St.Joseph County Magistrate
Last activity Jan 26, 2009 9:50 AM
Saint Joseph County Fair at odds with state law?
St. Joseph County • Sep 22, 2009 9:08 PM
"The Fair" (property and event) are owned by the collective Granges in St. Joseph county. i.e. Colon Grange, Burr Oak Grange, etc. Which is a rural service organization, not unlike Kiwanis or Rotary. The St. Joe county Grange fair has its own board etc.
Another fire department in TR area?
Three Rivers Area • Sep 20, 2009 8:14 PM
Why shouldn't Lockport Township have their own department? There are many single twp. departments out there. Leonidas Twp. (for example)has their own department and they do not have the industry or population that Lockport has. I am glad to see the open-mindedness of the board.
Fair board asked to pick up liability insurance
St. Joseph County • Aug 24, 2009 2:13 PM
This issue had been known since 2003, but the prior administration failed to do anything about it. In the full story credit is given to the wrong person for bringing the issue to the fore, this problem and resolution was actually researched and proposed by Undersheriff Lillywhite.
Open house at new FPFD fire station July 18th
Three Rivers Area • Jul 9, 2009 12:35 AM
"I too am mystified as to why ITTOI feels the need to be so snotty about what used to be LFP. And I never got the answer to my question about ITTOI being in the LFP service area or not." Posted by Lockport I feel "snotty" about the unprofessional way that Chief Miracle & Asst. Chief Roderick operate the department. Anyone who cannot see that this station deal was an inside deal with buddies Mark Reenders and Scott Miracle hasn't been paying attention. I also take issue with giving a brand new, high-dollar station to people who have demonstrated such a lack of caring or stewardship for the buildings that were entrusted to them by the townships as have FPFD members. They continually demonstrate a cavalier attitude toward safety and proper response procedures. FPFD needs restructuring from the top down. I hope that the Fire Board will take a hard look (or have an outside consultant look) at whether or not their fire department is being managed according to 'industry best standards', accepted methods, and with appropriate training. Typically, departments that display this operating mentality receive no outside peer review until there has been a serious injury or line of duty death. One of the most recent examples was the Charleston, SC Sofa Super Store Fire. Charleston is a large city and the local government felt that they had excellent fire protection until nine firefighters were killed in a furniture store fire. This fire prompted the local government to conduct an in depth review of the department. What the examiners found was a department that was antiquated, using unsafe tactics and strategies and not performing acceptable training. They now have a whole new command staff and have implemented broad, sweeping change department wide. My point is this there is an obvious lack of discipline, safety, training and understanding of proper response techniques. These items are an outward sign of other problems lurking. Do not just accept that everything is great because there hasn't been an accident in 50+ years, these 'cowboys' haven't been around for that long and the traffic situation wasn't like it is today, nor did fires burn the way they did back then. I simply state that if Fabius has money to spend on a station like the one they just completed, maybe they should have someone take a look at the meat and potatoes of response and operations. Also, have the trucks inspected to DOT standards, and don't accept that they are exempt because they are fire trucks,they will be held to the DOT standards when there is an accident. There are numerous respected consulting firms that specialize in just this sort of things, please do not continue to just accept the word of a glazier and a plumber, hire some professionals to take a look at things. Would Fabius Township accept the word of a butcher who does accounting on the side to do their annual audit? No, this is a much more serious (and potentially costly) issue than the annual audit. Look into it, it will be very enlightening. Who knows maybe they'll say everything is perfect and I am wrong. That would be nice documentation to have if a lawsuit ever came along.
Open house at new FPFD fire station July 18th
Three Rivers Area • Jul 8, 2009 1:51 PM
I did not say there had been any accidents, just that the more chances that you take the higher the chance of one happening becomes. Never say never, prevent the preventable.