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The Bloomington Fire Department sent five firefighters to Sierra Leone in February to share expertise and training methods with the Sierra Leone Fire Force. The trip was coordinated by BFD Chief Jason Moore and Sierra Leonean Eastina Taylor, who participated last summer in the IU Mandela Washington Fellowship. | Courtesy photo

Bloomington Firefighters Train with Sierra Leone Fire Force
Eastina Marian Boimadi Taylor
In February, the Bloomington Fire Department sent five firefighters to Sierra Leone to train with the Sierra Leone Fire Force. The trip was coordinated by BFD Chief Jason Moore and Sierra Leonean Eastina Taylor, who participated last summer in the IU Mandela Washington Fellowship. Taylor wrote about the experience for LP. Click here for the full story.
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Antoinette Leach was living in Sullivan County in 1893 when she became the first female lawyer in Indiana. While her law practice specializing in “Commercial Law and Collections” prospered, she was also active in politics, including local and national suffrage associations. This photo is of a suffrage parade in downtown Sullivan that Leach likely organized. | Photo courtesy of the Sullivan County Historical Society

Hoosier Lawyers, Voters Owe Debt to Antoinette Leach
Diane Walker
Since Antoinette Leach began her career as Indiana’s first female lawyer 126 years ago, “the power and presence of women lawyers have increased exponentially, mostly in the past 30 years,” writes Diane Walker, who adds that “both women lawyers and women voters — and, one could argue, all Americans — owe a debt to Antoinette Leach.” Click here to see why.
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A nonprofit called CDFI Friendly Bloomington offers financial support for underserved communities, including projects in the "creative sector." One possibility is to help fund public art in the Trades District, as shown in this rendering prepared for the City of Bloomington by Anderson + Bohlander, LLC. | Courtesy image

Guest Column: CDFI Friendly Bloomington Funds Overlooked Projects
Rachel Glago
Banking rules and regulations often prevent underserved communities from getting financing for needed programs. Without investments, projects to assist in affordable housing, develop small businesses, create community facilities, and support the arts go unrealized. Writer Rachel Glago explains how an innovative financial model, a nonprofit called CDFI Friendly Bloomington, expands opportunities for low-wealth communities. Click here to read more.
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Protesters affiliated with the Indiana Forest Alliance work to protect 300 acres of the Yellowwood State Forest Back Country Area in Brown County in 2017. Since 2012, the Indiana Division of Forestry has increased logging of state forests by 400 percent, says IFA's Anne Laker. | Photo courtesy of the Indiana Forest Alliance

Guest Column: Protecting Indiana Forests, the Bad News and the Good
Anne Laker
Since 2012, the Indiana Division of Forestry has increased logging of state forests by 400 percent, says Anne Laker of the Indiana Forest Alliance. In this guest column, Laker talks about the dangers facing our publicly owned forests and an Indiana Senate bill that could protect them. She also previews the upcoming Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Bloomington. Click here to read the full story
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“Bloomington is at a crossroads — culturally, civically, and economically,” says writer Sean Starowitz, assistant director of the arts for the City of Bloomington. Touching on all of these is our bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. While many people say they want a friendlier biking and walking town, “the car dominates its urban fabric and infrastructure,” which can be seen in this shared lane on North Walnut at the downtown Square. | Limestone Post

City Needs ‘Push’ From Public To Improve Bike Infrastructure
Sean Starowitz
“Bloomington is at a crossroads — culturally, civically, and economically,” says writer Sean Starowitz, assistant director of the arts for the City of Bloomington. Touching on all of these is our bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. While many people say they want a friendlier biking and walking town, “the car dominates its urban fabric and infrastructure.” Click here to read the full story.
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Courtesy photo

Big Mike’s B-town: Vauhxx Booker, ‘Fortune Favors the Bold’
Michael G. Glab
“Everything inside me — starting with my name, Vauhxx — spoke to me and said I had to speak up,” says Vauhxx Booker, spokesperson for Bloomington’s Black Lives Matter. He also spoke with writer Michael G. Glab about his family’s deep-rooted American history, his shy childhood, and his potential plans for public office in Bloomington. Click here to read the full story.
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Letting one political party define election districts has converted our representative government into a plutocracy, write Jim and Tomi Allison. The result of gerrymandering is legislators choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their legislators. Next week, several groups are convening in Bloomington to organize a rally later this month at the state capitol. | Public Domain

Statehouse Rally: ‘Let Voters Choose Their Legislators, Not the Other Way Around’
Tomi and Jim Allison
Letting one political party define election districts has converted our representative government into a plutocracy, write Jim and Tomi Allison. The result of gerrymandering is legislators choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their legislators. Next week, several groups are convening in Bloomington to organize a rally later this month at the state capitol. Click here to read the full story.
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In 2016, a survivor of sexual assault had a physical evidentiary exam, known as getting a rape kit, at IU Health Bloomington Hospital. While she says this process itself was consistently clear and well explained, the process of tracking the whereabouts of her kit afterward was less-so. A new law seeks to improve this process, with a system that allows survivors to track the status of their rape kits themselves, rather than having to go though detectives. | Photo by Nicole McPheeters

New Law Will Help Survivors of Sexual Assault Track Rape Kits
Hayley Miller, Nicole McPheeters
Rape kits contain evidence collected during hospital exams of the survivors of sexual assault. Nearly half of the more than 5,000 untested rape kits collected in Indiana are considered “backlog,” but a new Indiana law could make tracking easier — especially for survivors. Writer Haley Miller and photographer Nicole McPheeters take a look at the process. Click here to read the full story.
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The premise of our healthcare system without the Affordable Care Act: If you can’t afford healthcare, you don’t deserve it, writes Rob Stone, a local physician, healthcare activist, and one of the founders of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan. Stone and others are fighting to protect Hoosiers from this “medical caste system.” | Courtesy photo

Guest Column: ‘The Antidote to Healthcare Despair Is Activism’
Rob Stone
The premise of our healthcare system without the Affordable Care Act? If you can’t afford healthcare, you don’t deserve it, writes Rob Stone, a local physician, healthcare activist, and one of the founders of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan. Stone and others are fighting to protect Hoosiers from this “medical caste system.” Click here to read the full story.
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Friends of Lake Monroe says, "Our governments must balance the public’s need for clean water for drinking and recreation with the extraction of natural resources on private property." | Photo by Lynae Sowinski

Letter of Response: ‘The Public’s Need for Clean Water’
Friends of Lake Monroe
Advocacy group Friends of Lake Monroe wrote a letter to Limestone Post in response to the article “Property Rights, Public Good, Campaign Contributions” by Susan M. Brackney. In the letter, they argue that the article did not go far enough to address the public’s need for clean water, among other issues. Read the entire letter here.
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A bill passed by the Indiana House in February aimed to limit a local government’s authority, but not the state’s, over the right to harvest resources, such as timber, on personal property. The bill died in a Senate committee, but balancing personal property rights with the rights of others who might be affected is an ongoing battle. | Limestone Post

Property Rights, Public Good, Campaign Contributions: Will Bill to Limit Local Government Be Revived?
Susan M. Brackney
A bill introduced in the Indiana House this year would have limited local governments’ ability to regulate such things as logging on private property, even if, for example, the logging threatened to damage Lake Monroe. But it isn’t just about private property vs. public good, writes Susan M. Brackney. Special interest groups and campaign finance play a role, too. Click here to read the full story.
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With the Indiana primaries over, IU research associate and policy analyst Luke Wood looks at how the Trump era has affected Democratic politicians and voters in Indiana ahead of the 2018 midterm election in November. The election could have a large impact on the makeup of the Indiana Senate and House (the House chambers are pictured here). | Photo courtesy of the Indiana Statehouse

Indiana Democrats and the Politics of White Nativism
Luke Wood
Last year, IU research associate and policy analyst Luke Wood wrote an article in LP about a potential clash between Indiana’s moderate Republicans and the Trump administration. Now, with the Indiana primaries over, he looks at how the Trump era has affected Democratic politicians and voters in Indiana ahead of the 2018 midterm election. Click here to read the full story.
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