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 […]
Author Archives: Mike Emery
Mike Emery is a reporter and layout editor for the Western Wayne News.
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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. […]
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Plastics fire lawsuit moves to Henry County
A lawsuit involving more than 100 plaintiffs seeking damages because of the April 2023 plastics fire in Richmond will be heard in Henry County. The plaintiffs sued Cornerstone Trading Group, My-Way Trading, Seth Smith and the city of Richmond, claiming the April 11, 2023, fire on North West F Street caused economic damages, plus physical, […]
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Road closure approved for America’s 250th
Richmond’s Depot District Association received permission to close Elm Place for its America’s 250th Celebration on June 13. During its Jan. 29 meeting, the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety unanimously approved the closure from North Eighth Street to North 10th Street from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. The board also unanimously […]
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Projects prepare for funding possibilities
Wayne County stands ready when an opportunity to grow or improve quality of life presents itself after development of a 32-project Countywide Strategic Investment Plan. Cambridge City, Centerville, Dublin, Economy, East Germantown, Fountain City, Greens Fork, Hagerstown, Milton, Richmond and Wayne County proactively prepared their wants and needs for the next seven years to capitalize […]
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Fairgrounds rentals produce $174K
Wayne County Fairgrounds rental revenue grew 19% during 2025, and with 64 events already booked this year, 2026 has started strongly as well. Shelby Bertsch, the fairgrounds’ new sales and marketing coordinator, presented 2025 successes and 2026 plans to county council members and commissioners during the Jan. 21 joint workshop. The fairgrounds hosted 81 paid […]