Governor Holcomb signs Green Alert into law
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has signed into law a new alert system called the ‘Green Alert’. Similar to the Amber and Silver Alerts, which send messages throughout the state when there is a missing child or senior, the Green Alert will notify the public when there is a missing US Veteran or active Military Service Member. Classifications of alerts helps first responders so that they can be better prepared to offer targeted support.
Indiana’s Veteran suicide rate is higher than the national average. In 2021, nearly 140 Hoosier veterans died by suicide and over 6,000 nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
Indiana State Board of Accounts fins misappropriation of Marion County Fair Association funds
The Indiana State Board of Accounts concluded that Marion County Fair Association Board President Cindy Mowery misappropriated funding in her use of taxpayer dollars for work performed on her home. Since 2012, the fair association has received two payments of $50,000 annually from the City of Indianapolis. At the 2021 Indianapolis/Marion City-County Council meeting, a Board Member requested a third $50,000 payment from the city for 2022. The request was approved, and the association received $150,000 from the City of Indianapolis in 2022 instead of its usual $100,000.
It was recently discovered, after interviews and an investigation, that a $7500 check issued to a painting company was partially covering work done at the home of Mowery. The painters indicated that the fairground property part of the invoice was $3,000 and the remaining $4,500 was to stain and spray mildew off of Mowery’s back deck, paint her house’s siding, and paint the siding on the building behind her personal home.
Mowrey did not contest the accusation that the extra work was performed at her home. She has been ordered to repay the $4500 difference, as well as $7,648.67 to cover the costs of their audit into the misappropriation.
Indiana’s population growth back on track after a pair of stagnant years
After two years of comparatively slow growth through the pandemic era, Indiana’s population gains in 2023 nearly matched its average annual increase of 30,170 residents from 2010 to 2020, according to analysis from the Indiana Business Research Center at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
According to the latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Indiana added 29,925 residents in 2023 to reach a total population of 6.86 million.
In 2023, there were nearly 7,510 more births than deaths in Indiana. This level of natural population increase is a significant improvement over the previous two years but remains well below the pre-pandemic norm, Kinghorn added. Indiana had an average natural increase of roughly 21,150 residents per year from 2010 to 2019. In all, 74 of Indiana’s 92 counties had a net in-migration in 2023, yet only 28 counties had a natural population increase.
- For the third straight year, Marion County had the state’s largest population decline with a loss of 763 residents — a 0.1% drop.
- The Elkhart-Goshen (-0.2%), Bloomington (-0.1%) and Michigan City (-0.1%) metro areas lost population last year.
- For more information about these estimates, visit the STATS Indiana’s Population data.
This Week in Hoosier History
1912 – Karl Sekulovich was born in Chicago and grew up in Gary, where he was active in the drama department at Emerson High School. Under the screen name Karl Malden, he became a skilled character actor, appearing in scores of films. He won an Academy Award for his role in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
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