The 2022 midterm election season is prime time for misinformation and disinformation on social media. Three social media experts, including Scott Shackelford, professor of Business Law and Ethics at Indiana University, evaluate Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube on their ability to handle the problem. This article first appeared in The Conversation and is republished with permission. Click here to see who got a failing grade.
Since May, the U.S. has gone from zero to more than 15,000 cases of monkeypox, a viral disease that has been declared a public health emergency by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While vaccines exist, writes Rebecca Hill, supplies are limited, as local health officials prepare for the virus. Click here to read about what’s being done.
“Bloomington has been easing back into its live music groove, with concerts and festivals repopulating our community’s calendars,” writes Christine Brackenhoff, the music director and assistant program director at WFHB Community Radio. To find out how the groove has pivoted after the worst of the pandemic, she spoke with several members of the music community. Click here to read Christine’s article.
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.
With tourism picking up again, many local leaders want to pursue the pre-pandemic plans to expand Monroe Convention Center. But some key decision makers are not convinced, writes Steve Hinnefeld. They question if this is the right time to expand, and whether convention-business revenue will have the desired kind of economic impact. Click here to read Hinnefeld’s in-depth story.
Cardinal Stage presents its first production of the year, The Mountaintop, by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall. The play is a gripping “reimagination of events” on the night before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Hiromi Yoshida writes about two of the actors, Michael Aaron Pogue and AshLee “PsyWrn Simone” Baskin, and Scenic Designer Seth Howard. Click here to read Hiromi’s article and watch a trailer of the play.
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.
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.
How does pop culture help us express what it is to be human? Jennifer Piurek will explore this and other themes in her Limestone Post column, “Love to See It” — her take on why trends, words, and various art forms help us “both navigate the world and care about life experiences different from our own.” Click here to read Jennifer’s first column!
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.
As we look forward to 2021, it might serve us well to remember how our community responded with remarkable resilience and resolve to the challenges we faced — and continue to face — in this exceptionally challenging year. Limestone Post’s talented and dependable contributors kept us informed on many of the important topics of the time. Click here to read about LP’s Top Stories of 2020.
Water volume in the Ohio River is expected to increase by 30 percent over the next 50 years. But a 600-acre park being developed in southern Indiana will turn the inevitable flooding into an attraction, making it “the first climate-resilient park in the Midwest.” Click here to read the story by Beth Edwards of the Indiana Environmental Reporter.
