Intro

Erika Malone 0:00

This week on Beyond the Headlines, residents take to the streets to protest the Trump administration. The governor talks affordability for Hoosiers. A new report examines Indiana's media ecosystem for the first time. An early voting preview ahead of polls opening next week. From the Daily Journal, this is Beyond the Headlines, a local news podcast focused on story shaping Johnson County. Hello, everyone, and welcome back. It's Erica Malone here with Noah Crenshaw. How are you doing, Noah?

Noah Crenshaw 0:28

I'm good. How's it going, Erica?

Erika Malone 0:30

It's been a busy week, and I wanted to share um something that happened earlier this week with our uh listeners, and you already know this, but I got April Fooled. I uh didn't realize it was April Fools until like middle of the afternoon, kind of just because we were kind of busy. And I was looking and I saw a press release from GameStop, and they were talking about how like it's an ongoing trend of like engaged couples like sending out invitations to big companies, you know, for like gifts. Yes. Um so this couple like invited, like sent an invitation to GameStop, you know, and be like, hey, come to our wedding, or like send us a gift or whatever. Well, in the press release, they talked about well, instead of sending a PS5, we're gonna send a local associate to your wedding to help you celebrate. And I was like, what the heck? This is crazy. And so I look at the press release, right, and I'm like, man, I can't believe they did this. No like PS5 or anything, and then I look at the photos, right? And it just seems a little off because the loc quote unquote, the local store associate from GameStop had uh one of the either the bride or the groom's grandparent on his shoulders dancing.

Noah Crenshaw 1:54

Grandmother.

Erika Malone 1:55

Grandmother, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:56

Um I remember now. Yeah, so I was and everyone in the background had like their face. Yeah, everyone was obvious shocked. Yeah. And it was just like that's suspicious. Yes.

Erika Malone 2:07

So I was I was like, oh my god, this is crazy. And then I got to the photo and I was like, wait a minute. I was like, this this seems uh the store associate looks like he's having too much fun. But that's awkward. I know. And I was so excited. I was like telling you guys all about it, and then I was looked at the photos, and then I felt embarrassed because I was like, man, I got I got fooled pretty bad.

Noah Crenshaw 2:29

AI, man.

Erika Malone 2:30

AI. And we get fooled by it sometimes too. So that was my uh my big thing. Any hives this week for you?

Noah Crenshaw 2:38

Not really. I mean, nothing, just that's a normal week.

Erika Malone 2:42

Well, I mean, you've gotten you gotten dunking like every single day this week. So I uh I appreciate your dedication to that company, so it's just on my commute, that's why. Yeah. You like it though. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 2:55

You never finish it, but I finished it the last few days.

Erika Malone 2:58

You did? Good for you.

Noah Crenshaw 2:59

There's a running joke that I don't ever finish my coffee because I get too busy working on stuff. But I do finish my coffee. It just takes a lot longer than most people. It's usually gone by the end of the workday. But I make it last through a whole day. So I mean, if anything, I'm saving money. I like my second cup of coffee like some people do.

Erika Malone 3:17

Exactly. Yeah.

‘No Kings’ protests in Johnson County

Noah Crenshaw 3:18

Um, but anyways, you know, it's been quite a busy week. It has been we've we've been running around doing stories, a lot of things. Um so, you know, let's talk about what's happening this week in Johnson County. What happened this week at Johnson County?

Erika Malone 3:35

Well, let me tell you, I uh there was some No Kings protests uh last weekend, and uh I wasn't able to help you guys cover it, but you and uh our editor Leanne were there uh covering the protests. So uh I when I looking over your story, you uh more than 930 people participated in No Kings protests um held Saturday in Franklin and in Greenwood. So and you went to the Franklin one, correct? Yeah. Um so participants protested policies of the Trump administration. Again, we've seen more No Kings protests, you know, more frequently in these past few years. Um emphasizing themes of democracy, human rights, and opposition to perceived government overreach. Demonstrators chanted slogans, you know, and you probably heard these too. Uh, this is what democracy looks like no justice, no peace, no kings, uh, lots of signs and speeches reflecting those similar messages. Attendees also carried a range of protest signs, including humorous and symbolic messages. I'm sure you saw a lot of uh interesting ones out there.

Noah Crenshaw 4:51

Yeah, um, I will say like nationally there were some speeches, but locally there wasn't really a speech per se.

Erika Malone 4:58

I just want to for those.

Noah Crenshaw 5:01

Like there was talk like at the Greenwood one, there might be, but it ended up being more like soapbox style. I think that's how they where people could just kind of come up and talk. There were some Democratic candidates there.

Erika Malone 5:13

Okay. Yeah. I know I'm I remember you guys saying that there were some candidates there that were uh kind of speaking a little bit. Um but those two locations, uh demon the demonstrations kind of began in the morning at the Johnson County Courthouse Square in Franklin and continued in the afternoon at the Greenwood Fieldhouse Lawn. The Greenwood gatherings uh marked the first No Kings protest in that city, while previous protests have been held only in Franklin. So that's new for Greenwood as well. The Greenwood protest was organized by South Indy Visible, while the Franklin protest was organized by local volunteers, including Suzanne Fortenberry and Denise Lee. So and we've uh we've interviewed them and stuff before too.

Noah Crenshaw 5:58

So yes, and uh just in full transparency, uh Suzanne is also a candidate as well for our Indiana House District 57, the Democratic candidate.

Erika Malone 6:10

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 6:11

I've covered just for transparency, she's also a candidate.

Erika Malone 6:15

Yeah, I've covered some protests in the past and she's been there too and uh kind of spoke at those as well. Um uh this is also part of the local events were part of a nationwide day of action. Uh one of more than 3,000 protests held across the U.S. and internationally. Uh holding events in both Franklin and Greenwood was intended to give residents alternatives to traveling to Indianapolis, reducing barriers to participation.

Noah Crenshaw 6:42

Yeah, they um the idea of having it from what they said, um, at least from my conversation with Suzanne was, you know, everyone always wants to go up to Indianapolis because it's a bigger city, there tends to be a larger crowd, but then you have to pay for parking, and you know, sometimes there's extra restrictions and stuff like that. Whereas uh, you know, with the Franklin one, she said people could get free parking, they could also explore to small businesses. There was someone even from town for our wedding who just came to the protests. Oh.

Erika Malone 7:13

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 7:14

So like they were able to have they wanted to have more of a uh, I guess, a local like positive effect. I think that's how she described it.

Erika Malone 7:23

Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, and you guys also reported uh organizers uh had an official count of four hundred four hundred and eight attendees in Franklin and at least five hundred and thirty-four in Greenwood, noting total participation was likely higher because not all attendees signed in, so there was like a sign-in option as well.

Noah Crenshaw 7:43

Yeah, that was just for the Greenwood one. That one had a sign-in. Gotcha. Yeah. Um, but uh we should talk about the attendance figures for a second. Yeah. Uh, you know, how I mean you've covered protests before, not we've all covered them in the recent years. You know, can you talk a little bit how reporters get these kinds of figures?

Erika Malone 8:03

Yeah, so I one, I covered a uh it wasn't really No Kings protest, it was just kind of a protest against the Trump administration in general in Greenwood probably a few weeks ago, and then I covered um it was a protest against the potential use of Camp Atterbury as a um an ICE detention facility. So when I look at numbers, because you know, people are always wanting to know how many people are there, I uh I look I kind of observe of like a general like of what I see population-wise, and then I see how that compares or try and get a more accurate number from the organizers. Um, because they're there to actually like do take counts and stuff as well.

Noah Crenshaw 8:48

So and I will say at the Franklin one, I did the same thing. I did a head count, which was kind of hard because people kept coming and going, you know, it was on the sidewalk. Um, but I did a head count and then they were they told me they were gonna do an official count and they gave me that number and actually saw someone with like a little clicker, you know, like one of those little like metal, kind of it's a little clicker, you just hit it and you count people. I saw someone walking around doing that as well, which yeah.

Erika Malone 9:17

So um observance in those types of uh situations is always like just to kind of get a generalized of like what you see, and then kind of backing that up with like a more factual um data, I guess.

Noah Crenshaw 9:31

So yeah, observation's the number one thing as a journalist, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 9:38

Um, because you can learn a lot about the environment, what people are doing, like, and especially in a protest, like you gotta see the you gonna you need to hear you need to listen to what they're saying, you need to hear what they're chanting, all of them, not just like the lead organizer. You need to read the signs, you need to know what's what people are there for.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 9:59

Um, you know, there was even some people who passing by, there was a lot of honking, for example. Um, there was some signs that told people to honk um and support. Um there were some people who just passed by and like screamed in support, and there was one person by me and when I was walking around taking pictures to scream support across the street, and I wasn't sure what they were gonna say at first, and then I was like, oh, yeah. This kind of surprised me. I was like, oh, I thought you were gonna be a counter-protester.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Yeah, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 10:27

You kind of that was surprising to me. So I didn't really see a whole lot when I was there in Franklin in terms of counter-protesters. That doesn't mean they weren't there. I mean, maybe they just weren't there when I was looking, but yeah, right when I was there.

Erika Malone 10:38

But yeah. Well, let's talk about a little bit about why people were there protesting. Uh Leah Kramer, co-founder of South India Indivisible, said the protest is meant to remind those in power that authority belongs to the people, describing the movement as centered on human rights and moral concerns rather than partisan politics. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 10:59

And um, I will also just want to note um it's called South Indivisible. It's like a division of indivisible, which is the now the national organization that's leading the No Kings protests.

Erika Malone 11:10

Uh some of the key protest issues included concerns about higher gas prices, which we've seen uh here recently. Uh protesters uh kind of linked to what they described as an unjust war in the Middle East, and then allegations of corruption, insider trading within the Trump administration, claims of inaction by the judicial system in addressing those allegations, and broader concerns about morality, accountability, and democracy. One unnamed participant said she wanted people to quote unquote wake up to what is happening nationally and believes meaningful change would require the entire Trump administration to leave office. And another Franklin woman said she attended to support LGBTQ rights, citing safety concerns for her transgender child. And several attendees said this was their first protest. One Franklin woman described the protest as hopeful and refreshing, particularly seeing multiracial solidarity, and she noted that her family has experienced racism locally, which that was an uh I remember you telling us that, and it was like that was an interesting thing you picked up on.

Noah Crenshaw 12:22

So And that gets back to observing and just trying to talk people figure out why they're there.

Erika Malone 12:27

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Exactly.

Noah Crenshaw 12:30

There's a lot people have from what we saw, the people had a lot of reasons for being out there, both in Franklin and in Greenwood.

Erika Malone 12:37

Yeah, yeah. And uh in Greenwood, uh Bishop Robert Lyons uh said he attended because he believes the administration's actions contradict Christian teachings, criticizing war deportations and the use of religion and political rhetoric. Daniel Meyer, he's a grandfather and a first-time protester, said he fears unchecked presidential power, especially regarding nuclear weapons, and called on Congress to impeach Trump. Meyer also expressed concern for his grandson serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, particularly about orders not authorized by Congress.

Noah Crenshaw 13:12

Referring to like refalling orders. Yeah.

Erika Malone 13:15

Okay. Yeah, that's um, yeah. And then uh Pam Bell said she protested opposing more, arguing Trump had broken a campaign promise by becoming involved in multiple conflicts without clear goals. A lot of emotions here, and a lot of people out here for various different reasons that they're concerned about.

Noah Crenshaw 13:33

Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, as someone factory said before, you were at these programs, but you've covered similar things before. You know, what would you say, um, as a reporter, what goes through your mind when you're trying to figure out how to cover something like this?

Erika Malone 13:51

Yeah, it's um it's definitely a a a large thing can be a large thing to cover. Uh I try to be aware of my surroundings as much as possible, try and get as multi as many voices as I can, and also just be alert as well, because and I'm just you know gonna say from what we've seen on media at least, you know, protests can go south, you know, not saying that it always happens, but it's you know, you kinda just prepare for whatever's gonna happen, so you know, just keeping that in mind as well and listening to people and taking taking photos and yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 14:36

And so in a situation like this, that's another part of the reporting questions I have, you know, there's a lot of heightened feelings and emotions. Can you talk a little bit about how you make sure to tell it accurately?

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 14:51

Um especially because people's emotions can get the better or it's emotionally charged.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Mm-hmm.

Erika Malone 14:57

I um I really try and take myself out of it, you know, which obviously in this job you have to, you know. Um we're not there to uh we're there to report what's going on. Uh and you know, get the facts out there, uh and hold people accountable, you know, things like that. So I uh yeah, I try not to get um too emotional about some things just because that's I'm not there for my for my political beliefs. Yeah. Um so and I mean if there were a counter-protest to happen, we would we would talk to those counter-protesters. I mean, there were but there were students uh a few weeks, you know, or a few months ago when some schools were doing some uh protests and stuff against yeah, students. Um the schools just to be clear. Yeah, not the school system, but the some students would gather and uh gathered on uh the Franklin courthouse and there were a couple counter-protesters there. Um I know uh Elissa covered that, and she uh talked to them as well. So we tried to get both sides if if it's possible, uh just to, you know, get the facts out there.

Noah Crenshaw 16:10

And so Yeah, like in the case of Franklin, I didn't see any counter-protesters. There if there were, they didn't stay long enough for me to talk to them or people just drive them by.

Erika Malone 16:20

Well, and you were there, you and Leanne were both there kind of in the in the heart of the protests. Uh how do you guys keep you know, how did you kind of keep your uh emotions and feelings out of it?

Noah Crenshaw 16:31

Well, I think it helped that these protests were peaceful. Yeah. I was at the Franklin one. Um like it was emotionally charged, but like it didn't feel like there were heightened tensions, you know, like everyone was peace f peaceful. I mean, they were criticized they're expressing their freedom speech, but I didn't really feel like it wasn't emo like for me personally, I didn't feel affected by what was going on, like emotionally. I just knew I had a job to do. And I talked with people and I heard what they had to say, and some of it was hard to hear to what people are thinking, like what they've experienced.

Erika Malone 17:08

Yeah, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 17:09

Um but you just kinda have to remember in the moment that you have a job to do and you need to tell people what's happening, um, whether they agree with it or not. That that's not my job.

Erika Malone 17:23

Exactly.

Noah Crenshaw 17:23

I just need to tell people what's happening in their community, and this was something that was happening in their community, whether they think it should or not.

Governor visits Franklin, talks affordability

Erika Malone 17:30

Yeah, yeah. You put it very well there. Yeah. Besides the New Kings protests, we also had a very special visit this week. Uh tell us about that, Noah.

Noah Crenshaw 17:39

Um, yeah, so um the governor, Indiana governor Mike Brown, he um was in Franklin on Monday and he stopped by for a like 15-minute short interview because that's what was available on the schedule. Um and um, you know, he talked a little bit about you know what he'd been working on and I asked him some questions about affordability.

Erika Malone 17:59

Yeah. Was this your first time interviewing the governor?

Noah Crenshaw 18:01

Technically, yes. I haven't had a chance to actually like fully interview him. I've had opportunities with the previous governor a couple of times, but nothing with Mr. Braun until Monday.

Erika Malone 18:13

Yeah. I interviewed him uh a few years ago when he was a senator, um, but not since he's been governor.

Noah Crenshaw 18:20

So um one of the first things he brought up was his governing style, compared to being like a CEO business, because he was a business owner, or he is a business owner, he was an entrepreneur from Jasper, Indiana, um, to be clear. Um, you know, and he says he's approaching government with like an entrepreneurial mindset. Um he also kind of emphasized having how as gov governor he kind of has his hand in a lot of pots, you know, uh being involved in a lot of different policy areas. Um he brought up the property tax reform from last year, which was a major thing that happened. He's only been governor, he took office in January, right? Technically, of 25. So this is he's like a year, three, almost four months now or so, depending on the date. I don't remember the date in my head. Um, and you know, that was one of his first priorities. It's something that came up a lot during the campaign. I'm on the Republican primary for governor, and you know, he uh called it that property tax bill as a way to he he said directly um that it was like record relief. That's like a direct quote. He called it record relief. Um and through 2031 is gonna gradually exempt up to two-thirds of a home's assessed value from taxes. Property taxes were very much talked about how you taxes are how we calculate them. Part of it's based on assessed value, and assessed value is kind of skyrocketed because of the pandemic.

Erika Malone 19:49

It's a lot been a large topic for a while.

Noah Crenshaw 19:52

Have risen because that value has risen or communities. And so, you know, they try to address that, but with that exemption, um, it's through the supplemental homestead deduction because they're trying to the standard homestead deduction are planning on phasing out through the property taxes as well.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Oh, okay.

Noah Crenshaw 20:08

So it's just gonna be supplemental, and that's the one where this kind of part of that's gonna get cut off for residential to be specific. Um and so um he talked about that, but he also acknowledged, you know, there's a need for a balancing act when it comes to the financial needs of local governments and schools, because you know, they've real the state doesn't get any property tax money. Right. The state collects it, but it it goes to local governments who set the rates in the school districts. Um, you know, there is a need. He he acknowledged that. Um he also brought up public safety um as another one of his priorities. He um credits the state police with making progress on drug interdictions and you know, highway safety. Um they've there's been a few drug interdictions, interdictions like and getting involved to stop it, like with like traffic stops. There's there was some in northern Indiana that was actually made some national news because of the amount. I can't remember off top of my head what drug it was, but it was it was a lot.

Erika Malone 21:08

Yeah. Interesting. Well, uh, did he kind of say anything that surprised you or either like in his priorities that he talked about or just like how he framed it?

Noah Crenshaw 21:18

Not really. Um, he's been pretty big on promoting those um throughout from the coverage I've seen. Um, and you know, what I did find interesting is what when I asked him about, you know, some of the affordability, because I asked some various questions about various aspects of affordability, um, like utilities, because that's a big one right now, housing, um, also a little bit about gas taxes, which I can um get into.

Erika Malone 21:45

Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that.

unknown 21:47

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 21:47

So um first we talked about utility and energy, affordability. Um, because you know, there was those uh in Indian Utility Regulatory Commission, they had some hearings with the big five. Which is what he called it the big five uh utilities state.

Erika Malone 22:05

And it's uh it's been um have they really had a lot of those meetings before or now this is kinda I've never no one's ever really seen anything like this.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 22:16

Uh uh. Um and some other reporters who've been around longer have said that too. Um but you know, he touted how he reappointed uh members to the IRC to be more ratepayer focused, so he felt like the IRC was kind of leaned more on the side of the utilities rather than ratepayers. Right. Um and he also said that um, you know, utilities, regulators, and consumers have to share responsibility for to keep energy costs down, especially amid inflation. Um and you know, and I also asked him a follow-up about, you know, like what else could be done.

SPEAKER_03 22:54

Mm-hmm.

Noah Crenshaw 22:54

And, you know, he brought in economic development, which I guess I would say was not what I was expecting him to say, but once he said it, I understood where he was coming from with his business background.

Erika Malone 23:04

Yeah, being yeah, with his business background, it makes I mean it makes sense that that would, you know, he'd uh he'd have a a big interest in economic development.

Noah Crenshaw 23:12

Yeah. Um so he talked about how he ordered a forensic audit of the IEDC, which is the Indian Economic Development Court, and how he replaced several of its board members. I don't remember the exact number off the top of my head, um, but he replaced a lot of its board. Um, and he restructured the incentives they give out, which tend to be like for businesses like tax incentives, yeah. Um to around 15 regional economies with a stronger focus on small businesses, entrepreneurs, and quote, geographically balanced growth. And then he also talked about incentives for life sciences. There was an announcement he made a few weeks ago with the Senate Johnny and a redevelopment authority, which we've talked about sort of before, but this was something unrelated to that past conversation. Interesting. There was a past episode, you can go back and hear all about that. Uh yeah, just uh it was like a few weeks ago. Um, but this announcement, you know, was about investments in life sciences, which Johnson County has an interest in life science. So it's Central Indiana, we're part of that. Yeah. Black communities here are part of that. So, you know, they're trying to attract more of that. Um and with these incentives, you know, he talked about how rather than with all the incentives, rather than just like kind of giving them out and hoping for the best, is kind of how he that's kind of how I took away from how he said it. It's gonna be like based with like performance metrics.

Erika Malone 24:35

That yeah. So like interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 24:37

Well, you only earn the credits as you deliver measurable results rather than the hope that you might.

Erika Malone 24:44

Yeah. Kind of they they have to kinda uh back up what they're yeah, back up what they're doing.

Noah Crenshaw 24:50

Another thing we talked about was healthcare affordability. You know, that's been a big talking point the last few years of the state housing with him.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Has been.

Noah Crenshaw 24:58

Um he argues and said uh that our state's healthcare system currently lacks competition transparency, which is driving up costs and leading to poor health outcomes for people. Interesting. Um, and when he says healthcare system, you know, it's not just insurance, like hospital, like the whole system. Um and he thinks whatever and you know, it's also taken up a huge share of our GDP to say CDP. He says it's like 20%. He thinks it should be closer to 12 or 13%. So that's like an eighth or so percent cut.

Erika Malone 25:30

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 25:31

And he said, you know, if we don't do it through transparency and competition and get and engage the consumer, quote, sooner or later, the other side of the aisle wants it to be Medicare for all. And he said he would grab he'd like to see if the state could fix it before it gets to that, which I thought was interesting.

Erika Malone 25:50

Yeah, yeah. That is interesting. And then you to you guys also talked about uh housing too. Housing affordability, just affordability all around.

Noah Crenshaw 25:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The whole focus was talking about affordability because that's what a lot of people have had on their minds lately. Yeah. Um and so there was a bill, we've talked about it a few times on here of the House Bill 1002, the the housing regulation bill. 1001. Yeah, 1001. I am so sorry. It's okay. It was the utility bill. They're they're both about trying to deal with the portability, too.

Erika Malone 26:25

It's it's okay. It's yeah, you're just one number off, you're fine.

Noah Crenshaw 26:29

Um and uh, you know, the initial version of the housing bill, local leaders were concerned about loot reducing their control. So that kind of came up with what he said too.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 26:39

Um and you know, he what I took away and what he basically said was that you know that these zoning rules, regulations, local policies can be major barriers to affordable housings. Um, and he gave examples where builders and local governments work together to reduce some restrictions and they've actually cut some costs. Um, and you'd like to see more of that rather than having the state get involved. Interesting. And so when he talks about that, let me give an example. Uh the Cook Medical Group um has done some like workforce housing, like where they've it's they're a business getting involved with trying to build housing for their workforce. They um have done it in a few communities, Springs Valley, uh Spencer, and Bloomington, where they've worked with locals to kind of deal with regulations. And they're building in his view, they're building starter homes at like 10 to 15 percent of a reduced cost compared to what it could be, despite roo working with them on regulations.

Erika Malone 27:45

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 27:46

And he would like to see more of that.

Erika Malone 27:49

So it's about kind of bringing those zoning regulations and policies to the local level than the state level.

Noah Crenshaw 27:55

Yeah, that's what he said he would like. He thinks the it should move toward.

Erika Malone 28:01

Okay. Yeah, interesting. Well, uh, you guys talked about a lot of different things. Um, and it's really I I'm impressed that you were able to talk about so much in 15 minutes. But what else did you guys talk about?

Noah Crenshaw 28:13

Well, one thing is you learn if you only have 15 minutes, you try to get as much in as you can. Yeah. Um, and that's why I really focused on affordability because I felt like we could fill that time. And this one was even sure I was gonna be able to ask, but we still had a few minutes. Um, and that was gas taxes. So the Iran conflict for a lot of reasons has caused oil prices to spike.

Erika Malone 28:38

And yeah, we've seen it here, yeah, we've seen it here in Johnson County uh for a few weeks. Gas was uh a little over four dollars. So yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 28:47

And so that was kind of the idea behind this question. But you know, first we sort of talked about those get those taxes you pay, the state taxes, because there's a state sales tax and there's just a general tax. The sales tax depends on the average price of gasoline, so that's how that for the previous month, that's how that changes. But there's just a standard tax of like 36 ish cents. I think it's the current rate, that is just set aside for road funding.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Oh, okay.

Noah Crenshaw 29:11

The tax that tax because gas taxes really just pay for road funding. So, like across the state, this it all goes to the state, then they distribute it however. Um and so one concern that's been talked about the last few years has been, I guess, an unintended what I would call an unintended effect of fuel efficiency. Um, because you know, more fuel efficiency with vehicles, you know, you ended up you don't go to the pump as much because you you last your tank, your pump your filled up tank lasts longer. So if you're not filling up as much, you're not buying as you're obviously not buying as much gas, which means there's less taxes being paid.

Erika Malone 29:53

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 29:54

Which in turn is less money going to the state to pay for the roads.

Erika Malone 29:59

It's all uh it's all connected.

Noah Crenshaw 30:01

Yeah, and so they're kind of navigating that. And also electric vehicles are becoming more popular.

Erika Malone 30:06

More popular, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 30:08

Um, so that's another thing, because if you have an electric vehicle or a hybrid, you're obviously our are if you have an electric vehicle, you're not really gonna pay gas at all. So like there's none that that's going to roads.

Erika Malone 30:18

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 30:19

And if you have a hybrid, it's already fuel efficient. Now it's even more fuel efficient, so it's even less. So, you know, there's a lot of things, but just the moral of the story is there's less coming in. And so with that happening, um he like because primarily it goes towards funding the interstates, like road work on interstates. Um, you know, if that continues to ha happen as it seems like it might, you know, maintaining interstates will have to require quote creative funding opportunities, which include like public-private partnerships, which is like between a government and a private entity to fund. Um, and at the same time, the gas taxes also go to local governments. And that's gonna require some work too, because that's critical for paying for local roads.

Erika Malone 31:08

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 31:09

Um if you want your street paved. It's just gonna be more and more challenges.

Erika Malone 31:14

More and more challenges ahead. Well, um, did he talk about maybe some relief that if he could like give some relief?

Noah Crenshaw 31:22

So I asked him if it continues, like the conflict in the Middle East and higher gas prices, if there would be anything, if has he considered anything, like would he consider like like a sales tax holiday for like or a gas tax holiday, for example? Um, which is like when they say holiday, it's like a break. Like some places do that, like tax sales tax holidays, some stuff.

Erika Malone 31:43

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 31:43

Indiana isn't one of them.

Erika Malone 31:45

Um I think how long is usually like those holidays? Do you know?

Noah Crenshaw 31:49

Like some people like I remember one, I was like they did it for like school shopping. So like they timed it in August.

Erika Malone 31:55

Oh, interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 31:56

It was out west. I don't remember what state, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but I thought it was like well, I didn't one, I didn't realize, so I guess you could suspend that if you needed to. But like it was planned and like people were ready, which I thought was interesting. Yeah. Um, this because someone from Indiana, and you know, we don't really do that here, so it's like, huh.

unknown 32:17

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 32:18

I never really thought about it until I read it. I was like, oh, I guess I guess I guess that is a thing.

Erika Malone 32:22

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 32:22

So I asked him, you know, like gas taxes, like, what do you would he think about that? Um, he suggested they the gas prices may ease quickly just because of the nature of the conflict. And like, you know, there's been some releases of reserves. Um, the world markets were disrupted by the war, but he hopes we'll conclude there soon. Um so that, you know, the world's oil supply can't be held hostage by uh blockades and shortages. Um but local governments and states will need to consider all options if it continues. So like he didn't really commit to that. Yeah, just said we'll have to consider all the options.

Erika Malone 33:07

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 33:08

And you know, at the same time, there's risk with that because as I just said, the those sales tax prices or those taxes, I should say, go towards funding roads, road work. So if you have a holiday What happens to the road funding?

Erika Malone 33:28

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 33:28

Yeah. And like a lot of people depend on that, a lot of governments depend on that. So there's it's an it's a question that it will, if it ever gets to that point, will be difficult, I think, for people to figure out what to do. And if it does happen, it'll be even more difficult for people to figure out what to do.

Erika Malone 33:47

Yeah, it'll be something we'll have to watch closely for sure.

Noah Crenshaw 33:49

Yeah, and he said, you know, quote, it's gonna be how do we maintain our roads and bridges? The taxes are related both to how you finance and pay for infrastructure. And so all this is just it's gonna take a lot of discussion if it does get to that point. And to be clear, he hasn't said, he just said we'll have to consider the options, basically.

Erika Malone 34:09

Yeah. Yeah. So um we'll yeah, we'll just we'll watch closely and see what happens. But with uh from your conversation with him, and uh what do you think our readers, listeners, and uh voters will kind of take away from uh from your conversation with Governor Mike Braun?

Noah Crenshaw 34:29

Well, I guess I would say there are a few things, you know, like what we just said with the gas tax, you know, that's complicated. Um there are ideas, definitely, for how to address affordability. And I think it's just a wait and see for a lot of it because he has ideas for what he'd think could happen, like when it comes to like housing, what he thinks would be a good way to deal with that. Healthcare, he has an idea. Um energy affordability, you know, he has an idea. But it's a matter of how it comes to fruition. And he'll definitely How it's executed. Yeah. Yeah. And he'll definitely need, you know, support of the state legislature if there are future changes. And also they already passed some changes, and they not all of them have gone to effect yet. So it's a matter of when do you do it, and like if there's something that's tweaked, or if there's stuff you already have done has worked, you know. There's just yeah, it's gonna take some time to see what happens.

Indiana media ecosystem report

Erika Malone 35:31

Yeah. Well, and you know, he's he's got some ideas, and you know, like you said, we'll see if uh how they're executed or how it comes into fruition. So, and you know, we'll do our best to um keep our uh readers and listeners uh updated on that as it affects us locally. But uh moving on, uh you had a busy week for stories, so you got another one coming up. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 35:58

Um this is what happens when you're down a reporter. Um uh so let's talk about Indiana's meek media ecosystem. So there was a report released here this I won't say this month, but it was second in March, um, but in the last few weeks, um, from IU's media school. That is the first comprehensive analysis of Indiana's news ecosystem.

Erika Malone 36:21

Right. This is they haven't done this before.

Noah Crenshaw 36:24

So um this the goal was to establish a baseline understanding because no one had done it on an Indiana level. They've done it nationally, they've done other states. But Indiana's kind of being left out.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 36:36

What it sounds like. Um, so it was led by a team from IU, Semita School at Blooming, IU Bloomington. It was led by Susanna Evans Comfort. She is an assistant professor of science and environmental communication. Um, and so the goals, as I said, was to establish a baseline understanding of local journalism, which you clarify, in Indiana and guide future strengthening efforts. Interesting fact. Indiana is primarily a local news state. There's no national outlets that really can are consistently here. Like like there's obviously like affiliations and stuff gets sent up a chain, but like there's nothing based here, nothing like that's dedicated that's national.

Erika Malone 37:14

It's all local.

Noah Crenshaw 37:15

Yes. So it's all everything's local or like statewide, or there's nothing beyond that. Um and you know, she said, and a lot of people have said is that local journalism is essential to civic health.

Erika Malone 37:29

And you know, um I think we can we can agree with that.

Noah Crenshaw 37:33

I mean we'll say it's a little weird talking about this, right? About this, because like we're part of it, but we're not like part of it, you know? Yeah. Um and you know, like I said before, Indiana lacks some state civic research, and she thought this was interesting because we have several unique characteristics. Like we have different industries represented in this state. We we don't really have as many large cities as some other states do. And she basically did the study, or she had the idea for a while, but she was waiting to see if someone would do it. And eventually it was like, well, I'm in a position to do it. No one else seems to be doing it, so I might as well do it. Right. And so that's what happened. They got some grant funding and they did it.

Erika Malone 38:12

Well, uh, kind of tell us a little bit about what you found in the report.

Noah Crenshaw 38:16

Well, let me backtrack a little bit. So it establishes that baseline. Um, and one of the things they had to do was establish a working statewide database of news organizations. They also did a survey of newsroom leaders. Um, they did some video profiles of working journalists from across the state, like one was a nonprofit, one was a TV station.

Erika Malone 38:36

Interesting. Um and we're in that that database.

Noah Crenshaw 38:40

Yes.

Erika Malone 38:40

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 38:41

Um, there's also analysis of how news produced and distributed across Indiana and some other tidbits about, like, for example, because of the timing this took like place last year, um, AI and journalism, which is still a big topic. Yes. Um, and so let's talk about some of the key findings, shall we? Ready?

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Yes, I'm I'm falling I'm on the edge of my seat.

unknown 39:03

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 39:03

So this is a working list, and it was done by the researchers. So it's not there, the numbers are they have they found 225 identif they identify 225 total news organizations, and that's professional news organizations. Those include students, but this number is subject to change because there may be some they missed, or um some maybe duplicated.

Erika Malone 39:28

Um I think the repo one of our sister papers was duplicated in there, right?

Noah Crenshaw 39:33

Yeah, because it was listed as republic and then the republic, for example. But like it's it's human error, and you can always submit a correction. It's supposed to be to people who like the media organizations can't. Yeah. Because it's designed to be a working database of not just like newspapers, but like all. So predominantly Indiana has newspapers. Uh 131 at least. Uh, there were 10 magazines, 18 digital native outlets, which I would say is like online outlets. I don't have anything beyond, and 66 TV and radio stations that were identified. And when they say that, it's talking about that produce news programming that aren't primarily just entertainment.

Erika Malone 40:12

Oh, okay.

Noah Crenshaw 40:12

So gotcha. There are way more radio stations than that in Indiana, but these are the ones.

Erika Malone 40:17

So not like like like a MPR kind of like you know, yeah, like I know we don't have NPR here, but like news stations like that.

Noah Crenshaw 40:25

Well, there is NPR in it now.

Erika Malone 40:26

There is oh, there is, you're right. Yeah, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 40:29

There's not one in Jobs County.

Erika Malone 40:31

Yeah, my apologies.

Noah Crenshaw 40:33

So what they found was most of these outlets are concentrated in urban areas and college towns, leaving rural areas underserved. And so, for example, Marion County leads with the most news organizations at 24, which makes sense because it's the state capital. Right. TV stations that cover this area are based out of there, all the radio stations for the most part. All there's the Anneapolis Stars, the major newspaper, there's other IOEJ, Indian Capitol Chronicles, they're also on that list. Yeah, because they go by where it's based out of. Um followed by that was Allen County, which is Fort Wayne. Oh, okay. No St. Joseph County, that's in the region near Chicago, has 11. Vanderburgh County, Evansville, uh, 10. Lake County, also in a region, 10. Monroe County has nine, and they have a lot of digital. And Moreau County, it's not, I wouldn't say necessarily it's the urban, but they're a college town area. Right. So like it's like she's like the report found it's Tensilead. Um, there are four counties in a state that have no local news outlets, and that's Floyd, Ohio, Switzerland, and Vermillion counties. Those are far western Indiana and far south eastern Indiana toward the Louisville, Cincinnati area.

Erika Malone 41:49

And just to clarify, these these counties, it's not there's no local news outlets, but it's not like they're not being covered at all.

Noah Crenshaw 41:56

Yeah, it's just there's none based out of that county. Like these like in the case of like uh what was it? I think Floyd and Ohio or maybe I definitely know Floyd in Ohio or in southeastern Indiana, Switzerland. I can't remember off the top of my head, I think it's also in that area. Like they're served by like the Greater Louisville or like the like they're being served by neighboring counties because there's nothing base in based on what the research is.

Erika Malone 42:20

Which could affect coverage, yeah, you know.

Noah Crenshaw 42:23

Uh and that's like 112,000 people. So that's smaller than Johnson County, but I would say like I think decent amount of people. Bartholomew County is like 85,000 people. So it's like thinking like a Sat County a little bit bigger than Bartholomew County, not having anything based out of there that's local news. Yeah. Which is crazy to think about.

Erika Malone 42:43

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 42:43

And it gets to the point these are also rural counties, which is another thing we have saying rural rural areas tend to be underserved. That goes to that. Um, and let's of course let's talk about Johnson County. Yeah. So we have five outlets based out of the county based on this report. Um us.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 43:05

Uh of course and college student newspaper, the state house file, which is their statehouse outlet that's outfranken college as well. Even though Indianapolis is secondly based on Franken College, that's what they went with.

Erika Malone 43:16

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 43:17

Um, Freedom 95 Radio and Corn Country.

Erika Malone 43:19

Yeah. I never heard of Freedom 95. Sorry, like when I saw conservative talk radio. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Yeah. I'd never heard of that. So it was uh when I saw that report, I was like, oh, interesting. I didn't know you had that. So Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 43:32

Um and something I will know again, it's just this is based on the research, it could be more. Um I think that's pretty close to what's correct.

Erika Malone 43:41

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, who knows?

Noah Crenshaw 43:45

Yeah, there might be some other magazines, but I'm not sure how they define magazines.

Erika Malone 43:48

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 43:49

Because there are some that come in their mail, for example, do those can't like I don't know.

unknown 43:52

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 43:53

I don't that's I'm not the one responsible for that. Yeah. So um, and so some other tidbits, and I can get into To this because I find this so fast.

Erika Malone 44:02

We're geeking out over here.

Noah Crenshaw 44:03

Um you know, 79.1% of Indian news outlets are owned by a national or regional chain. For example, we're owned by uh what I would say it's a regional chain.

Erika Malone 44:12

Yeah. Well, so we have we have newspapers in Texas. Um in Ohio. Yeah. There's divisions like we have divisions, yeah. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 44:23

Um 17% are independent. And when it says independent, it means they're not part of a larger company or chain that are most likely, and these also are most likely to be located in urban counties. And that also can include the nonprofits. And some what I'll know about this is this was before all the mergers that happened, that particularly one with uh Circle City broadcasting which we have spinning the news this week. This is all from before that, so the report doesn't really get into that. Yeah. Stops in the baseline. I'm sure a future report might or someone will. Yeah. Um, so if you're wondering why we're not really talking about that, it's just it's not really in this report.

Erika Malone 45:00

Yeah, it's uh it it's uh it was f something fairly new that came out.

Noah Crenshaw 45:04

So it's and same with the other mergers that were happening, like it takes time to build this report.

Erika Malone 45:08

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 45:09

Um you know, and also 8.3% of the news outlets are NPR PPS affiliates.

Erika Malone 45:17

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 45:17

Yeah. Whether for radio or TV.

Erika Malone 45:19

Um well, what are some challenges that you kind of identified for media in this report?

Noah Crenshaw 45:25

Well, I wouldn't say I identified, I say they identified.

Erika Malone 45:28

They identified, sorry. You wrote the story, so I'm saying you.

unknown 45:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 45:32

I just want to make that clear. I had no role in the report. I I we weren't, I don't I don't know if we were surveyed, but I know I personally wasn't surveyed when they were because they did the survey of like senior user and leaps. I just know I wasn't one of them. Um so financial pressures were identified as something that were very significant, but something that even surprised Comfort was that that was actually kind of number two. Oh. Um, which a the top challenge was recruiting and retaining quality staff. Um because, you know, if you can't keep someone or hire someone to do a job right, you're not gonna get good quality. Um and you know, another thing they found was that many outlets struggle with sustainability, especially in rural areas, which makes sense.

Erika Malone 46:20

It does yeah. Um working in in rural papers, you you see that a lot.

Noah Crenshaw 46:25

So there were some signs of resilience though, so it's not all doom and gloom, you know. Some independence outlets report stable growing audiences, and you know, strong community ties also help certain organizations thrive. And you know, there was one example of a rural county, Owen County, where a new newsroom popped up. It's a county of like, I think, I don't remember, if it's like 12 or 20,000.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

Oh wow.

Noah Crenshaw 46:49

And that surprised them too because they tend when they see these new outlets come up, they tend to be in the urban areas.

SPEAKER_01 46:55

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 46:55

Like Marion County, for example, Skyne Explosion of new outlets.

Erika Malone 47:00

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 47:01

And another part of this report also talked about the evolution of journalism. Uh yeah, there was a heavy reliance, there is a heavy reliance on social media for distribution and story discovery.

Erika Malone 47:11

A lot of adaptation.

unknown 47:13

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 47:14

Um, but they noted there was limited adoption of AI, with one-third of outlets already saying they do not plan to use AI. And Comfort compared this to resistance to early skepticism towards social media, where there were some apparently, this was before our time, and I didn't know this until she said it like there was skepticism to like posting on Facebook. Really? Like news stories at first. Interesting.

Erika Malone 47:37

I wonder why.

Noah Crenshaw 47:38

And apparently, from what she said, you know, some news outlets I don't want to say suffer, but like we're behind because of that. So it's interesting to see how that's changed now. And yeah, and also how she can see there's signs of it similar situation with AI, yeah. Yeah.

Erika Malone 47:55

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 47:56

Which is interesting.

Erika Malone 47:57

It is interesting, yeah. And we've actually seen uh some news organizations have uh a search bar, I think, right? For that incorporates AI now.

Noah Crenshaw 48:08

Yeah, like search their websites because that's been one concern, but we can talk about that another time.

Erika Malone 48:13

That'll that's another can of worms that we can open an yeah at a later date. Um, but so this is all really interesting. Uh what but from that, what are we seeing and what are we missing from this report still?

Noah Crenshaw 48:28

So it's a baseline report. So there's a lot of questions that can be branched off from it. I asked uh Susanna about that as well. Like, what what do you see coming from this?

Erika Malone 48:38

I know. I remember when we were when you wrote the story, I was asking you so many questions, and you were like, it's a baseline report. I don't know.

Noah Crenshaw 48:45

Like Erica had a lot of questions. I was like, I can't talk about that because it's just not known. Yeah. Um, so like, for example, um, you know, like uh how much content and what kind of content's being produced. That was one. And it surveyed newsroom leaders, so like another thing that that's not mentioned as report that I would answer to see personally would be like, what do the people what do Hoosers think? Right. Because this was a survey of newsroom people. Would you have a different opinion of yeah. They may have a different opinion of what people think their news should be cut papers should be cut.

Erika Malone 49:23

What does the audience you know think?

Noah Crenshaw 49:25

And another thing, I guess I should kind of branching off that is there are some barriers that could also be analyzed a bit more. And the report kind of talks about this too. But you know, some states have adopted public funding models for journals. Some like the state gives money to help support like a local newspaper, like grants or something.

Erika Malone 49:46

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 49:47

Um Indiana, from what Comfort said, is unlikely to do anything like that. Um and without solutions to the funding and sustainability question and the problems, you know, Comfort, thanks to country, risk of being divided between communities with and without access to quality information. Like we're already in Indiana, there's already like a bit of a rural urban divide. Or say rural, suburban rural divide. Um But ultimately the major barrier to this is that people want local news. They really want local news. That's what she said. Uh but people don't often want to pay for it. And so that's talking about the funding model of like, okay, well how do, you know, because I mean essentially we're we're a business, you know. So how we're in a unique position of being a business that also has like a public public service, yeah.

Erika Malone 50:46

Yeah. So how do you balance the two?

Noah Crenshaw 50:48

Yeah.

Erika Malone 50:49

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 50:50

That's a question that's existed for a while and it's gonna continue to exist.

Erika Malone 50:54

Yeah. Exactly. This is uh really in-depth report. How do you go about reporting a story like this? Especially with kind of being in the media yourself.

Noah Crenshaw 51:06

Well, I I think there's a benefit of it being focused on the state as a whole, where I can just I just report what the report says. I talked with the author, she gave me some comments as well, or the lead author, I should say, Susana was the lead author. Um just talk about what it said and what it's about and just highlight what might what readers might find interesting from it, because there was a lot in his report I didn't mention. Yeah, I was gonna say what um was there any more like that like really interested media people would care about or like newsroom people, but like not the average person who's gonna read the story.

Erika Malone 51:45

Well, and then with the amount of space that we have that you know, obviously you could yeah, you couldn't rec uh put in everything, but what is uh what are some things in there that you thought uh you know that you couldn't put in the story that you thought were interesting?

Noah Crenshaw 51:59

Well, some things I want to highlight that aren't necessarily in the story, and I do link to the full report in the story, so like and you can also look it up. Was um there was a talk about like what journalists or new senior newsroom leaders perceive as what a journalist's role is. And it's called role conceptions. And so there's a survey that's been done every decade that surveys journalists about what they think their role is. And you know, there's four distinct roles that form, which is one is the interpreter watchdog, which is dog journalism. Yes. You know, like you investigate government claims, you buy analysis, and discuss national policy or international development. This is just in general in the US. There's another one called the Populous Mobilizer, which motivates people to get involved, points the solutions, lets people to express views, develop cultural interests, and sets a political agenda. There's the adversary, which just takes a straight-up oppositional stance towards government of business. And then there's the disseminator who gets information to public quickly, reaches a wide audience, provides entertainment, and avoids unverified facts. So over the years, the most popular one in the US has been the interpretered watchdog. That's what journalists tend to see themselves as in us. The populist mobilizer, which is the one where you motivate people to get involved, has risen, especially since the 90s. While the other two, adversary and disseminator, have diminished because and some research indicates it's because social media platforms have kind of taken over those roles.

Erika Malone 53:30

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 53:31

Um and so with this, and that's the national. So for the Indian perspective, they asked senior news living readers about what they thought journalists' roles were. And Indian journalists tended to reject the adversarial role. Um they were more supportive of the disseminator role, and what topped was still the idea of the interpreter watchdog. But in classic Indian fashion, we're unique.

SPEAKER_01 53:58

Um we gotta be unique.

Noah Crenshaw 54:00

So we're so the watchdog interpreter, like I said, is still popular and it still resonates with journalists, but it's kind of like there's a new role forming where there's a focus on serving local communities, like a service-oriented journalism.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 54:20

Which has become the predominant Indiana.

SPEAKER_01 54:23

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 54:24

Where it's kind of like it kind of sounds like from what I from what the report says, it's kind of like a combination.

Erika Malone 54:29

Yeah, of interpreter watchdog and public service.

Noah Crenshaw 54:32

Kind of well, this is kind of a combination of a lot of them. Yeah. Another thing was like what news organizations considered their top priority, which is this is a question I like to see from the Hooshers perspective as well, but this is just sort of news to remember. And you know, the report says this.

Erika Malone 54:51

What I like to see as the education reporter.

Noah Crenshaw 54:53

Yeah, the report. Uh the report says this may reflect the service orientation of Indian journalism because schools and education are special components to any community. But it's also an opening for Gritchel and journalism because national news media will rarely cover a local school. And when they do, it is true. That's because something major happened. They're not going to be there for just the average school board meeting.

Erika Malone 55:18

Right. Um, but what we don't see like a TV station come on a Monday night meeting, you know, for uh recognition of students.

Noah Crenshaw 55:28

Unfortunately. Um, but what surprised the researchers was that crime and sports were ranked relatively low as news priorities among newsrooms.

Erika Malone 55:36

Which you think would be the top two.

Noah Crenshaw 55:39

But and they said this was surprising because if you look at the home pages of most news organizations, TV, radio, newspaper, or the digitals, crime and sports are one of the most commonly covered topics by sheer volume. And they said there's a gap between what you said your priority is compared to what you actually do. And they suggested that, like I mentioned before, research looking at the output of local news organizations could more fully capture the characteristics of journalism. And so the perceived importance, you guys probably want to know the number. Um, what ranked first was education, second was elections. Shortly below that, like the mean score was like 0.01 difference. Was culture, arts, and entertainment followed by business, health, and science. Those are the top five. Sports was sixth, crime was eighth, lifestyle was nine, climate environment was seventh.

Erika Malone 56:32

Yeah. It's interesting. Yeah, it's a it's a really uh interesting report, and we'll see uh what comes out of it. And um, you know, like I said, we we want to hear from you guys as well what uh what topics you think are the maybe the most important that you want to see in your local uh community.

Noah Crenshaw 56:48

So keep in mind we are sometimes spread thinness, because a lot of newsrooms do not have the staffing of like the older eras of like the eighties or the nineties. That has gone away.

Erika Malone 57:02

Yeah, but we we do our best.

Noah Crenshaw 57:04

Yes, we do.

Erika Malone 57:05

So but yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 57:06

But yeah, so just keep in mind if there's if you don't think we're covering something right, let us know. But do keep in mind we're trying our best. Like we're not deliberately trying not to cover something.

Erika Malone 57:17

It's just a matter of Do we have do we do we have time and uh resources and if people Will we be in overtime?

SPEAKER_03 57:25

Well, not even now.

Noah Crenshaw 57:27

Sometimes that matters. Yeah. Um but the news is gonna news.

Roundtable: Aldi opens in Franklin

Erika Malone 57:30

Yes, the news will always news. Uh but let's uh let's move on to our round table.

Noah Crenshaw 57:36

Yeah, we should. So another big Franklin that feels like we're not Franklin's episode. There's been a lot of big new Franklin developments the last few weeks.

Erika Malone 57:45

Yes. Franklin has been busy. Um we have Aldi now. We have Aldi now. We got a Chick-fil-A a few weeks ago, and now we got an Aldi. So Aldi had a soft opening and a grand opening Thursday at its new location uh in Franklin at 1538 North Morton Street in the former Big Lot space next to Tractor Supply. The store will feature all these private label groceries, European treats, and of course your weekly Aldi fines, limited time items. And uh on Thursday, the first 200 customers got an eco-friendly Aldi bag filled with store brand items and a golden ticket worth up to$100.

Noah Crenshaw 58:28

Did you see the pictures of the people on Franklin Chat and on Facebook about how many people were waiting in line for that? I saw a picture because because you had there was you had the wait in line before they opened. So there were a lot, there was a decent amount. Yeah. More than I was expecting.

Erika Malone 58:43

It was definitely more than what I was expecting. I saw a picture of the line outside and the ribbon cutting. Uh, and yeah, it looked like it was a good turnout. So this is the third um Johnson County's uh or sorry, this is Johnson County's third Aldi uh joining existing Greenwood locations on US 31 and State Road 135. The Franklin store is part of Aldi's 50th anniversary expansion, which includes 180 new stores opening in 31 states in 2026, and expansions to 40 states total. Long term, Aldi expects to have 2800 U.S. stores by the end of 2026 and plans to grow to 3200 by 2028, including three new distribution centers. Wow.

Noah Crenshaw 59:32

That is a lot. And you know, if you want to get technical, while this is Johnson County's third Aldi store, it's technically the fourth Aldi because there's an Aldi distribution center in Greenwood. There is right next to the Aldi on um at 31 and um stop 18. I think that's the road. I think yeah. Yeah, yeah, stop 18. I always get the stops, I always get confused, but stop 18.

Erika Malone 59:54

I'm still learning there, right?

Noah Crenshaw 59:55

Well, you're new here. It's okay. I have to excuse me. But yeah, there's a distribution center, like kind of right next to it, but not connected. It's just coincidentally on the road.

Erika Malone 1:00:07

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:00:07

I think. I don't know why, but that's just how it is.

Erika Malone 1:00:09

Yeah. Well, and some numbers for you. Aldi says 17 million new customers shopped at Aldi in 2025, driven by rising grocery prices, which we've seen, and demand for lower cost options. So customers can shop in-store or online with curbside pickup and delivery through Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats. Wow, you can order your groceries from DoorDash? Amazing.

Noah Crenshaw 1:00:33

Yeah, I think everyone can. They're finding ways. Even if there's some stores where I used to DoorDash a while ago. There's some stores where if they say they deliver, they'll just pull past it through the DoorDash or they don't have a person available. Say with some restaurants, like I've had a Papa John's pizza delivered from DoorDash, even though I ordered it on Papa John's website just because they have a driver available.

Erika Malone 1:00:56

Oh did you still have to pay the DoorDash fees?

Noah Crenshaw 1:00:59

No, because I paid through Papa John's. It was disgust. Yeah, interesting. I don't know if that's still how it works, but it was because they didn't have anyone available. Oh, okay. So it's kind of like, well, we went through the first group of people, now we gotta send it out to like a third-party contract or something, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:15

Yeah.

Erika Malone 1:01:15

Well, and uh as if you are an oldie shopper, of course you know shoppers should bring a quarter for the carts uh and bring their own bags or purchase paper, plastic, or reusable bags at checkout.

Noah Crenshaw 1:01:27

Yes, and for the record, it sounds kind of sponsored, but it's not. We're just reading.

Erika Malone 1:01:31

It's not. We're we're just excited.

Roundtable: Final Four events + Easter egg hunts

Noah Crenshaw 1:01:32

So Yeah. Um and shifting a little bit, we do have to acknowledge it's a pretty big weekend.

Erika Malone 1:01:41

It is. There's some, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:01:43

It's not just Easter weekend, which is a time, you know, for the Easter bunny is coming. It's also Final Four.

Erika Malone 1:01:53

I just I have to I just have to acknowledge that the Easter bunny is is coming. Um, he will be bringing uh Easter Bastic Easter baskets. I'm hoping for one. I probably won't get one. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:02:05

Um, and we'll talk about some Easter events here in a minute, but first, you know, yeah, we'll talk about sports. Yeah, we do have to get sports in.

Erika Malone 1:02:12

Yeah, let's go sports. So Indianapolis transforms uh into a citywide festival with basketball events, free concert, art, food, and family activities. Yep. Major attractions include open practices, fan festivals, national championships, and a big name music performances. Um, so here's some some event uh events happening this weekend with Final Four. Um, the Final Four Fan Fest, that's a mouthful. It is. Um four F's. Yes, the four F's.

Noah Crenshaw 1:02:44

They separate out Bannet desk.

Erika Malone 1:02:46

Yes. Uh try and say that five times fast. I'm not going to, but um We don't have time for that. Maybe uh maybe I'm a special episode I'll or I'll do it. But uh that's happening at the Indiana Convention Center, which their hours are Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday, noon to six, and Monday, noon to eight. Admission is fifteen dollars. Uh it includes interactive games, celebrity and athlete appearances, including Willow Nightingale in Grant Hill autograph signings and pep rallies, featuring Looney Tunes themed events like What's Up Doc? And Dance Off with Bugs versus Lola, Battle of the Bunnies.

Noah Crenshaw 1:03:27

That we do get a bunny reference with the final four.

Erika Malone 1:03:29

We do. Um, that sounds like a WWE match. I'm kind of I do you think that's gonna be filmed? I want to watch that.

Noah Crenshaw 1:03:35

I'm sure I'm sure there's gonna be videos somewhere. I mean, in this day and age, there'll all be on social media somewhere.

Erika Malone 1:03:41

Yeah, interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 1:03:42

Um, you know, there's also some concerts happening too, right?

Erika Malone 1:03:44

There are, yep. So March Mad Madness Music Festival, again, a mouthful at the American Legion Mall, three days of free concerts, no ticket required. That's awesome. Saturday during Coca-Cola Live, Breland, Raven, Lenay, Russell Dick Dickerson, and the Zach Brown band. Uh, Sunday during the Capital One Jam Fest, Dominic Fike. Oh, he's awesome. Megan Moroney, and of course, uh, not by relation, post Malone.

Noah Crenshaw 1:04:16

Erica actually has like a post-malone like Bunko Pop.

Erika Malone 1:04:19

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:04:20

That's disgust she likes clutching tanks that have.

Erika Malone 1:04:22

My last name. So I have I have post Malone, I have Carl Malone, who is a basketball player.

Noah Crenshaw 1:04:27

And Kevin Malone from the office.

Erika Malone 1:04:29

Yes, with uh his pot of chili. So um, and then there will be a final four tip-off tailgate on Georgia Street. Um, there's outdoor street parties all weekend, including free watch parties for men's and women's final four games. There will also be uh giveaways, basketball activities, food and drinks, and the hours for that are Saturday, 1 to 11 p.m., Sunday, noon to six, and Monday, four to eleven.

Noah Crenshaw 1:04:57

And something to note is I don't think we said that these are all in Indianapolis.

Erika Malone 1:05:00

Uh yes, we just wanted to get um give you guys some by you guys. Yeah, yeah. We're at the south side, so we just want to give you guys some activities this weekend to do on Saturday before you spend time with your family on Sunday.

Noah Crenshaw 1:05:12

And if you don't want to necessarily do the games or a dance off, or there's some other stuff too that's more artsy for me.

Erika Malone 1:05:22

There is uh Swish 2026, that's in downtown Indy. Uh I know, right? So I kind of like that. Uh Citywide Arts and Cultural Festival running Friday through Monday. That features live music, performances, new sidewalk gallery murals, and uh let me see if I pronounce this right Epicurean market. Epicurean market, yeah. Uh Heron School of Art and Design poster giveaways, and through two eyes walking tours, interesting. Uh, there's also gonna be paid opportunities for uh 200 plus local artists, performers, vendors, and chefs. And It's free and family friendly. So bring your kids. Yeah. And I guess now Now we can talk about the Easter bunny Noah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:06:08

Well let's talk about some local events.

Erika Malone 1:06:12

Yes. Uh if you want if there's a local Easter egg hunt you wanna um you want to attend, uh there's lots uh here in the county. And let me take a big breath for this.

Noah Crenshaw 1:06:24

There we only put a couple. Yeah. There are so many more. We just published a list a few days ago.

Erika Malone 1:06:29

We did. So if you don't want to listen to me talk, you can go find the list online.

Noah Crenshaw 1:06:33

Or you might have already made your plans.

Erika Malone 1:06:35

Yeah. So there will be an Easter egg hunt and brunch from 9 30 to 11.30 Saturday at the Haven at Hickory Stick, um, which is at that's in Greenwood. Um, that's at uh 4422 Thompson Boulevard. Then there's the Cordry Sweetwater Easter egg hunt, which is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the fire department. That's on 101 Firehouse Road in in Nineveh. Uh that Easter egg hunt is gonna have four egg hunting areas for different age groups, snacks, and of course the Easter bunny. Then there will be one at the uh from at 1115 a.m. to noon Sunday at the Impact Christian Church, which is at 2800 North Graham Road in Franklin. Kids will be able to enjoy an Easter egg hunt following services at the church. There will also be a breakfast before services from 8 45 to 10 a.m.

Noah Crenshaw 1:07:32

And lastly, we have one that isn't necessarily this weekend, but it is happening soon, which is an Easter egg hunt down in Princess Lakes through the town. It's from uh it starts at 11 a.m. on April 11th. It's at Town Hall, which is uh 14 East Lakeview Drive in Nineveh. Um it's gonna start at 11 a.m. sharp, they say. Uh it features five age groups. There also be opportunities for photos with the Easter Bunny. And if you come a little early at 10, you can see fire trucks and police vehicles.

Erika Malone 1:08:04

Easter bunny is gonna have a busy weekend going to all these.

Noah Crenshaw 1:08:07

Busy week, because this one I think is going into next weekend.

Erika Malone 1:08:10

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Roundtable: Early voting starts next week

Noah Crenshaw 1:08:12

Um and lastly in a round table, we would uh we do need to acknowledge something that's happening this week. With you know, we're deep in election season, and you're about you guys are who's years who are registered to vote, are about to get the chance to start voting. Yep. Um so early voting starts next week. It starts Tuesday at the courthouse here in Franklin at 8 30 a.m.

Erika Malone 1:08:35

And I'll be there.

Noah Crenshaw 1:08:36

Yeah, you might see Erica if you go.

Erika Malone 1:08:38

Yeah, I'll be uh asking people um you know about why they're there. About why they're there.

Noah Crenshaw 1:08:44

Um there's a lot of offices on the ballot. Um there's federal, state, and local. Um, and it's the first week of early voting because for registration also ends on Monday.

Erika Malone 1:08:56

So And I you reminded me yesterday to to register to vote after you told me multiple times uh and I kept putting it off.

Noah Crenshaw 1:09:05

And she's glad she did because she realized that she definitely has updated it. She hasn't updated it since she moved here. So if you've moved to Johnson County recently and you're listening, or you've recently moved in general and wherever you are listening, because I know looking at Ariana Lakes, we have some viewers on the outside Johnson County listeners, uh, please check. So you're not disappointed on election day or when you go to the or you get turned away and you're like, hey, uh you you can't vote today.

Erika Malone 1:09:29

So you don't let your your address is different.

Noah Crenshaw 1:09:32

Yeah, so regardless, it's always good to check too, because the Indiana Voters website is really neat because you can also see your ballot, who's on your ballot.

Erika Malone 1:09:38

Yeah, it's to use too.

Noah Crenshaw 1:09:40

Once your registration information is updated to be clear.

Erika Malone 1:09:42

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:09:42

If it's out of date, you're gonna get wrong information.

Erika Malone 1:09:45

And it's indianavoters.gov, correct?

Noah Crenshaw 1:09:47

Indiana Voters.com or indianavoters.in.gov.

Erika Malone 1:09:50

Well, what's the schedule?

Noah Crenshaw 1:09:52

Well, for early voting, because that's the focus of what we're talking about right now, uh the courthouse is gonna be open Tuesday to Friday next week. This is because of when the voting community starts county, starting at the earliest possible day you can, which is April 7th, Pearl Indiana law. Um, and then it's gonna be Monday to Friday for the following three weeks. And then for two weekends on starting or two Saturdays specifically, starting April 25th, and the following Saturday is gonna be open for weekend voting. And then some satellite sites will open for voting for April 25th and May 2nd, along with April 30th and May 1st. So that's the week before the election. There will also be in those satellite sites, I should say, are the libraries and White River, the White River Township Library, the Trafalgar Library, and Greenwood Library along with John R. Drybred. Oh, okay. Community center at a burst. Dotcha. Yeah, that's also one. They've been, these are all places that have been there a long time, have been boat centers for a long time. Um, there's also three sooner living boat centers at Greenwood Village South, Author Pine Senior Life in Franklin, and Compass Park in Franklin. And they're gonna be open one day each in order. The word already said, April 27th through April 29th. Um, early voting ends at noon on Monday at the courthouse, across the building one, open that day. When I say Monday, I mean Monday, May 4th. Um, and the election day is the following day, May 5th, where there will be 15 vote centers open across the county from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. And we'll talk more about this because we're planning to do a special election preview. Yeah. Talking about everything before the election. Um, we'll also have some other special voting things coming up that I'm not gonna I'm really being suspense about right now. We have to have some plans.

A thank you to our listeners

Erika Malone 1:11:29

We have some plans. We're some surprises. We like to surprise people. Yeah, we're also well thanks for that uh early voting update, Nella. Um anything else uh you wanna tell our listeners before we sign off?

Noah Crenshaw 1:11:41

We appreciate you staying with us. Um you know, when we started this, it was kind of uh designed to be a pilot and really sure what to expect.

Erika Malone 1:11:52

We it's been going pretty well. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:11:54

So and I think it's we might be probably gonna be moving past pilot soon and just making it more permanent.

Erika Malone 1:12:01

Yeah, I hope so.

Noah Crenshaw 1:12:02

So we kind of gave ourselves a few months to decide, and we you guys have been listening.

Erika Malone 1:12:08

Yeah, you guys have really put in an effort and uh listened to this and uh we're growing a little faster than I expected, it's good. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:12:17

So we're glad you guys are tuning in.

Erika Malone 1:12:20

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:12:20

And dealing with us as we uh navigate this.

Erika Malone 1:12:23

Yeah. But you know, we're we're getting we're getting the hang of it, and we really appreciate um everyone listening and uh to keep listening. So because we we want this to continue. Um and I just want to say on behalf of the Daily Journal, we hope everyone has a great Easter, um, and a great weekend, um, you know, and good holiday.

Noah Crenshaw 1:12:47

And um nice time with family for those who take part in Easter. And you know, it's very diverse county. There are some people who don't. Yeah.

Erika Malone 1:12:56

And uh keep us in your um in your thoughts that uh Eric gets an Easter basket. Oh my god.

Noah Crenshaw 1:13:03

Um thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of Beyond the Headlines and let us know what you would like to hear by submitting your thoughts to news tips at dailyjournal.net. There's also a link in our description as well. You can just click and do it directly. Um in the episode description, I should say, and also the podcast description in general. And you know, follow us wherever you get your podcasts and also leave a review. Um, that helps us know if we're on the right track as well.

Erika Malone 1:13:32

And what you guys want to see. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 1:13:34

So um make sure to tune in next time.

Erika Malone 1:13:36

Yeah. See you guys soon.