For more than a decade now, citizens from all walks of Southwestern Indiana life have looked state Democrats in the eye and said, "If you persist in destroying our environment and the communities we love through your I-69 payoff to your political pals in Evansville, we will make you pay."

For all practical purposes, Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan has maintained a public distance from the I-69 issue. But there is no doubt where the Democratic Party's presumptive candidate for governor in 2004 stands.

John Fernandez is indeed the perfect target for a sustained political offensive built around the I-69 boondoggle. His vulnerabilities extend well beyond the highway.

Sorted by recipient

An in-depth analysis of campaign contributions from Bernardin Lochmueller & Associates (BLA) shows that the state's I-69 consultant has greased the palms of politicians on both sides of the aisle at a $55,000-a-year clip over the past three years.

Tom and Sandra Tokarski say Hoosiers across Indiana had better wake up to the economic realities of the I-69 highway extension through Southwest Indiana. Every taxpayer in the state will help pay for this billion-dollar transfer of taxpayer funds to the politically well connected every time they fill up their gas tanks.

Mind-numbing. Insulting. Corrupt.

How else could Indiana citizens characterize the arrogant disregard for the public interest displayed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for I-69 released last week by the Indiana Departmental of Transportation?

Agency to limit public input on plan

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is ready to move ahead with plans to ram Interstate 69 down the throats of the Bloomington community. And it appears that officials there are giving new meaning to the term duplicity.