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Science / Technology 66 results
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Gingko, bald cypress, sassafras, and paw-paw are just a few of the notable species of trees that give Indiana University’s Bloomington campus its “entrancing” appeal. Trees and green spaces have received “great care” ever since the current campus was established, writes Laurie D. Borman. The sprawling tree above, at the edge of Dunn Meadow, north of Indiana Memorial Union, is suspected of being the oldest tree on campus: a bur oak about 180 years old. | Photo by Jeremy Hogan

Trees Do More Than Add ‘Charm’ to IU Campus Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate
Laurie D. Borman, Jeremy Hogan
Ginkgo, bur oak, bald cypress, sassafras, and paw-paw are just a few of the notable trees that — in addition to their practical value — give Indiana University’s Bloomington campus its “entrancing” appeal. Since IU bought twenty acres from Moses Fell Dunn in 1883, writes Laurie D. Borman, great care has been given to IU’s beloved trees. Click here for an article and photo gallery on the trees of IU.
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In the 1960s and ’70s, a generation that was told not to trust anyone over 30 nevertheless adored Hoosier writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | Photo by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

Why Kurt Vonnegut’s Advice To College Graduates Still Matters Today
Susan Farrell
Kurt Vonnegut gave dozens of quirky commencement addresses in his lifetime. He made some preposterous claims, made people laugh, and made them think. They were speeches college graduates remembered, says Susan Farrell, an English professor and founding member of the international Kurt Vonnegut Society. Vonnegut’s advice, she says, still matters to graduates today. Click here to read why, and so on.
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A new queen emerges from a queen cell in a honey bee hive of writer and beekeeper Erin Hollinden. Honey bee populations in the U.S. have declined from 6 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. But more than 200,000 hobbyist beekeepers such as Erin are trying to keep them (and ultimately us) alive. | Photo by Marla Bitzer

Local Beekeepers Labor with Love as Honey Bees Decline Worldwide
Erin Hollinden
Honey bee populations in the U.S. have declined from 6 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. Pesticides, drought, and habitat destruction, are just a few reasons the bees are dying. But more than 200,000 hobbyist beekeepers, like writer Erin Hollinden, are trying to keep them (and ultimately us) alive. Click here to read Erin’s article.
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Bloomington and Monroe County have already received their first payments from the first opioid settlement, but none of it has been spent. Many health service providers wonder where the money will go. NaloxBoxes, like the one above at the IU Health Center, are among the uses approved by the state as part of the settlement documents. | Photo by Benedict Jones

How Will Opioid Settlement Monies Be Spent — and Who Decides? Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate
Rebecca Hill, Benedict Jones
Bloomington and Monroe County have already received their first payments from the first opioid settlement, and health providers wonder where the money will go. In this article for the series “Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate,” Rebecca Hill interviewed state and local officials to report on the issue and its possible solutions. Click here for the article.
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Kara Schmidt (above) teaches students in Throop Elementary School in Paoli. Her work is part of a partnership between Orange County schools and Thrive Orange County, a “coalition of community leaders and citizens committed to creating a safe, stable, nurturing community for all.” What started in 2019 with Schmidt teaching just one class for two days a week now has her teaching 40 classes, kindergarten through 6th grade, at schools in Paoli and Orleans. | Photo by Faith Gammon

Public Schools in Orange County Rely on Unique Health Partnerships
Keri Jean Miksza
While public schools in Indiana are facing key policy and budgetary challenges, the Orange County public school districts in southern Indiana are working to overcome the challenges children face, via unique initiatives and innovative health-care partnerships, writes Keri Jean Miksza, an advocate with the Indiana Coalition for Public Education–Monroe County. Click here to read Keri’s article.
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Creating gardens that are resilient to the vagaries of Indiana weather, says gardener and writer Jami Scholl, requires working with the forces of nature and the “limiting factors of sunlight, water, and soil.” | Photo by Jami Scholl

Resilient Gardens Bend to the Will of Mother Nature
Jami Scholl
How to create a garden that is resilient to the vagaries of Indiana weather? Jami Scholl, a writer and gardener who was active in the early stages of the urban agriculture movement in Bloomington, says we must work with the forces of nature and “the basic environmental limiting factors of sunlight, water, and soil.” Click here for Jami’s tips on creating a resilient garden.
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Above is the main control center for Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), in Carmel, Indiana. MISO is an independent, nonprofit organization that manages the generation and transmission of high-voltage electricity across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. Most of Indiana’s electric power comes from MISO. | Courtesy photo

Climate Solutions for Great Lakes Power Grid Include Better Planning, Transmission Advocates say electric grid operators need to update their planning process to better prepare for extreme weather that is becoming more common, and that more transmission lines can help lessen the risk of blackouts. 
Kathiann M. Kowalski
Advocates say electric grid operators in the Great Lakes region need to update their planning process to better prepare for extreme weather that is becoming more common, and that more transmission lines can help lessen the risk of blackouts. This report is part of a collaborative series from several publications examining climate resilience across the Great Lakes region. Click here to read the article.
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