The Muncie Mayor buried the lead. At 8:30 a.m. yesterday, Dan Ridenour held a social media briefing during which he said nothing about what was released an hour earlier, as Muncie Sanitary District Board President Bill Smith announced via a Muncie Newspaper article that a new Administrator is finally being sought. Smith said he had been “waiting for the Mayor to appoint two new board members, so they can help in the selection process.” What is a bit unclear, is the fact that Mayoral appointments were being argued via court proceedings, and the two appointments were actually a last minute decision. The MSD administrator job has been in limbo since Nikki Grigsby was arrested by federal authorities last year. In the wake of the arrest, she was reportedly placed on unpaid leave. Smith said that he will remain on the sanitary board until his term expires Dec. 31, 2020.
More stories of cops, doing good. An Indiana police officer is being praised for his kind actions after he went out of his way to support one little boy as he operated a lemonade stand in his South Bend community. South Bend Officer Ron Glon showed up to his stand on Sunday and offered to help with the lemonade, popcorn, and punch sales. The officer not only helped waiting on people, collecting money, serving drinks, but also matched 100% of what they took in.
Wes-Del High School has canceled all athletic workouts for the rest of the week after learning one of its staff members had a positive COVID-19 test, as reported by the Muncie newspaper. This is the first time a school in East Central Indiana has had to take the measure. Voluntary summer workouts for Indiana high school sports began on July 6.
Until there’s a vaccine, people will continue to contract COVID19 – but what’s Ball State University’s plan, as they get closer to welcoming students back to campus? How many positive tests might it take, to force another change? We’’ ask President Mearns that, and more, in our weekly Zoom Room interview tomorrow at 11 a.m. and report on Radio, and our Local News Page.
So far, Sept. 12 will be the opener for BSU football – a road trip to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones out of the Big 12 Conference will replace one of the three games cancelled by opponents for the upcoming season, on 104.1 HD1 WLBC.
The U.S. Mint is asking for help from the public to recirculate coins – pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. While there is an adequate supply of coins currently in the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the pace of circulation, resulting in a nationwide slowdown. To help, you can pay with exact change, deposit coins in financial institutions, or take spare change to coin redemption kiosks available at many banks, grocery stores and other retail establishments.
Data on state manufacturing employment for June 2020 was recently released. All states have increased manufacturing employment relative to April’s COVID-induced low. Indiana added back more than 44,000 manufacturing jobs since April.
The Muncie Mayor spoke yesterday on social media, leading with an update on a building demolition on the city’s south side, parks info, a basketball tourney, the importance of the Census, and the Thursday 6 p.m. Dream with Dan monthly forum at City Hall – but didn’t cover anything about the Muncie Sanitary District – Bill Smith’s announcement regarding the seeking a new Administrator. It will likely be an interesting meeting of the MSD today at 11:30 a.m., at City Hall, and the Facebook page. One person that will not be watching that meeting: Larry Riley. The longtime BSU professor, and political watchdog / researcher / writer announced he is moving from Muncie. We wish him the best – he will be missed.
The NTT IndyCar Series is canceling scheduled races at in California and in Portland, Oregon. No specific reason was given for the cancellations, but virus numbers recent rioting could be to blame. They are adding a second race to its upcoming weekend at Mid-Ohio, and a second race the IndyCar Harvest GP weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in early October.
Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer has officially called a caucus of eligible precinct committee members to fill the upcoming vacancy in the office of House District 88. The seat is currently held by former Speaker of House Brian Bosma, whose resignation from the Indiana House will be effective July 31, 2020. The caucus will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at the McCordsville Town Hall.
Elwood, you are the apparent winner of “first to start school year” award! Tomorrow marks the first day for in building learning. Tuesday August 4th is a big date for start up’s, too.
