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(12/06/10 5:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When the Indiana Department of Child Services proposed to cut subsidies for foster care and adoptive parents, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in hopes of preventing the cuts. The DCS and ACLU reached a settlement over the proposed 10 percent cuts.The DCS originally pursued the idea of subsidy cuts in order to ensure the availability of long-term funding for Indiana foster and adoptive families. Subsidies are currently $25 per day.“The $25 per day is the third highest in the country,” DCS Director of Communications Ann Houseworth said. “If we were to cut that by 10 percent that would be the fifth highest in the nation. We felt comfortable recommending that for our budget.”The settlement’s terms dictate that the DCS must develop a study to determine exactly what the costs are for supporting foster and adoptive children. In order to change the current subsidy rate, the DCS will have to work with the class in ACLU’s lawsuit. ACLU attorney Ken Falk said the ACLU was satisfied with the terms of the settlement.However, if the DCS chooses to cut subsidies after using the study, Falk said the ACLU reserves the right to file another lawsuit.The ACLU filed its class action suit on behalf of all foster parents, foster children, adoptive parents and adoptive children receiving subsidies from the DCS.“What you had were thousands of foster parents and kids who were being told out of the blue that they were going to be getting significantly less per diem than they were originally told,” Falk said. The DCS is also proposing rule changes to its Indiana Administrative Code, Houseworth said.“DCS is proposing a rule that will direct any rate changes be based on certain evidentiary bases,” Houseworth said. “What the ACLU has agreed to is to create this rate methodology. Any rate changes would be based on specific methodology rather than the changes being set arbitrarily.”The DCS is currently in the process of reviewing the testimony comments on the proposed rule changes. Those comments will be sent to the office of Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller for his signature. The proposed rules will then go to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office for his signature.Houseworth estimated the proposed rules will arrive to Daniel’s office in January 2011.Initially, there were two lawsuits filed about the proposed cuts against the DCS: one by the ACLU and another by the Indiana Association of Residential Child Care Agencies. The lawsuits were filed in federal court in December 2009. In January 2010, a federal judge placed the case under preliminary injunction. Because of this, the DCS was unable to lower subsidy rates during 2010.“The court order is in place so our agencies did not take a cut this year,” IARCCA Executive Director Cathleen Graham said.IARCCA’s lawsuit with the DCS has not been resolved. “We are in some preliminary talks with the DCS, but right now there is no settlement on our part of the lawsuit,” Graham said.
(11/17/10 5:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan, who has been opposed to Interstate 69 construction since before he was elected in 2003, made what he called a “reluctant” vote in favor of an amendment that would allow federal funding to be used to construct a section of I-69 that would run through Bloomington.On Nov. 5, a battle about proposed I-69 construction through Bloomington and Monroe County ended at the City Council Chambers of Bloomington City Hall. At a Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting, a representative from the Indiana Department of Transportation stated if the Transportation Improvement Program Amendment was not passed, INDOT would use local transportation funds — which would have been used for local projects — to build Section 4 of I-69. With a 9-4 vote in favor of the TIP Amendment, the Bloomington/Monroe CountyMPO will allow INDOT to use federal funding to construct Section 4 of I-69.Kruzan was one of those nine votes. “MPO funds will either be used to build I-69 or for local transportation projects,” Kruzan said, attempting to explain his vote to the crowd at the MPO meeting. Kruzan was unavailable for further comment. Kruzan wrote an article for The Bloomington Alternative, a biweekly newspaper whose goal is to “promote and celebrate progressive social change and independent media in Bloomington,” on March 22, 2009.He wrote a commentary titled “Kruzan: Public can stop I-69” in opposition to the I-69 construction in Bloomington. Kruzan wrote, “A no vote by MPO may carry with it a cost in the form of federal funding cuts, but a yes vote would have furthered an I-69-caused erosion of community spirit and economy.”Kruzan also signed Bloomington City Council Resolution number 4-19 opposing the I-69 route through Bloomington in September 2004. The resolution cited many reasons for opposing I-69, including negative effects on local businesses, the environment and quality of life in Bloomington.The resolution also stated that with Indiana State Road 37 connecting Bloomington to Indianapolis, there was no need for a “huge, costly investment in one limited-access superhighway.”On Nov. 6, the day after his vote in favor of the TIP Amendment, the Hoosier Environmental Council recognized Kruzan as Elected Official of the Year for his “courageous stand on I-69” at the Council’s third annual Green Policy Forum. Tim Maloney, senior policy director for the HEC, said the HEC selected Kruzan for the award several months ago based on his opposition to I-69 being constructed in Bloomington as well as Kruzan’s local sustainability projects.HEC was against the TIP amendment, Maloney said.“The decision went the other way, and we were disappointed in the outcome and disappointed in the mayor’s vote as well,” Maloney said.However, Maloney said he understood the position the mayor was put in with the threat of INDOT using local transportation funds for I-69 construction.“The threat of losing state funding is clearly a serious threat for any leader of a municipality, and the mayor has to take all that into account in his action,” Maloney said. “It’s still clear to us from what he said that he’s still opposed to I-69 coming through Bloomington.” Sam Sarvis, deputy commissioner of major programs for INDOT, said he wasn’t surprised by the mayor’s vote in favor of the TIP amendment.“He’s recognized the fact that it is coming, we are going to build the interstate and the route is going to go through Bloomington,” Sarvis said.Kruzan had come to the point where he had to deal with the cards he was dealt, Sarvis said. “At some point as a public official, you have to bring about what’s best for the community,” Sarvis said. “They push to the best of their ability for the agenda, but at the end of the day, they have to do what’s handed to them.”The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce has been a longtime supporter of I-69 construction in Bloomington, said Morgan Hutton, director of advocacy for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. Hutton said the Chamber supported the TIP amendment so the Bloomington community could have a say in I-69 decision making.“There will be a lot of important decisions in the planning process that will have a major impact on the community,” Hutton said. “We felt that this action by the MPO was a critical action to maintain the ability to have a seat at the table.”Hutton also applauded Kruzan’s “reasonable approach” to voting in favor of the TIP amendment. “He took a very responsible step as mayor to make sure funding is kept locally and took a step to make sure funding is kept toward local projects,” Hutton said.Sandra Tokarski, co-founder of Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, an organization that has opposed I-69 construction for the past 20 years, said the MPO has lost any bargaining power with INDOT, in part because of Kruzan’s vote.“If Mayor Kruzan had taken a strong position and stood up to the bullying of the Federal Highway Administration and the Indiana Department of Transportation, it’s very likely that the committee would’ve voted down that amendment,” Tokarski said.Tokarski said she was frustrated with Kruzan’s vote. “We were extremely disappointed that Mayor Kruzan shifted his position on I-69 and supported the amendment,” Tokarski said. “I think it was very short-sighted.”
(11/17/10 5:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Kerwin Olson, project manager for the Citizens Action Coalition, discussed a scandal surrounding Duke Energy’s Edwardsport plant at a meeting Tuesday at the Monroe County Public Library.The scandal revolves around the firing of two officials of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and one Duke Energy employee, Olson said. Duke Energy began lobbying for the construction of the Edwardsport Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Station, a coal power plant located in Edwardsport, Ind., in 2006. Duke Energy’s initial cost estimates for the project ranged from $1.2 to $1.6 billion. Duke Energy’s cost estimates rose every six months from 2006 onward while the plant’s power load capacity estimates decreased by more than 50 percent. All of these estimates were approved by the IURC.All of the employees who were fired regarding this matter were believed to have been overseeing the plans for the construction of the Edwardsport plant. Scott Storms was the former administrative law judge for the IURC, who supervised all of the Indiana Duke Energy cases. E-mails revealed that Storms was pursuing employment with Duke Energy while working for the IURC, an independent regulatory body, while presiding over the Duke Energy cases.“A settlement was reached and announced the very same week Scott Storms, at least publicly, accepted employment with Duke,” Olson said.Storms was hired by Duke after he left the IURC but was put on administrative leave Oct. 5.Former IURC Chairman David Lott Hardy was fired because the e-mails revealed he was aware of Storms pursuing employment with Duke but didn’t report it. Michael Reed, a Duke Energy employee and a former IURC director, was terminated the same day as Storms.The Indiana Governor’s office, the IURC, the Indiana Inspector General’s office, the United States Department of Justice and Duke Energy are all currently conducting investigations concerning alleged gross mismanagement and concealment of the Edwardsport power plant in Edwardsport, Ind., Olson said. Duke Energy also hired a Washington, D.C. law firm to conduct an independent internal investigation.Olson also said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was questioning IURC employees.“We’ve had at least five ongoing, open investigations in this case,” Olson said. “The public should not be forced to pay a single dime more until these questions are answered.” Because banks will not finance large capital projects, public funding goes to support the construction of projects such as the Edwardsport plant, Olson said.Danielle McGrath, public information officer for the IURC, said in a phone call that the IURC is currently auditing all cases involving the inception of the Edwardsport plant. McGrath estimated an audit will be available by the end of 2010.The CAC recommended that three steps be taken to remedy the problem. First, the CAC urged the IURC reject the settlement filed by Duke in August of 2010. Second, the CAC requested that Duke Energy hold two additional field hearings to hear testimony from Duke Energy rate payers. The only field hearing in this case was in October 2007, when the Edwardsport cost estimate was $1.9 billion.“Three years and $1 billion later, rate payers have not been afforded an opportunity to speak about this,” Olson said.Duke’s current cost estimate for the Edwardsport Plant is $2.975 billion.The CAC’s final recommendation was the IURC should indefinitely suspend all orders dealing with the Edwardsport plant.During the public comment section of the meeting, Tomilea Allison, Bloomington resident and former mayor of Bloomington from 1983 to 1995, expressed her resentment about Duke being allowed to use customers’ money to finance projects.“All the risk was put on the rate payer, not the private enterprise,” Allison said. “That’s where the problem started. Nobody had any reason to worry about cost.”
(11/11/10 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s another night shift for Interfaith Emergency Winter Shelter volunteer Pat Martin. On Tuesday at 10 p.m., Martin sat at the check-in table at First United Church. Martin normally would have left by 9 p.m., but the shelter was understaffed, so she stayed to help out.“Normally, I volunteer to set up,” Martin said. “But all of our volunteers didn’t come for the first shift.”Martin is one of 400 volunteers who help run the Interfaith Emergency Winter Shelter.From 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. seven nights per week from November to March, the Interfaith Emergency Winter Shelter provides Monroe County’s homeless population with an alternative to sleeping on the cold streets.The shelter currently rotates nights between four Bloomington churches and receives volunteers and support from several other local faith organizations.During the winter of 2008-09, Trinity Episcopal Church ran the shelter by itself. Several Bloomington faith leaders met during summer 2009 and coordinated a more widespread shelter effort.The shelter now rotates between First United Church, First United Methodist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church and First Christian Church. Rev. Helen Enari of First Christian Church said her church is prepared to be used as a shelter site by purchasing cots, cleaning supplies and snacks for the guests. This winter, First Christian Church will have the shelter two nights per week.“We don’t have enough volunteers to do two nights, but we have space,” Enari said.In order to help out, members of St. Paul’s Catholic Newman Center volunteer during the second night. St. Paul is one of the 31 local organizations that provide support to the shelter.The shelter received a grant from the City of Bloomington that allowed it to purchase two washers and dryers to help with the daily laundry. Shalom Community Center employs two of the shelter’s residents to do the laundry.“They have a job at a living wage to do laundry, which takes almost an entire day,” said Blair Johnson, IU law student and a member of the Governing Board for the shelter.Johnson also volunteers at the shelter. “A good portion of volunteers are retired or elderly,” Johnson said. “Most of our students have taken the late shift.”The late shifts run from 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. and from 2:45 a.m. to 6 a.m. Johnson volunteers for these shifts to get some quiet, late-night study time.“I’m a law student,” Johnson said. “I take my books along every night and basically have three and a half hours of study time.”
(11/08/10 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization passed an amendment Friday that will allow the Indiana Department of Transportation to use federal money to build a segment of the proposed I-69 route, which will run through Bloomington.The less than 2-mile segment of the proposed highway was hotly contested at the meeting, but the amendment passed with a 9-4 vote.Before Friday’s meeting, the MPO Technical Advisory Committee voted unanimously in support of the I-69 amendment, while the Citizen’s Advisory Committee had a majority vote against approving the amendment.Before the debate on the amendment began, some MPO members were concerned about the specific location of the proposed I-69 corridor. The corridor was proposed to run from May Creek to SR 37.However, there were creeks and roads incorrectly labeled on INDOT’s map.This created confusion about the specific area that would be affected. However, the MPO eventually agreed to go forward with the amendment discussion.Sam Sarvis, deputy commissioner of major programs for INDOT, spoke to the MPO about I-69 and answered several questions from MPO members.“I-69 is a reality,” Sarvis said. “Today’s vote is more about a partnership than anything else.”Sarvis’ statements raised concern among committee members that a no vote would mean I-69 would still be constructed.When pressed for a clear answer, Sarvis admitted that if the MPO did not approve the I-69 amendment, INDOT would take a look at the MPO’s discretionary funding. INDOT would use state money to fund I-69, including MPO money that would otherwise fund local transportation projects.“Money that could and should be used for local transportation will almost immediately be redirected to lawyers,” Sarvis said, referring to the consequences of a no vote by the MPO.The total estimated cost for building I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville is $3.1 billion.Bloomington City Council member Andy Ruff expressed concerns about funding the proposed I-69 project. INDOT has $5 billion in backlogged construction projects, Ruff said.“There’s no way INDOT can maintain itself and build a massive, expensive, multi-billion dollar project when INDOT’s in the hole,” Ruff said. “I’m going to have a very hard time not considering that extremely irresponsible fiscal policy.”Monroe County Commissioner Mark Stoops expressed concern about large volumes of traffic from I-69 exiting onto SR 37.“I’m not sure how this MPO can approve a plan to approve an interstate dumping out onto State Road 37,” Stoops said.Some Monroe County residents chose to speak during the public comment section of the meeting, with the majority of resident commentators opposed to the I-69 amendment.Bloomington resident Jody Madeira lives in Rolling Glen subdivision, a neighborhood close to the proposed I-69 construction.“My property appraisals have already declined $80,000 from estimates I got a year ago,” Madeira said. Mark Haggerty, also a Monroe County resident, spoke out about his property concerns as well.“My land is to be confiscated,” Haggerty said. “Land that I’ve had for 30 years. I’m deeply, deeply pissed.”Representatives for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, the Indiana National Guard and the Rogers Group, a company that supplies road construction materials, urged the MPO to approve the I-69 amendment. The MPO passed a motion to revise the amendment, which removed an estimate for construction costs and added additional conditions on planning, standards and construction.In a final statement pleading for his fellow MPO members to vote against the amended version, Ruff focused on the gravity of the situation.“It is a historic opportunity to stand up and take a stand,” Ruff said. “We shouldn’t just go along manipulated and coerced.”Ruff’s comments did not dissuade the MPO from approving the amendment.Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan attempted to explain his reasoning for a yes vote to the crowd.“If I believed voting against the I-69 amendment would stop it, I’d do it,” Kruzan said. “This vote isn’t about stopping I-69. It’s about keeping local dollars locally controlled.”
(11/04/10 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Next year, IU students residing off campus and Bloomington residents may be paying heftier water bills in order to help fund the improvement of the city’s aging water infrastructure.The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor had a public field hearing Wednesday concerning the issue.The City of Bloomington, which submitted its petition for a hearing in August, is requesting the IURC approval for a $42 million bond. The money would pay for an expansion of the Monroe Water Treatment Plant, the development of a water conservation program, the installation of a second transmission line between Lake Monroe and the city and the improvement of the city’s water distribution system. In order to pay for those infrastructure improvements, water rates would increase from the current rate of $15.20 to $23.43 for Bloomington residents using 5,000 gallons a month. People living outside the city limits would see their rates increase from $15.96 to $24.61.Two Bloomington residents gave a testimony supporting the rate increases and planned infrastructure projects.Matt Laherty, a former member for the City of Bloomington Commission on Sustainability, said Bloomington Utilities is doing an excellent job providing water despite the aging infrastructure. He asked the City of Bloomington to consider implementing a conservation program. Laherty said Bloomington regularly operates at maximum capacity.“The time to implement a conservation program has passed,” Laherty said.Larry Jacobs, a representative for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, focused his testimony on the potential benefits for the community and local businesses. “Both maximum-day and average-day water use rates are increasing,” Jacobs said. “As our community expands and grows, so does our need for a clean water supply.”The City of Bloomington and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor are both in the evidence gathering stages of the cases. Both parties will present their cases at a hearing Jan. 19, 2011.It will not be known whether water rates will be raised until after the hearing.
(11/03/10 4:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before 2010, IU graduate student Julie Archer had never voted in a midterm election. This year, she not only voted, she volunteered to work about a 16-hour day at a polling location. Archer saw an e-mail from The School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation asking for Election Day volunteers. She decided to sign up on Oct. 27.“I was looking for candidates and saw on the county government’s website they still needed volunteers,” Archer said.Shortly after signing up, Archer received a phone call informing her she would be the Republican Sheriff for the Teter polling location. Both a Republican Sheriff and a Democratic Sheriff are required to be stationed at each polling location. As Archer sat on a chair just outside the entrance to the Teter Formal Lounge, she described her sheriff duties for the day.“We answer people’s questions, direct them to the voting area and remind them to pull out their IDs,” Archer said.Archer said the county government was worried about problems with excessive campaigning at polling locations. Another part of her job is to keep those campaigners at bay. Campaigners are required to stay at least 50 feet away from the polling booths, she said. “If there’s a riot or anything, we’re ready to take care of it,” Archer said, jokingly.One woman stood about 50 feet from the polling booths campaigning about Public Question Two, also known as the Monroe County Community School Corporation referendum. Archer said the woman had asked where she could stand earlier in the day and that there hadn’t been any problems.Archer was still wearing her winter hat that afternoon and her red jacket hung from her chair. Both clothing items were a sign of the cold morning she endured while sitting near Teter’s circle drive entrance.“We were both wearing our coats when the door was opening up, but it’s warmed up since,” Archer said.Archer had to wake up at 4 a.m. in order to report for her volunteer Sheriff duty at 5 a.m.. “I just got up and made some coffee and drove over here,” Archer said. “We’ve had some caffeinated products and food today.”A thick stack of reading material sat on the floor next to Archer’s chair.“I have a lit review due tomorrow so I’m trying to get that done,” she said.Nine and a half hours into her volunteer duties, she had managed to read four packets from the stack.At 5:50 p.m., 10 minutes before the polls closed, Archer was out of her seat to regulate the voting line, making sure people had signed in before they voted.She looked at the line of 16 people waiting to vote. Archer and her fellow volunteers at the Teter polling location couldn’t start to count votes until the last people in line had cast their ballots. “Somebody said it’s going to take three hours to count these votes,” Archer said, which means she won’t get to leave until about 9 p.m.She glanced across the room at a table filled with sandwiches. “But they brought us more food,” she said.Archer said she was tired, but enjoyed her day.“I think it’s definitely been an experience,” Archer said. “I think I’d still do it again if they asked me.”
(10/28/10 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington City Council and the City Traffic Commission discussed several proposed changes to speed limits, one way streets and other parking measures at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.The city council approved one proposed speed limit change. The proposal for a speed limit change on Third Street will reduce the current 30 mph speed limit to 25 mph. Several city council members expressed their approval for lowering speed limits in residential neighborhood areas and expressed support for traffic calming measures in other neighborhoods.“I believe that the city should be looking at speed limits in all neighborhoods,” Councilmember Mike Satterfield said. The most controversial proposed change was alternating the flow of traffic on Smith Avenue and Lindbergh Drive. However, the council voted against voting on the measure.According to Justin Wykoff, Manager of Engineering Services for the City of Bloomington. The Bloomington Project School, located on Walnut Street, requested that Smith Avenue be changed to a one way street heading west. This portion of Smith Avenue is currently one way east.“They don’t like the kids to be walking between school buses during loading and unloading,” Wykoff said. With Smith Avenue currently running one way east, Project School students have to board buses with bus doors adjacent to traffic on Smith Avenue. If traffic changes to one way west, students can board buses with bus doors facing the Project School.Bloomington City Council President Isabel Piedmont-Smith said she understood the school’s safety issues but was concerned about possible confusion for drivers.“We’d have one block where Smith Avenue is one way west, one block where it’s one way east and then several blocks of two way traffic,” Piedmont-Smith said.Council member Stephen Volan echoed Piedmont-Smith’s opinion.“Our streets are already confusing,” Volan said. “Downtown has its share of one way streets. I’m not sufficiently convinced that this is a necessary change.”The City Council passed on approving or denying the one way street changes and asked the Traffic Commission for more information on the proposed one way street changes.
(10/26/10 1:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On college applications, indicating your gender might be the easiest question for some students to answer. But for transgender students, it can be more challenging. On the IU housing application, there are three gender options: “male,” “female” and “transgender.” Students who select “transgender” often use a comment box next to the gender choice to add additional information. Shortly after their housing application is processed, it is routed to Barry Magee, the assistant director of diversity education for Residential Programs and Services. Magee works with the students to place them in a suitable housing situation.“We’re required by the University to house all first-year students,” Magee said. “We need to provide housing where all students feel comfortable.”Magee said bathrooms are the main issue for transgender students, and that he generally tries to place transgender students on floors with gender-neutral private bathrooms.RPS has started revamping bathrooms in McNutt and Teter quads, converting them into individual bathrooms with a sink, shower and toilet in one private space. Magee said RPS plans to continue these bathroom renovations.“It’s for all students, but it happens to work for transgender students,” he said.Most transgender students don’t live on coed floors because most floors are still single-sex, Magee said. Transgender students live on the floor with the gender label they’ve chosen.He said the second-biggest concern for transgender students is privacy. “Students may have transitioned and not want anyone to know,” Magee said. The housing application also provides a place for students to indicate their preferred name. This is especially important for decorative door nametags resident assistants make, Magee said.“If someone is given the name Mary at birth but is now Larry, you don’t want Mary on a guys’ floor and people wondering how (he or she) got there,” he said.IU junior Evelyn Smith is a transgender student currently living in Read Center, and she said she likes it enough to have stayed for three years. Smith said she was nervous about the housing process but said RPS, and Magee specifically, really helped her.“I was afraid there’d be a lot of drama, but they’ve done it before,” Smith said. “They knew exactly what to do.”Her freshman and sophomore years, Smith lived in a single with a private bathroom on a boys’ floor in Read. She also participated in activities with the adjoining girls’ floor. She said she didn’t feel unwelcome on her floor but heard that a few people were gossiping behind her back. “I’ve been told a few people were badmouthing me,” Smith said. “People who know and have a problem don’t say it to your face.”This year, she lives on an all-girls floor with a roommate she’s known for a while. Smith said the bathrooms on her floor have communal showers, but describes her floor experience so far as “really cool.” “In general, housing as a whole has been really cool with me to find a setting that works,” Smith said.Magee said all RAs receive diversity training, but that more could be done.“We need much more specific training to help students think about this,” he said. Doug Bauder, director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services Office, said support groups have formed during past semesters, and students in Collins Living-Learning Center may form a similar group this semester.Magee said while RPS tries to help students, it can do more in areas such as RA training and evaluating transgender students’ housing experience.“At the end of the day, we have to try and create a welcoming community for everybody,” he said.
(10/25/10 2:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Senior Paige Skinner tried to keep her head straight as hair stylist Judy Gavin added layers to her newly short hair. Skinner’s former thick dark blond ponytail, which Gavin had cut off moments before, sat on the table in front of her.“I decided a couple of weeks ago to just cut it off,” Skinner said. “It’s been growing forever.”Skinner got her haircut at a hair cutting marathon Sunday to benefit Middle Way House, Inc. This is the third year Carmen Delgado, owner of Carmen Delgado Oasis Spa and Salon, has organized the event to raise money for Middle Way House, a nonprofit organization that assists women and children who are victims of domestic violence.The marathon raised $323 for Middle Way House. Delgado said she thought of the idea from the National Cosmetology Association’s CUT IT OUT: Salons Against Domestic Abuse program. “Being that people have cut back on donating to charities, Middle Way House needs more help than ever,” Delgado said.Delgado recruited stylists from several salons to volunteer one to two hours of their time to cut hair and raise money. She asked for a minimum of $10, but she had customers who donated more than the required amount.Kathleen Wissing, Middle Way House’s executive assistant for fund development, said donations and fundraising can help the center with things as basic as paying the monthly electric bill.“Many women come with nothing but the clothes on their back and their children,” Wissing said. Delgado said she recruits stylists that are the best of the best and “the stylists with the biggest heart.”Gavin, who is also the owner of Kirkwood Hair Artists, said she enjoys styling hair immensely, and doing it for a good cause makes it even more enjoyable.“If we had more volunteering, it would be a better place in the world,” Gavin said.Gavin put the finishing touches on Skinner’s hair by trimming her bangs, and she ran her fingers through Skinner’s hair to make sure the ends were even and the layers fell correctly. Skinner, with a huge smile on her face, thanked Gavin for the cut. “I love it,” Skinner said about her new haircut. “I’m so excited.”
(10/20/10 12:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mark Freeman has memories of customers struggling to carry his large locally-grown pumpkins to the counter, but now those pumpkins aren’t so local. Freeman, owner of Bloomington’s Freeman Family Farms, has grown 80 percent less Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins on his farm this year due to extended dry weather. Freeman Family Farms also owns another farm in Greene County, Ind. The Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins at that farm received enough rain to grow properly. Now Freeman ships his Greene County pumpkins to Bloomington and sets them in a barren field for customers to pick.Lack of rainfall hurts a lot of the farm’s crops, but pumpkins were especially hard hit.Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins require a lot of water to grow, Freeman said. But without rain, the large pumpkins couldn’t grow. “A pumpkin vine usually has three or four large pumpkins on it. The vines had one pumpkin the size of a small ball,” Freeman said.Although the Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkins suffered, Freeman said smaller pumpkins used for pumpkin pie and tiny decorative pumpkins grew as planned. “We increase our farming every year,” Freeman said. “You have to plan.”In 10 years of farming, Freeman said he has never had a pumpkin crop so gravely affected by weather. The only year that comes close was the year when the pumpkins suffered from too much rain“I maybe lost 5 to 10 percent of the pumpkins due to rot,” Freeman said referring to excess of rain at the time. “But kids kicked and smashed more than we lost.”Freeman said he has faith in his customer base and he sees a lot of the same faces at the pumpkin patch year after year. Bloomington resident Lisa Prince is one of those familiar faces. She said she didn’t think she would be able to buy pumpkins this year.“I was really surprised there were pumpkins,” Prince said. “I tried to grow some myself, but they didn’t grow.”On the Freeman Family Farms’ website, there are advertisements for pumpkins despite the drought. This information drew Bloomington resident Kay White to the Freeman Family Farms pumpkin patch this year for the first time.“I was surprised they had pumpkins,” White said. “I came because it was the only one close to where we live, and I was sure they had pumpkins.”Freeman said customers also come to see donkeys, goats and cows that are in the barn for them to pet. He said he thinks these family-friendly attractions will also bring in business.“We’ve become a place where people share with their families,” Freeman said. “Business will be okay.”
(10/15/10 2:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington resident Donetta Davis is one of at least 12,000 adults in Monroe and Owen counties without health insurance. She is a patient at Volunteers in Medicine, a local clinic that serves uninsured patients. The clinic has taken care of her medical needs for the past three years but has lacked the resources to address many of her dental needs.“They had one dentist, and you had to wait for months and months for something minor,” Davis said.Davis’ long wait for a dental appointment is now over.The clinic received a $30,340 grant from the Indiana State Department of Health to expand its dental services. The clinic began its new services on Sept. 29. Now, Davis said, it is much easier to be taken care of and get an appointment.“I’ve been there three times in the past month,” Davis said. “Having the new services there, it was really quick. I didn’t have to go see another dentist and get referrals.” Davis had an X-ray, a cleaning and a filling repaired in under a week and a half. Before the grant, she would have been evaluated by a dentist at the clinic and then issued multiple referrals to other dentists in the area. The clinic wouldn’t have been able to perform hygienic cleaning services for her or any of its 20,000 patients.Elizabeth Sturgeon, executive director of Volunteers in Medicine, said the grant allowed the organization to purchase a second dental chair and dental equipment necessary for cleanings and tooth extractions.The new clinic is offering weekly dental assessments and monthly cleanings and procedures, Sturgeon said.“We’re starting out slowly,” Sturgeon said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to add more over time.”Tony Kenworthy, a dentist at Volunteers in Medicine, said if patients go for long periods of time without dental services, they can have problems with severe pain and swelling. Often, these problems require removing the tooth to alleviate pain. Tooth extraction can be prevented by having regular hygienic cleanings, which the clinic now offers its patients.“We’re starting to address the preventative aspects before dental decay gets into a serious stage,” Kenworthy said. Volunteers in Medicine also received a grant from the City of Bloomington for a second X-ray machine. The new machine allows dentists take an X-ray of a specific tooth instead of having to look at one tooth from a panoramic X-ray.The new X-rays combined with cleaning and teeth repair services will help address both immediate and long-term dental care needs.“We’ll be able to establish a better level of oral health within the community,” Kenworthy said.For Davis, the new services have not only improved her dental care, they have saved her time and made it more convenient for cleaning procedures.“It’s a heck of a lot less legwork, hassle and red tape,” Davis said. “It’s pretty easy for someone who’s working and has kids. I’m very grateful.”
(10/11/10 2:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An apple a day keeps the doctor away, the saying goes. Now residents can have all the apples they want in Bloomington’s new community orchard. On Saturday, over 100 volunteers gathered to plant 60 fruit trees in the Bloomington Community Orchard. The orchard is located on South Highland Avenue, across the street from the Monroe County YMCA.The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and Edy’s Fruit Bars awarded Bloomington with the 60 fruit trees and provided a professional arborist to help plant the trees. The orchard will supply free apples, pears, cherries, persimmons, blueberries, blackberries and gooseberries to anyone who stops in and picks a free snack from a tree.The fruit trees will start blossoming next spring and will be ready for picking next fall, Rico Montenegro, Fruit Tree Planting Foundation arborist said.“You’re going to get several tons of fruit from this orchard,” Montenegro said. Any unpicked fruit at the end of the season will be collected by Hoosier Hills Food Bank.The orchard aims to encourage healthy eating, provide nutritional education and build community relationships. In order to win the grant that helped provide the fruit trees and the arborist, the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department had to receive enough votes to place fifth out of the 25 competing orchard sites across the country. “We want to plant orchards in communities that are passionate about it,” Edy’s spokeswoman Melanie Fitzgerald said, explaining why Edy’s used a voting system to award grants.For the fruit orchard to become a success, Bloomington had to come together.“This really started with the community,” City of Bloomington Urban Forester Lee Huss said. “We’ve seen other communities where they’ve planted fruit trees and then had to remove them because no one took care of them.”Bloomington won the grant because of vast community support, Bloomington Community Orchard Treasurer Amy Countryman said.“It was one of those things where we got the ball rolling, and it took off on its own,” Countryman said. Bloomington brought more than a united community to the table, Montenegro said. “I haven’t seen an organization so put together,” Montenegro said. “What’s unique about this community is that you have a lot of highly skilled individuals.”Both IU students and local residents volunteered in the orchard on hot summer weekends to make compost and deer fencing.Junior Jaclyn Tolliver volunteered with her Community Nutrition class Saturday morning. “It’s about working with the community,” Tolliver said. “It’s a bonus that it’s something healthy.”Amanda Wanlass, Bloomington Community Orchard Secretary, thought the project was a great idea, even though she said she knew nothing about fruit trees.As she spoke, her two toddlers helped shovel dirt to fill in a hole where a new apple tree had just been planted. She said she brought her kids to help so they will feel the orchard is special to them.“Every time we come here, they’ll get to have their tree,” Wanlass said. “It will make it more meaningful.”
(09/22/10 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Some tanning salons have begun to feel burnt by a new tax. The federal government implemented a 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services on July 1 in order to help pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23. The tax has hurt business for some Bloomington tanning salons, Sol Spa Tanning owner Jeff Mills said. Mills said he believes both the tanning tax and the economy are responsible for slower business.In a bad economy, people are not willing to spend as much on discretionary services, such as tanning. However, he said he believes the tanning tax has upset some of his customers.“It leaves a bad taste in peoples’ mouths,” Mills said. “They wonder why they’re being singled out.”In reaction to the tax, some local tanning salons have come up with strategies to offset the costs by attracting more customers.In order to help offset the increased cost, A Total Tan of Bloomington began having sales, said employee Erin Stockman. Sol Spa increased the size of their monthly packages and lowered the tanning costs, customer Alison Brown said.“I heard about the tax over the summer and was a little bit concerned,” Brown said.However, Brown said she doesn’t plan to decrease her tanning because of the new tax.Some people think of a tan as a nice and healthy glow, but a tan is a sign of skin damage from a reaction with UV rays, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report.Exposure to UV rays from sources, such as the sun or sunlamps used in tanning beds, increases the risk of developing skin cancer, the report stated. Melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, is the second most common type of cancer in women ages 20 to 29. Some customers have expressed concerns about skin health and choose to use the spray tan option instead, Stockman said. “A couple people I’ve sprayed mentioned they don’t like to lay down in beds because of the risk,” Stockman said.Stockman said she tans about two to three times a week and feels comfortable with the amount of sun her skin gets, however, she tries not to go every day because the risk is always something on her mind.“For the most part, people who come in and use the beds are aware of the risks,” Stockman said.
(09/08/10 3:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department announced Sept. 1 that boat rental at the Griffy Lake boathouse is temporarily suspended because the lake bed is exposed in some areas due to low water levels.“I think it’s down about three or four feet from where it usually is,” Alex Arnold, Griffy Lake boathouse leader, said.Elizabeth Tompkins, natural resource coordinator for the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation, said low water near the boat launch caused the boat rental closures.“The area between the boat launch and the bridge has just lost so much water that we can’t get boats through,” Tompkins said.According to the National Weather Service’s website, Bloomington had summer temperatures about two and a half degrees hotter than normal. Bloomington also experienced slightly less rainfall than normal.Despite the grim conditions on Griffy Lake, hopes remain high for boat rentals on Lake Monroe.Dave Marshall, a manager at Lake Monroe Boat Rental said he believes Lake Monroe will be open for boat rentals until the end of the season in October.Arnold said less people are coming to the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve because of the boat rental closure. “On a good day, we could probably get 30 rentals or more,” Arnold said. Boat rental hours are cut shorter during the month of September. During October, rental is only available on weekends.Although boat rental brings in revenue, Tompkins said he believes the closure will have little financial effect.“We had really great weather at the beginning of the season,” Tompkins said. “We feel confident that the short amount of time won’t have an impact on our revenue.”Even though people can’t rent boats, they are still coming to enjoy the park.“A lot of people came out, especially on Labor Day,” Arnold said. “This weekend a lot of people came out just to hike.”
(09/06/10 10:46pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nearly 2,000 power outages occurred Monday on the east side of Bloomington. The power went out at College Mall at about 4:30 p.m. Emergency lights were turned on throughout the mall, but most stores were closed. “We’re closed until the power comes back on,” said Ricky Hardy, Gordon’s Jewelers store manager.A sign posted on Applebee’s door read, “Sorry...we have no power!! We will be back as soon as we can. Please come back!!”Target has its own backup generator and was one of the few stores still open.“The generator’s running the few lights we have and our computer system,” said Target employee Elza Chafin. “Everybody just froze. Then the lights flickered a few times and shopping just resumed.” The power was restored to the Bloomington area at about 7:30 p.m., according to a Duke Energy representative. At 8 p.m. a customer service representative from Duke Energy said the power was restored. -Colleen Sikorski
(09/02/10 3:37am)
he recession’s slam on the City of Bloomington’s budget was the topic of discussion during a Wednesday night city council meeting.
(08/31/10 3:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you’ve driven through an Illinois tollway, you might want to check your mailbox. The Illinois Tollway announced it will send 116,000 Indiana drivers toll violations totaling $7 million in unpaid tolls and fines accumulated during the past two years. The Tollway identified a problem with reading Indiana license plates, causing the delay in issuing toll violation notices. When Indiana changed its license plate format in 2007, the Illinois Tollway worked with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles to ensure Tollway surveillance equipment could properly identify the new Indiana license plates. However, the Tollway video surveillance was unable to identify Indiana toll violators from July 2008 to June 2010.“The Illinois Tollway has not had an issue of this magnitude with any other state,” said Illinois Tollway Press Secretary Joelle McGinnis in an e-mail.A toll violation occurs when drivers do not come to a complete stop to pay their tolls. Toll fines are determined by the number of axles on a vehicle. If a driver does not come to a complete stop, he might pay an inaccurate toll. The Tollway’s policy is to send toll violations to drivers whom have at least three violations during a period of two years. The drivers must pay their missed tolls plus a $20 fine for each toll. There is no Illinois statute of limitations on collecting missed tolls and fines. IU junior and Illinois resident Max Frank supports Illinois Tollway’s decision to fine Indiana residents.“The fact that Indiana drivers are being charged for back tolls is legitimate only because these drivers knew all along that they were responsible for paying these tolls,” Frank said. “Illinois simply got around to doing what they should have done for the last two years.” The Illinois Tollway will begin issuing delayed toll violations to Indiana drivers in September. The Customer Services Working Group approved a plan for an independent assessment of the toll violation identification system to decrease other possible license plate identification errors. “License plate issues are a challenge for all tolling agencies and are not limited to Illinois and Indiana,” McGinnis said.
(05/19/10 10:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 2010 International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, which focuses on academic writing and using writing in classrooms of all fields, will take place Thursday through Saturday at the Indiana Memorial Union. IU and the University of Texas at Austin are co-sponsoring the conference, with the Campus Writing Program and Writing Tutorial Services organizing the event.While registration for the conference ended in April, curricular decisions on the Bloomington campus have strengthened writing instruction, and the conference will aid in further progression of the University’s writing programs.“Most people who graduate from college will have to write,” said Jo Ann Vogt, associate director of IU’s Creative Writing Program and director of Writing Tutorial Services. “If they learn to write in their disciplines, they’ll be much better practitioners.”Vogt said she also feels writing is a valuable way to test students’ knowledge and understanding of a subject.“Assessing people’s knowledge in a discipline is much more thorough than picking a multiple-choice answer,” Vogt said. “You may be able to recognize the answer but not explain why it’s correct.”Campus Writing Program Director Laura Plummer said writing is important in every subject, even in fields like engineering and business.“By being able to put things in our own words, we learn them better,” Plummer said.In addition to presentations about how to use writing in teaching, there will be sessions about topics such as designing courses, evaluating students’ writing and administering writing-focused classes.“Once you’ve figured out that you’re going to use writing in a class, then you have to figure out what you’re going to do with students’ writing,” Vogt said. The two keynote speakers for the conference, Art Young, professor of English Emeritus at Clemson University, and Terry Myers Zawacki, associate professor in the Department of English at George Mason University, are national advocates for the Writing Across the Curriculum programs.Young was a key figure in starting Writing Across the Curriculum programs around the country and has received several awards for his teaching and research. Zawacki serves on several academic writing boards and focuses her research on improving writing programs throughout the United States.While Young is a key founding figure of college writing centers and is a long-time professor, Zawacki is newer to the scene. “We have people who are where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Plummer said of the “two generations” of the keynote speakers.Senior Shabrelle Pollock is presenting at the conference, along with Vogt and graduate student Laura Clapper. Their presentation, “From Tutor to Tutor: Acculturating Tutor Trainees,” explains how IU’s Writing Tutorial Services trains students to tutor other students in academic writing. “A lot of college writing centers aren’t run by students,” Pollock said. “We wanted to show how our program serves the University — not just students, but faculty and staff, too.”