Article Archives: Bumps in the Night

Hoosier Pied Piper of Doom The eastside genesis of Rev. Jim Jones, Part 2

July 29, 2021 | by Al Hunter

This story originally ran in 2009. In 1955, about 20 members of the Laurel Street Tabernacle joined with Jones to form the Wings of Deliverance church as a successor to his Community Unity church. This new church, located on North New Jersey and 15th streets, would be christened the “Peoples … Read More

Hoosier Pied Piper of Doom: The eastside genesis of Rev. Jim Jones, Part 1

July 22, 2021 | by Al Hunter

This story originally ran in 2009. As I write this, news reports run on the television all day long marking the anniversary of demented Reverend Jim Jones’ massacre of 900 members of the People’s Temple church in Jonestown, Guyana, which followed the murder of 9 people (including one U.S. Congressman) … Read More

Disney’s Uncle Remus

July 15, 2021 | by Al Hunter

This column originally appeared August 7, 2009 James Baskett, the first male African American to win an Academy Award, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 16, 1904. His father, John Baskett, owned a barber shop on the east side and James attended Arsenal Technical High School where he studied … Read More

Tragedy in the Heartland

July 8, 2021 | by Al Hunter

This column originally appeared in the September 18, 2009 issue. The Indianapolis metro area experienced its worst air disaster ever on September 9, 1969. On that overcast Hoosier Tuesday, an Allegheny Airlines DC-9 and a private plane collided in midair over Shelby County, just southeast of the city near Beech … Read More

Billy the Kid’s Indiana Connection: Billy and Lew Wallace, Part 3

June 24, 2021 | by Al Hunter

This story first appeared July 23, 2010. In the autumn of 1878, former Union Army general Lew Wallace became Governor of New Mexico in the volatile Indian Territory. In an attempt to restore peace to Lincoln County, Wallace offered amnesty to any man involved in the Lincoln County War. That … Read More