Source: WTHR / WTHR
@kwellscomm TLCNaptown.com News & Sports —
Good day to you on this World AIDS Day…
President-elect Donald Trump is coming to Indy Thursday afternoon to talk about an agreement with air conditioner maker, Carrier Corporation, that will save just under 1,000 jobs. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are visiting Carrier’s west side plant at 2 p.m. today to make a formal announcement. Earlier this year, Carrier said it would shutter its Indianapolis plant and move production to Mexico. Carrier says it’s negotiated an agreement it believes will benefit its workers, the state of Indiana and the company. So today will be the day we get to see the art of Trump’s deal.
There’s a good chance Carrier’s parent company thinks $5-billion in federal contracts are worth keeping close to a thousand jobs here in Indy. Indiana Economic Development board member John Mutz told The Indianapolis Star newspaper that Carrier’s parent, United Technologies, has a lot of defense contracts. Mutz said those contracts likely played a large role in the decision to keep the Indy plant open. Mutz noted the state is offering Carrier incentives, but he said they’re in line with other economic development packages offered to other companies to move to or stay in Indiana.
Now that the manufacturing jobs at Carrier are reportedly safe, what about the jobs at the soon-to-flee Indy, Rexnord Corp? Workers at the Rexnord plant here are now pressing President-elect Donald Trump to save their jobs as well—though they don’t know what the Carrier “save a job” deal entails or how it will impact those workers. Rexnord makes a lot of industrial parts for other companies and it also has announced it’s moving to Mexico for cheaper labor costs like Carrier did. Company officials aren’t saying if they’ve gotten a call from the President-elect, who along with Indiana Governor and Veep-elect Mike Pence will be giving details at Carrier Thursday afternoon.
Source: Hemera Technologies / Getty
The city’s homicide rate continues to climb. A pair of deaths on Wednesday raised the total for the year to 140. Last year ended as the deadliest year in Indianapolis’s history with 145 homicides. Regarding Wednesday’s killings, a man’s body was found inside a burning pickup truck on the city’s east side. An hour earlier, a man was shot to death and left in the street of an east-side neighborhood where he was found after a call to Indy Metro Police.
Source: BigFive Images / Getty
It’s World AIDS Day today. The AIDS epidemic began back in 1981 claiming lives locally, in this nation and across the globe. These days, people are living longer lives due to adherence to HIV medications and treatment, but don’t be lulled into believing the disease has gone away. People are still becoming infected due primarily to unprotected sexual contact and intravenous drug use with an infected person. In fact, more Americans are being diagnosed with HIV in their 50s and 60s. One-in-three people diagnosed with HIV in 2008 was over the age of 50, compared with one-in-six in 2001. The reason has to do with people who were diagnosed in the 1980s and 90s living longer thanks to those medications, and the increasing number of sexually active adults over the age of 65. Indianapolis has been a leader in the fight against the disease through education, treatment and support efforts through the years and that continues today at a series of events. Click HERE to see the list on where you can go to observe the day through thought-provoking speakers, presentations, prayer and free HIV testing here in Indianapolis and Central Indiana.
In National Headlines…
Source: Boston Globe / Getty
After President-elect Donald Trump and VP-elect Mike Pence complete this afternoon’s rally at Indianapolis’ Carrier plant, the republican duo will head to Cincinnati to thank Ohio for helping to swing the November general election their way. The rally will be held this evening at the U.S. Bank Arena.
Source: Pool / Getty
Jury deliberations will continue today in the murder case against a former South Carolina police officer. Former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager is charged with killing Walter Scott, a black man stopped by Slager in April 2015. In yesterday’s closing arguments, Solicitor Scarlett Wilson told jurors that it was time for Slager to “take his drink” from the fountain of justice.
Police in Charlotte, North Carolina arrested several people as protesters filled the streets last night after prosecutors decided not to charge a police officer who killed a black man in September. Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray announced Wednesday that Officer Brentley Vinson acted lawfully when he shot Keith Lamont Scott.
The man accused of murdering nine members of a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina has an extremely high IQ. That’s according to U.S. Judge Richard Gergel after he watched Dylann Roof address the court. Court documents were unsealed Wednesday that show Gergel found Roof alert, focused and confident. Gergel told Roof he thought it was unwise of him to represent himself but that Roof’s request wasn’t made rashly. The documents also show Roof objected to his attorneys’ request to determine if he was mentally fit to stand trial. Roof is charged with the June 2015 murders of nine people, including the pastor, at Charleston Emanuel AME Church.
Source: Seth McConnell / Getty
More than 2,000 military veterans plan to protect protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline project by forming a human shield around their camp. Activists have been camping at the site for months in protest of the proposed pipeline they claim will endanger water supplies and sacred Native-American lands.
Dolly Parton is going to help people who’ve been burned out by Tennessee’s wildfires. The country music superstar said in a video announcement that she’ll donate $1,000 a month to families affected by the fires. The singer says she’ll provide help to people “until they get back up on their feet.”
Source: Underwood Archives / Getty
Source: Underwood Archives / Getty
Source: William Philpott / Getty
Today is also Rosa Parks Day. The civil rights icon is honored annually on December 1. It was on this day back in 1955 that Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, kicking off the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The movement was organized by African-American leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and E.D. Nixon. Parks has been called “the first lady of civil rights,” and “the mother of the freedom movement.” Famed late-U.S. Representative Julia Carson who represented Indianapolis worked diligently to award Parks the Congressional Gold Medal, which was awarded to her in 1999. Carson also rallied her congressional colleagues to pass legislation to have Parks lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda when Parks died in October 2005.
Sports…
The Pacers trailed by 15 at halftime and couldn’t rally in a 131-109 loss to the Blazers Wednesday night in Portland. That was the first in a 5-game western road trip. Next up: Indiana plays the Clippers on Sunday.
Source: Andy Lyons / Getty
OG Anunoby led the Hoosiers with 16 points as number-10 Indiana knocked off third-ranked North Carolina 76-67 Wednesday night at Assembly Hall. In this matchup, James Blackmon Jr. added 14 points and nine rebounds as the Hoosiers took a 12-point halftime lead and held on for the major rivalry win. Indiana is 5-and-1 and hosts SIU-Edwardsville Friday night.
Indianapolis Weather…
Partly cloudy Thursday morning with cloudy skies during the afternoon. High: 42 degrees. Overcast. Low: 33 degrees.
Finally…
Source: VCG / Getty
Apple is marking today’s World AIDS Day by releasing new products to raise money for the AIDS awareness project known as (RED). Apple is releasing red versions of its product cases and a red Beats wireless speaker and headphones. It’s also turning the logos red at more than 400 of its stores.
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