We're back with another episode of Who's Your Headlines. I've got Lindsay Erdod in the studio today. She is the editor-inchief of Free Press Indiana News and we're going to talk all things Indiana news covering all 92 counties. I'm really excited to dive into a few of these. We have some fun ones, some interesting [music] stories, some I mean really, really moving and important stories for Hoosiers covering all 92 counties. I'm really excited to dive in today.
Welcome back to the studio. Thanks for having me. So, this is coming out on Friday, so hopefully everyone's going to be leading into a spectacular weekend out and about enjoying this uh this weather that we're having. Um I'm excited to dive in. I think where we want to start is a little bit of a flood update. talk to us about what's going on with the more than 25,000 Indiana households that applied for FEMA, the individual assistance, uh, after everything that rolled through over the past few weeks.
Where do we stand? Where who's your stand? And what information do we need to know about? Yeah, so as of September 11th, $64. 3 million has been paid out or allocated from FEMA to individuals across the state, and that's covering over 15,000 applications. So that means there's still about [snorts] 10,000 applications out there, at least as of the numbers from September 11th.
Um, so that's thousands of people still waiting for aid. We also know that 40,000 Hoosiers had applied for the up to $5,000 in state aid and the state is processing that. We don't have like up-to-date numbers yet on how much of that has gone out or how many people have received that. Um, but from what we've heard so far, it's kind of a mix in terms of some people have received the funding and they're super grateful about it. It's really helped them been able to purchase new appliances or new furniture or, you know, replace something that had been damaged. While there's other people out there who got such a small amount in aid that they're saying, there's really nothing I can do with this.
not nothing they can do with it, but it's not enough to, you know, help someone who's completely lost their house. Do we know how this process works? Like how if if you were a Hua that's been affected by the floods cuz I know that there's a lot of different uh different documents and hoops and things and it's it's a it's a lot to handle uh especially as you're going through a time where you know you're you might have lost your house, you might be struggling out there. What does the process look like to get relief and to get help? Yeah. So, there's an application process that people can follow, whether it's for state aid or for federal aid.
The state has actually started doing kind of these like popups around the state in various cities to help people fill out some of these applications. And the thing that's most recommended for anybody going through this process is like make sure you're keeping your receipts, make sure you're taking photos, make sure you're documenting everything because those are the types of things that you're going to be asked to provide. And if you already have that together, then it's just going to make that that process go a lot faster for you. Yeah. It's it's interesting, too, because isn't there some sort of criteria where if over 50% of the value of your house got damaged? Like I've heard some people are getting notices that they have to either like raise their house or demolish it and re like there's a lot of interesting um like is it total loss?
There's like documents being sent out about that. Have you heard anything about this? I have not heard anything. Okay, I I just talked with someone uh last Friday and they were talking about how they were getting notices that they might have to either raise their house or do something different like reposition, which was a ton of work because over 50% of their house was damaged. So, something to look into. I know that there's a lot of um like there's appraisals, there's a lot of things that are happening and moving pieces.
So, having resources and diving into that is super important. Yeah. Do you know was that coming from an insurance company? No, I believe it was coming so this was in the along the White River here in Marian Hamilton County and they were this individual had said I'm not taking any money from FEMA right now. they were going through the process because they didn't want to have to raise their house 3 in like when cuz it's obviously like you know a 100 year thousand-y year flood whatever and if I believe by accepting the total loss or whatever it is then they were going to have to either move their house away from the river or elevate it which is just like a huge expense and so I think that there's some uh definitely do your own research and and be totally informed I don't know it's always interesting where some people against the river have it's their primary residence. Like you know a lot of people it's like this is your house like where do you stay if you can't stay here?
Then other people it might be their secondary residence. And so if it's your secondary you can kind of like well I guess we don't need to go here. We can kind of take a minute and and be an arms length away from it and look through what's really going on here. I I've gotten conflicting reports I think about um for people who are in immediate need getting 1300 bucks or whatever it is amazing. But if you're like, "Oh, if I accept this, it might put me down this other track that I I might not want to be on." Well, and that's I think it depends like was your house completely destroyed or are you going to be able to rebuild or or fix it back up?
You know, the woman we talked to in Gary, Indiana, for example, her house wasn't damaged from flooding. It was damaged from the not having power for so many days. And you know, that was something I've learned through our reporting in this because you know, I've lost power for an hour a day maybe, right? And you don't think about really having damage from that. But when you lose it for weeks on end in the middle of a hot summer, you end up dealing with you've you've lost all your food basically cuz you're not going to be able to keep much in a in a cooler, right? And then your appliances start to have issues.
You start to have mold in your house, you know? So like she had to go out and replace mattresses because they got moldy. And I think I saw Did I see in that story you said that someone said they're not paying their they're like I'm not paying my electric bill. [laughter] Yes. We have also heard from people who are really upset with NIPCO which is the utility provider in Northwest Indiana. And uh they don't want to pay their bills because you know to them they were like well I didn't have electricity for two 3 weeks you know um and and they're just they're mad about it.
Yeah. Like this person says what? Uh they lost three freezers of food uh in Hannah, Indiana, and that's $2,000 in groceries. And I mean the the quote you guys have is we're broke. Yeah. Like that is Well, you think about people, you know, you go to Costco, you stock up, you've got a freezer full of stuff that could feed you for, you know, for a quarter, you know, about like I mean, I think about that, too.
It's like if you, let's say, stock up on the big one is freezer beef. Yeah. you know, we got a half cow in the freezer and it's like, dude, that is a lot. That's a large investment to now be gone completely to waste, right? Or, you know, for people who are on fixed incomes, limited incomes, and they shop with coupons and they stock up, you know? I mean, that was my family as a kid, right?
My mom shopped the deals and had coupons and bought extra of stuff when we could and now that's gone for some people. Wow. So, what do we need to keep an eye on going forward? Where's the biggest gap to fill and where do you see the state or the federal government coming in to help hoosers? I think it's continuing to pay attention to this aid going out to individuals. Is it enough?
Are they able to fix or or replace um things that have been damaged? Um and what happens to the people who completely lost their homes? And you know, one of the people we talked to in Connorsville completely lost their home. And on on top of the financial concerns, it's kind of like, well, where am I going to find a house now? Because there are a lot of homes that have been damaged to the point of of not being able to live in them anymore in the state. And we already have limited housing supply and high housing costs.
And so it just kind of like adds to this existing problem that we have. And so seeing kind of how that plays out is something to pay attention to. And then also, you know, it's not just individuals that had damages to their houses. That's a lot of what we're talking about, but cities and towns and counties had damages to public infrastructure that's having to be fixed. And we're starting to see, you know, some of that work and and that funding um come up now. And so watching that, you know, it's not recovering from the storm is not an easy quick fix.
You know, an interesting piece that I saw to keep your eyes on. This is a little bit tinfoil hatty. So, I don't know. Uh, [laughter] but so this flood comes through and in the Fisers 2040 comprehensive plan, they had identified a need for a new riverfront park north of 96 Street. Mhm. Um something to do with like I think it's going to be really interesting to see what happens with zoning and different things with these houses right along the river cuz if you look in the 2040 plan there is a uh an idea for a nature sanctuary slash uh riverfront park north of 96th street in that section.
So again I I don't know again tinfoil hattie like I don't know exactly everything but I would look into that. I had someone, again, these are all things like inbound messages or conversations that people have. Yeah. And I like read through. I peruse them a little bit. Again, like do your own due diligence, do your own research, but like this was something to watch out.
Like this was I don't remember when it was put out, but this area that's been affected is in a plan for 14 years from now that they wanted to redevelop this this riverfront area. And now, well, there might be houses that are in uh in inhibitable. Inhibitable. Yes, that word. Right. So, again, I'm not saying that I'm uh I'm not saying I'm super stitious, but I am a little stitious.
Sure. So, I don't know that anyone could have predicted this, [laughter] but Well, I I this is like goes above like I again very tin foil hat if you go into like how the weather happens, you know? Right. Again, uh we are not a pro conspiracy theory podcast here. [laughter] Uh okay, so and neither is our media outlet, just to be clear. Well, we we are definitely more conspiracy theory here than Free Press Indiana News is, but I'm just putting that out there.
U something something to to maintain and to monitor. That was so a literal something uh that was a like a comment that I got from somebody and I like start to look through this 2040 comprehensive plan and I'm like, hm, sometimes things are just coincidences and sometimes they're not. So, uh, as we keep rolling down, I have a a fun slashin interesting story to get into. We have a new Guinness Book World Record holder here in the state of Indiana, and it is for something incredibly interesting. Can you talk to me about Alan McCloskey and what he just broke a record for? Uh, Alan McCloskey, uh, and cemeteries.
This is one of my favorite stories that we've done so far. Uh he is 92 years old and he holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest gravedigger and he retired uh this past fall. [laughter] So um we'll see, you know, if anyone tries to beat him in his world record, but it was, let me get it right, how many years that he did it. For over 73 years, he was a the go-to gravedigger in North Central Indiana. uh all over the towns there. The thing that really broke my heart with this story is he dug his wife's grave.
Yeah. I think the official said that like she would have wanted him to so that's why he did it. Okay. First off, Alan Mloskkey 92 from Galveastston, Indiana. And he now holds this Guinness Book of World Records for the longest grave digging career on the planet. I think the official number said over 73 73 years and 75 days.
They It's estimated that he dug 5500 graves across around 20 small towns in North Central Indiana. Yeah, that is crazy. Like that is I mean I think about now how often people change careers and change jobs and change companies to do something for over 73 years. Wow. Yeah. Well, uh, in 2017 he did Oh, this is I mean, talk about heartfelt.
After 51 years of marriage, he dug his wife's grave in 2017. Then he retired at age 92. Yep. Wow. Yeah. But he was still and and this is part of the reason why we talked to him.
He was still out there uh fixing up this like abandoned cemetery near his house because he found it and he was like, "Well, I'm just no one's taking care of this, so I'm going to do it." the old Galveastston cemetery 15 years ago. He found it overgrown and he's just made Nobody asked him to do this, but he's out here doing his thing. Yeah. The world needs more Allens. Like this guy just salt of the earth people.
Yeah. Um there's another interesting cemetery story that we wanted to talk about is is along the lines of the abandoned cemetery issue. So, I believe what is it 20,000? Oh, there's over 20,000 abandoned cemeteries in the state of Indiana. Over 20,000 cemeteries. They're not all abandoned.
So, there's over 20,000 cemeteries, but there's a a big issue. We don't have a big issue, but there's an issue with those that are abandoned, right? Well, and there's just an issue in general with them um yeah, being taken care of. Um, you know, we think about like the big cemeteries that we know and you're like, well, of course, someone's taking care of those, but there's so many small ones out there that have just kind of been like forgotten over time and and and weren't maintained. Um, and and so that's kind of, you know, what our other story got into. Again, talking to to Allan about this um old Gavlston um cemetery that he's been taking care of.
Um, and there's other ones out there across the state. We talked to another uh um person in Porter County about an abandoned cemetery there and and what's being done. The trustee found it and um now has, you know, taken up an effort to fix it. Um is this the one in Valpo that you found where the entire budget for upkeep for the year is $7,000? Yeah. It's like Yeah.
So that's the issue. So it's, you know, who's responsible for taking care of these cemeteries. It's township trustees, but sometimes, one, they don't even know that the cemeteries are out there. So it's not even like they're intentionally not taking care of them. They just don't even know they exist. And then other times, townships do not have big budgets.
These are small budgets to take care of lots of different things, and cemeteries being one of them. I will say one of the cool things that um we've heard since our story is published is that the township trustee that would be uh overseeing the old Galveston cemetery that Allen has been working on has reached out to him and said that um she's going to start finding a way to maintain it so he doesn't have to. Oh, so that is a nice part about small communities is typically people will get like once they see someone step up and do it, it's like this guy's 92 years. This is the world's long longest tenure gravedigger. Like, you know, he might need to to rest and take a break from, you know, at some point he's probably earned it. Well, right.
Right. And I mean, that's why he said he retired cuz he was like at 92. It just kind of like my body is giving out here. So, he needs someone to take it over. The fact that he's still riding lawnmower, is that what he is that his tool of choice? I hope it is.
If he's still pushing a mower at 92, he is goals. But even riding a lawn mower at zero turn that thing at 90 in your 90s. But here's another piece. I always hope for me if I am uh lucky enough to live to be an old man. I hope that I have like something that I keep doing like that. I feel like it does keep you active and spry and out and about moving.
And it's always it is interesting to see a lot of these communities will have like this, you know, older figure, man, woman, whoever it might be that like has a job that they do and they just feel so tied like the world's largest ball of paint in Alexandria. They got there's no funding for this. He just wakes up every day and welcomes people to paint this humongous ball of paint in Alexandria. Yeah, people people have their passions and and for Allen, it was digging people's graves and and helping his community out in that Hey, somebody's got to do it. Oh, shout out to Allan, Guinness Book World Record holder. All right, we're moving to a story about rural accountability.
So, this is uh two stories from rural Indiana that are both about something similar, even though they look a little different on the surface. So, I want to really dive into learning about the power structure of small communities and who's watching people uh when when they might be using that and wielding it in um in maybe just a negative light. Talk to me about what's going on in Grant County. Plug at Free Press Indiana News for ourselves is like kind of why we're here because a lot of places don't have reporters or journalists out there paying attention to some of the things that are going on. And so this um situation in Grant County, there's a county commissioner who has been accused of a whole host of of different issues. Uh it was a 30-page report uh internal investigation into him and all this alleged wrongdoing.
And his other commissioners uh had a meeting to make the report publish and published and shared with the public. And honestly, that's kind of rare to see that, you know, especially given that it county commissioners, threeperson board, they're all Republicans in Grant County, and they're choosing to hold one of their own accountable for, you know, all of these um allegations against him. And so it runs from things like, you know, being inappropriate with employees, like there were examples of him um whispering in a female employees ear. There were examples of him shouting at employees and and threatening them in various ways. Uh there were uh accusations in there that he was using his position with the county to benefit uh his own business. Um I mean just again 30 pages full of different allegations.
Do I see using the drainage board chairmanship first off drainage board? Yeah, that's that's a thing. Yes. [laughter] to benefit uh his plumbing business. Yeah. I mean, you're seeing in this bribery, nepotism, electioneering.
Y Wow. Yeah. And so it was this like packed meeting room uh in Grant County a couple weeks ago where they released this report and kind of walked through it. Uh one of the things to me that I found really interesting too is that like he was at that meeting. I mean he is a current sitting commissioner. So, he is one of the three up there.
He voted against his own report. [laughter] Yeah. Okay. Fair, right? Um this isn't like speculation. I don't think it'd be fair to call it speculation.
Um I do want to be fair to him that like he hasn't commented to us about the allegations and until, you know, we we live in a country where you're innocent until proven guilty. So, uh, they are allegations, but there are things in the report that are shown, um, like there's evidence. There's there's video evidence, there's audio. Has that been released to the public? The video and audio evidence I don't believe has, but it's just detailed in this report because the county has cameras in a lot of different places, which is interesting. Again, you talk about all Republican, but just like like knowing that this is going to bring negative press to the county, like this is going to bring I mean attention in maybe not the best way, like to stand up there and you know, some things transcend party lines.
Yeah. You know, some things are important and I think you guys at the bottom, right, it's not all about politics. It's about accountability and public integrity. Like that is so true. you know, having integrity as a county. Like again, there is this it's not okay, but it's, you know, on the spin zone of it, it's cool to see um you know, people hold uh elected officials accountable and even if you're in the same party, even if you're the same friends town, like it's not a very big town, right?
So, I don't know. I think that's really interesting. Yeah. And some of these things it sounded like had been going on for years. And so it feels like it just kind of got to this point where they weren't going to ignore it or, you know, brush it under the rug anymore. Yeah.
Uh then we want to go up to Benton County. Mhm. Um talk to me about what's going on up there. Yeah. In Benton County, there are a lot of residents currently upset about the approval of a kayo, which is a concentrated animal feeding operation. But in normal people terms, this is a pig farm.
Okay. [laughter] Got you. Yep. Um, so there are plans to have these massive pig farms on some of the farmland up in uh Benton County and residents are pretty upset about it. They're worried about the smell. They're worried about their water supply.
They're frustrated in what to them has felt like a very secretive process. you know, they didn't really know about this until um you know, they got some neighbors got notices in the mail and and then they started looking into it. Um and then went to this meeting and, you know, voiced all their concerns about it and the commission who was was looking at it went ahead and approved it. Anyways, um it's now kind of held up. There's a a court case that's kind of stalling things a little bit. Um and it would still need to go to their county commissioners for a final vote.
But um yeah, they're it it I would say it's one of the biggest issues in uh Benton County for those folks right now is whether or not these uh pig farms are going to come to be. Where so what hearing did it go through first and like what's the process that it takes to get either confirmed or denied? Like what where are they at along that journey? Yeah. So, they were seeking a land use variance which went to the board of zoning appeals and the plan commission and that's pretty typical across Indiana. If you're, you know, seeking a land use variance, that's the process you're going to follow.
And then it will go to the county commissioner. So, it got approved at that board of zoning appeals plan commission level and is awaiting the commissioner's vote, but that's on hold because there are several neighbors uh residents in the area that have filed this lawsuit to stop it and commissioners are kind of waiting um to see. And there's not a hearing scheduled in that until December. So, it might be a little while before we get a resolution in [snorts] this. Um, but you know what's interesting in this story too is that this is a small community where everybody kind of knows everybody, you know, and can look across the field and say, "Well, that's so and so's house and they're going to be affected and that's so and so's house." And you know, one of the um people we talked to told us about how um the developer proposing the the pig farms has um gone around and offered boxes of pork to some residents.
And you know, some residents are like, "Well, that's that's a bribe. What are you doing? I don't want this." Um but there are others who have taken it and you know, are are fine with that. Hm. What would you do?
[laughter] I see maybe the thought small town Indiana. You're like, "Hey, hopefully, you know, giving people benefit of the doubt." It's like, you know, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we, you know, I should have been a better neighbor. Maybe should have done this, should have done that. Like, hey, here, let's show up.
Let's talk. Get to know me. I'm a person. I'm Maybe I think this guy is uh Are they from Remington? Uh, yes. Like, it's like a nearby.
It's not like this is like Yeah. the big like big hog coming in here. This is like a local company, correct? Yeah. One of the uh individuals we talked to um her daughter went to school with the guy who's [laughter] proposing this. So, you know, she's in this meeting and looks over at him and is just like, "Please, like, don't do this.
You know, you know us. We're we're your neighbors." Um too, but they're saying he lives far enough away that they're like, "Well, he won't be impacted by it." So, not a big deal for him. But for those of us that live closer to it, again, worried about the smells, worried about noise, worried about their water supply, all those things. This is just a tough battle anywhere because you need industry, you need, you know, like America needs food on one side and then on the other side it's like, yes, but it's like I want to I want to eat bacon, but I don't want it to be grown here.
Well, and that's, you know, there are so many examples of this like not in my backyard situation. And, you know, you can argue whether or not people have [snorts] rights to make that depending on what it is. You know, I've I've covered things where it was just like another housing development going in next to an existing subdivision and people are upset about it. In those situations, I was kind of like, what did you think was going to happen there? You live in a new subdivision, you know? Yeah.
You know, I don't know. That's a lot different than a hog farm going next to your house and you're going to Is it in the country? Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's a rural area. But, you know, these are people who wanted to live in the country and wanted to live next to corn fields and soybean fields and be able to look out on their front porch and just see that and not see or hear.
Yeah. But then you also have the the like uh the piece that is well you know if I buy this land and I you know do this thing and you can put what you like I don't know I can see how all sides have a leg to stand on and it just reminds me that we get to talk on microphones and write stories and we're not we're not county elected officials. It's like it's tough. we don't have to make the decision cuz it's like, you know, I feel for farmers that are trying to like grow and feed America and do all the things there. Um it's it's just uh I'll be curious to see I think the next time you'll hear back is December 23rd. Mhm.
Which like Yeah, of course. Everyone wants to talk and make tough decisions two days before Christmas. Yeah, that court date's interesting to me. I'm I'm curious to see if that changes, [laughter] you know. Uh, we do have other interesting news coming out of Northern Indiana. This is something that I feel like if you're in the know, you know, and if you're if you haven't dug deep enough, you're kind of wondering how this ended up happening.
So, we're going to give some love. As a departure, it does pain me sometimes, but we're going to talk a little bit about a Wabash Little Giant alumni. Uh, can you talk about Brad Gersonner and what's going on with these Trump accounts? Yeah, I will admit I had not heard of Brad Gersonner until Trump accounts came to be and we started looking into them. Um, honestly, just to kind of do this like explainer, here's what you know, hers would need to know if you want to open one for your kid. Uh, and then we found out that Brad Gersonner is providing extra funding on top of what the the federal amount is, $1,000.
he's providing $250 for every child younger than five living in Indiana with an account. And so we add that to the story and then it was kind of like, well, who who is that guy? You know, we we know a lot about a lot of millionaires and billionaires from our state. Um, but who is he? He, like you said, went to Waw Bash, got his law degree at IU, uh, worked at Ice Miller for a little bit, and then was a deputy secretary of state at one time, and then from there went into kind of like the tech business world and started companies that were then sold. Uh he started an online travel company that Expedia bought uh and has kind of like made a name for himself in the the tech investment world.
And uh his current company, Altameter Capital, he started that in 2008. And uh that company manages $20 billion of assets in public companies and private startups. And yeah, and now we're hearing about him because he was actually um kind of the ideas behind Trump accounts to begin with. Um so what are Talk to me about what Hoosiers need to know about Trump accounts, how to access, how to use this, how this can be a really big game changer for Hoosiers all across the state of Indiana. Yeah. So you do have to open one.
They're not just like automatic, but uh if you have a kid between 2025 and 2028, so born 2025 through 2028. Yeah. So if you have a kid who's not quite 2 years old yet, if you have a kid who is -2, you know, if you're thinking about future planning for your child, you could get them a Trump account for the next what is it? 20 almost 20 two years. Yeah. You got about 2 years and some change and it goes back to 2025.
And so what are these accounts and what do they what does that get you? Yeah. So you open the account, you would get $1,000 deposited into it from the federal government and then maybe, you know, again, if your child qualifies for some of these extra incentives. Um there's also some money from the Dells for kids of certain ages. This money from the Gersoners. How do you get the extra funds from him?
That is if your child is younger than five living in Indiana. You had a 200 extra $250 pledge. So any child under five and I believe that should also just be automatic into your account. So then you really get what $1250. Yeah. Wow.
And then and then it's in an investment account. Um I believe you can, you know, change around the investments as as you see fit. But the hope and the thought behind them is that it starts kids off, you know, already ahead, right? That money will build over time and then they can access it once they're 18 to pay for college or pay for a house or or something like that. Or they can just keep it there and it can keep growing. individuals like if you're parents of the kid and you open this account for them, you can contribute to it more if you want or you can just let the the federal money or the money from Gersonner sit there.
Um, totally up to you. There's also some companies that are um putting forth money because companies can also contribute to it. Um, it basically acts as like a 401k but it's not a 529. [clears throat] No. Okay. It's different from a 529.
Um, and so I know some people are doing the 529s and this. Some people are just doing this. Um, I know people who are are just doing this and not putting their own money into it. Um, some people are going all in. It's really, you know, the people I've talked to about it. It's it's kind of across the board in terms of of of what they're doing or or how they feel about it.
You know, politics are a part of it, too, because the name of them. Um so yeah which is which is unfortunate that that might be a limiting factor to access what could be I mean really I don't know life changing not life changing but like trajectory changing if you were to graduate okay so the rule I always got was every seven years something doubles so you imagine okay 0 to 7 you're at if it's invested S&P whatever you're going to go from 1250 to 2500 7 to 14 it'll be5 five grand and then 14 to let's say 18 year let's say you end up it could be like another you know seven or eight grand that you have when you know that's a nice little savings account or like a car or like that could be again not I guess not necessarily like transformational generational wealth but a nice little bump that you didn't have to do anything to get right except for open the account when they were born right um but yeah I you know there are people who who don't trust it and don't want to do it and you know it's it's a teach their own.
It's do do what you think is right. You know what this reminds me of? Have you ever heard of the Imagine Early program in Wabash County? No. So this is something that so the Wabash County Community Foundation is per capita one of the coolest organizations in the state of Indiana. They have, I believe, over a hundred million dollars in their community foundation for a county of like 30 something thousand.
Like really, really great. They do they do a bunch of cool stuff. Imagine Early is um a program that helps kids from birth through 12th grade get up to $3,000 in scholarships for their education beyond high school. So, I believe it starts when they're born and they can get like money put on uh from when they enroll their kid, which is 100% free for Wabash County residents. And once they get enrolled, they in grades 4 through 12, they begin earning scholarship money by completing their schoolwork, getting involved in extracurriculars, math, like all these different things. And like life milestones earns them deposits from the community foundation into their program to um into a 529 that helps that they can use for whether it be like trade, apprenticeship, certifications, or going to college.
and for like a I don't know. I think it's a really really cool program as I've like dialed into it. My friends at New Shoe Day, which is a um local nonprofit really positioning themselves as the Indiana shoe bank, making sure people have shoes, kids have shoes across the state of Indiana. Yeah. So like they teamed up and when you open up your Imagine Early account, you get a new pair of shoes like for a child. Oh, that's cool.
So it's like you get shoes again. It's not like, okay, this is going to be, you know, you're getting like a huge check today, but by the time they get to be 12th graders to have even $3,000 that gets to go compound a little bit, again, that's an awesome scholarship that's open to anyone regardless. You just have to do your things along your journey, which is so cool. So cool, right? Um, all right. As we keep rolling out, we're getting towards uh the end of today's episode.
Uh, you guys have some big news coming up and and a big event. Talk to us about what we have going on with is it ArcFest? Arkfest. Yeah, it's October 3rd. It is free, familyfriendly, all ages, um on the Indiana University Indianapolis's campus. Um everybody should come.
It's this dayong event kind of centered around America's 250th and thinking about kind of how to be civically engaged in in our communities. And what I think is really cool about it is like the wide diversity in terms of like speakers and performances that you could catch throughout the day. Like we go from like Secretary of State candidates on stage to like a live podcast recording um in like musical performances. Who's recording a podcast? Uh, the Fab podcast is one of the podcast recordings and there's one other one, the Black Briefing is another live p podcast recording that day. Yeah.
And, you know, there's a conversation about uh media. There's a conversation about being political leaders. There's just um a whole host of things. There's also uh the free uh walk-in talks by uh Samson Levston. Yes. if you haven't done one of those, um he'll be there.
Uh there's two times that he's doing them. Uh so you can come and get a free walking tour from him, which is really cool. Uh yeah, I mean, and it's just it don't feel like, oh my gosh, I have to be there all day. Please come and go uh as you see fit. But um yeah, we hope to to see a lot of people there. Heck yeah.
This will be interesting to see. Uh things are starting to heat up on the secretary of state front. Um we have had three of the four and there's an open invite. Who's the fourth who hasn't come? Waiting for Libertar. Is it Lorie Schillings?
Okay. So I have not heard from Lor's camp. Okay. But we've had Bo, we've had Ballard, we've had Max, and we have like a whole uh kind of like R. Now these are not political interviews. I mean they are but they're not.
You know, like we sit here and talk and we chop it up about life. And it's honestly a way you just get to know a little bit about the candidates and their stories and yeah and all fun stuff. And I will say I did not seek out any politicians. Somehow [laughter] it just ended up happening that way. But but I do have I have been saying this uh if anyone from Lor's camp wants to have her come in and sit down and hang out, I'd love to hear more about her story as well. But I mean this is heating up.
This is like the number one um election that's going to be on the ballot. I would say the biggest election. It's also literally at the top of your ballot. Oh, literally. Yeah. Right.
[laughter] Like you say at the top there, which will be interesting. Like I mean I'm seeing different reports in different camps again. Who knows? Because as someone I've never been pulled. No one's ever called No one's ever called me to ask. They're going to start now.
Yeah. Right. No, please don't. I'm I'm good. I'm good. Um but it's like, you know, they always have the early the early like signs and polling and whatever and it's like, well, I' I actually don't know anyone who's ever been asked.
Yeah. I I have a whole thing about political polls and I don't like them. Mostly because I lived through 2016 and I saw how like all the polls, the presidential polls that year thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win and then everyone was shocked when Donald Trump won. And I mean polls to your point like they're a snapshot. They're a handful of people. So who knows?
Um I I do think that the Secretary of State race is very interesting though um with with a third party because it's also interesting candidates really four candidates you have a legacy politician name in by you have the Republican you know legacy superma majority like Indiana is a red state you know that's we're not I'm not breaking any news there right so you have the Republican party versus a historical uh family name versus like the oldest probably like uh like I mean Mayor Ballard or I guess you say candidate Ballard, Mayor Ballard. Well, he was mayor, you know, ex Mayor Ballard. [laughter] It's like he has like probably uh some of the best I mean the by name is really well known but like uh name uh recognition like you know Greg Ballard is I would say largely liked roughly. So you have that and then you have the libertarian candidate Lorie Schillings. So, it's really interesting because it it makes the case of, well, where does Ballard draw votes from?
Does it come from ex Republican candidate? Like, it just makes it really interesting when you split this three ways to see who's going to win. Yeah. Um, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what I would predict. So, I will say uh now that I've started to see all the different ads coming out, I'm just I'll call Spade a spade.
I like creativity, dude. Bo pumping iron on his political [laughter] ad. Like I gotta give creative points. He's tossing around on the bench press and I'm and they pushing the sled and I'm like damn [gasps] that's kind of cool. Like I'm here for that, you know? Like again I don't I got all the guys on.
I would love to have Lorie Schillings on and talk like maybe this is just part of the job. It's like I can have good conversations with anyone you put in the chair for the most part I would say. And it is interesting too like Secretary of State. It's funny that not maybe not funny, it's interesting that this is like the the biggest election of the cycle. Yeah. Because it's not necessarily a super Yeah.
Like do people know what the Secretary of State Nine months ago? Yeah. Asking today. Do I I know it's a election security or election. They oversee all the elections. Yeah.
They oversee elections. Yep. Which like I don't know, maybe plays into Ballard's run of like, hey, I'm I'm not affiliated with either of these big parties. Like I could oversee this, you know? It's just an interesting state to me. Uh but it's like, yeah, a year ago, nine months ago, I had no clue what I don't even know.
Besides election, running elections for the state, small businesses, I think has something to do with the Secretary of State. Like it's very non political things in my opinion. Yeah. I mean in a way yes a lot of offices that we put political parties on are kind of [snorts] non-political like once you get into like doing the the work of them but I don't know elections have become very political in the climate that we're in. So don't get me started on the uh school board. That was that one's interesting too that you have to have a political party to represent the schools.
Well, and that's interesting. You know, in in previous roles, I worked with uh reporters in different states. And uh other states don't have party affiliations even for like their mayors or their city councils. And it kind of blew my mind cuz I was like, what do you mean they're nonpartisan? Your mayor, [laughter] your city council, you know, cuz now we're down to school boards being partisan. See, I get that feedback too some where I'm like, "Oh, I'll have mayors on."
Because I'm like, I don't know. To me, they seem it's not as political. You It is political, but like their job is making your city the best possible way. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? To make sure your trash is picked up and that your roads are paved, like sidewalks and, you know, all that jazz.
It's not it's not like human rights or things like that, you know? It's not like the whatever the hottest button topics are like the mayor's on the exact opposite side of that. And it's like they're in charge of just making sure that you don't have junk piling up or like the house two doors down paints their shutters, right? You know, like wow. They want to attract businesses to their state, have housing for their people, you know. What uh what can we expect though?
You guys are doing a forum. What is like a what does a secretary of state forum look like at Arkfest? 45 minute kind of moderated panel if you will. It's not really a debate so to speak. Um and then there is 15 minutes uh allotted to take audience questions. So Oh, but is it just two candidates?
We do not have by or uh max confirmed yet. So if they're listening and they would like to come to Arfest, they've been invited. I know they've been invited. Okay. So this is interesting. Take Oh, I want to take this one.
Lori, this is your open invite to come on here where I've had [laughter] all the other three uh and Max and Bo or anyone in Max and Bose's camp. I think this is an awesome opportunity to get out there. I do want you to talk about it's it's put on by Free Press Indiana news. Put on by Free Press Indiana. So, put on by Free Press Indiana, which like give your ethos real quick of just like what you guys are doing because I've been a big fan of what you guys have built thus far. Yep.
Free Press Indiana is the nonprofit support organization for Mere Indie, our hyper local Indianapolis news outlet, and then for FBI News, which is what I am editor-in chief of, our statewide news outlet. Wow. There we go. And it is moderated by Laura Wilson. Yep. Okay, I just got to read this.
The moderator has an insane bio. Uh, can we talk about So, yeah, she's great. IBJ's 40 under 40 in 2022. UND's teacher of the year 2021. May Wright SU's leadership award in 2025, bachelor's degree in '08, a masterers in political science in 2010, masters in women's studies in 2014, masters in public administration in 2012, and a PhD in American politics in 2014. She has like more universities and colleges on her resume than might be in the state of Indiana.
Kidding about that, but [laughter] like absolutely like I I might have to sit down with with uh Laura Mayfield uh Maryfield Wilson. Is that how you say that? Yep. I might have to sit down with her and have a conversation cuz she seems very interesting. Yeah, I've talked to her over the years and uh she's great. She knows her stuff when it comes to politics.
I forgot. I got to say Dr. Marfield Wilson, make sure you put the doctor at the beginning of that, right? You got to show some respect. PhD in American politics. Heck yeah.
Um other than that, anything as we wrap up here? What uh anything good for the order? Uh I would just say keep paying attention to FBI news. uh if you're curious on what's going around on the state, where can they go follow? How can they subscribe? How can they do all the things?
We're on all the social media platforms and you can find us at fbnews. org. Wait, hold on. I have one more story. Yes, I have one more analog story that I wanted to talk about. This is from the Times Union in Warsaw, Indiana.
So, Zimmer Biomeat is moving their headquarters to Center Street. They're donating the current building to Grace and they're consolidating certain operations. So, if anyone has been in Warsaw, Indiana, right downtown, uh right on the main drag, just a couple blocks off of the courthouse square is a beautiful headquarters that was the Zipper Biomeat headquarters. they are shutting down or have already shut down that and they're moving and consolidating operations over towards I believe the west side of um they're moving headquarters to center street and they're donating that building to Grace which is like I saw some feedback so this is not I don't really know how to think I'm not I I don't really know what I think about this I need to do more diving into the details of it uh I just thought it was a really interesting move because this building is amazing very very beautiful and you're like, "Oh, how generous of Zimmer Biomet.
They're donating this building to this college." The thing that I've seen negative feedback on is I think there was a couple hundred,000 maybe like $200,000 in property taxes that that building generated uh that came into the city. And when you donate that to a non for nonforprofit like uh Grace is that property tax income is then lost. And like you know maybe the mayor or the you know the economic development in Kaziasco County could have gone out and found another corporate company to take that over and you know keep that property tax revenue. But since it's getting donated to Grace granted I hopefully they use it. I think they talked about you know really diving into STEM and Yeah.
Yeah. Um, Grace College will gain ownership to the building in early 2027, advancing its commitment to STEM education and orthopedic innovation through its catalyst corridor project. This project is supported by a grant from the Lily Endowment as part of its college and community collaboration initiative and that was according to a news release from Zimmer Biomat. So cool. I think it it can end up still being a good thing for the community just with what um property tax and you know everything that's come through uh this past you call legislative session. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm getting my words down. I'm learning. Uh I know that property tax has been something really big in the community. And so you know a4 million dollars or whatever that number is. I think it's to the tune of a couple hundred thousand 200 I think that was the number I saw.
Again, do your own research and fact check on that. That could be meaningful to a community like Warsaw. Oh, yeah. So, I mean, it could be meaningful to any community, but just something to to keep your mind on if they could have again, you know, economic development goes out and puts a new corporate headquarters there. That could have been awesome. But then they're using the building to advance their commitments to STEM education and orthopedic innovation, which again, orthopedics in in Warsaw is huge.
So hopefully this helps solve some problems for Zimmerbat and the other uh companies up there. But I thought that that was interesting. It was all the news and worsaw uh when I was back up home. Shout out to grandma and grandpa for still paying for their subscription to the Times Union. Love to see cool. One last time, if people want to find Freepress Indiana news, they want to follow any of your work, how can they do that?
Yeah. On any of the social platforms you are on, we are there. And then also at fbnews. org. Amazing. Hope you all enjoyed and we will talk to you soon.
if you could go leave five star reviews so that more people can discover this podcast and learn all about what's going on across the state. We will see you next time. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for [music] listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great.
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