INDIANAPOLIS — RTV6 is Working For You. It's more than a slogan. It's our mission and focus every day.
When you have a problem, our goal is to create action from those with the power to fix it.
Here are some ways we worked for you and fought for solutions in 2019.
I-70 Mobile Home Park residents search for answers
It was a situation we learned about in August and have followed up on ever since.
The owners of the I-70 Mobile Home Park decided to close rather than make $100,000 in water pipe repairs. Management told residents they would have to leave within 60 days.
People who owned their homes scrambled to try to figure out how to move entire buildings from land that was owned by someone else.
The residents soon learned they weren't alone in their fight.
RTV6 contacted a local attorney who helped get some answers for residents. The community stepped up with a resource fair. The Indiana Attorney General's Office got involved and worked out a deal between residents and management where every person who lived at the park would either receive a title or be paid out so they would have resources to move to another location.
"It's been nothing but a roller coaster ride," Jeff Melton, a resident, said. "Ups and downs, ups and downs and a lot of tears. I'm not gonna lie, it been a lot of tears. It's been a lot of tears from me shed from it."
RELATED | Mobile home park residents want answers after they're told they will have to leave | Indianapolis mobile home park repairs blamed for evictions, but are not mandatory | Indianapolis mobile home park residents forced to move out get answers from local attorney | Indianapolis mobile home park residents receive assistance from community | Agreement reached between Indiana Attorney General and I-70 Mobile Home Park owners | 'Roller coaster ride' continues for I-70 Mobile Home Park residents
Apartment residents complain of unhealthy conditions
More than 20 cases had been filed by the Marion County Department of Health for problems at Lakeside Pointe at Nora, an apartment complex on the north side of Indianapolis, before a resident contacted RTV6 about water leaking through his wall.
Over the course of spring and summer, RTV6 reported on the unhealthy conditions that plagued residents and how the apartment had not paid local property taxes in years because it was given non-profit status and considered in Indiana to be a charitable organization.
"No one should have to live in that squalor. No one," Ruth Hayes, president of Nora Northside Community Council Inc., said. "The city needs somehow to clamp down on this not-for-profit situation and make them start paying."
Lakeside Pointe at Nora eventually lost its tax exempt status, which it had held since 2007, although management was trying to regain it.
RELATED | Major health concerns at north side Indianapolis apartment complex | Residents say an apartment complex on north side of Indianapolis is unhealthy | Health Department blames owner for apartment conditions | Unhealthy conditions fester at north side apartment complex | Problem-ridden apartment complex pays no property taxes | Community rallies for north side apartment complex residents | Health department investigates troubled north side apartment complex| Hundreds of violations found at troubled Indianapolis apartment complex | Problem-ridden Indy apartment complex loses tax-exempt status | Lakeside Pointe at Nora fighting for tax-exempt status
IndyGo's Red Line gets underway
The IndyGo Red Line has been a new experience for everybody in Indianapolis. Whether you ride it or not, you've probably been affected by it.
RTV6 reported on the Red Line throughout 2019 to try to educate people in Indianapolis the changes it would bring.
Whether it was how to get around construction, learning about new traffic patterns, how to ride it when the buses hit the streets in September or the issues it has faced since, RTV6 was there to report about the Red Line every step of the way.
RELATED | IndyGo Red Line construction restricts parking in Broad Ripple | RTV6 Red Line coverage home page | RTV6 rides future red line route | IndyGo releases Red Line educational videos as construction nears completion | After months of anticipation, IndyGo's Red Line opens | Everything you need to know about how to use IndyGo's Red Line | Confusion over medians on IndyGo's Red Line route — can you turn over them? | IndyGo to install temporary boost chargers and replace medians for Red Line | Everything you need to know about how to use IndyGo's Red Line | IndyGo electric buses having battery problems, can't handle the cold
Shelby County family gets new roof after old one removed
Nobody expects to return home and find their home's roof has been removed, but it happened to a Shelby County family in September.
Kevin and Shellie Giles had spent the weekend camping in Edinburgh. When they turned into their driveway, they quickly realized something was wrong.
Neighbors told them they had seen five men working on the roof for about two hours before leaving. Kevin Giles said he planned to replace the roof himself, and he thought the workers saw shingles sitting in front of the house and figured it was their destination.
Within two days, Johnson County-based SPG Roofing and Restoration reached out to RTV6 seeking to use their skills to bring peace of mind to the Giles family and help save them between $4,000 and $5,000.
"I'm amazed by it all. You see this on TV and now it's happening to you. I'm in disbelief," Shellie Giles said. "It's opened my eye that there are good people out there."
RELATED | A Shelby County family returned home and discovered their roof was gone | Shelby County family still waiting for answers on missing roof | Family: 'Feels like a dream' to get new roof after mistaken removal
