Two truckloads of food aid destined for hungry families in South Kordofan state, Sudan, were destroyed in an aerial attack over the weekend, the World Food Progamme (WFP) said on Wednesday.
Another very hot and humid day is ahead across central Indiana. Expect mostly sunny skies with highs climbing into the middle 90s. Southwest winds increase to around 5–10 mph during the morning, with occasional afternoon gusts around 15–20 mph. The combination of heat and humidity will push heat index values to around 100 to 105 degrees during the afternoon. A Heat Advisory remains in effect, so anyone spending extended time outdoors should take frequent breaks and stay hydrated.
Mostly clear, warm and muggy conditions continue. Temperatures only fall into the middle 70s with southwest winds around 5 mph. No meaningful rain is expected, providing little overnight relief from the heat.
Thursday looks like another exceptionally hot day and may rival Wednesday for the hottest conditions of the week. Expect mostly sunny skies with highs in the middle to upper 90s. West to southwest winds remain around 5–10 mph. Heat index values once again climb to around 100 to 105 degrees, and the Heat Advisory continues through the evening. Most of the daytime hours should stay dry.
Clouds gradually increase with a rare showers or thunderstorm possible but unlikely as a disturbance approaches. Temperatures only fall into the middle 70s with light southerly winds around 5 mph. Storm coverage remains uncertain, and many locations may stay dry.
The heat begins easing slightly, although it will still feel very much like summer. A few showers may be around early before skies become partly to mostly sunny during the afternoon. Highs reach the lower 90s with west winds around 5 mph. Humidity remains elevated, but heat index values should be somewhat lower than Wednesday and Thursday.
Partly cloudy and warm with scattered showers and thunderstorms becoming possible again late at night. Lows settle into the lower 70s with nearly calm winds. Rain coverage remains uncertain, but chances increase toward Saturday morning.
The pattern becomes more unsettled as the strong ridge responsible for the heat begins weakening. Expect a mixture of sun and clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible at times. It should not rain continuously, and there will likely be plenty of dry hours between storms. Highs ease to around 90 degrees with northwest winds around 5 mph.
A few showers or thunderstorms may linger into the evening before gradually decreasing overnight. Temperatures fall into the upper 60s with light east winds around 5 mph. Humidity remains elevated, but somewhat cooler air begins working into central Indiana.
The most impactful portion of the forecast comes Wednesday and Thursday as the prolonged heat wave reaches its peak. Highs remain in the middle to upper 90s, and high humidity could push afternoon heat index values into the 100-to-105-degree range. Warm nighttime temperatures in the middle 70s will also provide very little relief.
The weather pattern begins changing Thursday night as the strong ridge gradually weakens. Scattered shower and thunderstorm opportunities return Thursday night and continue periodically Friday and Saturday. Confidence in exact storm timing remains relatively low, and widespread all-day rainfall is not expected. An isolated stronger storm may be possible Thursday night, but there is not currently a clear signal for a widespread severe-weather event across central Indiana.
Temperatures gradually become much more manageable over the weekend. Highs fall toward around 90 Saturday, then into the middle 80s Sunday and lower to middle 80s for Labor Day and Tuesday. Small rain chances may linger at times through the weekend before a quieter and more seasonable pattern becomes increasingly likely early next week.
(FREE PRESS INDIANA) — Charlene Koebcke said “no” when a man seeking support for his proposed factory hog farms offered her a free 30-pound box of pork.
Then she went straight to the Benton County Surveyor’s Office to learn more about Remington Pork LLC’s plans.
In April, just before the pork offer, she had received a letter in the mail from the county attorney about a proposed hog farm. The plan was for a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) on 82 acres of soybean fields next to her 40-acre property. One of three new CAFOs proposed for Benton County, this one would house 8,582 confined pigs that would be fed there about six months before being taken for slaughter. The three farms together would have 26,000 hogs.
The legally required notice to adjacent property owners said the pork producer was seeking land-use variances “for the purpose of creating a hog farm.” It said the CAFO requests were on the county board of zoning appeals and plan commission’s May 15 meeting agendas.
The 72-year-old widow was surprised. She confirmed the news with the surveyor, and again when Remington Pork LLC owner Quentin Overbeck delivered an assortment of ribs, pork loin, bacon and sausage to Koebcke’s son’s house a mile from one of the proposed CAFOs.
“Quentin shows up with a box of pork the size of that laundry basket there in his hands,” Koebcke said during an interview at her century-old farmhouse. “And he tells me, ‘Charlene, I’ll be bringing you some too.’ And I said, ‘Quentin, don’t bother. You’re not buying us.’”
She and about 50 others opposed to the CAFOs attended the board of zoning appeals’ meeting and the plan commission meeting that followed. She and others expressed worries and asked for a continuance, which was denied. An hour and 20 minutes later, the CAFOs had received unanimous favorable recommendations from both boards.
Koebcke said no one she talked to after receiving the letter knew about the CAFO plans, and the meeting was less than three weeks away. She notified neighbors and word spread quickly among Gilboa Township’s 275 residents. The township trustee didn’t know until an upset neighbor called.
“It feels very clandestine, very hush-hush,” said Marlene Reynolds, who lives within a mile or so of all three sites in the house where she grew up. She cried while speaking during the 15-minute public comment session.
“They only told people they needed to tell and suddenly there was a meeting and — surprise — and it was done before anyone could blink,” she said during a kitchen-table interview in August.
Her daughter, KLynn Reynolds, went to school with Overbeck and his two brothers. The families have been acquainted for 40 years. During the May hearings, Overbeck sat at the table with the members, his back to the audience. After she spoke, Marlene Reynolds leaned toward him. “Quentin, please. Don’t.”
The approvals from those two boards are not the final decision. Benton County’s three commissioners have to vote on the issue yet. And a judicial review request filed in court on behalf of nine affected property owners alleging improper procedures by the BZA and plan commission has delayed further action. A court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23.
Hog farming is big in Indiana, with more than 2,000 operations of all sizes, including more than 400 CAFOs that confine more than 5,000 hogs at once. Indiana’s hog farms brought in $1.5 billion in revenue in 2023, according to an International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health report. The state is fifth in the nation in hog production, providing 7% of U.S. pork and sending about 10 million hogs to market annually, most raised in CAFOs.
Indiana’s Confined Feeding Operation rules spread around the responsibility of overseeing CAFOs, defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as animal feeding operations that keep livestock in a confined space without grass or vegetation for at least 45 days over 12 months.
The state Department of Environmental Management regulates facility construction, on-site wells, manure handling, stormwater run-off and emergency spills. The agency doesn’t regulate odors but recommends ways to reduce them.
County zoning regulations determine where CAFOs can be built. Local and state highway departments deal with road concerns. The state animal health board oversees dead animal disposal, and the Department of Natural Resources monitors groundwater. The county health department deals with fly and mosquito complaints.
Overbeck’s variance request says transitioning the row-crop fields, which measure 82, 198 and 320 acres, would benefit Benton County. “Animal agriculture is a driver of the local economy and aligns with the businesses and resources in the area,” he wrote in his proposal.
Overbeck didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.
Jim Lawinger, president of the zoning and planning boards, chastised people who spoke out of turn and claimed the process was unfair during the May 15 meetings.
“If I hear much more comment from the back, I will clear this room in a heartbeat. Is that understood?”
The room went quiet before Tyler Fledderman from Keystone Cooperative, a swine-based business that partners with Midwestern farmers to provide pork to consumers, spoke up. The CAFOs will provide $15,000 a year in property taxes and Keystone will agree, he said, to repair local roads damaged by trucks hauling hogs and feed.
“Our goal is to respond with a regional footprint responsibly by working with farmers like the Overbeck family,” he said, calling them “responsible stewards of the environment.”
Lawinger wrote on his voting ballot that the 320-acre CAFO planned on County Road 800 North had “close neighbors effected.”
Marlene Reynolds and the other neighbors won’t give up the CAFO fight. “We’re not against farming,” she said. “It’s the scale of this operation and the lack of transparency and accountability. He (Overbeck) lives six miles away. He doesn’t have to live with the consequences.”
Koebcke is worried manure runoff from the hog farm planned behind her house will contaminate her well. Will she be able to hang her laundry out to dry? She retired this year and bought two white rocking chairs for the back porch, which looks out on knee-high rows of soybeans.
“I got the rockers a few days before I heard about this,” she said. “It’s gonna be a whole different view now. And they say we won’t be bothered by the smell. I just wish they would consider my health and well-being. And my rights, as a neighbor.”
FPI News, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations. Sign up for our free newsletter.
FPI News reporter Laura Lane covers the people and issues of rural Indiana. Reach her at 812-760-1540 or laura.lane@fpinews.org.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre is bringing three new shows to its stage for the 2027 season, including classics from across the ages.
Eddie Curry is a producer with Beef & Boards, who joined News 8 to detail the new shows and revel in the excitement of the new season.
The theatre says the season features everything from fantasy and romance to good ol’ rock and roll.
Tickets for all 2027 shows go on sale on Oct. 1.
To hear more about the shows, watch the full interview above!
INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is preparing to launch digital driver’s licenses, Indiana’s I-Team has learned.
A mobile driver’s license is a digital version of a physical license, learner’s permit or identification card. The license lives on a smartphone, typically in a mobile wallet or through an app.
While the agency has not released a specific timeline, officials say they are getting closer to the launch.
Potential uses include:
Indiana’s I-Team found at least 21 states already use mobile driver’s licenses, including neighboring Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio.
Lily King said she likes the idea of a digital license.
“I approve of it,” King said.
King spent the morning at a BMV branch on Crawfordsville Road after losing her license. She said having a digital version would have saved her time and money.
She is not the only driver looking for a technology upgrade.
“Sometimes you forget your ID, credit card, but your phone, it’s everything,” Nery Louis said. “Me personally, I would be happy. I would be using it every day.”
Groups including the American Civili Liberties Union have raised concerns about privacy, tracking, and security.
“The ACLU of Indiana has serious concerns about digital driver’s licenses, particularly around privacy, tracking, and the ability for the government to revoke someone’s access to their ID,” ACLU of Indiana advocacy manager Danielle Drake said.
Drake said any system needs strong privacy safeguards and should remain voluntary, keeping a physical ID option available at all times.
Drivers also expressed concern about cybersecurity.
“With all this new technology going on, they could easily download somebody else’s face or pretend to be them,” Sean Risner said. “I feel like it would create those sorts of problems for fraud identification.”
The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles said it is following best practices for digital security.
A 2023 law, House Enrolled Act 1050, requires the agency to follow international standards to maintain data security for any Hoosier who has a mobile license.
“The BMV wants to ensure we create a system that is secure, reliable, and complies with Indiana law,” agency spokesperson Greg Dunn said in an email to the I-Team.
Dunn said mobile licenses require careful planning to address how the program affects the community and to meet the needs of those verifying identities. He added that digital licenses are part of the vision for Indiana’s future.
Dunn said once the program is closer to launch, Hoosiers will receive updates on how to access the new features.
The BMV has no plans to phase out physical driver’s licenses.
The agency will present its proposal to lawmakers Wednesday. The Interim Study Committee on Roads and Transportation meeting will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WISH) — A 62-year-old senior pastor faces 10 felony counts of possessing child sexual abuse material after Indiana State Police arrested him Monday in Terre Haute, state police say.
Daniel Willis was taken to the Vigo County Jail on mid-level felony charges involving material of children younger than 12/bondage.
Indiana State Police detectives began the investigation in early 2026. The investigation followed tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and a second company that was not identified.
After investigators identified Willis, detectives obtained a search warrant for his home and church. Several agencies joined the search, including the Indiana Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Indiana State Police forensics unit, the Terre Haute Police Department and special agents from the Department of Homeland Security.
Investigators say they found digital devices containing files of child sexual abuse.
The Indiana Crimes Against Children Task Force, overseen by state police, investigates and prosecutes people who use the internet to exploit or entice children sexually.
The task force encourages Hoosiers to report online exploitation, solicitation and enticement-type crimes against children to the National Center for Missing &Exploited Children.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Four adults were taken to hospitals with “complaints of pain” after their small bus crashed on Indianapolis’ northwest side Tuesday morning.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to the area of West 56th Street and Lafayette Road just after 7 a.m. to investigate an accident with injuries.
It’s not clear what led to the crash; News 8 photographer Joe Dugan described the scene, saying the bus flipped onto its side.
IMPD didn’t say how many passengers were on the bus, though four were taken to hospitals for treatment. Police described other injuries as “minor.”
Dugan says the bus was loaded up by a tow truck and moved from the crash scene by 8:20 a.m.
This is a developing story.
PORTLAND, USA, September 1 (IPS) – The age structures of populations vary considerably across countries. Some countries have relatively young populations, with large proportions consisting of children and adolescents. Other countries have much older age structures, with a substantial proportion of people aged 65 years or older.
Read the full story, “Population Age Structures of Countries”, on globalissues.org →
UNITED NATIONS, September 1 (IPS) – On the morning of August 26, an unprecedented series of flash floods struck Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, causing immense destruction, killing hundreds of civilians and leaving thousands missing. Entire neighborhoods have been buried underwater and beneath mud as the Nepalese government and humanitarian organizations rush to provide emergency assistance.
ARTHUR, Ind. (WISH) — A high-speed chase ended in a head-on collision Saturday night that killed two drivers and an 8-year-old girl in Pike County, the Indiana State Police said in a news release issued Monday afternoon.
The incident began at 7:42 p.m. Saturday on State Road 64 when a Pike County deputy was responding to a domestic violence call at the Country Junction gas station in the unincorporated community of Arthur. That’s about a 10-minute drive east of the Gibson County city of Oakland City.
State police investigators learned that a Pike County deputy was responding to a domestic violence call minutes before 7:45 p.m. Saturday at the Country Junction gas station near the intersection of state roads 61 and 64. He was driving with lights and sirens on, the release said.
As the deputy arrived at the gas station, a red Toyota Camry suspected to be involved in the domestic violence incident sped away from the gas station. The deputy saw the Camry driver run another motorist off the road while heading east. The Camry then blew through a flashing red light at the four-way stop at the state roads’ intersection.
When the deputy drew closer, the Camry driver crossed into the deputy’s lane and tried to ram the patrol car. The deputy avoided the hit, turned around, and chased the Camry.
The chase ended a short time later near Pike County Road 900 E, about 8 miles east of the gas station on State Road 64, when the Camry crossed the centerline and hit a Toyota Sienna head-on.
The driver of the Sienna, 41-year-old Amanda Wertman of the town of Winslow, died at the scene.
The driver of the Camry also died in the crash. The Pike County Coroner’s Office has not yet released the name of the Camry driver, the release said.
Four children were traveling in the Sienna with Wertman. All four were taken to local hospitals. Wertman’s 8-year-old daughter later died at a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. The three other children are still in the hospital but were expected to recover.
The state police crash reconstruction team had not yet completed its investigation on Monday afternoon.
Pike County, with 12,250 residents, is about a 50-minute drive northeast of downtown Evansville in southern Indiana.
