A less than warm welcome

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has been sending some friendly gibes in Indiana’s direction over the past few weeks.
But is that any reason for Hoosier hospitality to take a vacation?
Kasich, a Republican who served in Congress with new Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and who was a close friend of Indiana Sen. Dan Coats the last we knew, has been having some fun with his kidding.
But if he came to Jay County for a visit, he might just believe we were taking the whole thing way too seriously.
That’s because, if you’re entering the county from Ohio on Ind. 26, the “Welcome to Indiana” sign is missing.
The part that identifies Indiana proudly as Lincoln’s boyhood home is still intact.
But the rest of the sign, the welcome part, is MIA.
How long has it been missing?
Months.
Several months, we believe.
It certainly dates back to the term of Gov. Mitch Daniels, which ended Dec. 31.
In fact, maybe that’s why Gov. Kasich is needling Indiana. We just haven’t made him feel welcome.
Okay, we’re being facetious.
But think of all the other visitors who have driven that route, the non-governor variety of travelers.
Indiana hasn’t made them feel welcome either.
Instead, if they’ve traveled the route more than once in the past several months, it’s caused them to wonder why the Indiana Department of Transportation is so incompetent that it can’t replace a simple welcome sign in a timely manner.
Hoosiers — the kind who still believe in real hospitality in spite of Gov. Kasich’s teasing — may be wondering the same thing. — J.R.

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