Census invitations to begin arriving in mailboxes Thursday
More than 100 million households across America, including those in Indianapolis, will begin receiving invitations by mail this week to respond to the U.S. Census.
Samm Quinn
Articles
Proposed study commission on climate change advances to full City-County Council
The proposal was penned by Democrats in early January and has been opposed by council Republicans who believe creating a commission to study climate change is a redundant effort.
DePauw University appoints new president following 8-month search
Lori White will be the first woman and the first person of color to serve as president of the 183-year-old school. When she begins her job in July, White will be the only black woman leading a university in Indiana and one of just a few in the nation doing so, the school said.
Justice center’s first building—a center for addictions, mental health—nears completion
The city is just six months from a tentative opening for the first piece of the justice campus project, the 37,000-square-foot Assessment and Intervention Center. Construction on other buildings in phase one is well underway, and the city has started planning for phases two and three.
City moves ahead with tenant rights ordinances while Legislature debates regulation
The city of Indianapolis is charging ahead with a plan to protect tenants from bad landlords despite a bill moving through the Indiana General Assembly that would limit the city’s authority on the issue.
City-County Council pledges to tackle racial, social disparities in Indianapolis
The resolution, co-sponsored by all 25 council members, calls for creating a steering committee tasked with developing a strategy to end racial disparities, with its first task identifying where disparities exist in city policies.
House committee amends bill to keep cities from regulating tenant relations
In response to the move, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said the amendment would nullify recent local efforts to protect tenants from predatory landlords.
State might move deaf, blind schools rather than spend big on aging properties
The state’s separate deaf and blind schools need $100 million in upgrades over the next 20 years; state officials might start over with new buildings on a shared site.
State rallying troops to increase Department of Defense spending in Indiana
Reaching Gov. Eric Holcomb’s goal would entail boosting the amount of federal defense dollars spent in Indiana to at least $10.2 billion in the next five years.
City, Indy Chamber launch financing program for minority-owned businesses
Funding for the program will help smaller businesses pay initial expenditures associated with bidding on contracts—supplies and payroll, for example—without having to put themselves at financial risk through high-interest borrowing.
Switch in IPS bus providers to cost jobs of drivers, attendants
Indianapolis Public Schools will part ways with its current student transportation provider in June to work with a new contractor in a move affecting more than 500 drivers and attendants.
Merritt shifts focus to poverty after mayoral run
Sen. Jim Merritt says his run last year for Indianapolis mayor has made him a better senator—one who’s more in touch with his constituents and who has seen the city’s poverty and crime problems firsthand.
By avoiding primary, Myers can focus on November gubernatorial election
Dr. Woody Myers’ newly cleared path to the Democratic nomination is a bonus for the Indiana Democratic Party, which will face an uphill battle if it’s going to seriously challenge Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Former prosecutor Brizzi to seek GOP nomination in 5th District race
Brizzi, who served as Marion County Prosecutor from 2002 to 2010, is one of 15 Republicans to toss his hat in the ring in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District.
Council Democrats turn down proposal to form special study commission on crime
The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday night voted along party lines to reject the Republican proposal, hours before a shooting on the far-east side left four people dead.
Council committee OKs Hogsett’s tenant-protection initiative
The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday night approved the proposals 7-3, with Republicans on the committee voting against them.
Q&A: Polina Osherov on St’artUp 317
Pattern Indy Editor-in-Chief Polina Osherov sat down with IBJ to talk about the third season of St’artUp 317, a program by the magazine and Indy Chamber that pairs underused first-floor commercial spaces in commercial corridors with artists, creators and producers looking for retail space.
Can BlueIndy flop become transit opportunity for city?
Stakeholders tell IBJ they’d like to see the electric-car-sharing service’s infrastructure continue to be used in some fashion.
City-County Council calls for IPL to retire Petersburg coal plant by 2028
This week, the Indianapolis City-County Council passed a special resolution that calls on Indianapolis Power & Light to shut down its largest generating station 14 years sooner than currently planned.
City awarded record federal funding for homeless initiatives
The city of Indianapolis on Wednesday was awarded $6.3 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for initiatives and organizations that aim to eliminate homelessness.