Indianapolis, IN

Despite setbacks Indianapolis mobile barber keeps on trimming

Published

10 months ago

April 24, 2025

Despite setbacks Indianapolis mobile barber keeps on trimming

Barber Antwain Booker stood dressed in a matching sweatshirt and sweatpants. His son’s face, Antwain Booker Jr., printed on each. It’s the fourth anniversary of his son’s shooting death and he wears the outfit each year. Booker Jr. was only 19.

It’s always a sad day, Booker says, but on this day he believes his son was with him. The day a simple smile turned his spirits around.

With a mask on and ready for a haircut, Ja’Karr Ashley sat near Booker in a chair in front of a TV. A game console controller in his hands kept him busy. He’s 12 years old and waiting on a heart transplant at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Inside Ashley’s small heart center room, Booker snapped open his golden briefcase containing all his barbering brushes and clippers. He throws a cape into the air and down onto Ashley’s shoulders and begins to trim.

Booker is glad his traveling barber service could come in handy for the family but not lost on him is the parents’ fight to keep their son alive and bring him normalcy. Booker says he’d give anything to fight again for his son.

Through games, small talk, jokes and sincere conversation the time passes and the trim is over, just in time for a mirror check.

“He took that mask off, and he just started to smile, my whole day changed, man,” Booker said. “I looked up to the sky and told my son, ‘Thank you for bringing me to that little boy. Because I know you did this.”

Cutting hair at 13

It wasn’t until Booker moved to Indiana from Oklahoma at age 13 that he saw his first barbershop, and he was in awe.

Trims typically came from his father who bought a pair of clippers to cut barbershop costs.

“Every time,” Booker said with a laugh. “It was a single-length, all-even cut.”

For hours Booker would watch his barber, Rick, at Rick’s Clip Joint on the south side of Chicago. There was something about the way he treated his customers like family, the conversations he held and the attention he commanded.

Soon Booker would take his father’s clippers and begin trimming his own hair. By age 14 he was trimming the neighbors’. By high school, he was cutting for the football team. It was fun and the money wasn’t bad, either.

As an Indiana State Sycamores student, Booker made fliers “Kuts by ‘twain” to garner business on campus. Players on his football team shortened his name to Kuts which he still uses today.

Before finishing school, Booker Jr. was born and Booker moved to Indianapolis where he started at Kenny’s Academy of Barbering to pursue the career he truly loved. He finished in 14 months and earned his certification.

Soon Booker found himself at Craig’s Creations in Broad Ripple but he had no clientele. He gave the shop five years before jumping to another but booth rent was cutting into profits. He decided to cut hair from home.

As a now single father, Booker saw periods of homelessness, living out of his car with his then 2-year-old daughter.

That’s when a client told Booker about a job at Indiana University Health that changed his trajectory. March marked 15 years at the hospital for Booker, but no one knew he was a barber until that recent appointment with Ashley.

Bus idea

Booker found himself on a seven hour road trip alone after visiting his father in Oklahoma. He kept the music off so his mind could wander. He was ready to follow in his father’s footsteps and start his own business. But what did that look like?

The lightbulb moment came somewhere in Illinois — a mobile luxury barbershop. He’d run the idea past some friends who implored him to give it a try.

Soon he purchased a truck and transported it to Atlanta to get custom built. By May 2020, his RV was ready to roll but the COVID pandemic was in full force.

The same month he returned from Atlanta with his new mobile business, Booker lost his home in a house fire. In September, his grandmother died. By October he was getting the business started but on Dec. 11, 2020, he received a call no parent dreams.

“My son was dead,” Booker said. “It was just a total blow for me, man. He’s my first born. He was junior.”

With a daughter to focus on Booker pushed forward, working at both IU Health and inside his mobile shop on nights and weekends.

And though it started slow, business has picked up quickly. He’s brought his services to the NFL Scouting Combine, high school football games, nursing homes, rehab facilities and local schools where he talks to students about life choices in his son’s honor.

“I just hung in there, man, and I had so many opportunities to quit,” Booker said. “I just want people to know that despite all of your downfalls and setbacks you can keep going.”

Contact IndyStar photojournalist Mykal McEldowney at 317-790-6991 or mykal.mceldowney@indystar.com. Follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X.

Source link

Click to comment

Indianapolis, IN

New bridge over 96th Street adds to Nickel Plate Trail connections

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

New bridge over 96th Street adds to Nickel Plate Trail connections

FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) — The Nickel Plate Trail pedestrian bridge over 96th Street is officially open.

It was being touted Friday as a major milestone for central Indiana’s growing trail system. The street is the Fishers-Indianapolis border.

Leaders called the project a critical connection point for the Nickel Plate Trail. The new bridge helps move the nearly 17-mile trail closer to its goal of connecting multiple counties through one continuous path.

The bridge also came with a 1.3-mile trail extension. A $4.5 million grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources made the bridge possible.

Dale Brier, deputy director of Indiana Department of Natural Resources, talked about the state’s Next Level Trails grant program. “Currently, we have 89 trail projects that that were funded with that money. Fifty-nine of those are complete. We’ve got 12 under construction. As of this opening, we have 167 miles of trail that have now been opened with that grant money.”

People who frequently take the trail for their daily exercises say they’re excited the bridge is finally open.

Alan Errichiello of the Fishers Running Club said, “Extending this down south into Indianapolis is a big game changer for us. It’ll add a lot of miles that we can easily get into.”

Resident Tracy Mundell said, “Trying to get to the other side was nearly impossible, so I think most people didn’t even attempt it. It’s going to be great, we can get over to the other side, and I’m anxious to see what’s over there.”

The final portion of the project, called the Clear Path project, remains under construction.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, a Republican, said, “We need to double-down on that investment, and we know time and time again here in the city of Fishers that trail systems, the ability to get up and get out and get active, is such an important part in our culture of health, that an investment like this is critical.”

Once complete, local leaders say the goal is to provide a more safe and connected routes between Noblesville, Fishers, Indianapolis and other surrounding cities.

Resident Steve Mundell said, “It’s lovely. It’ll be real convenient to get across too.”

Source link

Indianapolis, IN

Good and bad from Colts’ 2026 NFLPA report card grades

Published

23 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Good and bad from Colts’ 2026 NFLPA report card grades

What grades did the Indianapolis Colts earn on the 2026 NFLPA report cards?

The NFLPA is no longer able to make their annual report cards public. However, ESPN’s Kayln Kahler was able to obtain a copy of the reports following the 2025 NFL season, and the Indianapolis Colts were again around the middle of the pack.

In these report cards, players rate numerous aspects of the organizations they play for, from ownership to the training facilities and everything in between. According to Kahler, 1,759 players contributed to these grades.

So, where did the Colts end up this year relative to the rest of the NFL this year?

Overall, the Colts ranked 17th. Below is a breakdown of each individual grade they received.

Treatment of Families: B
Home Game Field: D
Food/Dining Area: B
Nutritionist/Dietician: A-
Locker Room: C+
Training Room: B
Training Staff: B+
Weight Room: B
Strength Coaches: A
Position Coaches: B
Offensive Coordinator: B
Defensive Coordinator: B+
Special Teams Coordinator: B+
Team Travel: B-
Head Coach: A-
General Manager: A
Team Ownership: A

Of note, although the Colts haven’t been to the postseason in five years, Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard both received high marks.

Carlie Irsay Gordon, Kalen Jackson, and Casey Foyt earned an A in their first year as the primary owners.

The field at Lucas Oil Stadium received a very low mark, earning a D, while the locker room was given a C+. Those were the two lowest grades the Colts received.

Compared to the 2025 rankings, the Colts moved up two spots this year, after coming in at 19th last year.

The biggest jumps the Colts experienced came in the Food/Dining grade, which went from a C to a B. The Team travel grade also jumped from a D+ to a B-.

Source link

Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis police search for 3 people after shooting, stolen vehicle crash

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a shooting, Indianapolis police were searching for three people who fled on foot following the pursuit of a stolen vehicle and its crash on Thursday afternoon.

No information was provided in the notification about the three people being sought. News 8 reached out to IMPD by email to find out details about the three people. Anyone with information regarding the incident or the people who fled the crash was asked to contact the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

The stolen vehicle was linked to a Thursday shooting, prompting the lockdown of a nearby child care center, IMPD said in a media notification. No information was provided about where the shooting happened, what may have led to it, or whether anyone was hurt.

IMPD, however, said the stolen vehicle and crash were not related to a shooting reported at 12:35 p.m. Thursday at a gas station and restaurant at West 38th and Meridian streets.

IMPD officers found the stolen vehicle around 12:45 p.m. Thursday near East 38th Street and Post Road. When a detective attempted a traffic stop, the vehicle fled westbound before crashing a short time later near Whenner Drive, the notification said. It did not say what type of vehicle was abandoned in the crash.

Three people from the crashed vehicle fled southwest on foot. IMPD established a perimeter with assistance from the Indiana State Police, the Lawrence Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office — using specialized resources, including a state police helicopter, a special weapons and tactics team, and the IMPD’s police dogs — but did not find the three people.

IMPD said a firearm was found in the crashed vehicle, and a man detained at the crash scene was later released once investigators determined he was not directly involved in the incident.

Police have since lifted the lockdown on the child care center.

IMPD’s public information office can be reached at 317-327-3424.

Source link