/ Source: The Associated Press
The first visible chunk of federal stimulus money to reach Elkhart County landed in this tick-ridden wetland near the Michigan border. Its arrival was great news for Matt Ingle, a 24-year-old father of four who had been unemployed for four months when he landed a job doing battle with the garlic mustard plant that is invading this nature preserve.
“I took it in a matter of seconds,” Ingle said of his decision to accept the job, even though it pays $3 an hour less than his old job at a truck factory, lasts only 16 weeks and isn’t quite full time. "I was taking anything I could get a hold of. It's that bad out there right now.”