Friday, January 24, 2025
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
PEP RALLY IN PROGRESS
ABOVE: The Shelbyville Middle School Golden Bear mascot (seventh grader Graham Breedlove) helps fire up the crowd at yesterday’s pep rally.
photos by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
BELOW: Mr. Nolan Wethington attempts to catch pom-poms while hoisted by Mr. Justin Stenger, Assistant Principal Rex Olds and Principal Wes Hall. The faculty/administration team came up short in a competition against an eighth grade team.
Sheriff’s Department Releases Annual Report
The Shelby County Sheriff’s office released the 2024 annual report this week. Below are excerpts:
1,355 inmates were processed in the jail and 1,368 were released over the course of the year.
The average daily book-in was 4.6 and the average daily population was 127. The jail is rated for 203 beds.
The average length of stay is 26 days.
Officers transported 526 prisoners while logging 38,865 miles.
The top ten offense arrests were: OVWI/Endangerment, 279; hold out of agency, 262; probation violation; 162; failure to appear, 152; possession of meth, 114; domestic battery, 100; probation hold, 88; possession of paraphernalia, 71; theft, 70; and battery, 69.
There were no in-custody deaths, no escapes and no escape attempts.
There were no juveniles held in the facility who were waived to adult status and incarcerated here.
There were 427 incidents documented by the jail staff. Incidents included assault, battery, disorderly conduct, being in an unauthorized area, consumption/possession of alcohol, destruction of jail property, habitual rule violator, possession of weapons, sex offenses, starting a fire or flood, tampering with security equipment, tattooing, theft, refusal to obey staff, and flooding; 70 incidents were dealing with suicidal inmates; 348 incidents were dealing with medical issues.
10 ordained ministers regularly visit the jail blocks to provide worship opportunities. An additional 15 visit inmates on an individual basis. The program director of Turning Point, a program for battered women, makes regular visits to inmates.
$318,251.44 was spent on medical care for inmates. Every inmate with at least a 31-day sentence is signed up for Medicaid.
Years ago, Blue River Career Programs provided a teacher for the GED program at the jail, but funding was eliminated in 2007. “We believe that this is a very important program but have very little luck securing funding to continue it,” the report said.
In 2022, the department dropped the hire eligibility age to 18. Out of the 35 officers, 13 have less than one year on the job. The jail is still in need of eight new jail staff, according to the Jail Staffing Analysis completed in October 2013.
The Shelby County Courthouse security checkpoint had 40,349 people pass through the security measures. Of those, the following weapons were found: 622 knives, 101 containers of pepper spray, 44 pairs of scissors, 3 guns, 16 misc., i.e., ammunition, brass knuckles and Ku batons.
NOTEBOOK:
The Indianapolis Star covered the Shelbyville Golden Bears boys’ basketball team in an article published yesterday.
HOOSIER NEWS: The unlikely scenario of Indiana redrawing its boundaries and taking in 32 Illinois counties, pushed by some Hoosier lawmakers, could have financial drawbacks. A Southern Illinois University study found that those counties are, on average, getting about $2 back from the state for every tax dollar they contribute to state coffers. The secession counties contribute, as a group, just 4.5% to the state’s gross domestic product. In 2021, the secession counties generated $2.2 billion in tax revenue for Illinois but received $4 billion back from the state, according to the SIU analysis, which takes into account everything from school funding to Medicaid costs to state payroll. (IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: A hit song can be great, but real money is also in television theme songs. The Devo song “Uncontrollable Urge” never appeared in the Hot 100, but it does appear before every episode of “Ridiculousness” on MTV, which has 42 seasons, 1,545 episodes, and at one point in 2020 played for reruns of 113 hours out of a given 168-hour week. That was enough to make that particular song worth $1 million per year in performance royalties for front man Mark Mothersbaugh, a song that would have made a total of $150,000 in its time on Spotify. It’s a bit of an open secret; the Barenaked Ladies wrote the theme for The Big Bang Theory, and while they’re coy about revenue, they do say that the number has earned them more than the entire rest of their extensive catalog (including No. 1 single “One Week”) combined. The songwriter with a 15 percent cut of “I’ll Be There For You” makes about $700,000 per year from “Friends” these days. (Rolling Stone/Numlock)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights
January 24, 1929
A column from faculty member W.F. Loper addressed facility issues at the high school. Daily attendance in local schools had increased 100 percent compared to 1890 due to increased population and more students enrolling in school. Fifty years’ prior, only academically elite students attended school, he wrote. SHS, built just 18 years’ prior, in 1911, was already out of room. The 260-seat assembly room needed to accommodate 600. Two teachers had no permanent classroom.
The Courier published a staff editorial defending the required Latin course. “The aim of the mathematics course in our high school is not attempting to produce every student as an engineer, nor does the music teacher strive to make everyone a Shuman-Hienck or a Frits Kriesler, nor does every Latin student study that particular subject with the main object in view of writing a Cicero or Virgil.” The column argued that Latin did more than just prepare a student for college; it also helped students understand grammatical principles and history.
Used gum stuck under desks was a continual issue, the paper noted.
Nearby Franklin College would be requiring a course in hygiene starting in the fall.
A dance had been held at the Strand Alcazar following the final game of the 6th district basketball tournament.
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: Megan Turner was named Waldron High School Homecoming Queen. She was escorted by Simon Jackson.
1995: The women’s volleyball league at Paul Cross Gymnasium was becoming quite a popular attraction. Teams from Columbus, Greenfield, Greenwood and Indianapolis all participated. Darla Jo Parker, parks recreation director, said the gym was the main reason for the increase in competition. “I think it’s all in the building. The Columbus Armory has a tile floor, and in Greenfield, the Boys Club is nice, but the parks department has a tile floor,” she said. Paul Cross had lots of air space, a wood floor and plenty of space to warm up. Jim Browning, who helped organize the league, said he hoped to get a curtain between the courts.
1985: Robert Toon, 55, 742 Howard St., beat his own three-game record at Blue River Lanes, where the records were posted in big yellow letters on a scoreboard on the far left wall. His new record, 782, replaced his previous one of 703. Toon had been bowling since he was a teenager. He stopped while in the Army, and once out of the military, a wife, six children and a full-time job kept him busy for about 15 years, when he picked up bowling regularly again. That was in 1965, and he had been bowling ever since. Toon was a 16-year veteran at the Post Office.
1975: A new Goodyear Farm Tire Center opened at the southeast corner of E. Michigan Road and Amos Road. A.H. Hoots was manager, and Norman Gahimer was assistant manager.
1965: Snow drifts on Range Road were taller than vehicles for more than 200 yards of road.
1955: The steel framework was up for the new General Electric plant on the city’s east side.
County Commissioners opened bids for the construction of a proposed hog barn at Tindall farm. The specifications called for 12 pens.
1945: John Carson, a student at Boggstown High School, received a War Savings Stamp for winning the Shelby County Tuberculosis Association essay contest. Joan Shipman, Fairland High School, placed second, and Betty Rose Fox, Fairland High School, was third.
Effective Feb. 1, a general curtailment in electricity use would go into effect, Mayor James Pierce said. The order was in compliance with federal orders. The effort was intended to redirect coal for the war effort. Prohibited uses of electricity included outdoor advertising, outdoor decorative lighting and marquee lighting in excess of 60 watts.
1935: A fruit and vegetable service driver, who had wrecked his truck in a Fairland Road ditch, was convicted of driving while intoxicated.
All 360 tickets Shelbyville had sent to Martinsville for the upcoming home basketball game were sold. A special train had been commissioned, and Martinsville requested an extra 100 tickets, which Principal J.W.O. Breck said were not available.
1925: James McCloskey, jeweler on Public Square, did not win the baby pig at the Red Men’s Indoor Fair, but was teased by locals for winning virtually everything else. He and his wife won a basket of groceries, a 25-pound sack of flour, an Armour’s ham, a box of candy, an aluminum bucket and a "torchiere. He finished second place in a contest to win a bowl of goldfish, though. His winning streak left him feeling “a little bit embarrassed,” The Republican said, after he was “razzed” by his friends about his “Irishman’s luck.”
1915: Editor’s note: There are no archives for either local Republican or Democrat newspapers for this week. Once the archive returns, reporting for this year will resume.
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: Freeman Family Funeral Homes & Crematory
OBITUARIES
Margaret Pope, 83, of Plainfield, passed away Monday January 6, 2025 at her residence. She was born November 12, 1941 in Shelbyville, Ind., to Glen Tucker and Marion (Witchet) Tucker.
Margaret was an avid reader and reciting of the Rosary was very important to her.
She married Jon Pope in 1964, and he preceded her in death in 2015. She is survived by her son, Brad Pope; her daughter, Laurie Welty; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her sister, Patti (husband, Jim) Hoffmeier. She was preceded in death by her husband; two daughters and one son.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday, January 27, 2025, at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 125 E. Broadway St., Shelbyville, Ind., 46176, with Father Mike Keucher officiating. Burial will be in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery. Funeral Directors Greg Parks, Sheila Parks and Stuart Parks are honored to serve Margaret’s family. Online condolences may be shared at www.murphyparks.com.