Letter: Gen Z vote needed to stop impact of Mid-State Corridor

On February 11, 2020, my grandmother, Marilyn Jane of Loogootee, Indiana, a former bank teller and assistant to the loan officer at German American Bank, passed away after a five-year battle with dementia. Her loss, combined with the commitment my family and I made to help her, left us heartbroken. We didn’t consider “The Mid-State Corridor” until after her passing.

My family and I, originally from Bloomington, visit Loogootee every weekend to see family. Recently, the Mid-State Corridor has become a prominent topic of conversation. Last week, while visiting my grandmother’s neighborhood, I noticed Mike Braun’s 2024 flags and banners scattered throughout the area. She resided on the rural street of 150 North in Daviess County, Indiana, near Loogootee, Montgomery, and Washington. After I graduate from college this semester, I will carry on her legacy. This issue is as crucial to me as it is essential to raise awareness among the youth about political matters.

I am fortunate to come from a politically engaged family, but since her passing, my life has changed significantly in various ways. As a member of Generation Z, Loogootee is a home away from home for me and will be my permanent residence after graduating from Indiana University this fall.

As a dedicated journalism student, I delved deeper into this story, which surprised me. In 2012, former Indiana Governor Mike Pence approved The Mid-State Corridor project, and it was meant, in my opinion, to impact primarily French Lick and Jasper. The plan intended to build a highway through French Lick to make it easier for people to go to the casinos and attractions of that town. In 2019, the highway committee made plans to create alternative routes through Loogootee, as many of us know, and Mike Braun could push his narrative all day about how he won’t build through more rural land beside Jasper and Haysville. I am not buying it one bit.

Today, September 17, is National Voting Registration Day, and here is a helpful guide that many of our youth need to know. Never in my life have I seen drug and domestic violence numbers skyrocket this high in the city of Loogootee, and Republican Mike Braun’s mission to build the highway across Loogootee will increase drug trafficking and possibly a new epidemic, sex trafficking, extortion, and foreigners coming to Loogootee trading drugs.

This community has been damaged by the effects of factory jobs closing shop, and many of the residents are disadvantaged financially; we don’t need more drugs and extortion in our town. This highway will damage Loogootee, but Democratic nominee Jennifer McCormick is 100% opposed to The Mid-State Corridor. She doesn’t want the government to control state funding for a project that will rip through rich Indiana farmland; she wants success, at least in my opinion, but she also doesn’t want to damage the fabric of the farm grounds in Loogootee. It might be different because Mike Braun could go through the Tier 2 studies, not build through Loogootee and only Jasper. However, the alternatives to build in Martin & Daviess County, especially on our 150 North road, is something I am not concerned about right now. Still, I will be the day Mike Braun steps into the Governor’s mansion.

The youth are the future of our county, and the decisions that we make on November 5 and through registering to vote today are essential and more important than our youth think. I don’t see enough recognition between political right and wrong in my neighborhood. Two weeks ago, I saw a Mike Braun For Governor 2024 sign hanging outside an elderly apartment complex in our city, and I told my family this was wrong because a state-controlled highway system could gut our whole street. No one will know where to go and what to do.

The children of Loogootee would better the landscape of how our town will go from here. It’s either a Loogootee without a highway or a Martin County with a road and deserted farmland that we drive on to get to French Lick quicker. The choice is up to Generation Z in Loogootee and the community. Be educated about the Mid-State Corridor and follow the “Say No To Mid-State Corridor” Facebook page, ask Jim Arvin, a trusted source of Facebook with the latest on this issue, watch news reports on YouTube, sign up for alerts, and visit the Mid-State Corridor website for more information on how corrupt this road then makes a decision.  

My fellow Generation Zers need to do one thing on November 5, and that is to vote. We need to vote to prevent a government decision that will have significant implications for people like me, my family, and my neighbors, potentially tearing through farmland and rural territory to construct an unnecessary highway!

Braydyn Lents,
Bloomington