February 10, 2026 — Current in North Indy

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Grants available for historic churches

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Indiana Landmarks is accepting applications from historic churches and other houses of worship that need financial help to preserve their buildings. Applications are due by midJune, with a webinar set for Feb. 19 to provide guidance about the application process.

“Churches and other historic houses of worship stand among the most architecturally distinguished structures in a community, and when congregations shrink, maintenance suffers and landmarks become threatened,” the nonprofit stated in a news release.

The Sacred Places Indiana Program started in 2015 with support from Lilly Endowment Inc., in response to the need for maintenance funds. In December 2025, Lilly Endowment renewed its support with a $10 million grant for ongoing programs to support historic houses of worship, including

expert guidance, training and financial assistance.

“Lilly Endowment’s continued support for Indiana Landmarks’ Sacred Places Indiana program is valuable beyond words,” stated David Frederick, director of Sacred Places Indiana. “We’ve already seen the impact that the program is having, not only in terms of support to participating congregations and the historic buildings they steward, but to the communities

Previous recipients of capital grants from Indiana Landmarks’ Sacred Places Indiana Fund are, from left, North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis; Saint Adalbert Catholic Church in South Bend and First Christian Church in Bloomington. (Photo collage courtesy of Indiana Landmarks)

they serve as well.”

The Sacred Places Indiana Fund awards matching funds for planning grants up to $25,000 and capital grants up to $500,000, according to the news release. In 2025, the program provided $2,835,950 to 25 congregations around the state.

To register for the webinar, visit indianalandmarks.org/sacred-places-indiana-fund-webinar; or call 317-6394534 or 800-450-4534.

Pacers Bikeshare celebrates milestone

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Pacers Bikeshare, an Indianapolis program that provides publicly available free or low-cost transportation within the city, recently marked 1 million total rides since it launched in 2014.

The past two years have seen particularly strong growth with the addition of two initiatives, according to a news release. In 2024, Pacers Bikeshare added e-bikes along with IndyRides Free, which gives all Marion County residents an annual pass and free rides up to 30 minutes.

In 2025, the program also added three stations on the Butler University’s campus to serve the university and Butler Tarkington neighborhood and a Butler University pass, which provides free access for Butler students, faculty and staff.

Pacers Bikeshare recently marked 1 million rides since it started 12 years ago. (Photo courtesy of Pacers Bikeshare)

“Last year was the most active in the program’s history, with 200,462 total rides,” the news release stated. “Growth continues in 2026, with three times the number of trips so far this January compared to last January. As

of Jan. 28, 1,127 people have taken 5,836 trips.”

Operated by Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc. in partnership with the City of Indianapolis, Pacers Bikeshare provides an affordable transportation option for residents and visitors.

“Even with the cold and snow, Indy has embraced bikeshare as part of everyday life,” stated Kären Haley, executive director of Indianapolis Cultural Trail. “More and more people are choosing bikeshare to commute, run errands, explore the city and stay active.”

Program partners include the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Butler University, Central Indiana Community Foundation, Salesforce, OneAmerica Financial, Visit Indy, CityWay and Eskenazi Health.

For more, visit pacersbikeshare.org.

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IMPD names new chief

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Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Jan. 28 that he has appointed 27-year IMPD veteran Tanya Terry as the new chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

In her previous role as deputy chief of operations, Terry helped lead data-driven strategies tied to the city’s gun violence reduction strategy, contributing to a 44 percent reduction in criminal homicides and non-fatal shootings over the last four years.

She also spearheaded IMPD’s Juvenile Diversion Program, now citywide, that connects youth to resources instead of arrest.

“When it comes to the safety and security of Indianapolis, few have spent as many waking hours dedicated to our city as Tanya,” Hogsett stated. “Crime is down across the board. Criminal homicides are at an eight-year low. And Tanya’s leadership as both a district commander and as deputy chief of operations has played a monumental role in delivering these public safety improvements for our city. With Chief Terry leading our IMPD officers, I am confident Indianapolis will continue making progress in shaping safer neighborhoods.”

Terry’s appointment is effective Feb 2. She takes over from former IMPD Chief Chris Bailey, who recently was appointed Hogsett’s chief deputy mayor and chief of staff.

Just Pop In to close Broad Ripple restaurant

By Leila Kheiry leila@youarecurrent.com

A locally owned popcorn, restaurant and event business announced Jan. 26 that it will be closing and selling its Broad Ripple building in advance of a business expansion.

Co-owners and twin sisters Mandy Selke and Carly Swift made the announcement through a social media post, noting that the business started 23 years ago with a small location in Broad Ripple, followed by an invitation to open a retail space at the Indianapolis Airport.

“Not only did we earn the (airport) contract, we ended up earning best new retail concept of all of North America,” Swift said in the video announcement. “What an honor that was.”

Selke said they bought the Broad Ripple site in 2008.

“We built this beautiful public house … where we would not only host our production popcorn staff, but we would also develop a restaurant and do fun wine (and) popcorn pairings,” she said, adding that the house also hosted private events. “We have had the pleasure of hosting thousands and thousands of amazing guests celebrating their most important occasions in their life, to hosting artists and local musicians. It

has been nothing short of magical.”

Selke said the business is “in a season of growth” and has outgrown the Broad Ripple building. The sisters plan to sell the building and close by the end of March.

“We have some more exciting news to come,” she said. “We’re just so thankful that you have followed our journey and have supported us as long as you have but stay tuned — we’ve got a lot of more exciting things to do.”

Just Pop In’s airport store remains open in the terminal’s Concourse B.

Indiana Chamber announces legislative priorities

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The Indiana Chamber of Commerce announced its priorities for the 2026 legislative session, including addressing barriers to work-based learning opportunities, tort reform to help maintain a business-friendly climate and increasing childcare opportunities.

“This session, we are focusing on the policies we believe will have the biggest impact on employers, particularly small employers, and can get accomplished in the short timeframe we have,” Indiana Chamber President and CEO Vanessa Green Sinders stated in a news release. “What they all have in common is preserving or improving Indiana’s economic competitiveness in various areas and overall business climate.”

The full list of the Indiana Chamber’s 2026 legislative priorities is:

• Ensure tax conformity or decoupling with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to maintain Indiana’s competitive tax status

• Enact tort reform to protect business owners and improve the state’s business climate

• Address liability barriers for employers hiring students under 18 for work-based learning experiences

• Enable scholarship granting organizations to serve children aged 5 and under in childcare settings

• Provide the option for township governments to eliminate themselves

• Build economic development collaboration across the state

• Enhance workplace safety

• Continue to deregulate as appropriate and cut environmental red tape For more, visit indianachamber.com/ policy.

 New Indy Chamber chair named — The Indy Chamber recently announced that Jeffrey Harrison, president and CEO of Citizens Energy Group, has been elected chairman of the Indy Chamber Board of Directors, succeeding Browning CEO John Hirschman. Harrison anchors a slate of new board leadership.

Art Centers plan Valentine’s Day classes Regional construction remains stable in ’25

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The Indy and Fishers art centers have activities planned for couples, “Galentine” outings and families to celebrate the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday.

Date-night make-it-take-it arts and crafts activities are set for Feb. 13 and 14. Classes include:

• Heart fused-glass pendants

• Hand-printed Valentines

• Robert Indiana’s LOVE screenprint

• Felted heart potholders

• Glass heart

• Mobile phone portrait photography

• Welded candle holder

Classes will be at the Indy Art Center in Broad Ripple, 820 E. 67th St.; and the Fishers Art Center in the Fishers Municipal Center, 1 Municipal Dr.

At the Broad Ripple location, art class attendees can bring their kids to a Valentine Art Party, keeping them busy while parents enjoy their class, according to a news release. Activities for ages 4-5 and 6-10 will help kids explore their artistic

sides with artist educators. Kids will play games, have a snack and create something unique to take home.

Both art centers host make-it-take-it arts and crafts activities throughout the year. For more and to register, visit indyartcenter.org/miti/ or fishersartcenter.org/miti/.

news@currentinfishers.com

The Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis has reported that single-family building permit activity across central Indiana closed out 2025 on stable footing, with year-end totals modestly exceeding 2024 levels.

According to a news release, the nine-county region recorded 10,173 permits in 2025 — compared to 10,044 permits in 2024 — reflecting a 1 percent year-over-year increase. Permit activity remained consistent during the final months of the year, in line with typical winter seasonality and broader national housing trends.

The U.S. Census Bureau and an analysis from the National Association of Home Builders indicates that single-family permitting and construction softened nationally late in 2025, as elevated interest rates, affordability constraints and

economic uncertainty weighed on builder confidence. However, central Indiana’s year-end performance remained relatively steady.

“Central Indiana’s housing market finished 2025 in a balanced position,” BAGI CEO Chris Hancock stated. “Builders responded thoughtfully to changing conditions throughout the year — managing inventory carefully, aligning with buyer demand and maintaining a disciplined approach to new construction.”

Hamilton County had the highest number of total building permits in 2025, with 2,809; followed by Marion County with 1,674. Hendricks County had 1,518; Hancock County, 1,268; Johnson County, 855; Boone County, 901; Madison County, 477; Morgan County, 377 and Shelby County, 194.

For more, visit BAGI.com/ Permits.

Purdue student creates gaming platform

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youareecurrent.com

Maddox Schmidlkofer was seeking a way to play computer games while in classes during his junior year at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School.

So, he created his own gaming platform.

“I saw someone else create a site like that, but I hadn’t really coded before,” he said. “It was always too much trouble in school finding a site that was actually working with the school filters, so you could play games. I saw someone else younger than me making a site like that, then I knew I could do it, too.”

He kept improving it while at home in Carmel or his Purdue dorm room.

Schmidlkofer, now a Purdue University junior, sold his unblocked gaming platform to FreezeNova for $120,000 in November 2025.

A computer science major, Schmidlkofer realized the worth of his platform, which he called DuckMath, when the site made $240 in one day in December 2024.

“I knew that I had to quit my intern-

ship, putting in my two weeks’ notice,” he said.

Schmidlkofer started developing other platforms but returned to DuckMath in August 2025 to market it. He started posting short-form videos on TikTok when the site rose from 5,000 daily users to 150,000 daily users in only two weeks through his marketing efforts.

“I just knew if I was getting more views on the videos that I was posting, the site would do a lot better, the more people, the more money I get,” he said. “I started studying my competitors and what makes a short-form video good. I got all the setup to make good videos.

I posted 12 short-form videos a day on different platforms. The volume of the videos and the new quality of the videos help blow it up.”

The platform serves more than 1.5 million users monthly and has reached more than 5 million students worldwide, Schmidlkofer estimates it generates $15,000 to $20,000 in monthly income during off-school months.

However, Schmidlkofer said he would have to do a lot of continual marketing work to reach those numbers if he hadn’t sold..

“I most likely will invest half of (sales proceeds) and then keep half of it for my next venture,” he said. “I want to do something big and impactful but honestly don’t know what I want to do next.”

Schmidlkofer said he hopes his journey will inspire other young entrepreneurs.

“I think it highlights how Gen Z is carving its own path outside the traditional ‘go to college, get a job’ route and using the internet to build real businesses,” he said.

Learn more at duckmath.org.

COMMUNITY

Author pens faith-based guide for life after cancer

By Brittney Dial Testin news@youarecurrent.com

Indianapolis author Theresia Whitfield shares her faith journey through cancer treatment and beyond in her first book, “After Cancer: Now What?”

“It’s a biblical guide to navigating life after cancer and it comes in two parts,” she said. “Part 1 is my story of my breast cancer journey that I went through. The second part is where I talk about navigating life after cancer. After I went through my cancer journey, I experienced a myriad of emotions, including great sadness, great depression, great anger, great bitterness.”

Whitfield, 58, is an award-winning, Indianapolis-based freelance writer with more than 25 years of experience in TV news, national and international publications. She was diagnosed in 2022 with Stage 1 triple negative breast cancer following a mammogram, completed chemotherapy that year and later had a bilateral mastectomy. She has been in remission for more than three years.

When Whitfield was struggling through her cancer journey, she said she felt she lacked resources.

“I had a lot of fear of recurrence, and I wasn’t sure what to do with all the emotions,” she said. “There weren’t any books around that were very helpful or talked about it from a biblical perspective, so the Lord prompted me to write the book myself.”

Whitfield said she wanted to give hope and encouragement to others go-

ing through cancer treatment.

“I also wrote it for people that are caregivers or friends, and loved ones of those that are going through cancer so that they can get a real, hard, raw look at what the cancer journey is ac tually like,” she said. “I interviewed about 15 other people for this book, two of whom were two of my pastors at church. I talked to a ton of people who have had cancer or their kids have had cancer, and I talked to them about how they experienced anger and bitterness and grief and depression.”

Whitfield placed an emphasis on community support, whether through family, friends or faith.

“Probably one of the smartest things I did was as I was writing this book, I put a prayer team together,” she said. “There was a group of 13 ladies that walked alongside me every week.”

She said the book could be helpful to people with any chronic illness.

“I really do think that you can replace cancer with ‘insert illness here,’ you know, because I really do think that people that have chronic illnesses go through a lot of the same emotions that people with cancer do,” Whitfield said. “So, why not try to … replace that word ‘cancer’ with ‘hypothyroidism’ and how do I overcome the fear of that progressing or having a flareup or how do I deal with the anger?”

“After Cancer: Now What?” was published by Lucid Books. It is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million. For more, visit aftercancerbook.com.

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A HELPING HAND

By Leila Kheiry leila@youarecurrent.com

Second Helpings, an Indianapolis-based regional nonprofit that feeds people, reduces food waste and teaches culinary job skills, recently moved some of its operations into a warehouse close to its main building, ensuring it has the space it needs to continue distributing food to partner organizations that help Hoosiers in need.

Second Helpings officially opened its 14,000-squarefoot warehouse, 901 E. Maryland St., with a Jan. 21 grand-opening celebration. However, the new space — walking distance from the nonprofit’s main building on Southeastern Avenue — was already in use earlier that month as Laraine and Tim Hudson collected a flat of donated food totaling 469 pounds.

Laraine Hudson said the food was destined for Bethel United Methodist Church and its freezer-meal ministry.

“We cook once a month for three days and fill our freezers with meals for people to take,” she said. “We can (help) people that are recovering or homebound — any reason. It’s been such a blessing — I can’t even begin to tell you. Our church is so small that we could not afford to give out as much food as we do without this help.”

The church is one of many nonprofits in the nine-county central Indiana area that Second Helpings works with to distribute food. CEO Linda Broadfoot said the distribution process starts by “rescuing” food from corporate partners.

“That could be suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, caterers — so really, really good food that would just otherwise go to waste,” she said.

Some of that food is the result of a supplier ordering too much, other items might be close to their expiration dates. Second Helpings quickly uses food with a short shelf life by cooking meals in its Southeastern Avenue kitchen for distribution.

“We’re averaging about 5,000-6,000 meals a day that we’re creating from that food that we then deliver to some of these 200 community programs,” she said.

Other donated food, such as frozen meat and shelf-stable items, now can be stored at the warehouse for distribution, rather than a cramped garage space the nonprofit has been using for more than 20 years, allowing the program to continue expanding and helping more people.

In addition to distributing food and meals, Second Helpings provides a free culinary arts training program to help area residents who are unemployed or underemployed find better jobs.

“We make sure folks get a ton of certifications, so it’s a lot of workplace skills, financial literacy train-

ing — those sorts of things,” Broadfoot said. “Then we also are doing, of course, all the culinary training, so that folks are ready to go out in the culinary field in our communities. That also means we have a graduation ceremony in the building about once every two months. Those are absolutely the best days.”

Jon Askelson, chef instructor, said his students recently prepared whole striped bass, learning how to

BY THE NUMBERS

In just one month — November 2025 — Second Helpings:

• Rescued 431,633 pounds of food

• Made and distributed 106,442 meals (averaging more than 6,000 daily)

• Distributed about 300,000 pounds of ingredients and shelf-stable food to partner agencies

• Logged about 3,800 volunteer hours

In the 12-month period between November 2025 and November 2025, the nonprofit distributed more than 1.3 million meals to central Indiana residents in need. And in the last fiscal year, 48 students graduated from Second Helpings’ culinary job training program.

*Source: Second Helpings monthly report

and

from scratch.

“And they blanched and shocked some green beans,” he said. “Then they sauteed that, and they took those striped bass filets, they crusted them and fried them.”

The plated fish and green beans then got a drizzle of sauce over the top.

Broadfoot said the average class size is about 10 students and the program has celebrated more than 1,000 graduates. Those students are eligible for jobs in hotels, catering businesses, restaurants, etc.

Although the culinary program is free, students are expected to volunteer at Second Helpings. They are among the dozens of “the best volunteers around,” said Volunteer Coordinator Michelle Woodruff. She added that she’s always looking for more people to help.

“You can work in the kitchen, make sandwiches, create meals. We really need drivers,” she said. “That would mean delivering meals to over 200 agencies. That would be the priority right now. We need people out there delivering meals.”

For more, visit secondhelpings.org.

Commentary by Larry Greene

This southeast Indianapolis home addition was designed to expand living space and improve everyday flow, adding a new dining area, opening the kitchen for countertop seating and incorporating a bathroom and covered porch to better support modern living.

THE BLUEPRINT

• The expanded layout creates a dedicated dining area while improving overall flow between the kitchen and living spaces.

• Opening the kitchen wall added countertop seating, increasing functionality for casual meals and entertaining.

• The new bathroom adds everyday convenience and improves the home’s overall layout efficiency.

• A covered porch extends the living space outdoors and provides year-round usability.

• The final design feels cohesive and intentional, blending seamlessly with the existing home.

Larry Greene is the owner of Worthington Design & Remodeling (formerly Case). You may email him at lgreene@worthingtonindy.com or visit worthingtonindy.com for more remodeling inspiration and advice.

Indy addition expands living space

Trumpeter to perform Palladium concert

By Alan Sculley editorial@youarecurrent.com

In the time leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Chris Botti wasn’t sure if he’d add any new albums to the 10 studio releases that had made up his catalog through 2012.

Album sales had tanked as streaming and downloading took hold, and with Botti’s touring business being robust, he began to think there was no need for more of his music. He even was entertaining the thought of leaving Columbia Records, the label that signed him before his fourth album, 2001’s “Night Sessions,” and had helped elevate him to a place where his albums consistently hit the top of the jazz chart.

“(Columbia Records) did such a great job for me,” said Botti, who will perform at 8 p.m. March 6 at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. “But as (of) 2015, 16, 17, 18, right in there, I could kind of tell that Columbia Records was basically kind of in the Adele business, which I don’t fault them for. I think it’s a fine business. And so, I kind of spent those years just touring and letting our touring do the talking.”

But coming out of the pandemic, two things surfaced that changed Botti’s thinking. Now, he’s on tour with an album, “Vol. 1,” that arrived in October 2023, and he’s planning more trips to the studio to make at least two more albums.

“This opportunity came up to go to Blue Note, and that was thrilling because it’s such an iconic label,” Botti said. “And (label president) Don Was has been lovely to me, letting me kind of do whatever I want. Then obviously, having David Foster produce was the kind of kick in the butt. I felt if I could get him to come out of retirement and produce me, it would be super special and we should do this. So over dinner, I asked him and he said ‘Sure.’” Foster, of course, has had a storied

career as a producer, songwriter, recording artist, keyboardist and record executive, working with Chicago, Boz Scaggs, Josh Groban, Celine Dion and Michael Bublé, among many others. Along the way, Foster has won more than a dozen Grammy Awards.

In approaching “Vol. 1,” project, Botti and Foster decided it would be a small group project featuring acoustic instrumentation and a selection romantic standards such as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “My Funny Valentine” and “Someday My Prince Will Come,” along with a couple of more contemporary tunes, including a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” – all centered around Botti’s trumpet.

Although Botti has frequently used full orchestras on his previous albums, he knew the album called for a leaner treatment for the material.

“Part of the problem when you do one of those big orchestra records, you Google for an arranger and you turn over like everything to arranger. Then you fly all the way to London, and you stand before the orchestra and if it doesn’t work, it’s toast,” Botti said. “But when you’re doing something that is more stripped back like this, you can change songs, change (arrangements).

This was so much more immediate, and we wanted to do a lifestyle record that was definitely stripped back, that was central to the sound of my horn and do kind of a more jazz record, but still make it lifestyle and approachable for people to listen to.”

Botti and Foster got the album they wanted, as “Vol. 1” is an elegant, highly melodic ballad-focused work.

Elegance and sophistication have been constants for Botti throughout a career that began in the mid-1980s. He first began gaining notice when he joined Paul Simon’s touring band in 1990, a touring relationship that would continue through the 1990s.

Botti began his solo career in 1995 with the CD, “First Wish,” but it was in 2000 that his career got a pivotal boost when Sting hired the trumpeter to join his band for his “Brand New Day” tour. In the midst of that tour with Sting, Botti was signed by Columbia Records and released the “Night Sessions” CD. His profile and reputation as a player have only continued to grow since then as albums like 2004’s “When I Fall In Love,” 2007’s “Italia” and his biggest release, the 2009 concert album “Chris Botti In Boston,” have topped the jazz charts, and especially in the case of that latter album, crossed over to pop.

“In order to get an audience to feel music in their seats, so to speak, in their core, you can’t just play necessarily all of the beautiful stuff,” he said.

“You’ve got to hit them with some visceral, kind of flashy and musical chop-oriented stuff that makes them go ‘Oh, my god!’ You know, like, ‘Boom!’”

Botti considers the “Vol. 1” title very much signaling a new phase in his career, and looking ahead, he sees himself picking up the pace on making albums while he maintains his heavy touring regimen.

“I’ll hopefully be on board with Blue Note for at least ‘Vol. 1,’ ‘2’ and ‘3.’ And we can knock them out pretty (quickly), like every year or year and a half,” Botti said. “That’s kind of what my thought process is, maybe do three things for Blue Note.”

‘THE MOUSETRAP’

“The Mousetrap” runs through Feb. 15 at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis. For more, visit beefandboards. com.

FEINSTEIN’S CABARET

Feinstein’s cabaret presents “Summer Nights, The Music of Grease” Feb. 12, followed by “Esque, Burlesque at Feinstein’s” Feb. 13 and “Paul Hughes, Songs for the Lovers” Feb. 14 at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. For more, visit feinsteinshc. com.

‘THE PAGEANT’

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre will present “The Pageant” through Feb. 22 at The Florence at Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in Carmel. For more, visit gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org.

‘LUCKY STIFF’

Actors Theatre of Indiana presents “Lucky Stiff” through Feb. 15 at the Studio Theater at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. For more, visit atistage.org.

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’

Civic Theatre presents “The Great Gatsby” through Feb. 21 at The Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center. For more, visit thecenterpresents.org.

‘ALMOST, MAINE’

Main Street Productions presents “Almost, Maine” through Feb.15 at the Basile Westfield Playhouse. For more, visit westfieldplayhouse.org.

‘MASQUERADE BALL’

Indiana Wind Symphony’s “Masquerade Ball” is set for 4 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center. For more, visit indianawindsymphony.org.

ENTERTAINMENT

Guest clarinetist joins IWS

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com

Indiana Wind Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jay Gephart knows there is a buzz around a special guest musician.

Jazz clarinetist Doreen Ketchens will perform in the “Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball” concert at 4 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.

“This is going to be huge for us,” Gephart said. “I told the band she was coming, and the immediate response was overwhelming. They couldn’t believe it.”

Ketchens will perform a piece that was written for her for the National American Bandmasters Association Convention. The piece is “Troubles of the World” by William May.

“It has a little bit of a jazz bent to it, but he also writes in a really wonderful classical style,” Gephart said. “So, there is a combination of the two styles that showcase Doreen as more of a jazz player. She is going to play two lighter piec-

Doreen Ketchens, a jazz clarinetist, will be a guest performer Feb. 15 at the Indiana Wind Symphony concert in Carmel. (Photo courtesy of IWS)

es in the second half of the concert.”

Ketchens will perform Paul Hemmer’s arrangements of “Caravan” and “Amazing Grace.”

The concert will open with “Fanfare from La Péri” by Paull Dukas, followed by “Occident et Orient” by Camille Saint-Saens.

The concert closes with Brant Karrick’s “Bayou Breakdown” and “Satchmo,” a tribute to Louis Armstrong by Ted Ricketts. It features IWS principal trumpeter Brian Hoover.

For more, visit indianawindsymphony.org.

Play to examine Riley’s life

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com

James Whitcomb Riley is known as a famous writer and poet from Indiana.

“But many don’t know how he got started,” Carmel resident Keith Miller said. “I was shocked to learn he started out on the traveling medicine show and even posed as a blind man cured by a magic elixir. He was really quite the character. He was not the stodgy poet that we know from later in his life photographs. He was a showman.”

in a fictional conversation with an assistant stage manager, Caleb Jonson. Nolan Daugherty plays Caleb Johnson and Paul Hansen plays Riley.

“It really put me at ease when the audience laughed for the first time and then they applauded when I hoped it would applaud,” Miller said.

Miller’s play “An Evening with James Whitcomb Riley” is set for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at The Tarkington at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. The performance will benefit Riley Children’s Foundation. The play had a reading Oct. 11, 2025, at Carmel Clay Public Library as part of the Actors Theatre of Indiana Lab series.

The two-person play centers on Riley’s appearance with Mark Twain in 1894 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where he talks about his life

“So, I know we have a really good play that everyone can enjoy.”

Following the reading, Miller said many audience members stuck around for nearly an hour to offer feedback, “They wanted to know more about Riley, and they wanted to hear more poetry, which was encouraging,” he said. “So, we added a new scene and we added additional poetry.”

The play spotlights some scandals in Riley’s life.

Now retired, Miller, 68, is pursuing his passion for writing. He is working on his fifth novel in a five-book series. The books haven’t been published yet. For tickets, visit thecenterpresents. org.

Opens February 19

‘Mr. Las Vegas’ set to share memories in concert

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com

For legendary singer Wayne Newton, performing has always come naturally.

“The truth of the matter is, I’m probably the most comfortable on stage than I am anywhere in the world,” Newton said. “So, performing is something I’ve been doing since I was 3 years old, so there is no reason to change it unless there’s some physical reason and there isn’t. So, I just keep on keeping on.”

Newton will perform on his “Memories & Melodies” tour at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. It will be Newton’s debut at the Palladium.

Newton, 83, has a three-day-a-week residency at Bugsy’s Cabaret at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas.

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“It’s good for me and also my group that we don’t get married to just doing Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays,” Newton said.

The Flamingo was the first casino where Newton headlined.

“Being back at the Flamingo is like coming home,” he said. “I’ve played Caesars Palace. I played almost every hotel in Las Vegas over the years and being back at the Flamingo is really special for me.”

Newton, nicknamed “Mr. Last Vegas,” has built a global fanbase from his decades of performing.

“We’ve been in Vegas so long that we have built a pocket of people who follow us, no matter where they are living in the United States,” Newton said.

Newton’s signature song is “Danke Schoen.” Other hits that are concert staples are “Red Roses for a Blue Lady,” “Daddy, Don’t You Walk So Fast” and “Summer Wind.”

“We work all of my earlier hits into the show,” he said. “Depending on the audience, (the setlist) changes every night, but it’s primarily those songs I get asked for constantly.”

Newton started performing in Las Vegas at age 15.

“We did six shows six nights a week, and that went on for five years,” he said. “Then I graduated to (larger rooms), and that’s two shows a night, seven nights a week when it started. It’s only in the last two to three years, Vegas has

gone to one show a night. I’ve probably done in excess of 40,000 or 50,000 shows there.”

Newton said he talks about the people who have been instrumental in his career.

“I mean, major stars who stepped up when I needed some help,” he said. “The show is really about the memories and the melodies.”

Besides music, Newton’s other passion is Arabian horses. He owns between 30 and 35 on a 35-acre ranch. He said he has bred and sold more than 500 Arabian horses through the years.

Newton was born in Virginia but moved to Arizona when he was 8 years old because of bronchial asthma.

“The doctors insisted my parents move, so we did,” he said. “I lived there until I was 15, and that’s when I came to Las Vegas. The asthma really hasn’t been a problem since I moved to Arizona. If I’m in a place with inclement weather, I make sure I don’t spend more time than I should. That is about a twoweek window.”

For tickets, visit thecenterpresents. org. For more, visit waynenewton.com.

Movie music in spotlight

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com

Hendricks Symphony’s “Music of the Silver Screen” concerts will cover an array of music from various film genres.

The concerts are set for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 and 3 p.m. Feb. 15 at Hendricks Live! in Plainfield. The performances are part of the “Silver and Gold” theme for the 2025-26 season.

“The upcoming program includes movie music masterpieces from ‘Tara’s Theme’ from ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘Over the Rainbow’ from the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ all the way through the ‘Raiders March’ from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and the ‘Star Wars Suite for Orchestra,’” said Carmel resident Amy Eggleston, Hendricks Symphony’s music director and conductor. “The hauntingly beautiful ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’ from ‘The Mission,’ a charming choral version of ‘Moon River’ from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and an exciting chorus and orchestra version of ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’ from ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ‘are sure to be audience favorites.”

This is the fourth show of the six-con-

Hendricks Symphony Music

Director Amy Eggleston will conduct “Music of the Silver Screen” Feb. 13 and Feb. 15. (Photo courtesy of Hendricks Symphony)

cert season series at Hendricks Live!.

The April 23 and 25 concerts, “The Gold Record,” will feature music from the Voyager Golden Record. The concerts will include “Brandenburg Concerto No. 2” by Johann Sebastian Bach and “The Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky.

“(They were) the records that were sent out into space many decades ago with the sounds of  Earth that we wanted to communicate to anyone that might be out there in the universe, somewhere on a different planet,” Eggleston said.

For more, vist hendrickssymphony. org and hendrickslive.org.

Concerts for a Cause set

By Mark Ambrogi mark@youarecurrent.com

Concerts for a Cause founder Bruce Kidd saw Jon McLaughlin as the perfect fit for the series’ million-dollar event.

The series, which consists of four concerts each year benefiting a different nonprofit, opens Feb. 21 with Indianapolis-based singer Kristen Bales as the opening act, and Jeffrey Gaines as the headliner for a concert supporting Indiana Wish. The series, in its 10th year, has raised $952,000 for 39 charities. The series will surpass $1 million raised for nonprofits at the May 16 concert with McLaughlin.

er-songwriter, to be joined by Noblesville resident Sarah Scharbrough, who is married to McLauglin’s brother, Jeffrey, a music teacher at Westfield High School.

“Sarah opened for us one other time in 2022. She got the only standing ovation and encore shouts from our audience for an opening artist,” Kidd said.

McLaughlin

McLaughlin, an Anderson native who resided several years in Carmel and Indianapolis, lives in Nashville, Tenn. He previously performed in the series in 2019.

“We selected Jon for our special May concert because he is a Hoosier and our concerts are about helping fellow Hoosiers and he loves combining our mission and combining live music with doing good for others,” Kidd said. “He was the perfect choice.”

A Carmel resident, Kidd said it also made sense for McLaughlin, a sing-

The Feb. 21, Aug. 29 and Nov. 14 are at the Indy Art Center, which has 210 seats with 50 reserved for the series sponsors. The May 16 concert will benefit Teachers Treasures.

“I am working on a larger venue for May 16 as we expect 300 to 400 guests that night,” Kidd said.

Food, drinks and the concert are included in the $100 ticket. For more, visit indyconcertsforacause.org.

Grey to feature new album

By Alan Sculley editorial@youarecurrent.com

Perhaps you remember the old Paul Masson wine advertisements built around the line, “We will sell no wine before its time.” JJ Grey, quite unintentionally, followed a variation on that philosophy in making his latest album “Olustee.”

Over a career that was launched with the 2001 album “Backwater,” Grey had delivered his six most recent studio albums over an eight-year span, with “Ol’ Glory” culminating that prolific run with its release in 2015. It took Grey that same amount of time to finish “Olustee.” Grey & Mofro will feature songs from that album at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Payne & Mencias Palladium at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.

Ironically, the project got off to a fast start, and for a time, it looked like Grey might have a quick follow-up album to “Ol’ Glory.”

“After ‘Old Glory’ came out, it probably wasn’t even 18 months, a year and a half or whatever, that I was back in the studio and had recorded the basic tracks for a song called ‘Free High.’ That was recorded then. ‘Starry Night,’ that was recorded then,” Grey said. “And there was one other one, ‘Top of the World.’ Those three songs were recorded, the music, immediately after ‘Old Glory’ coming out. And I had placeholder kind of singing, sometimes with words, sometimes it just sounded like words. I was struggling, let me back up, I wasn’t struggling because if there’s a struggle, you have to actually try. This one, I was just not writing the lyrics and not singing it.”

Grey kept waiting for inspiration –all the way until spring of 2023. That’s when a friend who worked in real estate showed Grey a building along the St. Marys River in north Florida. Grey immediately realized the unique structure would work as a studio-rehearsal space.

“It was incredible. It used to be a boys home and it was a crazy three-story octagon building,” Grey said. “In March, I made an offer and in April, they handed me the keys,”

Grey put his new acquisition to immediate use and tackled the lyrics and vocal melodies he needed to finish the “Olustee” album.

my gear up,” he said. “I sat down and went in there and within a week I had everything written, recorded and done. It didn’t even take a week to do it. And when I say a week, I don’t mean a week’s worth of recording. I wasn’t in there a couple of hours each day. It took me four or five days, a couple of hours each day.”

Although that burst of writing at the octagon building brought the “Olustee” album together, the bulk of recording was done well before then at the studio where Grey has always recorded – Retrophonics in Saint Augustine, Fla.

There, Grey, who was producing the album himself, brought in his demos and turned his studio musicians loose to bring a more human and organic feel to the basic tracks of the songs.

Having already done an extensive tour with an 11-piece band, Grey is back with another run of shows, playing a wide-ranging song set.

“I moved a temporary control room in overlooking the downstairs and I set

“We’ll be playing tracks, obviously, off of every record,” Grey said. “You’ll want the staples, so to speak, for the people. ‘Lochloosa’ (Grey’s 2004 album) will definitely get its run throughs in the set, and (core songs like) ‘Brighter Days’ and ‘The Sun Is Shining Down,’ and definitely it’s going to be new-album heavy. I don’t mean we’re going to play the whole entire new album. That’s not going to happen. But usually (we play) 16 to 18 songs. I’m thinking (we’ll play) maybe six songs off of the new album each night, at least six, I would say.”

For more, visit thecenterpresents.org.

16. Battery terminal

17. “Kapow!”

18. ___ Wayne, Ind.

19. Like some patches

20. Building supplies salesladies in

MILLERSBURG?

23. IU Health triage sites

24. Mount Everest guide

25. Ship of fuels?

27. Smoke House vape pens, briefly

30. Artist’s lifetime work

33. IMPD rap sheet letters

36. Kind of band or show

38. Stir up

39. Anxious feeling

41. ___ room

42. Does tough work

43. Move, to a Realtor

44. In a tidy way

46. Ruby or Sandra

47. Magazine with an annual “Sexiest Man Alive” issue

49. Cambodian currency

51. Frisbee maker

53. Japanese hostess

57. Teacher’s favorite student

59. Chart topper about being miserable over an unrequited relationship in HORTONVILLE?

62. Single-celled organism

64. Lambs’ moms

65. Subside

66. Aroma

67. Philosopher Descartes

68. ___ mater

69. St. Nicholas, to some 70. Hoosier Park gait

71. Consider DOWN

1. Prominent bulldog features

2. “You bet!”

3. Guilty feeling

4. Sound quality

5. Part of a Mellencamp

song

6. Frenzied

7. Actress Spelling

8. The Jetsons’ dog

9. Annoyance

10. Opposite of WSW

11. Missing a crew member in RIVERWOOD?

12. Aroma

13. Bears’ lairs

21. Disney theme park

22. Colt foe

26. French coin

28. “Pretty Woman” star

29. Bad-mouth

31. Anger

32. “If all ___ fails...”

33. 50+ org.

34. Patella’s place

35. Beaming adolescent in EAGLETOWN?

37. Start of a Belfry The-

atre play

40. Second-year student at WHS

42. Colts 2026 Pro Bowl tight end Warren

44. Nautilus captain

45. Kit with toy bricks

48. “Deck the Halls” syllables

50. “Arabian Nights” sailor

52. For all to see

54. Fissile rock

55. Blackjack request

56. First-stringers

57. Pacers point guard option

58. Austen novel

60. Decorative pitcher

61. Fallon’s predecessor

63. Muldoon’s on Main sandwich, for short ANSWERS ON PAGE 9