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CAR SALES DOWN MARKEDLY: June auto sales plunged, according to reports from the nation’s major automakers, as Americans shunned pickups and SUVs in the face of record gas prices and growing concerns about the weak economy (CNNMoney.com).(2)(1).jpg)
Despite high gas prices, sales of many fuel efficient car models also fell sharply in the month as automakers were caught without the supply of vehicles that people suddenly wanted to buy.
The initial reading of industrywide auto sales from Autodata showed sales tumbled to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13.6 million vehicles in the month, down from the 14.3 million pace in May, which was also considered a weak month for sales, and 2 million cars and light trucks below the year-ago pace. It was also the weakest sales pace in 15 years.
COUNTIES TO GET LARGER REIMBURSEMENT: Vigo County officials learned Tuesday that the county will be eligible for a 90 percent reimbursement on costs associated with June flooding, instead of a 75 percent reimbursement (Tribune Star).
Gov. Mitch Daniels, along with governors from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, earlier this month asked that Federal Emergency Management Agency funds be increased, as was done after Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005. Federal dollars are paid through the state of Indiana, which in turns pays local government agencies for reimbursement costs from the flooding.
DELEGATION SPLITS 90-10 SPLIT: Lugar led the Indiana delegation in writing to Bush requesting the 90/10 split on June 26, 2008.
"Estimates indicate that the flooding in parts of the State of Indiana is the most severe in recorded history, exceeding record 1913 levels. This flooding has caused significant damage to homes, businesses, roads, bridges, hospitals, public facilities, farmland, and other critical infrastructure.
"The economic and social consequences to Indiana farmers are very significant. Farmers face great hardship as topsoil has been washed away by floodwaters. Silt and scattered debris now cover a significant portion of farmland. Some estimates are placing the agricultural damage to corn and soybean crops at over $800 million. The Hoosier agricultural industry will depend upon the US Department of Agriculture Emergency Programs to rebuild our agriculture industry," the Hoosier lawmakers wrote to Bush. (Senator Richard Lugar)
MCCAIN GLOSSES OVER GAS PRICES IN SPEECH: Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain brought a couple thousand of the nation’s sheriffs to their feet Tuesday as he promised to fight for more federal funding to combat drug trafficking (Indianapolis Star).
McCain also raised the question of how the Supreme Court might be reshaped by the next president. But one issue high on the minds of many sheriffs struggling to keep their patrol cars on the roads never came up: gas prices.
Before the speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association conference in Indianapolis, several sheriffs said few issues are more pressing than the skyrocketing cost of gasoline. The nationwide average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline has soared from $2.96 a year ago to $4.09 today, according to AAA.
MCCAIN ON INDIANA CAMPAIGN PLANS: "I am confident we will win here, but we have a lot of work to do. We’re just putting our state organization in place, and we will be doing what media we need to do and organizing what we need to do. And I’ll be here to campaign. But I’m also very grateful for the support of (Gov.) Mitch Daniels and (Attorney General) Steve Carter and (former Sen.) Dan Coats and all of the people who are so widely respected who will also help energize our volunteers as well as our organization." (Indianapolis Star)
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