INDIANAPOLIS — Over the past two weeks, Indianapolis has seen two violent crimes carried out by teenagers. Now, experts are hoping to encourage others to take a different path.

“No parent should have to bury their child,” IMPD Community Outreach Bureau Major Corey Mims said. “We’re tired of seeing that. Our community’s tired of seeing that.”

Mims says the department’s outreach programs reached over 500 youth and teens around the Circle City.

WATCH | ‘I feel destroyed for my little girl’: Family remembers 14-year-old IPS student killed in stabbing

Family remembers 14-year-old IPS student killed in stabbing

According to data from IMPD, in 2024, juvenile homicides dropped 60% from 2023 but juvenile non-fatal shootings went up 7.4%.

His hope is these programs lead to conversations that reduce the amount of teen violence.

“A lot of times we see a lot of these issues start on social media,” Mims explained. “If we’re able to equip our youth with knowledge, skills, and abilities to deal with some of the issues that they may see or come across…they can walk away or talk through that situation.”

Outside of IMPD, organizations like The Peace Learning Center at Eagle Creek work with students to teach conflict resolution from a young age.

“We try to help both students, teachers, and parents learn peaceful ways to deal with conflicts and differences,” Peace Learning Center co-founder and CEO Tim Nation said. “Violence works in the short term, but it sure doesn’t work in the long term. Hence, we have so many tragedies.”

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Nation urges all adults interacting with children to take a firm but caring approach.

“We need to be authoritative nurturers and those are the adults in your lives that you’ll remember,” Nation said. “They cared so much about you but also held you to high standards.”

More information on police outreach programs and the Peace Learning Center can be found on their websites.

INDIANAPOLIS — The definition of a White Christmas is having at least one inch of snow on the ground, and the chances of this happening in Indianapolis in 2024 are slim.

Of the last 81 Christmases in Indy (using snow depth data from 1943-2023), it has only been a White Christmas 23 times. Since 2000, there have only been six times.

The most recent occurrence was in 2022 when we had 1″ of snow on the ground. You may also remember the highest snow depth of 9″ back in 2004.

This year, temperatures will warm leading up to the holiday. There may be a better chance of rain showers instead of snow.

Despite Mother Nature not cooperating for the holiday, we have had optimal conditions this year for creating man-made snow.

Brian Cooley is the CEO of Outdoor Excursions, Inc., which operates Koteewi Run Seasonal Slopes in Hamilton County. This year, he got an early start on creating this snow tubing slope thanks to cooperative weather.

“I started making snow here on Thanksgiving night,” Cooley said. “Everybody remembers how cold it was to finish Thanksgiving and how cold December was to start.”

At Koteewi, water from a 20-acre lake is used to create the snow. The water runs through pipes and hydrants, then ultimately gets blown across the hill by snow guns.

“When all my snow guns are running, I’m pumping over 500 gallons of water a minute,” explained Cooley. “Essentially what you’re doing is just creating a micro-blizzard.”

Thanks to the cool temperatures, enough snow was created to last through the season. Cooley expects the season to last until March this year, which is a big extension from the past.

“The last couple of years, we had warm winters,” he said. “We didn’t get open until January, and we were only open a real short time.”

There is enough snow at the top of the hill right now to make it the tallest point in Hamilton County.

Going forward, the team will work to maintain the lane bumpers and surface of the snow, which can be impacted by rain and mild temperatures.

You can find more about Koteewi Run Seasonal Slopes here.

Remember to check back with our Storm Team for updates to see if we have any chances for a White Christmas this year.

INDIANAPOLIS — NCAA President Charlie Baker testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to implement tougher federal sports gambling regulations, citing harassment of athletes by gamblers.

IU Indianapolis AD Luke Bosso said digital platforms are increasing student-athletes’ vulnerability to such abuse.

“It’s not just the sports gambling, it’s also the social media aspect,” Bosso said. “Every one of our players is available online all the time. When you put passionate people in a situation where they could be winning or losing money, and you make athletes available 24/7, it creates situations that aren’t always the best.”

Baker shared that an NCAA championship team needed round-the-clock police protection after a sports bettor threatened them. He also called on Congress to ban prop bets on college athletes, which are still legal in 20 states.

Indiana legalized sports gambling on September 1, 2019, and prop bets are allowed under the state’s regulations.

Though IU Indianapolis is a mid-major athletically, its student-athletes face the same pressure to perform as those at bigger schools, thanks to social media. Bosso said the school has staff dedicated to helping athletes manage that pressure.

“We have conversations about mental health, we have conversations about the negative effects of social media, and we have a pretty in-depth mental health team that helps our student-athletes,” Bosso added.

Congress members say they will continue to look into the issue of sports gambling.