LIVE UPDATES: Scenes from day two of Gaza encampment, protests on campus
For more recent coverage of the encampment, check out LIVE UPDATES: Scenes from day 9 of Gaza encampment, campus protests
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For more recent coverage of the encampment, check out LIVE UPDATES: Scenes from day 9 of Gaza encampment, campus protests
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Bloomington until 5 p.m. Thursday. The affected area spreads from northeastern Monroe County to Fishers and includes the segment of I-69 connecting Bloomington and Indianapolis. The NWS forecasts a chance of thunderstorms in Monroe County until 6 p.m. and predicts wind gusts could reach between 20-30 mph. In counties under the warning, streams are rising faster than drainage systems can keep up with rapidly. The NWS reports drainage infrastructure could be backed up for several hours in urban areas. The NWS warns that drivers should not travel on flooded roadways. Bloomington accumulated more than 1.67 inches of rain between 8 a.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday, according to an NWS post on X. Monroe County residents can monitor the forecast through local weather channels and NWS live trackers.
The CVS located at 510 South College Mall Rd. will close permanently at 2:00 p.m., May 8.
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld an injunction against part of the state’s abortion law, ruling that the near-total prohibition may violate residents’ religious freedom. According to The Legal Information Institute, a preliminary injunction is a court order that stops someone from acting in a certain way until the lawsuit is settled. In this case, the injunction could prevent the state from enforcing its abortion law in specific circumstances. The appellate court directed that the injunction should clarify that it only applies to those with religious beliefs related to abortion. When Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, Indiana banned abortions with few exemptions. It was the first state in the nation to enact tighter abortion restrictions following the Supreme Court’s reversal of the landmark 1973 case. A group of five anonymous people and Hoosier Jews for Choice challenged the new policy with a September 2022 lawsuit, arguing that several religions permit followers to terminate pregnancy under circumstances that would be illegal under state law. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. In Thursday’s appellate court opinion, a three-judge panel ruled that the current abortion policy conflicts with a state law that prevents government from interfering with Hoosiers’ religious practices. The lawsuit may be revisited in the Indiana Supreme Court.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch until 10 p.m. on Tuesday for Monroe County and parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. A tornado watch means that weather conditions are appropriate for a tornado to form, but no tornado has been observed. If a tornado does form, the alert will be upgraded to a tornado warning. In the event of a tornado warning, residents should immediately seek shelter in the lowest floor of a sturdy building away from windows. The NWS forecasts that wind gusts of up to 75 mph and hail up to two inches in diameter are possible. Bloomington is also under a flood watch until 8 p.m.
Monroe County and IU are offering a free text message alert system for public safety incidents related to the April 8 total solar eclipse.
About 30 community members gathered Monday night to discuss Integrated Reentry and Correctional Support, an Indiana-based peer support program that may soon be implemented in the Monroe County Jail. Commissioner Penny Githens led the meeting alongside Jayme Whitaker, executive director of IRACS and vice president of Indiana Forensic Services. IFS is itself a division of Mental Health America of Indiana. In jails participating in IRACS, inmate participants work with an in-house team who helps with re-entry resource navigation, recovery planning and accountability. Support includes both one-on-one and group meetings. Inmate participation is voluntary. Unlike psychiatrists or social workers, members of IRACS teams are not clinicians. Instead, they are certified peer professionals — people in substance use recovery who have received training to work with others dealing with similar issues. In 2022, IRACS launched its first initiatives in Blackford, Daviess, Dearborn, Delaware and Scott County jails. Whitaker said that data from those sites demonstrated a 75% success rate, which he defined as continued engagement with services. The sheriff’s office and commissioners have been in talks with Whitaker since last year. Monday’s meeting aimed to assess whether community members supported the program. Since its inception, IRACS expanded to Fayette and Clark counties in July and currently has room to include two more. Monroe is now one of several dozen counties vying for a slot. Whitaker estimated that implementation in Monroe County would cost around $425,000 in the first year. Grants from Recovery Works, a program of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, fund positions inside the jail. Monroe County would fund positions outside of the jail. Participants are eligible for services during their first month of community re-entry. Githens indicated the possibility of using federal funding or opiate settlement monies toward IRACS. Monroe County is set to receive about $2 million following national litigation with Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Funds, which will be distributed over 18 years, are intended to go toward drug recovery and harm reduction efforts. In a Feb. 23 press release, Githens also suggested that reduced recidivism associated with IRACS could save money, freeing up funds to support the initiative. Whitaker estimated a 25% reduction in inmate population among participating jails so far. AJ Jackson, owner of Big Boy’s Moving, called on the county to invest more in employers who are willing to hire people with criminal records rather than another nonprofit initiative that can do little to change the opportunities people have upon leaving jail.
Actress Hunter Schafer is still set to speak at 7 p.m,. Thursday, in the IU Auditorium as a
About 200 people attended a vigil Friday evening in Dunn Meadow to honor the Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The hour-long demonstration was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee. Speakers stood in front of the 10,000 white flags planted last week by the PSC to represent the number of children killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
A vehicle struck a pedestrian on East Third Street near Fess Avenue Thursday. IUPD responded to the scene just after 6 p.m. The pedestrian was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital for a non-life-threatening injury to their left leg. IUPD has not provided information about the pedestrian’s current condition or the circumstances that led to the crash. Both the driver and the pedestrian are IU students, according to IUPD Public Information Officer Hannah Skibba.
Duke Energy reported a major power outage in northeast Bloomington around 10:30 p.m. Friday. According to the company’s outage map, nearly 2,000 customers near the intersection of East 10th Street and State Route 45 were without electricity as of 11:30 p.m. Friday.