What happened this morning?

[caraher]

State-maintained west central Indiana roads were skating rinks after mild winter weather. A quick pass by a salt truck would have fixed everything, but they were nowhere in sight. Took me 20 minutes to go 2 miles; I turned back and am writing from home. My wife was on the road almost 2 hours in total; she had to turn back for home. By the time I woke at 5:45 there was no precipitation... the "storm" barely was a storm at all, yet these roads were as bad as any I've ever seen, and I'm from Michigan!

I think this helps explain why so many people in Republican-dominated areas think government is intrinsically incompetent - it *is* when it's run by people who believe that and who have never seen a tax they can accept as rational. I don't know how many pennies Mitch's minions saved by not paying overtime to road crews in the wee hours, but it pales next to the economic cost of all the fender benders, delayed and canceled activities.

[Sam1]

1. Not just the Republicans -

Fort Wayne Streets were also "Skating rinks" and no sand trucks in evidence. The city admin is democratic. I think that in the back of their minds Indiana politicians know that even if they do nothing the snow will go away in the spring!

[caraher]

3. expectations are awfully low here it seems

but if nobody expects better, they get what they expect

[IndianaGreen]

2. Our genius of a mayor Ballard said that DOT performed very well

He blamed the weather guys on TV for the roads being icy!

[Voltaire]

4. Holy Snikeys

The whole near-Southside was an ice rink yesterday morning, and we aren't more than a couple miles from the salt barn!

[AngryOldDem]

5. And this after talking all weekend about "how prepared" they were...

...and when all the forecasts were calling for a dusting of snow -- or less.

(I'm a relatively new Hoosier -- lived here back in the early to mid-90s, though -- and I am amazed at how Ballard managed to get himself elected mayor. NOT impressed.)

My beef, though, is with the schools. Why didn't they go with a two-hour delay? Buses were running almost that late anyway (at least in Hamilton County).

[caraher]

6. I heard this morning that they've changed the rules on 2-hr delays

Apparently the day needs to be made up in full even if it's just a 2-hour delay. Or so I'm told by a parent. She said it's a new state policy this year, and if true there's clearly an incentive to not do delays if at all possible.

It would have been a perfect day for a delay... a few hours and any effort at all to deal with the ice would have been fine.

[AngryOldDem]

7. I think that's the case.

Still...I wonder how many buses were empty or nearly so because people found other ways to get their kids to school?

I had my daughter leave at her usual time to catch her bus down the street, even though my son's was nearly a half-hour late. After about 15 minutes after her bus usually comes, my doorbell rang and it was a neighbor with a van full of kids asking if it would be okay if my daughter rode along. So there was at least one stop with no kids waiting at it.

My other son, a high-schooler, said while his bus came on time, it took nearly an hour to get to school, and most of that was spent on a bus that was continually sliding off to one side.

So, in effect, all my kids **did** have a two-hour delay, or pretty close to it.

Common sense has to rule here at some point.