Versailles man killed in accidental explosion
An 83-year-old man died Tuesday following an accidental explosion that occurred outside his rural Versailles home. Investigators with the Indiana State Fire Marshal say Kenneth Hayes was cutting on a fuel tank outside his home in the 6100 block of South Benham Road when an explosion occurred. The resulting fire ignited the nearby garage. Hayes died from his injuries, and the official cause of death is pending autopsy, according to the Ripley County Coroner’s Office. Crews from the Versailles and Friendship fire departments responded to the scene and successfully prevented the fire from spreading to the home. Personnel remained on the scene for several hours to investigate the accidental death.
Task Force recommends renaming Jordan Avenue to Eagleson Avenue
The joint City of Bloomington/Indiana University task force convened by Mayor John Hamilton to recommend new name options for Jordan Avenue has completed its report. Starting in April, the Renaming Task Force reviewed more than 500 names submitted to the City’s website by members of the public to develop their unanimous recommendations for the road’s two sections:
“Eagleson Avenue” for the City-owned section of Jordan from Davis Street to 17th Street
“Fuller Lane” or “Mattie Fuller Lane” for the university-owned section from 17th Street to Fee Lane
The first name recommendation honors the Eagleson family, a prominent Bloomington family for four generations whose members have made significant contributions to the city, university, state, and nation, starting with Halson Vashon Eagleson (1851-1921), who was born into slavery and came to Bloomington in the 1880s. The second proposed name honors Mattie Jacobs Fuller (1856-1940), who, after being born into slavery in Kentucky, became at age four a lifelong resident of Bloomington, where she was a successful business woman and suffragist, and made the donation that founded Bethel AME Church.
The task force based its selections on the criteria that the streets be named in honor of people who were longtime residents of Monroe County, made significant contributions to the community, and had not already received significant city and university honors and awards. City and university officials requested that the two streets have separate names because they are not contiguous, and that the names be distinct from and not easily confused with any existing street names. The task force also recommended that historical markers providing biographical information about the street’s namesakes be installed. The report includes a description of the committee’s process and a detailed history of the proposed namesakes.
Formal renaming is the responsibility of the Bloomington Plan Commission, which will hear the proposed names and take public comment at a public hearing, and of the IU Naming Committee and the IU Board of Trustees. Per Bloomington Municipal Code (20.06.020(c)(1)(R)), notice of the proposed names will be sent at least 30 days before the hearing to all affected property owners and other residents. For the change to be adopted, the Plan Commission will adopt a resolution establishing the new names, which will go into effect no sooner than 90 days after the vote. Upon approval of new names, the City will work to mitigate impacts of the transition on property owners and others by coordinating with public entities–including the U.S. Postal Service, emergency service providers, and others.
New vehicle speed markers for Bloomington school zones
The City of Bloomington recently completed a School Zone Enhancement Project to increase driver compliance with the 20-mile-per-hour (mph) speed limit in the city’s 16 school zones. As the 2021-22 school year gets underway, the Bloomington Police Department (BPD) and the City’s school crossing guards will provide increased education and enforcement as necessary within these zones to help improve driver behavior and safety for children and other pedestrians.
In 2020, the City completed a project enhancing all school speed zones in the city. The purpose of a school zone is to reduce the speed of motor vehicles (typically to 20 mph) in certain areas and times due to the likely presence of young pedestrians heading to and from schools. The project focused and clarified the city’s existing school zones, as follows:
- The school zones have been limited to a more immediate area around a school than previously designated and only the school walk route road crossings where pedestrian/motorist interactions occur; and
- The times of day when reduced speeds are required are more clearly indicated by the installation of flashing beacons, whose operation will be limited to short periods in the morning and afternoon when children may be traveling to and from school.
The project replaced static street signs that alerted motorists to the reduced speed limit “When Children Are Present” with signs reading “Speed Limit 20 When Flashing,” along with flashing beacons that are only active during programmed times. With the exception of hard-wired beacons in heavily shaded areas, most of the flashing beacons are solar-powered.