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Healthy Living 178 results
A study conducted in part by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy surveyed teens about the most common sources of distress in their lives. IU Storyteller Nikki Livingston explores both the key findings from the survey and how teens can combat distress and burnout.

American Teens Feel Pressure in 6 Areas of Life How can they address burnout and ‘grind culture’?
Nikki Livingston
What are the most common sources of distress among teens? A study conducted in part by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy surveyed teens about specific pressures they face. IU Storyteller Nikki Livingston explores key findings from the survey and how teens can combat distress, burnout, and “grind culture.” Find out how to address the distress.
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Indiana’s poorly written abortion ban has led to dangerous consequences for pregnant Hoosier women. Despite most people wanting more access to abortion, Indiana legislators have prevented doctors from taking proper care of their patients. (above) In September 2022, community members gathered at the Monroe County Courthouse for a protest vigil a few hours before Indiana’s near total abortion ban went into effect. | Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian

The Harmful Consequences of Indiana’s Badly Written Abortion Ban
Rebecca Hill
Indiana legislators have not clarified critical language in the state’s abortion ban, which has led to serious negative consequences for women’s healthcare, including endangering the lives of pregnant women. In part 2 of Rebecca Hill’s in-depth look at Indiana’s abortion ban, she writes about the problems that the majority of Hoosier lawmakers choose to ignore. Click here for the article.
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Activists gathered at the Monroe County Courthouse in 2022 for the “Take to the Streets — Defend Roe!” rally and march. Later that year, the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protection of abortion rights across the country. Indiana then became the first state to pass an anti-abortion law, which, according to advocates for women’s health, has created confusion among doctors and endangered the lives of pregnant women. | Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian

Advocates for Women’s Healthcare Have Plans for Stricter Bans Groups provide abortion access despite further restrictions
Rebecca Hill
Poorly written anti-abortion laws in Indiana and other states have forced pregnant women to leave home for life-saving healthcare. Many women rely on networks of groups to help with travel to medical clinics and access to safe medication. Some of those groups have taken cues from the underground networks of the early 1970s. Read the in-depth report here.
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Bloomington high school student Hazel Hammerstein founded the nonprofit Indiana Prevention Project. Above, Hazel and her sister’s mural for the Montana Meth Project, which inspired Hazel to start a similar project in Indiana when she and her family moved back to Bloomington. | Courtesy photo

‘Paint the State’ Anti-drug Mural Contest Started by Local Student Registration ends August 30
Hiromi Yoshida
Bloomington high school student Hazel Hammerstein founded the nonprofit Indiana Prevention Project to spread the message about the dangers of drug use. She and numerous supporters are running the Paint the State mural contest. Registration ends on August 30. Read about Hazel’s project, as well as the contest rules and timeline in this article by Hiromi Yoshida.
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Megan Snook had a fast-paced life of traveling the world as a photojournalist. Becoming a mother changed that. And tintype photography has helped her “to appreciate the things which are most precious in this life.” Above, Snook’s tintypes of James Seaver (left) and Stephanie Duckworth. See gallery below.

Tintype Photography Transformed a Photojournalist’s Way of Life
Megan Snook
Life as a world-traveling documentary photographer was fast-paced for Megan Snook. But, as she writes in this photo essay, becoming a mother “drastically changed my way of life.” Tintype photography helped with the transformation, and now she is “better able to appreciate the things which are most precious in this life.” Read Megan’s story and see her tintype photography.
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Monroe Lake is “the source of our drinking water, a destination for many outdoor activities, and home to a wide variety of critters and flora,” writes Michael G. Glab. This year marks the 60th anniversary of its dedication, and many events are planned to commemorate it. Above, swimmers enjoy the beach at Fairfax State Recreation Area. | Limestone Post

Celebrating Monroe Lake’s 60th Anniversary Series of events and programs planned for lead-up to October reception
Michael G. Glab
We couldn’t imagine living without Monroe Lake, writes Michael G. Glab. The reservoir is “the source of our drinking water, a destination for many outdoor activities, and home to a wide variety of critters and flora.” This year marks the 60th anniversary of its dedication, with many events planned to commemorate it. Read Glab’s article, featuring Interpretive Naturalist Jill Vance.
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Refugees who resettle in Bloomington rely on a patchwork of social service agencies to overcome a tight housing market, transportation limitations, and language barriers — all while navigating the immigration process and trying to make Bloomington their new home. | Photo by Paul Cooper, CC BY-NC 2.0

Resilience Amid Hardship: Refugees Find Challenges, Opportunities in Bloomington Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Refugee Services
Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism
Refugees rely on a patchwork of social service agencies to resettle in Bloomington, but a tight housing market, transportation limitations, and language barriers create hurdles as they settle into their new homes. Three reporters from the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism prepared this report for our series Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate. Read the report here.
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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.
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Journalist Steven Higgs “trained” at Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve for a photographic expedition to the Colombian Amazon. Shown here on an Uplands Group Sierra Club hike he led are Amy Henn (front), Mary Carol Reardon (white hat), Will Cowan, and others. | Photography by Steven Higgs

A Half-century Trail from Beanblossom Bottoms to the Colombian Amazon
Steven Higgs
Bloomington environmental photographer and writer Steven Higgs has spent his career covering nature. Soon, though, he will connect two dots in a “half-century trail” when he photographs the Colombian Amazon. This spring, he made several trips to our own protected wilderness, Beanblossom Bottoms, to hone his photographic skills for the Amazonian expedition. Connect the dots here.
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The wide-ranging issues about protecting Indiana’s wetlands present a conflict between people who advocate for the critical functions wetlands provide and those who say wetland regulations drive up construction prices and hamper growth. Above, a swamp in Beanblossom Bottoms in Monroe County. | Photo by Anne Kibbler

What’s at Stake in the Debate Over Indiana’s Wetlands? Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Wetland Preservation
Anne Kibbler
Laws protecting Indiana wetlands have been rolled back in recent years. Some people argue that wetlands must be preserved because of the critical functions they provide. Others say wetland regulations drive up construction prices and hamper growth. This Deep Dive by Anne Kibbler looks at the myriad questions and wide-ranging issues in the debate over Indiana’s wetlands. Read it here.
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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.
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“Tactility,” a triptych by Rejon Taylor. Among the work of more than two dozen artists featured in the Regional Artist Exhibit at Juniper Art Gallery in Bloomington are two other paintings by Rejon Taylor, an inmate on death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. Laura Lasuertmer, Taylor’s “Minister of Record,” writes about Taylor’s artwork and how it relates to the “depravity of his current environment.”

Juniper Gallery To Show Art of Death Row Inmate Rejon Taylor Special to Limestone Post
Laura Lasuertmer
Laura Lasuertmer is the “Minister of Record” for death row inmate Rejon Taylor, who’s among more than 25 artists featured in the Regional Artist Exhibit at Juniper Art Gallery this spring. Some of Taylor’s artwork, LaSuertmer writes, captures both “what he remembers of the natural world … and the depravity of his current environment.” See and read about Rejon Taylor’s art.
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