Articles by Mike Rhodes

Cornerstone Center for the Arts To Host Fall Festival on November 19th

By Dee Mckinsey— MUNCIE, Ind. – Cornerstone Center for the Arts, 520 E. Main St., will host a celebration of the end of fall classes with a Fall Festival, Friday, Nov. 19 from 5-8 p.m. with tours and demonstrations. Performances beginning at 7 p.m. The celebration is FREE and open to the public. Everyone is welcome. Student art will be exhibited, and there will be artwork for sale to benefit Cornerstone. “The Fall Festival is a chance for our students…

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WIBU Announces Nominees for ATHENA Professional Leadership Award

By Dorica Watson, WIBU Vice President— MUNCIE, IN—Women In Business Unlimited, (WIBU) is pleased to announce that Jena Ashby, Jenni Marsh, Jennifer Proud Mearns, Laura Janney, Leslie Draper, Dr, Melinda Messineo, Dr. Mia Johnson and Tara Allread are the eight nominees for our 2021 ATHENA Professional Leadership Award. Nominees for this award: • Demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession • Provide valuable service to improve the quality of life for others in their community • Actively…


BBF Grants Fund Purchase of Drones and Training—Essential Tools for Law Enforcement

By Juli Metzger—  MUNCIE, Ind. – Mark Carter was tired. But it was a good tired. He’d spent several days in a kind of show-and-tell with Randolph County first-graders, teaching them about unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), why they are important to public safety efforts, and how to operate them. “They were given information about UAV safety, specifically how high a drone can legally fly, line of sight, and flying over the top of people,” Carter explained. He was a guest…


John Carlson: Me? Afraid of Monsters? Uh…

By John Carlson— First came “The Mummy’s Ghost.” At the time I didn’t realize it, but for me that movie made Halloween the addictively exciting event so many of us enjoy. A horror genre classic shot in black-and-white and starring the legendary Lon Chaney, “The Mummy’s Ghost” was playing on my buddy Kenny’s TV one crisp October night. Or should I say, the end of the movie was playing on Kenny’s TV one crisp October night? But the movie had…


Muncie Habitat for Humanity is Kicking Off Its First-Ever Building Campaign Called ‘A Home for Habitat’

By Eileen Oaks— MUNCIE, Ind.—Muncie Habitat for Humanity has purchased a new office building and is raising funds to cover the remodeling costs and purchase price. Thanks to local foundations, businesses, and supporters, the building campaign has already successfully raised $781,000 to ensure a bright future and continued growth of Muncie Habitat! ‘A Home for Habitat’ campaign will be raising $900,000 in gifts and pledges before the end of the 2021 calendar year. “Our building campaign team, co-chaired with Beth…


ecoREHAB’s Heather Williams Recognized With 2021 Fisher Governance Award

By Melissa Jones— MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball Brothers Foundation presented its annual Fisher Governance Award this year to Heather Williams, former board president of ecoREHAB. Williams was recognized with the award at Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce’s 127th Annual Meeting Celebration on Oct. 28. The John W. and Janice B. Fisher Governance Award annually honors a non-profit board member in Delaware County for exemplary leadership, integrity, responsibility, and accountability. “Heather Williams’s leadership of ecoREHAB does not follow the traditional constructs…


Photo Gallery: Muncie Homeowners Decorate for Halloween

By Mike Rhodes, Editor-in-Chief— Muncie, IN—The last few weeks it seems as though more and more people have decided to decorate their home exteriors for Halloween. I decided to drive through a few Muncie neighborhoods and photograph some of the decorations on a totally random basis, in order to highlight some of the creativity on display. I certainly did not miss that house on Washington Street that is famous for decorations. There’s lots of creativity going on for Halloween this…


First Merchants Corporation Announces Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Per Share

By First Merchants— MUNCIE, Ind.—First Merchants Corporation (NASDAQ – FRME) has reported third quarter 2021 net income of $52.8 million compared to $36.2 million during the same period in 2020, an increase of 45.7 percent. Earnings per share for the period totaled $.98 per share compared to the third quarter of 2020 result of $.67 per share. Year-to-date net income totaled $157.8 millioncompared to $103.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2020, an increase of 52.5 percent. Year-to-date earnings…


Muncie Central Alumni Association Annual Dinner and Meeting Set for Nov. 12

By Sheryl Swingley— MUNCIE, Ind. —Reservations for the Muncie Central Alumni Association dinner and annual meeting are due Friday, Oct 29. Check-in for the event will take place from 5 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, in the Muncie Central High School cafeteria. Attendees should enter the west door from the north parking lot. Reservations for the event are $17.50 per person. Checks payable to the Muncie Central Alumni Association should be sent to 6604 W. Talamore Court, Yorktown, IN…


Muncie Symphony’s ‘The Music of John Williams’ to Feature Scores From ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Jurassic Park’

By Melissa Jones— MUNCIE, INDIANA —On Nov. 13, Muncie Symphony Orchestra will bring iconic movie scores to life during “The Music of John Williams.” Nominated 51 times and awarded five Academy Awards, John Williams is responsible for some of the most well known soundtracks of all time, including “Star Wars, “Jurassic Park,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and more.“The Music of John Williams” will feature selections from the scores of those films—including an entire half of the concert dedicated to…