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Bill Crawford

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Get In The Know With Kim’s Friday’s Local and National News & Sports Headlines

Good morning on this cloudy Friday in Indy…

The man who spent 40 years in the Indiana General Assembly, chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and was the longest serving African American legislator in the nation is being remembered today. Funeral services for former State Representative Bill Crawford will be held this morning beginning with a viewing at 9 a.m. and funeral services following at 11 a.m. Crawford’s funeral will be held at the main campus of Eastern Star Church in the 5700 block of East 30th Street. Flags across the state are flying at half-mast at the request of Gov. Mike Pence to honor the ground-breaking legislator who was instrumental in the founding of several community organizations including the Indiana Christian Leadership Conference with his mentor Reverend Andrew J. Brown, Indiana Black Expo Incorporated and the Circle City Classic. The community began to say goodbye on Thursday as his body lay-in-repose for nine hours in the rotunda of the Indiana Statehouse. Crawford died last week at age, 79.

Two people were killed in a fiery deadly auto crash early Friday morning on the city’s northeast side. This accident stemmed from a domestic call in the 6100 block of East 40th Street which was about a mile away from the crash scene. The caller told metro police that her daughter’s boyfriend was threatening her daughter with a knife. When IMPD arrived, a red Saturn sped away. Police said they saw the Saturn speeding dangerously and then it lost control in the intersection of 46th Street and North Arlington Avenue, striking a pole and bursting into flames. Those flames were too hot for the officers who were trying to pull the two occupants to safety. Both of them died on the scene.

Bullet shooting out from gun

Source: Colin Anderson / Getty

It’s been a violent week across the country, including Thursday’s deadly mass shooting at a college in Oregon which has rocked America. After that shooting, President Obama addressed the nation. Visibly angry, he called for common sense gun safety legislation. Authorities in southern Oregon said ten people were killed and seven others were wounded when a 26-year-old man opened fire inside a classroom singling out Christians as he killed at Umpqua Community College. Police authorities say they will not release the shooter’s name. But we know he was killed in an exchange with police. The violence hits close to home, here in Indy too with constant reminders that this metro is touched by an epidemic of gun crimes. As of Thursday, there have been 101 murders reported in Indianapolis this year. That number is on track to break last year’s record of 134. Police Chief Rick Hite said family fighting and drugs are to blame for many of the killings.  Authorities have made arrests in less than half of the cases.

A female Indiana University student and a 20-year-old man were found dead Thursday night in an apparent murder-suicide. Police found the bodies at around 9:30 p.m. at an apartment complex in Bloomington. Officers said it looked like the man stabbed the 21-year-old woman to death, then hung himself. Authorities said the man and woman were involved in a past relationship.

The television news landscape in Indy is changing again. The Indianapolis Star reports WISH-TV 8 anchor Eric Halvorson is exiting his post at the television station at year’s end. He joined the station in 1983 and will work his final shift Friday. Reportedly, the veteran anchor’s contract is expiring without renewal. He was always a welcomed face bringing this community the latest updates.

A federal judge in Chicago says an African-American man can proceed with his discrimination suit against the Wisconsin-based Culver’s hamburger/custard fast-food chain. The judge says Michael Wilbern’s case is strong enough to proceed to trial over his claim that Culver’s blocked him from opening a restaurant on Chicago’s mostly-black south side. Wilbern claims that he had lined up financial support from the city and the county, but says Culver’s rejected, stalled or blocked every location he suggested on the south side. He claims the company persuaded him to open in Franklin Park, but then squeezed him out of business by opening outlets in neighboring towns.

 In Sports…

The Pacers are in preseason action Saturday at home against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pacers have seven preseason games including three at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and a game in Fort Wayne on October 22 of this month against the Hornets.

Let’s root on the Indiana Fever as they take on the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday in the WNBA Finals on the road. Game one is Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern on ABC.

The Indianapolis Colts turn the canal downtown Pink for breast cancer today between 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They’re in NFL action Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Jaguars downtown at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Indianapolis Weather…

Make it a great day…Today’s high 68 degrees under cloudy skies.

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