Coming up tomorrow night—The annual First Thursday in downtown Muncie will feature a special edition of ArtsWalk. This year’s theme is “It’s a Three Ring Circus.” Artswalk will feature unique arts, live entertainment for both childen and adults, delicious food and more. You can find a complete article on all the events, and vendors at this link on munciejournal.com
Additional local news briefs are below…
A Muncie woman charged with murder is asking a judge to release her from jail and be put on home detention until her case is revolved. Taejanelle Charmaine Childress, now 22, is one of three people charged with murder in a July 2021 slaying in the Canterbury Townhomes complex on Muncie’s west side. Childress has been in the Delaware County jai since she was arrested on Sept 24, 2001. The Starpress reports her trial is set for March 20th of next year.
Kyle Johnson, Chief Information Officer in the Delaware County Office of Information and GIS Services has been honored with the Tom Brindle Technology Award, presented by INDigital. Johnson was presented with the award at Monday’s Delaware County Commissioners meeting for his exemplary work in the 911 Industry.
In 2021, there were fewer deaths on farms in Indiana which is continuing a downward trend, according to experts at Purdue University. Ed Shelton is an agricultural safety and health specialist at Purdue who has been crunching the numbers. He said in 2021, 20 people died in documented farming-related accidents, which is down from 25 in 2020. Shelton says the biggest single factor in farm fatalities are tractors. Most of the time the fatality involves a rollover incident where people drive a tractor on a slope and are crushed underneath it.
US Congresswoman Victoria Spartz was in Muncie yesterday speaking at a Muncie Delaware County Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Among other topics, Spartz spoke about US Foreign policy and the war in Ukraine. She stopped by the Woofboom newscenter and our Mike Rhodes interviewed her in-studio about her bill titled “The Non-profit Hospital Tax Exemption Transparency Act”…That bill is designed to increase competition in the Health care Industry. More on that later this week.
For the third time in two weeks, a gun was confiscated at a Fort Wayne Community school. Parents were notified Monday that a gun was taken from a student at Northside High School. A few students noticed their classmate was acting “suspicious” and quickly reported that to their teachers. Police made their way into the school and obtained the handgun. Fort Wayne Community Schools said no threat was made to any students or staff, but this is the third time this has happened in the last two weeks of school.
The American Red Cross is taking donations to help those affected by Hurricane Ian. If you’d like to donate, head to redcross.org. You can also sign up to volunteer with the organization through the American Red Cross – Indiana Region webpage.
An Indianapolis man will spend 20 years in federal prison after police found him with nearly 10 ounces of methamphetamine, just over four ounces of cocaine, and more than 12,000 pills filled with meth. 48 year old Arthur Miles was convicted of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, and being a felon in possession of firearms, according to the Department of Justice. Miles has an extensive criminal history and was previously convicted of eight felonies and nine misdemeanors.
Indiana residents convicted of a crime and serving time in jail or prison cannot cast a ballot in this year’s general election. But a criminal conviction does not impact a Hoosier’s right to vote once they’re released. Indiana residents are immediately eligible to vote as soon as they are released from jail or prison. The only thing they need to do to get their right-to-vote back is to make sure their voter registration is active.
A drafted noise ordinance for Delaware county has been dropped that would have required responding sheriff’s deputies to measure sound levels in decibels and measure distances between what’s making noise and other properties. Delaware County Sheriff Tony Skinner says, instead of his deputies having to carry that extra equipment, he’d rather they apply the state’s disorderly conduct statute. Skinner says the statute has more teeth and is jailable. The WFYI report says the Delaware County commissioners all agreed to drop the drafted ordinance.
Muncie film makers Thomas Peek and Kyle Putra will premiere their new horror movies at Cornerstone Center of the Arts at 6 pm on October 29th. Chicago podcasters “Johnny and Logan” will open the show.
The Muncie Action Plan reports “The Historic Beech Grove Cemetery Tour” will take place on Saturday, October 8th from 3:30pm to 7:30pm. Tours will leave every 20 minutes in groups of 15 or less. Tickets are $10 and can be purchase at the main gate of the Cemetery.
October is National Energy Awareness Month. First implemented in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush, the designation encourages government and organizations to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability and managing our nation’s energy resources.
Police are still investigating a shooting at an Anderson city park that injured a teenager early Monday evening. Officers responding to multiple calls about the sound of gunfire at May Park, in Anderson, found a 13-year-old boy with an apparent gunshot wound. The child was taken to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment of a wound to the upper leg and was said to be in stable condition. Detectives are pursuing several leads in the case, but no arrests have been made and as of yesterday morning, the incident remained under investigation.
IU Health Ball Memorial Physicians have announced a new interdisciplinary Peripheral Vascular Services team in Muncie. The 7-member team is made up of Interventional Cardiologists, Interventional Radiologists and Vascular Surgeons that work together to treat medical conditions such as aneurysms, artery disease, varicose veins, lower extremity wounds and more. The team is meant to provide care when patients need it, rather than the patient having to wait weeks and drive miles away to receive care.
At the Monday meeting of the Muncie City Council, council approved a 6 year rolling tax abatement for new improvements to the White River Plaza property. New owner Scott Mick with the Cedars of Muncie, LLC shared photos of the new improvements he plans to implement to the property. In the words of one council member, “The improvements look fabulous.”
A reminder: Indiana’s voter registration deadline is October 11th. You can register to vote and check your status at IndianaVoters.com. You can also visit the local county election administrator’s office. Early voting begins on October 12th and is open until November 7. All registered Indiana voters are eligible to vote early. A valid photo ID is required to vote.
Police are searching for two suspects they believe shot and carjacked a woman at a gas station in Indianapolis, early Tuesday morning. Just after midnight, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers found a woman shot at a Sunoco gas station in the 2000 block of West Morris Street. Investigators believe two men dressed in black shot the woman while she was getting gas and then stole her silver Honda Accord.The woman is in stable condition at a Indy hospital.
Indiana Task Force 1 has engaged in search and rescue operations in southwest Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. The agency says local, state and federal authorities have all been working tirelessly to account for residents missing from the storm.
According to WRTV, Indiana currently ranks 15th in the nation when it comes to the number of flood-damaged vehicles on the road, with 8,700. Flooded vehicles can make their way to Indiana in several ways, including scammers who are trying to make a quick buck. Hoosiers should be on the alert because the number of flooded vehicles sold in Indiana is expected to increase due to Hurricane Ian. The website Carfax.com offers a free flood check. Enter the Vehicles Identification number and the tool will tell you whether or not a vehicle has had a flooding event in the past.
The Herald Bulletin reports the chief deputy with the Madison County coroner’s office has notified county officials about a possible lawsuit. Katherine Callahan has hired the Indianapolis law firm of Wilson Melton to represent her in a dispute centered on unpaid overtime and constitutional rights claims.
Elwood mayor Todd Jones was successful in his bid to limit parking in the city’s uptown district. Jones had fought for the ordinance, saying he was getting pressure from local businesses complaining about vehicles being parked indefinitely, preventing paying customers from parking nearby. The ordinance limits parking to 2 hours, from 8 to 5pm, Monday through Saturday.
Hundreds of people gathered at the circle at Falls Park on Saturday for the second annual Pendleton Pride event. Organizers from Pendleton Pride, a local LGBTQ support group, said the rally was planned to affirm the group’s goals of presenting the LGBTQ+ population as an intrinsic part of the community and to promote awareness of the group.
Anderson resident Demareyon Robinson has been sentenced to a prison term of 58 years in the 2020 death of Quincy Malone. 20 year old Robinson made no statement Tuesday before Madison Circuit Court Division 4 Judge Dave Happe pronounced sentence.
