Fishers pays congressman’s wife $20K per month for consulting
Jennifer Messer, the wife of Rep. Luke Messer, makes drastically more as a contracted legal consultant than either of the city’s two staff attorneys are paid.
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Proposal aims to boost minimum city employee pay to $13 per hour
Indianapolis leaders want to encourage businesses to pay livable wages. The City-County Council’s president says that’s a tough sell when the city hasn’t done that for all of its own employees.
Proposed zoning along U.S. 31 in Carmel would allow residential, more retail
The city is considering eliminating the highway’s Corridor Overlay, which prohibits residential use and restricts retail, parking, and building locations and sizes.
Common Cause, NAACP sue over Marion County early-voting site
Plaintiffs in the case allege Indianapolis’ sole early-voting precinct is discriminatory and constitutes voter suppression.
City set to rescind tax breaks for planned Interactive Intelligence expansion
The company that bought Interactive Intelligence last year for $1.4 billion has fallen short of the Interactive’s hiring and investment goals and is vacating a new, $12.4 million office building on the northwest side.
Three Hamilton County school districts asking voters to OK referendums
Carmel Clay Schools and Sheridan Community School Corp. on Tuesday will ask voters to approve a seven-year tax hike for operational funding, and Westfield Washington Schools will ask to cover $90 million in construction projects.
Greenwood mayor leads push to turn downtown into residential, retail hub
Mayor Mark Myers, a second-term Republican, hopes to take a page from the playbooks of Carmel and Fishers, which have drawn more residents downtown by creating a commercial and residential hub.
Lawmakers approve new Marion County judicial selection process
The previous system had been thrown out by a federal appeals court in 2015 as unconstitutional, and Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore David Long said it was the Legislature’s responsibility to replace it.
Hogsett pledges ‘permanent’ housing for 400 homeless residents
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett faces a tough battle in taking on ingrained, multigenerational issues involving homelessness, poverty, education and crime. But in his State of the City address, he vowed to try.
Airbnb ban preemption bill in limbo after House vote
Supporters of the bill, which would restrict cities from outright bans on short-term rentals like Airbnbs, have just a few days to bring it up again this year.
Council panel OKs plan to reimburse city agencies for justice center planning
The measure would allow the city to be reimbursed with future bond proceeds for expenses related to the planned community justice campus.
City has plan for City-County Building plaza, but can it be done for $9M?
Rundell Ernstberger Associates' design features an interactive fountain and an event lawn accommodating up to 1,500 people. The first proposal, from another architect, was scrapped because it was too expensive.
City to spend $3.8M on website overhaul
Indianapolis officials have started a two-year process for building a “modern, mobile-friendly” Indy.gov, intended make government services more efficient and accessible.
Hogsett takes page from Hudnut era in new anti-littering effort
The city, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Eli Lilly and Co. are teaming on a new initiative aimed at beautifying the city.
Indianapolis to spend $400K on alternative crime prevention
The City-County Council approved the award to not-for-profit organizations that patrol the city’s high-crime neighborhoods with a 22-1 vote Monday.
Bill prohibiting cities from banning Airbnb advances
The bill’s author, Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, says it’s important to stop knee-jerk government regulation that would restrict anyone’s ability to “use our private property for what we want to use it for.”
CIB ordered to give deposition in IRS-Simon lawsuit over Pacers deal
CIB attorneys had sought to block the IRS from deposing former presidents Pat Early, Bob Grand and Ann Lathrop in a legal dispute stemming from a 2009 deal that transferred full ownership of the Indiana Pacers to Herb Simon.
Council panel OKs $148K to fund ‘economic recovery coordinator’
The person hired for the position is expected to help workers from Carrier Corp. and Rexnord Corp. who are about to lose their jobs—along with trying to help revitalize old industrial sites.
Indianapolis sitting pretty with light pension burden compared to peers, report says
Indianapolis has it relatively easy in large part due to state involvement in its pension plans, according to Standard & Poors.
IndyGo schedules public meetings on Red Line project
Now that the Marion County transit tax has passed, IndyGo is assured of funding for the bus rapid-transit project.