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.
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.
“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.
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.
Cardinal Stage presents its first production of the year, The Mountaintop, by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall. The play is a gripping “reimagination of events” on the night before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Hiromi Yoshida writes about two of the actors, Michael Aaron Pogue and AshLee “PsyWrn Simone” Baskin, and Scenic Designer Seth Howard. Click here to read Hiromi’s article and watch a trailer of the play.
You won’t get too far into Nancy Hiller’s new book, Shop Tails: The Animals Who Help Us Make Things Work, without realizing you’re reading more than a book about critters, writes Yaël Ksander in her review for the Limestone Reader. This isn’t the first time Hiller has used woodworking to explore much bigger issues, but Shop Tails was written “at a reckoning point.” Click here to read Yaël’s review.
As a nation, mass shootings are “part of our social fabric,” writes Rebecca Hill. She interviewed several local and national experts on how to better address mass shootings, especially in schools and businesses. Her in-depth report looks at research on mass shootings through a public health approach — and the effectiveness of preparation versus security. Click here to read the 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.
Students in Rachel Bahr’s English 11 class at Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship share their annual “Sense of Place” project with Limestone Post! While their unique “places” are as varied as a horse stable, a limestone mill, Dunn Meadow, Community Kitchen, and Monroe Lake, their videos teach us what we share as a community. Click here to learn about the project and watch their videos!
What happens when local news coverage disappears? Limestone Post asked journalist Steve Hinnefeld to look at the daily news landscape in Bloomington. He interviewed people at several local news outlets and filed this report. The landscape has changed recently in subtle and dramatic ways — some for the better, some not so much. Click here to read about who’s reporting B-town’s daily news.
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.
In this inaugural edition of The Limestone Reader Book Review, Yaël Ksander looks at Ian Woollen’s fifth novel, Sister City, which she calls a “wickedly whimsical satire” that connects fictional “sister cities” in Indiana and Mexico. Yaël says Woollen, who lives in Bloomington, writes in the tradition of John Irving and Kurt Vonnegut. Click here to read the inaugural Limestone Reader Book Review.
The pandemic has affected writers and literary arts organizations in unique ways in the past 19 months, says writer Hiromi Yoshida. Several writers and organization leaders told Yoshida how they continue to work through the changes — and take their writing and organizations in new directions. The results, she writes, are inspirational and uplifting. Click here to read their stories.