Indianapolis’s criminal homicide rate has been on the rise in recent years. The majority of deaths are from gunshots and young black men are more likely to be killed. The city recently announced the adoption of a program to reduce the number of gun related deaths.

The Gun Violence Intervention strategy works to identify individual people most at risk of being shot or shooting someone. Those people will get intervention, mentorship and support.

Purdue University has hired its first hemp specialist to educate farmers and processors.

Commercial hemp production is expected to be underway in Indiana by 2020, after lawmakers legalized it in this year’s session. Indiana farmers and state officials are preparing for commercial hemp production, but questions about the plant linger.

The university appointed Marguerite Bolt to be Purdue Extension’s hemp specialist, with the task of educating interested parties. She says her job will help lift some weight off of other researchers at the university.

  Kinetrex Energy will capture methane from the South Side Landfill and liquefy it into a fuel for shipping companies like UPS. Methane is one of the fastest growing greenhouse gas emissions that contributes to climate change. 

Kinetrex President & CEO Aaron Johnson says this will be the first renewable natural gas plant for the company, though it already fuels its trucking customers with gas purchased from other states.

  A state representative from Blackford County says he’s resigning from his seat this summer, as a job change will move him out of the district he represents.

Kevin Mahan (R-Harford City) says he’s taken a job with Community Health Network and moving outside District 31.

In a statement, Mahan says he hadn’t planned to resign, but the new job gives him “an executive role with a great company.”

  The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog wants to hear from East Chicago residents about how well the agency communicates information on the USS Lead Superfund site. 

The EPA Office of Inspector General plans to hold listening sessions with residents in four locations across the country. The agency held one of those meetings in Franklin, Indiana, last month where residents say they weren’t told about cancer-causing chemicals at the old Amphenol industrial site.

Another chapter is about to unfold in the ongoing controversy surrounding Attorney General Curtis Hill and his alleged groping last year of four women.

Hill’s four accusers, Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon (D-Munster) and three legislative staffers, will hold a press conference Tuesday.

  African American women in Indiana face disparity in healthcare and health outcomes. They are more likely to die during or after childbirth than white women. They have higher rates of breast cancer deaths and diabetes. New research uses theater to shine a spotlight on some of the possible reasons why.

The play is called "One Blood." It weaves together the interviews of 10 African American women in central Indiana. Their words describe the ways they have encountered disparity in the health care system.

The City of Fort Wayne and Allen County announced Friday their intent to collaborate on the community’s next comprehensive plan.

The Indiana Governor’s Workforce Cabinet announced a new workforce grant Wednesday afternoon intended to help local workforce development efforts.

U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Carmel) will not seek a fifth term in Congress. Brooks announced Friday that she will retire at the end of her current term.

She has spent 16 of the last 22 years in some form of public service, and she said she's ready to spend more time with her family. Brooks said in a statement it was time for "new talent" in the 5th District.