents’ concerns. Mike’s Auto Wrecking and Towing on North 30th Street wanted property on the west side of 30th Street rezoned from “residential” use to “light industrial” so it could expand its operations. Dozens of neighborhood residents attended a City Council meeting to ask the councilmen to deny the request, which it did on a 6-3 vote.
Opposition from downtown businesses and others helped defeat an effort in 2009 to establish a Terre Haute Historic Preservation Commission. The idea for the commission, which would have worked with local neighborhood historic districts to establish building guidelines, failed to get enough support in the City Council for passage and was withdrawn in October by council president Todd Nation.
Also in the fall, the council voted to make it illegal in the city to feed colonies of stray cats except those that are part of a “trap, neuter and return” program. The goal of the law is to cut down on the city’s stray cat population.
The council rounded out the year by voting in favor of allocating $3.5 million in tax-free bonds to help support a planned new Clabber Girl warehouse and distribution facility on East Margaret Avenue. The bonds, which are not backed by taxpayer funds, were provided to the city under the federal stimulus package and are designed to encourage economic development in economically distressed areas.
In other city-related news, the 2010 city budget will — for the first time in recent memory — not include salary increases for city employees. This is part of Mayor Bennett’s efforts to deal with a shrinking city budget under new state property tax cap legislation. In addition to about $4 million in budget cuts from 2009 to 2010, the city may need to make additional cuts if property tax assessments in Terre Haute decline as expected, Bennett has said.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Reflections: Political Battles & City Moves
- Local & Bistate
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For Piper: Annual ‘Rush the Punter’ event dedicated to Dixie Bee student who died Wednesday after a short illness
Steve Weatherford’s “Rush the Punter” fundraiser at Fairbanks Park on Saturday was dedicated to a little girl who lost her life unexpectedly to pneumonia.
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Vigo schools prepare to tighten belts
State funding for the Vigo County School Corp. will remain “pretty flat” for the next two years, said Donna Wilson, chief financial officer.
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Veterans take to the trees
Cristal Bednar took photos of her husband, Justin, as he laboriously climbed his way up a “Dangle-Duo” to get to a zipline at Indiana State University’s Sycamore Outdoor Center.
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Property owner seeks halt to Hulman Lake dam project
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Few things in nature are less predictable than a tornado. They can form quickly. They strike weirdly, leveling one building while leaving its neighbor untouched. They can fling a car a half-mile and turn a piece of lumber into a wall-piercing missile.
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ISU unveils interactive Bayh Family Legacy Wall at school
A who’s who of Indiana Democrats paid tribute to Evan Bayh and several generations of the Bayh family Friday during a dedication of a new interactive display at Indiana State University.
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Can you smell me now?
A contraband cell phone has been discovered by the Vigo County Jail’s youngest and most unique officer.
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GIVING BACK: Steve Weatherford buys shoes for kids day before charity run
Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford, punter for the 2012 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, showed once again his generosity Friday by donating new athletic shoes to more than two dozen Vigo County kids.
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N.Y. Giants honor Weatherford as ‘Man of the Year’
Dan Tanoos, superintendent of Vigo County schools, remembers the first time he saw Steve Weatherford as a freshman at Terre Haute North Vigo High School.
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Sunday recital at The Woods
A recital featuring songs from well-known composers is at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
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Three from Operation Turn and Burn sentenced in federal court
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn must decide if he will sign a measure allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes after the state Senate approved legislation today.
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Skateboarders, BMX bike riders working to improve area of city park they use
The sound of small wheels rolling across smooth concrete fills the air, accented by the clacking noise of a wooden skateboard coming to an instant stop on a metal edge before rolling on again.
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Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
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Overlay recommended for 812 area code
The state agency that represents Hoosier utility customers is calling for a ten-digit solution to southern Indiana’s vanishing supply of 812 area code telephone numbers.
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Elementary school saddened by student’s death
A 9-year-old Dixie Bee Elementary student died unexpectedly Wednesday evening as the result of pneumonia, said Vigo County Coroner Susan Amos on Thursday.
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Vermillion CSX crossings undergoing maintenance
CSX maintenance crews are working on railroad crossings between Dana and Chrisman, Ill. this week and next, a CSX official said Thursday.
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Beware of scams everywhere
Ever get a phone call in the middle of the night from a person claiming to be your grandchild, who unfortunately has been jailed in Canada and needs bail money?
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INDOT to start work on Indiana 163 in Vermillion County
Maintenance crews will begin a pavement preservation project Monday on Indiana 163, between Indiana 63 and the Illinois state line west of Clinton.
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Union Hospital community garden spots now available
Community gardening spots are now available at the Union Hospital Community Garden for Wabash Valley residents interested in planting and maintaining a garden but may not have the space. The garden is located west of the intersection of North Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue in Terre Haute at 1430 N. Sixth St.
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Correctional officer remembered at memorial
Greene County native and Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Officer Timothy Betts was honored during a memorial ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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Money donated for Dresser sculpture
100+ Women Who Care of Vigo County on Thursday awarded a $20,200 grant to Art Spaces that will help make the Paul Dresser sculpture, “A Song for Indiana,” a reality.
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Powerball jackpot quickly jumps to $550 million
The Powerball jackpot jumped to $550 million on Thursday — the third largest lottery in history — as dreamers in all but the seven states where the game isn’t played snatched up tickets for the minuscule chance at a life on easy street.
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School bus carrying special-needs kids rolls over
INDIANAPOLIS — A school bus carrying special-needs students rolled over today on a highway near Indianapolis, injuring a dozen people including five children, state police said.
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