INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Like a free agent who tested the waters and found that home was the right place all along, Heather Lloyd is coming back to WISH-TV’s Daybreak.

Llloyd is well-known by fans of the Indianapolis Colts. Dubbed ‘The Blue Mare’ on social media, she is both a fierce fan of the team and a fearless critic when the situation calls for it. Lloyd’s bona fides include time as a writer for the team and several years as a contributor to WISH-TV.

She took a timeout from television punditry last year, but now she’s back with Daybreak visits every week through the NFL season.

“I’m back. I’m refreshed,” Lloyd said with a smile during her WISH-TV return Friday, ahead of the Colts’ season opener. “I missed all of you. I tried to retire and I was like, ‘This isn’t for me. I’m not ready!’”

Lloyd focused on four keys to a Colts win Sunday against the Texans.

Richardson’s Return:
“Call it his re-rookie season, rookie season 2.0, or ‘The Sequel’, this Colts season will rise and fall on the broad shoulders of Anthony Richardson,” she explained. “Richardson is a big, athletic guy. , he can move the ball and his body down the field with ease – but can he improve his accuracy throwing the ball, seeing the field, and protecting himself -and the football- in the process? We shall see.”

Good Hands:
“For the first time in a long time, I feel pretty good about Colts receiving corps. Veteran Michael Pittman got paid like a star, hopefully that will translate to the field, I love the addition of AD Mitchell, who I think will shine in his rookie season and with Alec Pierce, Ashton Dulin, and Josh Downs – who will hopefully be back from a high ankle sprain in a few weeks – Richardson should have plenty of targets.”

The Team’s Top Pick:
“I’m not going to lie, the draft report on Laiatu Latu made me cringe. He was advised to retire a few years ago, causing some teams to take him off their board completely. But the Colts grabbed him with the 15th pick, and he showed why in the preseason. Latu was a menace to the quarterbacks on the field with him. Together with Deforest Buckner, the goal is that the Colts will have the first dual pass rushing threat since the days of (Dwight) Freeney and (Robert) Mathis.”

The ‘Foot’ in Football:
“Special teams players will tell you that their goal is to never be a topic of conversation. But veteran kicker Matt Gay had some misses in the preseason again, and the Colts revealed he’s got a hernia. So, his status for Sunday is unclear. The good news is, they brought back rookie Spencer Shrader, whom you may remember from Notre Dame. He was perfect in preseason, and he’ll be called upon Sunday if Gay can’t go.”

Lloyd also weighed in on the Colts’ long opening-game dry spell and whether it’s good or bad to start the season with a division rival. To hear Heather Lloyd’s insights all season, join WISH-TV’s Daybreak the morning after every Colts game, win or lose.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Highs will struggle to get out of the 60s for some this weekend.

This morning:

Clouds are slowly starting to increase from the north ahead of a weak cold front dragging in from the northern Great Lakes. Temperatures still remain on the mild side for now on the front end of this cold front.

Friday:

A cold front will march through the state as we roll through the day today, bringing with it mostly cloudy skies and some scattered showers for the afternoon hours. There is a slight thunderstorm chance that will likely be more in the southeastern portions of the state for later this afternoon.

There is a chance for a few gusty thunderstorms in Southeastern Indiana.

Highs top out around 80 for the early afternoon, falling back after the cold front pushes through the state this afternoon.

Friday night:

Rain should pull away by mid- to late afternoon, allowing for dry conditions for the evening and overnight. Much cooler temperatures are going to be filling in behind the cold front. Under mainly clear skies, expect lows to dip into the upper 40s and lower 50s overnight.

Saturday:

Chilly and dry start to your Saturday morning with some blustery winds. Gusts could get up to around 20 to 25 mph at times. Nice Highs will top out into the upper 60s to around 70°.

Saturday night:

Very chilly temperatures overnight, as many areas will see lows dipping down to around 40. In far northern portions of the state, we could see a few areas slip into the upper 30s. It’s unlikely that we’ll see any frost, but some sensitive vegetation that really doesn’t like the chilly temperatures could be at risk for the overnight hours.

Sunday:

Quiet end of the weekend with sunshine and breezy conditions. Temperatures should warm just a bit compared to Saturday, with highs into the low to mid 70s.

7 day forecast:

The extended forecast presents a warming trend building through much of next week. Upper-level raging will allow for dry weather to continue and temperatures to climb back to the 80s as early as Monday. We’ll likely see middle 80s returning by the middle of the week and some indications of near 90° temperatures by late next week.

Hot & dry pattern continues:

There are also some signs that we may not be done with summer heat. The new 8- to 14-day outlook shows a very strong signal for above-average temperatures through the middle of the month.

Meanwhile, drought conditions are expected to build more. Most of the state is now considered abnormally dry, and not many rain opportunities are in the forecast over the next two weeks.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Four people, including two firefighters, were injured in a late Thursday afternoon fire at apartments on the city’s west side, the Wayne Township Fire Department says.

Fire crews were called at 5:35 p.m. Thursday to a working apartment fire with entrapment in the 7800 block of Island Club Drive. That’s at The Islands apartments just south of the Dandy Trail overpass for I-74.

One resident was taken to a hospital in serious condition, while another resident was treated at the scene.

Also, one firefighter was taken to a hospital, while another firefighter was treated at the scene.

Capt. Eric Banister told News 8 that the fire encompassed the entire third floor of the building.

Banister said, “Around back, as we were checking the back, a boater yelled up, ‘Hey, there’s someone up on the second or third floor’ that we couldn’t see because it was only 10 foot of distance between the back of the building and the water. So, he pointed out someone that needed help, so he started our efforts to throw ladders to the rear, and we pulled that person off the back.”

That person was the one taken to a hospital.

The firefighter who was taken to a hospital had helped in that rescue.

The second resident jumped off of a second-story balcony.

Several animals also were removed from the structure and escaped serious injury.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Thursday night.