­

Sponsorship

Beyond Bloomington 169 results
Some visitors enjoy New Harmony, a “wonderfully preserved” town along the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana, for its unusual history. Others are attracted by a more spiritual connection. (center) Interdenominational Roofless Church, (clockwise from top left) Harmonist Labyrinth, cabin at Harmonie State Park, Working Men’s Institute, Yellow Tavern, A.C. Thomas House (courtesy photo), and Atheneum Visitor Center. | Photos by Laurie D. Borman

Travel with Laurie: Historical and Spiritual New Harmony, ‘a Thin Space’
Laurie D. Borman
In Laurie D. Borman’s second travel piece for Limestone Post, she takes us to New Harmony, a town along the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana. Some visitors enjoy the “wonderfully preserved” town and its unusual history. Others are attracted by a more spiritual connection. As one shop owner puts it, “This is a town you feel.” Click here to travel with Laurie to New Harmony.
Read More
[Photo Gallery: 20 photos]: Legislation recently introduced by Sen. Mike Braun would double the size of the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area by Lake Monroe and convert another 29,000 acres of Hoosier National Forest into the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area. This photo was taken from the Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower, which stands 133 steps above the Deam’s Terrill Ridge, a thousand feet above sea level. Built in 1939 to identify forest fires, the tower is a popular destination due to its magnificent 360-degree view of the Southern Indiana forest. | All photography in the gallery above by Steven Higgs

On Saving the Deam Wilderness and Hoosier National Forest | Photo Essay Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate the Hoosier National Forest
Steven Higgs
“In wildness is the preservation of the world,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden in 1854. Now, in this photo essay, journalist and photographer Steven Higgs considers Thoreau’s declaration vis à vis the Deam Wilderness Area in the Hoosier National Forest, especially in light of proposed legislation that would double the Deam’s size. Click here for a Deep Dive into “the Hoosier.”
Read More
Radical Jewelry Makeover Bloomington kicked off in September with “the Sorting,” when metalsmiths and jewelry designers sorted and categorized donated jewelry. Forty categories emerged, including gold, silver, copper, brass, natural stones, plastic beads, flora and fauna, and rhinestones. | Courtesy photo

IU Professors Host Ethical Metalsmiths and Radical Jewelry Makeover
Hiromi Yoshida
IU professors of metalsmithing and jewelry design are collaborating with the nonprofit Ethical Metalsmiths to inspire students to create jewelry from ethically source materials, reconsider consumer habits, and promote stories behind donated jewelry. Metalsmithing and jewelry-design students from several Midwest universities will showcase their work in an exhibition called Radical Jewelry Makeover Bloomington in January. Click here for the story by Hiromi Yoshida.
Read More
Over thousands of years and across diverse landscapes, Indigenous peoples developed traditional ecological knowledge about the bison and their ecosystems, writes Indigenous scholar Rosalyn R. LaPier. Meanwhile, they also developed religious customs and sacred places important to their relationship with bison. | Limestone Post

Bison Are Sacred to Native Americans — But Each Tribe Has Its Own Special Relationship to Them
Rosalyn R. LaPier
Over thousands of years and across diverse landscapes, Indigenous peoples developed traditional ecological knowledge about the bison and their ecosystems, writes Indigenous scholar Rosalyn R. LaPier, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. Meanwhile, tribes also developed religious customs and sacred places important to their relationship with bison. Click here for this article from The Conversation.
Read More
Legislation recently introduced by Sen. Mike Braun would double the size of Indiana’s official wilderness area, making places like Nebo Ridge (above), Browning Mountain, Bad Hollow, and Panther Creek off-limits to logging, among other restrictions. The bill would also create the Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area, Indiana’s only NRA. | Photo by Steven Higgs

New Legislation Would Double Size of Deam Wilderness Bill would also establish a new national recreation area by Lake Monroe
Steven Higgs
Legislation recently introduced by Sen. Mike Braun would add 15,300 acres to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area’s 12,953 acres, making places like Nebo Ridge, Browning Mountain, Bad Hollow, and Panther Creek off-limits to logging. The bill would also create the 29,000-acre Benjamin Harrison National Recreation Area, Indiana’s only national recreation area. Click here for details about the bill.
Read More
Parents, educators, and advocates say the Indiana General Assembly passed harmful and unnecessary laws that are taking effect this school year. They say public schools, including those in the Monroe County Community School Corp., face a “slate of hate” — laws that underfund mandates, intimidate vulnerable students, and even create a “chilling effect” on librarians. Above, students are greeted on the first day of school at Fairview Elementary School by members of the city of Bloomington’s Commission on the Status of Black Males. | Photo by Garrett Ann Walters

Local Parents, Educators Face ‘Attack’ on Public Schools from Indiana Lawmakers
Steve Hinnefeld, Garrett Ann Walters
Parents, educators, and advocates say the Indiana General Assembly passed harmful and unnecessary laws that are taking effect this school year. Laws that prioritize private over public schools, underfund mandates, intimidate vulnerable students, and even create a “chilling effect” on librarians, they say, amount to a “slate of hate.” | Click here for an education deep dive by Steve Hinnefeld.
Read More
During legislative sessions at the Indiana Statehouse (above), any member of the Indiana House of Representatives or Indiana Senate can sponsor a bill. While a bill in either chamber must pass through a series of gatekeepers before becoming law, conflicts of interest among the lawmakers are usually not considered. | Limestone Post

Conflicts of Interest Continued During Indiana’s 2023 Legislative Session
Enrique Sáenz
This is the second article in a two-part series on lax ethics rules in the Indiana State Legislature. Both articles come from a joint investigation between the Indiana Environmental Reporter and the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism that shows how some Indiana lawmakers stood to benefit financially from environmental legislation they introduced or supported. Click here for the article.
Read More
The primary reason Salt Creek was dammed in the 1960s was to control floodwaters downstream. While the Monroe Lake Control Tower (above) regulates water flow from the reservoir through the dam, the rest of Lake Monroe has become a valuable resource for drinking water, recreation, industry, wild habitat, and other uses well beyond its watershed. | Photo by Anna Powell Denton

How Healthy Is Lake Monroe — and How Long Will It Survive? Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate
Michael G. Glab, Anna Powell Denton
“Lake Monroe is a reservoir, and all reservoirs eventually fill up,” says Michelle Cohen, executive director of Lake Monroe Water Fund. But, she adds, those who rely on the lake for drinking water, recreation, and other uses have the power to extend its life as long as possible. Writer Michael G. Glab takes a deep dive into the health of Lake Monroe. Click here for his report for Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate.
Read More
Members of the Indiana House of Representatives and Indiana Senate meet during legislative sessions to pass laws at the Indiana Statehouse (above). Many of those lawmakers have economic interests in the industries that stand to benefit from the laws those lawmakers author and vote on. | Limestone Post

Lax Ethics Rules Could Create Conflicts of Interest for Indiana Lawmakers
Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism The Indiana Environmental Reporter
The Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism and the Indiana Environmental Reporter reviewed statements of economic interest filed in 2022 by Indiana’s state lawmakers. They found more than 100 bills enacted from 2019 to 2022 that benefit industries the authors have ties to, creating at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. Click here to read their findings.
Read More
A nurse dispenses liquid Methadose, an FDA-approved medication that helps people addicted to opioids. Myths about will power and moral weakness keep people with opioid use disorder from receiving effective medications like methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. | Photo by Whitney Hayward/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

Myths Persist about People with Opioid Use Disorder
Melissa Cyders and Melissa S. Fry
Myths about will power and moral weakness keep people with opioid use disorder from receiving effective medications, say Melissa S. Fry and Melissa Cyders, IU professors who study opioid use disorder and the attitudes that surround it. First published in The Conversation, their article dispels myths that make people hesitant to support science-based treatments. Click here to read their article.
Read More
The U.S. electrical grid is a complicated network of wires that traverse the continent and connect with regional private operators who then transmit and distribute power. Some call it “a patchwork of operators with competing interests,” writes Rebecca Hill. Indiana’s electricity comes primarily from coal, natural gas, and a growing renewables market, but the transition to renewables is not without problems. | Photo by Benedict Jones

The Power Struggle in Indiana’s Changing Energy Landscape Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate
Rebecca Hill, Benedict Jones
Indiana’s electricity comes primarily from coal, natural gas, and a growing renewables market. The transition to renewables, though, is not without problems, and the grid operators, regulators, and Indiana legislators are at odds with how to handle it. Rebecca Hill takes an in-depth look at Indiana’s power structure, as part of Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate. Click here to read about the transition of Indiana's energy landscape.
Read More

Sponsorship