ELWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — Ascension St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood, Indiana, has launched a new Senior Renewal service to address mental health challenges faced by seniors in rural areas.

The program aims to enhance mental health services for older adults by offering free transportation, group-based psychotherapy, and routine health screenings tailored to the needs of aging populations.

This initiative is part of Ascension St. Vincent’s commitment to providing vital care in rural communities where access to healthcare can be limited.

“We are deeply committed to rural health, and that’s reflected in our efforts at Ascension St. Vincent Mercy in Elwood,” Ascension St. Vincent Mercy spokesperson Ann Yates said in a press release. “In direct response to our community needs assessments, our Senior Renewal program offers home pickup and drop-off to reduce transportation barriers to care.”

The Senior Renewal program offers clients access to intensive, group-based psychotherapy tailored to support their emotional well-being.

Through each level of care, participants gain deeper insight into their mental health and develop effective coping strategies to manage life’s challenges. Based on a comprehensive assessment of each individual’s unique needs, clients may transition between levels of care as appropriate.

Treatment begins with a complimentary, confidential evaluation conducted by a qualified professional to determine the most suitable level of support.

This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and edits all content published to ensure it meets our journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.

VERSAILLES, Ind. (WISH) — A 71-year-old man driving a motor scooter was killed in a crash with a dump truck Friday in Ripley County.

Indiana State Police say the crash happened in Versailles, Indiana at South Adams Street and Clearview Lane just before 9 a.m.

71-year-old Paul Schwarte was driving a moped, a 2022 Kymco motor scooter, eastbound on Clearview Lane. ISP says he crossed into South Adams Street and into the path of a 2004 Mack dump truck driving north.

Schwarte crashed into the dump truck’s driver side, which caused him to eject from the crash. Schwarte was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

While ISP is still investigating the crash, they don’t believe that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash.

KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) — The Kokomo Police Department reports that one person is dead from a police shooting Saturday morning.

The shooting happened in the 2100 block of South Lafountain Street, near the East Boulevard intersection.

Kokomo police say that one person is dead, but they have not identified who that person is. No officers were injured.

The Kokomo Police Department did not say what led to the shooting or if anyone else was injured.

This is a developing story.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After someone ducked into an eastside bar to evade a man chasing after her, an ensuing gunfight injured two men late Friday night. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says that one is in critical condition and the other is stable.

IMPD reported that the shooting happened at 11:35 p.m. at The New Yorker, a bar on East New York Street and North Colorado Avenue.

According to police, a female–her age was not disclosed by IMPD–ran into The New Yorker to escape a man that was chasing her. IMPD did not say why the man was chasing her.

Once she was hiding inside, the man started firing into the bar, sparking a shootout.

Two other men at the bar were injured with gunshot wounds. One is in the hospital in critical condition while the other is stable.

IMPD says the suspect is in custody in the hospital after he was shot during the incident.

IMPD says people inside the bar scattered during the shooting and ran away. Anyone who may have seen the shooting or may have information on the incident is urged to contact police.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Canadian wildfire smoke may create hazy or milky skies at times this weekend. Otherwise, a nice opening weekend to August!

TODAY: Partly cloudy. Air quality alerts are in place for northern Indiana; wildfire smoke will mainly be elevated in central Indiana. High temperatures in the upper 70s.

TONIGHT: Mostly clear and cooler than average once again! Low temperatures in the upper 50s.

TOMORROW: Partly cloudy with some hints of wildfire smoke still around. High temperatures in the low 80s.

7-DAY FORECAST: Dew points return to the uncomfortable (60s) category starting Monday. Daily pop-up PM rain chances during the work week. Not everyone gets rain day by day with these unorganized, random pop-ups. Central Indiana will consistently have highs in the 80s throughout the week.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — August kicked off on a near picture perfect note with the exception of elevated wildfire smoke. This morning was also our coolest of the summer.

Enjoy this pattern through the first weekend of August before we turn back up the warmth and muggy meter.

Friday night: We’re looking at an even cooler night with lows falling into the upper 50s. If we drop below 61 by Saturday morning in Indy, it will mark our coolest morning of the summer. Skies will be mostly clear.

Saturday: Pleasant air continues with plenty of sunshine and comfortable air. The only setback will be persistent elevated wildfire smoke that could lower air quality for some areas. Highs in the upper 70s to low 80s.

Sunday: We look to be a touch warmer Sunday, but the expectation is for another gorgeous early August day with no weather issues. Highs in the low 80s.

7-Day Forecast: As we enter next week, we’ll begin to see our pleasant weather picture gradually unravel. The muggy meter is set to go back up along with a slow warmup. Highs look to be back above normal by Wednesday with potential for near 90 degree heat into next weekend. This change towards a more uncomfortable setting will be accompanied with some chances for showers and storms.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana students are set to face more challenging math classes this school year due to a new law aimed at accelerating academic success.

Under the new legislation, Indiana middle schools will automatically enroll students who meet specific academic criteria into advanced math courses. This initiative is part of a broader effort to enhance student performance in mathematics across the state.

“The law is very clear – we have to implement it for this school year,” said Jeff Butts, superintendent of the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township. “We communicated with parents on June 4. We are ready to implement right away, and we are on day three of school. Our students are taking those classes as we speak.”

School districts and charter middle schools are now required to reassess how they screen, evaluate, and intervene in student math performance. This includes early assessments to identify both struggling students and those ready to advance.

The Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township has been proactive in preparing for this change. “We watched this legislation carefully as it went through the session,” Butts explained. “So, once it passed in April, we started to prepare right away and were looking at our students’ scores as soon as they came in.”

The law also emphasizes the importance of teacher preparation programs, calling for stronger math content and curriculum requirements to ensure future educators are well-equipped to teach math effectively.

State Rep. Jake Teshka, the author of the law, highlighted the need for improvements in teacher preparation. “One of the things that we did with this bill was to address the teacher preparation programs and ask them to step up their game when it comes to instructing our future classroom educators,” Teshka said.

The Indiana Department of Education is tasked with tracking and reporting enrollment data, detailing which students are taking advanced math and where. Parents retain the right to opt their children out of advanced math courses if they feel the track is not suitable for their child.

With these changes, Indiana aims to push its students toward greater academic achievement in mathematics, potentially setting a precedent for educational reform across the nation. “We want to make sure we are appropriately pushing our students to excel,” Teshka added.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The suspected shooter in a west side police shooting who shot an Indianapolis police officer at least three times before being shot himself has been identified as 19-year-old Tyson Reach.

Reach, who is still in critical condition at a hospital, is preliminarily charged with attempted murder, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Friday. He has been in custody at the hospital since Tuesday.

The shooting happened after a carjacking just after 2 p.m. Tuesday near 16th and Harding streets, on the west side of Indianapolis. The officer recognized the stolen vehicle and followed it into an apartment building off of 16th Street and Lafayette Road.

Four male suspects were inside the vehicle when they were stopped by police. One person fled police while the officer tried to arrest the driver. They still have not been found.

While trying to arrest the driver, 19-year-old Mahki Starks, two others exited the vehicle. One passenger, Reach, walked to the front of the vehicle and opened fire.

The officer was shot then returned fire, hitting Reach at least once. Both men were taken to a hospital for treatment. The officer hurt, who has not been identified, was released on Wednesday.

IMPD identified the other passenger Wednesday as 19-year-old Malique Starks.

Prosecutors charged Malique Starks with resisting law enforcement. Mahki Starks was preliminarily charged with armed robbery for the carjacking and for resisting law enforcement, but formal charges have not been filed as of Friday.

AVON, Ind. (WISH) — Avon Community Schools began a new school year on Wednesday and welcomed students to new start times and completed construction.

Superintendent Dr. Scott Wyndham joined WISH-TV live for Daybreak’s Morning Bell on Friday.

He says Avon completed a major renovation and reconfiguration of its schools after five years of planning and three years of construction, marking the start of a new academic year with significant changes.

“Avon High School has completed a significant renovation. That building’s 25 years old, so it needed to be expanded to accommodate our current enrollment and plans for the future to serve up to 4,000 students. We built a new middle school that we opened just three days ago and reconfigured our intermediate schools to become elementary. So we really transitioned and reconfigured our entire school district, K-8, and touched just about every school to make sure that we had top-notch learning environments for all of our kids,” Wyndham said.

He added that in the first week, students are getting into the swing of the school year and are enjoying the changes.

“It’s awesome to see kids walking through those halls, loving the spaces that they’re in,” Wyndham said.

Other transformations in the district since a 2018 referendum included smaller class sizes, competitive teacher pay, and enhanced student opportunities. This fall, the referendum will be up for renewal.

“So that’s what we’ll be doing in November is going back to our community and asking them to support those same three priorities but we’ve also been able to reduce our tax rate that we’re asking our community over the last seven years. So, the next three months will be busy of trying to educate our community about really that referendum has been our vital lifeline to provide the supports and the class sizes and meet the expectations of our students, our parents, and our community. And we want to continue that,” Wyndham explained.

Redistricting efforts mean changes to school start times this year. Wyndham said this is partially due to bus driver availability, with some schools experiencing significant schedule adjustments.

With the completion of these projects, Avon Schools is poised for a successful school year, continuing to focus on providing quality education and support for its students.

“Just seeing our kids in these spaces and being able to see them succeed over the course of the year, that’s what gets me excited every day,” Wydham said.

This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and
edits all content published to ensure it meets our journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For most teachers, the first week of school means lesson plans and classroom prep. For Brayden Lee, it also means getting ready to step into the wrestling ring.

Lee, a teacher at Crawfordsville High School, says his two worlds collided sooner than he expected.

“When I first became a teacher, my goal was to really keep that on the down low,” Lee said. “I wanted to try to keep my wrestling life separate from my teaching life. But high school kids are very active on social media. So as soon as they find out your real name, they’re just like, ‘Facebook, Google, everything.’”

Lee says it only took a couple of weeks for word to spread.

“Within a week or two of my first year of teaching, it was out that I was a professional wrestler,” he said. “So it didn’t last very long.”

Lee says his students have been mostly supportive, even if they try to use it to their advantage.

“They kind of just use it to get me off topic a little bit and it does work from time to time,” Lee said. “But they have been pretty supportive, I would say, for the most part. And I’m very lucky that they don’t make it as big of a deal as they potentially could.”

Even his colleagues were caught off guard.

“They’re just kind of like, ‘Whoa, that’s a really weird thing that you do,’” Lee said. “The main person who was kind of maybe disgruntled that I was a professional wrestler was actually my principal, but that’s just because he was concerned I was going to get injured.”

Lee reassured his boss, but admits it didn’t go as planned.

“I tried to reassure him that, hey, like I’ve only had like a few concussions I’m going to be okay,” Lee said. “And then the third week of my first year, I broke my foot.”

Now, with a new school year starting, Lee is focused on both the classroom and his next big match.

“Wrestling is kind of just like a day-to-day thing for me,” he said. “I have to be really focused on what’s going on in my classroom during the week. I try to make sure that I’m giving my full effort to both things. And for me, the best way has just been to take it day by day and kind of focus on being in the moment and not thinking too far ahead.”

That includes his upcoming showdown with Jack Vaughn.

“Jack Vaughn is a very talented wrestler,” Lee said. “He’s calling himself the last real professional wrestler. But he’s kind of coming into my home promotion. This is a promotion that I literally started with my first year of wrestling. I’ve been a champion there, so to me this is kind of a proving grounds match.”

Lee says he has extra motivation for Saturday night.

“He told me that his 40th birthday is actually on Saturday,” Lee said. “The good news for him, or the bad news for him, is he’s going to start his 40s out with a loss.”

Emerge Wrestling is set for Saturday at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds, 750 West 200 South, Columbus. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the opening bell at 7. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door.

To purchase tickets, click here.