INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The city of Indianapolis is close to opening a new 4-mile stretch of the White River Wapahani Trail south of downtown. The $2.7 million trail is due to be complete next month with a ribbon cutting scheduled for Nov. 15, Office of Sustainability spokesman Scott Manning said. Stretches on the north end near the Indianapolis Zoo are already seeing some use.

The path connects White River State Park to a multi-use path on Raymond Street, near Eli Lilly and Co.'s 255-acre private park. City officials expect employees of Rolls-Royce Corp., which is to the west on Tibbs Avenue, and Lilly will use the trail for recreation, or as an alternate route to downtown, Manning said.

The city used $1.9 million in federal funds and $789,000 from the Rebuild Indy fund to build the trail.

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Three central Indiana cities that have lost tens of thousands of auto industry jobs have joined together in seeking a $20 million federal grant aimed at helping attract new businesses to their empty factories.

The cities of Muncie, Anderson and New Castle have each put up $50,000 in matching money to $150,000 of federal funding toward strategy development on the grant proposals, The Star Press of Muncie reported.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration is expected to award three $20 million grants from among 10 groups that received the strategy funding, said Roy Budd, president of the East Central Indiana Regional Planning District.

"Muncie alone was not a compelling enough case to receive such a large grant, $20 million, so we got the mayors of New Castle, Anderson and Muncie to work together in a bipartisan way," Budd said.

The three cities have lost more than 40,000 jobs in past decades with the closure of General Motors and Borg Warner factories and numerous auto-related suppliers and service businesses, according to the federal grant application submitted by Brad Bookout, brownfields development manager for the district.

 How the Cities Applied

 How the Trail Connects to Downtown

Patriot Porcelain LLC, a manufacturer of vitreous china products, announced plans  to expand its operations here, creating up to 140 new jobs by 2014.

The company will invest $14,968,000 to purchase, renovate and equip a 330,000 square-foot facility at the former Kokomo Sanitary Pottery Plant in Kokomo.

The new facility, which is expected to be fully operational by June 2014, will allow the company to relocate its overseas lavatory and toilet manufacturing to its Kokomo operations.

"Indiana's solid fiscal house and low-tax environment continue to earn us national attention as a frontrunner for new jobs and investment," said Governor Mike Pence.

"Our state's emergence as an economic leader is no accident. We've worked hard to create a stable, pro-business climate that removes roadblocks to growth, paving the way for companies like Patriot Porcelain to succeed."

Patriot Porcelain will begin hiring engineering, maintenance, machine operators, quality control and packaging positions by the end of the year.