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Beyond Bloomington 163 results
Activists gathered at the Monroe County Courthouse in 2022 for the “Take to the Streets — Defend Roe!” rally and march. Later that year, the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protection of abortion rights across the country. Indiana then became the first state to pass an anti-abortion law, which, according to advocates for women’s health, has created confusion among doctors and endangered the lives of pregnant women. | Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian

Advocates for Women’s Healthcare Have Plans for Stricter Bans Groups provide abortion access despite further restrictions
Rebecca Hill
Poorly written anti-abortion laws in Indiana and other states have forced pregnant women to leave home for life-saving healthcare. Many women rely on networks of groups to help with travel to medical clinics and access to safe medication. Some of those groups have taken cues from the underground networks of the early 1970s. Read the in-depth report here.
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Bloomington high school student Hazel Hammerstein founded the nonprofit Indiana Prevention Project. Above, Hazel and her sister’s mural for the Montana Meth Project, which inspired Hazel to start a similar project in Indiana when she and her family moved back to Bloomington. | Courtesy photo

‘Paint the State’ Anti-drug Mural Contest Started by Local Student Registration ends August 30
Hiromi Yoshida
Bloomington high school student Hazel Hammerstein founded the nonprofit Indiana Prevention Project to spread the message about the dangers of drug use. She and numerous supporters are running the Paint the State mural contest. Registration ends on August 30. Read about Hazel’s project, as well as the contest rules and timeline in this article by Hiromi Yoshida.
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Megan Snook had a fast-paced life of traveling the world as a photojournalist. Becoming a mother changed that. And tintype photography has helped her “to appreciate the things which are most precious in this life.” Above, Snook’s tintypes of James Seaver (left) and Stephanie Duckworth. See gallery below.

Tintype Photography Transformed a Photojournalist’s Way of Life
Megan Snook
Life as a world-traveling documentary photographer was fast-paced for Megan Snook. But, as she writes in this photo essay, becoming a mother “drastically changed my way of life.” Tintype photography helped with the transformation, and now she is “better able to appreciate the things which are most precious in this life.” Read Megan’s story and see her tintype photography.
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Three generations of tractor enthusiasts ride in the parade at the Monroe County Antique Machinery Association Show in May. Eleanor, 3, sits with her father, Zach Clark, on the Allis-Chalmers while her grandfather Joel Clark follows on the John Deere. | Photos by Limestone Post

Antique Machinery Club Keeps Tractors — and History — Alive
Dason Anderson
In May, the Monroe County Antique Machinery Association held its spring antique machinery and tractor show. The turnout was “impressive,” writes Dason Anderson, as more than 100 tractors and other machines were on display. Association President Tim Deckard says the two-year-old club helps give the public a deeper understanding of our local history and culture. Read the story and see the machines.
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Looking at the 1803 Supreme Court decision of “Marbury v. Madison” may help Americans grow more sympathetic to notions of judicial reform, writes Jim Allison. Given the unpopularity of recent Supreme Court rulings and questionable behavior by some of its justices, the time seems ripe. | Photo by Attie Heunis

Whereas, Chief Justice John Marshall Declares the Supreme Court Supreme
Jim Allison
A closer look at Marbury v. Madison — the Supreme Court decision that placed the judicial branch of government above Congress — may make Americans more open to judicial reform, writes Jim Allison. Given the unpopularity of recent court rulings and questionable behavior by some of its justices, the time seems ripe for a check on the court. Read the review.
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Journalist Steven Higgs “trained” at Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve for a photographic expedition to the Colombian Amazon. Shown here on an Uplands Group Sierra Club hike he led are Amy Henn (front), Mary Carol Reardon (white hat), Will Cowan, and others. | Photography by Steven Higgs

A Half-century Trail from Beanblossom Bottoms to the Colombian Amazon
Steven Higgs
Bloomington environmental photographer and writer Steven Higgs has spent his career covering nature. Soon, though, he will connect two dots in a “half-century trail” when he photographs the Colombian Amazon. This spring, he made several trips to our own protected wilderness, Beanblossom Bottoms, to hone his photographic skills for the Amazonian expedition. Connect the dots here.
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Rick Clayton is a hospice chaplain and the executive director of Harmony Palliative Arts Collective, a nonprofit end-of-life facility planned to open this summer in Brown County, Indiana. | Photo by Alayna Wilkening

Dying Well: Chaplain Offers ‘Perfect Place’ to Have a ‘Good Death’
Haley Miller
Many Hoosiers can’t access comfort care, and so they are less likely to experience a “good death,” writes Haley Miller. As defined, a good death avoids unnecessary suffering, maintains a family presence, manages pain, and upholds the patient’s dignity. A hospice chaplain in Brown County wants to create a place for more good deaths. Read about dying well.
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Otis, a 25-foot-tall sasquatch at Patoka Lake, has become a tourist sensation in Orange County, drawing tourists from across the state and beyond. He was completed in April 2023 by the Bear Hollow carving team (pictured above, with the big guy). | Photo provided

‘Otis,’ the Orange County Sasquatch Sensation The giant carved beast has even landed on the cover of Indiana’s official tourism magazine
Carol Johnson
A 25-foot-tall sasquatch at Patoka Lake has become a sensation, drawing tourists from across the state and beyond. The shaggy beast — named Otis and made from poplar, white pine, and other materials by the Bear Hollow carving team — adds another attraction to Orange County’s tourism, which is “a major driver” in its economy. By Carol Johnson of the Southern Indiana Business Report.
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The wide-ranging issues about protecting Indiana’s wetlands present a conflict between people who advocate for the critical functions wetlands provide and those who say wetland regulations drive up construction prices and hamper growth. Above, a swamp in Beanblossom Bottoms in Monroe County. | Photo by Anne Kibbler

What’s at Stake in the Debate Over Indiana’s Wetlands? Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Wetland Preservation
Anne Kibbler
Laws protecting Indiana wetlands have been rolled back in recent years. Some people argue that wetlands must be preserved because of the critical functions they provide. Others say wetland regulations drive up construction prices and hamper growth. This Deep Dive by Anne Kibbler looks at the myriad questions and wide-ranging issues in the debate over Indiana’s wetlands. Read it here.
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The mobile integrated health program in Monroe County, which works with local health organizations to provide one-on-one care to patients, is part of a nationwide trend to help fill gaps in the healthcare system. Above, community EMTs work in the Bloomington Fire Department’s MIH program (l-r): Trisha Rademachir, Lily Blackwell, Shelby VanDerMoere (program manager), and Amber Stewart. Not pictured is newest MIH Daniel Stidd. | Photo provided by Shelby VanDerMoere

Mobile Integrated Health Helps Fill Gaps in Local Healthcare System
Rebecca Hill
The mobile integrated health program in Monroe County works with local health organizations to provide one-on-one care to patients, emphasizing a non-emergency approach and increasing efforts to meet people where they live and work. Writer Rebecca Hill takes an in-depth look at MIH programs across the state that are part of a nationwide trend to help fill gaps in the healthcare system. Read about MIH in Indiana.
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The co-founders of new theater company Eclipse Productions want to provide additional opportunities for local actors. Their second production, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” opens May 9 at Ted Jones Playhouse in Bloomington.

‘Laugh, Cry, Sweat’ with New Theater Company Eclipse Productions And keep up to date with other area theater
Hiromi Yoshida
A new theater company, Eclipse Productions, is taking Bloomington theater in a new direction, writes Hiromi Yoshida. Co-founders Konnor Graber, Kate Weber, and Jeremy J Weber want “to take chances and to push the boundaries of the craft.” Their second production opens May 9 at Ted Jones Playhouse. Plus, keep up with other theater companies in our area.
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“Tactility,” a triptych by Rejon Taylor. Among the work of more than two dozen artists featured in the Regional Artist Exhibit at Juniper Art Gallery in Bloomington are two other paintings by Rejon Taylor, an inmate on death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. Laura Lasuertmer, Taylor’s “Minister of Record,” writes about Taylor’s artwork and how it relates to the “depravity of his current environment.”

Juniper Gallery To Show Art of Death Row Inmate Rejon Taylor Special to Limestone Post
Laura Lasuertmer
Laura Lasuertmer is the “Minister of Record” for death row inmate Rejon Taylor, who’s among more than 25 artists featured in the Regional Artist Exhibit at Juniper Art Gallery this spring. Some of Taylor’s artwork, LaSuertmer writes, captures both “what he remembers of the natural world … and the depravity of his current environment.” See and read about Rejon Taylor’s art.
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