A furniture business is now permitted on a Helm Road property after a unanimous decision by the Wayne County Board of Zoning Appeals. The BZA approved a variance of use for Elam Glick to build furniture and shuffleboard games and add a detached 10-foot-by-20-foot retail showroom at 6074 Helm Road, a property zoned for agriculture. […]
Author Archives: Mike Emery
Mike Emery is a reporter and layout editor for the Western Wayne News.
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Budget proposals prepare for the future
Transitions were top of mind June 12 when Wayne County’s commissioners conducted 2025 budget discussions. Commissioners heard from department heads about what they would request in the budgets. The requests were due to the auditor’s office June 14. From there, Wayne County Council will consider the requests when formulating the county’s 2025 budget. In three […]
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County badly needs health help
Wayne County’s commissioners approved nearly $725,000 in Health First Indiana spending June 12, and state statistics show the county badly needs results from the new state program. The Indiana Department of Health added three categories to its online county scorecards, and two of the three provided bad news for Wayne County. Becca Alliston, clinical director […]
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RP&L customers will save a few bucks
Richmond Power & Light customers will pay less for electricity during the year’s third quarter. General Manager Tony Foster told the RP&L board, which is composed of Richmond Common Council members, during a June 3 meeting that the quarterly energy cost adjustment change will lower customer bills by 0.3284 of a cent per kilowatt-hour, which […]
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$1.5M likely not enough to fill radio gaps
Wayne County’s commissioners learned $1.5 million likely won’t be enough to solve the county’s emergency radio communications problems. Barry Ritter, a Wayne County Council member and owner of Ritter Strategic Services, provided commissioners an update about the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program project during their June 5 meeting. Ritter estimated costs of two communication towers plus […]
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No butts about it: Council wants city cleanup
Howard Price held aloft a large bag of trash June 3 as he began addressing Richmond Common Council members. “We’re not the Rose City anymore; we’re the Butt City,” Price said, estimating there were 200 cigarette butts in the bag. Price collected the trash walking through Glen Miller Park and brought it as an example […]
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Suspect in officer’s killing dies in prison cell
The man accused of killing Richmond K-9 Officer Seara Burton died June 6 in his prison cell. The death of Phillip Matthew Lee, 48, ends the criminal case charging him with murder without a trial. Lee won’t face a jury of his peers, and there won’t be a verdict. “Two years ago, a very bad […]
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Health department addresses injury trends, causes
From 2018 through 2022, 463 Wayne County residents died from injuries. Addressing injuries and trauma is a key point of the new Health First Indiana program, and the state’s Department of Trauma and Injury Prevention is helping the Wayne County Health Department get a handle on what might be necessary in the county. Becca Alliston, […]
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2 meetings set to explain downtown business grant program
Wayne County’s Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program has $2 million available to infuse new growth into participating communities’ downtowns. Grants up to $100,000 are available to rehabilitate downtown retail or commercial building space in Cambridge City, Dublin, East Germantown, Economy, Milton, Richmond and Spring Grove. The grants require a 25% match — for example, $25,000 for […]
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County rules deteriorating Williamsburg property unsafe
Even two boats along the roadway don’t make the corner of Main and Edwards streets in Williamsburg resemble a marina. Vegetation has grown enough to partially obscure the boats, the deteriorating house and even a front loader on a trailer located at 6341 Edwards St. Steve Sorah, the county building commissioner, in April sent a […]