Intro

Erika Malone 0:00

This week on Beyond the Headlines, the election has come and gone, and we'll have a recap of what happened. Community support is powering the Trafalgar Amphitheater Project. An injured former Trafalgar police officer shapes a new state law ensuring catastrophically injured officers get health care, and a new bakery opens in Edinburgh. 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 Eric Alone here with our news reporter, Hallie Gellinett. Hello. How are you doing? I'm doing good.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

It's been a long week. Yes. Glad it's finally the weekend.

Erika Malone 0:36

Yes, so this is your second week here.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

How's it been going so far? It's been going great. It's different than what I wrote uh when I wrote for The Republic in Columbus. I was the arts and entertainment reporter, so. Yeah.

An intro to a new reporter

Erika Malone 0:48

Well, for our listeners here, um kind of tell us a little bit about yourself, where um where you got started, and um, you know, what got you interested in journalism.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yeah. So I actually started writing uh in my sophomore year of high school, writing for Fisher's High School's newspaper. At the time it was called End the Red. Uh now at least Tiger Tracks, but Tiger Tracks. Interesting. Yeah. Then I went to the University of Indianapolis and studied communication there with the ethicist in journalism. I wrote for The Reflector there, that newspaper, and I was actually the feature and entertainment editor for one semester at the same time. So that was fun. After I graduated, I went to Lowensport and wrote for their paper, The Pharos Tribune. Then I went to the Republic after about a year of writing there. Uh and was their arts entertainment reporter as well as their Faith and Family reporter. And now I'm here at the Daily Journal.

Erika Malone 1:42

Yeah, and you're covering uh local government, things like that. So, and we're so glad to have you here. Uh, it's been fun working with you these past few weeks, and uh, we just covered elections, so that was also a big thing uh for everyone here as well. So, how about we get into a little bit of that? What do you think? Yeah, it's great. Awesome.

Primary Election Day 2026 recap

Erika Malone 2:02

Election day has come and gone. We were out and about Tuesday, uh going to polling sites, and there was a significant number of Johnson County voters who came out to make their voices heard. Among eligible voters, 14.3% of Johnson County residents cast their ballots in the primary election that was on Tuesday, and a total of 119,677 Johnson County residents were registered to vote this year, and ultimately only 17,051 people turned out. So a little bit um of a lower turnout, but this outpaced the county's last midterm primary election in 2022 when 12 point when only 12.2% of voters casted a ballot.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

So why was turnout higher than uh in 2022?

Erika Malone 2:49

Well, actually, uh, while not packed with high interest races, um Johnson County voters did have multiple contested seats to consider. And uh let's just go a little bit into that, uh, shall we? So the U.S. House of Representative District 6 race was can was contested on the Republican and Democratic ballots, Indiana Senate District 41 and Indiana House Districts 57 and 60 were contested for Republicans, while Indiana House District 58 was contested for both parties' ballots. Locally, districts 2 and 3 with the Johnson County Council were contested for Republicans, and there was also one contested seat on the ballot for the Bargersville Town Council, which was something that I was covering. Um, two seats on the ballot for Edinburgh Town Council, which you kind of got the to see that a little bit, and three seats on the ballot for Princess Lakes Town Council that were contested on Republican ballots. Additionally, the Franklin Union Needham Township trustee race, which was a big one that we also saw, was contested for Republicans, alongside the Fun Township board seat for Union Township. And those were enough to motivate local voters. Um County Clerk uh Trina McLaughlin told us. So lots of contested races.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Great. So what were the results of those races?

Erika Malone 4:06

I'll start off with uh the 6th Congressional District, uh, which was uh a big one. Uh Jefferson Shreve of Indianapolis won his GOP primary against Sarah Janice Brown of Greenwood. Meanwhile, um Cynthia Cindy Wirth of Columbus won her four-way primary with William Corey Amex, Nicholas Frederick Baker, and David Lawrence Boyd. Uh Shreve won Johnson County with 51.7 of the vote compared to Brown's 48.4. So pretty close there. For the Democrats, Worth won Johnson County with 62.4% of the vote compared to fellow Amex's 14.9%, Baker's 13.2%, and Boyd's 9.5. So she got an over 60% of the vote there. The 6th district includes Johnson County and parts of Bartholomew, Fayette, Hancock, Henry, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Union, and Wade counties, plus Southern Marion County. Shreve and Worth will face each other in the November election along with any third party or independent candidates that may file. They still have time to file for that. So yeah, a little bit about that race. That was a a close one to watch. And then we get on to one that's uh been a top of mind for a lot of people, uh Indiana Senate District 41. And this was a surprise to us as well. Uh state rep Michelle Davis of Whitelin beat Senate Greg Walker in Columbus in the GOP primary Tuesday night as well. So district wide, Davis won with 58.8% of the vote compared to Walker's 41.2, so a large gap there. In Johnson County, Davis got 66.9% of the vote compared to Walker's 33.1%. So I mean almost like 30% more. So District 41, that includes the southern half of Johnson County and all of Bartholomew County, and Davis will face uh Democrat Ross Thomas of Columbus in the fall. So let's start with uh some House districts, and we'll start with 57. Republican Wes Bennett will face Democrat Suzanne Fortenberry of Greenwood in the fall, and this office represents part of White River Township and parts of Morgan and Hendricks counties. This seat was originally held by Craig Haggard, who filed to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Indiana's 4th Congressional District, which does not include Johnson County, but he didn't win that primary. So district wide for Indiana's House District 57, Bennett won with 31.1% of the vote, beating fellow Republicans Greg Noble Knott's 29.4%, Rob Styles 19.8%, and Tina Turner's 19.37%. For Johnson County specifically, Styles won his home county with 41.5%, followed by Knott's 20.8%, Bennett's 20.1%, and Turner's 17.6%. Bennett did win his home county of Hendricks with 54% of the vote, and Nod won his home county of Morgan County with 38.8% of the vote. So it seems like a lot of the candidates won their home counties. And then uh let's move on, let's go up a number to District 58. There were two primaries there, and this was Michelle Davis's old seat. So John Reed won the GOP nomination with 42.5% of the vote, while Michelle Hennessy Sears won the Democratic nomination with 75.3% of the vote. Um, other Republican candidates who sought the office, Ed Brinkley and John Young, received 33.5% and 24% of the vote, respectively. The other Democratic candidate, Eric Reingart, received 24% of the vote in that primary. Reed and Sears will face off in the fall to determine who will represent Whiteland, New Whiteland, and a central portion of Greenwood in the Indiana State House. Okay. And now we actually skip a number and we go to Indiana House District 60. So 14-year incumbent uh Peggy Mayfield overwhelmingly won the chance to represent the Republicans in District 60 in the November 3rd general election, gaining 63% of the vote in Johnson County. The Martinsville residents challenger Michael Moore of Martinsville and David Waters of Greenwood garnered 21% and 16% of the vote respectively. District 60 includes an area of White River Township in Johnson County along with Morgan and Monroe counties. And Mayfield won her home county of Morgan with nearly 68% of the vote. So that's kind of a little recap of some of the state and house races. So I think uh now we'll take a little break. Want your business to reach our listeners in Johnson County and beyond? Reach out to the Daily Journal by calling 317-736-2730 to ask about our advertising opportunities. Now let's kind of transition to more of our local races. Um let's start with County Council. So two longtime public servants won Republican nominations for the two contested Johnson County Council districts. So we have Norm Gaypart, who won 44.12% of the votes for District 2, and there were three Republicans for that race. So Gaypart, Ron Deere, and Brymore competed in the GOP District 2 primary. And this seat uh is currently held by John Ditmars, who was not seeking re-election. District 2 includes most of Franklin, Whiteland, and New Whiteland, along with parts of Greenwood and portions of Pleasant and Franklin Townships.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Kind of the areas that I cover.

Erika Malone 9:50

Yeah, absolutely. So and John Price won with 64.67% of the votes for District 3, and he faced fellow Republican Jay Arnold. The GOP district incumbent Jonathan T. Myers did not seek Relakes re-election as well and is running for Pleasant Township trustee. And uh District 3 includes most of Greenwood and parts of Pleasant and Clark Townships. And then if we uh transition to Fun Township, uh that name. But yeah, Fun Township. Yeah, Franklin Union Eedham Township. It's it's the Fun Township. Um there was an upset in that race there for the first time in its existence. Fun Township will have a new trustee. So Jodi L V, the challenger in this year's Republican primary for the Township trustee, won 58% of the vote. She defeated longtime incumbent Lydia Wales, who was seeking her fourth term as trustee, where Wales only got uh 42% of the vote. And uh there was no Democratic or third-party candidates that filed.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Um is a big upset.

Erika Malone 10:53

That is a big upset, yeah. As for the Union Township seat on the Fun Township board, GOP incumbent Don Barr defeated challenger Justin Griggs. Barr won 51% of the vote compared to 49% for Griggs. This was the second straight primary in which Barr and Griggs have scored off after running against each other for the Union Township board seat in 2022. So they've had they faced off together multiple times.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

And it looks like the votes were pretty close. Yes.

Erika Malone 11:20

Yes, pretty very uh very close race there as well. And moving on to Bargersville, uh, they had a contested race as well with an incumbent that pulled out the victory over his Republican challenger for the at-large town council seat nomination. Um, beating out former town employee and current firefighter Kevin Killinger, Andrew Greenwood will now face Democrat Michael Chiapetta in the general election. The District 1 see on the ballot was not contested, and incumbent Republican James Pfeiffer is so far the only candidate seeking that office. Um, so he was actually previously elected as an at-large uh candidate as uh the council last year created uh number districts for the first time. So this is new. Uh numbered districts are kind of new for them. So now if we move a little farther south uh to Edinburgh, the two incumbent Republicans running for town council have won a ticket to the general election. Incumbents Deborah K. Buck and Marshall Ryan Piercefield won with 35.90% of the votes and 35.02 respectively. Buck and Piersfield were challenged by former Franklin business owner Robert Tadekin, who finished third with 29.07 of the votes. No Democrats or Third Party candidates have filed to run for this town council in the fall, but they still have the opportunity to do so. And then lastly, uh we'll move on to Little Princess Lakes. Republicans Brian Tierman, Gregory Nelson, and Lindsay Henson have been nominated for seats on the town council. Tierman was nominated with 23.53% of the votes. Nelson with 21.46 of the votes, and Henson with 21.30% of the votes. Henson and Tierman are incumbents of the council, while Nelson previously served on the council. Also running were Republicans Katherine Gleason, who received 17.01% of the votes, and Autumn Swayer, who received 16.69% of the votes.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

That was a lot of races you had to cover and a lot of numbers to read off. Yes. Yeah. It was. This was uh both of our first times covering it at the elections at the Daily Journal. Very different experience for me. I never done that before. Uh like I mentioned, I was there at St. Entertainment. So um was your first time covering an election? I believe so. I believe the only other time I did it was in Logansport, and that was more of the mayoral race.

Erika Malone 13:57

So Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah.

Erika Malone 13:59

Well, kind of uh tell me what'd you learn from it, and then also like what you what you issues did you run into? Because I know um you kind of there was some Wi-Fi issues and it was also raining that day.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yeah, it was raining um pretty hard there for a while. There was um there were a few candidates that were out campaigning and they had tents and they had jackets on, just it was awful that day, rain-wise. Get soaked. Well, luckily I brought my umbrella. Uh but it's kind of hard to take pictures and stuff with holding an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other. Right.

Erika Malone 14:33

Yeah. So for our listeners that maybe don't know, um, so on election day we actually were we took shifts. Uh so Noah was up at like five in the morning or something like that out uh at polling sites. And what we do is we kind of gather little snapshots, we talk to voters, campaigners, poll workers, um, just to kind of get a sense of what that polling site um, you know, kind of the vibe there, I guess. Yeah. So we were all out and about, we were riding uh on the hour, uh, in our cars and wherever we could find Wi-Fi.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

And that was a big issue I ran into, uh especially in more of like the Princess Lakes area, the internet connection isn't as isn't as good. So it did make um getting some stories in a little tricky uh to get them in on time, and eventually I just had to drive up to Franklin. That was where I was going next anyway. Uh but it was a really cool experience. I've never done anything like that before, as I said. Um getting to see, especially all these different areas of Johnson County that I had never been to before, and getting to get like a little snapshot of what they're like, because I'm covering them now. So it was a good first first taste of what I can expect.

Erika Malone 15:46

Yeah, absolutely. And this isn't my first time covering election, so I covered it um at a previous paper I worked at, but this is my first time covering it with the Daily Journal, and uh we do it a little differently around here. So that was I almost um I kind of enjoyed it felt like a rush in a way, because I was like, you know, I was driving around, going from place to place, talking to people, and then I was like, okay, I have I have a deadline, like I have to get this done by this certain amount of time, and you know, I'm riding my car, and you know, we're uh I think we were l all talking of like has anyone ate breakfast yet? You know? So it you know, just things like that. And then um, you know, kind of I think we didn't leave the office until like 10 30 that night. So we were all sitting uh, you know, sitting around waiting for the votes to come in and updating our stories in real time, uh, and enjoyed some pizza.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah. And I thought the process was really smooth for what it was. Uh yeah. Definitely not as chaotic as it could be. Yeah. So yeah, it was a great experience. Yeah, absolutely. So uh why do you think it's important to have on-the-ground reporting on election day?

Erika Malone 16:54

I um I always kind of like having uh, you know, that kind of stuff. I think it's important for at least readers and voters to kind of get real-time updates about, you know, maybe which like polling sites are the most busiest or maybe which areas are having issues, because um I know sometimes like machines can, you know, mess up or things like that, but it also gives people a taste of what election day can be like as far as uh going to the polling site, and also it just ex it spreads that knowledge of you know what election day is about and why it's important. So what about you?

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Yeah. I think that uh it's important in this um more fast-paced world with more technology uh to provide uh these real-time updates because that's how people get their news. They get it through online and they expect it to be fast. Yeah, which we have to be able to provide because if people want to go out and vote that day, they need to know maybe which place has is more open for Tim to go to. Yeah. Um especially with the weather too, maybe they want to go somewhere a little closer. Yeah.

Erika Malone 18:03

So or they that they want to avoid the rain, which I think towards the end of the day was not possible, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

There was a time like mid-afternoon where definitely should shouldn't go out.

Erika Malone 18:15

Thankfully, I I avoided the rain, and I know Ryan had some issues getting back to the office because it was pouring rain and the traffic and everything like that. But I hope everyone uh who uh vote uh wanted to vote got out and vote. And if you didn't go out and vote, go out and vote uh in the November election. Yeah. So but yeah,

Community support powers Trafalgar amphitheater

Erika Malone 18:35

I'd say let's uh move on to some other stories that we got. I kind of did a little story about the uh community of Trafalgar actually kind of supported the efforts of the amphitheater and the community building. Oh, that's great. So yeah, so this was just kind of a little like update of you know how the community kind of came to came together in support of this project. So the community partners and local businesses collaborated to transform the Trafalgar's community building area with a new amphitheater. I've done stories about this before. So the project was actually made possible through discounted services, donated materials and labor, um, historic preservation efforts and grants, including a $100,000 grant from Festival Country, which they give um to communities to kind of um improve the quality of life as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Yeah, that's fantastic. Great to hear. Yeah, I remember reading a little bit about that too. So why are the donation efforts in this particularly important?

Erika Malone 19:34

Yeah, so actually the total project costs in this were in the thousands, far below like any typical like multimillion dollar cost of similar amphitheaters we've seen statewide. So the fact that they could all of these community businesses have been uh were brought together to lower that cost to only in the thousands for the town of Trafalgar, it's kind of amazing just to see how the community can come together for that. So those who've helped include glue lamb erectors, which donated the amphitheater uh design, architectural drawings, glue laminated beam structure, and no markup costs um and all assembly labor for like free of charge. Size more concrete and fully's custom concrete finishing provided deep discounts on foundation, stem walls and stage construction, uh, and beacon electrical services and Kirby Risk Columbus discounted electrical conduit installations and materials. And the Marion Cowan Fund donated um $5,250 for landscaping and beautification funding, uh, benches and trees to honor the Trafalgar family legacy. And then also there was some uh historic preservation as well. Uh stones from the historic Thompson Mill Dam in Edinburgh will be used for landscaping and seeding, highlighting regional history.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Oh, that's always very important.

Erika Malone 20:58

Yeah, absolutely. And uh Piercefield contracting is providing low or no cost transportation for those historic stones. Plaques or QR codes will uh share the history of the Thompson Mill Dam uh with visitors as well. And lastly, uh a Franklin-based business, Internet Communications, donated free public Wi-Fi for the community building and the surrounding property. So additional Wi-Fi routers will be installed to expand free access across the site at no cost to the town or patrons.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Well, that's great.

Erika Malone 21:29

Yeah, so if you uh have an event at the community building or if you're there to see a show at the amphitheater in the future, um you all free Wi-Fi there.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

That's great. Yeah, and the thing about the historic stones, that's um really interesting to me because uh historic preservation's important to me. Oh, really? That it's great uh that they were able to repurpose those instead of just tossing them away and saying I don't need these anymore. Uh, but that's great that they're being repurposed for a new generation. Yeah, absolutely.

Erika Malone 21:55

And I think uh the seating ideas uh will be interesting too. I think that'll provide some uh unique design and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

So makes me wonder how much of the if they're gonna change anything at all to make it maybe a bit better to sit on, but yeah.

Erika Malone 22:09

Um I don't know. That yeah, we'll wait and see on that and see what the seating arrangements look like.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Yeah, let's find out.

Erika Malone 22:14

Yeah.

Injured officer shapes new state law

Erika Malone 22:15

Well, let's move on to a different Trafogger story, uh, one that I I did recently where uh former officer Dustin Moody actually uh fought to change a new law. So uh for people that don't know, former officer Dustin Moody uh was catastrophically injured in tw in a 2022 crash, and that led the push to change India in a law on health care for injured first responders. So a big it was a big deal. House Bill 1044, authored by Representative Jim Pressell and signed by Governor Mike Braun, now requires municipalities to provide the same health insurance to medically retired line of duty injured first responders and their dependents as active employees receive.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Oh, that's great.

Erika Malone 22:58

Yeah, so before that, um medically retired uh line of duty first responders were not given the same uh healthcare coverage. So this is all found uh through Dustin Moody's experience as well. The previous law was kind of vague, leaving many injured officers and firefighters without employer-provided health insurance. And this new law is expected to help more than 200 first responders statewide.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Oh, that's great. That's great that he was able to take uh such an awful experience and help other people with it. Uh yeah. Help people in the future. Yeah. Uh what happened that led to this change?

Erika Malone 23:31

Yeah, so Moody's crash occurred during the short pursuit of an impaired driver. Uh, he suffered life-threatening injuries, including paralysis, and spent months in the hospital and rehab facilities. Um, I had uh a really good talk with him uh just a few days ago, actually, just about his experience through it all. After uh having to medically retire, he didn't really have a choice to with being paralyzed. He was forced to medically retire. Moody discovered that the Indian law did not clearly require municipalities to continue providing health insurance to first responders who are permanently disabled in the line of duty. Huh. Yeah. Some cities and towns continue coverage voluntarily, while others denied it or offered only temporary COVID coverage, leaving injured officers and firefighters vulnerable. Um, Trafalgar officials initially struggled with the cost of Moody's ongoing care. So the town was able to extend COVID coverage temporarily, which is just kind of a temporary health coverage for Moody. But the long-term coverage uh was uncertain, exposing a gap in state law that that left many injured first responders without guaranteed health care. Yeah, that's a definite uh crack in the system. Yeah, and after many, many meetings and stuff uh with the town council, this uh this is was this gap was kind of discovered. So Moody worked with police, fire, and union leaders to draft legislation, then testified before lawmakers, gaining unanimous bipartisan support, which in the which nowadays is very rare. The law applies retroactively to injuries dating back to January 1st, 2020, with an application deadline of June tw of June 1st, 2026. So that's coming up.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Yeah, well, even still, that's great that even people who were injured in the in the past they can still take advantage of that.

Erika Malone 25:19

Yeah, yeah. So any uh first responders that were injured um in that time frame who maybe uh didn't weren't able to receive healthcare will now have the opportunity to as well. Oh, that's great. Yeah. So Trevelar has since adjusted its police budget, and Moody will now receive the same coverage as active officers. Uh police chief Charles Roberts um praised Moody uh for helping officers staywide, calling it a reflection of his character, which I thought was very nice. And in my talk with Mooney, he describes this chapter of his life as a season with purpose, one where he could turn um personal tragedy into meaningful change, and he still continues to focus on rehabilitation while supporting injured first responders.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, kind of going back to what I said about how taking he took this traumatic life experience for him and really changed it into something positive. Yeah. Not just himself, but all officers, really. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so you said that you sat down and talked with him. Uh-huh. Tell me then about your approach to stories like this.

Erika Malone 26:19

Yeah, so I had a I actually had a phone call conversation with him. It's like over an hour long. And I think I wanted to uh take a really sensitive story, um, because obviously if someone someone's life was changed, and then having to having a lot of setbacks and uh going through a really hard journey to get um such a large undertaking of changing a law is a big story to tell. Yeah. So I wanted to do it justice and kind of hear from his experience through the whole process, from the injury to the complications with the town council to now the process of the law being changed and what he felt afterwards. So uh it was really nice um getting to talk with him about that.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Yeah, and as he was saying, uh telling his story, uh what was going through your head.

Erika Malone 27:09

I personally uh just myself hearing um him talk to about the accident and stuff, I'm starting to get a little emotional. And I think sometimes as journalists, you know, it's hard to kind of separate your feelings out from stuff like that. Oh, definitely, yeah. So and just hearing his, you know, hearing his story, it it almost um put a fire under me to be like, okay, I want to tell this, I want to tell this right. I want it to reach people. So yeah, I think sometimes emotions can actually play into better reporting. Yeah. Um as long as it's not biased, you know. So yeah, but it again, it was a really good conversation. I I think it turned out to be a really good story, and uh, I'm glad that you know he was able to kind of make something uh to change the law and uh give uh other first responders an opportunity to help their family in the future. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Well, how about uh we take just a a short little break before we go on to our round table? That sounds great. Like listening to this podcast, you can help support it. Subscribe to the Daily Journal at subscribe.dailyjournal.net to support your local newspaper and this podcast. Your support helps make everything we do possible.

Roundtable: Prince’s Lakes to get new storm siren

Erika Malone 28:25

And now we're back. So uh Hell, you got some stuff for a round table.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Take it away. Yeah. So uh first up, Princess Lakes is getting new tornado sirens. Whoop whoop. Or getting a new tornado siren.

Erika Malone 28:37

Whoop whoop, and yes, that's what they sound like.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

I am a tornado siren. So there was a dispute over who owned the town's tornado siren, but that has now since been resolved. So Princess Lakes will be getting a new siren. Awesome. Uh so Johnson County is expected to assist with installing the new system, pending approval by county commissioners on May 11th, and that's according to County Council President Lindsay Henson. She thanked residents for their patience and expressed uh appreciation for the county and township trustees' support, as this has been a long time coming. Yeah. So the old tornado siren had been non-functional for months, which is not what you want in Tornado Safe. Yeah, so yeah, especially since we've uh we've had some severe weather. We have. Yeah. So definitely need to get that fixed. So Johnson County's emergency management director, Stephanie Sitching, uh said that repairs were attempted but uh unsuccessful. Uh when the town asked the county to pay for a replacement, they were informed that the county does not own any sirens, and the siren belonged to the town as part of its incorporation. Oh, interesting. Mm-hmm. So despite not owning the equipment, uh, county officials helped by locating a replacement siren for the town at no cost, which I thought was great of them to do. Yeah. Uh so Princess Lakes will not have to purchase the new siren um itself, but they must uh repair the electrical system that powers it and pay for the installation. Ah, gotcha. Yes. So the installation cost is six thousand dollars, which will be shared by Princess Lace and Nineveh Township. The new siren must be manufactured, so installation is expected to begin uh between mid-May and early June. Uh, so coming up. Henson acknowledged the delay, but said that choosing a new system provides a long-term solution rather than repeatedly repairing aging equipment. I think that's for the best. I believe she said that this uh siren is about 17 years old. Oh wow, yeah, so time for an upgrade. Yeah, definitely. Nice. Well, what's next? Yeah,

Roundtable: Lola’s Bakery opens in Edinburgh

SPEAKER_00 30:27

so down in Edinburgh, a new bakery has opened in downtown Edinburgh. This opened in January, but I I just did a story on it, spoke to the owner. It's Lola's bake shop. Oh, nice. So she's bringing uh fresh energy to the local business district and offering residents a new option for daily bake goods. So Brittany Rader, she opened the business, like I said, in January. And you might be wondering, like I did, uh her name's Brittany. So where the name Lola came from. Yeah. Uh it's actually an acronym for the first letter of the of her four children. Oh, nice. Yeah. So I thought that was a really nice little family touch. Yeah. So the store can be found at 109 West Main Cross Street in Emberk. Uh, but Raider has been uh baking for the community a lot longer before opening her storefront. Um she began by selling soft pretzels at Spring Markets and the Franklin Farmers Market. I love a good pretzel. Uh I didn't get to try one, but I'll get some. What did you try there? I tried the pepperoni roll and it was really good. Ooh, nice. Really, really good. Yeah. Uh that's one of their more popular items, too. Uh I love a good pretzel. Highly recommend. Uh she used uh local ingredients from the market or pretzels. Uh so that I thought that was also really cool, like way to repurpose. Or use the things that are around you, really. Yeah. So her menu, aside from pretzels and pepperoni rolls, she also has muffins, cookies, lots of good stuff. Uh, woman I spoke to in there purchased a lemon bar.

Erika Malone 31:54

Oh wow, yeah. And I really uh you went and got some pictures as well. So how was it hard uh resisting the temptation of all the good smelling stuff?

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Well, I gave in to the temptation because I purchased. But I thought it was uh it was great and it was really fascinating to see like just that she took this space that she had only really started selling her uh products at farmers markets recently, and then six months later, or even maybe not even that, she had her own storefront. Yeah, that's great. So as I asked her, I was like, why pretzels exactly? So she actually worked um at a German restaurant for five years and she made thousands of pretzels.

Erika Malone 32:39

Oh she knows how to make the good pretzels.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

I think it's in her blood name.

unknown 32:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Yes. So she believed that this gave her a natural advantage in offering pretzels locally, and I wholeheartedly agree because I don't know where else around here you can get a good pretzel.

Erika Malone 32:52

Besides Auntie Ann's, but that's that's like a that's like a corporate thing. So like you know, which their pretzels are also good, but if you can get it locally, that's where that's where you should spend your money.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Yeah. And also one thing that I thought was really cool is that um Brittany emphasizes uh affordable, high quality stuff. So I think maybe the cheapest thing on her menu is two dollars. Oh wow, yeah, and they don't go any higher than ten. That's awesome. No, she wants to sell high-quality, affordable goods, so I highly recommend going there. So she also incorporates her farmer market roots uh by selling locally made goods, including goat milk soap from Barkersville, extracts from Greenfield, honey from Needham, uh, and other small batch local products.

Erika Malone 33:36

That's awesome. Yeah, it's nice to see that she's also supporting uh, you know, maybe some other local businesses and made goods too. Yeah. Um, in her shop.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Yeah. Yeah. So you might be wondering where no, I hate that. Okay. So her shop is uh located at the former site of Jerry Girl Bakery uh that closed in May as the owner could retire. Um so Raider took over the space in October, and that was supported partly by a launch Johnson County grant. Oh, nice. So this Launch Johnson County was created in 2024 as a partnership between the Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce, the town of Edinburgh, uh, and Franklin College to support local entrepreneurs with mentorship workshops and grants. Um, Raider received a $10,000 grant that was originally awarded to someone else uh who later forfeited it. So she said she was in the right place at the right time.

Erika Malone 34:27

Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

So and she was encouraged by Edinburgh's uh economic development director, Sarah Dry Sarah Beth Drybred, uh, to preserve it. That's awesome, yeah. So instead of a traditional application, uh we're participating in a pitch contest, and her pitch was strengthened by a full business plan, uh raw, raw sales data from successful summer at farmers markets, uh, her formal baking education that she received in North Carolina, uh, and her industry experience at food service. So business has slowed a bit since uh she opened in January, but she feels it fortunate that uh she was able to move from a farmers market uh to a lease storefront in just a few yeah.

Erika Malone 35:08

Well, and summer's just right around the corner. So uh and the farmers markets will be starting back up again. So uh I I think she might see business booming. It's just a great little shop. I highly recommend it. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.

Outro

Erika Malone 35:23

Well, I think that's the end of our episode. So, Howie, thank you so much for coming on to your first official episode and not your last. You we will see you again. Oh, great. Uh so uh is there anything else you want to say before we sign off here?

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Nope. And I hope that every listening has a good day.

Erika Malone 35:39

Awesome, yeah. Well, thank you to everyone 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, and please follow us wherever you get podcasts and leave a review. And we hope you tune in next time.