Indianapolis, IN
Aloft Hotels to open new location in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Aloft Hotels, Marriott’s lifestyle brand, is opening a new location in downtown Indianapolis this February.
Located two blocks east of Monument Circle on Market Street, the Aloft Indianapolis is a short walk away from Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indiana Convention Center, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“We are absolutely thrilled to open our doors and welcome guests to the Aloft Indianapolis Downtown,” General Manager Ryan Niketh said in a press release. “With a focus around local culture, crave-able food and beverage and purpose-built design; the Aloft Indy is the ideal choice for travelers in search of a boutique hotel with bold design elements, but who still want the confidence of a Marriott Brand as well as the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program.”
Aloft Indianapolis will have 128 urban loft-style guestrooms, with nine-foot ceilings. Guests will have access to the Arf pet program, which provides lodgings, toys, and treats for your dog, and Camp Aloft, a program designed to entertain children.
In homage to the building’s original tenant, a bank vault in the lobby was renovated as a lounge for private dining and as an event space.
WXYZ Bar, a new cocktail bar, can be found at home in the Aloft. The mixologist-inspired bar will offer weekly live music.
Indianapolis, IN
Indy community leaders urge mayor to address homelessness crisis
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis church leaders and community advocates are banning together to write a formal letter to Mayor Joe Hogsett asking him to help them solve the city’s homelessness crisis.
John Miller, of Indianapolis, found shelter just three days ago — after 13 months of waiting.
“It’s been pretty long and hard,” Miller said. “I mean, everybody’s trying to help you, but they got their own long wait list of their own.”
The list is long, and the wait can be deadly. Just a few months ago, Miller’s friend froze to death while waiting for housing.
The city estimates there are about 1,700 people experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis, and many more are on the Indianapolis Housing Agency’s section 8 waitlist.
“It currently has over 8,000 people waiting for housing, which means if you can qualify for public housing assistance, you would, and will be homeless without someone to help you,” community advocate Wildstyle Paschall said.
Paschall gathered earlier this month with at least 50 other community members looking to solve the issue, including Purpose of Life Ministries Senior Pastor Rev. David Greene, Sr.
The group says the problem can be fixed with funds through city government, along with corporate and philanthropic partnerships — all things they believe can only be brought together by Hogsett. The group chose to write a formal letter to the mayor.
“It was unanimously determined that only Mayor Hogsett has the ability to raise the necessary
resources to solve homelessness in Indy and the community must raise their voices and hold
him accountable,” the letter says.
Paschall says they are asking for a detailed plan with benchmarks to lower homelessness in the area. The group says they are aware of the IHA’s recent hiring of a new director, but feel she needs the support of the mayor to make change.
“We’re helping with that, we’ve got numbers that we would love to talk to the mayor and his people about,” Paschall said. “There are people in this city and organizations that want to help, and really it’s going to take the mayor to go bring everybody together to get the resources so that we can fix public housing.”
To help tackle the issue, Hogsett formed the 17-member Mayor’s Leadership Council on Homelessness last fall. The council also includes a “homelessness czar.” The members represent varying areas in the city, including philanthropic and business sectors.
“On October 1, 2024, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC) convened the first meeting of the Mayor’s Leadership Council on Homelessness (MLCH) at my request,” a spokesperson for the mayor said in response to the letter. “This group represents passionate leadership from Indianapolis’ civic, philanthropic, corporate, and healthcare sectors. I, along with each member of the Leadership Council, is unified by the same mission: to end chronic, street homelessness in Indianapolis and to reduce racial disparities for those experiencing homelessness. The MLCH is tasked with finding solutions to achieve that goal, which includes activating human and financial resources, removing barriers to implementation, as well as leveraging each member’s sphere of influence to enact meaningful change. We have laid the groundwork for change with the MLCH and are pivoting to stakeholder engagement and action that results in demonstrable impact in the lives of our unhoused neighbors. Whether it is through the new master leasing program or the ongoing work to add even more permanent supportive housing units, the City remains focused on utilizing its resources and community partnerships to support our unhoused neighbors.”
Greene is on the council, but wants more to be done.
“We have to stand up,” Greene said. “That’s what the Bible commands of us, what God expects of us, and so to see people suffer in a country as rich as ours and the state. We’re able to do other things, clearly. Why aren’t we able to do more to solve the homeless problem here in Indianapolis?”
Miller tells me he believes any support from local leaders will lead to him staying off the streets, and making sure his friends do too.
For a full copy of the letter, click below.
Indianapolis, IN
‘We all came running.’ Residents, police rally to find missing 6-year-old Catalina Lubin
Here’s why not every child gets an Amber Alert
Police use specific criteria to determine when, and when not, to issue an Amber Alert.
- Girl, 6, went missing after getting off her school bus
- Estates at Crystal Bay residents helped with the search
- Read a timeline of events
Mèsi, mèsi, mèsi.
That’s all a mother could say in her native Creole when she and her loved ones returned to their apartment — a no-longer-missing girl in tow.
The child was still wearing her pink puffy jacket police alerted as a descriptor in her disappearance hours earlier.
As the family walked away, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police began to pack up their K-9 units and squad cars left the complex for the next call. The chaos and fear felt moments earlier subsided.
But neighbors within the northwest side Estates at Crystal Bay complex who also helped search for Catalina Lubin — the 6-year-old who went missing after getting off her Washington Township school bus — remained.
“I mean we all came running,” Shanta Lewis told IndyStar. “I came outside and my mother instincts kicked in. I was banging on every door where I know little girls her age be.”
Lewis said about a dozen adults searched alongside law enforcement.
Relieved Lubin was found, Lewis hugged the mother and tried to communicate through English-speaking family members that she was available if they ever needed her.
Lewis remained puzzled by what happened during the time that Lubin was missing. The girl was last seen getting off the bus at about 2:45 p.m., but wouldn’t be found for six hours. Police have provided no details about where the girl was during that time.
Catalina Lubin, 6, missing inside Estates at Crystal Bay apartment complex
Lubin is a first grader at MSD Washington Township’s Spring Mill Elementary School.
Washington Township spokesperson, Ellen Rogers, told IndyStar that Lubin got off the school bus at her regular time and was last seen within her apartment community.
In the call out for the public’s help, police said Lubin was last seen getting on the bus at Spring Mill Elementary, raising questions about how she could be lost. Police later announced she’d exited the bus at the complex.
Lewis said her 11-year-old son got off the bus at the same time as Lubin.
“My son has been going to that school since he was seven and our bus driver knows us and our kids,” Lewis said, ”I’ve even seen the driver tell young kids to stay on the bus if there’s not an adult outside.”
Usually, Lewis said, Lubin leaves the bus stop with another girl or a woman waiting for her.
Lewis said there are two bus stops in the large complex and wondered why Lubin didn’t get off at the stop closest to her home.
The complex has 432 apartments that span roughly 40 acres. Lewis would often see the girl walk across a large field between apartment buildings to get to her home.
According to the search team, Lubin was found walking along a road in the neighborhood. She told police that she was at a friend’s house playing after school.
Lewis said the language barrier had been tough to communicate with the family, but the gratitude is universal.
“They all work together around here,” Lewis said. “We stick together. So I just hugged the family … It’s a village around my part of the complex.”
Police have not said if anyone could face charges in her disappearance.
Timeline of Lubin’s disappearance
2:45 p.m. Lubin gets off the school bus at her apartment complex. She wouldn’t be reported missing to police for six hours.
6:45 p.m. Police send out media blasts asking for the public’s help finding Lubin. They are unaware she got off the bus at this point and say she was last seen getting on the bus leaving Spring Mill Elementary.
7:05 p.m. After Lubin was reported missing, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police asked Speedway & Washington Township School police to assist with the search, police told IndyStar at the scene.
8 p.m. Police at the scene told IndyStar said they began knocking on doors and searching for the child.
8:16 p.m. The department announced IMPD’s Emergency Response Group was en route to search the area for Catalina.
8:25 p.m. Police had the school district send out an alert to parents on the ParentSquare portal. Rogers said the school district sent an evening message to both Spring Mill Elementary families and their staff.
8:42 p.m. A silver alert was announced for Lubin and minutes later police announced she was located.
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formally Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
Indianapolis, IN
Catalina Lubin: Missing Indianapolis girl found safe
Here’s why not every child gets an Amber Alert
Police use specific criteria to determine when, and when not, to issue an Amber Alert.
(This article will update.)
Minutes after announcing a silver alert in the case of missing Catalina Lubin, the 6-year-old was found safe, police said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s help with locating a missing six-year-old girl who did not arrive home after school.
Description of missing Indianapolis girl Catalina Lubin
Catalina Lubin, 6, is a Black girl who was last seen wearing a pink puffy jacket. She is 3 feet tall, about 40 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes.
If anyone locates Lubin, please call 911 immediately.
Where was Catalina Lubin last seen?
Lubin was reported missing after getting on a school bus at Spring Mill Elementary in the 8200 block of Spring Mill Road. In an initial call out to the public just after 6:45 p.m. police only said the girl didn’t arrive at her stop.
Shortly before 8:15 p.m., police announced the girl was seen getting off the bus at Crystal Bay Apartments around 2:45 p.m. Police are searching the area around the bus stop and apartment complex at 7136 Crystal Bay Drive, near West 71st Street and Michigan Road.
What are Indianapolis police doing to find Catalina Lubin
Along with a ground search of the area of Crystal Bay Apartments, officers are searching areas along the bus route and are using a drone to assist from the air. The department also dispatched its Emergency Response Group and Victim Assistance unit to help search. Speedway police also were informed, but their involvement wasn’t immediately clear.
Police added that Washington Township Schools is assisting with the investigation. IndyStar has reached out to a Washington Township Schools spokesperson to learn more about this disappearance.
Silver Alert issued for Catalina Lubin
About 8:45 p.m. police announced a statewide silver alert was issued for Lubin. Minutes later, they announced she was located and was safe.
How police found Catalin Lubin
According to police at the apartment complex, Lubin exited the Washington Township District school bus at about 2:45 p.m.
But it wasn’t until about 6:30 p.m. when police received a report that she was declared missing.
IMPD then requested assistance from the Speedway Police Department and the Washington Township Police Department in locating Lubin, according to police.
At about 8:00 p.m., police determined that Lubin had gotten off the bus in the Crystal Bay Apartments complex earlier that day, according to police.
Police began knocking on residents’ doors asking if they had seen Lubin. At about 8:25 p.m. police requested the Washington Township School district send out a notification of Lubin’s disappearance on its parent square application, police said.
At the same time, police had completed paperwork with the state law enforcement agencies to send out a silver alert regarding Lubin.
Shortly after the silver alert was sent out, police located Lubin at 8:42 p.m. as she was walking out of the apartment complex, according to police.
When asked where she was, Lubin told police that she was playing at a friend’s house and that she was heading home, according to police.
Lubin was then reunited with her family shortly after being found.
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