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Stanley Strader Park naming honors southeast side advocate who lifted his community

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Stanley Strader Park naming honors southeast side advocate who lifted his community


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Stanley Strader was all about service.

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He served in two branches of the U.S. military.

He had a career focused on serving youth, founding or advancing many community organizations.

He served as a city-county councilor, representing his southeast side community.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024, Indianapolis celebrated Strader’s life and contributions by officially naming a newly renovated park after him.

The Indy Parks and Recreation Board authorized the name change of the former Bethel Park last year to honor Strader, a former City-County councilor.

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On Monday, Mayor Joe Hogsett presented a proclamation designating Jan. 15, 2024, as Stanley Strader Park Day in the city of Indianapolis. 

Who was Stanley Strader?

A lifelong resident of the southeast side, Stanley P. Strader was born in 1939. 

At 17, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. After that, he served in the Air Force.

He studied urban affairs at Lane College and worked at Indianapolis Public Schools in the Human Resources Department, and at Camp Atterbury as the recreation program director.

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In 1969, Strader began working with the Community Action Against Poverty and the United Southside Community Organization. He founded the nonprofit organization Watoto-Wa-Simba (The Young Lions) Inc. in 1971, initially with a youth advocacy focus, but going on to serve senior citizens as well.

He was elected to the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council in 1980, delivering city funding for improvements to Bethel Park, the restoration of the fountains in Fountain Square, and the Bean Creek drainage project. 

He started after-school programs and raised money to take busloads of youths on field trips and to amusement parks out of state.

“Stan was a visionary,” said his brother, Kenneth Strader. “Job well done, big brother. I love you, man.”

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What else is new at the former Bethel Park?

Citizens Energy Group and its more than 30 partners contributed about $300,000 in money and in-kind donations to make improvements to the park at 2850 Bethel Ave., including the family center and football field.

“We hope that our time spent painting, fixing, and upgrading facilities and equipment here at Stanley Strader Park means that staff, neighbors, and visitors alike will enjoy safer, cleaner, and more efficient and comfortable spaces for community events and recreation,” said Jeffrey Harrison, president and CEO of Citizens. “Parks across Indianapolis are the sites of such sweeping family and significant community conversations.”

The city and other entities also have contributed for a combined investment of more than $1 million, Hogsett said. The $796,000 football field renovation is scheduled to be completed this summer.

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South side champion

Strader was all about bringing resources to the community.

“I can’t tell you how much love is still out on the southeast for the work that Stanley Strader has done,” Terry Gingles Sr. told the city parks and recreation board at the 2023 meeting in which the name change was approved. “What Stanley did was bring attention to the needs of the south side. Before Stanley we didn’t have a voice. But after Stanley stood up and started working in the community, things began to change.”

“And when he stood up to be an advocate for the people on the south side, he got support from about 40 Black men. I’m not talking about people who were well known. They were just everyday people. And it still serves as an inspiration to us all and to continue that work that he’s done.”

Donnetta Strader, who works in special education at Arsenal Tech High School, told the board Stanley Strader positively impacted her life even before he became her brother-in-law. He brought resources to the community that she and her children used, including sickle cell anemia testing at the clinic he helped to start and dances the children attended at the Bethel community center.

“I can’t begin to tell you how the roots that Stanley planted on the south side have influenced my family,” she said. “I even learned how to split my vote, and I’d been voting for years.”

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Stanley Strader, who died in 2020, was the only Republican candidate elected to represent an inner-city district, the Indianapolis Recorder reported in 1987. His constituency was 70% Democrat.

“Stanley was love,” said Jesse Bingham, pastor at Our Hope Community Church, 835 St. Paul St. “On the south side we have a really rich history. We always ride for each other. We always supplied for each other. We’ve always been there to pick each other up. We were, and we are still, our own community. We don’t necessarily wait for outsiders to come to do a lot for us. But we take care and look after ourselves. And Stanley embodied all of this.”

“Stanley was  just instrumental in the community with the clinic and the men’s assembly and also he helped a lot of people get jobs.  When some other people weren’t hiring some of us, Stanley would step in and do what he does.”

Former councilor and parks committee chair William “Duke” Oliver was one of the forces behind the park-naming honor.

“The image of this person is one that many will point to and say that’s the kind of person we want our sons to grow up to be, “ he told the board.

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In addition to Stanley Strader’s wife, Diana Strader, other presenters Monday included City-County Councilor Frank Mascari.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita was among those in the audience to help celebrate Strader on the King holiday.

“I thought even though my staff and I had been celebrating at different events last week and into the weekend, we had to do something on the day itself,” Rokita said. “I just want to come and have my own private celebration and remembrance of a great man who reached across all the aisles and included everybody. And I wanted to remember him in my own way. And this event allowed me to do it.”

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson.

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Unsettled Friday and Saturday, then summer heat returns early next week | July 10, 2026

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Unsettled Friday and Saturday, then summer heat returns early next week | July 10, 2026


TODAY

Partly sunny and warm with scattered showers and thunderstorms likely through much of the bookends of the day. Highs reach the mid 80s, with a west southwest breeze around 5 mph. It does not look like nonstop rain from start to finish, but this is the least reliable daytime period in the forecast, and any stronger storm could drop a quick heavy downpour with a gusty burst of wind. 

TONIGHT

Scattered showers and thunderstorms remain possible through the evening, then another lower-end storm chance lingers late overnight. Lows settle near the upper 60s, with light wind. The severe risk looks lower than it is Thursday night, but a few pockets of heavier rain are still possible if a boundary stalls close enough to central Indiana.  

TOMORROW

Mostly cloudy and not quite as hot, with another chance for showers and thunderstorms developing mainly after mid afternoon. Highs reach the low to mid 80s, with a light northeast breeze around 5 mph. Much of the first half of the day should be usable, but later afternoon and evening plans will still need a weather eye.  

TOMORROW NIGHT

A few showers and thunderstorms may linger early, then the trend turns quieter with mostly cloudy skies overnight. Lows fall to the upper 60s, with an east northeast breeze around 5 mph. It is a calmer setup than Friday night overall, even if an early interruption is still possible.  

SUNDAY

Mostly sunny and warmer with highs in the mid 80s. An east breeze around 5 to 10 mph keeps the day from feeling too stagnant, and this looks like one of the cleaner forecast days of the stretch. Most of central Indiana should stay dry from start to finish.

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SUNDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear and seasonably mild, with lows around the mid 60s and a light east northeast breeze. Quiet weather continues overnight with no meaningful travel concerns.  

MONDAY

Sunny and hotter, with highs climbing into the upper 80s. A light east wind around 5 mph holds through the day. After the unsettled end of the workweek, this looks like a very usable summer day with heat becoming the main story instead of storms.  

MONDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear and warm, with lows near 70 and only a light breeze. There will be little trouble overnight, and the warmer pattern settles in more firmly.  

TUESDAY

Sunny and hot again, with highs near 90. Wind stays light, becoming east southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. This is another day where the weather looks broadly quiet, with heat the main thing to plan around.  

7 DAY FORECAST

The main concern in the near term is the unsettled Friday into Saturday period, when repeated rounds of showers and thunderstorms could bring quick heavy rain, especially Friday afternoon and evening. After that, the pattern trends warmer and drier from Sunday into at least Tuesday, with highs returning to the upper 80s and lower 90s while heat index values stay more manageable than the late-June heat. By Wednesday and Thursday, isolated afternoon and evening storms begin to creep back into the forecast, with a more noticeable thunderstorm threat showing up later next week into next weekend.  

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Indiana Workforce Pell Grant options limited so far

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Indiana Workforce Pell Grant options limited so far


INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Education leaders on Thursday said waiting for rulemaking limited the number of programs approved for a new grant program, but they expect more approvals soon.

Created as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed last year, the Workforce Pell Grant program allows students to use Pell Grants for short-term, direct-to-workforce training programs. The program began on July 1. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and Vincennes University, which are Indiana’s two two-year vocational and technical institutions, are the only institutions in the state authorized for the program so far, though state officials have said they’ll consider expanding it to other institutions depending on the results of the first year.

So far, state education officials have approved three programs for Workforce Pell Grants: certified clinical medical assistant programs at Ivy Tech and Vincennes, plus an electrical maintenance technician bootcamp Vincennes offers. Final approval must come from the federal government, which has not yet green-lit any of those programs.

Molly Dodge, Ivy Tech’s senior vice president for workforce and careers, said Ivy Tech leaders needed to make sure they thoroughly understood the requirements they would face. To be eligible, a program must have at least a 70% completion rate and a 70% job placement rate. It also must lead directly to a job in a high-growth, high-demand job sector. Dodge said the rules were finalized this spring. After that, she said Ivy Tech leaders began going through each of their courses to see which ones would be eligible.

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“Workforce Pell has a significant requirement related to job placement and wages, and so we need to backward design from an employer, in many cases, to make sure that we’re successful in launching these Workforce Pell programs,” she said.

Tony Hahn, Vincennes University’s vice president for government and legal affairs, said July 1 was the earliest under federal statute the program could begin. In practice, he said the rollout will take some time because programs must be offered for one year in exactly the same format before they become eligible for the Workforce Pell Grant.

“These are often programs that we have offered through Next Level Jobs programs and other Department of Workforce Development funding, but didn’t have the exact same requirements on number of classroom hours or number of total weeks offered,” he said. “And so, we made some modifications and we’ll be able to expand this list.”

Both Dodge and Hahn said leaders at their respective institutions are reviewing their course catalogs for other potentially eligible programs. They said they expect to add approved programs in the coming months.

Dodge said Workforce Pell-eligible programs are often designed with the expectation that you will go to work with a partner employer upon completion of the program, but that doesn’t mean education ends there. She said Workforce Pell Grant programs are stackable and can be pursued as part of a longer-term higher education strategy. Students can qualify for both traditional Pell Grants and Workforce Pell Grants, though not at the same time.

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Hahn said prospective students won’t be able to apply for Workforce Pell Grants until this fall or next spring. If you’re interested, he said you should fill out a federal student financial aid form. He said Vincennes University leaders expect to add information about eligible programs to their application website once approved.



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Indianapolis, IN

Man dies after car crashes into pole on near NW side

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Man dies after car crashes into pole on near NW side


INDIANAPOLIS – A man died in a crash on the near northwest side of Indianapolis.

According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were dispatched to 505 W. 16th St. around 4:15 a.m. Thursday.

A person died in a crash on West 16th Street on July 9, 2026 (WXIN/WTTV)

There, officers discovered a vehicle had crashed into a utility pole. The driver was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.

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