Commissioners in Daviess County officially request Central

At their Monday meeting, Daviess County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to request that the county be moved to the Central time zone because residents do most of their business in Evansville, which also hosts the closest major airport and state college. Most television broadcasts come from Evansville or Terre Haute, they reasoned, and many residents work at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Gibson County.

“Just because you put in the petition doesn’t mean you will get the switch,” said Ind. Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, who plans to request a state-wide voter referendum on the issue.

Since at least 11 other counties have requested Central time, and Greene seems to be leaning that way, commissioners felt they could safely take their chances.

However, said Crooks, Vigo County, which dominates the area’s television coverage, has not endorsed Central time. He feels this will be a major factor when the U.S. Department of Transportation decides which time zones to approve.

Commissioners in Dubois, Knox and White counties also voted Monday to seek a switch to the Central time zone.

Commissioners in Dubois County, which borders a section of five counties on Central time, voted 2-1 to seek a switch to that zone.

The board’s president, Lawrence Vollmer, voted against petitioning for a change. He noted that the General Assembly passed a law this year that will mandate statewide observance of daylight-saving time starting next spring, and said he wanted to wait a year to see if people liked Eastern Daylight Time before considering a change.

But he acknowledged that the other two commissioners said that most of the people who had contacted them wanted to go to Central time.

Knox County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to ask for the switch to Central time saying most residents in the southwestern Indiana community prefer it. Knox borders Gibson County, which is on Central time.

Freshman Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff of Vincennes, cast the deciding vote in April for the entire state to switch to daylight-saving time. He said Monday that the county is connected economically to southwestern Indiana counties that are on Central time.

White County commissioners voted 2-1 to petition to make the switch. Part of White County borders a section of five counties in northwest Indiana that already are on Central time, and two of White’s neighboring counties — Carroll and Cass — also have voted to seek a switch to that zone.

But commissioners in Tippecanoe County, which borders White County to the south and includes the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette, have decided against seeking a switch to Central time.

White County includes parts of two large lakes and the Indiana Beach amusement park, and several tourism businesses want to switch because much of their clientele comes from the Central zone.

Under the current schedule, Indiana counties have until Friday to petition federal officials for a change. Commissioners in St. Joseph County are expected to vote today on whether to request a change to Central time. There is no timetable for the agency to decide on approving or disapproving the requests.

Eighty-two of the state’s 92 counties are currently in the Eastern zone.