Mayor Oler reflects on first quarter in office

Happy summer!!! 🌞⛱🍨

Sorry I missed all of you yesterday. I'm back and ready to bring you back to your regularly scheduled newsletter.

We have a very busy weekend ahead, as you can see in today's feature of weekend events, including the start of the Wayne County 4-H Fair.

Your weekend Richmond weather forecast:

Friday - A high of 94, low of 72. Mostly sunny. 🌤

Saturday - A high of 93, low of 76. Mostly sunny. 🌤

Sunday - A high of 87, low of 66. Scattered thunderstorms. ⛈

🎶 Song of the Day! 🎶

What do you want to know? Submit your questions for my weekly mailbox to eweaver@gannett.com. Help spread the word about this newsletter: Forward this email to your family and friends and encourage them to sign up here.

Richmond Mayor Ron Oler reflects on first quarter in office

Now nearly 170 days into his first term, Richmond Mayor Ron Oler has given his first video address to the public, highlighting everything he has accomplished within the city so far, from appointing new leaders at the police and fire departments to the establishment of a new unsheltered/homeless task force, helping the city receive grants for downtown projects and road repairs to bringing business expansions to the area, and from continuing the Beat the Heat program that was started two years ago to actively engaging in community events.

For the full story, read here.

📰 What else you should know today:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Foster families receive more support: The Indiana Department of Child Services announced Wednesday that those who adopt or are guardians in the state's foster care system will be entitled to more financial support to help with expenses.

🚓 Capital Conviction: A 73-year-old Indiana man was just sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

🥽 More Hoosiers to Olympics: A record crowd of more than 22,000 people saw two more Indiana swimmers qualify to the Paris Olympics in Indianapolis Wednesday night.

⚖ Judge to be called as witness: Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen's lawyers have announced their plans to call Judge Frances Gull to testify regarding the truthfulness of a sheriff investigator's report.

🍔 Hungry?: Here are food-themed festivals going on around Indiana over the next few months, as well as the best cookie and pie shops in Indiana and the U.S.

🎢 Your guide to weekend fun

🐷🐄🐑🐴 The first day of the Wayne County 4-H Fair is Saturday. There are plenty of fun events going on at the Wayne County Fairgrounds this weekend to kick off the fair, starting with the Color Guard Grand Entry and 4-H Horse & Pony Show at 9 a.m. Other events Saturday include dirt drag racing (7 p.m.), a free movie night outside the First Bank Kuhlman Center (DC League of Super-Pets at 9 p.m.) and the opening of Poor Jack Amusements rides (wristbands are $25). For a full schedule this weekend and next week, see my story here.

🔴🟠🟡🟢🔵🟣 It's Pride Month, and that means Richmond Pride 24 is coming to town. From noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Glen Miller Bandshell, Rainbow Richmond will host the all-ages free event that will include a full day of "music (from noon to 3 p.m.), vendors (from noon to 6 p.m.), drag (from 3 to 6 p.m.), pride and love." Because the event is open to all ages, alcohol and drugs will not be allowed on site. More information can be found on the event's page linked above.

🥒🎾 The second annual "All In for Kids Pickleball Tournament" hosted by Communities in Schools of Wayne County is Saturday at Earlham College (801 W National Road) where all proceeds for the event will go toward benefiting Wayne County students for the 2024-25 school year. Registration on the day of the event begins at 9:30 a.m. and is $40 for both 65+ and Under 65 age divisions. Games are mixed doubles and will start at 10 a.m.

A full list of events going on this weekend can be found on the Convention & Tourism Bureau's website and Kicks96's community calendar, as well as Eventbrite, which includes additional events not listed on the bureau's site. Earlham College and Indiana University East also have events going on throughout the week.

Thank you for taking the time to read through today's newsletter. Send your questions for mailbag to eweaver@gannett.com and you can follow me on X (@evan_weaver7).

See you all on Monday!