With two seats on the Muncie Community Schools School Board set to be open soon, Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour has announced the names of the people he is planning to send to Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns for consideration for one of those seats. Those people are Carisa Aguilar, Brittany Bales and Dr. Amy M. Baize-Ward. Dr. Ward is the current Vice Chancellor of Student Success at Ivy Tech Community College. Brittany Bales is a current MCS School board member with extensive roots in the Muncie Community. Carisa Aguilar is the Lead Indiana Trainer for Northwest Bank, maintaining training labs in Muncie and Bloomfield. Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns will select one from this group to fill the mayor’s open position. Learn more about the individual candidates at munciejournal.com
The Ball Brothers Foundation has announced the appointment of Rick Petty, great-grandson of F.C. Ball, to the Ball Brothers Foundation’s board of directors AND as the new Treasurer of the Ball Brothers Foundation. Rick spent the early years of his life in Muncie and now lives in the greater New York City area where he serves as Chief Investment Officer of one of the world’s leading private, international philanthropic organizations. Jud Fisher, Ball Brothers Foundation’s President and CEO said Rick has been a trusted advisor for Ball Brothers Foundation for many years, and it is our honor to formally appoint him to our board of directors.
Indiana Congressman Greg Pence was not happy about the omnibus government spending bill. On Wednesday he released a statement that read in part: “At approximately 3:04 AM, I received a 2,741-page, 1.5 TRILLION-dollar spending bill that I am expected to vote on in the next few hours. Nancy Pelosi crafted this bill behind closed doors in the dead of night and is trying to cram it down the American peoples’ throats. This is WRONG, and I am fully prepared to vote against it.
Non-profit organizations serving Gaston, Selma, and Yorktown can now apply for funding through The Community Foundation’s “Town Endowment Fund Grants Program.” Grant applications are available online at the foundation’s website… cfmdin.org.
With gas prices getting more expensive, you may be wondering – is it time to switch to electric vehicles? Zac Elliot with AES Indiana says you should take your time to decide on making the switch. He says it’s too early to tell if now is the best time to switch, or if it’s worth waiting a little longer. Making that switch is not something that should be done at the snap of a finger. Elliot says it’s a long term process, and there’s much to consider: electric vehicle cost, supply, and charging station availability. That last point is something many people point toward as the reason why they avoid electric.
Mayor Ridenour said during 2021, the city received $15 million in a grant from the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative. Ridenour was disappointed Muncie didn’t receive more grant money and said he will be even more vocal in the future to ensure the city gets the funding it deserves. One of his ideas is to push for State Road 35 to be widened to four lanes in the future and extended to connect Richmond to Chicago, which would make Muncie part of that thoroughfare and offer new economic growth opportunities.
Indiana legislators finalized their bills for the 2022 session and found a middle ground on income tax cuts that provided a compromise between the House’s desire for lower taxes and the Senate’s wish for caution. The cuts will phase in over 10 years until the tax rate falls to 2.9%. That rate would tie Indiana with North Dakota, which now has the lowest tax rate in the country. The first tax cut occurs in 2023 when it falls from 3.23% to 3.15%.
Face masks are no longer mandatory in Delaware County courtrooms. All 5 circuit court judges rescinded an “order on protective facial coverings” that had been issued on Jan. 12. Now face coverings are “optional.” Also, beginning today, Minnetrista’s visitors will not be required to wear a mask indoors. Masks are always welcome, and Minnetrista will continue to have them at their main entry locations.
Ball State economist Michael Hicks says it’s hard to see how we don’t flirt with prices of $5 to $6 a gallon for gas here in Indiana. Hicks says up until the invasion of Ukraine, gas prices were high because the economy was really booming. Now they’re high because people are afraid we’re going to have some sort of interruption in supply.
A good deed from the Muncie Lowes home improvement store— Lowes has donated a brand new grill to the Delaware County 911 Communications Center in downtown Muncie. Fred Cummings, 911 director said Lowe’s didn’t hesitate to provide them with a new grill for their staff to use. He said the grill was a welcome addition for the dispatch staff, especially as we come in to prime grilling season.
Next week is Severe Weather Preparedness Week in Indiana, and a statewide Live Tornado Alert test is planned for Tuesday, March 15 between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The annual “Live TOR code” alert is conducted to ensure the Emergency Alert System is working properly in the event of an actual tornado.
The Alexandria and Elwood city councils each have unanimously adopted resolutions to rejoin the settlement process between the state and manufacturers and distributors accused of facilitating the opioid epidemic. The two councils opted out last June to preserve their ability to get better deals, according to the Herald Bulletin.
A former Madison county resident is fighting his way back to Anderson after living in Ukraine. Roger Bramwell found his way to Warsaw, Poland, and caught a flight out of Poland to Chicago. His youngest brother, Randy, and his older brother, Rick, who writes a sports column for The Herald Bulletin, is expected to pick him up and bring him back to Madison County. Bramwell spent 27 years in Ukraine doing missionary work.
Indiana legislators finalized their bills for the 2022 session and found a middle ground on income tax cuts that provided a compromise between the House’s desire for lower taxes and the Senate’s wish for caution.The cuts will phase in over 10 years until the tax rate falls to 2.9%, which would tie Indiana with North Dakota, which now has the lowest tax rate in the country. The first tax cut occurs in 2023 when it falls from 3.23% to 3.15%.
Ball State economist Michael Hicks says it’s hard to see how we don’t flirt with prices of $5 to $6 a gallon for gas here in Indiana. Hicks says up until the invasion of Ukraine, gas prices were high because the economy was really booming. Now they’re high because people are afraid we’re going to have some sort of interruption in supply.
Coming up this Sunday—that annually controversial, annual sleep-depriving event: Daylight Saving Time. Our clocks spring forward one hour at 2 am Sunday, thereby depriving most of us of 1 hour of much needed sleep. Sweet Dreams…
