To Whom It Concerns,
As a concerned citizen of the city of Indianapolis in Marion County in Indiana, I support the observation of the Central Daylight Savings Time Zone for our state. I believe that our state belongs in the Central Time Zone and is more closely related economically with Chicago than with New York City or the District of Columbia. And though our economy may benefit from the observation of Daylight Savings Time, it will be adversely affected by the choice to observe the Eastern Time Zone. I work in the service industry for a company with branches, affiliates, and customers located across the globe. In my profession, I have noticed that the current observation of time used by the state of Indiana, causes confusion amongst my customers and associates, especially during those two times of the year when the rest of the country changes time in observance of Daylight Savings. Observing Daylight Savings will eliminate much of this confusion. But because Indiana is physically situated in the Central Time Zone, observing the Eastern Time Zone may continue to cause difficulty in calculating the time in our state for many of my clients in other states and countries. And though our corporate headquarters is based in the Eastern Time Zone, our regional office is located in Chicago. It makes more since to me to be situated in a time zone in relation to our regional office. I believe observing Central Time is essential to the sanctity of our family values and the family unit for my fellow citizens. Adults and children already have difficulty waking up in the morning prior to the rise of the sun. A later sunrise would increase the rigor already faced. I find it unwise to have our children waiting on the dark street corner for the morning school bus. I also believe that by observing Central Time, families would better able to spend quality time together without the urge to make use of the increased daylight in the late evenings that observing Eastern Time will cause. This increased daylight in the evenings would also influence people to stay awake even later in the evening and adversely affect the length of time remaining to sleep before having to wake in the morning for school or work. This alone would cause a decline in school attendance and student grades for children as well as work production and the quality of goods and services provided by the working class.
I hope that my opinion, as well as the opinion of my fellow citizens of our great state, are taken into consideration when making this very important decision. Thank you for your time and your attention.         C. Harvey,  Indianapolis, IN 46221
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I agree. There are a lot of people in Fountain & Vermillion Counties that want to be on Central Time also. Jeanne Hershberger   Veedersburg, IN.
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My Testimony for CST.  My name is Rebecca Sherfey and I reside in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and I am in favor of Central Standard Time. Here in Tippecanoe County, the Tippecanoe County School Corporation high schools start classes at 7:30am. As with any high school, there are many students who drive to school and these students have very limited driving skills. For the majority of the school year these students are driving to school in the dark and often times in hazardous road conditions. There are 2 high schools in the county, McCutcheon which is at the southern part of the county and Harrison which is at the northern section of the county. Hence, some students live several miles from school. During the winter of 2004, 2 McCutcheon students died on their morning drive to school. I have to ask why do our elementary and middle school students have to wait, in the dark, for their school bus?  Another reason that I think Central Standard Time should be chosen for Tippecanoe county and the entire State of Indiana is that I know many people who work in Illinois which observes CST. Also, I would think Indiana should be on the same time that Chicago is. Thank you.
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Help Move ALL of Indiana to Central Time Zone.  This topic MUST NEVER be dropped because if it is then the politicians will not only choose the wrong one but will also let the future/children of Indiana down yet again. I'm ALL in favor of moving Indiana to a Central Time Zone. I've lived my childhood in Evansville(18 years) and the last 11 years around Indianapolis. I have a unique experience of both time zones. Throughout Indiana I've notice the values of family are the strongest. The Central Time Zone best reflects these values with more daylight for kids to get on the bus and darkness to put them to bed. Indiana has consistently been behind in national education scoring. Could you imagine it getting worse? Well it will when kids aren't alert enough to go to school because it's dark all year round when they get to school. Children by nature are psychologically tuned to sleeping when it's dark and awaking when it's light. Not to mention the safety factor for our children and citizens. Moving to Central allows the roads an extra hour to clear up during the winter than if we were on Eastern. I'm tired of government no longer caring about the voices of the people and will help with this cause. Please let me know what I can do to help. If you need more research material here are the sites.
http://hoosiersforcentraltime.com/index.html  This one is very good too. http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/timezone.htm   It shows geographical proof that Indiana should be placed in Central. It's actually one of the few if not only States that are a perfect match for the proper time zone, yet the politicians want to choose the wrong one. Wonder why Indiana lacks in education. Our leaders are not leading with educated choices.   Thanks for your time,   Corey Polen
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I would like to go with Central time because you can put your kids to bed at a time when they will get enough sleep to go to school the next day and when they get up for school the next day, they won't have to wait in the dark for the bus. Terry & Vicki Collins
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No Eastern Time!!  With the recent announcement that hearings will not be held about a new time zone division line, it is now up to individual counties to choose between the Central and Eastern Time Zones. I have always believed that it was completely absurd for Knox County to be on Eastern Time at all, even if it's only six months out of the year. The requirement that we observe Daylight Savings Time has finally been passed. However, now Knox County is right on the borderline and has a decision to make. Speak up now before it is too late! I grew up in Evansville, where it's Central Time year-round. After living in Vincennes for 21 years, I still can't get used to the sun rising at 8 AM in the winter and the TV shows being on so late. It makes no sense geographically and makes us look like ignorant hicks who can't even get our time zone right. CG, Vincennes, IN,  Cyndi
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Central time..Please, Central time allows business people better traveling, esp. going to the west coast, a 4 hr. time difference will kill productivity. This decision will cost companies money. Regards,  Shannon Stone
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Hi. I am wholeheartedly for most of Indiana being in the Central Time Zone... for all the reasons previously mentioned. EVERY SINGLE poll I've seen indicates that most Hoosiers want Central. Perhaps a couple of counties in Southeast Indiana would prefer alignment with the East like the 5 counties that currently do, but the rest of Indiana should be on Central Standard/ DS Time. If we are forced to observe EDT (which I think is asinine), perhaps next year we should change our state motto from "The Crossroads of America" to the "Crossroads of the East Coast". Matthew S Fulkerson, Bartholomew County, IN
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Wanted you to know that I, and other family members, are NOT in favor of Eastern time - we want and request that a vote for Central Time be given. We DO NOT want the children waiting in the dark for school buses. With Eastern time the kids will be going to bed when it is still bright and sunny and of course, they won't want to sleep but play.
Thanking you for your consideration - Shirley Montgomery
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In support of Central Time.   As a teacher in a rural school, I know how many days a year we have a two hour delay because of adverse weather such as fog. The school officials want to wait for daylight so the children, bus drivers and student drivers have better visibility. I fear that being in the Eastern Time Zone will force more canceled school days, requiring us to make them up at the end of the year. As most teachers know, this added time at the end of the year is not nearly so productive as the canceled day in the winter. Sincerely, Mrs. Susan R. Warren
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Dear David~ I feel the overwhelming need to voice my opinion regarding the issue at hand in favor of the observance of Central time zone come spring of 2006. Not only do I feel compelled to let you know, but I would appreciate your ability to forward this concern to the appropriate county and state officials who can let the Indiana residents desires be heard. In no way whatsoever does Indiana shifting to Eastern Time zone make logical sense, not only from a buisness standpoint, but more importantly from a quality family time perspective as well! I appreicate your forwarding my strong vote for central time to the appropriate individuals who can actually make a difference in our states future!  Sincerely, Angela Spiegel  New Palestine, Hancock County, Indiana
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Central time for IN. All of Indiana needs to be in the same time zone and the preferred one is Central. Putting us in the Eastern time zone as well as differing time within the state are what makes it difficult for others to know what time it is in IN.  Residents would like to be able to travel around the state and know they are still in the same time zone instead of being either early or late for a function or meeting. The proposed way with some counties on Central and the majority on Eastern will make the entire state on different times year 'round. How much sense does that make?   Barbara Wellnitz
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In support of Central Time...  I am in support of Central Time, as well. I could care less whether we observe daylight savings. If we do then we should be on Central Time. Some very good reasons for Central time have already been presented by this website and I commend your efforts. Where's the evidence from those in support of the Eastern time zone? I've looked, but couldn't find any. Does this mean most of Indiana wants to be Central time? Then what's the debate about?  The issue seems pretty simple to me. Imagine it's a year from now. It's nearly 10PM and you live in Central Indiana. Your alarm is set for 5AM so you can make your morning commute, but you can't fall asleep because there's too much light coming through your shades. It doesn't even sound right, does it? Or, as others have suggested imagine waiting until 10PM before the fireworks will start during a July 4th celebration. Or forget about the nostalgia from going to a drive-in movie theater with the kids. They'll be asleep before the popcorn gets cold!  I'm very disappointed in Mitch. I have to compliment him if his goal was to divide the state. I can see years of battles being fought as each county decides whether to adopt central time. And since it's up to each county then won't it be nice traveling through the state and keeping track of the time going forward and back? How will that be for our state economy??? I guess he was just another politician after all. What a freakin' mess!   Keep up the fight!   Nathan
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David, I join you in supporting a move to the Central Time Zone, where we belong, for several reasons: 1) It's closer to actual "sun" time.   2) I have to get up very early most mornings, which is unfortunate, because I'm not a morning person. Daylight makes a big difference in my ability to wake up.  3) I know I'm not alone in being a night person, and it frightens me to think of all the night people driving to work in the mornings in the dark before we're awake - on I-465 and I-69 on the northeast side of town, some of the worst traffic in the city. If Marion County stays on Eastern time, I expect a large increase in accidents. 4) In my neighborhood many children walk to school in addition to those waiting for the bus. There are no sidewalks in my neighborhood, so it will be more dangerous for them to walk in the dark. As you know, there are many more reasons to support the Central Time Zone, but these are the biggest factors for me. Please let me know what I can do to support you in your efforts.    Shelley Van Antwerp
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St. Joseph county needs to be on the Central time zone...we are closer to Chicago and obviously much farther from Detroit and/or New York.
Many people from Northern Indiana are commuters to Chicago plus we use Midway and O'Hare airports, the South Shore and go to cultural and sporting events in Chicago.
Geographically, Indiana is in the Central zone anyway...and as for Michigan, they should be on Central time too!
This is my personal preference plus I don't 'buy' the governor's reasoning that business can't figure out Indiana time...that pure political nonsense. If businesses want to do commerce with Indiana they'll figure it out...if they can't, then they're too stupid to be in business anyway!
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That was compelling?
This is in response to Kevin Brinegar (President, Indiana Chamber of Commerce) and Brian Bergsma (Director, Economic Development Policy Indianapolis) recent letter to the editor titled, "Compelling case to choose Eastern DST".
This letter is the perfect example of why Indiana is always economically drained. These two leaders worked together and stated information but didn't try to understand it.
First off, 50% of Indiana's exports are going to the Eastern Time zone. However, they have been trending away from it. Why you may ask? That is simple; the population is shifting south and west. That's right, away from Eastern. Indiana needs to stay ahead of this curve to maximize the economic impact. This would be accomplished with Central DST.
The crime report you’re quoting was performed in Washington DC where the sun sets no later than 9 pm. During the summer Indiana's sun will be setting at 10 pm. This will give criminals more daylight to plan while Indiana families are trying to get children to sleep when it's still light outside. Crime will not get better if we change time zones, but our families will suffer from it. That alone is enough reason to choose Central DST.
When you stated, "Eastern DST adds sunlight for the hectic drive home from work, thereby reducing traffic injuries and fatalities.", I couldn't stop laughing. A president of the Indiana chamber of commerce and the Director of Economic Development Policy in Indianapolis both came to this conclusion. Apparently you guys must not drive in the winter and have a private helicopter to get to work. I would much rather have the extra hour in the morning to allow workers to help clear up the winter roads from a night of snow. When are winter roads worse, in the morning or evening? Adding that extra hour in the morning to clear up winter roads will reduce traffic injuries and fatalities, not in the evening. This again would be best accomplished with Central DST.
Geographically Indiana should be placed in Central. It's actually the ONLY State that is a perfect match for the proper time zone, yet the politicians want to choose the wrong one. Why does Indiana lack in education? Our leaders are not leading with educated choices. They want to make it easier for people not living here in Indiana. Here is a crazy idea. We are Hoosiers. Let’s make a decision that will be best for Hoosiers. Let’s have safer roads. Let’s have a stronger hold on the economy. Most importantly, don’t let our family values suffer. Choose Central DST.
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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Central time is the best and logical choice for Indiana for SEVERAL reasons;
1-Geographic location
2-morning daylight for students on bus routes and those who walk
3-Transportation (air/train/bus) services are typically aligned with Chicago hubs (central time)
       R. BEAUCHAMP,    SOUTH BEND, IN 46613
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Hello David
I am 100% in favor of central time zone. Since our country is ruled for the people by the PEOPLE, why can't it just be included in the ballot when voting comes around and BE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS WHERE TO LOOK FOR IT TO VOTE EACH INDIVIDUAL'S TIME ZONE PREFERENCE. This affects everyone more than what Judge should stay in what position and for how long.      
Janet Johnston Twelve Mile, Indiana Cass County
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I support Central Time for Indiana and St. Joseph County for the reasons expressed in your web site's testimonials by fellow Hoosiers. I have written to our county commissioners requesting that they petition the Department of Transportation to place St. Joseph County in the Central Time Zone. Thank you for your efforts.
R. Kapsa ,  St. Joseph County