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ABC57 News in South Bend, Ind. covers all of Michiana including St. Joseph, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaPorte and Marshall counties in Indiana and Berrien, Cass, Van Buren and St. Joseph counties in Mich.
When Tim Bayer heard about a South Bend program offering money to help reduce hazards from lead-based paint, he and his wife knew their home on Thomas Street, built in 1892, could be a good candidate.
Chipped paint on the exterior and window sills may have contributed to elevated blood-lead levels for their daughters, 8 and 6, when the girls were younger. Without extra money in the budget, Bayer and his wife, Jessica, applied for a share of the cityâs $3 million in state and federal grants.
âThe window sills are filled with lead paint, so opening the windows is problematic because it causes the dust to potentially become airborne,â Bayer said. âItâs just kind of a gnawing concern of ours, but we donât have a lot of spare money, so when we found out there was a program through the city, we decided that was an option.â
This fall will mark a decade since a 2011 investigation by the South Bend Tribune and Howey Politics Indiana triggered a criminal probe of St. Joseph Countyâs longtime Democratic Party chair, Owen âButchâ Morgan. He would eventually land in prison for a scheme to forge petition signatures for the 2008 presidential primary.
Morgan has resurfaced in local politics, and his past scandal now seems much fresher to some party leaders.
Morgan says he has quietly helped candidates in recent years. And he recently campaigned for longtime friend Dave Nufer, who was vying to unseat Stan Wruble as head of the countyâs Democratic Party.