Indianapolis, IN

2 compete for Democratic mayoral nod in Lawrence

Published

1 year ago

April 1, 2023

2 compete for Democratic mayoral nod in Lawrence

LAWRENCE, Ind. (WISH) — Each of the Democratic Get together’s candidates for this Marion County metropolis’s highest workplace mentioned the town must discover a option to entice companies of its personal.

Republican Steve Collier just isn’t searching for one other time period as mayor of Lawrence, and Democratic Get together insiders have mentioned they take into account Lawrence a main alternative to flip a mayoral seat. Deb Whitfield and Shawn Denney are carrying that celebration’s banner into the Might major.

Nestled in Marion County’s northeast nook, Lawrence is the most important of the county’s 4 municipalities that aren’t consolidated with the town of Indianapolis. As soon as the house of Fort Benjamin Harrison, Lawrence nonetheless hosts the Protection Financing and Accounting Service together with armories for the Indiana Nationwide Guard and the Military, Navy and Marine Corps Reserves. Aside from that residual protection infrastructure, it’s primarily a bed room group, one thing each candidates mentioned they need to transfer the town away from.

Deb Whitfield

Deb Whitfield has lived in Lawrence for about 30 years. She is a respiratory therapist and a variety, fairness and inclusion director for an area well being care system. As well as, she has served on the Lawrence Frequent Council since 2019. She mentioned she determined to run for mayor as a result of she discovered residents of the neighborhoods she represented felt they weren’t being listened to by metropolis leaders. She mentioned she desires to rebuild belief within the metropolis and ensure everybody has a voice.

“I need to unite us. I imagine that as we’re collectively, we’re going to be very sturdy,” she mentioned. “We’re going to have the ability to break some boundaries.”

Whitfield mentioned the important thing to holding Lawrence protected is to ensure police have the funding and gear they want but in addition present sources for these dealing with psychological well being points. She mentioned she desires to carry group outreach occasions to attach folks with the sources they could want.

When it comes to the town’s progress, Whitfield mentioned officers ought to discover a means to assist small companies meet their wants. She mentioned the town ought to present rental area for small companies to arrange store now and again in a fashion just like the farmer’s market on Civic Plaza off 56th Road. Whitfield mentioned this is able to permit entrepreneurs to develop their enterprise with out incurring the prices of a lease.

Shawn Denney

Shawn Denney has lived in Lawrence since 2009. He has served on the Frequent Council since 2020 and beforehand served on the Lawrence Township faculty board and because the township’s deputy trustee. He mentioned he determined to run for mayor as a result of he desires to offer again to the group the place he raised his household.

“Proper now, lots of people name us the drive-through group. I believe we have to do away with that acronym and be the go-to group,” he mentioned.

Denney mentioned Lawrence police and metropolis chaplains already are working to ascertain or reestablish relationships all through the group. He mentioned the following step to maintain the general public protected is to seek out methods to succeed in folks battling psychological well being or substance abuse issues earlier than they enter the prison justice system.

On progress, Denney mentioned the town wants to advertise alternatives alongside Pendleton Pike. He mentioned the presence of Pendleton Pike and I-465 imply any enterprise that chooses to find within the metropolis has easy accessibility to main thoroughfares.

The winner of the Might 2 major will face Republican David Hoffman, the town’s former police chief, in November. Hoffman is unopposed in his major. April 3 is the final day to register to vote if you wish to vote within the major.

“All INdiana Politics” airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV.

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Indianapolis, IN

Hogsett: Major League Soccer an 'opportunity we cannot pass up'

Published

6 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Press Room

Hogsett: Major League Soccer an 'opportunity we cannot pass up'

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Thursday’s announcement that Indianapolis is pursuing a Major League Soccer team has sparked a very intense conversation about the sport’s future in the city.

Mayor Joe Hogsett said Thursday that he met with Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber earlier this week about brining an MLS franchise to the Circle City, adding that an ownership groups is already in place.

The timeline for the proposed MLS team is unclear, as is how costly the expansion fee would be. There’s a bit more detail about a possible location for a new MLS-sized stadium: 335 E. Pearl St. in the heart of downtown Indy.

Indy’s pursuit of “the world’s game,” as Hogsett put it, has led to a lot of questions from soccer fans and residents alike.

Many of the questions are about the future of Indy Eleven — the pro soccer team that’s played in Indianapolis for the last decade — and its Eleven Park project, a $1 billion development that’s already under construction between West Washington Street and Kentucky Avenue.

Hogsett addressed those concerns — and a few others — in an interview with Scott Sander on Daybreak.

Q: Why now? What’s right about this move?

A: I think the time is right. I think the efforts that have been made over the last 10 years have paid dividends and we’re now at a point where we have the ability to build a soccer-specific stadium downtown.

My conversation with the MLS commissioner on Monday morning couldn’t have gone better. No guarantees, but I think we have a very good chance of being a franchise.

Q: MLS expansion fees are into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Who pays for that?

A: The ownership group. Public money would be involved in building a soccer-specific stadium, but in terms of the buy-in, that would be on the backs of the owners.

Q: You talk about a soccer-specific stadium. There’s a project already underway — Eleven Park. Is that still part of this future idea? Are we building two soccer stadiums?

A: We’re not building two soccer stadiums. We’re just gonna build one. But where that goes is largely dependent on what MLS is going to expect, what the ownership group wants to involve itself with — we’re trying to give as many opportunities to MLS as we can possibly give them.

Q: The Brickyard Battalion and other Indy Eleven fan groups are not happy with you. They’re furious. Talk to them.

A: Major League Soccer is an opportunity that we cannot, as a community, pass up. I can’t guarantee that MLS will ultimately award a franchise to Indianapolis, but at the same time, passing up the opportunity is not acceptable for a “major league city” like Indianapolis.

Q: Does this mean the Indy Eleven Park project idles? Does it move forward?

A: That’s entirely up to my friend Ersal Ozdemir (owner of Keystone Group and Indy Eleven). We’re committed to building a soccer stadium that is soccer-specific. What we’re doing is focusing on bringing a third major league franchise to the city of Indianapolis. We deserve and need an MLS franchise.

Q: What makes you think that a strong and passionate soccer base can grow to enough to fill a stadium on a random Tuesday?

A: It’s the world’s game and it’s increasing exponentially. With all do respect to baseball and basketball and football, soccer is the wave of the future and that’s why we want to be in the mix for a new franchise.

Q: Is there any way the Indy Eleven are elevated into this franchise? Can it become part of the future that you see?

A: That would be up to the Indy Eleven. Major League Soccer will welcome any and all people who are willing to participate. Working in conjunction with one another will make us more competitive.

Click on the video at the top of this story to watch the full interview.

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Indianapolis, IN

Colts made ‘big offers’ to move up in NFL Draft, couldn’t find trade partner

Published

13 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Press Room

Colts made ‘big offers’ to move up in NFL Draft, couldn’t find trade partner

INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts tried to trade up into the top of the first round of the NFL Draft.

Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard has never traded up in the first round before, but there were persistent rumors leading up to the draft that the Colts wanted to move up in this draft.

Apparently the speculation was right. Ballard acknowledged shortly after midnight that Indianapolis tried to get other teams to move picks in the run of 14 offensive players that came off the board on Thursday night.

“We had some serious, serious discussions,” Ballard said. “With big offers, by the way.”

Indianapolis ended up staying at No. 15 and taking UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu, the first defensive player off the board after an unprecedented run of offensive players and a player the Colts believed was the best defensive player in the draft.

Were the Colts trying to move up for one of those offensive stars?

“Well, we were going up for a good player,” Ballard said. “I told you I thought we took the best defensive player. You can kind of put that together.”

Ultimately, Indianapolis wasn’t able to complete a trade because teams weren’t willing to move all the way back to the middle of the first round.

Especially with quarterbacks, offensive tackles and wide receivers flying off the board.

Ballard understands the position. When the Colts initially held the No. 3 pick in 2018, Indianapolis was willing to trade down with the Jets because New York held the No. 6 pick, allowing the Colts to still pick a premium player in Quenton Nelson.

From the sounds of it, a move down to No. 15 seemed like it would cost too much.

“We made a push,” Ballard said. “You’ve got to get two to tango. Nobody was moving. There were some good players up at the top of the draft. (The teams) sitting there, you ask yourself, is it worth it moving back to 15 and missing out on (those guys).”

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