Muncie Oligarchy Looking for Land Grab in Muncie Very disappointed that our newly elected Mayor Dan Ridenour would work behind the scenes with Jud Fisher at Ball Foundation and Next Muncie along with the president of YMCA, Chad Zaucha, to lease a portion of Tuhey Park in downtown Muncie, Indiana. Last month I learned that […]
The power structure in Muncie is a perfect example of an Oligarchy. In my last article, I concluded with the following question for which I’ll attempt to answer today: “If the government isn’t holding the private sector accountable and our free press/media has become more like state-sponsored public relations firms, what kind of political-economic society […]
Muncie, Indiana BLOG– In a world where our POTUS has given the term “bad weeks” a new meaning, a close second would have to be John Schnatter’s fall from grace as CEO & Chairman of Papa John’s Pizza franchise. His pizza empire has lost over 30% of its value since his last November comment about […]
By: Todd Smekens Muncie, IN Blog – The typical sycophants were cheering for Muncie’s Elite as the checks start rolling into Muncie Community Schools after Ball State University official replaced the democratically elected school board. According to The StarPress: BSU President Geoffrey Mearns announced the Ball Brothers Foundation and the George and Frances Ball Foundation each have […]
By: Todd Smekens Muncie, Indiana BLOG – I just had to write a few words about the “Ball State takeover” or coup of Muncie Community Schools, otherwise known as House Bill 1315 authored by Rep. Tim Brown from Crawfordsville who orchestrated the original state takeover of Muncie Community Schools (MCS) last year via an emergency manager. Let […]
Muncie, Indiana Blog – Muncie Schools have officially been taken over by the state effective in two weeks. As most of you living in Delaware County have heard, “The Distressed Unit Appeal Board (“DUAB”) designated Muncie Community Schools as a distressed political subdivision pursuant to Indiana Code 6-1.1-20.3-7.1. This means that effective January 1st, 2018, […]
By: Todd Smekens BLOG – Several months ago, the credit grading services of Standard &Poors (S&P) downgraded the school systems credit rating by four notches. That’s not good news. This comes on the heels of losing nearly $5 million in revenue as a result of declining enrollment. The primary reasons for the downgrade are: The […]
By: Morgan Aprill Muncie, Indiana BLOG– It’s fall 2017, a year and a half since the announcement of the 3.5 million dollar deal between Charles Koch, John Schnatter, and Ball State to found the Schnatter Institute for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise. Students were voicing concerns over the announcement and the aura of secrecy and suppression that […]
By: Todd SmekensBlog – When I previously wrote about the financial problems at MadJax – a makers place, I suggested that the abandoned Ball State project now run by our corrupt mayor’s economic development office might eventually come back to local taxpayers for more money to finish the project. It didn’t take a month for […]
By: Todd Smekens Muncie, Indiana BLOG – The Indiana Chamber of Commerce released their annual survey showing their pro-corporate laws – those provided to our state lawmakers by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have worked to perfection. However, deflating wages in Indiana comes with some problems as they’ve discovered over the past several years. Instead […]