Straight Talk PR .com

It's Okay. U.S. Steel Didn't Expect an Invite to Al Gore's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Today is the day former U.S. Vice President Al Gore accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, for his work to alert the world to the dangers of global warming.

Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune carried a report about three heavy-duty polluters on Chicago's doorstep in Northwest Indiana -- and on the shores of Lake Michigan, too. The three facilities are U.S. Steel Gary Works, Mittal Steel USA Indiana Harbor West (East Chicago), and BP Products North America Whiting.

Two of the companies took the not-entirely-welcome-but-documented environmental reporting by the newspaper in stride. But the third company seems to have a wee victim complex, seeing the Tribune as a persecutor, to wit:

In response to questions, BP and Mittal said they have steadily reduced pollution from their facilities. U.S. Steel spokesman John Armstrong sent a one-sentence e-mail declining comment and accusing the Tribune of "malicious misreporting and journalistic terrorism."

You know, "denial" is a river in Egypt, and all that jazz.

(cross-posted to Those "I" States)

Hoosiers Consider Windfarms; Community Relations Looks Like a Problem

Hands down, my favorite form of electricity production is going to get a shot at making power in Indiana.

The Indianappolis Star reports today that two California firms, Orion Energy LLC and enXco, Inc., are proposing wind farm projects in Benton County, northwest of Lafayette. (Benton County is highlighted in the Indiana map at right.) It is reportedly one of the two windiest areas of the state.

The other windy area is just northwest of Indianapolis.

The Star says a community-relations battle is brewing, which is to be expected but is unfortunate. Unnamed critics are reportedly concerned unsightly windmills, reduced property values, and a large number of bird kills.

Having driven through southern Alberta in Canada, I can say that prairie wind farms are attractive and hardly classify as visual blight. In fact, in my opinion, there's a certain appeal to them. I can think of a lot more developments that would lower property values.

[Cross posted to NIMBY Monitor.]

Gannett Buys Blog Syndication Services; Will TDW be Blogging Next Door to Rayagn Swan?

Could Hoosier bloggers day find ourselves quoted in the Indianapolis Star, the Louisville Courier-Journal, or in Gannett's Indiana newspapers in Richmond, Lafayette, Fishers, Noblesville, Muncie, and Marion -- and sooner rather than later?

Blogs (at least the best of them) are about to take another leap into respectability and social acceptance.

Jennifer LeClaire of TechNewsWorld reported this morning that Gannett is among the customers for a syndication service for 600 of the best bloggers. Pluck, maker of RSS readers and other fine software, is releasing the service on Tuesday. (I cannot tell if that means today -- probably does -- or next Tuesday, April 18th.)

Besides Gannett, the Washington Post Co., the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Antonio Express, and the Austin American-Statesman are among the launch clients for the new service.

As for Indiana, imagine Doug Masson, Joshua Claybourn of Indiana Barrister, Mike Kole, Gary Welsh, TDW, and the  Bilerico gang going head-to-head on the pages of your local paper? We'll need the Indiana Law Blog and the Indiana Blog Review to mediate.
 

We Interrupt This P.R. Blog for an Indiana Politics Break: (1) Gary Mayoral Election and (2) *Sigh* Major Moves, Again.

Two quick comments on the p.r. perceptions of Indiana and its politics. We're going to (1) take a surprising twist on the surprising mayoral developments in Gary and then (2) we're going to return, God help us all, to the bipartisan gridlock on the Major Moves transportation highway funding program.

As always with these Hoosier-centric posts, readers are encouraged to move along if the minutae of Indiana state affairs is of no interest.

Start Up RV-1, Governor, Because Major Moves Needs a Major P.R. Road Trip

Thirty hours after Gov. Mitch Daniels' divisive "Major Moves" highway and job development plan was approved on a one-vote margin in the General Assembly, an evaluation from a public relations perspective is clear.

The governor still has a sales job to do. I hope he plans it strategically, and travels with an open mind and open ears. I hope that he takes lots of notes on tweaks in the plan that will mollify Hoosiers and can be implemented administratively or with passage of enabling legislation next year.

The reason that Mitch Daniels is in the odd position of selling his plan after the Legislature approved it is that while Major Moves has merit, the selling of it (and the selling of criticism of it, for that matter) can only be described as botched from the beginning.

Major Moves Needs Major Analysis; Democrats Need Experts' Minority Report

UPDATE (8:40 a.m., Wednesday, January 25, 2006): I stand by the idea proposed in this post that the Democrats in the Indiana Senate should convene a panel of experts to produce a robust minority report that may or may not conclude in favor of Major Moves, especially the Toll Road linchpin. But it's a pleasure to read in a Star article by Ted Kim and Matt Tully's column that on Tuesday, Democratic senators like Vi Simpson of Elletsville, Earline Rogers of Gary, and our newest Democratic senator, Karen Tallian of Portage, seemed to have the same idea -- analysis, not shots from the hip. My own state representative, David Orentlicher of Indianapolis, also appeared to be on the same page. Good for them!

---------------------------------------------------

Governor Mitch Daniels (R) has presented his fellow citizens of Indiana with a fascinating possibility. By privatizing the Indiana Toll Road via a 75-year lease arrangement in exchange for a $3.85 billion lump sum payment, the governor would be able to fund most if not all other major highway construction projects on the state's agenda.

These include the "Fort to Port" plan to upgrade U.S. 24 between Fort Wayne and Toledo, Ohio; the Hoosier Heartland Highway from Fort Wayne to Lafayette; improvements to U.S. 31 between South Bend and Indianapolis; the extension of Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville; and construction of two Ohio River bridges further joining the Falls Cities area to Louisville, Ky.

Presumably, though I have not heard it mentioned, Western Indiana might be served by constructing the Ind. 641 bypass around Terre Haute.

Major Moves has become indeed a tantilizing prospect. Yet it suffers from poor process, insensitive public relations, and lack of a meaningful response by opposition Democrats. All of these contribute to the present climate in which Major Moves is supported by many Republican legislators, panned by Democratic legislators, and held in skeptical regard by the public. This is especially in the Northern Indiana tier of counties through which the Toll Road runs, if media web polls are a rough guide.

Two mistakes have brought Major Moves to this spot. One mistake is the fault of the governor. The other is the fault, collectively, of active Indiana Democrats including -- but not limited to -- those Democrats serving in the General Assembly.

The solution is developing a group of Democratic experts to prepare a "minority report" for adoption, use, and dissemination by the Senate Democrats, who are next in line after the House passes the bill.