Indianapolis, IN

‘Obscene performances’ public funding ban moves forward

Published

1 year ago

April 1, 2025

‘Obscene performances’ public funding ban moves forward

INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — A bill that left the Senate with near-universal support picked up a “barnacle in committee,” as one House Democrat put it last week, leaving the House on a 71-20 vote Monday.

The House additions widen the scope of the underlying bill beyond an effort to replace a criminal term throughout Indiana code to include a focus on obscene performances.

As originally written, Senate Bill 326 would have replaced “child pornography” with “child sex abuse material,” acknowledging that children are being sexually abused in such images. But a House committee added a new provision: barring government entities from using public money to fund, organize or host “obscene performances.”

A House floor amendment, which moved largely along party lines, also added a method of enforcement by allowing people to sue Indiana entities for alleged incidents.

“Language shapes the way we understand and confront these issues and the term child pornography is not only inaccurate, it minimizes the horror of the crimes committed. Pornography implies a level of consent and children cannot consent,” said House sponsor Rep. Andrew Ireland. “… we’re taking an important step to save our Hoosier children.”

The Indianapolis Republican said the language regarding obscene performances would ensure “that public funds are never used to support the exploitation of children.”

Defining something as obscene has to meet a high bar, known as the “Miller Test.” That work must be based on an average person’s reaction and consider the entire work, not just an isolated portion.

But critics maintained that such performances aren’t happening, noting there are already penalties regardless of someone’s government affiliation.

“More and more this General Assembly is taking itself to an alternate reality where it legislates against problems that don’t exist,” said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington. “We create a strawman and then we knock it down and ‘Look at us! We really solved that problem!’

“The problem never existed. But it appeals to somebody out there, so we do it now.”

Further discussion

Ireland didn’t cite specific instances of obscene performances using taxpayer dollars on Monday nor in his testimony last week when he introduced the penalty language.

It also doesn’t limit such legal action to only Indiana residents, meaning that, according to Pierce, “any person in the universe can sue your local government when they’re offended by somebody and try to make an argument that it’s obscene.”

Pierce was one of the committee members to advance the bill, noting the high bar to meet the state’s obscenity standard, which he dubbed a “barnacle” on the House floor last week. In addition to the Miller test, a litigant would generally need to prove they have been harmed by obscene performances — a barrier meant to tamp down on frivolous lawsuits.

But Pierce said the language eviscerates that and says “we don’t care if they’re harmed or not. We don’t care if they have a direct injury.”

Municipalities may still need to spend their dollars defending themselves from such accusations, which could include plays, poetry and drag shows.

“Keep in mind, anybody involved in this supposed obscene performance that local government might be funding can already be arrested and imprisoned under our current (law),” Pierce continued. “I would think the fear of going to prison would keep local officials from going into the smut-peddling business.”

Ireland agreed with Pierce that such obscene performances “have never occurred and I hope never occur … in part, thanks to this bill.”

“This is nothing new under the sun,” concluded Ireland.

The final vote tally split both parties, though only Ireland and Pierce spoke on the measure. It now goes to the Senate, which must vote to accept or reject the House amendments before the bill can advance.

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Indianapolis, IN

Residents demand alternatives to 2-year closure of critical Indianapolis bridge

Published

9 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Residents demand alternatives to 2-year closure of critical Indianapolis bridge

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A community meeting took place on Indy’s westside over what’s threatening to be more than a traffic nightmare.

The planned full closure of the 16th Street bridge could put livelihoods and lives at risk, community advocate Aaron Williams with the Keep the Bridge Open Coalition said.

“And not to mention the countless number of businesses, we’ve calculated over 125 million dollars within a quarter mile of this bridge that generate revenue that are going to be directly impacted,” Williams said.

The aging bridge is scheduled for a full replacement this summer. But in order to do it, the city’s department of public works says it will have to be fully closed to traffic in both directions, for two years. The closure recommendation was first mentioned in a scoping report dating back to 2016.

“It’s been pretty consistent that the recommendation has been a full closure based off of what that first scoping report said,” Kyle Bloyd with the Indianapolis Department of Public Works told News 8.

But residents want to know why the critical span that connects downtown to the city’s Haughville neighborhood can’t be reduced to one lane while the reconstruction takes place, allowing some traffic to get through, instead of none at all.

“We’ve seen time and time again, Lafayette Road, West Kessler Boulecard. We’ve seen where a bridge has been open with one lane in each direction,” Williams said.

It’s a question the owner of Longs Bakery, a longtime Indianapolis favorite, has.
The bakery is walking distance to the bridge, and could see a staggering revenue loss tied to even one day of the bridge being closed, let alone two years.

“We really rely on foot traffic and 500 to 1000 customers a day that are impacted by a bridge they can’t get around or a 10th street bottleneck, that’s our biggest concern,” Carl Long, owner of Longs Bakery said.

The bridge opened in the late 1940s. The Indiana Department of Public Works says there’s no record of any significant rehab effort on the bridge since that time.

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Indianapolis, IN

IMPD asks for help to find missing 26-year-old man

Published

21 hours ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

IMPD asks for help to find missing 26-year-old man

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis police on Tuesday asked for the public’s help to find a missing 26-year-old man with autism.

Tyrese Pepper was described as being 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket with a Colts logo and navy jogger pants.

He was last seen riding a navy-and-white bicycle eastbound on East 21st Street, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

IMPD says Pepper is nonverbal and autistic.

If located, please call 911 immediately.

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Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis councilman says ‘No Data Centers’ note was left at his home after someone opened fire

Published

1 day ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

Indianapolis councilman says ‘No Data Centers’ note was left at his home after someone opened fire

The home of a councilman in Indianapolis was shot at early Monday in what local police said was an “isolated, targeted incident.”

The incident came less than a week after the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission voted 6 to 2 on April 1 to approve rezoning to allow the construction of a data center.

Ron Gibson, a Democrat who represents District 8 on the council, spoke out in support of the rezoning and the efforts to build the data center in his district.

“Earlier this morning, between approximately 12:45 a.m. and 12:50 a.m., just a few hours after Easter Sunday, an individual fired 13 rounds at the front door of my home and left a note on my doorstep that read, ‘No Data Centers,’” Gibson said in a Monday statement.

“No Data Centers” note, according to a photo taken by Councilman Ron Gibson.

Councilman Ron Gibson

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said it was called to the home on Monday morning, and officers found evidence that gunshots had been fired at the house. Police said no injuries were reported.

“I understand that public service can bring strong opinions and disagreement, but violence is never the answer, especially when it puts families at risk,” Gibson said in his statement.

The Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

The data center is set to be built by Metrobloks, a data center developer based in Los Angeles. Following the vote last week, Gibson shared a statement on social media promoting the project.

“Metrobloks has the potential to bring significant investment, create jobs, and generate long-term tax revenue that supports infrastructure, housing, and essential services,” the statement said.

A data center boom is happening across the US, with companies pouring billions into building the infrastructure to keep up with demand in the era of AI. The data centers have faced increased opposition, with critics pointing to the high resource costs, from water to energy, and other issues like noise pollution, as detailed in a Business Insider investigation.

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