Sam Stall

Indiana & Indianapolis

Indianapolis Business Journal •

From small-town perch, mobile carnival firm leads industry - Indianapolis Business Journal

It’s a bit unusual that the tiny town of Farmland (population 1,333) hosts the headquarters of a company that’s become a juggernaut in its business niche. But not as unusual as the niche itself—carnival midway rides, games and concessions.
Farmland, about 15 miles east of Muncie, is home to North American Midway Entertainment, which bills itself as the largest operator of mobile amusement parks in North America. The company owns more than 250 rides, games and concessions.
E...
Indianapolis Monthly •

Revisiting The Saga Of Tony Kiritsis

Anthony Kiritsis holds a wired shotgun to his hostage Richard O. Hall’s neck near the end of the 63-hour ordeal on February 11, 1977, in Indianapolis. Hall was released without injury and Kiritsis was taken into custody. Hall was a mortgage company executive in Indiana. (AP Photo/John C. Hillery)THE MOVIE DEAD Man’s Wire, directed by Gus Van Sant and opening in theaters nationally on January 15, retells the sordid saga of Tony Kiritsis. On February 8, 1977, Kiritsis, an Indianapolis businessman,...
Indianapolis Monthly •

Speed Read: Pawpaw Season

No one’s taken a boots-on-the-ground look, but experts believe the pawpaw tree likely resides in all of Indiana’s 92 counties. However, it’s also found all over the eastern U.S., from Michigan (where they claim it as the Michigan Banana) down to Texas and Florida. It has this expansive range in part thanks to Native Americans, who increased its footprint by cultivating it in numerous areas.
You might get lucky and find the first fruits in late August or stragglers at the turn of October, but Sep...
Indianapolis Monthly •

The Invasive Species Threatening Indy's Ecosystems

Indiana’s natural spaces aren’t all that natural anymore. Our rivers teem with foreign fish that pose a danger to boaters; innocuous-looking decorative plants have escaped suburban gardens and now multiply unchecked in our forests; and insects capable of wiping out entire tree species have hitchhiked to the Hoosier state on everything from firewood to cargo pallets. Stopping or even slowing the incursions is tough. Battling the complacency surrounding the problem is even tougher. “If caught earl...
Indianapolis Monthly •

Unexplained Indiana

THE HAUNTED LIBRARY
GIVEN THAT Evansville’s Willard Public Library is, at 136 years of age, the oldest public library building in the state of Indiana, no wonder it has a ghost story attached to it. But what’s unexpected is the 21st century way in which the staff approaches the otherworldly incursion. They’ve fitted out the Victorian Gothic building with half a dozen webcams and invite would-be ghostbusters to watch the live (or, rather, dead) feed 24/7 online.
The specter in question is nicknam...
Indianapolis Monthly •

11 Stranger Things About Purdue Than Millie Bobby Brown's Enrollment

IN A SHOCKING example of life imitating art, 18-year-old Millie Bobby Brown, who plays the telekinetic, Eggo-scarfing, nosebleed-prone Eleven in the Indiana-set Netflix hit Stranger Things, recently revealed in an interview with Allure she is now an online student at Purdue University, studying human services. But even though she’s only attending virtually, some of the darker, weirder, or just downright peculiar corners of the university’s West Lafayette campus would make the sci-fi/horror veter...
Thrillist •

13 Things You Didn't Know About the Indiana State Fair

‌The Indiana State Fair runs from August 5th-21st, and is basically Disneyland with cows. And tractor parades. And fried foods. And old rock bands you thought were dead. If this sounds like all the trappings of Midwestern fun, check out these completely essential, totally not random fair facts you’ll have to see to believe.
It's, like, super-old
The Fair has occupied its sprawling, near-Downtown campus “only” since 1892, but the festivities began way back in 1852. Back then, the first edition to...
Thrillist •

The Best Dive Bars in Indianapolis

What makes a great neighborhood dive bar? Start with grungy decor, then throw in a cast of colorful neighborhood regulars, a long history, cheap drinks and eats, and some funny and/or quirky drink specials. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to have a couple of cheap-but-potable domestic beers on tap. These are Indy’s finest, grungiest, homiest, cheapest, and greatest. Bask in the ambiance, sample the food, imbibe the spirits -- but steer clear of the bathrooms.Alley Cat LoungeEst. 1940s/Broad RippleFine c...
Thrillist •

9 Indianapolis Secrets You Need to Know About

Indianapolis may not seem like the sort of place with lots to hide, but it does have its secrets. Some are goofy, like America’s oldest shoe store, and others downright weird like a medical museum with a world-class collection of brains in jars, all of them Indy secrets (shhh, don't go telling everyone). The gym from Hoosiers is named for the coach who invented the modern basketballHinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus holds 9,100 fans and generations of hoops history. Built in 1928,...