A program that helps homeless men will be permitted at Rock Solid Ministries after a Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals decision Feb. 11. Belcher House will be a 14-bed homeless shelter on the second floor of Rock Solid Ministries’ location at 1024 E. Main St. Participants in the Next Step program will get jobs, save […]
Author Archives: Mike Emery
Mike Emery is a reporter and layout editor for the Western Wayne News.
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Damaged portion of Tivoli building must come down
Part of a historic downtown Richmond building must be demolished, according to the Richmond Historic Preservation Commission’s president. Roxie Deer said during the commission’s Feb. 9 meeting that the back portion of the former Tivoli Theater building at 900 E. Main St. is not salvageable because of significant damage it has sustained remaining vacant for […]
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911 calls decrease slightly in 2025
Law enforcement calls for service rose nearly 10% during 2025 despite 911 calls decreasing by 649. According to the Wayne County Emergency Communications Center report, officer-initiated activity, such as business checks, delivery of court paperwork, civil process service and special patrol activities all rose from 2024. The 40,032 calls to 911 fits within the annual […]
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RPD: Taxi company misses inspection deadline
One of Richmond’s four taxi companies has not complied with Richmond Police Department inspection requests. Officer Aaron Stevens, RPD’s administrative resource officer, reported to the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety during its Feb. 5 meeting that M&C Taxi did not comply with a scheduled Jan. 5 inspection date. It also failed to meet […]
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Council allocates additional $50K for mail costs
Wayne County Council allocated an additional $50,000 on Feb. 4 to cover postage costs this year. Clerk Tara Pegg prepared a presentation for a joint meeting of council and county commissioners. The evening joint meeting replaced the scheduled morning council and afternoon commissioners meetings because of a conflict with an Association of Indiana Counties meeting […]
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RP&L’s reliability rises during 2025
Power outages are never convenient, especially when the temperature’s minus-4 degrees. Richmond Power and Light customers experienced that inconvenience a slim percentage of the time last year. The utility’s average service availability index, the ration of customer hours when service was available to total hours of demand, was 99.9851%, according to statistics General Manager Tony […]
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Businesses must file $2M tax exemption by May 15
For more than a decade, Indiana has expanded personal property tax relief for small businesses, churches and not-for-profit organizations. The latest change takes effect this year, and Wayne County Assessor Tim Smith wants to ensure eligible businesses realize their savings. Any business with tangible personal property totaling less than $2 million is exempt from taxation; […]
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Council exercises additional spending oversight
When approving the 2026 budget, Richmond Common Council, the city’s fiscal body, implemented a policy giving itself additional oversight of city departments’ spending. That oversight became apparent during council’s Feb. 2 meeting, generating discussion among council members. An appropriation resolution requesting $329,343.65 for infrastructure and development, code enforcement, board of public works and safety, police, […]
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Auditor’s charges dismissed after pretrial diversion
Special Judge Matthew Cox has dismissed two intimidation charges filed in January 2025 against Wayne County Auditor Mark Hoelscher. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office moved to dismiss the misdemeanor counts after Hoelscher successfully completed pretrial diversion. Hoelscher entered pretrial diversion in May. It required him to not commit a criminal offense for 180 days, to […]
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Court order sought to force mobile home park cleanup
The Indiana Department of Health has filed suit requesting a Wayne County judge force a Richmond mobile home park to comply with orders regarding cleanup and licensing. The lawsuit filed Jan. 16 and assigned to Superior Court 1 names Indianapolis-based Mobile Enterprises LLC and Rajpal Bhattal, the domestic limited liability company’s registered agent, as defendants. […]