MADISON COUNTY — As the year comes to a close, here’s a look back at some of the top stories in the South Madison County area from 2018.
School, town lose longtime booster
PENDLETON — Stephen Cherry, a well-known figure at Pendleton Heights High School — where, among other things, he’d been a teacher, coach and leader of the student radio station — died Jan. 5 at his home in Pendleton. He was 70.
Scores of people attended services for Cherry at the school’s Loran G. Skinner Auditorium, where several people spoke, fondly recalling Cherry and crediting him for having a positive impact on their lives.
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Nathan Hendershot, a 2010 Pendleton Heights graduate, said Cherry was “someone I could always go to for advice and support.”
He described Cherry as “the glue of this community… He will never, ever be forgotten.”
Bodies of man, woman found in Lapel field
LAPEL — The bodies of an Indianapolis man and woman missing since mid-December 2018 were found in mid-January in a field east of Lapel, with the man’s death ruled a suicide and the woman’s a homicide.
The discovery ended weeks of worry, fear and speculation by family, friends and other people — including residents of Lapel, where the couple went to high school — about the couple’s whereabouts.
Those feelings, however, gave way to ones of sadness, according to several Lapel residents.
“I think everybody, of course, hoped for the best — hoped they just ran off,” said Stephanie Brand, who said she’s a longtime friend of René Ruiz, the mother of Heavan Henderson.
Henderson, 21, and Jeremy Danowski, 23, both of Indianapolis, had been missing since Dec. 18.
Autopsies indicated Henderson died after being shot three times in the neck and Danowski died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Pendleton joins class action opioid lawsuit
PENDLETON — Pendleton leaders voted unanimously to join a class action lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of opioid pain medications.
“We do have a problem here; we’re not different than anywhere else,” Pendleton Town Council President Bob Jones said during a February council meeting.
The council has talked previously about doing what other communities, including Alexandria, Elwood and Madison County, have done — pursue a legal fix from drug companies for the costs associated with opioid use and abuse, and thereby fight what is widely regarded as a major problem across the country.
New Lapel police chief hopes to bring stability
LAPEL — Lapel has a new police chief — for the third time in about two years — and both he and town leaders said they hope this is the start of a long, positive chapter in the town’s law enforcement history.
The town council hired Kelly Naselroad, 49, as chief of police in late March. His first day on the job was Monday, April 16.
He comes to the position after nearly 10 years on the Edgewood Police Department and a 20-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, during which he worked with artillery and logistics.
Ingalls’ new town hall completed for spring
INGALLS — Town leaders added finishing touches before moving in late March and early April after spending an estimated $575,000 to remodel the former interurban building at 308 N. Meridian St.
In addition to a meeting room, the building now houses offices for the town’s water utility and other elected officials and employees, including the clerk-treasurer and town manager.
Pendleton man faces 36 felony charges
PENDLETON — A Pendleton man was arrested on 36 felony charges in April after an investigation into the possession of child pornography, child exploitation and promotion of human trafficking of a minor, according to the Indiana State Police.
Jeffrey Kramer, 48, of Pendleton was arrested on one count of Level 3 felony promotion of human trafficking of a minor; two counts of Level 4 child exploitation; three counts of Level 5 child exploitation and 30 counts of Level 6 felony possession of child pornography.
The case was dismissed in Madison County Circuit Court 6 recently and refiled in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Dan Koppes, assistant prosecutor in Madison County, said the decision to transfer the case to federal jurisdiction had to do with the penalty that could be applied if Kramer were convicted in the local court.
“He could have been sentenced to a maximum of 16 years,” Koppes said. “Under the federal guidelines he could get a much longer term.”
Pendleton businesses receive facelifts
PENDLETON — Indiana’s Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) awarded Pendleton a $500,000 Indiana Main Street Revitalization Program grant late last year to restore the facades of five downtown businesses.
Rencon Services of Pendleton was the low bidder for the project and started on the work this summer and was supposed to be finished this month.
The town worked with several local businesses and organizations — including Main Street Pendleton; Historic Fall Creek, Pendleton Settlement; South Madison Community Foundation; and the Pendleton Artists Society to get the project done.
The five buildings with new restored exteriors are: the J.T. Chambers Building, 101 E. State St.; The Pendleton Shoppe, 106 N. Pendleton Ave.; Burmeister’s Old Towne Antiques, 130 W. State St.; Gallery 119, 119 W. State St.; and the Galleria Shoppes, 114 W. State St.
Pendleton received a $50,000 grant to similarly restore the facade at 102 W. State Street, which is the part of town hall outside of the town’s public meeting room. The Historic Preservation Fund grant came from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Historic Preservation and Archeology.
Health and fitness complex moves forward
PENDLETON — Pendleton area residents are set to have a new place to get fit and play or watch sports by the spring when an almost $14 million project is built at Falls Pointe Business Park.
Klipsch-Card Athletic Facilities plans to build a 115,000-square-foot sports and fitness, gymnastics and hospital wellness complex in partnership with Community Hospital Anderson and the Town of Pendleton.
The company runs other athletic facilities: Pacers Athletic Center at Grand Park in Westfield and Finch Creek Fieldhouse in Noblesville.
Pendleton approved in July a $3.2 million incentive package, including $1 million in cash for construction, 25 acres of land and $1.45 million in 180 monthly installments of about $8,000.
Ingalls fire chief arrested and charged
INGALLS — An investigation of an incident involving former Ingalls Fire Chief Brian Cushman and two minors uncovered sexually explicit images of him and a 17-year-old female on his phone, according to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, July 26.
Cushman, 29, was arrested earlier in July on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child.
He was fired by Ingalls officials following an alleged June 9 incident involving two females, ages 17 and 14, consuming alcohol at Cushman’s home.
The 17-year-old was a cadet with the Ingalls Fire Department.
Ingalls council fires town manager
INGALLS — Ingalls Town Council voted to fire town manager Tim Millikan, a move that followed months of confrontation between him and longtime council member Tim Green.
The town council conducted an executive session then called Millikan into a special session where they voted 4-1 to fire him, effective immediately in early November.
Millikan and Green have been openly at odds with each other about the enforcement of various ordinances and regulations in town.
The firing comes just a few days after Millikan had filed a seven-page complaint against Green with the town council.
During previous public meetings, Millikan has discussed issues he said he’s had with Green. Some of those issues involve differences about code enforcement, emails from Green and phone calls after hours.
Green said most of Millikan’s complaints against him are false.
Council president Chris Bradshaw refused to comment on Millikan’s firing but did say the termination had nothing to do with Millikan’s complaint against Green and that an investigation into the complaint filed would be forthcoming.
Millikan, who worked for the town council, was let go in the third year of his four-year contract with the town and will not receive severance, he said.
Lapel receives financial gift
LAPEL — She was known around Lapel as a “spitfire,” but also as a women with a big heart, those who knew her said.
Olevia Cascadden was 99 years old when she died in 2015, but through careful and direct planning, her generosity and love for her town and its students is alive and well.
Lapel received $315,000 this year thanks to Cascadden, who with the help of Madison County Community Foundation established a fund estimated at $2.5 million upon her death in 2015.
The town and Lapel High School students will take turns receiving annual interest and earnings from the fund, which for the town will be in the form of cash to use as it sees fit, while the foundation will award scholarships to Lapel High School seniors.
The foundation first awarded fund proceeds in 2017 for Lapel scholarships. This year, it’s the town’s turn to reap the benefits from the fund for the first time. The town has discussed several options of how to use the money during meetings this fall.
Indiana Department of Education Announces Recipients of 2018 Digital Learning Grants
PENDLETON — Students in the South Madison Community School Corp. are the beneficiaries of a state grant designed to help learn all they can about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The district is one of 27 recipients statewide awarded funds from The Indiana Department of Education’s Office of eLearning 2018 Digital Learning Grants. South Madison received $63,245.
Laura Miller, assistant superintendent for elementary curriculum and instruction, said she was excited to hear the good news because of the opportunities the grant will provide for third- through sixth-grade students and teachers.
South Madison School officials start construction project
PENDLETON — Officials with the South Madison Community School Corp. started work this fall on a $5 million sports complex renovation at Pendleton Heights High School.
The current activity center is getting a major facelift. Once finished, the project will include three regulation-size basketball courts and a three-lane running track, plus a new weight-lifting room.
The wrestling area and locker room part of the project would include two new locker rooms — one boys and one girls.
The district also plans to expand the existing wrestling area and add restrooms, office space, storage space and a laundry room.
The activity center will also be designed to accommodate a variety of uses, such as practice space for high school athletic teams; practice space for band, choir, color guard and percussion organizations; and space for other co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
The construction and renovation will be the first major project at the high school in some 20 years, district leaders said.
Lapel, Markleville receive state grant for roads
SOUTH MADISON COUNTY — Lapel’s and Markleville’s efforts to maintain local roads will get a shot in the arm thanks to this year’s Community Crossings grant program.
Gov. Eric J. Holcomb and Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe McGuinness announced in November that 283 Indiana cities, towns and counties received a combined $100 million in state matching grant funds for local road projects through the Next Level Roads: Community Crossings Initiative.
Lapel will receive $375,000, and Markleville will receive $225,000, for road work in 2019.
For small towns such as Lapel and Markleville, the state road repair funding program is crucial, since most town budgets are limited.