Mirror Indy (US)

When you walk into the kitchen of the cottage at White River Farm, you can’t miss the rabbit sculpture perched on the island, peering at you with ruby-red eyes. But you might not immediately notice the small oil paintings, in neutral tones, on the shelf above the sink and on the wall next to the window. Just outside the cottage, instead of signs, a small sculpture of a girl will nudge you down a mulched path to discover more art (and a famous local writer’s studio).

When you think about the Revolutionary War and American cities, Boston and Philadelphia probably come to mind. But as we mark the country’s 250th birthday this year, let’s explore the connection to Indianapolis. Some of the men who fought in the war eventually made their way west to Indiana, a state founded 40 years after the war began, and to Indianapolis. They remain here today. We’ve found a few of them, each with different stories and backgrounds.

Another data center has been approved by Indianapolis officials, despite months of opposition from eastside residents. Georgia-based developer DC Blox proposed the $2 billion campus near South Kitley Avenue and the Pennsy Trail. The project would be constructed on a brownfield — contaminated land — located on the Thunderbird Commerce Center property, an industrial park that was once home to a Ford plant. In a 6 to 1 vote July 15, the Metropolitan Development Commission gave the go ahead.

When you walk up to the picturesque doors of Niyyah Coffee on Mass Ave, you won’t be met with the usual buzz of a new coffee shop. You’ll hear the sounds of latte, espresso and other coffee machines hard at work as employees work to fill orders, but it will also be a little quieter. The shop, owned by Talha Tufail, is the first of its kind in the city, in that it is fully Deaf-owned and operated.

Editor’s Note: Free Press Indiana, which is Mirror Indy’s support organization, has launched a statewide newsroom called Free Press Indiana News. From time to time, you’ll see us at Mirror Indy sharing stories from around the state produced by FPI News. To learn more about their mission, here’s a column from their Editor in Chief Lindsey Erdody. Welcome to what I hope becomes one of your most trusted news sources in Indiana. Welcome to Free Press Indiana News, or FPI News, for short.

LINTON — Indiana is expected to receive around $1 billion over the next five years earmarked to do one thing: Improve health in rural communities. The influx of funding comes from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program that Congress approved last year as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill to help adjust for losses in Medicaid funding. It allocates in total $50 billion to all 50 states. Indiana will receive nearly $207 million this year for its first allocation.

Summertime is a great season for listening with intention. While the sun is shining, we are all busy making hay. A few moments of deep listening can re-center our minds, regulate our hearts and help us grab a little free and sneaky joy where we can. Your nervous system will thank you for giving your mind a rest. Make your way through the city with my list of 10 places to listen to this summer. To get lost in a crowd, check out an event downtown.

You can help Indy kids in foster care prepare for the start of a new school year by giving to The Villages of Indiana’s annual Back-to-School Donation Drive. The Villages is a nonprofit that supports foster children across the state through placement, adoption and the transition out of foster care as teens grow older. In 2015, the group served 475 children in foster care and 617 youth who had aged out of the system. The nonprofit is seeking help buying school supplies for children in its network.

Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy’s June 17 story about Indy’s public hospital-to-jail pipeline got 63 comments on Facebook. Although most offered praise for her investigation of questionable police arrests made by Eskenazi Health, some veered into personal attacks and criticism. Online comments questioned her motivations and whether the story was actually true. One commenter even criticized her speaking voice in the Facebook video highlighting the investigation.

Abby Maci Reckard was unfulfilled in her remote marketing job and consumed by dirty diapers and feedings while raising two young children. She longed for the benefit of sharing space with others and bouncing off of their creative energy that was lost during the pandemic. The interior of a Danish church in Fletcher Place after pews were removed during a remodel that turned the building into the Lille Bønne Community Living Room.