Dancin’ in the Streets (and Much More) Lotus Festival 2015: The Street Scene

Miles Reiter

It may never change its name to Lotus World Music, Arts, Food, and Street Festival, but it could. While music from around the world fills the tents downtown during the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, musicians, dancers, artists, and other performers fill the streets outside the tents, especially Kirkwood Avenue and 6th Street. Videographer Miles Reiter caught much of the action and artistry on tape. Check out his video, “Lotus Festival 2015: The Street Scene,” here.

September 28, 2015

Members of Sitcom Theatre include (back row, l-r) Bethy Squires, Colin Jenkins, Chris Clements, Janelle Beasley, Courtney Foster, William McHenry, (middle row, l-r) Jenna Beasley, Kim Naeseth, Nicci B, (front row, l-r) Erin Tobey, and Michael Barton. | Photo by Natasha Komoda

Sitcom Theatre: Situational Comedy Local experimental theater troupe explores themes both alien and familiar in their genre-spanning productions.

McKee Woods, Natasha Komoda

McKee Woods and Natasha Komoda attend rehearsals of Trading Faces, the latest play from Sitcom Theatre, a local theater troupe that creates experimental plays “with a tight lens on the absurd and cleverly bizarre.” Co-founders Bethy Squires and William McHenry reveal how their creative inspirations (from ’50s sci-fi movies to Friends sitcom episodes to the local punk-rock scene) help to inform their themes — whether wacky, campy, straight, or queer. They will perform Trading Faces Friday, September 25, at The Back Door. Show at 8 p.m., doors open at 7. Click here to read the full story.

September 23, 2015

Three Minutes in Maple Heights

Trent Deckard

In this Limestone Post series, local videographer Trent Deckard takes us on three-minute tours of neighborhoods in Bloomington and surrounding communities. Deckard’s first visit is to Maple Heights, a discrete neighborhood on the north side of downtown Bloomington. After talking to some of the “genuinely sweet people who live there,” Deckard says he’d like to live there, too. “No — seriously,” he says, “I want to live there.” Click here to watch the video.

September 21, 2015

This photo of Norman, a 2-year-old male Bassett Hound, was posted on the Lost and Found Pets Facebook group wall after he went missing on Bloomington's west side in late August. | Courtesy photo

Neighborhoods Unite Over ‘Lost and Found Pets’

Zak Szymanski

Zak Szymanski is one of 2,000 sleepless members of a virtual community who snoop through Bloomington’s very real neighborhoods and sniff down random streets looking for tiny, terrified creatures — B-town’s lost pets. But beware: joining the group might change your behavior. Click here to read the full story.

September 4, 2015

This unprocessed fleece has been soaked and skirted (the dirty parts removed) but still contains organic debris and long, scraggly top hairs. It will be among the fleeces Whitney sends off to be milled for her spring CSA shares. | Photo by Lindsay Welsch Sveen

Farm to Yarn: The Wool Part 1 of a 3-Part Series on the Life of Local Fiber

Lindsay Welsch Sveen

Knitting and other fiber crafts have found a new generation of enthusiasts who care about the source of their yarn as much as about its color and pattern. In this first installment of a 3-part series, Lindsay Welsch traces yarn to one of its local sources, Marble Hill Farm. Click here to read the full story.

September 4, 2015

My ’70s Summer

Eryn Wisler

Local mom Eryn Wisler shows how her new approach to parenting — "less helicopter, more free range" — has led to more-responsible children. And more Jell-O. Click here to read the full story.