Sponsorship

Family 222 results
Private schools that get public money in Indiana can reject students for a number of discriminatory reasons, including their religion. Despite growing evidence that voucher students who switch from public to private schools fall behind academically, Indiana legislators increased the cost of the voucher program 40 percent in the 2023–2024 school year — to $439 million. | Photo by Pixabay

School Matters: 439 Million ‘Dollars to Discriminate’ with School Vouchers
Steve Hinnefeld
Despite growing evidence that voucher students fall behind academically when they switch from public to private schools, Indiana legislators have increased the cost of the state’s voucher program to $439 million. Education writer Steve Hinnefeld looks at the latest voucher report from the Indiana Department of Education, and asks, should Hoosier taxpayers pay for schools that discriminate? Read Hinnefeld’s column here.
Read More
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.
Read More

Sponsorship

Josie Leimbach (left) and Lynae Sowinski met in Bloomington and got married in 2017. Their journey to parenthood has been similar to that for heterosexual couples in many ways, but the journey has also been more difficult emotionally, physically, and financially. | Courtesy photo

Celebrating Diverse Families: Our Journey to Queer Parenthood
Lynae Sowinski and Josie Leimbach
Preparing to have a child is similar in many ways for queer couples as for heterosexual couples, write Lynae Sowinski and Josie Leimbach, who got married in Bloomington in 2017 and now live in Georgia. But in a variety of ways, their parenthood experience has been different — and emotionally, physically, and financially more difficult. Read about their journey to queer parenthood.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More

Sponsorship

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.
Read More
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.
Read More

Sponsorship

One out of ten Bloomington residents struggles with food insecurity. A patchwork system of food banks, community kitchens, food-assistance programs, and other initiatives helps people get healthful food, but experts say it doesn’t address the root of the problem: poverty. | Photo by Olivia Bianco

‘Patchwork’ of Aid for Food Insecurity Doesn’t Address Its Cause Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Food Insecurity, Part 2
Christina Avery and Haley Miller
One out of ten Bloomington residents struggles with food insecurity — having limited or uncertain access to food. A patchwork system of food banks, community kitchens, food-assistance programs, and other initiatives helps people get healthful food, but experts say it doesn’t address the root of the problem: poverty. Read part 2 of our Deep Dive into food insecurity.
Read More
Mark Stosberg (left) and Taufique Hussain on Maple Grove Road during a recent 21-mile run (which Stosberg says became a 26.7-mile run). | Limestone Post

Why I Found Myself Running 50 Miles Alone in the Wintertime
Mark Stosberg
One recent winter, Mark Stosberg set out on a 50-mile run. He wasn’t racing in or training for an event, so at some point he had to answer the question, Why keep going? To test his physical and mental limits? To satisfy a primal instinct? Or was it therapeutic in some way? Sit back and relax as Mark runs through these questions.
Read More
A new report by The State of Local News Project at Northwestern University shows that where you live and how much money you make affect whether you live in a news desert or a news oasis. | Photo by Gary Hershorn/via Getty Images

Wealthier, Urban Americans Have Access To More Local News Roughly half of US counties have only one outlet or less
Sarah Stonbely
A recent report by The State of Local News Project at Northwestern University documents the changing local news landscape across the country. Among other findings, it shows how many news outlets are operating in each county across the country. Southern Indiana, for example, has more counties classified as news deserts than news oases. Republished from The Conversation.
Read More
Beth Edwards was an award-winning environmental journalist for the Indiana Environmental Reporter, based in Bloomington. Limestone Post is republishing four of her most impactful reporting projects: on coal ash, confined animal feeding operations, Martinsville’s drinking water, and a coal-to-diesel plant that had been planned in southern Indiana. | Photos by Beth Edwards (top left and bottom right) and Matthew Kaplan (bottom left); illustration by Sophia Chryssovergis

The Work of Beth Edwards, Award-Winning Environmental Reporter
Beth Edwards
Beth Edwards was an award-winning environmental reporter who, along with Enrique Saenz, developed the Indiana Environmental Reporter at Indiana University into a source for environmental news that was respected statewide and nationally. Limestone Post looks at four of her reporting projects: on coal ash, confined animal feeding operations, Martinsville’s drinking water, and a controversial coal-to-diesel plant. Read Beth Edwards’s work here.
Read More

Sponsorship