Tuesday, April 2, 2024
City Council Recap
Last night’s Shelbyville Common Council meeting closed with a brief discussion on the planned amphitheater for Blue River Memorial Park, discussed at last week’s Parks Department meeting. The amphitheater will be located behind the current play area and splash pad and face the river. There is already some dirt for the project on-site (pictured above). The existing semi-circle parking lot will be extended to wrap around the amphitheater. Mayor Scott Furgeson said he has received questions about the value of having performance spaces both on Public Square and in the park, and he believes both can be useful and supported.
In other business, the council on first reading approved an ordinance establishing a registration process and fees for visiting food vendors. “We have a lot of food vendors that come into our community, take our money and leave, basically,” Furgeson said. “They don’t pay taxes, they don’t contribute to sports leagues, the Boys Club, Girls Club, SCUFFY, or anything like that.” The process will sometimes allow for a contribution instead of a fee. The local food handlers ordinance on record was established in 1962 and amended in 1981. Furgeson noted that the increasing frequency of mobile food vendors necessitated another update.
The council alsp confirmed an earlier approved establishment of an Economic Revitalization Area to set up a tax abatement for RISU America, a non-automotive Japanese company that plans to locate on land off Enterprise Drive and Boomer Way near North Michigan Road.
NOTEBOOK:
The following building permits were pulled in Shelbyville last month: set a new shelter by the pickleball courts at Blue River Memorial Park; install footings and foundation for new manufacturing facility at Freudenberg, 1700 Miller Ave.; enclose a loft for a bedroom at 2346 William Garrett Way; new homes on Marjorie Way, Black Oak Dr. and Oak Leaf Way; replace deck at 432 Peninsula Dr.; remodel four-unit apartment building due to fire damage at 845 Miller Ave.; and build a wall to separate two spaces at Freudenburg, 877 Miller Ave.
NATIONAL NEWS: From the 1970s to the late 2000s, a federal program called the Presidential Election Campaign Fund provided candidates who ran for the presidency with additional funds provided they accepted restrictions on how much they could raise. The last contender to use it was John McCain in 2008, as Barack Obama declined funds and raised a war chest of unprecedented size. Since then everyone’s done that, and as a result nobody’s been using the money, though it’s still been growing, hitting $445.6 million as of last year. Well, the latest funding package has finally tapped into that otherwise unusable fund, providing $320 million to operations and support of the Secret Service and $55 million as an election security grant to improve the administration of elections. (Raw Story/Numlock)
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This Day in Shelby County History
2014: Dwain Laird participated in an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. Laird had last been to D.C. as a chaperone with the Waldron senior class of 1960. Laird served in World War II. He had last been stationed in Virginia when he was discharged. He had then caught a train to Cincinnati, a bus to Shelbyville, hitchhiked out to Blue Ridge Road and surprised his mom at home.
2004: Police arrested a man for breaking into the Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 405 N. Harrison St., and stealing several keys to vending machines, which he was using to regularly access the machines.
1994: An urban forestry program was proposed for the city by a Purdue University class, but its recommendations weren’t considered a blueprint for change. “Adding more trees and bushes to Shelbyville isn’t a priority with city officials,” The Shelbyville News said. “A drive plant additional landscaping on the Public Square and along entryways into the city won’t be mounted anytime soon.” One of the proposals outlined in the study was the creation of a linear park that would encircle the city and provide access to all parks, schools and shopping areas. The report called for the use of a 2.5-mile abandoned railroad spur and the proposed Blue River Trail on the north side to join and provide a 5.7-mile greenway.
1984: Spenax Corp., Elston Drive, announced plans to expand operations and add 20 new jobs.
Wellman Thermal Systems laid off 50 employees. Industrial vice president Jim Cherry said orders were actually up, but it took a couple of months for designers and engineers to prepare the product before there was impact on the shop floor.
1974: Two young men were fined for shooting at hogs with air pistols on Boggstown Road. A. Wayne Drake notified deputies he had caught the two men, ages 19 and 20, and was holding them at gunpoint at his home until police arrived.
1964: A local Beatles look-alike group was the highlight of a junior high school convocation. The group was made up of students Renee Evans, Sue Graham, Sally Sears and Sally Rudicel.
1954: Nearby Camp Atterbury was practically deserted, The Shelbyville News reported. Guards had been removed from the gates, “off limits” signs posted on barracks and buildings and telephone lines sealed, work done by Kennedy Car Liner employees from Shelbyville. The camp had been ordered closed and the division training there was transferred to Colorado.
Local teenagers canvassed the city to raise $6,500 for the annual Rec budget. Bill Reimann, Rec committee chairman, said one-third of the money was raised by large donations on the first day of the drive.
1944: Attorney General James Emmert, of Shelbyville, announced he would run again for the statewide position. Emmert had served as mayor of Shelbyville and Shelby Circuit Court judge. He held degreees from Northwestern University and Harvard Law School.
1934: More than 800 local children lined up from the Alhambra Theatre on South Harrison Street and back along Broadway to see the educational film “Columbus Discovery of America.” The Republican said, “The streets were merry with the laughter and shouts of the buoyant youngsters,” although, “there was some disgust exhibited in these youths who were of the age that holds girls in disdain as ‘Casey’ Curson permitted the girls to enter first.
1924: The public library board authorized opening a branch library in a room at Pennsylvania and Vine Streets for eastside residents. Books from the central library would be sent to the branch. A reading room would be included at the branch library, along with daily newspapers and magazines.
1914: “Several young Americans, probably filled with the spirit of fun and mischief, tied down a whistle on a traction engine which had been left standing at the corner of Tompkins and South streets,” The Republican reported. “The engine had quite a supply of steam on hand, and the boys were repaid for their trouble in taping down the whistle by the shrill noise that greeted their ears and caused a number of Shelbyville people to wonder what was up.”
OBITUARIES
Tonja L. Pacini, 66, of Shelbyville, passed away Thursday, March 27, 2024, at her residence. Born January 17, 1958 in Shelbyville, she was the daughter of Clifton Prather and Charlotte (Kirchner) Prather. Survivors include four children, John Jarvis (wife Susan) of Louisiana, James Jarvis (wife Becky) of Greenwood, Susan Etchison (husband Tom) of Riovista, Texas, Frankie Cascioli IV of Beaufort, South Carolina; 6 siblings- Karen Mackey, April Prather, Clifton Prather, Brian Prather, Scott Prather, Scott Kirchner; several grandchildren and several great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Crystal Prather; and a grandson, James Jarvis.
Ms. Pacini was a lifelong resident of this area and attended Arsenal Tech High School. She had been a CNA/Medical assistant at several local nursing homes in Shelbyville, Morristown, and Hope.
Tonja enjoyed music, gardening and flowers, traveling, animals, nature, and motorcycles, but most of all she loved spending time with her family and grandchildren.
A Celebration of Tonja's life will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024 at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, 437 Amos Road. Friends may call on Friday morning from 10 a.m. until the time of the service, at the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.
Amphitheater plans 👍