Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Apr 08, 2025

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Workers install a sign yesterday for The Mill, a new apartment complex behind the Porter Center that incorporates the former Coca-Cola Bottling plant. | photo by JACK BOYCE

ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: FULL CANOPY REAL ESTATE

NOTEBOOK:

The Shelbyville Common Council last night approved lowering the maximum grass height from 10 inches to eight inches before the city intervenes. Once the maximum grass height is reached and a complaint filed, the city gives residents 15 days to fix the issue, time during which the situation can become worse, Mayor Scott Furgeson said. “It’s hard on the equipment, it’s hard on the people doing it, and it takes twice as long to maintain the yards we’re doing,” he said. The city maintained 107 lawns last year. Although property owners are assessed fees for the Street Department’s intervention, Furgeson said the city does “not want to be in the business of maintaining people’s yards.”
City Council also approved a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1, a proposed bill under consideration by the state legislature that would cut residential and business property taxes and services.
Mayor Scott Furgeson thanked numerous city employees for their response to flooding over the weekend. City personnel filled over 1,000 sandbags on Saturday morning, which were provided to city and county residents. The swift water rescue team took 15 calls. Emergency response personnel saved numerous people and 32 animals from their homes.
Mayor Furgeson shared updates on various on-going construction projects, including on North Riley Highway. The speed limit will be lowered to 30 miles per hour during construction.
Shelby County Commissioners yesterday approved the County Redevelopment Commission to purchase the remaining home in the first block of W. Hendricks Street adjacent to the county office building campus for $255,000. “Just to clarify, there are no impending building projects as far as what the the land would be utilized for,” Commissioner Jason Abel said.
County Highway Superintendent Kem Anderson announced his retirement yesterday after 36 years of service with the county. Anderson has worked for 18 different county commissioners in an appointed position overseeing the 831 miles of county roads - all paved - culverts, snow removal and maintenance. The commissioners commended Anderson for his years of service, which included upgrading county equipment and roads throughout his tenure.
Waldron Will members presented a funding request to County Commissioners yesterday for a food pantry that provides Waldron Elementary students with nonperishable food for the weekends. The self-supported program serves approximately one-fourth of the school’s students, and organizers are looking to raise approximately $10,000 for next school year. Commissioners praised the program and said they would review the matter.
Police responded to a report that a vehicle had crashed into 136 N. Vine St. and left the scene. A silver bumper to a Toyota vehicle was laying in front of the residence. The home owner heard the impact but did not see the suspect vehicle. Police were not able to immediately locate the vehicle.
A 93-year-old man attempting to park his mini-van at his Poncianni Ave. home struck the back wall of his garage. Medics and police arrived to find his wife trapped underneath the vehicle. The man said he had accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of hitting the brakes. The woman was retrieved from underneath the vehicle and transported to Indianapolis for treatment.
The National Weather Service reported Sunday evening that Shelbyville had received 6.9 inches of rain over the previous seven days. Rainfall totals in Martinsville exceeded 8 inches.
HOOSIER NEWS: A CSX train derailed in Indianapolis Sunday evening off a bridge near Southeastern Avenue and Earhart Street. No injuries were reported. Six cars derailed, four were empty and two contained cornstarch. CSX confirmed the cargo and that five of those cars fell from the overpass. (IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: The Mega Millions lottery is overhauling its system, hiking ticket prices from $2 to $5, and retooling its odds structure (following in Powerball’s footsteps) to get more frequent big jackpots that can grab headlines and move tickets. The starting jackpot is going up from $20 million to $50 million, and the Mega Millions consortium projects that the average jackpot win will go up to $800 million after the odds change. The odds of winning the jackpot will shift from 1 in 303 million now to 1 in 290 million in the new game. The lottery business is a massive one with people spending $113 billion on lottery products in 2024 in North America. (Axios/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

May 29, 1996

Students continued their year-long complaints about the new parking pass requirement. The top 10 listed reasons to eliminate the passes, which hung from rear-view mirrors, included: The $1.25 could be spent better elsewhere; They block the view of my fuzzy dice; and Everyone knows we are from Shelbyville.
The 1996-97 cheer teams were set. The varsity and junior varsity cheer teams included Shelley Isley, Gretchen Smith, Deena Glasco, Andrea Jones, Andrea Goldyn, Dana Westermann, Jill Brown, Brooke Van Natta, Kelly Krise, Lindsay Toll, Natalie Washburn, Amanda Collins, Diane Nolan and Jenny Brown. (Note: In 2024, former SHS cheerleader Andrea (Jones) Lee established the SHS Cheer Fund at the Blue River Community Foundation. The fund will be a forever source of funding for the SHS cheer program to cover additional costs that are not covered by the school system including but not limited to new equipment, new spirit signs and cheer camps.)
Student Council election had been held for the following year. Officers were Jennifer Williams, Carolynn Baker and Theresa Anderson. Senior class officers were Jason Miller, Teresa Harrold and Carrie Browning. Junior class officers were Melanie Beglin, Quiana Jackson and Jessica Simmons. Sophomore officers were Mandy Pouder, Katie Thopy and Kelly Krise. Freshmen officers were Ashlee Branam, Carmela Clawson and Beth Browning.
The final “Make the Grade” column for the year included: an “A” for Mr. Rice: “Oh Spanish God, Please give us buenas notas!” and an “A” for bathroom doors: “Now the ladies have some privacy. (By the way, the Courier ran an article about the lack of doors. See, we do have an effect on decisions!)”

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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: Williams Industries welcomed new robotic equipment that signaled a new program for the family-owned business and the addition of 58 jobs by the end of 2006. The new equipment would allow for smaller orders to be done. Williams Industries was started in Shelbyville in the Walkerville area in 1944 by Herb Williams as a sign-printing company, called Herb Williams and Sons. Hand-painted signs were their specialty, and the group supplied many of the welcome signs for small towns along U.S. Highways 40 and 421 in the 1940s and 1950s. The company incorporated in 1946. It added injection molding in 1972 and began developing and producing the plastic scoops for General Foods’ powdered drink mixes, such as Kool-Aid. The company then introduced its own line of acrylic Christmas ornaments. The company also began making signs for grocery store aisles and do-not-disturb signs for hotel doors. Mark Williams was the fourth generation to lead the company. Mark’s father, Luke, was chairman of the board of directors, and another uncle, Clay Williams, was vice president of operations.

1995: Plans were finalized for the sixth annual Shelby County Business and Industry Trade Fair, to be held at Garrett Gymnasium. Ninety-four exhibitors would be on hand attending 102 booths. Indianapolis TV personality Randy Ollis of Channel 8 was scheduled to be at the fair for a remote broadcast. The fair had been popular with the public since the inaugural event attracted a crowd estimated at 5,000. Attendance had grown to an estimated 7,000.

1985: Workers began prep work for painting the new Meredith Mann Water Tower/Fire Station on W. McKay Road.

1975: Shelbyville High School senior Gary Abner was named the recipient of the Paul Cross Award. Abner, a two-time South Central All-Conference selection, received the honor as the highlight of the athletic banquet, which attracted a crowd of just under 500 at the high school cafeteria. John Thomas presented the award. Other basketball awards included Greg Babb as the team’s top rebounder, Randy Coffey as the top defensive player and John Hartnett as the most accurate free throw shooter and most improved player.

1965: Nearly 500 descended on the St. Joseph School and church basement for the annual Democrat Jefferson-Jackson dinner, which featured State Democratic Chair Gordon St. Angelo was the speaker. George Tolen was the county chairman. With so many Shelby County residents working for the state, St. Angelo joked that state officials were “thinking about moving (state) offices down here, to save your people from having to drive back and forth.”

1955: The Fraternal Order of Eagles announced the annual Easter Egg Hunt would be held at the fairgrounds, Sunday, 2 p.m.

Gray TV Service, owned and operated by Walter Gray, moved from 815 Main St. to 34 W. Franklin St. The store carried Sylvania televisions and Norge appliances.

1945: Forty-one more Shelby County men were inducted into the military through the Selective Service draft.

1935: A crew of federally-funded workers began remodeling the Old Bell Telephone Company property at the southwest corner of Broadway and Tompkins to be used as the center for a government-financed recreation program. Martin Luther was named supervisor of the program. The telephone company building, long vacant, would be equipped with indoor games and offered free for people of all ages. Luther would have 15 assistants, chosen from the township list of unemployed.

1925: The Shelbyville Elks Lodge announced plans for an Easter Egg Hunt. One thousand eggs had been obtained for use in the egg hunt. The eggs would be cooked and colored. Eight women, wives of members of the lodge, were appointed to hide the eggs in the city park, and prizes would be offered for those collecting the largest number of eggs.

1915: City Council approved oiling Broadway Street from the Big Four railroad crossing to Washington Ave. The street would be spiked and loosened by the city-owned road roller, and the oil would then be spread and the street rolled so that a hard, smooth surface could be obtained. “All danger of cutting the surface and turning it into a mud wallow as has been done with West Washington Street will no longer be feared,” The Republican reported. The property owners along the street were paying for the oiling.