1. Johnson County murders
Police investigated multiple murders in Johnson County or involving people from Johnson County. Andrew Perry was murdered in his Center Grove area home, and police said Joseph Evan Avart, 37, of Plainfield, killed him over a woman both men were dating. Karin Castro, 21, was killed in a shooting during what had initially been called in to police as a robbery in Greenwood. Jonie Snyder, 36, and Gregory McCray, 48, died in a murder-suicide at Camp Atterbury. Joseph Baker of Greenwood also was arrested on a murder charge after hitting a man with his car and killing him in Greenfield.
2. Interstate 69 route chosen
After years of study and debate and overturning legislation that blocked the route, State Road 37 was chosen as the route for the final leg of Interstate 69. Local development along the route had been in limbo waiting for the decision. Next up, the state would make decisions about overpasses, dead-ends, interchanges and access roads.
3. Franklin officer arrested, suspended
Franklin Police Officer Bryan K. Burton once again was facing a disciplinary hearing and termination after he was suspended from the police force. Burton, along with his wife Jordan Burton, was arrested on a domestic battery charge after an argument at their Franklin home. The police merit board was expected to take up the case in February, where the chief was again asking the board to fire Burton.
4. Increase in opioid abuse
More than 50 people were arrested on drug charges in two separate sweeps after undercover investigations, and police continued using Narcan to revive multiple patients after they had overdosed. Law enforcement officials, judges and health officials all continued to see the effects of an increase in the abuse of heroin, pain medication and other opioids.
5. School growth
Shortly after moving hundreds of students to different schools due to growth, two local school districts were looking to build new elementary schools. Center Grove started the process to build a new 800-student school for up to $42 million in the southern portion of the township. Clark-Pleasant officials said a new school would be needed in the next few years. Until then, parents in both school district were told to expect larger class sizes and for some students to take classes in portable classrooms.
6. Day cares on probation
Eight Johnson County day cares were issued probationary licenses by the state throughout 2016 after violations were found. In many cases, the issues were due to improper supervision of children, such as being left on a playground alone or not having enough staffing or children wandering away from their room or the building.
7. Hit-and-run accidents
Two serious hit-and-run accidents injured multiple people. In January, a hit-and-run crash in Franklin seriously wounded three people. The driver was later identified as Will Slinger, who had previously been arrested after a fatal accident in 2005 that killed a young mother. In August, a bicyclist traveling on Worthsville Road was struck and seriously injured by a driver who left the scene. Police still art investigating that crash.
8. Hospital expansions
Local hospitals and health networks continued looking for the best way to serve patients in a changing healthcare industry. Johnson Memorial Health built two new satellite offices for physicians in Whiteland and Greenwood, and was planning a $42 million project at the Franklin campus to redesign the oldest portion of the hospital and add a new rehabilitation center. Franciscan Health was planning a smaller microhospital off State Road 135 to serve patients in the Center Grove area, and two other microhospitals could also be developed by another company on the southside.
9. More road construction
Commuters suffered through another summer of extensive road construction, including work on three of the major north-south routes — Interstate 65, U.S. 31 and State Road 37. At the same time, local roads were also under construction, including closing a section of Jefferson Street in downtown Franklin and redoing King Street on the east side. Work on Worthsville Road, between U.S. 31 and the recently opened I-65 exit, finished.
10. Downtown redevelopment
Local communities continued investing into rehabilitating downtown buildings. Greenwood embarked on a project to redo the façades of 21 downtown buildings, and also approved a new grant program to help continue that work into the future. Franklin approved more than $1.4 million to help with a project to renovate a former garment factory just south of downtown into an events venue and office space.
