New group antes up cash to help poor make bail
Devi Davis and April Angermeier are challenging the cash bail system that keeps poor people awaiting trial locked up in Marion County jails, often putting their jobs and homes at risk.
Hayleigh Colombo
Articles
First Merchants Bank settles federal lawsuit alleging redlining
Muncie-based First Merchants Bank has settled a federal lawsuit, following U.S. Department of Justice allegations that the bank engaged in lending discrimination by redlining predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Indianapolis.
Holcomb signs bill that loosens car dealership rules on document-prep fees
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill this week that loosens the rules under which car dealerships can charge consumers document fees, a practice that a flurry of recent class-action lawsuits have alleged is unfair.
Local car dealers hit with flurry of lawsuits over document-prep fees
Indiana auto dealership owners are being hit with a slew of lawsuits from customers who say they have been charged exorbitant document-preparation fees in the car-buying process just as the rules for charging such fees are poised to loosen under a change in state law.
Local auto group hit with class-action suit over document fee
A class-action lawsuit filed last week against Andy Mohr Automotive Group alleges the Indiana company violated a state law prohibiting deceptive consumer sales tactics.
Indianapolis officials go to market to sell $600M in justice center bonds
Representatives from the city of Indianapolis were in New York City on Thursday selling more than $600 million worth of bonds to investors to fund the new criminal justice center — a milestone in the giant public project.
Justice center move will bring changes to 2 neighborhoods
The $572 million Criminal Justice Center won’t open until 2022, at which time scores of city and county employees—working for the courts, public defender, prosecutor, sheriff and other agencies—will move from downtown’s Market East Cultural District 2 ½ miles east to the Twin Aire neighborhood. But city officials and businesses are already thinking about how both neighborhoods will be changed by the shift.
Plan would ban sitting, lying on downtown Indy streets, sidewalks
A proposal that would make it illegal to sit or lie on the ground during most of the day in downtown Indianapolis will be introduced this month to the Indianapolis City-County Council by local Republicans.
State lawmakers inquire about plans for Nickel Plate Railroad
Opponents of the Nickel Plate Railroad corridor being converted into a recreational trail in Hamilton County have asked state lawmakers for help preventing the train tracks from being removed.
Jeff Miller resigns from City-County Council, pleads guilty to felonies
Embattled Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jeff Miller resigned from the council on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to four counts of battery. The developments cap a months-long saga in which Miller defied bipartisan calls to resign.
Hotel operator sues airport authority, Infosys over lease termination
A Detroit-based hotel operator has sued the Indianapolis Airport Authority and Infosys Ltd., alleging the authority and the tech company colluded to wrongfully terminate the hotel company’s lease to make room for Infosys’ proposed $245 million innovation hub development at the airport.
Ex-Indy bond bank employees charged with theft of nearly $400K in public funds
Two former Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank employees have been charged with theft and insurance fraud by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office after being accused of taking funds totaling nearly $400,000 from the bond bank.
Council OKs new fees, regulations for scooter-rental companies
The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday night approved rules and the basics of a permitting structure that would regulate the dockless electric scooter-rental companies such as Bird and Lime that popped up in the city last month. The proposal, passed 19-6 by the council, requires companies to apply for and receive a permit from the city before operating their services.
Minority-owned firms vie to build Indianapolis justice center
Building Indianapolis’ massive criminal justice center will be a bonanza for the companies that land the work — and minority-owned firms are angling to ensure they are among the beneficiaries. If the city meets its goals, that would mean $154 million would go to minority-owned firms — 27 percent of the $571 million project.
Bankruptcy trustee files $250M suit against ITT Tech’s former CEO, directors
The bankruptcy trustee charged with trying to get a settlement for ITT Technical Institute’s students and creditors has filed a $250 million lawsuit against ITT Educational Services’ ex-CEO and eight of its former directors.
Council votes to prohibit new jail from being privatized
The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday night approved an ordinance that restricts the city’s new jail and criminal justice center from being run by a private operator once it eventually opens.
Holcomb orders special session to address school safety, tax reform
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday morning ordered lawmakers to return to the Statehouse sometime in May for a special session of the Indiana General Assembly after Republican supermajorities failed to come to consensus on key bills by the time this year’s session ended last week.
Indianapolis approves ordinance to crack down on high-crime hotels
The Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday unanimously approved an ordinance to hold accountable hotels and motels that are magnets of crime, creating a nuisance for local police and fire departments.
Bill to lift Indianapolis-area ban on light rail goes off track
A proposal in the Indiana Legislature to reverse a ban that prevents Marion County from developing a light-rail mass transit project appears to be dead. The ban was approved in 2014 and restricts public spending on light-rail projects in Marion and surrounding counties.
Taft works to advance social entrepreneurship in central Indiana
Indianapolis law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is hoping to advance what’s known as “social entrepreneurship” in central Indiana by bringing together people who want to both generate a profit and improve society with their business endeavors.