Goal of BPD and Social Support Team Is ‘To Help People’ Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Police Social Support Services Team

Haley Miller

The Police Social Support Services Team at the Bloomington Police Department has helped thousands of people since 2019. Critics say police and social workers have differing views of justice — criminal versus social — but the team’s licensed mental health professionals say they offer support that uniformed police officers aren’t trained to provide. Click here to read a Deep Dive on social support services.

November 26, 2024

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.

April 12, 2023

Sponsorship

The new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was created to address the increase in mental health crises. The rise in suicide rates and the pandemic’s impact on mental health have shown more is needed than a crisis hotline, so mental health advocates have designed 988 to be a continuum of mental health care. | Illustration by Christian Bowden

988 Mental Health Lifeline to Include System of Care

Rebecca Hill, Christian Bowden

The increase in mental health issues has led to the creation of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. As Rebecca Hill reports, the rise in suicides, serious mental illnesses, and mental health crises has shown more is needed than just a phone number. That’s why advocates designed 988 to be a continuum of care. Click here to read about 988.

July 15, 2022

Researchers have examined the effectiveness of preparation versus security when addressing mass shootings. For this in-depth article, Rebecca Hill interviewed several local and national experts and compiled data on using a public health approach. | Photo by NEOSiAM 2021 from Pexels

Preparation vs. Security in Preventing Mass Shootings

Rebecca Hill

As a nation, mass shootings are “part of our social fabric,” writes Rebecca Hill. She interviewed several local and national experts on how to better address mass shootings, especially in schools and businesses. Her in-depth report looks at research on mass shootings through a public health approach — and the effectiveness of preparation versus security. Click here to read the article.

December 7, 2021

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.

July 27, 2021

Sponsorship

On two consecutive days in downtown Bloomington, protestors expressed outrage at the racial aggression, profiling, and anti-Black violence that residents have faced — recently, historically, and continually — in the community. Each protest was attended by hundreds of supporters, culminating in a march through the streets. | Photo by Limestone Post

Peaceful Protesters Outraged at Racist Attacks and Anti-Black Violence

Limestone Post

On two consecutive days in downtown Bloomington, protestors expressed outrage at the racial aggression, profiling, and anti-Black violence that residents have faced — recently, historically, and continually — in the community. Each protest was attended by hundreds of supporters, culminating in a march through the streets. Click here to learn more.

July 9, 2020

Discussions about the controversy at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market have dismissed the voices of Bloomington’s people of color, says historian Ellen Wu. “This is a major omission, considering that African American, Latinx, and Asian American women have made integral interventions into the debate.” Wu interviewed eight of these women to hear what they say is at stake and what solutions can ensure the safety and well-being of everyone at the market.

Bloomington 2019: ‘The Year of the Farmers’ Market Controversy’

Ellen Wu

Media coverage and discussions about the Bloomington Farmers’ Market have dismissed the voices of Bloomington’s people of color, says historian Ellen Wu. “This is a major omission, considering that African American, Latinx, and Asian American women have made integral interventions into the debate.” For this article, Wu interviewed eight women of color to get their perspectives on the controversy. Click here to read the article.