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.

(CNN) — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Friday that it will wind down its operations due to the successful Republican effort to defund local PBS and NPR stations across the country.

The announcement came just over a week after President Donald Trump signed into law a rescissions bill clawing back congressionally approved federal funds for public media and foreign aid. Of the $9 billion in canceled funds, $1.1 billion was earmarked for the CPB.

“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement. “CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”

Officials at the organization, which was founded more than 60 years ago, said they are focused on helping local stations figure out how to cope with sudden budget shortfalls. Harrison has warned that some stations, particularly in rural areas, will have to shut down without federal support.

Most larger stations have numerous other funding sources, including viewer and listener donations, to soften the blow dealt by Congress. Still, public media executives have warned that the interconnected system will be weakened in various ways without federal funding as a foundation.

Most of the corporation’s roughly 100 staff positions will be eliminated when the money runs out on September 30. The CPB will maintain a small transition team through January to guarantee “a responsible and orderly closeout of operations,” it said in a statement.

On Friday, the CPB also filed a voluntary dismissal of its lawsuit against President Trump for his attempts to remove three of five board members from the organization.

The Trump administration’s cuts to the CPB were the culmination of the president’s months-long effort to defund public broadcasters, which the president has alleged are “biased” against conservatives.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Gov. Mike Braun (R) has announced that several Indiana state agencies will work with federal immigration officials to deport people who are in the country illegally.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Indiana State Police, Indiana Department of Correction, and Indiana National Guard have signed agreements to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a Jan. 28 executive order, Braun reiterated the state’s partnership with federal immigration enforcement, saying, “Indiana is not a safe haven for illegal immigration. Indiana will fully partner with federal immigration authorities as they enforce the most fundamental laws of our country.’

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE allowing designated officers to perform immigration enforcement functions such as arrests and issuing detainers.

The Indiana State Police have entered into a similar agreement to collaborate with federal immigration authorities.

The Indiana Department of Correction has signed a Warrant Service Officer memorandum of agreement, enabling personnel to help with immigration enforcement duties in jails and correctional facilities. IDOC will also provide up to 1,000 beds at Miami Correctional Facility for detainees.

Braun also mentioned the anticipated partnership between the Indiana National Guard and federal immigration authorities, with Camp Atterbury available for temporary use to house people subject to deportation.

Braun emphasized that the mission at Camp Atterbury will not interfere in the Indiana National Guard’s ability to respond or their training readiness.

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) — An annual event in Indianapolis is taking a sharp turn away from its old name, but the goal is to keep its longtime mission directly on track.

For eight years, Tha Black Owned Business Block Party brought dozens of local entrepreneurs together in one spot – to sell their wares, share their stories, and potentially make new customers and friends.
Organizers say all of that -and more- will now happen under a new brand: the EightDown Festival.

“150 Black-owned businesses will be taking over every square inch of Flanner House,” longtime organizer Dominic Dorsey shared during a visit with WISH-TV’s Daybreak. “But we’re also going to be offering trophies. We’re going to be awarding some champions within the community. We’re going to be highlighting more of those cultural aspects.”

Asked for an explanation for the name change, Dorsey said the local calendar is increasingly crowded with block parties from several different organizations. That led to the re-branding to EightDown.

“So ‘Eight’, obviously, for the month of August. ‘Down’ being a euphemism for unity,” he explains. “So this is an opportunity for us to celebrate unity and excellence during the month of August. Still highlighting those Black-owned businesses, but also all of the things that we do exceptionally well in art, culture, dance, music across the board.”

Dorsey says it will be just like the old Block Party, but “turned up to 11!”

He also points out that while minority entrepreneurs are at the heart of the festival, he hopes people of all cultures will feel welcome to attend.

“This is for anybody who appreciates the culture,” he says. “This is a place for you to come and feel your most unapologetically authentic self. That’s what we want to celebrate. That’s what we want to uplift. And we want everybody to come out and experience that.

The party is Saturday, August 2nd from 1-7pm at Flanner House, 2424 Dr. MLK Jr. Street.
There is no charge to attend, and Dorsey hopes the free entry will encourage everyone to bring a little spending money.

“The idea is that you spend as little as you can to get there, so you can spend as much as you can with these black owned businesses.”

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here’s a look at Friday’s business headlines with Jane King, who has the latest on Open AI, the July jobs report, and a White House demand for drug companies to cut prices.

Trump wants drug companies to cut prices

President Trump is asking 17 drugmakers, including Pfizer, Merck, and Lilly, to cut U.S. drug prices within 60 days.

He has several proposals to do this, and one of them involves the drugmakers selling medicine directly to consumers or businesses.

Shoppers still flocking to amazon

Amazon says shoppers are still buying, even with uncertainty of tariffs.

However, the company also spooked investors who are eager to see Amazon’s hefty investments in artificial intelligence pay off.

The company has committed to spend up to $100 billion this year on ai as it races to build out infrastructure and software.

Amazon employs more than 26,000 full and part-time employees across 37 facilities in Indiana.

Conversations with ChatGPT made public

Open AI’s ChatGPT just removed a feature that would make your public conversations – searchable on google and other search engines.

TechCrunch says you used to be able to filter search results on Google, Bing, and other search engines to include URLs from the domain chatgpt.com/share, and on it, you could find strangers conversations with ChatGPT.

Hours after the tech blog reported on it, Open AI took the feature down, saying it was a “short-lived experiment” and that it created too many opportunities for people to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to.

July jobs reports expected this morning

The July jobs report is out Friday and analysts are expecting 115,000 jobs created, which would be lower than June’s creation of 147,000.

If payrolls come in lower than expected, that data could amp up the Federal Reserve to possibly cut rates in September.

Cinemark looks to shine up the silver screen

ScreenX is a premium film format that utilizes additional displays on the right and left walls of the auditorium, called wings, to create a 270-degree panoramic field of view.

Cinemark said said six of those new screens will be open in time for the openings of “Wicked: For Good” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”