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Healthy Living 122 results
Each fall since 2016, Rachel Bahr’s English 11 class at Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship have completed a class project called “Sense of Place” and shared their work with Limestone Post. This year’s students created videos portraying a variety of unique places: a horse stable, a family homestead, a limestone mill, Dunn Meadow, Community Kitchen, Rose Hill Cemetery, the B-Line Trail, Jackson Creek Middle School, and Monroe Lake. Pictured is a screenshot of Woolery Mill from Ambrose Lee’s video.

What the ‘Sense of Place’ Project by ASE Students Can Teach Us
Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship English 11
Students in Rachel Bahr’s English 11 class at Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship share their annual “Sense of Place” project with Limestone Post! While their unique “places” are as varied as a horse stable, a limestone mill, Dunn Meadow, Community Kitchen, and Monroe Lake, their videos teach us what we share as a community. Click here to learn about the project and watch their videos!
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The pandemic has affected writers and literary arts organizations in unique ways in the past 19 months. Writer Hiromi Yoshida interviewed several writers and organization leaders to learn how they continue to work through the changes — and take their writing and organizations in new directions. The results are, she writes, inspirational and uplifting. | Illustration by Christian Bowden

Writers and Literary Groups Have Taken ‘New Directions’ During Pandemic
Hiromi Yoshida
The pandemic has affected writers and literary arts organizations in unique ways in the past 19 months, says writer Hiromi Yoshida. Several writers and organization leaders told Yoshida how they continue to work through the changes — and take their writing and organizations in new directions. The results, she writes, are inspirational and uplifting. Click here to read their stories.
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The Opioid Rapid Response System recruits citizen responders to help prevent overdose deaths when emergency medical services cannot respond quickly enough. A smartphone app notifies citizen responders when 911 calls report any unconscious or unresponsive event, including a drug overdose. The program is a collaboration between Real Prevention, LLC, and Prevention Insights, a part of the Indiana University School of Public Health. | Limestone Post

Indiana Counties Use Opioid Rapid Response System To Combat Overdoses
Rebecca Hill
The drug naloxone can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, potentially saving a person’s life. In collaboration with IU and other groups, Monroe and several other Indiana counties are creating a network of “citizen responders” who are trained in the Opioid Rapid Response System to administer naloxone when emergency medical services cannot respond quickly enough. Click here to read about ORRS and naloxone.
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It wasn’t until Sean Chung volunteered for a local environmental group that he realized how destructive invasive plants were to the integrity of local ecosystems. In Monroe County, the invasion is held at bay by individuals, neighborhood associations, nonprofit organizations, local government, and even the U.S. Forest Service. The Park Ridge East neighborhood, for example, took advantage of a city grant program to install a native plant garden (pictured) to provide a habitat for butterflies and other pollinators. | Limestone Post

Keeping Invasive Plants at Bay to Prevent ‘Ecological Collapse’
Sean Chung
Before volunteering for a local environmental group, Sean Chung was unaware of the problems invasive plants were causing here in Monroe County and “every single community in the U.S.” For this article, he interviewed people working to “contain the invasion” and prevent the kind of “ecological collapse” that invasives can cause. Click here to read the article.
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For more than two decades, the opioid epidemic has raged in small rural towns and in the suburbs. But what happens when the opioid epidemic collides with the COVID pandemic? Rebecca Hill interviewed people on the front lines of these crises to report about how people in Bloomington and other southern Indiana communities are working on the problem. | Map: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2021, cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm

What Happens When an Opioid Epidemic Collides with the COVID Pandemic?
Rebecca Hill
For more than two decades, the opioid epidemic has raged on in small rural towns and in the suburbs. But what happens when the opioid epidemic collides with the COVID pandemic? Rebecca Hill writes about these “waves” of crises in Bloomington and other southern Indiana communities, and how people are weathering it. Click here to read the story.
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Within a two-hour drive from Bloomington, you can take road trips to such diverse places as quintessential Hoosier small towns and atypical Hoosier landscapes (pictured above, the DePauw Nature Park). As writer Diane Walker says, these fun, unusual, and affordable destinations will nourish our mental and physical health with hiking, exploring, and exercising our curiosity — and help us to emerge from our ‘unprecedented isolation.’ | Limestone Post

Road Trips to Waterfalls, Small Towns, and Unusual Hoosier Locales
Diane Walker
All of us need a fun break, especially after 14 months of unprecedented isolation, and what’s a better getaway than a good road trip? Writer Diane Walker takes us to waterfalls, small towns, and several fun, affordable, and unusual sites on these “road trips of distinction” — all within a two-hour drive of Bloomington. Click here to join the ride!
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Research by Alex Jahn at Indiana University has focused on the rarely studied American robin. For Jahn, birds are sentinels because they can predict what is happening to our ecosystem. Jahn and other researchers around the world use technology such as satellite telemetry to understand how migration affects the lives of birds. With a reported 30 percent of bird species lost since the 1970s, writes Rebecca Hill, the information gathered is more important than ever. | Photo by Skyler Ewing

Keeping Track of Migrating Birds, the ‘Sentinels’ of Our Ecosystem
Rebecca Hill
In 1803, James Audubon tracked birds by tying thread around their legs. Researchers around the world now use technology such as satellite telemetry to understand how migration affects these “sentinels” of our ecosystem. With a reported 30 percent of bird species lost since the 1970s, writes Rebecca Hill, the information gathered is more important than ever. Click here to read the article.
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Hoosiers living in southern Indiana counties face significant health threats, including chronic disease, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Access to rural healthcare is another threat, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Writer Rebecca Hill looks at the problem of rural healthcare access and what various individuals and organizations are doing to help. | Illustration by Christian Bowden

Healthcare and the Impact of COVID-19 in So. Indiana Counties
Rebecca Hill, Christian Bowden
The most significant health threats faced by Hoosiers living in southern Indiana's rural counties are chronic disease, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Another threat is access to healthcare, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Writer Rebecca Hill looks at the problem of rural healthcare access and what various individuals and organizations are doing to help. Click here to read the article.
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Ruthie Cohen stirs the pot this month with paprika-rich Hungarian bean soup, courtesy of Valeria Varga, senior lecturer in IU’s Hungarian Studies program. Hungary is known for its paprika, and Valeria makes cooking demonstrations an essential part of her summer courses. | Photo by Ruthie Cohen

Stirring the Pot: Valeria Dreams of Paprika
Ruthie Cohen
Ruthie Cohen stirs the pot this month with paprika-rich Hungarian bean soup, courtesy of Valeria Varga, senior lecturer in IU’s Hungarian Studies program. Hungary is known for its paprika, and Valeria makes cooking demonstrations an essential part of her summer courses. “There is nothing like the aroma and the color of paprika,” Valeria says. Click here for the story and recipe!
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In the past 25 years, the housing supply in Bloomington has not kept pace with population growth, and housing prices have gone up while wages have remained flat. Housing expert Deborah Myerson says exclusionary housing policy creates issues related to housing affordability, accessibility, racial inequity, and climate change — as well as invisible neighbors in our community. The photos above depict examples of “missing middle housing,” courtesy of NeighborsUnited.info.

Invisible Neighbors: How To Include People Left Out of B-town’s Neighborhoods
Deborah Myerson
In the past 25 years, housing supply in Bloomington has not kept pace with population growth, and prices have gone up while wages have remained flat. Housing expert Deborah Myerson says exclusionary housing policy creates issues related to housing affordability, accessibility, racial inequity, and climate change — as well as invisible neighbors in our community. Click here to read Deborah’s article.
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Soup Bowl Benefit Oral History + What To Expect This Year
Duane Busick
Duane Busick’s oral history of the Soup Bowl Benefit, in words and video, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the event that has raised $1.5 million for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank since 1994. This year, the 27th Soup Bowl includes actual soup bowls and a livestream music show. Click here for Duane’s oral history and to learn about this year’s event.
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Overcoming Barriers to Mental Health Services in a Pandemic
Eszi Waters
Economic distress, loss, and isolation due to the pandemic have increased the need for mental health services in Monroe County. While local providers have reinvented how they offer such services, many people still confront barriers to accessing them. Eszi Waters spoke to people at several agencies to see how they have adapted. Click here to read the article.
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