Reports · Grant County, IN
The Grant County Record
Every meeting we have indexed across Grant County's public bodies, in one place, narrowed by who was sitting and by what they were discussing. Each entry opens the recording at the second it happened. Timestamps were located in automatic captions, which garble names and numbers badly, so the recording is the record and this page is a way in.
Updated September 2, 2026
OurWeek in Grant County
The Grant County Record
Marion Common Council · Parks & community · 459 moments
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459 moments
Aug 18, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:45Aug 18, 2026A spotlight on the people behind Matter ParkThe council's recognition spotlight goes to parks employees and volunteers — more than 160 acres of city parks — with individual certificates read into the record for staff, seasonal workers and the Matter Park garden volunteers. Two councilmen add that the park is a highlight of the city.
- 10:28Aug 18, 2026The airport's fuel farm is up and runningFrom the aviation board: the fuel farm, paid for in part with ARPA money, has both Jet A and 100 low-lead flowing with self-service after a final valve went in Saturday. A grant application is pending for a partial parallel taxiway, with the design phase already approved.
- 35:42Aug 18, 2026Report a problem property from the city's appOvergrown or deteriorating properties can be reported through the City of Marion app with photos and comments, routed straight to the responsible department head. A councilman says he has used it many times for mowing complaints and found the response quick.
Jul 21, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:49Jul 21, 2026Marion athletes to represent USA at International Children's GamesKeyAaron Murray and coach Jonathan Perez presented the 18 young athletes from Marion and Grant County who will compete in boys and girls soccer and boys basketball at the International Children's Games in Taiwan. The delegation departs Wednesday, July 29th at 5:30 a.m. from the city hall parking lot.
- 3:57Jul 21, 2026Team Marion USA is going to the World Games in TaiwanKeyA delegation of 18 local athletes aged 12 to 15 will compete in boys soccer, girls soccer and boys basketball at the International Children's Games. About 57 people from Grant County are making the trip.
- 4:50Jul 21, 2026Of 16.5 million American kids, the 18 going are all from hereThe delegation's organizer tells the council that of every 12-to-15-year-old in the United States, the only athletes representing the country in these three sports are from Marion and Grant County.
- 6:28Jul 21, 2026Send-off is 5:30 in the morning outside city hallThe delegation leaves Wednesday, July 29 from the city hall parking lot, and the public is invited to see them off. One councilman checks twice that 5:30 means a.m.
- 11:15Jul 21, 2026Marion is restarting a program it dropped a decade agoThe city ran a delegation for about ten years, stopped, and is starting again with the aim of going every year. Next year's games are in Greece.
- 30:58Jul 21, 2026Another $25,814 for the park bondThe state recalculated the park bond, so the city asks for an additional appropriation to cover this year's July and December payments. It advances to a second reading.
- 31:59Jul 21, 2026What happened to the dog park? Nobody on the dais knowsKeyA councilman says there was a large opening celebration about a month ago, the park closed roughly a day later, and the no-entrance sign has been up every day since. The administration says it will find out.
- 47:21Jul 21, 2026Three candidates compete for one utility board seatKeyThe council president explained that three candidates applied for the utility board appointment, each getting three minutes to speak before council members vote by naming their choice. He said with six members present, a candidate needs four votes to win.
- 1:00:02Jul 21, 2026Council interviews candidate for open board seatA council member asks the candidate, Justin, about his prior board experience and availability given a recent rate increase and what he calls a critical spot for the board.
- 1:01:13Jul 21, 2026Candidate cites youth baseball league experienceJustin described his involvement with the Oakhill youth baseball league, including building a new facility and obtaining equipment, and said he would bring a fresh pair of eyes to the board.
- 1:03:06Jul 21, 2026City cleanups are wrapping up soonThe only announcement of the night: the city's cleanup events have been going well and will finish shortly.
Jul 7, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 1:44Jul 7, 2026The council spotlights its parks maintenance supervisorStorms earlier in the year left so many limbs and so much debris that the park had to be closed at one point.
- 2:41Jul 7, 2026A 17-and-a-half-hour day at a 110 heat indexThe Fourth of July drew more than 110 car entries and about 30 motorcycles, and what the council president calls the largest fireworks crowd he has seen. The crew started at 6 a.m.
- 3:50Jul 7, 2026The parks department is only seven months oldIt was stood up on January 1. The supervisor says the team is finding its stride and credits groundskeepers, the garden volunteers and the mowing crews.
- 42:29Jul 7, 2026City seeks public input on downtown signage plansCouncilman Joe reported a downtown placemaking meeting was held from 4 to 6 p.m. with a consultant on wayfinding, signage and lighting. Slides and a Google form will be posted on the city site for further public comment.
- 42:52Jul 7, 2026Downtown wayfinding and lighting plans go online for commentA consultant-led placemaking session ran for two hours before the meeting. The boards will be posted on the city site with a form for comments over the following weeks.
- 43:53Jul 7, 2026The skate park needs $50,000 by July 31 to unlock a matching $50,000KeyThe council president reads the appeal into the record: community donations must reach the target by the end of the month for the match to hold.
- 43:58Jul 7, 2026Skate park needs $50,000 by July 31 for matching grantKeyAn announcement stated the Marion skate park must raise $50,000 through community donations by July 31, 2026 to unlock a $50,000 matching grant. Donations can be made via the city website or Patreon.
- 44:44Jul 7, 2026Citywide cleanup, July 11District 4 gets a pickup. Everyone else can drop off up to two loads at 520 East 6th Street between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
- 45:07Jul 7, 2026No applications yet for the utility board seatsThe deadline to apply for the Marion utility board is July 15 at noon, and no applications have been received so far.
Jun 16, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:01Jun 16, 2026A fire inspector retires after 20 yearsThe chief says he found his role in investigations and built the department's investigation division, and that he has convicted more arsonists than not.
- 6:12Jun 16, 2026The ladder accident that nearly ended his careerKeyAbout a year and a half in, his foot caught in the rungs of the ladder truck. It "pretty much almost took the front part of his foot off" and required major surgery. He came back.
- 7:03Jun 16, 2026A folded flag for 20 years of serviceThe city flies and folds a flag for every police officer and firefighter who reaches 20 years, rather than the usual certificate.
- 18:30Jun 16, 2026Marion has 20 of the country's 90 Air Force ROTC aviation cadetsThe councilman reporting says the national program has only 90 cadets. The airport ice cream shop also passed its health inspection.
Jun 2, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:07Jun 2, 2026The council spotlights its code enforcement officersThe building commissioner reads a tribute: the officers enforce rules "that not everyone likes", deal with constant pushback, secure unsafe structures and run the monthly citywide cleanups.
- 11:40Jun 2, 2026Dog park opens tomorrow at 2 p.m.KeyCouncilman Brunner announced the dog park will officially open at 2 o'clock the next afternoon, near the meeting building, and said the skate park is moving forward with hopes to open in the fall.
- 11:49Jun 2, 2026The dog park opens tomorrow at 2KeyA councilman announces the opening "a slice three iron away" from the council chambers, and says it matters most for people in apartments who have nowhere to walk a dog.
- 12:03Jun 2, 2026The skate park may be ready before winterRenderings are on the council's desks. Bids are in and the hope is to have it open in the fall.
- 46:07Jun 2, 2026Prismian plant manager details Marion facilityPlant director Justin Pangmer said the Marion wire and cable plant, built in 1910 and making product since 1911, is 850,000 square feet with 174 employees and two labor contracts.
- 55:06Jun 2, 2026Company must keep at least 190 jobs to keep abatementMurphy said the agreement requires the company maintain an employment level of 190 at all times, up from an estimated 173, to prevent adding 29 jobs on paper while cutting existing staff.
- 1:01:56Jun 2, 2026Extra appropriation approved for park bond paymentsKeyCity administration requested an additional appropriation of $360,687.81 for park bond payments due in July and December, tied to a park bond council approved in December 2025. The motion passed on roll call.
- 1:03:39Jun 2, 2026Citywide cleanup set for June 13Officials announced the next citywide cleanup on June 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with pickup for District 3 only and a drop-off site at 520 East 6th Street for others.
May 19, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:27May 19, 2026Update on Ballard field park projectA representative from an engineering associate gave an update on the field scoping project, including a second-phase environmental study, floodway impact work, a planned playground, and tying the trail system around the park to downtown trails.
- 6:34May 19, 2026Ballard Field: soccer fields, trails and a playgroundConsultants are finishing a second-phase environmental study, a grading plan and floodway work, and looking at connecting the park's trail to the downtown system.
- 1:01:33May 19, 2026Samuel Plato to be inducted into Alabama Men's Hall of FameA councilmember announced, on behalf of his sister, that Samuel Plato will be inducted into the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame in September, with a congressional record statement from Maryland being developed and recognition by the Indiana general assembly planned for 2027.
- 1:01:37May 19, 2026A Marion architect heads for the Alabama Hall of FameA councilman reports that Samuel Plato will be inducted in September, that a congressional record statement is being prepared in Maryland, and that Indiana's general assembly will recognize him in 2027.
May 6, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:32May 6, 2026Eighth-grade artists take the spotlight instead of athletesTheir teacher explains the regional Scholastic competition judged at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art: thousands apply, hundreds get in. "This is like our NBA of the arts."
- 3:44May 6, 2026A Marion eighth-grader's work is going to New YorkKeyOne student took a national award and could not attend — she was at rehearsal for a school production. Gold and silver key winners advance to the national judging.
- 4:43May 6, 2026A gold key for a rose in a side mirrorThe drawing is a tribute to the student's grandmother, who came from Mexico in the back of a truck. Rather than show that, she painted her grandmother's favorite flower in the mirror, with the Mexican flag. "Pretty deep stuff for an eighth grader."
- 5:38May 6, 2026A second gold key, for floating eyeballs and a brideThe teacher says the thinking behind it is well beyond the age. The work goes on show at the high school on May 16 and 17.
- 9:10May 6, 2026"We spotlight so many of the athletes"The vice president says recognizing the arts matters, particularly alongside the arts district designation the city is pursuing downtown.
- 10:26May 6, 2026The dog park is 99% done, and it has a nameKeyA councilman reports the park board's update: the dog park is nearly finished — "I think it's called Wiggly Field" — and Ballard Field is about 80% complete.
- 37:21May 6, 2026$120,000 sought for school drug-prevention programKeyDr. Jada Montero requested $120,000 from restricted opioid settlement funds to match a two-year state grant for evidence-based prevention curriculum in grades 5 through 12, reaching up to 1,500 students yearly, plus family workshops. The grant runs July 1, 2026 to June 2028.
- 47:02May 6, 2026Citywide cleanup and splash house dates announcedThe next citywide cleanup is May 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in District 2, with other districts asked to drop items at 520 East 6th Street; a councilman said the splash house will open Saturday, May 23.
- 47:41May 6, 2026The splash house opens May 23The park board expects it ready that Saturday. Citywide cleanup falls on May 16 for District 2, with drop-off for everyone else at 520 East 6th Street.
Apr 21, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 0:37Apr 21, 2026Firefighters honored for pulling man from burning houseKeyChief Carr recognized four Marion firefighters who rescued a 25-year-old man from a structure fire on March 2nd at a home on West Third Street. He noted 75% of the department has less than 10 years of experience and about 35% has less than five years.
- 5:21Apr 21, 2026Rescued man thanks the firefighters in personKeyThe man who was saved, addressed as Brandon, spoke to council, saying he would not be there without the firefighters' efforts and does not remember much of that night.
- 14:55Apr 21, 2026YMCA intern program showcased to councilCouncil member Erica introduced an IWU mentor, Ally Denton, who described the YMCA career-readiness internship program for high schoolers across Grant County, including rotations at the front desk, fitness and child care.
- 26:57Apr 21, 2026Two longtime utility workers retiringThe report noted two retirements at the end of April: one worker after 33 years and another after 31 years.
- 43:37Apr 21, 2026Developer describes 66-unit luxury riverfront projectKeyJake Bates of BW Development said the project will have 66 multifamily units and 5,000 square feet of retail across two buildings, with high-end finishes comparable to their Carmel, Westfield and Fishers developments.
- 47:10Apr 21, 2026Mayor ties project to $70 million riverfront investmentKeyThe mayor said a housing study showed Marion was about 2,000 units short and described this project as one of the finishing pieces of the Elevate Marion riverfront vision, added onto more than $70 million already invested.
- 1:23:21Apr 21, 2026$1.5 million made available for skate park and food truck parkThe executive director said a separate parks bond closed before year end made a total of $1.5 million available to the parks board for the Southside food truck park and the skate park, both now in design phases.
- 1:40:50Apr 21, 2026First May meeting moved and citywide cleanup announcedThe presiding official said the first May meeting will be held Wednesday, May 6, because of election day on Tuesday, May 5. The next citywide cleanup is May 16 from 9 to 2, with only District 2 allowed curbside pickup; others must drop items at 520 East 6th Street.
- 1:42:04Apr 21, 2026Mayor puts development at over $150 million in two and a half yearsKeyAsked how much development has occurred, the mayor said the riverfront district alone is at about $77 million and estimated the total is over $150 to $170 million when including industrial investments, a university building and the arena.
Apr 7, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:42Apr 7, 2026The council's first framed certificate goes to Ruth Ann SumpterKeyA new recognition program starts with a woman the president says has served on more boards than he can count. "She doesn't do anything for recognition."
- 4:13Apr 7, 2026She helped reopen fire station No. 1 — now being builtWhen the station closed roughly a dozen years ago, she served on the original committee that raised the money. "You ought to feel very proud to see it going up now."
- 6:23Apr 7, 2026"I hope someone's working on America 250 — because I'm not doing it"Accepting the honor, she pointedly asks who is planning the country's 250th-birthday celebration. Thirty-three minutes later the parks director announces one.
- 7:23Apr 7, 2026Sixty-five years of volunteering, in her own tellingArrived in 1961 with two small children; Tri Kappa, Rotary, DAR, the VA — and producer-director of the Miss Marion pageant, whose scholarships she says sent girls to college who otherwise could not have gone.
- 15:14Apr 7, 2026Run the runway: the airport's first 5K, April 18$30 adults, kids under 5 free — t-shirt, medal and a scoop from the airport ice cream shop. Proceeds fund student flight training.
- 21:43Apr 7, 2026Police locker rooms renovated for the first time since 1979Council members who toured call it long overdue. A local contractor is credited with donating his own time to redo the shooting range.
- 29:34Apr 7, 2026$85,148 passes to make Friendship Corner ADA-compliant againThe playground was built accessible in 2010; the standards moved. Two mulch areas get poured-in-place surfacing, with work April 13–27, weather permitting.
- 35:07Apr 7, 2026Dog park at 85% — and it won't open right awayKeyIt must reach 95% before the last federal grant draw, and the parks director plans to wait until later in the summer so new grass can establish before dogs arrive.
- 35:31Apr 7, 2026A $114,000 grant application to relight Bucks Complex with LEDsEight poles, 35 fixtures that haven't been switched on. An energy study projects about 34% savings and over $5,000 a year; repairs alone were quoted near $40,000.
- 39:03Apr 7, 2026Food truck park and skate park are in designBudgets are set, park bonds attached to each, concepts coming "very soon."
- 39:35Apr 7, 2026July 3: cruising in the park returns for America's 250thKeyThe mayor moved the car show from October to the holiday — 11 to 3, festivities 5 to 11, and what the parks director promises will be the largest fireworks show yet.
- 44:47Apr 7, 2026A rooftop bar and a basement speakeasy for the squareKeyResolution 3-2026 grants Town Square Development a riverfront district permit for a building on the west side of the square: a rooftop terrace and a speakeasy called the Boiler Room.
Mar 17, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 0:00Mar 17, 2026A new glass-art studio introduces itselfArt Alive with Alicia, upper floor of the Boston Hill Center — "look for all the bright colors on the windows." The recording joins the pitch mid-sentence after technical difficulties.
- 8:02Mar 17, 2026The Mississinewa ran green for the first timeKeyA councilman reports the first annual St. Patrick's celebration at the Old Fitz Pub drew a big crowd, and the river was dyed green for the first time. "We'll build on that."
- 1:04:28Mar 17, 2026Friendship Corner's ADA fix gets its first reading$85,148 from the food-and-beverage tax. The parks director tried to do it last year, but collections started too late to contract the work.
- 1:07:17Mar 17, 2026Election day moves the May meetingTuesday, May 5 is election day, so the council will meet Wednesday, May 6 — and the Easter pageant is March 30 and 31: "you won't leave there the same."
Mar 3, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 5:10Mar 3, 2026The Old Fitz Pub, and the great-grandfather behind itKeyThe owner's spotlight: a family-friendly Irish pub in a building his great-grandfather — William Fitzgerald, born 1914, first American-born of the family's Irish line — brought into the family. The renovation took two and a half years.
- 9:50Mar 3, 2026Marion's first St. Patrick's festival — and a plan to dye the riverKeyMarch 14: a Green for Good 5K for St. Martin's Community Center, Irish step dancers from Fort Wayne, and what he calls the largest Irish flag ever flown in Indiana, hung over Washington Street from a fire truck. "If we can make this river green, we're going to do it."
- 15:41Mar 3, 2026The dog park, year eightGround is moving again and the first federal grant draw has arrived, but the parks director won't open it until late summer — new sod can't take dogs. "The dog park has been about a seven, eight year process. COVID didn't help."
- 17:34Mar 3, 2026A $50,000 grant application against the $85,000 playground fixParks has applied to a corporate grant program to cover most of Friendship Corner's ADA resurfacing, plus a smaller application for ADA picnic tables — six bought last year, six more sought.
- 23:06Mar 3, 2026The Arts Commission's $50,000, round twoThe director's update on the year: a $5,000 placemaking grant won for art at the central bus station, 18 free downtown concerts funded for summer, and an arts-district designation still being courted with the state.
- 27:12Mar 3, 2026An arts grant aimed at the opioid epidemicThe commission is applying for a national research award — $20,000 to $100,000 — pairing a university researcher with therapists, recovery-house leaders and the drug court to study arts-based treatment.
- 34:28Mar 3, 2026An artist testifies the grants workA local art teacher says commission money and gallery space let her show work she otherwise couldn't — the same teacher whose students the council honors two months later for state art awards.
Feb 17, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:04Feb 17, 2026The mayor's right hand gets the spotlightEsther Williams, executive assistant to the mayor for four or five years. "If Esther can't do it, I'm just going to be out of luck."
- 6:30Feb 17, 2026Fifteen students sign up to learn aviationThe Indiana Wesleyan–Marion High School program starts the year with fifteen applicants — most of them high schoolers.
- 18:39Feb 17, 2026The 50/50 sidewalk program returns — first come, first servedKeyThe city splits sidewalk replacement costs with the homeowner. "It goes pretty quick" — residents are urged to call early, with council members chipping in from ward and at-large funds.
- 23:55Feb 17, 2026The youth council, year twoSeventh through twelfth graders meeting monthly before council, with a statehouse trip scheduled. "They could be future council people, mayors, or anything."
Feb 3, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:50Feb 3, 2026A new firefighter sworn in with his grandfather's badgeThe board of works welcomed Private Luke Thompson to the fire department and pinned him with the badge his grandfather wore.
- 5:57Feb 3, 2026No pickleball yet — a councilman floats hockey insteadWith the new Matter Park courts unplayed under the snow, the park board hears a half-serious proposal to flood the tennis courts for a rink.
- 11:28Feb 3, 2026The Arts Commission opens its booksIncome tripled year over year; the annual gala averages over $25,000 and total fundraising hit about $30,000 — against a target the director says must nearly triple for the commission to stand on its own.
- 12:53Feb 3, 2026Free concerts every Friday, all summer, downtownKeyA state grant brings live music and an artist market to Penrod Plaza every Friday evening from Memorial Day weekend to mid-September — staged to face the River Rock Lofts as the apartments rise week by week.
- 19:39Feb 3, 2026Art for the bus terminal, apartments for Gen ZThe commission's placemaking pitch: transform the downtown bus stops with local art, film rider testimonies as transit promotion, and court young graduates — "Gen Z, they're not really into buying cars" — to fill the coming downtown apartments.
- 27:22Feb 3, 2026The arts district is "closer than you think"The state program director toured Marion — the quilters hall of fame, the community school of the arts, a mayor who is himself an artist — and put the city one to two years from an official arts and cultural district designation.
- 36:04Feb 3, 2026Kokomo's #1 restaurant is coming to Ridley TowerKeyYolanda's Place — soul food with weekend jazz and blues — wins a riverfront-district liquor resolution for the ground floor of Ridley Tower, aiming to open in March. "I'm your chef."
- 38:51Feb 3, 2026The menu, read into the recordOxtails, baked mac and cheese, candied yams, collard greens with smoked turkey, fried catfish, smothered turkey ribs, jumbo turkey legs. "That's what I wanted to hear."
Jan 20, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:43Jan 20, 2026Three national championships in a rowKeyThe Indiana Wesleyan women's volleyball team brings its trophy to the chamber after a 3–1 title win over the No. 2 seed. Players introduce themselves one by one; one senior has been on all three championship teams.
- 10:54Jan 20, 2026The man who arranged the visit: Dr. Jeff ReyesThe outgoing council president thanks IWU's associate athletic director for coordinating the team's appearance — six weeks before Reyes himself is sworn into the council.
- 14:55Jan 20, 2026$22,000 in aviation scholarships, six applicants so farThe Aviation Academy expects a dozen Air Force Junior ROTC cadets to join, with awards announced later in the month.
Jan 20, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Public works committee
Jan 6, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 28:49Jan 6, 2026"My phone has rang off the hook"The president says constituents don't think it's fair to fix mishandled finances on the backs of ratepayers — and pledges that if the veto stands, talks on a compromise start immediately.
- 41:01Jan 6, 2026The mayor explains his veto: "They can't afford to pay this"KeySpeaking "in the voice of the people" after a food giveaway wrapped around the block, Mayor Morrell says any increase must be crafted transparently in public working sessions with the council, the utility and citizens.
- 57:41Jan 6, 2026Economic Development Commission grows from 3 to 5 seatsMayor Morrell's ordinance codifies the EDC and adds two volunteer members to fix recurring quorum problems. Resident Bill Cree cautions against adding positions after a night about finances; it passes unanimously.
Dec 16, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:20Dec 16, 2025A new indoor playroom opens on the bypassNanny's Playroom, in the old Boutique 125 space at 1206 N Baldwin, is spotlighted — a play space for ages eight and under, built out by the owner's family with no hired contractors.
- 7:27Dec 16, 2025$12 a child, all day, two adults freeNo time limit, outside food allowed, party room for private after-hours bookings. It's not a daycare — a parent has to stay.
- 14:24Dec 16, 2025A free Christmas toy closet, stocked by donationsThe owner set aside space for donated and newly bought toys and books that any family in need can shop for free.
- 15:40Dec 16, 2025A surprise spotlight for the deputy city clerkAisha, who builds the council agenda, is spotlighted without warning so she couldn't dodge it — she covered the clerk's office through Debbie Goodman's health absences, often the only person in the room taking minutes.
Dec 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 5:26Dec 2, 2025IWU men's cross country brings home a national titleThe council spotlights the Indiana Wesleyan men's cross country team, NAIA national champions after an undefeated season — the program's first.
- 10:45Dec 2, 2025Tenth place at the 5K, first at the finishCoach Brody Beer walks through the race: the team sat around tenth midway, took the lead at the seventh kilometer of the 8K, and kept passing runners to the win. The squad logged 1,200–1,700 summer miles.
- 14:44Dec 2, 2025A Marion firefighter is national Rookie of the YearKeyCaptain Adam Trexler took the PJ Bean Rookie of the Year award in the national Firefighter Challenge series — the only competitor from Indiana.
- 15:32Dec 2, 2025What the course actually isIn full gear and air pack: a 42-pound hose pack up five stories, a 48-pound hoist, sledgehammering a 165-pound beam, dragging a charged line, then a 175-pound dummy. Trexler's best is 1:46; the goal is under 1:40.
- 20:31Dec 2, 2025Councilman pledges to find him sponsorsWith four events booked for next year and entry, travel and food out of pocket, Calgill says he'll chase local corporate sponsorships. Trexler has just signed as a paid athlete for a fire-equipment company.
- 27:56Dec 2, 2025A $20 million swing at an aviation academyKeyThe airport, Indiana Wesleyan and the city are jointly pursuing an Economic Development Administration grant of up to $20M for an education center — airplane maintenance space, more flight instruction, and a new drone program.
- 1:23:16Dec 2, 2025Downtown one-way streets go under reviewA December 10 public hearing on converting Washington, Adams and First Street to two-way, part of a redevelopment commission study of downtown traffic. State Road 18 is off the table.
Nov 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 1:18Nov 18, 2025A Veterans Day tribute, a week lateThe Marion High School JROTC presents the colors, with "God Bless America" and the national anthem sung live — the council's substitute for a Veterans Day meeting.
- 7:46Nov 18, 2025YMCA interns get paid to learn how to workA statewide, Lilly Foundation-backed program places 11th and 12th graders in paid rotations through the Y's fitness floor, front desk and child watch, with Tuesday night classes on employability.
- 12:57Nov 18, 2025Why the program exists nowIndiana's diploma track changed: students need work-based learning to graduate, and this internship checks that box. For several of the teens it's a first job.
- 16:14Nov 18, 2025Twenty city employees who servedKeyRather than a single spotlight, the council reads the name and branch of every city employee veteran it could identify — one of them currently deployed.
- 55:40Nov 18, 2025Why Marion homes don't need water softenersKeyMarion runs lime softening, rare among Indiana plants. It was installed for RCA's needs; when RCA left, the city chose to keep it — a quality decision that carries a real cost, at nearly $1M a year in lime.
- 1:26:05Nov 18, 2025Council attorney posting opensThe annual posting goes out with a December 5 noon deadline — the process that draws exactly one applicant.
Nov 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:02Nov 4, 2025A million local records, and every Marion newspaper since 1867The library's Indiana history and genealogy room fields research requests from around the world and ranks second in the state behind Allen County.
- 7:12Nov 4, 202530,000 objects, 7,000 photographsThe history center's exhibits cover the gas boom, Weaver — the free Black settlement southwest of Marion — and "Home of the Hog," on the 1919 and 1920 races that gave the Harley hog its name.
- 10:11Nov 4, 2025A 1960 telegram from John F. KennedyKeyBrought to the podium from the collection: then-Senator Kennedy wiring Mayor Jack Edwards that "the reception I received in Marion is finest I have received in any community in America."
- 16:16Nov 4, 2025A perfect audit, for the first time in city historyKeyThe street and citywide maintenance department completed its MS4 stormwater audit with zero deficiencies — never done before in Marion — plus another perfect sprinkler inspection.
- 24:38Nov 4, 2025Utility employees raised $6,000 to pay neighbors' water billsThe H2O fund, started by the utility's own staff and boosted by matching money, helps customers who can't cover their bills.
- 26:44Nov 4, 2025$2 million in park bonds: a skate park and a food truck parkKeyAbout $750,000 each toward a purpose-built concrete skate park and a Southside park designed for food trucks and live music, both part of the Elevate Marion package.
- 31:29Nov 4, 2025It would be the state's second-largest skate parkThe full build with a pump track runs about $1.25M — behind only Evansville, and pitched as a regional draw.
- 35:52Nov 4, 2025"Why should we live in fear?"Marcus Garcia answers the fiscal case directly: the town has basketball, tennis and pickleball courts; skating is the thing without a home.
- 38:19Nov 4, 2025"Skateboarding is part of my therapy"KeyGarcia tells the council he is ten months sober and skates every weekend. Two more speakers — one also ten months sober, another seven years into recovery — say the same thing in their own words.
- 44:48Nov 4, 2025A bridge between the university and the cityAn IWU senior says the skate park is how he connected to Marion in four years here, and that students skate on campus because the current park doesn't feel safe.
- 54:37Nov 4, 2025A skate shop is already opening downtownHayden Sloop tells the council he's investing in a skateboard shop in the Boston Hill Center and hopes it grows into multiple jobs.
- 58:01Nov 4, 2025"The driver who killed my friend skated"Kane Spencer, shaking at the microphone, ties the loss of a friend to a community that had no park — and credits the people behind him with bringing him back to skating.
- 59:31Nov 4, 2025"We're losing people because we're not doing anything"KeyCowgill's answer to the fiscal case, echoed by Ford Ice: cities that grow have amenities, and forty years of doing nothing is what got Marion here.
- 1:07:29Nov 4, 2025Eight grants tried — and where Splash House came fromKeyMcKinley says the city chased eight grants first and is still seeking naming rights. Then the argument that lands: Friendship Corner and the Splash House at Matter Park exist because of this same bond.
- 1:44:03Nov 4, 2025Family Express is putting $9 million into MarionKeyThe 82-store, 50-year-old family company plans a station, car wash and made-in-house food, with 15 to 20 mostly full-time jobs starting around $16 an hour and an opening targeted for early summer 2026.
Oct 7, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 4:31Oct 7, 2025Marion cheerleaders earn a shot at the Citrus BowlA UCA trophy at the camp hosted at Marion High School makes the squad eligible to cheer at halftime of the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on December 31.
- 5:22Oct 7, 2025$1,500 each, flights not includedFive cheerleaders — three seniors and two sophomores — need to fundraise for the trip. Parents have offered to cover airfare; the council president offers to route donations.
- 13:14Oct 7, 2025"Coming in at 5 and 6 a.m. to clean, paint, shovel snow"Buildings and grounds assistant Ruben Wrangle is spotlighted in his supervisor's words — one of two people who maintain city hall — with his daughter beside him at the microphone.
- 21:54Oct 7, 2025Three candidates make their case in two minutes eachJustin Faw, nearly 30 years a police officer and a former Marion captain who dispatched as a rookie; Ray Dudley, former Delaware County sheriff now running safety for Marion schools; and Elijah Bilby, assistant chief at Marion Health.
- 48:41Oct 7, 2025Smash and Dash is putting ~$1M into the riverfront districtKeyRezoning 800 E Third Street from light industry to general business for a restaurant and event center — local entrepreneurs, the mayor says, taking him up on "open for business."
- 50:07Oct 7, 2025And the go-kart track is coming backKeyMcKinley notes roughly 3,000 Facebook comments demanding the track reopen — and tells those commenters to actually show up and spend money when it does. Restaurant targeted for February, track in the spring.
- 56:36Oct 7, 2025The 2005 bond built Splash House and Friendship CornerKeyFirst reading of the parks bond. The mayor explains the mechanism: rather than let the retiring 2005 debt roll off, reuse the same levy for the skate park and Southside food truck park.
- 1:10:02Oct 7, 2025What a combined sewer overflow actually is, in plain EnglishKeyAsked to explain it for citizens, Schrader describes how heavy rain surcharges the system until pressure releases at one of six points straight into the river — and how a holding tank keeps that water for full treatment instead.
Sep 16, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:38Sep 16, 2025Thirty-five years of King GyrosKeyJimmy — "Jimmy the Greek" — is spotlighted for three and a half decades of a locally owned restaurant that has outlasted almost everything around it, and for hiring people other employers wouldn't.
- 7:44Sep 16, 2025"Without the community I couldn't do nothing"Jimmy turns the tribute around: it's a first job for most of the young people who work for him, and the same rules apply as anywhere — show up on time, do a good job, get along.
- 8:38Sep 16, 2025And a thank-you for finally fixing his streetTwenty-five years of waiting, he tells the mayor, before it got paved.
- 13:44Sep 16, 2025Eighteen years, and a new titleRose Cadena, the parks office manager who has effectively been running the department, is spotlighted as she prepares to become parks director. She thanks her husband for eighteen years of evenings and weekends.
- 21:59Sep 16, 2025A record 3,700 breakfasts at the airport fly-inWith 150–160 aircraft participating. The board also approved $1,420,150 for the fuel farm design and construction contracts.
- 44:46Sep 16, 2025A new city judge introduces himselfJosh Howell, appointed by the governor about 18 months earlier, says he expanded court hours to clear a serious backlog and carved out dedicated time for city matters. He invites the council and the public to watch trials on Thursdays.
- 1:05:42Sep 16, 2025Smash and Dash gets its riverfront liquor permitA $700,000-plus investment in the old go-kart facility at 800 E Third — the third business to use the riverfront district designation after Los Amores and Obie's.
- 1:10:41Sep 16, 2025Duck pin bowling, a sports simulator — "not a nightclub"The owners, both local graduates, describe the concept and stress the family atmosphere despite the liquor license. Groundbreaking is set for October 11.
- 1:13:03Sep 16, 2025200 IWU students for the citywide cleanupThe last cleanup of the year covers District 6, with Indiana Wesleyan bringing students to walk the whole district. The council president asks neighbors to offer help — respectfully — to anyone who can't haul their own junk.
Sep 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:47Sep 2, 2025The rental car company most of Marion doesn't know it hasU-Save Auto Rental on Southwestern Avenue is spotlighted at nearly 20 years — locally owned, and known mostly for the U-Hauls out front rather than the cars it actually rents.
- 4:38Sep 2, 2025A father-son business started around two other jobsThe owner wanted a business with his son; he was at Kroger and his son is a mechanical engineer with six children. They now deliver rentals to body shops so customers don't need a ride.
- 9:23Sep 2, 2025Four years at animal care and controlCaleb Day is spotlighted in his manager's words for handling a job that swings between kittens and aggressive animals, and between pets and people's grief.
- 12:45Sep 2, 2025The councilman had already praised him — without knowing his nameBrunner realizes the animal control officer he complimented two meetings earlier is the man now standing in front of him.
- 37:26Sep 2, 2025ReElement takes the floor on the old RCA buildingKeyAdded to the agenda by unanimous vote, CEO Mark Jensen describes a renovation nearly finished, fire suppression going in, and rare earth refining that the China trade fight has pushed into national news.
- 38:27Sep 2, 2025"They can now buy from Marion, Indiana"KeyMaterials the largest US defense contractors once had to source from China — germanium for semiconductors, yttrium for jet engine coatings, magnet metals for propulsion — refined in the former RCA plant.
- 39:46Sep 2, 202599.999% purity, developed with PurdueJensen says the capability didn't exist in the United States before the company built it, and that he was at the White House the week before presenting it.
- 42:46Sep 2, 2025Ten Marion hires, no chemical engineering degrees requiredKeyThey're training in Noblesville on the company's own equipment, have already had multiple raises, and will come back to train the next group. Partnerships signed with Ivy Tech and trade schools.
Aug 21, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee
- 12:27Aug 21, 2025Parks will run 13 parks with five laborersKeyTwelve full-time staff, down from 15 before the departments merged — and now with the gardens and splash house added. Three underused parks were eliminated along the way.
- 15:07Aug 21, 2025The splash house repair could cost $30,000 — or $300,000Estimates for the failed feature range tenfold. It's slated to be one of the first asks against the new food and beverage tax.
- 20:26Aug 21, 2025Animal care and control gets its first budget everKeyBritney Shrout's first budget and the department's first as its own line. The county signed a 10-year agreement; other towns are now billed per call — which, as the council puts it, "slowed down the abuse."
- 29:37Aug 21, 2025"Probably 25 cents an hour"On council pay: McKinley says he'd do the job for free, and that if you broke his hours down that's roughly the rate.
- 35:29Aug 21, 2025Community development is two people doing four people's jobsDown from four staff eleven years ago. The one bright spot: a regional partnership will supply a full-year intern at no cost.
- 45:34Aug 21, 2025The city's published ordinances are out of date — and unbudgetedKeyNobody has been paying to publish updates to the online code. McKinley: "If somebody wants to know what the current ordinances are, that's where they go." It gets assigned to the clerk's budget on the spot.
- 48:34Aug 21, 2025Meeting minutes now start as an AI transcriptThe clerk's office pays a couple hundred dollars a year for software that drafts the minutes, saving up to a full day of typing on three-hour meetings. A deputy still corrects every line.
- 1:31:23Aug 21, 2025Forty-one years driving the transit departmentChuck's last budget meeting before retirement, with his successor already training beside him. Transit runs on reimbursement grants covering about 60% of the city's cost.
Aug 19, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 4:11Aug 19, 2025A Marion cop bought the ambulance company he drove for on FridaysKeyDennis Houston spent 25 years on the police department while working weekends at Able Ambulance for 16 of them, never expecting to afford it. He and his wife bought it anyway.
- 5:13Aug 19, 2025From 9 trucks to 30, and 11 employees to 37KeySix more hired the Friday before the meeting, seven vehicles bought this year — organic growth in a county that mostly reports losses.
- 5:41Aug 19, 2025Wherever the VA sends themAnn Arbor, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Mishawaka daily. The company runs long-distance veteran transports out of a State Road 18 base.
- 10:19Aug 19, 2025"The glue of the Marion Fire Department"KeyChief Garr spotlights administrative assistant Lisa Edwards, who handles what used to be a two-person job on one of the city's largest budgets — "her calculations are correct into the penny."
- 12:17Aug 19, 2025"I have 59 guys, and then there's me"Edwards, who didn't want the recognition, thanks the council for acknowledging the administrative staff nobody sees. The room is full of off-duty firefighters who came to watch.
- 26:00Aug 19, 2025$78,613 to fix a railing at the water's edgeKeyRandy Hyatt frames it as a safety problem with only two options: replace the riverwalk railing or block the access off. Four weeks to build and install once approved.
- 29:04Aug 19, 2025"I fell right at the entrance of it"Councilman Marshall, volunteered to rollerblade-test the finished railing, admits how his last attempt at the riverwalk ended.
Aug 5, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 10:13Aug 5, 2025Employee spotlight: the transportation directorJeff Edwards has led the department since January 2017. A councilman urges anyone who hasn't seen the operation to go watch it — the buses are washed and disinfected inside every night.
- 37:40Aug 5, 2025Second reading: $300,000 for the Estates of SerenityKeyAdditional appropriation 11-2025 for the Center Township trustee, with a revised financial plan handed to council members at the table.
- 49:06Aug 5, 2025The orphans' section is mowed for the first time in yearsKeyCouncilman Calgill describes 50 to 60 cars a day driving through a cemetery where nobody used to go, and the single slab stones at the back of the old part that hadn't been visible.
- 54:31Aug 5, 2025Fordice offers inmate work crews instead of moneyKeyThe vice president says the county has two crews already budgeted and would send one out two or three days a week, and argues a township cemetery levy is the real answer.
- 1:01:21Aug 5, 2025"Their final resting place is in decay... it feels like a betrayal"KeyThe council president's argument: the people buried there paid city taxes their whole lives into the infrastructure the city was built on. He frames the $300,000 as the city honoring a moral debt, and as blight elimination consistent with the citywide cleanups.
- 1:12:40Aug 5, 2025"She's been denied that, Mr. Ford. That is a fact."KeyThe trustee interrupts to say she already asked the county for the inmate crews and was refused. The exchange is the sharpest of the night.
- 1:57:21Aug 5, 2025Remembering Ed BreenKeyCouncilman Klein on a friend, neighbor and mentor: "He was a pain in the butt sometimes and I was a pain in the butt to him sometimes." Three deaths in a short stretch — Breen, Sam Fowler, Paul Thompson.
Jul 15, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 1:29Jul 15, 2025Community spotlight: the neighborhood associationsCouncilman Whitten nominates the presidents and volunteers of Center City, Harry Kramer and South Marion rather than a single business, calling them the unofficial eyes and ears of their neighborhoods.
- 4:59Jul 15, 2025"Most of us are elderly because we can't get the young people to come out"KeySharon Carson's thanks doubles as the association presidents' recurring problem. Gus Smart, president of the Harry Kramer association, says the green space went in but the kids aren't using it — the grass on the hill hasn't been trampled down.
- 15:53Jul 15, 2025Employee spotlight: "the machine"Mike Pataski, a citywide maintenance employee since 2011, maintains all of Matter Park largely single-handedly and sets up the Walkway of Lights each year. His supervisors, the parks superintendent and the gardens crew all submitted praise separately.
- 1:27:23Jul 15, 2025The cemetery ask returns, a year and a court fight laterKeyCenter Township trustee Deborah Kaine's first reading of additional appropriation 11-2025. The defendant sought three continuances; the court ruled in her favor on July 7, awarding full administration and control of the Estates of Serenity.
- 1:37:34Jul 15, 2025What she found: a checkbook ledger and 5x5 cardsKeyNo invoices, no purchase orders, no paper trail. Burial and plot records on index cards, historical maps rolled into a box.
- 1:39:08Jul 15, 2025Four years living in the office with five dogsKeyA man testified he only slept on the couch two or three nights a week; he later admitted he had lived there four years. There is no plumbing under the kitchen sink — it drains into a five-gallon bucket that has been overflowing.
Jul 8, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Special meeting
- 8:24Jul 8, 2025Four shootings involving 13-to-18-year-olds in 18 monthsKeyTwo of them fatal. The mayor names youth facilities — a soccer complex at Ballard Field and a skate park at Hogan Park — as the first things the money would fund.
- 10:31Jul 8, 2025No parks between 33rd Street and 50th StreetThe mayor says residents in districts four, five and six have to drive or walk a long way to reach one, and that establishing a park on that side of town is part of the plan.
- 13:05Jul 8, 2025"There isn't anything for us to do"Dr. Stacy Hunt, who works with Marion students, speaks for the tax. She was born at Marion General and graduated from Marion High School, as did her parents; her mother, a retired teacher, died two months earlier.
- 43:01Jul 8, 2025Marion went from 23 parks to 13 after the last budget cutsKeyTwenty-year city employee Randy Hyatt describes vendors dropping the city, projects halted, and crews driving outdated and dangerous equipment. "If your 20 cents stops me from going to McDonald's, I won't go."
- 44:33Jul 8, 2025$8,000 to replace one slide someone set on fireKeyRose Cadena, who has handled the parks budget for 18 years, says major repairs and vandalism were never built into it — and she has replaced that slide at Friendship Corner more times than she can count.
Jul 1, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:31Jul 1, 2025Community spotlight: the county's top-producing real estate agentJoe Schroeder, born and raised in Marion, spent seven years in marketing at the Chronicle-Tribune before starting at RE/MAX in 2014. He is the number one ranked agent in Grant County for production and has been the top RE/MAX agent in Indiana for seven years, ranking 46th nationally.
- 25:52Jul 1, 2025Two part-time park security jobs, covering all 13 parksKeyGO 13-2025 amends the salary ordinance to add two part-time positions shared by the parks department and the police department, providing at least 42 hours of coverage a week, seven days a week.
- 30:59Jul 1, 2025One Visitors Bureau seat, two candidates, a 5-4 voteKeyCiara Mbaio and Shelley Jones both applied for the Common Council's appointment to the Grant County Visitors Bureau. Council members went around the room by name; Jones won 5-4, with the council president casting the last, already-moot vote for Mbaio.
- 36:06Jul 1, 2025"There's no reason for us to recreate the wheel"Asked what she would do with $50,000 for tourism, Jones says she would visit comparable Indiana communities and borrow what already works there. Mbaio's answer to the same question was branding.
- 42:09Jul 1, 2025The Garfield Trail as an underused assetJones points to visitors coming from around the world to tour the statues, and asks whether the city is capitalising on what is already drawing them here.
- 56:37Jul 1, 2025Where the money would go: soccer fields, a skate park, airport utilitiesThe mayor walks through Ballard Field's roughly 20 downtown acres, deed-restricted to parks use, as a youth soccer complex; a destination-style skate park; a food truck park on the south side, where there are no parks between 33rd and 50th; and sewer capacity at the airport.
Jun 17, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:33Jun 17, 2025Community spotlight: the Daughters of the American RevolutionKeyThe General Francis Marion chapter marked its 115th anniversary on February 22. When school starts in August they will present a book and a flag to every fourth grader in Grant County for America's 250th.
- 5:00Jun 17, 2025The DAR ran the contest that produced Indiana's state flagKeyAt the request of the Indiana Senate. A second contest, for a salute to the Indiana flag, was accepted at this year's state conference.
- 6:14Jun 17, 2025Who can join: any woman over 18 who can prove the lineageIt doesn't matter what the ancestor did — fought, nursed the wounded, rolled bandages, cooked. Only that it can be proven.
- 7:09Jun 17, 2025The library will do the genealogy for you, freeKeyThe Indiana Room at the Marion Public Library researches lineage at no cost and isn't restricted to Grant County. A member warns that National still went through her own application with a fine-tooth comb.
- 10:15Jun 17, 2025Where the name comes fromGeneral Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. Marion is the only one in Indiana, and this is the only General Francis Marion chapter in the DAR.
- 11:17Jun 17, 2025Four Revolutionary War veterans are buried in the countyA detail offered from the floor while the chapter is being recognized.
- 11:39Jun 17, 2025Recognized on the 250th anniversary of Bunker HillA councilman points out the date. The council president adds that there is probably more knowledge of history in the room than any machine could provide.
- 13:59Jun 17, 2025Employee spotlight: 20 years of city ITKeyDanny Robinson has been with the city since about 2005. He issues every new council member their phone and laptop, helped build and run the council chamber camera system, and streams the meetings — including running one on YouTube himself when the president was away.
- 22:12Jun 17, 2025Two of 80 national scholarships went to Marion aviation cadetsKeyThe airport board report: a new class started at the aviation academy and two students won Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association scholarships. Also on the agenda were the fuel farm shortfall, possible water and sewer service, and clearing trees near the runway 22 approach.
- 1:04:09Jun 17, 2025First reading: two part-time park security positionsKeyGO 13-2025 amends the salary ordinance for a joint parks and police initiative covering all 13 parks at least 42 hours a week between the two positions, neither exceeding 29 hours.
- 1:04:57Jun 17, 2025New bathrooms stripped the next dayKeyRose Cadena says the city has put over a million dollars into the parks in 18 months. Soap and paper dispensers were knocked off the walls of newly rebuilt restrooms the day after they opened, and the million-dollar playground is vandalised continuously.
- 1:15:07Jun 17, 2025Why aren't there trail cams?KeyAsked why the vandalism goes unrecorded, Cadena says quotes are being gathered for cameras in every park and the IT director is installing some now. "We put a camera here and they'll tear up something over there."
Jun 3, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:12Jun 3, 2025Ed Breen's face on the screen behind the councilKeyThe meeting opens out of order so the council can mark his death. "If you're not sure who that is, you might not have lived here very long."
- 6:58Jun 3, 2025"I met Ed first day on my job at the newspaper in 1973"KeyCouncilman Klein on a boss, colleague, neighbor, friend and mentor: Breen taught another editor how to make a community newspaper, and "he got the community talking. He got the community listening." Also the mai tai season across the porches, and the only coffee mug ever thrown across that newsroom — at Klein, with coffee still in it.
- 9:55Jun 3, 2025Breen's own words, reposted by his daughterKey"There is a beauty in the living and also in that which has run its course and has settled into an orderly transition. Just a little something to ponder on a trip to the woodlands here in Indiana."
- 12:18Jun 3, 2025Community spotlight: a valedictorian who never got less than an A+KeyNathaniel Beck graduated from Marion High School with a 5.1 GPA — National Merit commended, AP Scholar with distinction, a 2025 Indiana Association of School Principals academic all-star, and one of only 40 Rising Stars of Indiana.
- 14:55Jun 3, 2025Sixteen varsity letters across four sportsSoccer, cross country, wrestling and track and field — captain in each. His 4x800 team won regionals and is headed to state.
- 17:43Jun 3, 2025Purdue, chemical engineeringAsked what area, Beck says he isn't sure yet — new materials, recycling, or renewable energy.
- 1:48:03Jun 3, 2025The council has a board seat it didn't know it hadKeyThe president learned in passing from the Visitors Bureau's director that the Common Council gets an appointment — and that it has gone unfilled for years. The county council was in the same position.
- 1:54:16Jun 3, 2025The purple dino is coming backAfter a social media outcry, the Matter Park playground's purple dinosaur survives the 0-to-5 rebuild.
- 1:54:48Jun 3, 2025"I love having Breen looking over us"KeyThe meeting ends where it began. "That's what he used to do. He did it well. I wish we had more people doing it."
May 20, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 0:49May 20, 2025A moment of silence instead of a prayerKey"We are a community of a lot of different people and a lot of different beliefs and faiths." The vice president, chairing in the president's absence, offers his own Trinitarian prayer aloud and asks everyone else to pray in their own way.
- 2:21May 20, 2025Community spotlight: the Master GardenersA volunteer organization that teaches gardening in schools, works Earth Day, and helps run community gardens across the city.
- 3:35May 20, 2025Two gardens at Matter Park, built and kept by volunteersKeyThe demonstration gardens at the old bear cage location, and the children's gardens at the meadows. Members take continuing education yearly through Purdue Extension.
- 4:11May 20, 2025$1,297,722 of donated labor statewide this yearKey1,828 Indiana master gardeners had volunteered that value into communities, gardens and parks by May. "Helping others grow" is the motto.
- 7:18May 20, 2025Employee spotlight: 25 years, four departmentsChris White was hired November 13, 2000 and has worked in the legal department, IT, the mayor's office and now human resources.
- 8:04May 20, 2025She also runs a dojoKeyWhite and her husband have co-owned Shiro Kai Martial Arts on South Adams since 2019. Both are sensei and black belts. "So don't make her mad to go into HR, please."
- 36:36May 20, 2025Splash House opens May 24; the NAIA championships bring millionsThe national track and field championships run May 21 through 23 at Indiana Wesleyan, with teams from across the country.
May 6, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 4:19May 6, 2025The mayor's youth council leads the pledgeA first appearance at the microphone for a group the council president says they'll be seeing many more times.
- 6:32May 6, 2025Six schoolgirls get the community spotlightKeyWinners of an oral presentation contest at Justice Intermediate School. The librarian who organized it is explicit: "I have not at all had any say in what they were saying. This is all their ideas."
- 9:07May 6, 2025"Most of our public bathrooms in Marion are mostly portapotties"KeyKalia Drake, 11, born and raised here, on what she'd change: real public bathrooms, better school lunches, cleaner woods and fields, and better security to prevent fights and threats in the schools.
- 10:12May 6, 2025Parks that aren't inside a school district, and a bus to reach themKeyMalaya Marvel's plan: parks around the city with a bus for kids who don't have a ride, 3 to 6 o'clock, with a garden and art station and security at the gates. Also groups to pick up trash and to hand roses to people in nursing homes who have no family left.
- 13:15May 6, 2025A reuse festival at Matter Park, laid out in detailKeyAlice Leonard and Ruby's proposal: an art contest made from reused material, a produce potluck of homegrown food, a creativity stand where unwanted items find new owners instead of landfills, a donate-and-plant fundraiser, school bands to draw parents, and a bi-monthly exchange.
- 17:07May 6, 2025Where the assignment came fromAn author is visiting Marion Community Schools whose book asks what kids can do to make their community better. The contest grew out of that.
- 29:01May 6, 2025Four high schoolers, four aviation milestonesKeyThe airport board heard from second-year academy students, all seniors at Marion High School or Mississinewa: one preparing for his instrument test and newly holding a professional drone license, another who just earned his drone license, a third finishing solo flight time, and a fourth interning at Nearspace in Upland.
- 30:51May 6, 2025Splash park bids range from $790,000 to $1.2 millionRL Turner at 1.2 million, Precision Construction at $972,000, Hamilton Hunter Builders at $790,000, all taken under advisement.
- 55:58May 6, 2025Announcements: a groundbreaking, a national championship, and 200 mphBuck Family Sports Complex groundbreaking May 7; the NAIA track and field national championships at IWU May 21-23, drawing up to 20,000 people; and the Indy Airstrip Attack, now running twice a year after a world land speed record was set there.
Apr 15, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:39Apr 15, 2025Community spotlight: NAIA national runners-upKeyThe Indiana Wesleyan women's basketball team finished 34-3 and reached the national championship game.
- 5:41Apr 15, 2025"The first time we've all been back together since we were crying in the locker room"KeyThe coach on a season where talent was never the question: injuries, a teammate leaving mid-season, illnesses, and a player who couldn't feel her legs for half the year. "Every game there was a different obstacle and every game there was someone else that stepped up."
- 7:26Apr 15, 2025"In a world of transfer portal and NIL, culture has kind of fallen by the wayside"KeyWhat he says made the year: something that took years to build, "not just 10 really good players coming in for one year and then dipping."
- 8:26Apr 15, 2025"I've lived in Marion for 17 years""It's a great place to live, great place to raise my family, and I'm proud to be a community member here."
- 11:35Apr 15, 2025The new arena should be ready by next seasonAlready under construction. A councilman urges anyone who has never been to an IWU game to come out.
- 17:59Apr 15, 2025The dog park is finally together"We have a community that I think is very friendly to dogs."
- 18:32Apr 15, 2025Skate park design goes public April 23KeyHunger Skateparks has released a 2D design; a public input meeting is set for 6pm in the council chambers to nail down a design before pricing it.
- 33:25Apr 15, 2025Announcements: a groundbreaking, a design meeting, and a story walkSplash pad groundbreaking April 21 at noon; skate park input April 23 at 6pm; Earth Day and the story walk ribbon cutting April 24 at 4:30 by the pond at Matter Park.
Apr 1, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:11Apr 1, 2025Community spotlight: the city's only local disaster-restoration contractorKeyAaron Rhoads runs Total Restoration Contractors, a ServiceMaster franchise on West Second Street. Others serve the county from outside it; hers is based in Marion.
- 8:46Apr 1, 2025She bought the old Hart Shoes buildingKeyThe Second Street location becomes warehousing; the State Road 9 site becomes offices and the customer-facing front — more visibility out on the bypass.
- 9:27Apr 1, 2025"We don't ever want to be needed"With storms forecast that night: "but if we are needed, we're available 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
- 12:24Apr 1, 2025Employee spotlight: one year in the right-of-way jobBrian Mercer walked into a stacked workload in the department's busiest season and learned on the fly.
- 13:22Apr 1, 2025He made the 50/50 sidewalk program workKeyMercer connects residents with the program and tracks which council members have funds left to contribute, as well as running the equipment that collects street-condition data for asset management.
- 14:33Apr 1, 2025He's also become the fire department's chaplainKeyMercer is working with the department to be allowed on fire scenes to give comfort to firefighters and to family members who need support.
- 16:14Apr 1, 2025"We all know the difference between a boss and a leader"His own remarks turn into a tribute to the city engineer: bosses assign tasks and disappear; leaders empower, inspire and coach.
- 17:16Apr 1, 2025A Bonhoeffer quote, from the podiumKey"People's love for their idea of community will destroy community, but people's love for each other will create community." Paired with Colossians 3:23.
Mar 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 5:54Mar 18, 2025Sectional champions on the screen behind the councilThe Marion Giants boys basketball team is honored in the background graphic. On the regional loss: "You don't want me to comment on the officiating."
- 6:36Mar 18, 2025Community spotlight: two Marines who came home and opened businessesKeyMichael and Ronnie Contreras, both Marion High School graduates. Michael served four years in the Marine Corps; both now run small businesses out of the Boston Hill Center — Unstoppable Clothing and Nails by Ronnie.
- 9:28Mar 18, 2025"Unstoppable wasn't just a brand, it was a mindset"KeyMichael founded it in 2019 with his uncle. In 2021 he lost both his business partner and his uncle — "more like a brother to me" — and for a while didn't feel he had the strength to go on. "Being here today in this moment is proof that we are all unstoppable."
- 13:13Mar 18, 2025Employee spotlight: ten years, and a son at basic trainingWhitney Gilbert missed the last meeting because her son shipped out. She started in code enforcement and is now legal assistant to the city's corporate counsel and administrative assistant to the chief of staff.
- 16:18Mar 18, 2025The job touches nearly every body in the cityCode enforcement, Marion city court, the board of public works, the redevelopment commission, the planning department, the mayor's office. "She's my right hand in so many things."
- 17:24Mar 18, 2025"Admittedly with a bit of hesitation"KeyHer supervisor's nomination letter says the department would "jealously guard her from being pulled away," but that she deserves the recognition.
- 30:36Mar 18, 2025Two new buses, 85% federally fundedBecause every bus in the fleet is equipped for handicapped accessibility. They replace two older units.
- 31:46Mar 18, 2025"It just blew my mind"KeyFordice on the transit garage: every bus washed and every seat, roll bar and grab bar sanitised nightly, then a roughly 100-item safety checklist even for an oil change, with the tool crib locked and tires mounted and aired ready to go.
- 46:59Mar 18, 2025Citywide cleanups go district by districtStarting April 12 with District 1. Curbside pickup for that district, with a central drop-off at citywide maintenance for everyone else — ID required.
Mar 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 7:17Mar 4, 2025Six lots at 33rd and Nebraska go to the redevelopment commissionKeyThe board of works transferred them, with a food truck court and possibly an amphitheater in mind.
- 42:44Mar 4, 2025The deputy clerk's desk is held together with zip tiesKey"If I got any too bit close I probably would have torn my pants." The desks in the clerk's office date to about 1980.
Feb 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 1)
- 2:10Feb 18, 2025"That's a dangerous thing to tell a pastor"Handed the microphone with no time limit, Pastor Matt Trexler: "we could be here all night."
- 5:35Feb 18, 2025Community spotlight: new owners of an old storeKeyLinda and Mike bought Jake's Antiques on December 23, 2023, and are re-siding the whole building — about a year's work.
- 6:55Feb 18, 202530,000 square feet they also have to heat and coolA very old building, and a large investment for a small business paying for it out of pocket.
- 7:43Feb 18, 2025Between 72 and 75 vendors under one roofKeyEach booth is a separate seller paying commission — so the spotlight is effectively on 75 small businesses at once.
- 11:24Feb 18, 2025Employee spotlight: 19 years driving the busLisa McClung has driven fixed routes, ADA buses and vans. "Her heart is with ADA transportation."
- 13:00Feb 18, 2025What the ADA route actually isKey"A lot on ADA are people who just want their independence. They need to go to the grocery store, they need to go to the doctor — and it doesn't cost them anything."
- 13:38Feb 18, 2025"You're the only person they see that day"Key"They're a person just like everybody else, and they want somebody to talk to and they want somebody to care."
- 20:06Feb 18, 2025142 people answered the skate park surveyKey98 from active skaters and bikers, 44 from the non-riding community. Hunger Skateparks is compiling them into a preliminary design; the site is Hogan Park on Valley Avenue by 14th.
Feb 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 2)
- 0:25Feb 18, 2025The livestream dropped mid-meetingKey"We lost our stream, had some technical issues, so we are coming back live... when they watch this later I want them to know we lost a little bit of segment." Part two picks up during the arts commission public hearing.
- 5:22Feb 18, 2025"Downtown Marion was just vibrating every Friday and Saturday night"KeyBrunner, 54 years in the city, on what was lost and what he thinks is being attempted.
Feb 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:25Feb 4, 2025Employee spotlight: buildings and groundsDavid Slusher, three years in, has been the one figuring out where and how the facility upgrades get done. He was recognized previously for helping catch a suspect.
- 12:59Feb 4, 2025Pickleball takes two of the tennis courtsKey"They have a lineup to get on the pickleball courts we have out there."
- 13:45Feb 4, 2025The parks board hands over Ballard FieldKeyRoughly 19 acres, approved for development. The dog park takes a few of them and starts construction in June or July.
- 32:32Feb 4, 2025The horticulturist, second readingKeyGO 3-2025. Fordice confirms it's a working field position, and that taking over the downtown planters and hanging baskets eliminates a contracted cost.
- 35:36Feb 4, 2025Master Gardener turns out to be the wrong requirementKeyKlein had asked for the certification; he learned that hiring one may be easier said than done. The answer: a Master Gardener earns the status through volunteer hours, while this position wants the degree.
- 37:58Feb 4, 2025How the city lost its signature statusKeyThe position existed for about 14 years under Doug Dara. When he left, a previous administration didn't refill it and it became a regular worker's job. "That's kind of how we lost our signature status."
- 45:33Feb 4, 2025$50,000 for the Marion Arts CommissionKeyAdditional appropriation 1-2025 first reading: $35,000 toward hiring an executive director and $15,000 in grants direct to local artists. The city has to partner with a nonprofit to qualify for state arts money at all.
- 46:30Feb 4, 2025The third district in the trilogyKeyThe mayor puts the arts district alongside the riverfront district and the DORA, overlaying the same downtown footprint.
- 48:39Feb 4, 2025They have been running on about a thousand dollars a monthKeyFour years in business on a roughly $12,000 annual budget, granting local artists money for supplies. Their first gala at the Kennedy Art Center raised $25,000 — more than their annual budget in one night.
- 51:00Feb 4, 2025The Fountain Square argumentKeyMike Halstead on 26 years watching an Indianapolis neighborhood turn: artists go where it's affordable, galleries follow, then First Fridays, coffee shops, restaurants, apartments — and eventually the first section of the Cultural Trail and the first section of the Red Line.
- 54:43Feb 4, 2025"Without any adjectives, without any adverbs"KeyKlein wants real numbers. The answer is narrower than he expected: success is the establishment of the arts district itself, because without it the city can't apply for the state and federal money at all.
- 1:09:45Feb 4, 2025Bring in the school and university art departmentsBrunner's suggestion: Marion High School, Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor.
Jan 21, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:36Jan 21, 2025Back-to-back national championsKeyThe Indiana Wesleyan women's volleyball team won the NAIA national championship in 2023 and again in 2024, along with the Crossroads League tournament.
- 5:29Jan 21, 2025The list of individual honors, read one by oneCrossroads League coach of the year Candace Moes; AVCA All-American first team and NAIA setter of the year Abigail Porter; AVCA All-American first team and NAIA player of the year Ava Jersa; honorable mentions Martina Demari and Marissa Mullins; assistant coach of the year Dan Berggren; and four CSC Academic All-District selections.
- 7:52Jan 21, 2025Only two seniors leaving"We can make it a three repeat, right?"
- 14:18Jan 21, 2025What's next: 13 grandchildren"I'll be babysitting." For free, the council notes.
- 24:09Jan 21, 2025How to get a drip adjustment on your water billKeyEmail customerservice@marionutilities.com with your name, address or account number. They review the cold-month bill against your average usage and take the difference off — but you have to call or write. "They won't just show up."
- 25:56Jan 21, 2025A first school board liaison reportMarshall attended his first meeting: officers installed, a new member seated, and the board reporting itself in good financial shape. "We've got the doors open."
- 34:04Jan 21, 2025Bringing back the horticulturistKeyGO 3-2025 first reading. "We were in magazines, we were well known throughout the United States. We got away from that." The position would restore the gardens to signature series status and add programs teaching younger and older residents which plants are native to Indiana.
- 37:17Jan 21, 2025The welcome signs, and the "dead space" in the outer parksKeyThe plan extends past Matter Park: flowers at the city entrances on 37, 18, 9 and 15, and beautification in neighborhood parks that have been neglected while everything concentrated on the gardens.
- 37:31Jan 21, 2025What a horticulturist does in winterRedesigns every bed, decides what goes where and what goes together, and orders the flowers.
- 40:24Jan 21, 2025The skate park survey goes outAimed at skateboarders and BMX riders, to shape a design before anyone knows the cost. A QR code goes up on the YouTube stream.
- 41:22Jan 21, 2025A birthday, in the coldCouncilman Kaine came out on his birthday. "47. I knew I was off a little bit."
- 43:01Jan 21, 2025All five starters of the 1975 Marion Giants, back after 50 yearsKeyThree of them live out of state. Brunner: from 1926 to 1975 Marion did not win a state championship. The 1985 team is honored at the next home game.
Jan 7, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 13:14Jan 7, 2025Community spotlight: the man who ran into the burning houseKeyAt 11:15 p.m. on September 6, 2024, Kyle Whitman heard screaming and went into his neighbor's burning home on the 3100 block of South Race Street — then moved his car so the headlights lit the house. He got his neighbor and several pets out.
- 16:59Jan 7, 2025A GoFundMe at $250 of a $5,000 goalKeyHe couldn't work for weeks and is only easing back. The council president uses the meeting to put the link and a QR code on screen: "good deeds don't go unnoticed."
- 25:29Jan 7, 2025A new airport board president, and two drone simulatorsRay Dosh, a retired corporate pilot, takes over; Mark Johnson is vice president. The high school aviation classroom is getting the simulators.
Jan 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee
- 7:35Jan 2, 2025A million dollars of county ARPA moneyKeyHalf to remodel animal care and control, half to downtown repairs and beautification. The animal control ask is pulled from the city's list because of it.
- 10:40Jan 2, 2025"We are using my personal sound system"KeyThe community development director has been running city events off equipment she paid $1,000 for. The $2,000 line was a threshold she guessed at, and the council pushes back that it isn't enough for a quality system.
- 15:42Jan 2, 2025The stage they've been using is falling apartKeyFor the state of the city address the city was going to be charged $2,500 to rent a portable stage until the mayor talked them down. The walkway of lights stage was flagged as unsafe years ago.
- 1:27:46Jan 2, 2025The transportation department has no bathroomKeyStaff walk across the parking lot to another building. The mayor flags it as the one item he wants done quickly. About $34,600 including running the sewer and water, with the street department doing the trenching.
- 1:42:07Jan 2, 2025Ten pickleball courts out of five tennis courtsKeyThe mayor spent a month watching: people squeegee the courts off after rain and play again. The tennis courts weren't used at anything like that rate, so three convert and the cracks get fixed.
- 1:43:57Jan 2, 2025A maintenance building that's become a home for raccoonsKeyHoles in the walls, a leaking roof, no longer usable for equipment. Asked how it got that way: "previous administrations didn't care, I'll just be honest." The replacement would be bigger, letting the city retire three semi-trailers of Christmas lights parked outside.
Dec 17, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 18:37Dec 17, 2024The last council meeting of 2024President McKinley gavels in at 7 p.m. in the Marion City Hall council chambers. Reverend Tanya Smith was scheduled to give the prayer and did not make it, so he gives it himself.
- 20:34Dec 17, 2024Community spotlight: the Kennedy Art Center, the arts commission and Marion Design CoWendy Puffer is recognized for three linked organizations at once. The council reads the citation: she has organized events, exhibitions and performances and helped revitalize downtown.
- 24:03Dec 17, 2024"We actually launched in 2016 as a DBA under the university"Marion Design Co began at Indiana Wesleyan with interns as most of its workforce, under a faculty member. During covid it left the university structure.
- 24:35Dec 17, 2024Why they chose to be a business and not a nonprofitKeyThe advice they were given: "If you're running a nonprofit you will be raising money to give money away, but you guys have something that you can sell." The argument was that selling would let them give more away.
- 24:59Dec 17, 2024Three years as a for-profit: the studio up 300-fold, the store up 2,000-foldKeyPuffer's figures for growth since opening as a for-profit, and the result she points to — the organization gave three times more to community nonprofits this year.
- 26:20Dec 17, 2024Chris Kennedy is the building's main investorThe Kennedy Art Center exists because of a significant private investment; Marion Design Co leases the space. It doubles as a public gallery, which is why people wander in.
- 26:45Dec 17, 2024The arts commission gives grants directly to artistsIts original purpose was to champion the arts locally — grants to help artists' businesses, and making art visible enough to change what people assume about the city.
- 26:54Dec 17, 2024"People just don't buy art in Marion" — and the gala that tested itKeyThe thing they were told when they opened the art space. At a recent fundraising gala for the arts commission, two-thirds of the art up for auction sold.
- 27:23Dec 17, 2024A woman from Marion, at a conference, with the old story about itKeyPuffer describes meeting someone who grew up here and had "that negative tone that oftentimes we get so comfortable with" — and left the conversation telling a different story about her hometown.
- 30:04Dec 17, 2024City employee spotlight: the chief code enforcement officerThe council recognizes Jason Kesi — the captions garble the surname — going on five years with the city. The citation credits his proactive approach and problem solving.
- 31:02Dec 17, 2024"I've not ever heard anyone say I just really love having a code enforcement officer come to my door"The council president's acknowledgement of what the job is, and that blight is only part of what the office handles.
- 31:50Dec 17, 2024"I've lived here since basically 1986... I'm very pleased of where we're heading"KeyKesi's unprepared remarks: he has watched where the city was going and where it is going now. "We're getting rid of a lot of blight, a lot of houses. We deal with a lot of trash and vehicles." He credits his crews — "they're the ones that make me look good."
- 42:11Dec 17, 2024$20,000 for a skate park design — where the whole project startsKeyThe redevelopment commission approves the design phase for a concrete skate park at Hogan Park, to replace the pre-fabricated one skaters and bikers have been maintaining themselves. The design is what will produce a cost and a fundraising target.
- 51:51Dec 17, 2024One library board seat, two candidates, three minutes eachThe council's single appointment to the Marion Public Library board, a four-year term. It was posted online and in the newspaper; Connor Owens and Jeremy Huff both applied and answered the same written questions.
- 53:56Dec 17, 2024"The average American goes to the library four times a year. And opens their phone 144 times a day."KeyOwens' pitch is not a defense of the library as it is. He says the library now has competition it never had, and asks how it reinvents itself — pointing to hard-to-search digital lending apps and a children's and teens area he'd fundraise to revamp.
Dec 3, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 0:00Dec 3, 2024Employee spotlight: a citywide maintenance worker, in his supervisor's wordsThe council reads what Randy wrote about Jeremiah, a city employee since February 22, 2022: shows up with a positive attitude, will learn any piece of equipment, patient training new people, and "works every drop of overtime thrown his way without a single complaint."
- 0:33Dec 3, 2024Why they went looking outside City Hall for someone to spotlightThe council president says he asked department heads for someone "not inside the box here" — not in City Hall — because so many employees never get seen.
- 8:07Dec 3, 2024Three weeks to Christmas Eve, and the Matter Park display is upThe park board report, in full: go see the lights before the holiday.
- 21:58Dec 3, 2024What the company says it is building towardCFO Kurt Taylor describes a meeting that morning between Ivy Tech Marion, a Kentucky community college and the company about cross-training workers — OSHA, CPR, PPE, fire response, then smart manufacturing, PLC and forklift training.
- 30:56Dec 3, 2024The vice president toured the plant and came back convincedCalgill, with two other members, visited the Noblesville facility that day. "I'm 10 times more excited for not only you guys but for Marion than I was before... you can beat China."
- 32:26Dec 3, 2024Before and after: 130 loads of debris out of the buildingThe council president shows photographs of the space cleared out, and explains why the site looked idle from the road — the roof was largely replaced and the building emptied before anything could move in.
- 37:27Dec 3, 202450 to 80 jobs in phase one, with benefitsKeyThe president's figures from his visit, offered with the caveat that he could be misquoting: 50 to 80 employees in the first phase, with 401(k)s and health insurance, averaging roughly $30,000 to $70,000.
- 52:27Dec 3, 2024Hot off the press: the county gives the city $1 millionKeyThe mayor reads an email received that day — county commissioners and county council committed $500,000 to remodel animal care and control and $500,000 to downtown remodels.
- 1:12:31Dec 3, 2024The downtown fire station: ground in spring, occupied by mid-2026KeyAsked for the latest, the chief says doors, locks and interior finishes were being finalized that day, with a hope to break ground in March or April and occupy by July or August 2026 — possibly fall.
- 1:15:45Dec 3, 2024River Rock's timeline: construction in spring, finished summer 2026The mayor's answer to Councilman Brunner — about a year and a half, starting February to April.
- 1:17:54Dec 3, 2024Los Amores gets a riverfront permit — and it can never be soldKeyResolution 15-2024, the same path Obie's took. The mayor's office approved it, the council approves it, then the packet goes to the state. The president adds the catch for the public: the license is tied to the riverfront district. Move out of it and the license is gone.
Nov 19, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 1)
- 10:35Nov 19, 2024Community spotlight: a counseling center that went from three therapists to tenKeyMegan Straw opened one of Marion's newest counseling centers in the old Arnold Chiropractic building. She has hired her tenth therapist, has two more offers going out that week, three interns starting in January and a psychiatric nurse practitioner she will precept.
- 13:15Nov 19, 202475 students in two months, through one school contractKeyShe contrasts it with building a private caseload: reaching 75 clients in two months is hard the ordinary way, but the school contract also lets them serve the students' families.
- 17:59Nov 19, 2024Employee spotlight: eighteen years, and she asked not to be on the agendaKeyLinda began in the mayor's office in 2006 and has spent the last fifteen years in the controller's office. Told she was being recognized, she said she'd rather not — "I like to just be behind the scenes." The president: "It's too late, you're on the agenda."
- 20:06Nov 19, 2024"I don't take this opportunity for granted"She thanks the mayor who hired her in 2006 and the controller who nurtured her, and says she serves the citizens and every current and former employee.
- 21:15Nov 19, 2024"Whenever there's a question that nobody knows, everybody says go to Linda"And the other reason she is popular: she runs payroll.
- 23:38Nov 19, 2024A moment of silence for a utility board memberThe board welcomed Chad Guy as its new assistant director and marked the death of Mr. Dorsey, one of its members.
- 25:45Nov 19, 2024The utility will finish a high school's houseKeyA class builds a house from the ground up, and the water hookup turned out to be cost-prohibitive. The utility is asking its distribution crews to volunteer to do the hookups so the house can be finished and sold, alongside an internship partnership with the Grant County Learning Center.
- 28:18Nov 19, 2024Regional airport status is worth about $100,000 a yearKeyCouncilman Klein's board of aviation report: the paperwork to maintain the airport's regional rating rather than being rated local is worth roughly $100,000 annually in funding. Taxiway B design runs ahead of schedule but crosses wetlands, so the Army Corps is now involved.
- 29:11Nov 19, 2024"And if you haven't been out to the ice cream shop out there, they have good ice cream"The end of the airport report, in full.
Nov 19, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 2)
- 1:23Nov 19, 2024The livestream failed, so the president streamed the meeting from his phoneKey"We always have backup with an iPhone, right?" The city had just moved to a new camera system.
- 17:44Nov 19, 2024"We acquired the RCA Thompson Building"KeyCEO Mark Jensen: roof repaired, lighting, power, natural gas and water in, equipment already being procured. The company refines rare earth and battery materials — "China dominates the refining space" — using technology developed with Purdue.
- 28:11Nov 19, 202480 jobs in phase oneKey"Businesses build out in stages... I don't know any company in the world that was created overnight and just went from zero to a million."
- 29:58Nov 19, 2024How many people are working there right nowKeyPressed: six Marion residents training at Noblesville, about four internal employees in Marion, and 20 to 40 local contractors on the renovation — roof, power, electrical.
- 37:25Nov 19, 20246,000 people once worked at RCA. He won't promise that.KeyAsked for a number: "I don't want to misrepresent anybody, I don't think we can get to that number." Pressed again, he gives one — 300 people is achievable — plus one to three indirect jobs for every direct one.
- 39:49Nov 19, 2024The partnership with RecycleForceThey just installed eddy-current separation to pull magnets out of products cheaply. "They employ individuals that have had trouble and they help them get back into the workforce."
- 1:03:29Nov 19, 2024Nobody has applied for the library board or the council attorneyAs of the day before, no applications for either, with a November 22 deadline. The seat is filled the following month after two candidates come forward.
- 1:07:25Nov 19, 2024The Highland Avenue bridge will carry Jim Brunner's nameKeyA surprise at the end of the meeting: the county commissioners' resolution, read aloud, naming bridge 719 over the Mississinewa for the sitting councilman — 53 years at the local radio station, voice of the Marion Giants for seven state championship basketball games, four halls of fame.
- 1:08:08Nov 19, 2024"I waited all these years for Bill Fisher to have his name on the bridge and I didn't have one"The commissioner's aside on finishing the reading.
- 1:09:04Nov 19, 2024"I really appreciate this... you know how much I enjoy this working with all you guys"KeyBrunner accepts with his family in the room, and the president — still broadcasting from a phone — turns the camera so viewers at home can see them.
Nov 6, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 5:05Nov 6, 2024$400,000 out the door in one grant cycle — the "212" grantsKeyThe Community Foundation's Dawn Brown explains the name: at 211 degrees water is hot, at 212 it boils, and that one degree can power a steam engine. The cycle was funded with city ARPA money and was a total surprise to the applicants.
- 6:34Nov 6, 2024The foundation took nothing for running itKey"Sometimes the foundation has the money and the nonprofits have the resources — in this case the city had ARPA money and we had the resources to help you." Three foundation members and four mayoral appointees volunteered on the committee.
- 7:30Nov 6, 2024The fifteen recipients, read by the two councilmen who picked themBoys and Girls Club, Cancer Services, Cardinal Greenway, Carey Services, First Light Child Advocacy Center, Grant County Rescue Mission, Grant Regional Adult Education, Historic Marion, Job Source, Meals on Wheels, Radiant Health, St. Martin de Porres Center, the Quilters Hall of Fame, the Salvation Army and the Wilson Vaughn Hostess House.
- 11:54Nov 6, 2024"This city would not be the city that it is without our nonprofits"Councilman Kane's summary after the check photo.
- 12:32Nov 6, 2024Employee spotlight: the sergeant who went into the riverKeyChief Gilbert's nomination of Sergeant Greg Melton, who joined in 2005 and graduated the academy with a 94% average. In 2016 he and his partners entered the Mississinewa River to rescue a drowning child who was submerged and unresponsive. The child survived; Melton received the MPD Award of Valor.
- 18:14Nov 6, 2024New cameras, and a warning: if your mic is off, nobody at home hears youThe council has moved to a camera system tied directly to the microphones.
- 27:05Nov 6, 2024A $24 million Lilly endowment, and the arena is part of itKeyThe grant is a community partnership grant, so partnership was a design requirement from the start — Marion Community Schools, Grant County Special Olympics, the YMCA and Kings Academy all wrote letters of support.
- 28:25Nov 6, 2024IWU puts $48.1 million a year into Grant CountyKeyA Kelley School of Business economic impact study's figure for direct spending. Over 10,000 high school and middle school students come to Marion for summer athletic events alone.
- 30:06Nov 6, 2024"I wore purple to support my daughter"DeMichaels, a 28-year Marion resident and then IWU's athletic director, on why the partnership is personal — two daughters who played for the Marion Giants, whose colors mirror a rival institution's.
Oct 15, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:10Oct 15, 2024The TV doesn't work, so the spotlights are done from memory"I had a wonderful picture for community and city employee spotlight." Tonight's two are a married couple — Mark Fauser and Julie Fauser.
- 3:28Oct 15, 2024From Quantum Leap and Evening Shade to MarionKeyMark Fauser got his Equity card in 1987 in a production of Annie directed by Charles Nelson Reilly, wrote for Burt Reynolds on Evening Shade, and moved to Marion — his wife Julie's hometown — after the Northridge earthquake and the loss of both series.
- 5:13Oct 15, 2024He sold his first movie the night before he left Los AngelesThe Right to Remain Silent, to Showtime, co-written with college roommate Brent Briscoe. Later, from Marion, they sold Waking Up in Reno to Miramax and wrote Hillbilly Heist, later renamed Masterminds.
- 6:26Oct 15, 2024The arts school he built from a church basementKeyMarion is the birthplace of James Dean and of Garfield's creator Jim Davis, and Fauser believed young creators needed somewhere local. After twelve years as executive director, the Community School of the Arts had two 18,000-square-foot buildings, debt-free, plus endowments for scholarships.
- 7:31Oct 15, 2024Burt Reynolds came to town and saw itKey"A big thrill for Mark was when Burt Reynolds came to town and saw that the investment he made in Mark as a young artist was being passed on to others." Fauser later received the Indiana Governor's Arts Award in 2011.
- 8:01Oct 15, 2024He also worked for the city — as marketing directorKeyThen Marion Community Schools as creative development director, where the team rebranded, enrollment rose, and endowments were built for academics, athletics, the black history club and JROTC.
- 11:39Oct 15, 2024And the city employee: 13 years at Matter ParkKeyJulie Fauser runs the gardens, the shelters and the rentals, heads the Fourth of July concert, works weekends locking up after weddings, and helped raise money to restore the pond.
- 13:05Oct 15, 2024She wrote the grant for the pickleball courtsKey"One big thing that I don't think she got any recognition for, which she doesn't look for." She also got IWU to donate the lights.
- 23:50Oct 15, 2024The $400,000 grant results are ready — and held back a meetingKeyCouncilman Klein starts to read the recipients and is stopped: the Community Foundation has asked to announce the awards at the next council meeting, and the winners may not have been notified. "I didn't want to spoil the surprise."
- 25:48Oct 15, 2024READY 2.0 money is moving — but 1.0 money elsewhere wasn't spentKeyThe growth council report: several local READY 2.0 grants are approved and will be announced. The worry is statewide — other communities spent roughly 9% of their READY 1.0 allocations, and there is talk that could hold up 2.0 distribution. "Our area has done a fantastic job with the ready money."
- 29:55Oct 15, 2024Ready to rent in March 2026KeyAsked for a completion date, the attorney gives a 12- to 14-month build.
- 33:04Oct 15, 2024Election Day moves the meetingThe first Tuesday of November is Election Day, so the council shifts to Wednesday, November 6.
- 34:54Oct 15, 2024A new green space at 21st and Brownlee, to reduce domestic violenceKeyLinda Wilk of Hands of Hope explains the theory behind a five-year CDC-funded initiative: create places where people gather and isolation drops, social connectedness rises. The neighborhood was surveyed about what it wanted. 589 people gain walkable access to green space.
- 36:20Oct 15, 2024The Gerald Dixon weekendKeyCouncilman Marshall's announcement: a presentation at the high school, a speaker from New Jersey who helped get the cases examined by the government, and a reinterment at the VA with as many as 60 students involved. Families are coming from four states, some meeting for the first time.
- 38:23Oct 15, 2024The cameras are in — streaming from the iPad ends next meetingNew camera under the clock, system in the back room, final software touches that morning.
Oct 1, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:16Oct 1, 2024The sheriff's first girls camp: 100 applications, 20 spotsKeyVanna Lindball, 12 years at the sheriff's department, was asked to help and thought it was a crazy idea at first. They opened applications on Facebook and had over a hundred applicants in the first day for twenty places, ages 10 to 14.
- 4:32Oct 1, 2024Firearm safety, CPR certification, and how to change a tireKeyFour days of it. "They can all jump start a car — not that a 10-year-old necessarily needs to do that, but they know how."
- 5:04Oct 1, 2024What changed by the end of the weekKey"You tend to see a lot with younger girls — they tend to gang up with one another and maybe bully each other. We never had any of that." At the closing obstacle course the girls stood on the sides cheering instead of racing.
- 6:10Oct 1, 2024The sheriff was skeptical it should be girls onlyHaving come from the Marion police department's youth academy, he questioned whether it was unfair. "In the end it turned out great."
- 8:31Oct 1, 2024Employee spotlight: the first deputy clerkKeyAisha Richard, recommended by the city clerk, who worked with her in the legal department before asking her to be first deputy. The council president: she "puts up with all my midnight emails," and the clerk's office is what makes a part-time council function.
- 19:01Oct 1, 2024Downtown fire station: still in designKeyAsked for the latest, the mayor says documents are being finalized for the design phase — "give us the next three months or so" — with something visual hoped for before year end.
- 43:52Oct 1, 2024A 1,700-seat arena, and 2,000 with the upper areaStevenson's description, with a pamphlet of drawings handed to each member. The existing arena also seats 1,700 but is "a little more cramped."
- 1:08:33Oct 1, 2024Executive session minutes read into the record from the floorKeyNot on the agenda, so the president adds it under the council's own rules and reads the September 17 executive session certification aloud — a commercial real estate prospect, who attended, and that nothing else was discussed. "Just for transparency for the public."
- 1:11:53Oct 1, 2024After eight months, the streaming system arrives next week"Hopefully this is the last week I have to stream through the iPad."
Sep 17, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:27Sep 17, 2024Community spotlight: 42 years of dry cleaning on Washington StreetKeyJohn Habibi runs Marion 1 Hour Pro Dry Cleaners at 522 South Washington and does the work himself, in house. He once had three locations in Grant County. He is one of the last left in Marion who doesn't ship the work out of the county.
- 4:38Sep 17, 2024There is no air conditioning, because the machines are hot"It's 95 degrees, he's in there." He could retire, and says he has a passion for it.
- 4:54Sep 17, 2024"You had better love what you do"KeyHabibi's summary of 42 years in business: ups and downs, political and otherwise. "If you don't, it makes it very difficult to get up in the morning and say yep, I'm going in."
- 6:49Sep 17, 2024Employee spotlight: the animal shelter managerKeyBrittney has been at animal control since 2010 and manager since 2015. The council president recalls her coming to advocate for new kennels and getting close to tears. "I love my job. I plan to be there another 15 years if I can — it's not really a job to me."
- 9:42Sep 17, 202423 foster dogs in her own houseAsked whether the job ends at the door: it doesn't.
- 14:13Sep 17, 2024Airport: fuel tank design under way, bids this yearKeyRunway 22 repainted, taxiway B design in progress, and a grant received for improved approach lighting. The fuel tanks — the project that returns through 2025 as a shortfall — are due to go to bid before year end with construction in spring.
- 15:01Sep 17, 202426 applications for $400,000 — asking for $800,000KeyCouncilman Klein's grant review committee report. Decisions come at the October 2 meeting.
- 50:20Sep 17, 2024"This has been an eight-month heartbreaking project"KeyTrustee Kane asks for the microphone afterward: "now when I get phone calls I don't have to respond I don't know what we can do." She describes an 80-year-old pulling a mower out of a van to mow a relative's plot. "We have the privilege of taking care of it for you."
- 51:45Sep 17, 2024$35,000 to match a playground grant at Matter ParkKeyThe two-to-five-year-old playground below shelter 2 is over 30 years old and will not pass inspection.
- 1:25:58Sep 17, 2024Private Gerald Dixon comes homeKeyOne of 110 wrongfully convicted soldiers of the 24th Infantry Buffalo Soldiers, sentenced to life at Leavenworth over the 1917 Camp Logan riot, is to be reinterred beside his wife Frances at Marion National Cemetery with full military honors on October 28.
- 1:28:42Sep 17, 2024It is Constitution DayKeyCouncilman Kane, unprompted at the end: September 17 is the day, and the week to the 23rd is Constitution Week — "the Constitution that provides us with the opportunity to agree to disagree and carry on."
Sep 3, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 3:43Sep 3, 2024Community spotlight: the Hive Mind MarketKeyRebecca Zurl founded it in 2022 to give small businesses a consistent, clean place to grow. From May to October 2023 it hosted 72 events with over 1,500 pop-up shops, with makers coming from as far as West Virginia.
- 6:01Sep 3, 2024The hardest season yet, and whyKeyA license contract with Kohl's imposed at the start of the season took away the food trucks, local musicians and nonprofits — "the places that connect with the community." It stemmed from a situation at their store the previous winter.
- 6:34Sep 3, 2024A winter home downtown, and land of their ownKeyThe Hive reopens November 1 at Boston Hill Center with room for about 50 makers, and Zurl has purchased land in west Marion — the Orchard at Hive Mind Market on Miller Avenue — as a permanent home in 2025.
- 10:01Sep 3, 2024The department's highest civilian awardKeyChief Gilbert presents the Friend of the Department coin to David W. Slusher, who on August 24 helped officers apprehend a man they could not catch near Chapel Pike and Denver Drive — a man who, the chief says, was having an episode and needed help.
- 35:43Sep 3, 2024A new rule: plain-language executive summaries on the agendaKeyFrom this meeting on, every ordinance and appropriation carries a plain-language summary alongside the legal text "just for the general public to be able to understand more what is being discussed."
- 1:09:44Sep 3, 2024$35,000 to unlock $150,000 of playgroundKeyThe math, laid out: with the parks department's $40,000 alone the grant matches $72,000. With another $35,000 the match reaches the cap — $150,000 of equipment instead of $72,000. The current structure is over 30 years old and no repair parts exist.
Aug 26, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee
- 19:43Aug 26, 2024A slide was set on fire — $8,000, and the deductible is $5,000KeyThe parks director on what actually eats the budget: replacement parts for playground equipment after vandalism, thousands of dollars a year that is not budgeted anywhere. "We squeeze it out where we can."
- 24:47Aug 26, 2024Its chlorine system is failing and parts are hard to findKey"A couple hundred thousand dollars to do that. Eventually it's either going to have to be done, or the park's going to be closed."
- 28:33Aug 26, 2024The splash house has never once been in the positiveKeyAsked directly how far under it runs, the parks director: about $75,000 in the negative by season's end, and it has never had a positive year. Rentals elsewhere are what keep parks out of the red.
- 29:26Aug 26, 2024Shorter season, closed Mondays, shorter hoursKeyCouncilman Brunner works out why attendance keeps falling: school starts in early August now, so weekday operation ends earlier — and at some point a previous administration closed it Mondays and cut the hours. "We used to be open seven days a week."
- 32:11Aug 26, 2024Transit: 68% of operating cost comes back as subsidyKeyA $1.7 million budget against $1.4 million spent last year, with two new buses reimbursed at 85% because they carry handicap lifts. Personnel is 77% of the cost.
- 33:48Aug 26, 2024The grant controls the routes, the hours, everythingKeyWhy the city cannot simply add a service: even offering rides to council meetings required permission. "We're not at liberty just to change and add and move things."
- 1:05:39Aug 26, 2024"If I get hit by a bus, there's a password"KeyOn digitizing the legal department: they inherited boxes and "hey, where's that at," and every contract is now searchable and ports to the next administration.
Aug 20, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 4:02Aug 20, 2024Neighborhood spotlight: a news channel started with an iPhoneKeyRashard Tyson began WMTV Channel 27 News and Entertainment almost a decade ago with a phone and a Facebook account. The page now has over 49,000 followers — a resource in a county the Fort Wayne and Indianapolis stations rarely look at. He has since written and directed two feature films.
- 7:51Aug 20, 2024Two firefighters went into the Mississinewa at 3:45 in the morningKeyCaptain Tino Mitchner and Private Blake Thompson were dispatched to a woman and her dog swept into the river near the Branson Street bridge, clinging to debris. Mitchner carried the woman back to shore; Thompson brought the dog — and was bitten in the face and neck doing it. He refused treatment at the scene.
- 11:02Aug 20, 2024The chief reads the other eleven names"We don't work alone, we always work as a team." He lists the fire marshal, engineer, captains and privates who were also on the call — and notes Thompson is the grandson of a retired firefighter and former councilman.
- 16:45Aug 20, 2024Ballard Field is transferred to the redevelopment commissionKeyA board of works item, two years before the $20 million parks bond that builds the soccer complex there.
- 23:52Aug 20, 2024And every agenda item gets a plain-English summaryKey"I've gotten a lot of questions of like, I don't know what you guys are even doing." Also renames the first responder spotlight to a city employee spotlight so anyone on the payroll can be recognized.
Aug 6, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:18Aug 6, 2024Spotlight: the library's new directorThe council introduces the Marion Public Library's new director — the same person who, two meetings earlier, had to tell them the $300,000 roof proposal wasn't hers and she had no current bid.
- 10:10Aug 6, 2024No first responder spotlight tonight — they're all at National Night OutThe one night of the year the police can't come to a council meeting.
- 17:22Aug 6, 2024"Blighted for a countless amount of years"The site as it is now, at South Adams where it tees into the river.
- 36:50Aug 6, 2024Now the cemetery — $300,000, second readingKeyAdditional appropriation 31-2024. The hearing that follows runs more than an hour and a half.
- 42:41Aug 6, 2024The corporation that owns the cemetery was administratively dissolvedKeyThe trustee's update to the council: the entity that has held the cemetery no longer legally exists. That is the whole problem in one sentence — there is nobody to sue, nobody to bill, and nobody to make mow it.
- 51:57Aug 6, 2024"There's what, 35, 36,000 headstones out there"KeyA councilman doing the arithmetic of who this touches. "That's a lot of families."
- 1:15:11Aug 6, 2024"IOOF Cemetery does not exist"KeyCraig Persinger, who helped form the owning corporation 25 years ago, tells the council the name on the ordinance is wrong. Estates of Serenity is a trade name. The cemetery is owned by Marion Cemetery Corporation — which was administratively dissolved two years ago.
- 1:17:20Aug 6, 2024"There has been no money to run that cemetery for 30 years"KeyPersinger on the perpetual care fund: it exists, and it has never been enough.
- 1:26:39Aug 6, 2024"It has been a family cemetery for over 90 years for us"KeyRobert Mathews, from Converse: 25 family members and four close friends buried there, six unused plots, and roads that have gone.
- 1:27:54Aug 6, 2024Two cannons from the war memorial were soldKeyPart of what has gone missing from the grounds.
- 1:29:50Aug 6, 2024"My job as a young boy was carrying the water and cleaning headstones"KeyJames Plumber Jr., 55 in October, on what the cemetery was when he worked there — one of the nicest in Grant County. "There is no respect at all. That's all we can give our people that we've lost."
- 1:32:37Aug 6, 2024"I ask that you hear the voices of the 35,992 individuals buried"KeyA resident named Britney reads the dead into the record: General Shunk, who fought in eleven Civil War battles. Adeline, speech and drama teacher of James Dean. Colonel John McCulloch. Jaywood Wilson, whose wedding gift to his wife is now the Hostess House. Martin Boots, chief pioneer of Grant County.
- 1:34:03Aug 6, 2024"Padlocked in a mausoleum because it's caving in"KeyWhy families cannot grieve there. "It's not called rest in chaos. It's not called rest in pieces. It's called rest in peace."
- 1:34:33Aug 6, 2024For some of these people the tombstone is the only proof they existedKeyMany were buried before death certificates, or never made the census.
- 1:34:40Aug 6, 2024"I don't have a zero turn mower. I don't have a chainsaw. I don't have a million dollars."Key"But the resources I do have are passion and love for my community."
- 3:11:37Aug 6, 2024The council rewrites its own order of businessGeneral ordinance 11-2024 — the rules committee's product, including renaming the neighborhood spotlight and turning the first responder spotlight into a city employee spotlight.
Jul 16, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 1:50Jul 16, 2024Seventy years of Carey Services, marked to the dayThe neighborhood spotlight: a group of parents got together slightly more than 70 years ago wanting more for people with disabilities. The anniversary fell that past Saturday.
- 2:17Jul 16, 2024"Turn abilities into opportunities"A $12.5 million organization serving prenatal through end of life, 500 people a day, 230-plus employees — and a restaurant that opened that morning.
- 18:46Jul 16, 2024The mayor's daughter reached for a drug syringe on Boots StreetKeyCleaning up the city with volunteers, three years old, gloves on. "I couldn't formulate how to explain to my three-year-old what this drug syringe was." They found five in a four-block radius in two hours.
- 19:32Jul 16, 2024"We have to look in the mirror and say we failed our children"KeyThe mayor's frame for the whole request: it is not safe to walk the streets, ride a bike, or go outside and be a kid.
- 22:13Jul 16, 2024Wonderspace asks the council for $90,000KeyAppropriation 17-2024, second reading. The founder describes what the mayor asked her: what would you need to scale this to the size of the city.
- 23:45Jul 16, 2024"Play deprivation"KeyThe director, a licensed mental health counselor, defines the term — and then reaches for the Texas Tower shooter as her illustration of what its absence produces.
- 26:41Jul 16, 2024"We seem to be a community stuck in years of downstream thinking"KeyReacting to problems that accumulated over decades, treading water at best.
- 34:13Jul 16, 2024"We can't buy ourselves out of a childhood wellness problem"KeyThe line she says they opened with the first time.
- 39:23Jul 16, 2024"A drop in the bucket compared to our city parks"KeyHis argument for spending the $90,000 on parks instead — open every day, to every kid, without looking up a schedule.
- 54:41Jul 16, 2024"I've never been outside of Marion before"KeyA mother recounts driving kids from the Center for Success to the Children's Museum, and what one third grader said on the way home.
- 57:18Jul 16, 2024The McDonald's play place is torn down, and the mall one is goneKeyA mom of three on what winter in Marion actually offers a toddler. "There's literally nothing to do."
- 58:51Jul 16, 2024"Not everyone is putting their finances to clothing their children to be outside"KeyThe answer to "just use the parks."
May 8, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 2:39May 8, 2024Neighborhood spotlight goes to two professional fightersInstead of the usual business, the council brings up Lorenzo Trevino and Isaiah Watkins — both Marion High School graduates, both coming off wins on the same card in Fort Wayne, both by referee stoppage.
- 5:45May 8, 2024"A lot of dedication, a lot of lonely nights"The drive to practice is an hour and a half each way. "The sport is definitely not for the weak."
- 7:41May 8, 2024"Wait — I get paid now"The moment an amateur becomes a professional, described from the parking lot after the fight. His wife had not forgotten.
- 14:16May 8, 2024Five city-owned riverfront properties head to the Redevelopment CommissionThe board of works moved them so redevelopment can begin in the downtown district.
- 1:08:04May 8, 2024The meeting you are watching is being streamed from an iPadKeyThe council president's update: two fixed cameras are paid for and waiting on the contractor's calendar, so viewers at home will eventually see the presentations too.
Apr 16, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting
- 6:29Apr 16, 2024A recovery house for seven women opens on Nelson StreetKeyRiley Tangerman introduces Lotus House — a sober living residence she founded after working downtown and realizing that the people inside the buildings were still sick. "Our community needs healing."
- 9:15Apr 16, 2024"I will be sober for two years next month"KeyDanielle Dodd, the house's certified peer recovery specialist, tells the council her own history — in recovery since 2012, with relapses, and through two recovery homes herself. "I found out who I was, how to love myself again, how to be a mother."
- 14:00Apr 16, 2024The ask isn't money — it's Aldi gift cardsKeyWomen arrive from treatment or from jail with nothing. Groceries, clothing, basic hygiene, until the first paycheck.
- 15:55Apr 16, 2024The chief's letter about the detective he hired in 2004KeyRetiring detective Jay Mitchner is spotlighted with Chief Gilbert's own words: he was a stellar athlete, an Air Force veteran, and "thank goodness I didn't screw that decision up." Mitchner was always available for the 3 a.m. homicide callouts.
- 41:30Apr 16, 2024The dean of students at Marion High School speaks up for the policeKeyJavon Washington: "It is hard to argue against any funding for public safety at all." He asks for officers and firefighters to come into the schools — because a kid who sees the job might stay.
- 45:16Apr 16, 2024The Riverfront District arrivesKeyGeneral ordinance 6-2024. What follows is more than two hours of testimony — the longest public hearing this council has held.
- 1:00:34Apr 16, 2024Los Amores is outgrowing its space and getting priced outKeyKeith Bennett, five years in downtown Marion on his savings: they lease, they don't own, and there aren't many downtown buildings with kitchens. A license would help fund owning one.
- 1:06:48Apr 16, 2024"I've watched a lot of things leave Marion. I've watched very few things come."KeyJustin Riddle, 38, a business owner here for over twenty years, on why he wants ripples. "In order to bear fruit you have to plant seeds, and we haven't done that for a very long time."
- 1:10:59Apr 16, 2024Obie's has beer and wine, and wants the three-wayKeyJeff Obie says he never expected the community to embrace the restaurant like it did. He's not turning it into a bar — it's still a family restaurant. What downtown needs, he says people keep telling him, is entertainment.
- 1:14:34Apr 16, 2024The boundaries, read aloudRiver to Nebraska, down to Fourth, east on Fourth to Boots, south to Ninth, east to McClure, north to Fourth, then back to the river — Ballard Field included. "While I know this is called the riverfront, this really encompasses all of downtown."
- 1:31:26Apr 16, 2024"Sell the whole package" — a resident asks for more than restaurantsKeyBill Creech wants a map with a shops area, a dining area, an open area for food trucks or events. "We keep talking about just the liquor license."
- 1:34:03Apr 16, 2024"If you build it they will come"KeyJavon Washington again, on twenty years of stagnation and the kids he teaches who train for jobs that don't exist here. "I know what Marion was. I know what Marion is. And I'd love to see what Marion can be."
- 1:50:25Apr 16, 2024The fire chief was born in Detroit, and says Marion looks familiarKeyCurtis Garr, in Marion since 1995: "You've all heard the horror stories of Detroit. They're true. I've lived it, and I don't necessarily want to live it again."
- 1:52:21Apr 16, 2024"I want a place for my kids"KeyJames Lewis opposes it as written. Marion has fewer people than the last time it added liquor licenses, he says, and this is all aimed at adult entertainment. He mentions hearing rumors about open carry downtown: "No. I'm not going to bring my kids to that."
- 2:10:13Apr 16, 2024Then the DORA — carry your drink between buildingsKeyGeneral ordinance 7-2024. The designated outdoor refreshment area, a much tighter zone right on the river, north of the square. It traces back to the state allowing it for the Indianapolis Super Bowl.
- 2:16:03Apr 16, 2024Two drinks, plastic cups, ounce limitsThe guardrails, spelled out. Temporary vendors get beer-or-wine permits only, never liquor, and they go through a vetting process.
- 2:16:34Apr 16, 2024Any business can refuse to take part — or refuse your drink at the doorKeyThe district only creates the option. Establishments can opt out entirely, and can turn away someone carrying a drink from a competitor.
Full transcripts
The complete automatic captions for each meeting, as plain text. They garble names — check the recording before quoting.
- Aug 18, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jul 21, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jul 7, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jun 16, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jun 2, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- May 19, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- May 6, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Apr 21, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Apr 7, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Mar 17, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Mar 3, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Feb 17, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Feb 3, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jan 20, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jan 20, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Public works committee ↓
- Jan 6, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Dec 16, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Dec 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Nov 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Nov 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Oct 7, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Sep 16, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Sep 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Aug 21, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee ↓
- Aug 19, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Aug 5, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jul 15, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jul 8, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Special meeting ↓
- Jul 1, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jun 17, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jun 3, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- May 20, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- May 6, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Apr 15, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Apr 1, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Mar 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Mar 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Feb 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 1) ↓
- Feb 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 2) ↓
- Feb 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jan 21, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jan 7, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jan 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee ↓
- Dec 17, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Dec 3, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Nov 19, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 1) ↓
- Nov 19, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 2) ↓
- Nov 6, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Oct 15, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Oct 1, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Sep 17, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Sep 3, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Aug 26, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee ↓
- Aug 20, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Aug 6, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Jul 16, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- May 8, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
- Apr 16, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting ↓
The recordings
- Aug 18, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrOnkCzUrRk
- Jul 21, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9d9PFhvsg
- Jul 7, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mDAVLVNYE
- Jun 16, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA3pj4R6U7o
- Jun 2, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcpJy0mVKD0
- May 19, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5og_RBlb-U
- May 6, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGVA8AG05EU
- Apr 21, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIlJVob-ChM
- Apr 7, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH7QV7QVy1E
- Mar 17, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7TDaliHO8
- Mar 3, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbEQdj1LBIo
- Feb 17, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjXp8U0135w
- Feb 3, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwrUCdqiA74
- Jan 20, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koGa_jIbvsc
- Jan 20, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Public works committee — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfTYc-cqcps
- Jan 6, 2026 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OmdwIBGWqw
- Dec 16, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzydVGuqm2Y
- Dec 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm-M3IGRT44
- Nov 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaSq_-P0TyI
- Nov 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keihTPhtNSM
- Oct 7, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGpf4kG0a4A
- Sep 16, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m74DJoX3T_A
- Sep 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOq2NcSxb8k
- Aug 21, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V0YwQJ_rBM
- Aug 19, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqaiwiArKZQ
- Aug 5, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvbhPH4RQk4
- Jul 15, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNUz-E2_sB4
- Jul 8, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Special meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuUeizfKiag
- Jul 1, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_hfbUuIrdM
- Jun 17, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYc2TR-9Y8Q
- Jun 3, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgnrVRpdbuc
- May 20, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OazaDhNksTE
- May 6, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CewPYmOuAIQ
- Apr 15, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZlJ05RufUQ
- Apr 1, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECpLLwaj8s
- Mar 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zypc6yWrWLQ
- Mar 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4-teXoC7co
- Feb 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 1) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPwB0UKBJu8
- Feb 18, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 2) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn-eibWw9bE
- Feb 4, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-t80bzwJJE
- Jan 21, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55CLbAOprfc
- Jan 7, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Nj4d74Bik
- Jan 2, 2025 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0rGNmp8vkk
- Dec 17, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6O9UDvFcDY
- Dec 3, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLKDg6u_hRU
- Nov 19, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 1) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfi3UzDtOg
- Nov 19, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting (part 2) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1197LFhCxM
- Nov 6, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK49JnJgCQo
- Oct 15, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dHQFIZBkVE
- Oct 1, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gJUslv-siU
- Sep 17, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbPf0nTi3gE
- Sep 3, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZjp8T_Cceg
- Aug 26, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Budget committee — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nw6_riTl0M
- Aug 20, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYVZXDWIfQ
- Aug 6, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASjg8OTdrFc
- Jul 16, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6kn2WoOfbQ
- May 8, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziepFFL32m0
- Apr 16, 2024 · Marion Common Council · Regular meeting — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLTa2xx0E2E
Timestamps are the moment each exchange begins. Links open five seconds early for context. Located using automatic captions — watch before quoting.
What this is, and what it is not
Ten governing bodies meet in public in and around Grant County and post the recordings; their own archives are searchable only by scrolling. This page puts 2,621 indexed moments across 189 recordings in one place, alongside 99 records from the county's September 2 release on the internal investigation of Commissioner Chuck Poling. Pick a body, pick a subject, and the two compose.
It is not the whole record. It holds what has been indexed so far, and the depth is uneven by design. A body with few entries here has not been examined less carefully — it has been examined less.
Nothing found is not the same as nothing said. Browsing the index and searching what was said are different questions, and the second reaches less far: full transcripts are loaded for 100 of the 189 recordings and 86 of the 99 investigation records, and of the 89 without one, 79 are Drainage Board. Where no transcript is loaded the moments are still indexed and the recording still plays; it is the word search that is blind.
Captions garble names and numbers badly. Timestamps came from automatic captions. Watch the clip before repeating a name, a figure or a quotation. The recording is the record; this is a way in.
Drainage Board entries were located by a script, not chosen by a person — it found where the agenda turns. The labels are dull for that reason, and no mechanical entry characterizes, summarizes or names anyone.
The investigation records are the county's own release, linked from Quick Links at the foot of the county's site. Most of the paper was scanned and machine-read, so the linked original governs. One file is indexed in part: a set of news clippings that carries dozens of unrelated people's court filings on the same pages, where only the lines naming Poling are indexed.
Print this report, or save it as a PDF — the documents open out on the page, and each recording carries a code that opens the video at the moment quoted.
Sources and methods
Built from the moments already indexed in our subject reports rather than re-derived, so anything here has been through the same checking. Subjects were normalized to mean the same thing in every body.
- ChannelGrant County Government — archived meeting recordings · retrieved Aug 10, 2026One channel carrying the commissioners, county council, BZA, Area Plan Commission, the data center subcommittee and the drainage board. 489 videos enumerated; 385 transcripts captured.
- ChannelMarion Common Council — archived meeting recordings · retrieved Aug 10, 2026Only Common Council appears in this feed.
- ChannelTown of Fairmount — archived public-meeting streams · retrieved Aug 10, 202632 archived streams, 30 with usable transcripts. Two carry no transcript for accounted-for reasons — one is 8 seconds with no dialogue, one had its audio muted at source.
Updates to this report
- Aug 12, 2026Loaded transcripts for four more meetings: the commissioners on October 20 and June 1, and the drainage board on July 14 and July 28. Every meeting in the index with a transcript available is now searchable.
- Aug 11, 2026Added two August meetings: the data center subcommittee on August 5 and the drainage board on August 11 — 62 new moments and both transcripts.
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