Jessica Walter
Morning Reporter
Jessica is a multimedia journalist for WPTA.
She graduated from the Indiana University Media School in December 2022, but is excited to be returning to her hometown of Fort Wayne. She holds a degree in Journalism with a minor in Spanish.
During her time at IU, Jessica worked as a reporter, producer and anchor for the award-winning IU Newsnet. During this time, she was a recipient of the Indiana Broadcasters Association scholarship award. She also received awards for her radio work on WCYT in 2018 and 2019.
In her free time, Jessica enjoys spending time with her friends and family, reading, taking a good exercise class, cheering on IU basketball (go Hoosiers!) and traveling. Her favorite travel spots are anywhere in the mountains, including Arizona and Quebec. Although she loves sitting on the beach and laying in the sun all day, even if it's just poolside in the Fort.
If you have any story ideas, or even a good local food recommendation, email Jessica at jessica.walter@gray.tv.
FWPD alerted the public Tuesday morning that they’re searching for missing 10-year-old Rajah Haley.
The Fort Wayne Police Department said in a safety alert Tuesday morning they’re searching for 15-year-old Amera Debacher. They believe she could be in danger.
The search for the perfect 40-foot tree to place in Broadway Plaza was months-long. Here’s our conversation with Dan Mudrack from Mudrack Tree Service.
Matt Loraine with Pyrotechnico prepares the annual fireworks display for Christmas on Broadway. Here’s a look into the planning process.
For the past 10 years, Kasey Carr has brought her story and the stories of other local veterans to the students at Irwin STEM Magnet School. Each year they hold a special program honoring those heroes.
Fostering Hope for Children is a Fort Wayne based nonprofit organization dedicated to setting children in need up with the basic necessities their families may not be able to afford. This holiday season, they’re asking the public to sponsor children for Christmas.
Auburn Main Street Association will host their annual Chocolate Trail through downtown Auburn Friday night. The trail features free sweet treats spanning across 25 Auburn local businesses.
The Fort Wayne Rescue Mission is providing a meal to-go this Thanksgiving.
Blessings in a Backpack is packing “Turkey Totes” for children within the Fort Wayne Community School District to ensure children have nutritious food to eat over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Fantasy of Lights is set to return for it’s 9th year and organizers are ready for the big crowds.
Fort Wayne nonprofit Healthier Moms and Babies is raising money to support their programs in an effort to bring more babies in Allen County to their first birthday. Right now, 6 in every 1,000 babies born every year in Allen County don’t live to see their first birthday.
As families head out for a chilly evening of trick-or-treating Tuesday night, FWPD has a few reminders on how to stay safe as both a driver and a walker.
In response to November being Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, K105 and Fort Wayne Game Show Experience have joined forces to “Play Games for Pancreatic Cancer”.
The Volunteer Center will kick off their 24th annual Coats for Kids collection drive on November 1st. To date, they’ve collected more than 80,000 coats for children in Allen County and the surrounding areas. 1 in 5 kids in Allen County are living in poverty. The Coats for Kids collection aims to provide warm winter coats, paired with hats, gloves and scarves to children.
October is commonly known as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The YWCA of Northeast Indiana is dedicated to making sure the voices of survivors are heard.
Turnstone will host their annual Trunk or Treat event Thursday night. The event draws large crowds every year as it features devices that ensure everyone with all abilities can participate in Halloween.
Monday marked day one of the annual U Can Crush Hunger food drive and competition between 8 local colleges. Between those schools, they have a common goal to collect 125,000 pounds of food for Community Harvest Food Bank.
The Indiana Canine Assistance Network works to pair service dogs with people in the community who may require additional assistance, whether it be emotional or physical needs. This fall, they’re raising money specifically to benefit their veteran service division.
Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control is fundraising to support their humane education programs with their annual Howl-O-Walkoween event at Promenade Park Saturday.
Ivy Tech will host a free, public Halloween festival at their Coliseum campus Friday, October 13th with both indoor and outdoor activities for all ages.
After a month of reflection and rest, seven Fort Wayne men and women are looking back on the nine-day journey that led them to the 19-thousand-foot summit on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
The holiday season is quickly approaching and with that comes a multitude of ways the Salvation Army is striving to ensure families in Allen County have Christmas gifts under the tree and meals to eat during the holidays.
The popular Lucky Duck Children’s Consignment Sale will host the second sale of the year this weekend. There are 80,000 items available at a discounted price.
The Vera Bradley Foundation and the Lutheran Health Network began hanging Ribbons for Research throughout 21Country to raise money for breast cancer research. Each pink ribbon represents a donation made to the foundation.
Humane Fort Wayne held a special reunion for the beagles rescued from the now closed animal testing facility in Virginia. Each beagle has since been adopted.
Indiana’s favorite farmers market will wrap up its summer season this weekend before heading to their winter location. The YLNI Farmers Market announced last week that they snagged the top spot for the second year in a row in Indiana.
Super Shot will offer flu shots to Fort Wayne residents at three Allen County Public Library branches during the month of October. COVID vaccines are planned to be offered once they become available.
The Dekalb County Fair officially began Monday and will run through Saturday night. It is one of the biggest street fairs in Indiana.
The streets of downtown Fort Wayne will be haunted by ghosts and ghouls this October during the Annual Fright Night event.
The Women’s Care Center of NEI will hold a free Car Seat Safety Inspection Clinic Thursday at their Auburn location from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
September is Suicide Prevention Month and to recognize it, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will be hosting the “Out of the Darkness” Walk and resource event on Sunday, September 24th.
Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation will host the annual Fall Harvest Festival at Salomon Farm Park to celebrate the first weekend of fall Friday and Saturday.
The locally owned Kuehnert Dairy Farm kicked off their first of seven weekends for their Fall Festival. The festival will run through the weekend of October 27-29.
One person died and another was injured in a shooting on St. Marys Avenue, just south of State Boulevard, around 1:20 a.m. Friday morning.
Purdue Fort Wayne Military Student Services encourages the public to come be a part of their third annual Military Appreciation Day on Thursday on the PFW campus.
Honor Flight Northeast Indiana sent 89 veterans and their guardians off towards Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning. It is the 44th Honor Flight in Northeast Indiana and the fourth flight of the year.
The West Central Neighborhood will host its 41st annual West Central Neighborhood Home & Garden tour this weekend. The tour will feature eight homes, one garden and one apartment all within the historic district.
The Little River Wetlands Project will host one of its two large events this weekend as part of “Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown.” The Monarch Festival will be held at Eagle Marsh.
The Down Syndrome Association of Northeast Indiana (DSANI) is hosting th 25th annual Buddy Walk at Parkview Field Saturday.
Car lovers from across the country are already rolling into Auburn for the 67th annual Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival.
The New Haven Chamber of Commerce is partnering with Lutheran Health, IU Health and Parkview to offer a free health fair Wednesday.
Humane Fort Wayne will have more than 40 cats and dogs available for adoption this weekend for the ‘Clear the Shelters’ adoption event. Humane Fort Wayne Community Relations Manager Melissa Gibson says this is their biggest event yet.
The Little River Wetlands Project protects four main bodies of water in the Little River Watershed, including Eagle Marsh, Arrowhead Preserves, Little River Landing and ButtonBush Bottoms. These comprise of more than 1,300 acres of wetlands in our area.
The City of Fort Wayne will close off more than 20 blocks of Calhoun Street Sunday for the 6th annual Open Streets event.
Every year August 17th marks “Thrift Shop Day.” One shop in Fort Wayne has expanded from a thrift shop to a community-wide resource.
The Barbie movie certainly took the world by storm with its witty humor and social commentary. Here in 21Country, the effect was no different.
The American Cancer Society had the official kick off of their annual campaign this week. The campaign runs until late October which is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Fort Wayne Community Schools kicked off the 2023-2024 school year on Thursday morning and welcomed nearly 30,000 students back to the classroom.
As students across Allen County return to school this week, Indiana State Police want you to practice extra caution on your daily commute.
102 Purple Heart recipients and their guardians took off to Washington D.C. Monday morning with an extra special send off.
