Latest news with #Nuses
Chicago Tribune
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Merrillville Police Chief says Senate Bill 1 would lead to officer layoffs
As Senate Bill 1 — a property tax refund bill that would cut more than $1 billion from schools, libraries and local government — hurtles toward the finish line, Merrillville's Police Chief is imploring residents to call their state representatives to stop it before it ruins the town's public safety. Kosta Nuses said during the April 8 Town Council meeting that he's a proponent of 'power to the people,' but he and the town need residents to 'find common ground' and get the bill stopped. If they don't, the possibility that he will have to lay off people in the police department will no longer be an unheard-of proposition. 'I've been coming here for almost the last three years, attending these council meetings, and I appreciate everybody's passion to get their point across, but at this point I'm urging — no, I'm begging — everyone to fight SB1, because we are going to be in significant trouble if it passes,' Nuses said. 'Merrillville doesn't have a lot of money to begin with, and if they cut what they're proposing to cut, we're going to be in serious trouble. 'This is what I want: All this passion, all this energy, all this — should I say rage — all this that we have here, we need to fight, because the way that it's looking, it's going to affect us in a really bad way.' Currently, the department has 65 officers, which is 20 fewer than it should have for a town of more than 36,000 residents, Nuses told the Post-Tribune; it also has more than 200 road miles. Of the town's $12 million budget, more than half goes to the police department, he said. The Council in October approved 4-2-1 — with Councilwomen Shauna Haynes-Edwards, D-2; Leona Chandler-Felton, D-3 voting 'No' and Keesha Hardaway, D-7, abstaining — its 2025 budget with an emergency appeal that would allow it to hire up to 34 more firefighters and up to 25 more police officers. Residents, however, packed the council chambers at that meeting to protest the budget after Town Clerk-Treasurer Eric January posted to social media that from his 'initial calculation the amount of (the town's) spending can increase by 77% as a result of a max levy appeal, which would result in significantly higher tax bills for everyone especially commercial property owners,' the Post-Tribune previously reported. January owns a financial services business in the former American Legion Post 430 building on Broadway and received town approval to open an event space in it that will serve alcohol if he can get a liquor license. Meeting attendees emphasized how much they love and appreciate the police and fire departments when they came up to speak during public comment but insisted they can't afford one more expense. The protest, however, was for naught as the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance ultimately denied the appeal — as town leaders expected it would — because it didn't meet the threshold of what the agency requires to grant them. SB1's latest version, meanwhile, would shift the percentage cap used to determine the maximum levy growth quotient to 0% in 2026, 1% in 2027 and 2% in 2028; and allows a county fiscal body to establish a property tax payment deferral program, where up to $10,000 can be deferred and the deferment becomes a lien on the property. The percentage cap used to determine the maximum levy growth quotient is 4% in 2026, but starting in 2028, the maximum local income tax expenditure rate for all counties will be 2.9%, according to the amended bill, the Post-Tribune reported this week. The fiscal impact of the amended bill would cut $1.4 billion across the state between 2026 and 2028, including $744 million from schools, $61 million from libraries, $451 million from cities and towns, $403 million from counties and $65 million from townships. Under the amended bill, approximately 93% of homeowners will see, on average, a decrease of $192 in their pay-2026 property tax bill, or $16 a month. State Representative Jeffrey Thompson, R-Lizton, proposed a six-page amendment, named Amendment 36, on Wednesday to Senate Bill 1 where homeowners will see $1.5 billion of property tax relief over the course of 3 years, which would be accomplished by the amendment shifting the standard deduction credit to 10% or no more than $300, he said.
Chicago Tribune
03-03-2025
- Chicago Tribune
‘Fox & Friends' co-host sworn in as auxiliary Merrillville Police officer
The Merrillville Police Department has added a national network personality charged with 'fostering a deeper connection with the community' to its ranks. The town swore in Lawrence B. Jones, a co-host for 'Fox & Friends,' as its first auxiliary officer during its February 25 meeting. As an auxiliary officer, Jones will accompany Merrillville officers on ride-alongs to 'help share what Merrillville officers experience and what the department is able to accomplish with limited funding,' Police Chief Kosta Nuses said in a release. 'Lawrence will be working closely with us to amplify our story, ensuring that the public understands who we are, what we stand for and how we serve our community,' Nuses said. 'In addition, his experience in K-9 training will also help enhance our force as we continue to grow and evolve.' Nuses and Jones met through Baden K-9, the dog training company in Ontario, Canada responsible for training all of Merrillville's K-9s, Nuses said at the swearing-in. Jones, along with Baden, were instrumental in getting Merrillville K-9 officer Yaga into the fold; in all, Jones and Baden have been instrumental in procuring about $25,000 worth of dogs and services for Merrillville, he said. 'The one constant (in police work) is how police officers are viewed by the public, so we want to strengthen the bridge,' Nuses said. '(Jones and I) share a deep passion for policing and canines, and he will be working closely with us to promote what we stand for and help enhance our force.' Jones, who studied political science and criminal justice at the University of North Texas, said at his swearing-in that he's wanted to be a cop ever since he was a little boy. 'My job here is not to do anything different than your cops have already been doing on the street, but to help bring our communities together,' Jones said in the release. 'I have a passion for the K-9 program. I know the work and the healing that they can bring to communities, not just from a law enforcement standpoint, but for the kids to have heroes, people to look up to like they already do today.' Council President Rick Bella, D-5, said Tuesday that Jones, who lives in New York City, is donating his services to the town. Jones is also slated to attend 'a prebasic law enforcement training course that will grant him limited police powers that aren't available to civilians,' according to the release. 'It's wonderful to see how so many organizations have come together to make this important venture happen,' Bella said. Indiana Director of Homeland Security and former District 1 U.S. Representative Republican candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green brought Jones greetings from Governor Mike Braun and awarded him a congratulatory letter from her department. Jones, who did not respond to emails requesting comment, was named cohost of Fox & Friends in 2023 after hosting Fox News Tonight when former Fox Host Tucker Carlson's was canceled. Previously in his career, Jones went undercover in 2016 for Project Veritas — an organization known for producing and publishing deceptively edited videos — attempting to expose allegations of fraud among Affordable Care Act providers, according to the Dallas Observer. Also that year, Jones hosted a fundraiser for Memories Pizza, a restaurant in Indiana that closed from the fallout of declaring it wouldn't cater the wedding of LGBTQ people if asked, the New York Daily News wrote. He raised $844,000, which was donated in part to the owner's church. More recently, Jones in 2019 incorrectly identified former President Barack Obama's administration for a lenient 2008 plea deal given to Jeffrey Epstein, Vox reported; and Thursday, President Donald Trump was caught on a hot mic asking Jones to say Trump's first cabinet meeting was 'unbelievable' and that he did 'a great job,' according to The Daily Beast.
