Articles by Mike Rhodes

Muncie-Delaware County 2021 Real Estate—Closed Sales Are Up 10.1%

By Tony Sandleben— MUNCIE, Ind.—The Indiana Housing Market update for 2021 has been posted by the Indiana Association of Realtors. The report reviewed two specific areas that are of interest to realtors/developers/homeowners: Closed Sales and Median Price. For the year 2021 Muncie/Yorktown showed impressive results to advance up 3 spots to the 17th most active large real estate market (by number of sales) in the state. These 2021 results indicate that Muncie/Yorktown moved ahead of the Kokomo area, plus the Lebanon/Zionsville/Whitestown area,…

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Muncie Action Plan’s Task Force 5: Managing Community Resources

By Marta Moody— MUNCIE, Ind. – The Muncie Action Plan (MAP) spent much of 2021 in partnership with representatives from Delaware-Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission and NEXT Muncie surveying Muncie’s citizens and working with the urban planning firm czb in the development of the new Strategic Investment Plan for the City of Muncie. The last large-scale MAP planning took place in 2009 and although two updates have been completed since, we are excited to put into place the newest large-scale engagement effort where Muncie’s residents…


Walk A Mile In My Shoes To Take Place on February 19, 2022

By Mary Ippel— MUNCIE, Ind.—Some of you know I volunteer at the Muncie Mission weekly.  I am so blessed by the men and employees I see every Monday morning at 7:30 a.m.  It’s a joy to see how the Mission uses all the resources they receive so wisely and carefully as they work with the men to help them restore their lives and the lives of their families. So I’m happy to announce it’s time for my favorite fundraiser. The…


Muncie’s Own Red-tail Land Conservancy Wins $5K Mountain DEW Outdoor Grant

By PepsiCo— PURCHASE, N.Y.— MTN DEW® has announced the 40 recipients of the MTN DEW Outdoor Grants program, which awards $200,000 to organizations championing the great outdoors across the United States. Muncie’s Red-tail conservancy was one of the winners, receiving a $5,000 grant. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, 7.1 million more Americans enjoyed outdoor recreation in 2020 than in the year before – with a record 53% of Americans participating at least once. Recognizing the unprecedented number of people who…


Muncie Altrusa Club Receives Literacy Grant

By Sue Whitaker, Assistant Chair Literacy Committee, Muncie Altrusa Club— MUNCIE, Ind.—The Altrusa International Foundation has awarded the Altrusa Club of Muncie, IN, Inc. a $4000 grant for their Literacy Project: Today a Reader—Tomorrow a Leader. The overall goal of this project is to get books into the hands of 3,430 Muncie students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The Muncie Altrusa club will collaborate with Classroom Connections of ECI and the eight elementary schools in Muncie to distribute books to…


Chamber’s ‘Legacy Gala’ Honors Carl E. Kizer, Jr.

By Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce— MUNCIE, Ind.—The 2022 Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce Legacy Gala was held Thursday, January 20, at the Horizon Convention Center honoring Mr. Carl E. Kizer, Jr., owner of Kizer’s Carpet Care. Among those who paid tribute to the legacy of Mr. Kizer were Pat Bowen, Internet Sales Manager for Stoops Automotive; Cassandra Maxwell, Transfer Manager for Muncie Indiana Transfer System; local attorney Frank Brinkman; and Loretta Parsons, Executive Director of The Soup Kitchen of…


John Carlson: When Disappointment Hits

By John Carlson— I can still remember the day thirty years ago that Nancy and I took our kids to a popular amusement park, but when we arrived it was closed. In an instant, what had been a deliriously happy carload of Carlsons completely changed. Between the high-decibel caterwauling, pitiful sobbing and the uncontrollable blubbering, it was enough to drive a parent nuts. Finally, Nancy had all she could take. “Will you please shut up!” she yelled. But I’ll never…


Final Enrollment for Spring Session at Cornerstone Center for the Arts Is January 30th

By Dee McKinsey— MUNCIE, Ind.—Final registration for the Spring Semester at Cornerstone Center for the Arts is Jan.  30. Classes begin Monday, Jan. 31 and continue until April 22. Cornerstone is more than 60 classes both in-person and virtually in the categories of visual arts, dance, movement, literature, martial arts, and wellness arts. Cornerstone also is offering some new classes: Virtual Classes Adult History of Dance I Adult History of Musical Theatre I In-Person Classes Adult Acting I Adult Improv…


Muncie Arts and Culture Council Receives Grant From National Endowment For the Arts

By Muncie Arts and Culture Council— MUNCIE, Ind.—The Muncie Arts and Culture Council is one of 15 Indiana non-profit arts organizations and cultural programming providers to receive a 2022 Arts Project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. MuncieArts received a matching $30,000 Arts Project Grant to support its PlySpace Residency Program. The funds will be used to bring 12 visiting artists to Muncie to work collaboratively with non-profit organizations, schools, and community groups on special community-focused projects. “These National Endowment…


IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital Nurse Practitioner Named National Scholar in Pediatric Program

By Courtney Schmoll— MUNCIE, Ind.—Across the country, almost 10 percent of all 911 calls involve children. But within each local emergency department or emergency medical services agency, that can amount to seeing just a handful of children a month—meeting providers are not always well-versed in the specialized care that ill and injured kids require. A federally funded program, Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Innovation and Improvement Center is working to change that through quality improvement methodology and a systems-level…