Dear Indy,
Today our lead story comes from Mirror Indy health reporter Mary Claire Molloy, who revisited an issue we first brought to you in December: the effects of pharmacy closings on our city.
For this new article, Mary Claire spent time in the westside neighborhoods that have been hit the hardest.
Here’s how her piece begins:
As recently as 2020, three pharmacies were within walking distance of Leo Valverde’s home in the Hawthorne neighborhood. Now the stores are closed, and he scrambles for transportation to buy something as simple as headache medicine.
When Valverde can’t afford an Uber, he waits for the bus. When the bus doesn’t come, he calls a family member for a ride. If no one can pick him up, he’s out of luck. Nobody, he said, wants to walk 2.8 miles and back in the cold or the dark.
“In my country, there are pharmacies on every corner,” Valverde, a 36-year-old from Nicaragua, said in an interview with Mirror Indy conducted in Spanish. “Definitely not here, though.”
Here is the 46222 ZIP code, a swath of racially diverse and mixed-income neighborhoods on the near west side. The area has lost more than half of its pharmacy locations in the last four years, forcing residents to go elsewhere or simply not get their medications at all.
Continue reading the article here.
Know someone who might like this newsletter?
Click here to forward this email to them.
In other news
Psst. We commissioned a song.
It’s from Wife Patrol, the beloved Indianapolis band.
The song is called “Equinox” — because we’re all about celebrating that we made it through winter and are venturing into spring.
Read more about the song here.
Or, better yet, give it a listen on Bandcamp.
What’s going on around the city
- Tomorrow, March 22: The world premiere of Theatre Unchained’s “Herding Cats” will be staged at IndyFringe, 719 E. St. Clair St., at 7:30 p.m. The play follows Stella, a housecat, doing her best to help her human save their career, with the help of her fellow felines. Tickets are $21 for adults, $16 for children.
- Saturday, March 23: Guggman Haus Brewing Co., 1701 Gent Ave., is holding a “Bikes ‘n Brews Beer Garden Kickoff” celebration. Starting at 11 a.m., you can bike to the brewery for a limited edition Bicycle Basket Milkshake IPA, browse through some local vendors’ tables, watch a short film and enjoy live music in the beer garden at 3 p.m. Free, 21+
- Sunday, March 24: Spring is officially here, which means it’s time to get your house plants in order. At noon, Life After Death Plants hosts its first market of the year at the Sanctuary on Penn, 701 N. Pennsylvania St. Amateur gardeners can find everything from houseplants to vintage pots.
— Breanna Cooper, arts and culture reporter
Looking for other things to do? Check out Mirror Indy’s events calendar.
Support Journalism
Be part of a local initiative to increase coverage of the
diverse needs of people living in our community.
What else we’re reading today
- Axios Indianapolis: Central Indiana’s population is on the upswing because of growth in the suburbs, according to new census estimates. Marion County’s population dropped slightly.
- Indiana Capital Chronicle: Sen. Jean Breaux died Wednesday following an extended absence from the Indiana Statehouse. The Indianapolis Democrat represented the east side since 2006, working on Black infant and maternal mortality and affordable utility bills. “It is a heavy and extremely sad day,” Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, said in a statement.
- NBC News: The gun control group Everytown has been tracking unintentional shootings by children across the country. Last year was the worst year since the group began tracking in 2015, with 411 unintentional shootings. At least 157 people were killed.
Arts and Culture
You may have noticed an uptick in half-shell chatter in your social media channels. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secrets of the Sewer” is on display at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
The exhibit, a first of its kind, was created in-house and first opened back in September 2015. It traveled for eight years and is making its last and final stop where it all started.
To bring you the unbiased details, Mirror Indy’s arts and culture team collaborated with Indy Documenters for a special report. Because we would not have been able to give you a full scoop of the fun without the perspective of a young person, we invited 4-year-old guest documenter, Naima, as contributor.
Read the special TMNT report here.
— Jennifer Delgadillo, arts and culture editor
Want to explore more of our city’s vibrancy? Find more arts and culture coverage here.
Reflections
We’re less than three weeks away from the deadline to register to vote in the primary election. If you haven’t registered, or if you need to double check, we’ve got a new guide just for you.
Ryan
P.S. If you liked something about today’s newsletter, or didn’t, let me know at ryan.martin@mirrorindy.org. It helps us serve you better.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
