And a Merry Christmas to You

The Indianapolis Star has the story: "Busted by the city for selling cookies during the Circle of Lights, the youth group at Christ Church Cathedral will receive an apology and a check from Indianapolis Downtown Inc. to make up for their lost revenues."

Let's see if your Indianapolis Observer has this right: the youth group of the church right there on Monument Circle for well more than a century is busted for selling cookies and cocoa in front of said church.

Why? Evidently this: "a new city ordinance, enacted for the 2012 Super Bowl, that requires sidewalk vendors during Downtown events to get a city permit to sell their wares."

Even when the city is taking up all the space in front of said church for a holiday event.

Of course, the "raid" happened because Indianapolis Downtown (obviously oblivious to the irony), "asked city code enforcement officials to do a 'sweep' of unauthorized vendors selling food and other items around Monument Circle during the lighting ceremony Friday night."

It would seem that they wanted to benefit from all the souvenir selling and refreshment sales during "their"event. They should be ashamed.



UPDATE:
As Paul K. Ogden noted in his blog today (2 December): "questions should be asked as to why city officials are taking orders from a private organization such as IDI."

Questions, indeed!

Indianapolis Downtown Inc. needs a slap upside the head, not more of our tax dollars!