INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Reserved seating for the Indianapolis 500 on May 24 will be sold out for the second consecutive year, and the local television broadcast delay will be lifted again.

The final reserved seating tickets were expected to be sold on Wednesday, said a news release from Amanda Stanley, communications director at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This year’s sellout happened a week earlier than last year’s.

The grandstands also sold out in 2016, the 100th edition of the race.

The track is estimated to have about 350,000 reserved seats. Resale reserved-seating tickets remained available on Wednesday.

The race also sold out in 2021, when the race was limited to 135,000 fans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The race was first locally broadcast in 1949 and 1950 on WFBM-TV, the progenitor of WRTV, as a way to induce sales of TV sets. The speedway, however, worried that gate receipts would drop and ended the local live-TV coverage. But, the race continued to be broadcast live on the radio and, from 1964 to 1970, on closed-circuit TV watched in theaters around the nation.

Nationwide live-TV broadcasts of the race began in 1986, but they were blacked out locally, usually to be aired hours later.

The 500 didn’t air on TV again in Indianapolis until the sellout of 2016, which was the 100th edition of the race, and in 2020 and 2021 due to capacity restrictions due to the coronavirus. It also aired live in 2025 due to the sellout.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Dry and cool midweek before summer-like heat builds into Indiana.

Cloud cover will fade as cooler air moves into the state.

Lingering showers are coming to an end early this morning as a cold front pushes through the state. Behind the front, cooler and drier air will funnel in, bringing some low clouds. These may linger at times, but skies should clear by mid to late morning.

Winds will pick up as we head into the afternoon hours, gusting up to 30 mph at times. This will make for a cooler feel to the day.

High temperatures may only reach the upper 50s in northern portions of the state, while highs could climb to the low and possibly mid 70s in southern portions. In the metro area, we’re looking at highs in the mid 60s — about 8 to 10 degrees below average for this time of year.

Quiet Thursday

Another very pleasant spring day is expected with mostly sunny skies. Winds will be much lighter compared to Wednesday, and humidity will remain low. High temperatures will top out in the mid to upper 60s, slightly below average for this time of year.

Rain chances return as temperatures begin to warm

Our dry stretch will begin to break down Friday as a warm front pushes through the state. Temperatures will jump closer to average, reaching the low to mid 70s by afternoon. There are some signs that scattered thunderstorms could develop during the afternoon and evening hours Friday.

Much warmer and more humid air will surge into the state for the weekend. High temperatures on Saturday are expected to climb to the mid 80s, with readings potentially nearing 90° on Sunday.

A few pop-up thunderstorms will be possible Saturday afternoon with the unstable air and peak daytime heating. While no organized storms are expected, a few heavy downpours are likely.

A few early morning showers and thunderstorms are possible Sunday, but much of the day will remain dry as heat and humidity ramp up through the afternoon.

First 90° day of the year possible

Very warm air will push temperatures close to or even above 90° Monday afternoon, which could mark the first 90-degree day of the season. A few pop-up thunderstorms will also be possible across the state during the afternoon hours.

Storm chances ramp up Tuesday as the weather pattern remains active, with a more organized system potentially moving through the state midweek. This will bring temperatures down a bit as we head into the middle and end of next week.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Many of Indiana’s top pizzerias will come together on Oct. 17 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the Indiana State Fair’s second Indianapolis Pizza Festival.

The event will offer pizza-making competitions, live entertainment, and appearances from nationally recognized pizza personalities.

After drawing over 4,000 attendees at the first Pizza Festival on Monument Circle, the organizers aim to increase the scale of the event at the State Fairgrounds. They are operating out of a larger, more furnished venue and have also started a new partnership with World Food Championships.

The improvements are aimed at creating one of the biggest food weekends in the country.

Tickets are not yet on sale, and prices and times for the event were not provided in a news release issued Tuesday. Parking at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center is generally $10 per vehicle for events.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One person is dead, and at least three others are injured, after a stabbing on the southwest side of Indianapolis.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday to a stabbing in the 3200 block of South Lockburn Street. That’s a residential area off of Kentucky Avenue in the Mars Hill neighborhood.

Officers found at least four victims “in varying conditions” and confirmed that one died at the scene.

This story is developing and will be updated when more information becomes available.

VALPARAISO, Ind. (WISH) — A Valparaiso mother and father are fighting to get their kids back after they say the Indiana Department of Child Services wrongfully accused them of abusing their baby.

Amanda Denney, an emergency room nurse, and her husband, Louis Stanford, say Indiana’s child welfare system is “unchecked power.”

They contacted I-Team 8 for help.

‘It was terrifying:’ Couple says Child Services took children amid abuse allegations

The Stanfords say their daughter Clara Stanford appeared happy and healthy at 4 weeks old.

On Nov. 6, her mother, Amanda, saw something about Clara that concerned her.

“I looked in the inner corner of her eye, and I just noticed a red mark, and I’m like, what is that?” Amanda asked.

The next day, Clara’s other eye also had bleeding, according to Amanda.

Amanda took Clara to the pediatrician who referred them to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

As a nurse, Amanda knew to expect a lot of questions and tests at the hospital.

“They did the CT, did the X-ray, which was, in fact, a skeletal survey, which, from my research, automatically triggers a consultation to a child abuse pediatrician,” Amanda said. “I don’t think we were concerned at all because there was nothing was going to show up on a scan or an X-ray to substantiate our child was abused.”

Clara’s parents say the child abuse pediatrician asked them a lot of questions including about Clara’s birth and family history.

“She said, you know an infant cannot injure themselves like this, something had to have happened,” Amanda said.

Amanda said she explained to the doctor that Clara had been straining to make a bowel movement in the days before.

“She was bearing down, like purple face, arms over her head, trying to have a bowel movement, and we’re like, could that have caused it?” Amanda asked.  

Doctors contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) and a Child Services caseworker came to the hospital.

“She’s like I can detain your kids,” said Amanda. “I freaked out. It was terrifying, absolutely and utterly terrifying.”

DCS removed Clara and her older sister from the Stanfords through an emergency detention, where the agency can remove a child without a court order.

“I bargained, yelled and screamed and cried on the floor for like a good two and a half, three hours because I was in just such shock and disbelief that this was even happening to us,” Amanda said.

Indiana DCS paperwork provided to I-Team 8 by the Stanfords shows DCS noted, “Parents cannot explain cause of injury to infant who is not mobile enough to cause injury on their own,” and “believe to be trauma caused by shaking, hitting, blunt force, or other unknown causes.”

I-Team 8 asked, “What do you say to people that say, you know, is it possible that one of you somehow hurt your baby? What’s your response?”

Amanda said, “Nope, not at all.”

The Stanfords had a New York doctor, D. Phyllis Weiner, review Clara’s records.

Weiner evaluates alleged child abuse cases and found the cause of Clara’s eye issues was vitamin K Deficiency bleeding, as well as forceful vomiting and straining.

“This is not a case of Child Physical Abuse,” Weiner said in her report.

Louis said, “For me, it was relief that somebody took the time and reviewed the notes and, like, looked at everything that was happening and said, yes, there is a medical explanation for this.”

Across the country, child abuse pediatricians contract with state child welfare agencies to help determine whether injuries were the result of abuse or neglect.

Colorado professor, a child abuse pediatrician, explains role

I-Team 8 spoke with a child abuse pediatrician who is not affiliated with Indiana or the Stanfords’ case.

Dr. Antonia Chiesa is a professor of pediatrics at the Colorado School of Medicine, with a specialty in child abuse pediatrics.

Chiesa can’t comment on individual cases, but she said child abuse pediatricians are trained to look for conditions that mimic abuse.

“If a child comes in with bruising, we don’t automatically jump to the conclusion that the child’s been abused,” Chiesa said. “We take a good history. We do an exam. We speak to the parent or the child if they’re verbal, and we think about other conditions that could be causing this.”

Chiesa says child abuse pediatricians collaborate with other medical colleagues.

“When it’s gray and ambiguous, and a diagnosis can’t be determined, we need to say that,” Chiesa said.

When there is a diagnosis of abuse, medical providers must legally report those concerns, Chiesa said.

“We are not there to figure out who did what,” Chiesa said. “We are just there to say, with the best understanding of the medical literature in our practice, this injury is diagnostic or makes sense for physical abuse.”

Child abuse pediatrics was approved as a new specialty by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Medical Specialties in 2006, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics website.

“We’re a relatively new medical specialty,” Chiesa said . “We are trained on all forms of child maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and sexual assault.”

Indiana Department of Child Services responds

Every year, dozens of Indiana children die from abuse and neglect.

The Indiana Department of Child Services received 213,938 reports of suspected abuse and neglect in 2025, records show.

I-Team 8 reached out to DCS and they can’t legally comment on individual cases.

The agency told us broadly, “Statute and case law guides how DCS determines when to remove a child from the care of a parent.”

The DCS also says in general, they must receive authorization from a juvenile court to “keep the child in custody if the child was removed under exigent circumstances.”

I-Team 8 reached out to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago for comment, and we are still waiting to hear back.

‘Unchecked power:’ Stanfords push for change

The Stanfords say they have not been contacted by police regarding their suspected abuse case.

DCS filed a CHINS petition, or Child in Need of Services, against them.

The DCS case is still pending, and court hearings are scheduled for later this year.

Meanwhile, Clara and her sister are staying with their grandmother while the Stanfords get supervised visits.

“We are also completely compliant with all the services they’re forcing on us,” Amanda said.  “I guess the taxpayers can pay for our therapy once a week and pay for visit supervisors to sit in our house and watch us be a family.”

They say the child welfare system needs an overhaul and that the opinions of child abuse pediatricians carry too much weight in the child welfare system.

“It goes back to unchecked power,” Amanda said.

The Stanfords’ story is spreading on social media, including the hashtag #BringHomeTheStanfords.

“We’re not alone,” Amanda said. “There’s power in numbers. This has to stop. You shouldn’t be scared to get your children help.”

• Related story from WRTV: Brownsburg parents file federal lawsuit alleging they were wrongfully accused of abuse

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The two most populous counties in central Indiana on Monday reported more homeowners saw lower property tax bills this year, but many paid more.

This year is the first year for property tax bills following the implementation of the state’s new property tax law. Last spring, Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, said the new law would mean lower property tax bills for most homeowners.

Numbers from Marion and Hamilton counties suggest this largely was the case, with some important caveats. Marion County Treasurer Barbara Lawrence, a Democrat, said a little more than 118,000 residential properties owed less than last year, while about 99,000 paid more. Last year, nearly 174,000 homeowners paid more in property taxes compared to the year before, while a little more than 41,000 paid less.

Lawrence said the new law overall has been a mixed bag, though homeowners paying less outnumber those paying more.

Hamilton County Assessor Todd Clevenger, a Republican, provided estimates for how the average homeowner’s tax liability changed in each of the county’s 23 taxing districts. In six of them, the average homeowner paid more. The smallest increase was $3.79 in Westfield, while the largest was $189.13 in Sheridan.

The rest of the districts saw tax liability drops that ranged from $4.32 in rural parts of Sheridan to $481.88 in Wayne Township. Both Clevenger and Lawrence said individual homeowners’ bills will vary because property taxes are based first and foremost on assessed valuation. Lawrence said assessed valuation depends above all on what your neighbors’ homes are selling for.

“Probably the single biggest factor in a tax bill is the assessed value, which is the value of your property,” she said. “It is impacted by what your neighbors’ homes are selling for and homes in the area in which you live, so a hot real estate market can impact your assessed value.”

The spring property tax payment deadline has now passed. The fall deadline is Nov. 10.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police are investigating a hit-and-run crash that left a woman dead Monday afternoon.

Investigators were called around 2:45 p.m. to the 4300 block of North German Church Road on the report of a person down.

Officers arrived to find a woman with injuries consistent with getting hit by a car.

Officer Drew Brown told News 8 that people who were walking on the road saw the woman and called 911.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward. No other information was immediately available.