News in Brief, July 7, 2022
Commissioners honor WWII hero; hearing room named for Miller; stand against domestic violence
Hearing room named for Miller
The Howard County Commissioners on July 5 voted to rename the county administration building’s meeting room after the late Richard H. Miller, former Howard County Council president. The vote follows a similar action taken by the county council on June 28.
Miller served on the county council for 41 years; 38 of them as the body’s president. He also served on the Howard County Plan Commission at the start of his political career. The life-long farmer was a graduate of Northwestern High School in 1959, where he served as the first Student Council President in the school’s history.
Miller was a central figure in many of the events that shaped Howard County over the previous four decades. He helped negotiate the effort to force local industry to pay millions in property taxes they sought to avoid after filing bankruptcy during the “Great Recession” in 2009. He also helped facilitate the arrival of Chrysler Corp.’s Indiana Transmission Plants I and II by approving investments in the infrastructure necessary to develop those properties.
He also was among the small group of county leaders who worked to acquire the former Key Bank building for the county administration’s home. Now, the third-floor meeting room he helped acquire and in which he served Howard County for nearly 20 years will be known as the Richard H. Miller Hearing Room.
Ondis Brantley Day in Howard County
The Howard County Commissioners recognized Kokomo resident Ondis Brantley on his 100th birthday on July 5 by naming the day in honor of him. Brantley was unable to attend the meeting, but his accomplishments preceded him.
Brantley was born in Tennessee in 1922 and moved to Indiana with his family in 1940. He joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and served during World War II as a crew member on a B-24 bomber flying 54 long-range missions into Germany and German-held territory in Europe.
In the year that Brantley flew on missions he earned several medals and commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is the highest award for heroic aerial achievement during combat.
After the war, Brantley returned to Kokomo to raise a family and work at General Motors for 35 years.
“We tried to have him here this evening, but he was unable to attend,” said Wyman. “But we felt it was still appropriate to honor him on his 100th birthday.”
Resolved against domestic violence
The Howard County Commissioners voted on July 5 to recognize by resolution the need for continued protection for victims of domestic violence.
Commissioner Paul Wyman read the resolution’s contents into the record:
Whereas domestic violence exacts an unacceptable toll of death, injury, child abuse, and economic cost to our community;
And whereas one in three women will experience domestic violence, one in seven men will experience domestic violence, and 57 percent of the population knows a victim of domestic violence;
And whereas mothers of young children are often victims of domestic violence, and research has shown that this can have a long-lasting negative impact on the health and development of their children;
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Howard County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of Howard County does hereby recognize the efforts of our community courts, law enforcement officers, probation officers, corrections officers, educators, healthcare providers, and mental health workers to provide efficient and effective safeguards for the victims of domestic violence and encourages continued vigilance against domestic violence in our community.