Indianapolis is buzzing with a massive $55 million utility merger battle that's hitting legal roadblocks. Frederick E. Matson, representing the Chamber of Commerce, is challenging the proposed merger of Indianapolis Light and Heat Company with Merchants Heat and Light Company before the public service commission. His argument? The petitioning Indianapolis Power and Light Company doesn't even exist as a functioning utility yet—it has no assets, no property, and hasn't begun operations, making the whole merger legally questionable. Meanwhile, the political corruption probe that's gripped Marion County enters its seventh week with explosive potential. Mrs. Martha Dickinson of Seymour, Indiana—who holds power of attorney for the notorious D.C. Stephenson—arrived in Indianapolis to testify before the grand jury. Her testimony could be crucial in the 'Stephensonism' probe, as she has insider access to facts about the scandal. The corruption investigation has already swept up eighteen people, and prosecutors are expecting some of the most direct evidence yet in this pivotal week.

This front page captures 1920s America at a crossroads between rapid modernization and deep-rooted corruption. The utility merger represents the era's massive corporate consolidations that were reshaping American cities, while the Stephenson corruption probe reveals the dark underbelly of political machines and the Ku Klux Klan's influence in state politics. D.C. Stephenson, the 'Grand Dragon' of Indiana's KKK, had wielded enormous political power before his downfall in a murder scandal. The stories also reflect the decade's tensions: legitimate business growth versus backroom deals, modern corporate structures versus old-fashioned political graft. Indianapolis, like many American cities in 1926, was grappling with how to modernize while cleaning house of the corrupt political networks that had flourished in the post-war years.

• While a churchgoer attended Sunday services at First Baptist Church, thieves stole his car containing $3,000 worth of Remington Arms Company samples—including 1,200 pocket knives, shells, shotguns and rifles parked near Vermont Street
• The temperature hit a bone-chilling 18 degrees at 7 a.m.—the coldest of the season—with hourly temperature readings meticulously tracked and published, showing it climbing to 35 degrees by 1 p.m.
• A public fox hunt is scheduled for Thanksgiving Thursday at 10 a.m. by the Meridian Hills Country Club in the hills along Williams Creek, with dog owners able to enter by simply calling the club secretary
• Monroe County authorities discovered two severed human legs near a marsh in Erie township—one cut above the knee, one below—with only newspaper shreds as clues and automobile tracks in the snow
• Milton C. Work's Bridge Lesson was featured on the editorial page, showing how seriously newspapers took teaching this popular card game to readers

• The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway was sold at auction in Butte, Montana for $140 million—equivalent to about $2.2 billion today—and immediately renamed the Chicago, Milwaukee & Pacific Railroad Company
• 'Peaches' Heenan Browning was awarded only $300 weekly alimony despite asking for $4,000 monthly from her wealthy real estate husband—her case became a national sensation, inspiring the phrase 'peaches and cream' divorces for young wives of older rich men
• The defense in the Fall-Doheny oil scandal trial was asking jurors about the novel 'Revelry' by Samuel Hopkins Adams—this book about government corruption was so influential it helped shape public perception of the Harding administration scandals
• C.P.J. Mooney, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal publisher who dropped dead from overwork, was planning to launch an afternoon edition—newspaper wars were so fierce that publishers literally worked themselves to death trying to dominate markets
• New York's port handled 61.7 million tons of ocean cargo in 1925, more than a fifth of America's total ocean commerce, cementing its position as the nation's gateway to the world during the Roaring Twenties boom