Seth Slabaugh has an article about the cost of fixing an aging water system in Muncie.

Muncie has 368 miles of water lines and some 600 miles of sewer lines, many of which were constructed 75 to 95 years ago, Bennington said.

I only mention it to note the difficulty in budgeting for upkeep of infrastructure. Present needs have a way of shoving aside intentions to set aside money for future needs. When you build something, it’s a certainty that repairs will be needed in the future. It’s almost as certain that routine maintenance will be less expensive in the long run than deferring maintenance until something catastrophic happens. But, it’s hard to say “no” to a present need or to raise taxes just to pay for something preventative on systems that are largely taken for granted. So, public servants who budget for appropriate maintenance in lieu of items that are more immediately popular are probably unsung heroes in some sense.

A couple days back, I had read in the minutes of the Interim Study Committee on Alcoholic Beverage Issues (pdf) that members of the package liquor industry were billing themselves as the “stewards of control” of Indiana’s liquor regulations. According to an investigation by the State Excise Police, the truth seems to be pretty much the opposite. It is easier for minors to buy alcohol in liquor stores than in grocery stores and drug stores:

That led to statewide sting operations that began in July and have resulted in 417 citations at bars, restaurants, grocery stores, liquor marts and other alcohol retailers.

The worst violators: restaurants and liquor stores.

More than 44 percent of restaurants and 40 percent of liquor stores failed the checks. Hotels allowed underage purchases 36 percent of the time, grocery stores 26 percent, drugstores 21 percent and private clubs 12 percent.

I am shocked, shocked to find out that lobbyists testifying in front of a legislative study committee were full of crap.

One of these Stewards of Control was grousing about the sting operation in the Indy Star article. Essentially, the liquor store owner was bellyaching about the excise police not having anything better to do than harass people. After all, the owner said, he had a sign on the door that said people under 21 shouldn’t come in the store. Why are they busting his chops?

“It was a big setup. These guys don’t have anything better to do than to come in here and get people caught up so they can get a bigger paycheck?” Cobb said. “The sign on our door says clearly no one under the age of 21 should come in, and for a law enforcement officer to bring somebody in who is under 21 to set somebody up is ridiculous.”

As I recall, in Richmond growing up, a high school girl could go across the state line to Carl’s Carry Out in New Paris, Ohio and, so long as she could see over the counter, Carl would sell her some booze. Guys had to work a little harder: wait outside a liquor store until just the right kind of person came by – someone who looked shady enough to buy for a minor, but not so shady that he’d just disappear with the money.

Bill Engle, writing for the Richmond Palladium-Item, has a good article on how Richmond City Council members circulated e-mails prior to a vote, specifically to avoid a public meeting, resulting in a successful effort to eliminate funding for Richmond’s Human Rights office. When councilman, Clay Miller, suggested that Republican members of the council caucus to discuss the issue, Council President, Bruce Wissell discouraged such a meeting since it would trigger the state’s open meeting laws. Instead, they planned their action through a series of e-mails and successfully blindsided advocates of the human rights office.

I don’t usually drift too far into popcult around here — which is maybe a little odd, because I like to wallow in brain rotting entertainment — but the following from a recent episode of Batman: The Brave & the Bold was a big hit in the Masson household:

Neil Patrick Harris appears, singing as the Music Maestro. Cole just loves Batman. And, I have to say, I really enjoy the Brave & the Bold incarnation of the Dark Knight. Among other things, Aquaman is so over the top, he reminds me of The Tick. NPH as the Music Maestro is very reminiscent of his stint as Dr. Horrible in Joss Whedon’s Internet musical. In some sense, Neil Patrick Harris will always be Doogie, but I love Barney in “How I Met Your Mother” and his appearances in the Harold & Kumar movies were legen – (wait for it) – dary!

An article by Seth Slabaugh in the Muncie Star Press reports a Ball State study on the stuff in our water.

Here’s what you might be ingesting the next time you have a cool drink of water: acetaminophen; antibiotics used to treat urinary tract infections; antibacterial agents found in soap; trace amounts of caffeine and cotinine, a body-producing byproduct of nicotine; anticoagulants; and carbamazepine, a drug used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder. Oh, and DEET insect repellant.
. . .
The federal government has not established maximum contaminant levels for pharmaceuticals in treated drinking water, Alan DeBoy, vice president of operations for Indiana-American Water Co., said during a community forum in Muncie this week.

“But those will be coming,” he said.

I don’t know how you deal with this except through government regulation. I know that anti-government types dislike almost any sorts of government intervention and believe that property owners should be able to do as they will on their property and that people’s ability to manufacture or buy products should be almost unfettered. But, as always, a person’s right to swing his arm stops at the other guy’s nose. In the case of something as simple as a punch in the nose, you don’t need a whole lot of government intervention; you can just sue the guy for damages you sustain from the punch. Pollution is a tougher issue because the damages are less direct. If I’m get sick from a steady stream of cocktails consisting of soap, caffeine, nicotine, and DEET, who do I sue?

You have to either stop the chemicals from getting in the water or treat the water more completely before it gets to third parties. So far as I can tell, this requires regulation and taxes. Like I’ve said before, I’ve never heard a very good Libertarian approach to pollution. I’d certainly like to hear it though.

There is a sad tale in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette about a woman who bought a house where there had been a meth lab. Renters of the house had the lab and apparently got busted. The landlord at the time got recommendations from the county on how to clean the property, but the landlords efforts were insufficient. The new buyer started to get sick, apparently from the house. This, according to the article, led to the woman losing her job, having to go on disability, and being subjected to foreclosure. I wonder if it would be feasible to record some kind of notice of environmental condition in situations where toxic chemicals have been manufactured at a site. Though, I’m not sure how you would enact such a requirement without opening the flood gates to the recorder’s office and cluttering up the title work.

I can’t imagine seeing this on my commute. Someone passed along an e-mail with a picture of the tanker blowing up at I-69/465.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier has an article about the announcement of West Lafayette City Councilman, Paul Roales, to seek the Indiana House seat currently held by Randy Truitt; House District 26. The last election was a tight one between Truitt and John Polles as they sought to fill seat left open by the departure of Joe Micon. Micon’s himself won the seat, initially, in a narrow election. So, historically, anyway, this has been a pretty balanced district.

Fishing licenses are up 8.1% this year in Indiana; above the national average of 7.7%. One explanation is that people have more time because they aren’t working as much and fishing is (or at least can be) a relatively cheap pastime.

The Interim Study Committee on Alcoholic Beverage Issues has come out opposed to modifying the alcohol laws to allow Sunday sales. I don’t have time to provide any commentary, but the minutes from the hearing are here (pdf). O.k. – just a bit of commentary. The current laws seem like a protection scheme for the benefit of package stores with little benefit to the public.