Indianapolis Republican Mayoral candidate Jim Merritt on Thursday said he regretted his Senate vote for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2015 and pledged to support the LGBTQ community if elected mayor.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s new initiatives to combat food insecurity were advanced by a vote at an Indianapolis City-County Council committee Wednesday. The overall plan involves spending $580,000 on four programs.
Indianapolis has joined Fishers and Noblesville in a quest to turn the Nickel Plate Railroad into a 17-mile trail connecting the three communities and is seeking millions in state funds to make it happen.
Republican mayoral candidate Jim Merritt said Tuesday that he plans to walk in Saturday’s parade “as a private citizen, not as a candidate for mayor” and that his “intention for walking in the pride parade is to show others that, over time, my opinions have progressed and theirs can as well.”
Stephen Clay was persona on grata on the council after being expelled from the Democratic caucus for a leadership coup in 2018.
The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday overwhelmingly approved proposals to help fund the Capital Improvement Board’s long-term strategic plan, including chipping in $270 million to help fund a massive overhaul of Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
After an Indiana political newsletter said Indianapolis Mayoral candidate Jim Merritt planned to walk in this weekend’s Indy Pride parade, event organizers said Merritt wasn’t registered and wasn’t welcome anyway.
Several area mayors say they’ve been meeting to discuss regional cooperation—talks that Hogsett has been a part of—but had not signed off on any plan like the one the Indianapolis Democrat proposed. The Hogsett plan would create winners and losers among counties.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett outlined plans to tackle food insecurity in his state of the city address, stating that he would soon submit to the Indianapolis City-County Council a “significant investment for programming.”
The mayor’s office says the strategy is a way to meet the city’s growing infrastructure needs—which amount to $160 million per year—without raising taxes. But the proposal would create winners and losers among area counties, even as it addresses what’s considered a regional problem.
The impending closure of Riverside Golf Course—which opened in 1900 as only the fourth municipal golf course in the country—is part of the city’s master plan for Riverside Park. The city’s second oldest municipal course also is slated for closure.
The city of Indianapolis has called the 19-acre property southeast of the intersection of 42nd Street and Post Road a “threat to public health, safety and welfare.”
City of Indianapolis officials voted overwhelmingly this week to authorize the creation of a flood control improvement district in the area between the White River and the Central Canal, which would help fund the construction of a new levee along the White River.
The project, known as Block 20, consists of developments on two sites near Mass Ave and is estimated to cost $40 million.
The new rules cap the number of licenses for dockless shared-use mobility companies in Indianapolis and mandate that those companies deploy a certain number of scooters to different areas of the city.
City officials and transportation advocates want to increase access to scooters for low- and moderate-income residents who live outside the downtown areas where they’re most heavily used.
With 30% of the vote in, Democrat Joe Hogsett, who has served as mayor since 2016, had 83% of the vote compared to opponent Denise Hatch, a retired Center Township resident, who had 17 percent. State Sen. Jim Merritt had 82% in the GOP primary.
Incumbent Joe Hogsett and Republican Jim Merritt are expected to easily win their primaries in the Indianapolis mayor’s race. In Hamilton County, the races could be more interesting.
Crossroads Education, a startup founded in 2016 that develops learning environments for K-12 schools and colleges, needs the city to rezone the property in Haughville and get approval for the height of the building.
In Hamilton County, the increase is likely tied in part to some interesting GOP primary battles. In Marion County, voters could choose to vote early at any of three different polling sites for the first time in a decade. Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
