City liable for sign firm’s damages, judge rules
Local billboard company GEFT Outdoor LLC expects to seek millions of dollars from the city of Indianapolis after a federal judge’s ruling that the city’s former sign ordinance was unconstitutional.
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North suburbs fermenting strategies for new liquor licenses
Noblesville is seeing unexpected demand for three-way liquor licenses in its Riverfront Redevelopment District. Other north-side communities are determining how to distribute additional liquor licenses approved by the state.
Progress stalled on proposed downtown concert venue
Progress on redeveloping part of the old General Motors stamping plant land into a downtown concert venue appears to have hit a stumbling block over financing, an official for the RACER Trust told Indianapolis City-County Council members Monday.
UPDATE: Indianapolis to turn on first new streetlight in 35 years
The city plans to end a moratorium on new streetlights by installing 100 lights in areas with high accident and crime rates, and in growing neighborhoods, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Thursday.
County gets $59M as part of local road-funding package
The distribution is part of $505 million that county auditors have distributed to local government units statewide, $435 million of which can be used for transportation funding.
Marion County GOP chair resigns amid new ethics rules
Jennifer Ping, a principal at Bose Public Affairs Group, stepped down because the new rules prohibit certain political leaders from doing business with the city.
Indiana primary voter turnout trumps 2012, can’t top 2008
Competitive and highly publicized races in Indiana’s May 3 primary election drove more voters to the polls than four years ago. Early voting also was up.
Indianapolis gets federal funds for youth jobs program
The city is among 11 communities that will get a cut of a $21 million federal grant that will also pay for violence-reduction efforts and meals for needy children.
Muncie mayor says FBI investigating city government
The Muncie Star Press said investigators have conducted interviews about building demolitions overseen by the city and about a building the Muncie Sanitary District sold in September for more than twice what it paid a month earlier.
Hogsett touts task force to plan new jail, criminal justice reforms
In his first State of the City address, Mayor Joe Hogsett said Wednesday that crime problems wouldn’t be solved simply with a new building. A new task force also would focus on issues like mental illness and addiction.
Marion County seeks to relieve jail’s overcrowding problem
The overcrowding problem at the Marion County Jail stems from rising violent crime in Indianapolis and a state law that sends low-level offenders from state prisons to county jails, according to county officials.
City-County Council approves ‘percent for art’ program
A similar measure was vetoed by former Mayor Greg Ballard last year, but this one is likely to stick.
Council OKs putting mass-transit tax hike on November ballot
The question will be whether Marion County voters are willing to approve a 0.25 percent income-tax hike to pay for expanded mass transit.
Carmel’s attempted annexation of Home Place back in court
Attorneys on both sides of the lengthy annexation battle that involves a 1,017-acre area of unincorporated Clay Township are now debating whether residents receive all the public services they need without assistance from Carmel.
Incumbents hold on to Hamilton County Council seats
Longtime Hamilton County Council member Rick McKinney will serve another term on the fiscal governing body, but he’ll have to do it alongside the candidate he accused of stealing his campaign signs.
UPDATE: As Hoosiers vote, most prez candidates already have moved on
Only Sen. Ted Cruz has announced public appearances in Indiana on Tuesday, while the other presidential candidates fan out across the map. Cruz, however, missed his 8 a.m. scheduled appearance in Westfield.
Bill Hudnut, who bolstered city’s confidence and revived downtown, dies at 84
William H. Hudnut III was the longest-serving mayor of Indianapolis and a towering figure who led the city out of its post-World War II decay in the final decades of the 20th century.
Council committee advances mass transit funding plan
A proposal that would let Marion County residents vote for an income-tax increase to help fund expanded mass transit passed a City County Council committee Tuesday night.
City seeks to lead redevelopment of downtown IPS site
The Hogsett administration is in discussions with school administrators to take over decision-making on the 11-acre Massachusetts Avenue property and might even buy the site.
Do city’s new ethics rules go far enough?
Good-government advocates say new rules championed by Mayor Joe Hogsett are an improvement, but that they would have liked to see him take a stricter approach.