Urban killings rise in clusters as many areas grow safer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When she started an urban farm in one of Indianapolis' roughest neighborhoods, retired chemist Aster Bekele wanted to teach at-risk kids how to garden, and maybe sneak in a little science.

Then the city's homicide rate started soaring, with most of the killings happening around the community center where Bekele and the teens tended their vegetables, chickens and compost piles. After her own son was killed last summer, she found herself teaching a different lesson: how to deal with death.

A few miles away, another rough neighborhood was experiencing a change — equally dramatic but just the opposite.