Sunday, March 30, 2025
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Jones, Shaw Accept Lux Awards
Ann Garrett, Janette Alexander, Nick Lux, Greg Lux, Mark Lux, Max Jones, Lucas Shaw, Jerry Lux, Max Lux, Kim Lux, Jared Lux and Tom Lux gather for a photo after Max Jones and Lucas Shaw were named recipients of Waldron basketball awards. | submitted
The family of Ralph Lux on Thursday presented Waldron Athletics a $20,000 donation from Ralph, who had served as the Waldron varsity boys basketball manager for 34 years before his death on Jan. 9, 2025. He was the team’s No. 1 fan.
During the ceremony, held during the boys basketball season team awards, the Lux family presented Max Jones (above, center) with the Ralph E. Lux Award and Lucas Shaw (center) with the Tony Lux Award. Tony Lux, Ralph’s brother, passed away in 1968 while serving in Vietnam. The Tony Lux Award has been given to a Waldron boys basketball senior annually since 1969.
Below: Several past Tony Lux Award recipients were present at the awards banquet. Pictured (L to R) are Nick Lux, Matt Jones, Sam Jones, Drew Everhart, Lucas Shaw, Jeb Stewart, Jessie Stewart and Jared Lux. The group consists of two sets of fathers and sons (Lux and Jones) and a set of brothers (Stewarts).
State Reps Provide Legislation Update
The state legislative session is past the half-way mark of the session, and legislators were on hand Friday to discuss updates. Below are updates and comments from State Rep. Jenny Meltzer (R-73) and Rep. Robb Greene (R-47) at a Republican coffee gathering Friday at Grandma’s Pancake House. Between Meltzer and Greene, they represent all of Shelby County except Morristown. (Coverage of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce luncheon will be in tomorrow’s edition.)
A bill authored by Meltzer that would opened up government public notices to be in digital format, likely on a state-run website and other publications, died last week in the Senate Local Government Committee. Meltzer had earlier noted that some local government units struggle to get notices published in a timely fashion in non-daily newspapers. The bill would have allowed local officials to determine other locations for public notices. Representatives from the Hoosier State Press Association and several print media organizations had opposed the bill.
HB 1465, which Meltzer authored, is moving forward and makes technical corrections and conforms amendments from previous legislation concerning the office of administrative law proceedings. Previously, when an appeal was filed regarding a state agency decision, the appeal went to an administrative law judge (ALJ) who was hired by the agency. “So the agency that is telling you were wrong, they also employed the ALJ who was going to decide whether or not you were wrong,” Meltzer said. In 2019, a neutral party, the Office of Administrative Law proceedings, was established for many but not all appeals. “What my bill does is continue to move agencies that fought (the change), so we are fully moving (the Department of Natural Resources), we are fully moving almost everything out of (Family and Social Services Administration) except for Medicaid appeals, because the federal government won’t let us - hopefully they can change that and we can get that to be more neutral as well - and we are moving Department of Child Services and reducing the steps that adoptive parents have to take to get their adoptive fees,” Meltzer said. “It’s a huge bill that really tries to help constituents in minor ways to basically level the playing field between you and state agencies.”
Work continues on Senate Bill 1 regarding property taxes. Meltzer said House members were trying to provide property tax relief while still providing services. “I think most of the team on the House side really believes that we cannot defund our police, and that is what your property taxes pay for; so we’re trying to make sure that we can provide some property tax relief while not defunding police, fire, 911, and schools.” Greene said Gov. Braun had campaigned heavily on addressing rising home assessments. “We have a levy-based system that operates the rates, and I think they want to eventually get it to a rate-based system,” he said. “If you’re a senior, they want to move more towards a credit. So you get your bill, there would a credit at the end that would come off.”
Meltzer noted that work continues on HB1004, which targets nonprofit hospitals that charge more than 265% above what Medicare pays for the same service. According to the bill, if the hospitals’ charges exceed 300% and they fail to reduce their prices, they lose their nonprofit status. Also, the bill subjects nonprofit hospitals to an annual audit by the Indiana Department of Insurance.
Meltzer and Greene said Gov. Braun supports a third READI program, but it is not currently in the budget. With budget projections not yet out, the House budget was “very vanilla,” Meltzer said, that focused on funding state agencies. “It funded the Medicaid deficit that we had from two years ago. It increased funding to Department of Child Services and Department of Corrections, where it was needed,” she said. Meltzer said she hoped READI can be added to the budget or picked back up in two years when funds from the first two distributions are complete. READI (Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative) funds have been distributed to regional organizations for economic development. Shelby County is part of Accelerate Indiana, a group of communities along I-74. “That group is the most successful READI group in the entire state. They were the first ones to raise the capital of private dollars to match the public dollars ten-fold,” Meltzer said. The Shelby County Early Learning Center and coming amphitheater in the Blue River Community Park are examples of READI projects.
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NOTEBOOK:
Model trains and root beer floats are featured next Saturday, April 5, at the Grover Center. Dave Ellis will bring N-scale model trains to life, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and complimentary root beer floats will be served in the Emporium, 12 to 3 p.m., and the first Saturday of each month through September.
Shelbyville High School’s Bears Best honorees for the month, nominated by individual departments, were Kennedy Raney, Mikalynn Whitten, Naomi Garringer, Alexia Barocio, Diana Lira, Kenny Owens, Rebecca Martins-Thomas, Kimmora Carter, Jeanette Wung, Blake Hughes, Adam Hoover and Avram Mexin.
Shelbyville Central Schools Kindergarten Kickoff & Community Connections is Thursday, April 3, 5:30-7 p.m., at Shelbyville Middle School. Meet Kindergarten teachers from each building, tour-a-bus, submit required documentation and more.
Editor’s Note: The first Addison Times quarterly print edition of 2025 for supporters will go to press in April. Thank you to those who give online or via a check to The Addison Times, 54 W. Broadway, #13, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. Thank you for your continued support of daily local news and history.
HOOSIER NEWS: Indiana House Democrats have a property tax reform proposal they say is a “happy medium” between relief for homeowners and support for local governments and schools. Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) plans to offer a package of amendments to SB 1. That includes provisions to: Cap, at 1 percent, the amount property tax bills can grow for people aged 65 and older; freeze property taxes for disabled veterans; create a homestead tax credit for homeowners; increase the tax deduction for renters from $3,000 to $5,000; and create a first-time homebuyer down payment grant program, with awards up to $25,000. Debate over property tax reform will continue the rest of session. (Indiana Public Radio)
NATIONAL NEWS: As urban areas grow and habitats are lost, animals like coyotes are spending more and more time in urban environments and dealing with urban challenges. An ongoing study seeking to learn how urbanization changes coyotes has found that the city coyotes are a bit savvier at problem-solving than their country cousins, according to pipe puzzles deployed for four weeks at a time across 26 sites in Edmonton and 14 sites in Elk Island National Park. The puzzles involve a pipe that a coyote must rotate until a treat pops out after passing obstructions, and are meant to gauge their cognition. Across 461 videos of coyotes encountering the puzzle, 140 of them featured interest or interaction, and in 13 videos, the coyote actually solved the puzzle. This is remarkable for the wary animal, and all 13 of them were solved by city coyotes. (BioGraphic/Numlock)
Thank you to every donor for your continued support of The Addison Times. Donors of $100 or more receive a quarterly print publication in the mail. Please consider a one-time or monthly donation to The Addison Times, either online or via a check to The Addison Times, 54 W. Broadway, #13, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. Thank you for your continued support of daily local news and history. I appreciate each of you. - Kristiaan Rawlings, Editor
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights
Nov. 14, 1956
Shelby County winners of the DAR Good Citizen Contest were Carolyn John, Shelbyville; Diana Bush, Fairland; Kay Morris, Morristown; Linda Price, Mt. Auburn; Nancy Cuskaden, Waldron; Sondra Fritts, Moral Township; and Donna Lou Slevins, Boggstown.
World History teacher Mr. Norman Holland and his wife had their second child, a boy named Ted.
Rosamond Clark had a black eye. She said it was from wrestling with Lynn Pearson.
Of the 161 students on the honor roll, 100 were girls.
Officers of the senior choir were Charles Thompson, president; Todd Kuhn, vice president; Peggy Thomasson, secretary; and Diane Page, treasurer.
In a mock election at SHS, Eisenhower beat Stevenson, 297-191.
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This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2005: Plans were in the works to reopen Shelbyville’s Ramp-Age Bike/Skate Park, in Morrison Park. The Parks Department had previously closed the facility following complaints from parents and neighbors regarding fights and injuries. The skate park had first opened in 2002.
1995: A Greenfield EMT announced plans to open an ambulance service in Morristown, operating from a renovated building next to Morristown Manor. The owner’s service in Greenfield had made 60 runs into Shelby County over the prior year.
The Morristown Planning Commission approved preliminary plans for a 125-house addition to be built on the south side of town. The first phase of The Ridgelands was to include 35 homes.
1985: U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker had been part of several humorous moments in a trial that scrutinized the Shelby County Jail. When a former inmate testified the phones in the jail didn’t work, the judge joked, “Was that before or after the breakup of AT&T?” When the inmates’ attorney was late one day, the judy teased, “Mr. (Lee) McNeely (county attorney) wanted to start without you, but I wouldn’t let him.”
Joe Stieglitz, 22, won a chauffeured luxury limousine ride around Indianapolis from the Razz-Ma-Tazz and Q-95.
1975: The grade leading to the Cedar Ford bridge, the county’s last covered bridge, was cut away in preparation for transporting the bulky, wooden structure from its site on the German Road over Little Blue River to the fairgrounds.
1965: Thomas Hendricks School hosted a safety education program for first and second graders. Approximately 200 children drove toy autos down make-believe streets, obeying various traffic signs. The program would be repeated weekly so other city schools could participate.
1955: Sheriff Robert Meltzer issued a warning to children against flying kites in an unsafe manner. He reminded kids to keep kites away from electric wires; use dry cotton string; never use metal on kites; and never climb poles.
1945: Mrs. Bessie Keith, of Morris Ave., received word that her son, Corp. Technician Fifth Grade Sheldon Keith, was a prisoner of war of the German government.
1935: Enos Porter, of Shelbyville, purchased the assets of the Endres-Tompkins Furniture Company in Rushville, which had been in receivership for two years.
1925: Local manufacturers agreed to once again put on a “Made in Shelbyville” display at the Fall Festival in October. George Young, T.E. Goodrich and John Day DePrez were in charge of the organizing committee. A committee including Otto Keith, Leo Gutting and George C. Stubbs headed up a firm to draft new bylaws for the businessmen’s organization.
1915: A group of regional businessmen announced hopes to build a 100-room hotel in Shelbyville. The rates would be $1 a day and $1.50 per couple. They said they would furnish each room with a hot and cold water bath. They were looking for a property near the railroad. They wanted a corner property so the lower level could be retail. The men said the building would be tall because people preferred to be up where it was cooler and “above the fly line and the noise.”
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OBITUARIES
None today.