Volume 1, Issue 14 - Free Edition July 18, 2026

This week's issue is photos-only - we apologize and will have three articles in next week's edition highlighting the Allen Memorial Pool project, a recent protest against AI data centers potentially coming to the community and a new item the library has available to the public. At the end of this issue, we will have a brief note from our founder, Noelle Maxwell.

Fair Parade Photos, July 12

Fourth of July Parade Photos

We were not able to attend Greensburg's Fourth of July parade in-person but some of our social media followers kindly provided their own photos for us to share.

A Note from Our Founder

Noelle Maxwell

Hello! It has been my pleasure to serve this community for the past five months. I'm excited to tell you that starting with the July 24 edition of the Independent, I will at last be getting back to my original plan of publishing weekly on Fridays. We are rapidly approaching our six-month anniversary in August!

I held a reader survey last month and you answered! I'm working to roll out local business and local arts coverage. These will be a monthly feature and paywalled. The paywall will be lifted within two weeks of publication but if you want instant access, subscribing is the way to go. I intend to launch these features in August - I've begun contacting businesses but with the fair in town this past week, making contact with anyone is a challenge!

Another aspect I am experimenting with: tipping. I realize times are tough. Not everyone wants to subscribe or can afford to do so. That said, here's reality: we can't serve the people of Greensburg and meet their information needs if we don't have money coming in.

Here's what we have coming in: $12/month in subscriptions at four (4) paying subscribers, currently. Current as of July 18, 2026. That equals $48 month. Not bad for a fledgling newsletter but I need to see some improvement because e.g. filing articles of organization in Indiana, something I need to have for several reasons including the simple ability to post on NextDoor (the Independent is on there for those who'd love to follow us while I work on getting us able to post: Decatur Independent NextDoor), costs $95. That's where my tip experiment comes in for those who aren't interested in committing to a subscription. If you appreciate what I'm building, what I'm doing, how I'm doing this, you can now tip. The suggested amount is set to $6 but readers can tip as much or as little as they'd like. Here is where you can tip the Independent if you are so inclined: https://decaturindependent.mymagic.page/#/portal/support.

Last but not least, some personal-ish news that is relevant to the newsletter: I was publishing inconsistently due to juggling the Independent with a part-time job. I have left that job and from here on, will be focusing on the Independent full-time while doing some freelance work on the side to keep myself afloat while making this a sustainable venture. I'm excited to continue this journey and ensure the people of Decatur County have the information they need about the world around them. Thank you. Thank you for being interested enough that I've kept this up for five months, thank you for subscribing, sharing, following us on social media and generally being interested in what I am building. Have a great rest of your week, readers, and we will be back in your inbox July 24.