Blue River Community Foundation received a $2,500 grant from Centra Credit Union to further its mission.

This organization was nominated by Centra Team Members who feel passionate about the work they do in the community.

“Centra Team Members are really involved in our Communities, and they love being able to support the causes they care about each year. Non-profit organizations are all about ‘People Helping People,’ and we love helping them achieve their missions,” said Centra Director of Community Involvement Jenni Carr.

A total of 43 organizations have been awarded grants through nominations by Centra Team Members. A complete list of organizations receiving grants can be found at Centra.org.

These Team Member nominated donations are one of many programs the Centra

Foundation and Centra Credit Union have to give back to their Members and the

Communities they serve. In 2023, Centra and the Centra Foundation have given back more than $300,000 to their communities and Members.

“Centra’s vision is creating value for our Members, Team Members, and the Communities we serve,” Centra President and CEO Rick Silvers said. “These programs directly support our Communities and our Members. I feel honored seeing how each dollar we invest into our Communities serves the credit union philosophy of People Helping People.”

More than 25 students in the Communities Centra serves were awarded scholarships in April 2023 to support their education. Similarly, local teachers received support from the Centra Foundation through Teaming Up with Teachers, a social media contest where four participating educators each win a $500 gift card for their classrooms.

Centra also gives back directly to its Members through their Member Loyalty Rewards program. More than 75,000 Members participate in the program, and collectively, they’ve earned and saved more than $4 million in 2023. These cash rewards are deposited into a special high interest savings account to further reward Centra’s Members.

Financial support for the Communities Centra serves will continue throughout the remainder of the year with Centra’s United Way Workplace Campaign and the Centra Foundation’s Holiday Giving Program. Centra Team Members and Members donate to these programs to help support non-profits in the local communities. In 2022, more than 280 Team Members pledged a total of $103,350 to United Way agencies throughout the Communities Centra serves while the 2022 Holiday Giving Program raised more than $50,000.

In addition to financial support, Centra and its Team Members also give back to the communities they serve through volunteerism. Centra provides family and community time to all Team Members in the form of three paid days off per year. These days can be used to volunteer, and Centra Team Members provided more than 300 service hours to United Way partners in 2023.

Centra and its Team Members also support local organizations through sponsorships, many of which involve Centra Team Members volunteering their time to attend the event and host activities or giveaway prizes to attendees. Some of these events included Columbus Pride, Juneteenth and Su Casa’s Fiesta Latina.

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The Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Inc. recently presented State Rep. Robb Greene (R-Shelbyville) with its Legislator of the Year Award for his work on a new law to help boost job opportunities for Hoosiers with disabilities.

During his freshman year as a state legislator, Greene crafted legislation that was later included in a new law offering an added incentive for employers to hire more Hoosiers with physical or intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"As a partner in the worthy effort to better support those living with disabilities, I'm honored by this recognition," Greene said. "I look forward to working with INARF to continue our progress and helping more Hoosiers."

Greene said with the new law, employers who receive a referral from a vocational rehabilitation services program for individuals with a disability and hire them are eligible to receive a tax credit.

The amount is determined based on the employee's tenure, starting at 30% of their wages and can increase up to 50% of their wages by the third year and onward. These new tax credits will apply for those who hire a person with disabilities after Dec. 31, 2023.

“Rep. Greene has traveled the state, listening to providers of services to people with disabilities in an effort to understand the complex industry and regulatory environment INARF members experience every day," said Katy Stafford-Cunningham, president and CEO of INARF. "More importantly, he has taken that knowledge and put it into action with legislation like HEA 1454, providing tangible results to advance the employment of people with disabilities, a traditionally underemployed population of our society, with only 37.3% of people with disabilities being represented in the national labor force. This is unacceptable and Rep. Greene’s bill addresses this disparity.”

INARF is an organization that advocates for those with disabilities across the state, serving nearly 50,000 Hoosiers annually and employing nearly 15,000. Over nearly half a century, the group has worked with government agencies to create a network of providers for anyone with physical or intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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The Southwestern Consolidated School Board of Trustees ratified the 2023-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Southwestern administration and the Southwestern Consolidated Classroom Teachers Association (SWCCTA) on Nov. 13.

The agreement increases the starting teacher salary at Southwestern from $40,000 to $46,000 per year. Experienced teachers will receive significant increases in their base salaries.

Teachers also will see a significant decrease in their medical insurance costs.

“This contract is a massive step forward for our corporation and makes us much more competitive with other districts which will help us retain quality, experienced educators,” said SWCCTA president Matt Campbell, who is a high school language arts teacher in the school system. “I am excited for our future and what we will be able to accomplish as a district.”

Campbell thanked the school board and administration for their work in the bargaining process.

“Southwestern, and rural schools like it, have always struggled to keep up with larger schools in regard to teacher pay and benefits/incentive packages. Over the past several years, teachers have chosen to leave Southwestern to take jobs in surrounding districts that pay five to ten thousand dollars more per year than Southwestern,” said Southwestern High School principal John Tindall. “Every year, we find ourselves replacing high quality educators due to that very reason. This contract breaks the rural school stigma. This agreement is an investment by Southwestern schools for the Southwestern community.”

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Hunters are being reminded to help the hungry by donating deer to the Indiana Hunt for Hunger program.

Formerly known as the Sportsmen’s Benevolence Fund, Indiana Hunt for Hunger has collected thousands of deer donations providing hundreds of thousands of meals for Hoosiers since it's inception in 2008.

More available: bit.ly/47IJlqS

How it works: Take your field-dressed harvested deer to one of more than 50 participating meat processing sites who will process the meat into healthy venison burgers and donate it to area food banks. Indiana Hunt for Hunger pays the processing fees.

Find a list of participating vendors at on.IN.gov/huntforhunger.

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Let’s talk turkey.

All Shelby County Public Library locations will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Don’t despair, though. Books, magazines, TV shows, and movies are still available electronically.

'Libby' is the library’s app for borrowing books and audiobooks. Download the app, then use set up an account using your library card number. Instructions are on the library’s web page: https://www.myshelbylibrary.org/ebooks-audiobooks-magazinesfor specific e-readers or computers advice.

Check https://libbyapp.com/ to read on a computer or laptop.

'Hoopla' is the free online streaming service the library uses for films, documentaries, TV shows, albums, graphic novels, and audiobooks. All content is commercial free with no waitlists. To use Hoopla, you will need a valid email address and your library card.

Download the app or go to www.hoopladigital.com to get started.

Come in on Friday, at regularly scheduled times for physical books, board games, DVDs, audiotapes, activities, and more.

Shelby County Public Library’s Shelbyville Main Branch and Annex will reopen at 9 a.m. on Friday.

The Velma Wortman Morristown Branch of the Shelby County Public Library will reopen Friday at 10 a.m.

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Shelby County Public Library has stocked several Adult Services activities this week, with added garnish of elementary clubs and teen activities.

Subjects of all interests are scheduled each day. The week before Thanksgiving is perfect to take some “Me Time” before family get-togethers.

Euchre Fun’s monthly meeting will be Wednesday, from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. Seats are limited, so sign up in the library or telephone 317-398-7121. Play will be progressive, and if you don’t have a partner, we can pair you with another player.

The monthly craft day on Thursday offers two sessions at the Shelbyville branch to create a Chalk Couture Christmas Garland; one at 2 p.m. and the other at 6 p.m. Select a time when you sign up at the library or call the front desk at 317-398-7121. Scrappy Stitches Open Craft Night will be a Morristown’s branch from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Bring Your Own Project – scrapbookers, quilters, fiber artists are all welcome. Enjoy light refreshments, great conversation and ample workspace just for you.

Molly in Youth Services at the Shelbyville branch will show teens and tweens how to create Thank You Cards.

Join DM Blake for the new DND campaign on Saturday, . from 1 to 3 p.m.  This week, teens and tweens – ages 11-19 – will meet for Dungeons and Dragons in Youth Services. Beginners are welcome to join experienced players in this tabletop gaming adventure.

On Saturday in Morristown from noon to 3 p.m., it’s Family Game Day. Big games, small games, video games, board games, card games – bring the family to try something new or revisit old favorites. If you want to learn a new game, library staff are always willing to be player 2.

Elementary-age children have Lego clubs slated this week. Lego League meets in Morristown on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., while Lego Club meets in Shelbyville on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Baby / Toddler Play Time returns on Friday at 10 a.m. in Shelbyville Youth Services. Parents and guardians can connect while our littlest patrons enjoy a short story and creative play. While, on Saturday, families, teens, tweens, and elementary students can join Family Game Day in Morristown from noon to 3 pm. Big games, small games, video games, board games, card games-- bring the family around to try out something new or revisit old favorites! Want to learn a new game? Just ask! Library staff are always willing to be player 2.

Looking ahead for the week of Thanksgiving, the library has its regular slate of programs children, youth, tweens, and teens.

All library buildings are closed on Thanksgiving, but they will re-open on November 24.

Other big events are a Mistletoe Market Pre-Party on December 1, from 4 to 6 p.m.; then, say Hello and Goodbye to the Library Directors at an Open House on December 5.

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The Indiana Department of Transportation contractor Milestone Contractors LP. announces lane and ramp closures near Shelbyville.

Beginning on or after Friday, November 10, crews will close the right lane of I-74 westbound from the State Road 44 on ramp to I-74 westbound. Motorists will take I-74 eastbound to State Road 244 to proceed to I-74 westbound.

This work is expected to be complete late November, weather permitting.

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Cowabunga, Dude!

Comic book writer, editor, and educator Paul Allor visits the Shelby County Public Library on Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. to address the writing and editing process, especially in the comic industry, and how they add concern for veterans suffering from PTSD in stories.

They were honored by the Indiana Authors Awards as the 2022 Genre Winner. See them in the Adult Stacks, by the window overlooking the community plaza, at the Shelbyville Branch, 57 W. Broadway St.

Allor’s calling card is balancing intensely character-driven stories with bombastic ideas and dynamic plotting. Paul has written comics for some of the world’s biggest properties: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain America and other Marvel characters, Star Trek, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, My Little Pony, and more.

Allor combines veteran-focused mental health care issues in their writing, and is known for increasing queer representation in comics.

 Their critically acclaimed run on G.I. Joe reinvented the franchise for a modern audience. One issue, which dealt with PTSD and mental health issues in veterans, is used by veterans’ mental health advocates across the country to further awareness, and won the SAVE National Media Award for Excellence in Reporting on Suicide.

Paul is also known for their work in increasing queer representation in comics, and for co-creating some of the first queer characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joe franchises. Earlier this year, they received national recognition for their work in developing the Death Ranger, a non-binary villain in the Power Rangers universe. Hollow Heart, the subject of this award is a gay monster love story and an allegory for queer liberation.

Their creator-owned books include Hollow Heart for Vault Comics, Monstro Mechanica for AfterShock Comics, Tet for IDW Publishing and Past the Last Mountain for CEX Publishing, among others.

Paul is currently the Editorial Director of CEX Publishing, and the primary writing instructor at Comics Experience, an online school for comic book creators. They live in Indianapolis with their blind rescue dachshund.

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Do you know a student who may be interested in traveling to our Sister City,

Shizuoka City/Kambara, Japan next summer?

The Sister City partnership is 35 years strong and is an exciting opportunity for students in grades 7-12 in Shelby County who are interested in a cultural exchange.

The 2024 student trip is planned for mid-June and will include approximately 5-7 days in Shizuoka City/Kambara as a homestay experience as well as a few days in

Tokyo.

Students and parents who are interested in learning more about the

Sister City program and the 2024 summer trip should plan to attend an

information meeting on Sunday, November 12 at the Shelbyville City Hall in the Council Chambers at 4:00 p.m.

A link to the 2024 SCIRC Student Application Packet can be found on the City

of Shelbyville’s website at www.cityofshelbyvillein.com under Japanese Sister

City. Applications should be completed and submitted by January 15, 2024

along with a $250.00 deposit.

Questions may be directed to Linda Sanders at

317-753-4319, s_linda@sbcglobal.net or to the Mayor’s Office at

317-398-6624.

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The 51st Annual Gift & Hobby Show hosted by Delta Theta Tau Sorority, Zeta Lambda Chapter, is Saturday.

The event is in the Shelbyville Middle School, 1200 W. McKay Road, from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.
More than 100 vendors will be selling specialties like handmade crafts, toys, florals, jewelry, woodworking, ornaments and more.

Lunch and refreshments will be available for purchase.

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Future Tiger Athletics (FTA) will host a recreational basketball league in December and January for boys and girls in grades Pre-K through eighth grade.

The league is open to all boys and girls within the Triton Central community and surrounding areas.

Registration fee is $50 and due by Evaluation Day on Nov. 11 from 9 to 11 a.m. when workouts will be held for all grade levels at the Triton Central High School fieldhouse in Fairland.

The first team practices will be held in the fieldhouse on Nov. 18. Those times are:

• Pre-k and Kindergarten from 9 to 10 a.m.
• First and Second grade from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.
• Third and Fourth grade from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Fifth through Eighth grade from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m.

A second practice will be held on Nov. 25 in the fieldhouse.

December game dates are Dec. 2, Dec. 9, Dec. 16 and Dec. 30. League games continue on Jan. 6 and Jan. 13.

A single-elimination tourney will be held on Jan. 20.

Volunteers are needed to serve as coaches and assistant directors. There are paid referee positions available.

For more information, contact Stephanie Collins at 317-642-9588 or send message through the FTA Basketball Facebook page.

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Hoosier voters will now have a convenient, secure way to contact the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office with election questions or concerns.

The election text hotline is simple to use. Just text the letters "IN" to the number 45995. A secure link will be returned where Hoosiers can submit their question or concern directly to the Secretary of State’s Office. Election staff will promptly receive and review questions or concerns and respond directly to the voter.

Hoosiers can text "IN" to 45995 for a wide variety of reasons.  A few examples include:

• Reporting something suspicious at a polling site
• Information about voting locations and hours
• Questions about election security

Hoosiers can always check their voting status, find polling locations, and see a sample ballot at the IndianaVoters.com website. As a reminder, Election Day is Tuesday, November 7. 

The service is free, however individual user’s text messaging and data rates may apply.