Latest news with #IndyStar
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis crime: A year over year look at homicide data and how we're doing in 2025
The first half of the year has brought a noticeable trend of several child deaths among homicide numbers, including a 14-year-old found shot dead in the snow, a 2-year-old left alone and neglected inside an apartment, and a 5-year-old choked to death with her father charged in her killing. Each year has its own set of trends, but overall, violence involving guns has remained a constant cause of homicides for the city. According to IndyStar and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police data, however, in the first six months of 2025, there has been a significant dip in year-to-date deaths compared to the past five years. 'This should give our community hope, but we can't do it alone," Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey told IndyStar. "We need our community to continue coming alongside us as we work to make Indianapolis a safer place for everyone. The work continues, and we're not letting up.' Summer officially starts on June 20, and while the warm months usually see more violence in the city, killings are down for the first half of the year compared to the same time last year. Indianapolis is not unique in this, as national trends show violent crime has been down in the first half of 2025, according to the Real-Time Crime Index. Major Cities Chiefs Association data shows homicides this year are down from 2024 in the first three months of the year. While statistics show a downward trend, Bailey said it's not a signal for the department to slow down. Brandon Randall, with Power of Tru Colors, who has worked with at-risk youth and young adults for 18 years, agrees. While there have been success stories, he's seen a few of the kids he's worked with die from violence. "Because the homicide numbers are down, there's a lack of urgency," Randall told IndyStar. "There is still a gun access problem with young people and adults. But I think there are more intentional conversations being had on the root causes of violence. It boils down to trauma, mental health, and poverty." IndyStar's data below captures the year-to-date homicides for the first few months over the past five years. In other news: Is there a serial killer in Indianapolis? What police are saying about 4 bodies found There were 15 homicides in January. Most are shooting deaths, but one woman died from asphyxia after being beaten with a hammer, and a toddler died from exposure due to being neglected. There were 11 homicides in February. Most are shooting deaths, except one woman died from blunt force trauma after being beaten to death. There was also one officer-involved shooting death that occurred. There were 14 homicides in March. Most were shooting deaths, except for one man who died from a stabbing. Summer program for youth: IMPD accepting applications for its weeklong Teen Academy There were 8 homicides in April, and all of them were shooting deaths. There were 12 homicides in May. Most were shooting deaths, except one victim who was stabbed, another who died after being hit by a vehicle, and 5-year-old Zara Arnold, who died from asphyxia after being choked. As of June 20, 2025, at 8 a.m., there have been two homicides in June, and both were shooting deaths. IndyStar is tracking homicide data for 2025
Indianapolis Star
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Pacers won Game 6 with hobbled Tyrese Haliburton the way they had to -- with all of them
INDIANAPOLIS – The Pacers were down early in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Thunder with their superstar hobbled. Their shots weren't falling, and a duo in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams that just hit historic levels was ready to drive one final knife into the collective hearts at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Then Andrew Nembhard had something to say. The starting shooting guard caught a fireball pass from Tyrese Haliburton in the high corner and drilled a 3. On the next possession, he grabbed a quick pass from Aaron Nesmith and drilled another 3 from the top of the key. Then he scored again on the very next trip down the court. In a flash, Nembhard poured in more points in three possessions than he managed all of Game 5, back when he fell apart in the second half with four backbreaking turnovers, a night emblematic of how the fort around Haliburton collapsed under the weight of his newly aching calf. Re-live the Pacers unbelievable run to the 2025 NBA Finals with IndyStar's commemorative book And his outburst to start Game 6 was illustrative of a flip of the switch that athletes promise but too often fall short of. The Pacers said they would bounce back, but they fully believed it once those shots went in and a deficit turned into a lead and a crowd roared and a favorite pressed and a 108-91 victory changed the trajectory, or at least brought one more chance to write a legacy. 'We've got one game. One game," Haliburton said. "Nothing that's happened before matters. And nothing that's going to happen after matters." MORE: Put the champagne back on ice. Pacers go nuclear, blow out Thunder to force Game 7 of NBA Finals With his early scoring outburst and defense to hold league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a series-low 21 points, Nembhard sparked a night that was about the survival and drive of Haliburton but also so much more. There was Nesmith's terrorizing of Williams and Pascal Siakam's 13 rebounds and posterizing dunk over Williams and Obi Toppin's 20 points off the bench and the collective defensive trouncing of a Thunder duo and a team that so many expected to run away with this series, or at least a potentially deciding Game 6 against a Pacers team that appeared to be running out of gas. Once more, these Pacers had more in the tank than anyone knew they had. "You've got a group of guys who all have all had a somewhat similar path of being overlooked," center Myles Turner said. "You have guys like Aaron Nesmith and Pascal getting traded and Tyrese getting traded and Nembhard is a second-round pick. "I think we all carry a little bit of that weight with us. When you put a bunch of guys like that together, that starts to add up." This was the Pacers, doing what they have done this postseason: They defy odds, upset title favorites and laugh in the face of deficits. To date, that's come in individual games and largely on the last-second heroics of a healthy Haliburton. Thursday presented a different test, down 3-2 in the series after back-to-back losses and on the verge of elimination while facing mounting uncertainty about the head of their snake. Every question entering Thursday night's game centered around that calf Haliburton strained and whether or not he could even play or muster more than the four points and zero shots he managed in the loss. Despite an injury that could have long-term risk, Indiana's star put some short-term questions to rest with a 14-point, 5-assist performance. But lost in that conversation was everyone else who has made this run what it is. DEFINING JERMAINE O'NEAL: How fatherhood and an NBA Finals run brought Jermaine O'Neal back to the Pacers If they were going to win this game with a hobbled star against an 84-win Thunder team with an all-time defense, it was going to take them all -- the supporting guards, the men in the paint, the Robin to Haliburton's Batman in Siakam, the league's premier bench, the veteran coach and a Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd that needed to bring the pressure rather than feel it. For the first two rounds of these playoffs, the fourth-seeded Pacers rose up like they did to reach last year's Eastern Conference Finals, by pouncing on Bucks and Cavs teams with injured stars. But these past two series, against the Knicks and Thunder, have been about winning critical games in clutch and blowout fashion with a best-on-best mentality. Results ultimately write the history, and these results have shown that the Pacers' best was something still underrated entering their 104th game. Game 7 on Sunday in Oklahoma City will be for all of the memories. 'It's crazy. We're playing to the last possible day," Nesmith said. "I'm just trying to celebrate for the next three months.'
Indianapolis Star
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Phishing scam uses public's right to information to target state and local governments
Hoosiers can request a broad range of information from their local and state governments, such as police reports, contracts, policies and email communications. A recent phishing attack is twisting that right to information into a means to scam state and local government workers. Employees have reported that a recent surge of emails are posing as public records requests and encouraging records to be uploaded to a hyperlink. The Indiana Office of Technology is aware of the emails and has found them to be fraudulent, according to one of its email newsletters. Spokesperson Aliya Wishner said the city of Indianapolis' information services agency is aware of the phishing scam. The city uses a software system to fulfill records requests, not through email. One of the phishing emails obtained by IndyStar was sent from the domain "@recordsretrievalsolutions" and sought five years of information about an agency's purchase orders. Indiana's technology office said employees should be cautious with any emails from that domain and any contacts from Records Retrieval Solutions. The office said the scammers are pretending to be the Florida-based company. In light of the phishing scam, the office recommends that workers question whether a records requests is legitimate. Guidance includes contacting the sender to discuss the request, verifying the entity that's making the request, and searching the email text for red flags like hyperlinks. Under Indiana's Access to Public Records Act, members of the public have the right to request a wide swath of information held by government agencies. Some information may be withheld or redacted for legal or investigation reasons. The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
USA Today
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
What is the start time for the IndyCar race Xpel Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.?
What is the start time for the IndyCar race Xpel Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.? The IndyCar Series returns to the road when it competes at Road America's 14-turn, 4-mile course in the Wisconsin countryside for a 55-lap race. Push-to-pass: Drivers have 200 total seconds, in increments of up to 20 seconds. Tire allotment: Six sets primary (hard/black sidewall) and five sets alternate (soft/red sidewall) for the weekend. Rookie drivers are allowed one additional set of primary tires. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race. Nathan Brown is your best IndyCar follow, and keep up with coverage throughout the season with IndyStar's motorsports newsletter. Who is leading IndyCar? 2025 IndyCar results Alex Palou has won five races and leads by more than one race of max points. Kyle Kirkwood has won three races. However, Pato O'Ward leads Kirkwood for second place overall. 'A lot of work to do': Alex Palou doesn't think his IndyCar championship lead is safe Who won at Road America in 2024? 2024 IndyCar results at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Team Penske swept the podium: Will Power, followed by Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin. IndyCar expert picks, predictions for Road America From Nathan Brown, IndyStar We're reaching the halfway point of a 17-race season, and Palou and Kirkwood have hogged all the checkered flags. Is anyone besides Alex Palou or Kyle Kirkwood allowed to win a race? If so, who? Fortunately ... or unfortunately ... depending your fandom, this feels like an 'Alex Palou rebound' weekend. In four years racing at Road America for Chip Ganassi Racing, he has two wins and took 4th last year. I don't expect him to settle for a bunch of top-5 finishes the rest of the way. Palou's going to win again, and coming off finishes of 25th and 8th since his Indy 500 victory, this feels like the weekend. Who will have a surprising qualifying effort? Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Louis Foster will make a Fast 6 appearance, a much-needed boost for a team that has seen all three of its full-time cars finish 20th or worse in both races since the Indy 500. RLL has a strong history at Road America. Team Penske swept the podium last year at Road America but had a horrible time in St. Louis last weekend? How will it fare this weekend? The team will again fall short of its first win of the year, but we'll see a return to the podium for just the fourth time this season, delivered by Will Power, who won last year's race. Block the noise: Malukas knows 'I need to mature' on track, 'switch off' rumors When will it happen next?: IndyCar paddock believes 'every oval should be a night race' A matter of eyeballs: Why IndyCar's 1 million viewers is good ... but not as good as it looks IndyCar Series schedule at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (All times ET; all IndyCar sessions are on IndyCar Live, IndyCar Radio and Sirius XM Channel 218) IndyCar schedule at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Friday, June 20 3:30-4:30 p.m.: Indy NXT practice, FS2 4:30-6 p.m.: IndyCar practice, FS2 IndyCar schedule at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Saturday, June 21 10-11 a.m.: Indy NXT practice, FS1 11 a.m.-noon: IndyCar practice, FS1 1:30-2 p.m.: Indy NXT qualifying, FS1 2:30-4 p.m.: IndyCar qualifying, FS1 IndyCar schedule at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, June 22 10 a.m.: IndyCar warmup, FS1 11 a.m.-noon: Indy NXT race, FS1 1:30 p.m.: IndyCar race, Fox What channel is IndyCar race at Road Ameica in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on? TV: Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, June 22, 2025, on Fox. Green flag is scheduled for 1:47 p.m. Will Buxton is the play-by-play voice, with analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. How can I stream the IndyCar race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, June 22? Fox Sports app. Watch free with a Fubo trial How can I listen to IndyCar race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, June 22? IndyCar Nation is on SiriusXM Channel 218, IndyCar Live and the IndyCar Radio Network (check affiliates for each race) Will it rain at the IndyCar race Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin? Friday: Partly cloudy with a high in the low 80s. Saturday: Partly cloudy with a high in the low 90s. Sunday: Partly cloudy with a high in the low 90s. 2025 IndyCar Series schedule The 2025 IndyCar Series schedule includes 17 races, all televised on Fox. (Times are ET; %-downtown street course, &-road course, *-oval) March 2, St. Petersburg, Florida % (Winner: Alex Palou) March 23, Thermal, California & (Winner: Alex Palou) April 13, Long Beach, California % (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) May 4, Birmingham, Alabama & (Winner: Alex Palou) May 10, Indianapolis & (Winner: Alex Palou) May 25, Indianapolis 500 * (Winner: Alex Palou) June 1, Detroit % (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) June 15, St. Louis * (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) June 22, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin &, 1:30 p.m. July 6, Lexington, Ohio &, 1 p.m. July 12, Newton, Iowa *, 5 p.m. July 13, Newton, Iowa *, 1 p.m. July 20, Toronto %, noon July 27, Monterey, California &, 3 p.m. Aug. 10, Portland &, 3 p.m. Aug. 24, Milwaukee *, 2 p.m. Aug. 31, Nashville *, 2:30 p.m. IndyCar drivers for 2025 (Team and drivers; *-Indianapolis 500 only) IndyCar Series 2025 points championship points (Through eight of 17 races)
Indianapolis Star
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Doyel: Underdogs in every NBA Finals game, Pacers force a Game 7. Is this really happening? You bet
INDIANAPOLIS – And now, anything can happen. Wait, hang on. Anything has happened. The Indiana Pacers, given no chance against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder when the 2025 NBA Finals began, have forced a Game 7 with a 108-91 blowout — it wasn't that close — Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Game 6. Game 7 will be Sunday night at the Paycom Center in downtown OKC. 'One game,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said afterward. 'This is what it's all about. This is what you dream about growing up.' Can this impossible dream come true? Think about it: The 2025 Indiana Pacers, two years removed from being a lottery team, are 48 minutes from winning the first NBA title in franchise history. This wasn't on anyone's radar in the preseason, and things only got worse when the regular season began. The Pacers lost four of their first six games, though NBA insiders have a saying: You need 25 games to know what kind of team you have. After 25 games, this team was 10-15. Two of the Pacers' top three centers were lost for the season after suffering torn Achilles' tendons a few days apart. All-Star and U.S. Olympian point guard Tyrese Haliburton wasn't playing like himself. The Pacers, surprise Eastern Conference finalists in 2024, were leaking like an Indiana basement. Water was finding its level. The Pacers, those plucky Pacers, were heading… … to Oklahoma City for Game 7? Is this really happening? Pictures:See the best shots by IndyStar photographers at Game 6 of the NBA Finals Tyrese Haliburton isn't moving like someone with a strained calf. He's dancing with OKC defender deluxe Alex Caruso, in and out, left and right, before darting behind the arc for a 3-pointer and a 56-39 lead. Now he's leaping for a pass by Thunder wing Jalen Williams, batting it out of the air, saving it from going out of bounds and then heading up the court. Pascal Siakam is filling the lane, and Haliburton isn't looking but finds him anyway for a dunk. The Pacers lead 62-42. Would Haliburton play in Game 6? Would he not? That was the question entering Thursday — 'a game-time decision,' Carlisle had called it Wednesday morning — though Carlisle was saying after the game 'the drama was created in the press.' Whoever created it, however it started, this was some serious drama. No Haliburton? No chance for the Pacers. That was the consensus as Haliburton was receiving one MRI and visiting with two specialists after returning from OKC on Tuesday. He got up some shots on Wednesday, then warmed up 3½ hours before tipoff Thursday, wearing a gray sleeve on his calf, when the decision was made: Haliburton could play. This was the culmination of nearly 72 hours of treatment, including three trips to a hyperbaric chamber, members of the Pacers training staff coming daily to Haliburton's home to treat his calf with an electronic stimulation machine that looks like a video game joystick — 'H-wave,' Haliburton called the device — and even members of his own family pushing him to do what he could to get ready for Game 6. 'Are you doing treatment right now?' they'd ask him. 'Put something on your leg,' they'd tell him. Haliburton didn't have a typical Haliburton game — 14 points, five assists — and normally that's a death knell for the Pacers, who are unbeatable when he posts a 20-and-10 double-double but vulnerable when his points and assists slip below those thresholds. But have you not been paying attention to a word I've written? Normal is not happening anymore for the Pacers, who turned rising young Thunder star Jalen Williams — Mr. 40-Point Man from Game 5 — into Mr. Minus-40 for Game 6. Seriously. One game after scoring 40 points, Jalen Williams' plus-minus score was minus-40. Give a lot of that credit to Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith, who was hounding Williams (16 points, 0-for-4 on 3s, one assist, three turnovers) all over the court. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Mr. MVP himself, wasn't a lot better, and might have been worse: 21 points, two assists, eight turnovers. Give a lot of that credit to Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who did what he's done all series: Defending SGA for the better part of 90 feet, leaving the game only when SGA left, returning to the court when SGA returned. Put it like this: SGA played 30 minutes, 56 seconds. Nembhard played 31 minutes, 6 seconds. And Nembhard almost outscored the MVP, totaling 17 points on just seven shots from the floor — 5-for-7 overall, and 3-for-5 on 3s — and adding four assists and one turnover. Does it look like the Pacers' seventh-leading scorer (Nembhard: 10 ppg) outplayed the NBA's scoring leader (SGA': 32.7 ppg)? Looks are not deceiving. Nembhard would've been the Pacers' scoring leader in Game 6, but the Pacers had to put five players on the floor in the fourth quarter — OKC coach Mark Daigneault pulled his starters after three quarters — and Obi Toppin was one of those players for seven minutes in the period, and he was having himself a game. Late in the third quarter, when Toppin had made three of his four 3-pointers, the crowd was serenading him at the foul line: Obi Toppin! Obi Toppin! And in the fourth quarter, playing one of the games of his life, Toppin kept drilling difficult jumpers to finish the night with 20 points. 'We're just a hungry team,' Toppin was saying afterward. Starving, seems like. And not satiated yet. The play of the game could've been Haliburton's steal, save and side-eye pass to Siakam for the dunk — 'If we're fortunate enough to go on and win this thing,' Haliburton said, 'I think that play will be remembered for a long time' — unless it was the play that ended the third quarter: Toppin finally missing a 3-pointer and Siakam batting the long offensive rebound to Nembhard, who leapt for the ball, caught it and whipped a pass to Ben Sheppard in one motion. Sheppard then beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 90-60 lead entering the fourth quarter. Or maybe it was another steal by Haliburton, who saved it to Toppin, who passed to Siakam, who passed to Nesmith, who buried a corner 3 for a 48-35 lead. That had Daigneault calling timeout and the Gainbridge Fieldhouse camera putting Colts coach Shane Steichen on the scoreboard, where he popped the front of his gold-out T-shirt — Yes 'Cers, it said — before the camera found John Haliburton at his seat, waving that towel with his son's face on it. Unless it was that play by T.J. McConnell. Which play? You decide. McConnell had himself another of those games, like in Game 5, when the oldest, shortest player on the court picked on all those younger, bigger, longer, All-NBA defenders for OKC for 18 points in 22 minutes. More of the same in Game 6 for McConnell, who had 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals in 24 minutes. McConnell had three more rebounds than anyone for the Thunder. He had two more assists than anyone for OKC. He had three more steals. 'It's no surprise what T.J. does out there,' Toppin said, clearly speaking only for himself. Because, seriously. T.J. McConnell outrebounded OKC 7-footer Chet Holmgren (nine to six), out-assisted OKC point guard SGA (six to two) and out-stole OKC All-NBA defenders Lu Dort and Jalen Williams — combined — by a four-to-zero tally? It's a big surprise what T.J. does out there. It's a big surprise to outsiders what the fourth-seeded Pacers are doing out there, too, though we're getting used to it, aren't we? They dismantled the Bucks, then did the same to two of the three teams seeded ahead of them in the Eastern Conference — No. 1 Cleveland and No. 3 New York — and now have pushed the Thunder, which led the NBA with 68 wins and won the Western Conference by 16 games, to Game 7. And in doing so, the Pacers destroyed them in Game 6. The Thunder missed 15 of their first 16 3-pointers, were outrebounded 46-41 and had seven more turnovers (21) than assists (14). The Pacers ripped out the Thunder's heart in the second quarter, then spent the third quarter eating it with a nice chianti. That's a little Hannibal Lecter reference for you — Hello, Tyrese — after the Pacers devoured Oklahoma City in the middle two quarters. They scored more points in the second quarter (36) than OKC had in the second and third quarters combined (35) … and the Pacers added 26 more in the third. The Pacers so thoroughly decimated the Thunder, Holmgren couldn't convert an open dunk on an alley oop, landing before the ball — which clanged off the rim — and then holding his head in both hands in disbelief. Lu Dort, who entered the game on a 14-for-24 heater in the NBA Finals from 3-point range, was a frigid 1-for-5 in Game 6, including an air ball. The Thunder's 60 points entering the fourth quarter were a season-low. The numbers just go on and on. 'Obviously it was a very poor performance by us,' Daigneault said. 'It was disappointing.' Disappointing to the Thunder, but thrilling to an Indiana fan base that filled the arena, spent 48 minutes soaking it in, then spilled into the warm night to celebrate. More than 90 minutes after the game ended the party was still raging on Georgia Street, where the smell of skunk — maybe it was something else — filled the air. You could get high on life at a time like this, with the Pacers reaching the 2025 NBA Finals and pushing the mighty Thunder to the limit, and perhaps returning home to Indianapolis in a few days with the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel onThreads, or onBlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
