INDIANAPOLIS — Longtime state Sen. Ron Alting on Wednesday announced he will resign his seat if re-elected, citing neurological problems following accusations of shoplifting.

Alting, a Republican, was first elected in 1998 and currently represents eastern Tippecanoe County and Carroll County. Last week, accusations surfaced that he had shoplifted from a store in West Lafayette. Alting is running for another term and faces Democrat Natasha Baker.

In a statement posted to his official Facebook page, Alting said he has been undergoing a number of medical tests due to “concerning changes in my judgment, behavior and cognitive functioning.” He said those tests are still ongoing.

Alting said if he is re-elected on Nov. 3, he will resign his seat, in which case the Republican Party will caucus in a replacement. He said he has informed Senate President pro tempore Rod Bray of his intention to resign. Bray’s office confirmed this but did not provide further comment.

Full statement from Alting:

“Twenty-eight years ago, I asked the people of this community for the privilege of representing them in the Indiana Senate. It has been the greatest honor of my life.

“Over the past several weeks, I have been undergoing extensive medical evaluation for concerning changes in my judgment, behavior and cognitive functioning. That evaluation has included specialists in neurology, geriatrics and mental health, as well as an MRI and other testing. That work is continuing as my doctors seek a definitive diagnosis.

“During this time, I did things that were wrong and completely out of character for me. I take responsibility for my actions. I am deeply sorry for the hurt and disappointment I have caused my family, friends, colleagues, constituents and the store employees involved.

“After many difficult conversations with my family, my doctors and people I have trusted for many years, I have concluded that I need to bring my time in public office to an end and devote my attention to my health and my family.

“I have informed Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray of my decision to resign from the Indiana Senate.

“Because voting in this year’s election is already underway, my name will remain on the ballot. If I am elected, my successor will ultimately be chosen through the Republican Party’s vacancy process. I have great confidence that this process will produce an outstanding leader who will serve Senate District 22 and its people well.

“For nearly three decades, the people of Tippecanoe County have entrusted me with something very precious: the opportunity to represent them. I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude for that trust.

“There will be time in the days ahead to say more. Tonight, I simply want to say thank you.

“As I continue through this medical evaluation and we work toward answers, I ask that you keep me, my family and the doctors caring for me in your prayers.”

Sen. Ron Alting, R-West Lafayette

INDIANAPOLIS — A person was critically hurt in a shooting late Tuesday night along East 38th Street in Indianapolis, police said.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was called just after 11:45 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a person shot at the intersection of East 38th Street and North Oxford Avenue. Medics were dispatched about five minutes later to a gas station at the intersection, about four blocks east of North Keystone Avenue.

No additional information was immediately available from IMPD.

INDIANAPOLIS — One person was hurt in a shooting near the Statehouse Tuesday night, Indiana State Capitol Police said.

Police were called to the scene just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at 10 N. Senate Ave.

Capitol Police Sgt. Robert Johnson said an officer on patrol was approached by a witness who informed him of a man on the street who appeared to have been shot in his lower leg.

The officer found the man and began rendering aid before other officers and medical personnel arrived on the scene, Johnson said.

The man was taken to Eskenazi Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Johnson said the incident was still under investigation, and did not give details on a possible suspect, but he did say there was no ongoing threat to the public.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A year removed from the team’s lowest win total in franchise history, a fully healthy Tyrese Haliburton, and a six-month offseason to regroup, the Pacers have another NBA Finals appearance at the front of their minds.

But first, getting off to a hot start to the regular season is the first priority.

“I think that’s something that I haven’t been able to do in my career is have a good start to the season,” Haliburton said. “So that’s definitely something that we want to do as a group. Feel like we definitely prepared well for this game one and these early games.”

The Pacers start the regular season this Wednesday, October 21, on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans. As the blue and gold tip off the season this week, both head coach Rick Carlisle and forward Pascal Siakam are excited to go full speed again.

“We’ve been working hard during preseason,” Carlisle said. “We’ve done some good things. We continue to work on things we need to work on. It’s always exciting when the season starts.”

“It’s been great just getting ready, getting the guys acclimated to everything,” Siakam said. “We’re all just excited to get to the game and start playing. Kind of tired of playing against each other, so go out there and perform.”

Perhaps no one is more excited than Tyrese Halibuton, who missed all of last season rehabbing from an Achilles tear.

“When you’re hurt and you miss a whole year, have a major injury like that… It was the first time I’d thought about what life would be like after basketball,” Haliburton said. “But I do know that I have a lot more to offer. I have a lot more to bring to the table as a basketball player, and I don’t want to retire or be done playing without accomplishing everything I want in life so I’m just excited for the year to come, and chase my dream, and try to win a championship.”

While the Pacers have their eyes on an NBA title, both Coach Carlisle and Siakam know the road to success starts with building the right habits.

“We’re just a process team, and outcomes are distractions, and we just have to keep our eye on the ball with how we do things on a day-to-day basis, and you know the results hopefully take care of themselves,” Carlisle said.

“We know what we have, and I think it’s one thing to talk about it,” Siakam added. “It’s another thing to go out there and do it.”

(CNN) — Since 2021, Christina Applegate has been one of the most famous advocates for living with multiple sclerosis. Now she says she has discovered that she doesn’t actually have the disease.

Applegate shared the shocking news Tuesday during an episode of the podcast she hosts with the actress and MS patient Jamie Lynn Sigler about life with MS, “MeSsy.”

Sigler had been hosting the podcast solo for seven months while Applegate dealt with her worsening health. Talking to Sigler in her return appearance, Applegate got emotional when she described how her doctor had told her that recent test results had ruled out the condition.

“It’s hard to say, but she came into my room and she said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS.’” Applegate said. “I was like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.”

MS is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own healthy cells, affecting the nervous system. It can be debilitating for some. For Applegate, her previous diagnosis of MS had offered an explanation for her ongoing struggle with symptoms including tingling and numbness in her extremities, lack of coordination, balance issues and difficulty walking.

Earlier this year, the “Married With Children” star told People magazine she had been spending most of her time in bed because she has been so ill.

Recent testing utilizing new technology led to the conclusion that she does not have MS.

“This may come as good news…but I’m back at square one,” Applegate said tearfully on the podcast.

The finding is not as surprising as it sounds.

A study titled “Incidence of multiple sclerosis misdiagnosis in referrals to two academic centers” found that nearly 1 in 5 patients with an MS diagnosis did not fully meet the criteria for the disease and “had a much more likely alternate diagnosis.”

Applegate and Sigler addressed that during their two-part podcast episode, with a guest appearance by one of the authors of that study Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center department of neurology.

Kaisey told them that some people had gone on for years with a misdiagnosis of MS, and many of them were prescribed medication to treat it.

The doctor talked about what she referred to as the “push and pull of the diagnostic process.”

“We’re so eager to get people diagnosed because we know that the earlier we start them on treatment the better they’re going to do decades from then,” Kaisey said. “But at the same time we have to be really careful to give them the accurate diagnosis.”

Applegate has had a rough time of it since her initial, now apparently wrong, diagnosis.

Her health deteriorated to the point that she had to leave her hit Netflix series “Dead to Me” which concluded with season three in November 2022.

She authored a memoir titled “You With the Sad Eyes,” which addressed the condition. During the podcast, she told Sigler that the pair of them had become “the poster children for MS.”

Learning about the wrong diagnosis has not led to her being healed and has been a “mindf**k” Applegate said. She sadly marveled at how she had lived with something for years, believing all the while that doctors knew what it was.

“I haven’t gotten better, Jamie! If anything, I’ve gotten worse. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she said. “And that’s going to be an online investigation that my doctors are going to be getting into just to find out what has been going on since 2021, why did this happen?”

She also spoke about her depression and how she has “lost everything” including her job.

“I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still in this,” Applegate said. “Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’”

The star’s doctors are continuing to try and determine what is causing her symptoms.

INDIANAPOLIS — Open enrollment is underway for Medicare and many other insurance providers.

Scammers know this and experts say they’re ramping up their efforts to steal your information.

Typically, the scammer will send a text message about open enrollment, giving you a phone number to call or a link to click.

Medicare and insurance carriers are not going to text you out of the blue, unless you’ve opted in for certain communications.

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) in Indiana is already seeing an increase in open enrollment scams.

“One of the newer things like we’re seeing this fall already is individuals receiving text messages as well as phone calls from scammers saying, ‘Hey, log on to this particular website, and you can change your plan from here,’” Ben Hudson, Medicare training director for the SHIP said. “Unfortunately, those websites or the direct links that are in the text messages end up taking you to websites that may look legitimate on surface level.”

The fake websites are designed to steal your personal information, especially your Medicare number.

“Your Medicare number can generate millions of dollars in fraud just off one Medicare number potentially,” Hudson said. “Even more so if a fraud than if a fraudster had access to your Social Security number.”

Scammers and dishonest medical providers can file fraudulent healthcare claims and bill Medicare.

Fraud, mistakes and abuse cost Medicare an estimated $60 billion each year.

“If you don’t understand something on your Medicare statement, you have the right and responsibility to call that provider and find out what that charge was for,” Nancy Moore with Indiana Senior Medicare Patrol said.

You can protect yourself by typing Medicare.gov into your browser and click on Find Plans.

If you don’t have Medicare, go through your employer’s portal or type in your insurance carrier’s website.

“Make sure it is the actual website for Humana, Anthem, United, just double-check on that,” Hudson said.

Because of all the healthcare data breaches, the scammers may know a lot about you include your name, doctor, and your medical history.

“1-800-452-4800 is our main hotline,” Hudson said. “We actually have a call center of Medicare-trained counselors at the Department of Insurance building in Indianapolis. But anyone across the state can give us a call.”

You can also call 1-800-MEDICARE if you’re not sure if a text, email or phone call you received is legitimate.

Report Medicare fraud to the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General online [oig.hhs.gov] or at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477). It helps them track down the scammers and try to stop them.

If you suspect Medicare fraud, call your health care provider or Medicare plan and ask for an explanation. If you aren’t satisfied with their response, call your local Senior Medicare Patrol [consumer.ftc.gov] for help filing a report, or call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE.

INDIANAPOLIS — A 27-year-old man faces manslaughter charges after his arrest in connection with a deadly fight in a gas station parking lot in Indianapolis’s far east side.

Online jail records show suspect Trey Clardy was booked into the Marion County jail Monday following the death of Charles Dupree, 18, on Oct. 12.

News 8 previously reported that Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched just before 7:50 p.m. to a Marathon gas station at the intersection of East 38th Street and North Mitthoeffer Road on a report of a personal injury accident.

There, they found Dupree suffering from traumatic injuries. The victim was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

IMPD Capt. Rob Rider told media at the scene that Dupree’s injuries were not an accident and likely the result of a fight between at least two people. The suspect fled the scene before police arrival.

Over the course of the investigation, IMPD soon identified Clardy as a suspect. Officers found Clardy on Monday and took him into custody.

Inmate records show Clardy faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, possession of cocaine and marijuana, and dealing in cocaine.

The Marion County prosecutor was expected to make the final charging decisions.

Anyone with information on this incident was asked to contact Det. Jose Torres at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or by email at Jose.Torres@indy.gov.

This is a developing story.

INDIANAPOLIS – Former Indianapolis Public Schools special education teacher Hunter Sesemann has been indicted by a Marion County grand jury on nine criminal charges arising from accusations of physical abuse involving young students with disabilities at Washington Irving Neighborhood School 14 in Indianapolis.

The indictment, filed Oct. 19, 2026, in Marion Superior Court, includes six Level 6 felony charges and three Class B misdemeanor charges. Specifically, Sesemann faces three felony counts of battery on a person less than 14 years old, three felony counts of battery against a person with a disability, and three misdemeanor counts of battery.

The charges stem from incidents occurring in the fall of 2025. Prosecutors state that Sesemann knowingly subjected two juvenile victims to unlawful physical contact while they were under his care. Both children were younger than 14 years old and had mental disabilities.

Attorneys Catherine Michael of Connell Michael LLP and Tammy Meyer of Metzger Rosta LLP represent both juvenile victims identified in the criminal indictment, as well as a third student whose family has independently raised claims of physical abuse and neglect involving Sesemann and IPS’s failure to protect their child. The attorneys are preparing civil lawsuits on behalf of all three families.

“The accusations in the indictment are deeply troubling because they involve young children with disabilities who depended on the adults in their classroom to keep them safe,” said attorney Tammy Meyer. “Parents send their children to school trusting that educators will protect them, especially when those children may have difficulty communicating what is happening to them. That trust is fundamental, and claims that it was violated demand serious scrutiny.”

The anticipated civil lawsuits will address claims extending beyond Sesemann’s individual conduct, including whether school officials and the entities responsible for operating and overseeing School 14 fulfilled their obligations to supervise staff, respond to reports of abuse, and protect students from further harm.

“Criminal charges are an important step toward accountability, but they do not resolve the broader questions about how these children were treated or whether those responsible for their safety took appropriate action,” said attorney Catherine Michael. “Our clients and their families deserve answers about what happened inside that IPS school, what school officials knew, and what could have been done to prevent the harm.”

The families will be pursuing civil remedies to address the injuries suffered by their children and to seek accountability from those responsible for their care and protection.

“Children with disabilities are among our most vulnerable students, and schools have a responsibility to ensure that their needs are met in an environment free from abuse,” Michael continued. “These families are seeking more than an acknowledgment that something went wrong. They want meaningful accountability and changes that help prevent other children from experiencing similar abuse.”

INDIANAPOLIS — A man is dead after a shooting in the Edmors Alton Terrace subdivision on the city’s northwest side, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said.

IMPD said officers were dispatched to the 5500 block of Northland Road on a report of shots fired just before 10 p.m. Monday. Police said they believe the incident occurred just before 9:50 p.m. When officers arrived, they found a man who’d been shot. He was taken to the hospital where he later died.

IMPD Capt. Richard Ray said investigators believe this was a domestic incident and that there is no ongoing threat to the public. The department has a person of interest in custody, Ray said.

Police are asking anyone with information on this incident to contact them.

“Addressing gun violence is a community-wide issue,” Ray said.

INDIANAPOLIS — The mother of two children killed by an inmate asked for his execution, as the Indiana Parole Board held its final clemency hearing Monday for death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit.

Weisheit is scheduled to die by lethal injection Nov. 5 for the deaths of 5-year-old Caleb Lynch and 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch. The state Department of Correction has already paid $275,000 for execution drugs, according to records obtained by Indiana’s I-Team.

Those drugs could expire, and Weisheit could spend his life in prison without parole if Republican Gov. Mike Braun decides to grant clemency.

The Parole Board will make a nonbinding recommendation before Braun makes his decision. Board members questioned Weisheit on Friday in Indianapolis and listened to more than a dozen additional speakers Monday to help guide their recommendation.

One of the strongest voices they will consider is Lisa Lynch, the children’s mother.

“I am here today to ensure my children’s voices are heard,” Lynch said through tears during a virtual appearance at Monday’s clemency hearing. “As their mother, it is my duty to protect and stand up for them, and I am here today to honor their lives.”

Lisa and Weisheit were dating and living together when he killed her children in 2010. While the children’s father has asked for mercy, Lisa believes justice for those children means carrying out Weisheit’s death sentence.

“Nothing about an abuser’s twisted narrative changes the horror of what was done,” Lynch said.

Monday’s hearing began in the morning with speakers favoring clemency.

Weisheit’s attorneys spoke about his severe mental illness and potential brain trauma, arguing it was largely to blame for his crimes.

Family members talked about a gentler side of Weisheit that they knew, as well as struggles he had as a young man with depression and suicide attempts. Weisheit’s father, a veteran police officer, said he was horrified by his son’s crimes and called the death sentence “just.”

But he and Weisheit’s mother, Susan, said they could not bear the thought of his execution.

When the state presented its argument, Tyler Banks of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office said Weisheit’s crimes were heinous and premeditated, making him undeserving of clemency.

Banks described threats Weisheit made before the murders and walked the board through the brutal details of the children’s deaths.

Weisheit hogtied Caleb with duct tape, stuffed a rag down his throat, and ignited road flares in the boy’s clothes. The ensuing fire incinerated their Vanderburgh County home, killing the children.

“He burned the children alive,” Banks said.

The state called first responders who found the children dead, a doctor who examined Caleb’s body, and the original investigators on the case. Almost all speakers opposing clemency wept at different points, stopping for deep breaths or fighting back tears.

Lt. Doug Daza of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office said Weisheit traumatized first responders who witnessed the horrors he caused.

The Parole Board is expected to make its recommendation to Braun soon.

Weisheit’s attorneys asked for a 14-day delay in his execution to conduct brain scans to provide Braun information to determine if Weisheit’s mental illness caused his actions. The state says that question was already litigated.