Local News
Indiana rail association joins Austin in disappointment at rail funding
Austin hoped money would refocus Hoosiers on rail system
ANDERSON — The Indiana High Speed Rail Association, an advocate for the Midwest Regional Rail System, announced Sunday it is in agreement with state Rep. Terri Austin of Anderson, who on Friday expressed her disappointment with federal funding going toward a northern Indiana rail project.
Austin, who represents parts of Madison and Hamilton counties, said she hoped the money would refocus Hoosiers on a rail system in central Indiana that eventually could reach Madison County.
The Indiana High Speed Rail Association has been advocating since 1994 for a central Indiana passenger rail line that extends from Chicago to the Gary/Chicago International Airport, Lafayette and Indianapolis with branches to Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky.
The group’s leader, Dennis Hodges, said in a release that the route would be more profitable than all the proposed high-speed rail lines in the Midwest.
“Compared to a two dollar return on every dollar spent for operating other routes in the Midwest System, the Central Indiana alignment was projected to see a $2.64 return,” Hodges wrote in the release.
The association now looks to work with the Indiana Department of Transportation and Austin to determine how central Indiana can be included in a future application for high-speed rail funding.
“Some of the largest Midwest economies are on this route, and they should not be ignored,” Hodges wrote. “If a traveler had a choice, would they not prefer a two-hour train ride from Indianapolis to Chicago over a three-hour drive or plane ride?”
On March 11-12, the Indiana High Speed Rail Association will host the 11th annual Golden Spike Seminar: In Support of the Midwest Regional Rail System at Valparaiso University.
—The Herald Bulletin
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Wisehart investigator: No one called
A retired Anderson Police Department investigator who took the initial murder confession of Mark Wisehart 27 years ago said Thursday that he was puzzled why prosecutors didn’t contact him before granting a plea deal a day earlier that put an end to a long and costly legal fight.
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Local Briefs: Sept. 3
A compilation of news items from the Madison County area:
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Aspire headquarters moves 13 positions to Noblesville
The merger between area behavioral health agencies will mean a move for some local employees of Aspire Indiana but also an expansion to some local services.
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Murder trial still looms
Just because he walked free from the walls of prison Thursday does not mean that Walter Goudy is free from the same murder charges that led to his 15-year incarceration.
- What's Where for Sept. 3
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House ‘total loss’ after Alexandria fire
Alexandria Fire Chief Bruce Waters said no one was inside a residence at about 4 p.m. Thursday when it caught fire.
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1994 shooting victim’s family upset about Goudy release
Dismay flooded Kendra Graves on Thursday, after reading that the man who had been convicted of murdering her brother 16 years ago had been released from prison.
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Goudy freed from prison
“It’s a very joyous day,” Walter Goudy said Thursday outside the gates of the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. “I don’t hold no hatred or animosity toward anyone.”
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Three-car wreck sends 3 to hospital
Three people were sent to the hospital Thursday afternoon after a truck smashed into a sedan along Indiana 9 Thursday.
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Woman dies, 3 hospitalized in rural Anderson crash
A woman died and three other people were transported to hospitals after a collision Thursday afternoon at 38th Street and Layton Road. Members of a church at the intersection said afterward that they have begged local officials to put a four-way stop there.
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