Friday, February 9, 2024
Local Democrats Elect New Vice Chair
The Shelby County Democrat Central Committee Caucus last night elected Angela Matney, left, to the vice chair position. She will serve on the Central Committee with Shelby County Democrat Chair Denny Ramsey, above, Treasurer Sherry Mohr and Secretary Eddie Sleeth. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Days after Shelby County Republicans elected a new chair and vice chair, local Democrats installed Angela Matney as vice chair to succeed Joanne Bowen, who recently stepped aside.
“I’m really happy about this because Angela is another Joanne: she just gets it done,” Shelby County Democrat Chair Denny Ramsey said during the meeting.
County Commissioner candidates Joe Land and Winifred “Winnie” Soviar and Indiana House District 73 Representative candidate Hollie Payton were also on hand to make introductions. As of last night, local Democrats did not have candidates for the three at-large Shelby County Council seats, although Ramsey has been touch with prospects. The deadline to file for the primary election is today at noon.
“We can still appoint candidates after (the primary for the general election in November), which gives us a little breathing room, but I would rather have them on the ballot for name exposure,” Ramsey said.
Democrats are just coming off an election in which they caucused in Nic Weber over the summer to run for mayor. He lost a close race, and the party’s slate of city council candidates was unsuccessful.
“We had such a great turnout of people for the Democrat Party last fall, and we were all very happy about that,” Ramsey said. “We didn’t win, but we made a dent. We were out there and people noticed, so I would call that momentum. And I don’t want that momentum to slow down. We have to keep that going.”
Although the County Commissioner seats are at-large, meaning all county residents can vote for the candidates, the seats are by district. Soviar is running in the Center District and Land is running in the South District. Both positions are currently held by Republicans, Kevin Nigh in the Center District and Don Parker in the South District. They are not running for re-election, but Republicans David Lawson and Tom Rogers are running in a contested race for the Center District and Republican Nathan Runnebohm filed to run in the South District.
Payton, a Decatur County resident who works for Girls Inc. of Shelbyville and is Vice Chairperson of the Decatur County Democrat Central Committee, is running for the House seat occupied by Republican Jennifer Meltzer, who is running for re-election. Meltzer received 77 percent of the vote in 2022. Indiana House District 73 includes a portion of Bartholomew, Decatur, Jennings and Shelby counties.
Early voting for the May 7 primary election begins April 9.
SELLING POINT
Shelbyville High School students Meeghen Bushfield and Paige Bohman extol the values of French Club to incoming freshmen at Wednesday’s 8th grade night. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
NOTEBOOK:
Locals may have noticed the dark wood home previously at 713 S. Miller St., behind the Valero station on Colescott St., has been demolished. The owners of Valero recently purchased the S. Miller St. property, which abuts the gas station, when it was put on the market. Although the site may be used for future expansion, there are no immediate plans on file, city officials confirmed yesterday.
Zachary Stevenson will be the new Shelbyville Middle School Dean of Students and Athletic Director, succeeding Emily Fuller, who moved over to Loper Elementary.
The Shelbyville High School Choral Department and the Shelbyville Choir Parent Organization hosts the annual SHS Singing Sensational show choir competition in Breck Auditorium tomorrow, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fifteen show choirs from across the state will compete to be named Grand Champion. Shelbyville’s show choir, Synergy, will perform in exhibition at 8 p.m. Soloists from visiting choirs will perform in the Library-Media Center, 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The public is invited, with admittance (an all-day pass) $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are sold at the door. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be available for purchase in the SHS cafeteria.
NATIONAL NEWS: Las Vegas now claims the NHL’s Golden Knights, the NFL’s Raiders, the WNBA’s Aces and soon the MLB’s A’s. That’s in part thanks to the legalization of sports gambling, which on one hand meant that Vegas lost the business to apps, but on the other hand freed up the city to pursue sports. Also fueling the ascent of Vegas as a sports town is its ascendant population: Clark County rose from 1.4 million residents in 2000 to 2.33 million in 2023. (Bloomberg/Numlock)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: The City of Shelbyville received a $2.1 million grant to develop a trail that would run from Babe Ruth Park to near Blue River Memorial Park, with a total distance of about 3-and-a-half miles. Mayor Tom DeBaun said the trail was a big part of his design vision for Shelbyville. He said that bike and pedestrian trails raised the quality of life in a community, and this was a way to connect downtown with the rest of the city.
2004: Former Shelbyville resident Steve Simpson was named U.S. Creative Director of the Year for 2003 by Adweek magazine, Steve Talbert reported for The Shelbyville News. Simpson, 44, was a partner and creative director at a San Francisco firm. He was a 1974 Shelbyville High School graduate.
1994: The old Indiana National Guard Armory, 137 E. Washington St., was going to auction, with the minimum bid at $73,500. After the Guard moved out in the 1970s, the city leased the building as the homes of the Shelbyville Parks Department, Shelby Senior Citizens and Girls Inc., which later moved to the old junior high school building.
1984: While Triton Elementary School students would be on Spring break in March, maintenance personnel would move equipment over to the new school addition for first graders to move in. Anticipating the closing of Triton North Elementary School, the board approved reducing the staff.
1974: Shelbyville Boys Club age 15-16 All-Stars placed second in the Indiana Boys Club Basketball Tourney in East Chicago. Team members were Terry Junken, Eric Steffey, Alan Newton, Gary Oldham, Tony Scott, Kelly Hindman, Roger Hunt, Bob Boedeker, Jeff Frost, Bob Joseph, John Alexander and Keith Everhart. Tony Nicholson and Tom Duvelius were coaches.
Employees of the General Electric wire mill were dismissed from work early after police received a telephoned bomb threat concerning the plant on E. Michigan Road.
1964: The SCUFFY campaign opened, with an annual goal of $98,850 (approximately $981,300 in today’s money).
1954: A new Marietta bridge was under construction next to the old bridge. The road over the new bridge would cut off from the old road at the top of the hill in Marietta, cross the bridge and join the old road about 300 yards farther along, completely bypassing the old and hazardous bridge in use.
1944: Nearly thirty more Shelby County men, most of them fathers, were drafted, as government officials promised the draft pace would be stepped up. The men were George King, Edgehill Palmer, Arnold Poe, George Dipple, Wray Davis, Joseph Vance, Carl Wickliff, Arthur Badgley, William Margison, Floyd Dawson, Serle Fair, Lowell Rudicel, Herman Gilles, John Stocklin, James Gore, Rezy Dwiggins, Berlin Murphy, John Crane, Howard Stanley, Ray Borders, Lawrence McDonald, Clifford Bigelow, Herrin Brown, John Cheatham, Ernie Lane, Carl Thomas, Fred Slinker and Ira Martin.
1934: Houses in the west part of Shelbyville were rocked and several windows broken out when an air tank exploded in the boiler room of the Hodell Furniture Company. The blast was heard for several blocks, but no one was injured. It left a large opening in the factory roof.
1924: Jacob Means, 45, mechanic at C.F. Fix & Son, East Broadway, was injured when he fell through the elevator shaft from the main floor to the cellar of the new Fix & Son building. He was treated in Indianapolis. Means had left the garage with the intention of going up to the display room on the top floor. On reaching the elevator shaft, he stepped in, but the elevator had taken some passengers to the top floor. He fell about 11 feet.
1914: The Shelbyville Republican reported that local man Clark Hodges had “froze one side of his face” while driving home due to the cold wind.
Al Green was named postmaster of Shelbyville by Congressman Gray. The selection had not yet been approved by the President or Senate. Green was manager of the J.O. Parrish Lumber Company.
OBITUARIES
None today