“Bloomington has been easing back into its live music groove, with concerts and festivals repopulating our community’s calendars,” writes Christine Brackenhoff, the music director and assistant program director at WFHB Community Radio. To find out how the groove has pivoted after the worst of the pandemic, she spoke with several members of the music community. Click here to read Christine’s article.
The increase in mental health issues has led to the creation of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. As Rebecca Hill reports, the rise in suicides, serious mental illnesses, and mental health crises has shown more is needed than just a phone number. That’s why advocates designed 988 to be a continuum of care. Click here to read about 988.
Sheila Suess Kennedy, Emerita Professor of Law and Public Policy, says that when people don’t understand the most basic premises of our legal system, our public discourse is impoverished and ultimately unproductive. “Unfortunately,” she writes, “that civic knowledge is in very short supply.” Click here to read Professor Kennedy’s article on why civic literacy is critical to the American Idea.
People living in intentional communities engage daily in cooperative living. How were they affected by the pandemic? How did community life change and adapt? Laura Lasuertmer, a founding member of Common Home Farm in Bloomington, asked members of four other intentional communities how their networks of mutual support weathered the pandemic. | Click here to read Laura’s article.
“It is imperative for nonprofit funders, corporations, community agencies and the community at large to come together to devise solutions amidst the uncertainty in cost,” says Michelle Gilchrist, President and CEO of Bloomington Health Foundation. The foundation expects to distribute an estimated $2 million during 2022 to nonprofits delivering community health services. Click here to read about the foundation’s innovative solutions to improving community health.
Jacinda Townsend’s new novel, Mother Country, tackles the subject of motherhood from two perspectives on different sides of the world. Yaël Ksander spoke with Townsend for WFIU’s Inner States program, and she is sharing excerpts of that interview with Limestone Post. Townsend and Ksander will meet again, in person, at Morgenstern Books on June 6. Click here to read their conversation
As part of a heralded racing family, Al Unser Jr. “grew up on the fumes from Gasoline Alley,” says Rebecca Hill in her review of Unser’s book, A Checkered Past. While Unser lived up to the family name on the track, his racing success did not always follow him off the track. Click here to read the review.
How can the culture, heritage, and history of Bloomington and Monroe County possibly be portrayed in all its diversity and richness? Through paintings, illustrations, photography, poetry, and in-depth stories. Limestone Post’s A Sense of Place includes the work of dozens of local writers, photographers, painters, poets, and other artists. Click here to get a glimpse inside.
With tourism picking up again, many local leaders want to pursue the pre-pandemic plans to expand Monroe Convention Center. But some key decision makers are not convinced, writes Steve Hinnefeld. They question if this is the right time to expand, and whether convention-business revenue will have the desired kind of economic impact. Click here to read Hinnefeld’s in-depth story.
Bloomington’s recording studios have faced many pandemic challenges over the past two years. Jim Manion, the former music director at WFHB Community Radio, spoke to the owners of Russian Recording, Noisy Chairs Recording, Airtime Studios, and Primary Sound Studios to see how they coped — and continued to create music — during COVID. Click here to read Manion’s article.
Held on the first Friday of each month, Gallery Walk is an iconic, one-of-a-kind event in Bloomington — a chance for friends and family to meet downtown, take in some of the area’s best art, and enjoy one of the most vibrant cultural hubs in the Midwest. Talking with the artists in any of the 12 galleries, no one walks away from Gallery Walk without exploring what’s fresh and new in the local art scene. Click here to read about all the galleries in Gallery Walk.
The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County has created this quick-reference guide on voter registration, voting by mail, and various voting requirements. This is the first in a series of articles on civic engagement produced by LWV for Limestone Post.
Click here to read the guide.
Surviving cancer depends on many factors, but dealing with it requires help. It’s not a single-issue disease, writes Rebecca Hill. Because of improved treatments and surgeries, death is no longer the endgame for some cancers. But the road to survivorship requires a continuum of care — and ‘an army’ to defeat it. Click here to read about the continuum of cancer care.
How can the culture, heritage, and history of Bloomington and Monroe County possibly be portrayed in all its diversity and richness? Through paintings, illustrations, photography, poetry, and in-depth stories. Limestone Post’s A Sense of Place includes the work of dozens of local writers, photographers, painters, poets, and other artists. Click here to get a glimpse inside.
Yaël Ksander reviews two debut novels by Indiana authors that address the question “Can a woman have it all?” Denise Breeden-Ost’s Making It All Right and Greta Lind’s Split Open each portrays the life of a wife and mother “smashing up against” expectations “to deliver their own form of rebellion.” Click here to read Yaël’s review.
“In a democracy, voters choose their political leaders. In a democracy that permits gerrymandering … elected leaders choose their voters.” Marjorie Hershey, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Indiana University, wrote this in an article for “The Conversation,” an independent news organization. She has updated the article for Limestone Post. Click here to read her article on redistricting.