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(07/08/12 11:51pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Arjia Rinpoche, the director of The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, and two other monks sat on the floor of an outdoor stage in matching red garb, chanting a Puja, a long life prayer. The cultural center in Bloomington celebrated its first Kaleidoscope Festival on Saturday, honoring the 77th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.As they prayed in Tibetan, members of the audience approached the stage, removed their shoes and placed multi-colored khatas onto a shrine at the back of the stage. A khata is a ceremonial silk scarf decorated with auspicious Buddhist symbols to symbolize purity and compassion. One by one, members of the audience approached the shrine, dropped to their knees, put their hands together and prayed to His Holiness. “We offer you our prayers with intense devotion, that Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the great land of snows, may live for 100 eons,” Center Manager Trish Ellis read from the prayer in English. In the center of the grassy field, smoke from a can of incense trickled into the sky. Aside from the Puja, events at the festival included an Arthur Murray Dance Performance, international fashion show, Kundun movie, a music jam and a presentation from Rinpoche about the Mongolian Hospital Project.Beginning construction last year, Rinpoche is currently raising funds to open the Cancer Care Treatment Center for Mongolian Children.Currently, Rinpoche said they have raised around $300,000, with most donations contributed by the Bloomington community. Although Rinpoche said he hopes the hospital will open next year, $2 million is still needed. Once the hospital is open, Rinpoche said he expects people to donate more generously. The Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, located at 3655 Snoddy Road, was founded in 1979 by the Dalai Lama’s older brother, Thubten Norbu. It provides the Bloomington community with Buddhist teachings and promotes interfaith peace and harmony. In 1998, Rinpoche fled from Tibet because of the repression of Tibetan culture and religion. In 2005, he was appointed director of Bloomington’s cultural center by the Dalai Lama. Rinpoche’s autobiography “Surviving the Dragon,” published in 2010, recounts his life and the story of Tibet during recent years. “We have been talking for the last year about having a birthday celebration for the Dalai Lama, and we decided this year would be a good time to get the tradition started,” Trish Ellis, the center’s manager, said. Although the Kaleidoscope Festival’s main purpose was to honor the Dalai Lama, Trish Ellis said the celebration also focused on Bloomington’s multi-cultural community. The fashion show represented a variety of cultures, including traditional fashion from Tibet, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Turkey and Brazil.Inside the cultural center, a man hummed softly and strummed a guitar. Members of the audience meditated. A silent auction exhibited traditional pottery, paintings, jewelry, a traditional Japanese fan and other items, with proceeds supporting the center. IU graduate Jeremy Gotwals said he has been attending services at the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center since he was 13. Although he was raised Christian, he said he contemplated for some time about becoming a Buddhist monk. Straying from that plan, he opened his own business in Bloomington, Holon Publishing.“Buddhism is a unique thing because it’s not a religion,” Gotwals said. “What we’re looking at isn’t an act of worship. A friend asked me earlier, ‘Who are we praying to?’ Prayer in Buddhism is pretty much about the mind and the thoughts you project.”Trish Ellis’ husband Russ Ellis first began exploring Buddhism in the 1970s during his “hippie days.” The lifestyle resonated with him, he said, and now he lives and works at the cultural center.Russ Ellis said it is important to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday because he is the world representative of Tibetan Buddhism, living his life with compassion. “Most of us are not in control of our minds,” Russ Ellis said. “We are reactionary instead of acting from the hearts. Most of us can’t stop ourselves from reacting, which is why we meditate. You’ve got to choose to cultivate your heart rather than your mind.”
(07/08/12 10:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Attempted murder suspect Corey J. Hamersley, 21, who police
say shot 32 bullets into a house, parked cars and at law enforcement in May, was
granted a reduced bail Monday as long as he abides by a list of restrictions.
Hamersley's bail was reduced to $50,000 surety or $5,000 cash.But before he can post the bond, Monroe County Community Corrections must contact Community Corrections in Hamilton County. Once released from the Monroe County Jail on bail, Hamersley said he plans to live with his mother in Sheridan, Ind., and enter a drug rehabilitation program.Hamersley appeared in Monroe County Circuit Court for a bail review hearing Thursday before Senior Judge Douglas Bridges, who said Hamersley would have to wait three days before a determination of bond reduction.Restrictions on his bond will require corrections officials to monitor Hamersley with GPS tracking, implemented immediately upon his release from jail. He will also be required to submit to home evaluation, must be under supervision 24 hours a day and he will not be permitted to leave his mother’s residence unless approved.Hamersley will also be restricted from consuming, or coming in contact with someone who is consuming alcohol or illegal substances. He will be restricted from firearm use and from making contact with victims.Hamersley was arrested May 11 after allegedly firing 32 rounds from a 9mm semi-automatic handgun at the 300 block of East 15th Street into the back of a residence, at vehicles and, after police arrived, at the officers. Throughout the incident, Hamersley was naked and allegedly tripping on LSD. Police then shot Hamersley in both legs. He was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital and, following surgery for gunshot wounds, to jail.Hamersley faces felony charges of attempted murder, criminal recklessness, pointing a firearm and possession of a controlled substance. He also faces misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and resisting law enforcement.Prior to the incident, Hamersley was an IU student studying exercise science. According to the IU website, Hamersley was recognized as a University Division Scholar of Highest Distinction for having a grade point average between 3.9 and 4.0. He has since been suspended from IU because he is a threat to students, said Mark Land, associate vice president of university communications.During Thursday’s bail review hearing, Hamersley sat motionless in the courtroom wearing a black and white jail uniform.Hamersley, his mother Tonya Martin, clinical psychologist Richard Lawlor of Nashville, Ind., and private investigator David Hough of Pittsboro, Ind., testified in Hamersley’s defense.Hamersley told Bridges he does not have intentions of harming himself or others and does not have access to weapons in Sheridan. Without warning, Hamersley said he would agree to submit to random drug screenings and inspections of his parents’ home for alcohol, drugs or weapons as a condition of being released on bail.“I myself probably cannot afford any sort of bail, but my parents might be able to afford $1,000, but I honestly do not know,” Hamersley told Bridges. When Martin testified before Bridges, she said the family has $5,000 in savings. She does not own her home or any other assets. Martin, who said she is a licensed practical nurse, said Hamersley’s health insurance will cover inpatient rehabilitation at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis as long as the rehab is not court ordered. Although residing in his parents’ home, Martin said Hamersley would be alone about three hours a day, but she said she could make arrangements for supervision. Also, he would not have a cell phone and would have computer access in the home’s living room. Martin said she has the ability to drug test Hamersley herself.During Lawlor’s testimony, he said Hamersley smoked up to three marijuana joints a day while studying at IU, high not only while studying but also while taking exams. Lawlor said Hamersley also experimented with LSD and Xanax.Lawlor told Bridges he interviewed Hamersley in the jail, where Hamersley said he met with friends at a bar the night before the shooting. That night, Hamersley told Lawlor he drank alcohol, smoked marijuana and dropped acid. He said he did not remember how he returned home that evening. But Lawlor said he identified Hamersley as an intelligent individual.“I would estimate his IQ between 115 and 125,” Lawlor said. “He did get into drugs, and he got into drugs heavily.”Although Hamersley told Lawlor he does not have memory of the shooting incident, he recognized in the hospital that he was in trouble.Hough told Bridges he and Martin distributed a survey throughout Sheridan, identifying that nobody in the community feared Hamersley.“We just want a reasonable bail so we can properly prepare a defense for this defendant,” said Hamersley’s defense attorney Rafael Ramirez of Indianapolis.
(07/06/12 6:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three individuals were arrested Friday morning for allegedly robbing the Circle K gas station on the corner of East Third Street and South Indiana Avenue with a firearm.Although Bloomington Police Detective Sgt. John Kovach said police were still interviewing gas station employees at noon Friday, arrested individuals Jeremy Vestal, Josh Howerton and Ashley Close told detectives the robbery was an inside job, arranged by Circle K employees.At about 2:46 a.m., Kovach said police were notified of the robbery and given a description of the culprit. A Circle K employee described the culprit as a white male wearing camouflage with a bandana pulled over his face. The suspect was later identified as Vestal. Following the incident, where Vestal allegedly got away with an undisclosed amount of cash on a bicycle, Kovach said a police officer observed a man with a similar description riding a bicycle near the corner of East Fourth Street and South Dunn Street. After turning around to track the individual, Kovach said the officer found a bicycle he believed the suspect was riding, but the suspect was not there.Around the same time, Kovach said another officer stopped another man, later identified as Howerton, on a bicycle. The officer determined Howerton was not the robbery suspect, Kovach said. But Howerton answered questions in a way that made the officer believe he was involved or was aware of the incident. He also gave the officer his address, which was on the 1500 block of West Kirkwood Avenue, before releasing Howerton.Kovach said detectives then contacted Yellow Cab and asked if any cab drivers picked up individuals matching a description of the robbery suspect. A Yellow Cab employee told officers a cab had picked up two men, one with a matching description, on the 1500 block of West Kirkwood Avenue.At that time, the Yellow Cab employee told authorities the cab was currently en route to the Motel 6 at 1800 N. Walnut Street. The cab dropped the suspects off at the motel at about 3:34 a.m.Meeting the cab at Motel 6, officers found Vestal and Howerton in the lobby, along with Close.Following questioning and recovering a pistol and cash, police took the three individuals into custody.After making statements that the robbery was a set-up from a gas station clerk, Vestal was arrested for theft, a Class D felony, and possession of a handgun without a permit, a Class A misdemeanor. Kovach said Howerton and Close were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit theft, a Class D felony, and various smaller charges. More information about the robbery will become available as the investigation progresses. Kovach said police are continuing to interview Circle K employees about the incident. Nobody was injured.
(07/05/12 12:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>SOLSBERRY, Ind. — About 15 miles southwest of Bloomington down windy county roads, cars, pickup trucks and ATVs lined the ditches before a small green sign marking the Solsberry city limits.Once inside the community of only a few hundred people, congestion increased. On the warm Tuesday evening, the grass was brown and the crowd was thick. From the young to the elderly, locals and out-of-towners waited in lawn chairs on every yard near Eastern Volunteer Fire Department. At the fire department itself, thousands more congregated.Sitting inside his car’s open trunk, a man held a Bud Light above his head and sang along to the live country music. Then, as the first blast lit up the dark, clear sky, he emitted a gasp of excitement.Twenty years ago, Fire Chief Rob Johnson of Eastern Volunteer Fire Department organized the first Solsberry Fireworks Show. His budget for the show was $400, all of which was donated by volunteer firefighters. Two decades later, the annual budget has increased to $10,000, which allows for a show lasting 30 to 40 minutes. All necessary funds required this year were donated by 75 local businesses and residents. “That involves calling each individual business and personal people,” said Autumn Johnson, Rob Johnson’s wife, who handles finances for the annual display. “The economy is getting a little bit worse each year, but right now they’re doing pretty decent on me. I’ve had a lot of people still donate, but they’ve backed their donations off.”He said he considered cancelling the Solsberry Fireworks Show.But he decided to continue the show as scheduled after talking with other members of the fire department, as well as former firefighter and Solsberry Township Trustee Larry Shute, who donated the open field behind the fire department as a launching spot for the fireworks each year.But extra precautions were taken to minimize the risk of fire.“I’ll tell you the fire danger level at this time would be somewhat moderate, but we’ve been pretty aggressive with our fire prevention this year at our fireworks show,” firefighter Aaron Norris said before the show. “Once we checked the conditions and came up with a strategy for how we were going to approach today, we pretty much went ahead with it. There was no concern about a fire being so big that we couldn’t control it.”Along with watering the surrounding area several times throughout the day, Norris said neighboring fire departments assisted with off-road vehicles and brush trucks. Through the show, several fireworks ignited prematurely. One made firefighters below the explosion run for cover. With others, flames landed on thick tree canopies.But despite the worries, there were no fires.Throughout the show, light from the repeated blasts reflected off the faces of spectators sitting in lawn chairs, gazing up at the sky. Children ran in circles with flashing light sabers or gnawed on ears of corn. A shock wave could be felt from the explosions overhead.Each shot is fired off by the volunteer firefighters, rather than by a machine, and the Sugar Shack concessions stand is small, but spectators swear the Solsberry Fireworks Show is the best in the area. For these reasons, thousands of spectators have flocked to the small community for years.Glen Whittenberger, 68, said he has been attending the fireworks show in Solsberry since it began 20 years ago. “Actually it hasn’t changed much, but they’ll throw in some new stuff like the rings and ovals and stuff like that,” Whittenberger said. “It’s always been a pretty decent show, I always thought.”For others, Tuesday’s fireworks show was a first, but likely not a last. Ty Stogsdill has attended the fireworks show in Solsberry for six or seven years, he said, but never with his 1-year-old son Colton Stogsdill.“We see a lot of family and friends here, people we don’t normally see all the time,” Ty Stogsdill said. “We go to Bloomington’s too, and Bloomington’s isn’t as good as the one here. I think it’s a better show. It’s more laid back, it seems like.”The show is not only the largest event for Eastern Fire Department every year: it’s the largest event in town. So firefighter Ryan Starks said it is important for the event to be exceptional.“They’re all hand-shot, they’re not electronically fired,” Starks said. “I don’t know if it’s more enjoyable for the audience, but I would like to think so because it’s actually people shooting them off. It’s not a machine or music or anything like that, it’s actually the firefighters shooting them off as we celebrate the Fourth of July and to say ‘thank you’ to the community.”
(07/05/12 12:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Dressed in uniform, members of the Monroe County Veteran’s Honor Guard stepped off the curb onto West Kirkwood Avenue. Raising rifles into the air, the honor guard fired 21 shots into the air as the sound echoed off buildings in the downtown square. Another Honor Guard softly played “Taps.”Members of Boy Scouts Troop 100 approached carrying a large American Flag and, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, Bloomington’s Fourth of July Parade was under way. This year’s parade, hosted by Bloomington Parks and Recreation and Downtown Bloomington, Inc., recognized the vibrant community Bloomington has become over the past few decades, with the theme “Back to Bloomington — Show us your B-Town roots!”Bloomington native and Honor Guard Lana Norman, an Army veteran, said the parade is a “celebration of our freedoms, our freedoms we’re losing, but freedoms that we initially didn’t have.”“(The parade) is an enjoyable thing to do, but I don’t get as much honor out of it as I do burying our veterans,” Norman said. “That’s probably the most honorable thing I’ve done in my life, but I’m proud to be here.”While the July 4 parade is intended to honor American Independence, Downtown Bloomington Inc. Director Talisha Toppock said the parade’s theme was designed to pay homage to members of the community.Many of the floats did just that, she said, including Comprehensive Financial’s float, which both honored veterans and the Hays family, who have operated businesses in Bloomington for five generations. For their effort, the Comprehensive Financial float received an award for most creative use of the theme.“We go into everything hoping to win, and we actually won,” said David Hays, President of Comprehensive Financial. “We actually made the trek all the way from Fourth Street and Indiana (Avenue) up here because I told my son ‘unless you assume you’re going to win something, you’re never going to win. So let’s go and assume we’re going to win something.’”Unlike some of the floats, which were made with a personal touch, Hays said the Comprehensive Financial float was professionally designed.“We were at the Indianapolis 500 and saw how wonderful those floats were. I said ‘if we ever do a float, I want it to be nice.’ I didn’t want it to be, as we call it in our family, hillbilly, and it wasn’t.”From a float sponsored by the Bloomington Democratic Party with a cardboard cut-out of President Barack Obama to the float sponsored by the Republican Party, the parade highlighted the variety of people living within Bloomington. While participants in the Move to Amend float carried signs that said “corporations are not people,” the Stafford Music Academy float read “music is the spirit of Bloomington.”A man wearing a “Cutters” T-shirt handed small American Flags to the people lining the streets as floats drove by.For four-year volunteer emcee Jim Inman, the parade was about bringing the community together. “This is true Bloomington vibe, small-town USA,” Inman said. “It gets people to come to the Courthouse Square, fold out a blanket and have a good old-fashioned parade.”
(07/04/12 11:02pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A preliminary look at fiscal data shows Indiana will close the 2012 Fiscal Year, which ended June 30, with reserves of more than $2 billion and an annual revenue of more than $500 million than annual expenses. Because of the surplus, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday Indiana taxpayers will receive a refund of at least $100 next year, in compliance with state law requiring some of the extra funds be reimbursed to Indiana residents.Single filers can expect a tax return of more than $100, Daniels said at the Statehouse Tuesday, while joint filers can expect a credit of more than $200.“Thanks to this amount there will be a major infusion of money into Indiana’s pension funds, which are already the strongest in the country, and the first automatic taxpayer refund in state history,” Daniels said at the press conference. With reserves totaling at least 14 percent of the state’s budget, most Hoosier taxpayers will receive their first automatic taxpayer refund when they file state taxes in 2013, according to a press release. The Indiana General Assembly approved Daniels’ plan for an automatic taxpayer refund in 2011. The Office of Management and Budget and the Auditor of State’s office will provide the official report in mid-July. Exact refund figures will not be announced until fall after estimates are calculated on how many tax returns qualify, according to the release. Last year’s median income tax payment was $819, Daniels said, so the typical Indiana resident will be refunded an amount of more than 10 percent.“What we can say today is we have double-digit discounts for the typical Indiana taxpayer,” Daniels said.While half of the excess will be returned to taxpayers, the other half will go toward the state’s pension funds. Indiana’s pension funds, which the press release said are already rated among the nation’s most secure, are expected to top $300 million.While Daniels said this revenue uptick hints toward a stronger Indiana economy, he said the national economy “continues to struggle and could plummet again for all we know.”“Our first job has always been to protect Hoosiers against a catastrophe that is happing all around us, right next door to us in a couple places,” Daniels said. “Even after seven years with the economy the way it is, there are always better ways to improve.”During the meeting, Daniels was questioned about a $2 million bill the state owes the federal government to cover unemployment compensation checks to Hoosier workers. But that fund is separate from the state’s general fund, Daniels said, so the excess allowing for refunds could not be distributed to the federal government. With the upcoming general election in November, Daniels’ governorship will soon fall into the hands of Republican Mike Pence or Democrat John Gregg. Daniels said his administration will leave further decision-making regarding the surplus up to his successor.“Every Hoosier should be grateful for the fiscal stewardship of the Daniels Administration, but we can’t treat this as an opportunity to grow government,” Pence said in a press release. “Instead, we should use our position of strength to grow our economy and continue to practice the fiscal discipline necessary to make Indiana the state (that) works.”Daniels said he would not make suggestions as to what his successor should do with the strong financial picture.“But the point is they’ll have flexibility to invest, spend, cut taxes, for some a mix of all of those,” Daniels said.Gubernatorial candidate Gregg said in a press release his campaign has long focused on tax cuts for all Hoosiers to create Indiana jobs. In order to do that, Gregg said citizens need to know exactly how much money the state has in reserve through an independent audit.“After all,” Gregg said, “Hoosier families don’t write checks without knowing how much is in the bank. Their government should do the same.”
(07/02/12 12:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a narrow 5-4 ruling, the United States Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act on Thursday. While Indiana Democrats showed support for the Supreme Court’s decision, local Republicans are among efforts to repeal the law. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller was one of the 26 attorneys general who filed a legal challenge against the federal health care law in March 2010. The law, which was passed by Democrats in 2010 and does not take full effect until 2014, will influence how Americans receive medication and health care.As a result of the decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, provisions in federal law prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against individuals with pre-existing health conditions will remain in law.A provision in the law closing the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage, known as “the donut hole,” will also remain. Small businesses will continue to receive tax credits for offering coverage to their employees.Under the law, parents will be allowed to keep their children on family health care policies until the age of 26.“The immediate implications for Indiana are a huge increase in health insurance rates, especially for young people,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said in a press release following the Supreme Court’s decision. “The Court’s ruling that the federal government has the constitutional power to do what it has done must be respected. But many actions that are constitutional are still unwise.”Although he said he did not know the impact the health care bill would have on the American people, Constitutional law expert Daniel Conkle, the Robert H. McKinney Professor of Law at the IU Maurer School of Law, said the Supreme Court’s decision was an accomplishment for the nation’s highest court.“Because Chief Justice Roberts voted the way he did, it avoids the impression that the court is simply a partisan decision maker,” Conkle said.Agreeing with Conkle was David Orentlicher, Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law and co-director of the William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health at the McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, who said the Constitutionality of the health care law compares to that of Medicare.“It shouldn’t have been this controversial,” Orentlicher said. “I understand the political controversy, but this shouldn’t have been a hard question from a Constitutional standpoint, and they got it right.”Aside from Medicare, Orentlicher said the federal government already subjects residents to a variety of mandates. Health care, he said, should be no different.“You’ve been subject to a bunch of mandates already, I’m confident. If you’ve bought a car, Congress has forced you to buy seat belts and air bags and a catalytic converter with it,” Orentlicher said. “If you buy a television, Congress has forced you to buy a V-chip with it. Those kinds of mandates are routine.”While Democrats rallied in support of the Supreme Court’s decision, Republicans hinted at repeal efforts.Repealing the entire law, Conkle said, would be difficult because such efforts would require a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the White House. But efforts to repeal sections of the law, Conkle said, could be repealed by elected officials from both sides of the aisle.“There is some movement, for example, to repeal parts of the law that put taxes on medical devices, which is of special interest to Indiana and Bloomington because we have companies that manufacture these medical devices, and they’re getting hit with that tax,” Conkle said.U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said in a statement that he continues to support full repeal of the “massively expansive ObamaCare law.”Lugar linked his opposition to the health care law to trillions of dollars in new spending, billions in new taxes and a failure to control an increase in health care costs.“The reality is ObamaCare has presented additional burdens to small businesses and levies new taxes that will hit American families and job creators in the years to come,” Lugar said in a press release. “The law also fails to keep the President’s promise to let Americans keep the coverage they already have and enjoy.”The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 3 million to 5 million Americans could lose their employer-sponsored coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act.Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind., said in a press release he is disappointed the mandate was upheld, saying the law will have negative effects on the economy and job creation.“However, I am pleased that the Court has affirmed that our federal government is constitutionally limited in its ability to regulate Americans’ lives,” Young said.In a closed-door House GOP meeting Thursday, Indiana congressman and gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence compared the Supreme Court’s ruling to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to Politico.“I certainly did not intend to minimize any tragedy our nation has faced, and I apologize,” Pence told Politico in a statement following the meeting.In response to Pence’s statement, gubernatorial candidate John Gregg said in a statement that the firefighters, first responders and families of thousands of Americans affected by the terrorist attacks deserve an apology.“For him to compare a disagreement over health care to the deaths of 3,000 Americans goes far beyond the bounds of common decency,” Gregg said in the release. “To compare our legislative and judicial process to a terrorist attack is deeply disturbing and wrong.”Gregg, who beat cancer and has a son with Type 1 diabetes, said in a statement that he knows firsthand how unexpected health care costs affect families in Indiana, as well as the economy.“Today’s ruling answers questions for the thousands of Hoosiers who are currently covered under this law,” said Daniel Altman, communications director for the Gregg for Governor campaign, in a statement. “Insurance companies cannot cut your insurance because you get sick. They cannot deny your coverage because you have a pre-existing condition. Young adults can stay on their parents’ policy while they look for a job. Finally, senior citizens will continue to get a break on their prescription drug costs.”Planned Parenthood of Indiana President and CEO Betty Cockrum said in a statement that the decision made by the nation’s highest court will ensure affordable, quality health care to hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers.Additionally, Cockrum said women across the nation will soon have access to birth control with a co-pay.Nearly half of all pregnancies in Indiana are unintended, and more than half of all births are publicly funded at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $500 annually, according to the Planned Parenthood press release. Indiana has one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation.“These factors carry an enormous cost, both to our economy and our society,” Cockrum said. “By preventing unintended pregnancy, we ensure that more of the children who are already among us have the opportunity to thrive.”
(07/01/12 11:59pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With current drought conditions and the Monroe County Disaster Emergency Proclamation “Burn Ban” in effect since June 15, the City of Bloomington Fire Department and Fire Prevention Bureau are urging residents to be cautious during July 4 fireworks celebrations.“We strongly encourage our residents to attend public displays of fireworks and limit their personal use of fireworks to those that do not leave the ground, and that they refrain from using aerial firework devices,” read a proclamation issued by the Monroe County Commissioners.Despite potential fire dangers, the annual Bloomington Community Fireworks Display, beginning at dusk July 4 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, will continue as scheduled.For the first time, this year’s fireworks display in Bloomington will be sponsored by PyroSmith Pyrotechnics, LLC. Gates 3, 4 and 5 will open at 5 p.m. with an entrance fee of $8 per car or $2 walk-in. After the west parking lot is full, Gate 2 will open for overflow parking with a designated viewing area. Residents will also be permitted to ignite consumer fireworks. Across the state, however, municipalities have canceled public fireworks displays and have attempted to pass ordinances banning the use of consumer fireworks within city limits as the state faces one of the driest summers on record.On Saturday, one day after the Indiana Fireworks Distributors Association announced it would not sue communities for banning personal fireworks, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard issued an executive order halting local displays, according to the Associated Press. The ban does not apply to professional fireworks displays.According to a 2006 law passed by the Indiana Legislature, with a push from the Indiana Fireworks Distributors Association, local governments are forbidden from issuing ordinances banning fireworks from June 29 to July 9.According to the American Pyrotechnic Association, personal use of fireworks has never been more popular or in demand. Since 1980, the amount of fireworks consumed in the United States has increased more than 500 percent.With this increase, according to the Indiana Fireworks Distributors Association, there are eight times fewer fires per 100,000 pounds of fireworks consumed since 1980.In Indiana, there are no reported cases of any wildfire or other fire accidentally starting as a result of the responsible use of consumer fireworks, the Indiana Fireworks Distributors Association announced.“Fireworks are not designed to bring any fire to the ground after they are discharged,” Indiana Fireworks Dealers Association President Richard Shields said in a press release. “Fireworks are being singled out for restrictions when there are many, many other items that pose a more significant risk of fire.”
(06/28/12 8:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a narrow 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act Thursday.The health care law, which was passed by Democrats in 2010 and does not take full effect until 2014, will influence how Americans receive medication and health care. As a result of the decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, provisions in federal law prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against individuals with pre-existing health conditions will remain in law.A provision in the law closing the gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage, known as “the donut hole,” will also remain. Small businesses will continue to receive tax credits for offering coverage to their works.Under the law, parents will be allowed to keep their children on family health care policies until the age of 26.“The immediate implications for Indiana are a huge increase in health insurance rates, especially for young people,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said in a press release following the Supreme Court’s decision. “The Court’s ruling that the federal government has the constitutional power to do what it has done must be respected. But many actions that are constitutional are still unwise.”While Democrats rallied in support of the Supreme Court’s decision, Republicans hinted at repeal efforts.“Because of the negative effect on our economy and job creation, I’m disappointed that the so-called individual mandate requiring every American to purchase health insurance will stand,” Rep. Todd Young said in a press release. “However, I am pleased that the Court has affirmed that our federal government is constitutionally limited in its ability to regulate Americans’ lives.”In a closed door House GOP meeting Thursday, Indiana congressman and gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence compared the Supreme Court’s ruling to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to Politico.“I certainly did not intend to minimize any tragedy our nation has faced and I apologize,” Pence told Politico in a statement following the conference.In response to Pence’s statement, gubernatorial candidate John Gregg said in a statement that the firefighters, first responders and the families of thousands of Americans affected by the terrorist attacks deserve an apology.“For him to compare a disagreement over health care to the deaths of 3,000 Americans goes far beyond the bounds of common decency,” Gregg said in the release. “To compare our legislative and judicial process to a terrorist attack is deeply disturbing and wrong.”Greg, who beat cancer and has a son with Type 1 diabetes, said in a statement he knows first-hand how unexpected health care costs affect families in Indiana, as well as the economy.“Today’s ruling answers questions for the thousands of Hoosiers who are currently covered under this law,” Daniel Altman, communications director for the Gregg for Governor campaign, said in a statement. “Insurance companies cannot cut your insurance because you get sick. They cannot deny your coverage because you have a pre-existing condition. Young adults can stay on their parents’ policy while they look for a job. Finally, senior citizens will continue to get a break on their prescription drug costs.”U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., said in a statement he continues to support full repeal of the “massively expansive ObamaCare law.”Lugar linked his opposition to the health care law to trillions of dollars in new spending, billions in new taxes and a failure to control an increase in health care costs.He has repeatedly cited concern with ObamaCare’s trillions of dollars of new spending, billions in new taxes, and failure to control the rapid increase in health care costs.“The reality is ObamaCare has presented additional burdens to small businesses and levies new taxes that will hit American families and job creators in the years to come,” Lugar said in a press release. “The law also fails to keep the President’s promise to let Americans keep the coverage they already have and enjoy.”The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 3 to 5 million Americans could lose their employer-sponsored coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act.Planned Parenthood of Indiana President and CEO Betty Cockrum said in a statement that the decision made by the nation’s highest court will ensure affordable, quality health care to hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers.Additionally, Cockrum said women across the nation will soon have access to birth control with a co-pay.Nearly half of all pregnancies in Indiana are unintended, and more than half of all births are publicly funded at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $500 annually, according to the Planned Parenthood press release. Indiana has one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation.“These factors carry an enormous cost, both to our economy and our society,” Cockrum said. “By preventing unintended pregnancy, we ensure that more of the children who are already among us have the opportunity to thrive.”
(06/28/12 12:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Monday’s ruling on Arizona’s hotly contested immigration law before the United States Supreme Court, which struck down several key provisions, could impact immigration policy in Indiana.In 2011, Gov. Mitch Daniels signed Senate Enrolled Act 590, allowing local law enforcement to detain individuals subject to federal immigration court removal orders. It would also prohibit the use of foreign consular identification cards as valid ID in the state.The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, the National Immigration Law Center and the law firm of Lewis and Kappes, P.C. filed a class action lawsuit in May 2011 challenging Indiana’s 2011 immigration policy.U.S. District Judge Sarah Barker filed a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of Indiana’s immigration law following the ACLU’s lawsuit, which says the law authorizes police to make warrantless arrests of individuals based on assumed immigration status.The groups charge that the Indiana law will lead to racial profiling and trample upon the rights of all Indiana residents, according to the ACLU, which is currently waiting for Barker to issue a judgment on the case.In the case Arizona v. United States, concerning the constitutionality of Arizona’s immigration law and whether federal law should preempt a state-level immigration statute, the country’s highest court ruled that Arizona’s 2010 immigration law interfered with the federal government’s role in setting immigration policy.But the Supreme Court ruled that the state could move forward with the most highly contested provision in the law: the “show me your papers” requirement. This requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally.“We are not done in Arizona and will continue the battle against discriminatory laws like these that encourage racial profiling and undermine the constitutional guarantee of equal protection,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a press release. “Be it in the courts or in state legislatures, we will aggressively take on these laws and blunt the effects of this miscarriage of justice. When local police can stop and detain anyone they perceive as ‘foreign’ because of their skin color, their accent or their surname, it is a watershed moment for civil rights.”According to the Supreme Court’s opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, police officers will be prohibited from arresting people on minor immigration charges.Major provisions struck down by the immigration law include requiring all immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers, allowing law enforcement to arrest suspected illegal immigrants without warrants and making it a criminal offense for an illegal immigrant to seek employment.“I’m pleased that the Supreme Court found that the power for making decisions about immigration should be on a federal level, rather than on a state level,” said IU Ph.D. student Juan Eduardo Wolf, who has taught Immigrant Nations: Latinos and the Politics of Citizenship for the Latino Studies program at the University for the last two years. “I’m still concerned that, on the fourth issue that they ruled on, the ability to check someone’s immigration status for any detainee, is a little troublesome.”Wolf, 41, was born in Santiago, Chile, but was raised in Indiana. He said he became a U.S. Citizen in 1991.Illegal immigration is on the rise in Indiana, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center. Undocumented immigrants constitute an estimated 1.9 percent of Indiana’s population and about 2.5 percent of the state’s work force, according to the report, ranking the state 31st in the country.Aside from Indiana, four other states have laws on the books modeled after the provisions implemented in Arizona, including Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Utah. The ACLU and other civil rights groups have also filed lawsuits challenging the policies in each of these states.The State of Indiana was one of 15 states to sign an amicus brief authored by the State of Michigan that was filed in February in support of the State of Arizona, according to a press release from the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.The office is currently analyzing the Supreme Court’s ruling to determine the future of Indiana’s immigration law, according to the release.“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision provides valuable guidance to Indiana and other states in the proper role we serve in cooperation with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws,” Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said in the release. “The failure of Congress to reform our immigration statutes has put states in the difficult position of seeking this guidance from the judicial branch.”Following review, Zoeller said his office will advise the state legislature of any necessary changes to Indiana’s current law.“We need to start thinking seriously about what it means to be an American and who that population should entail,” Wolf said. “If you are going to be checking the status for someone, you’re going to have to be doing that for everyone alike, and you’re going to have to put in time, effort and money.”
(06/27/12 10:18pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Most of Yogi’s Grill and Bar was empty Tuesday evening and the jazz music was soft.But around a horseshoe-shaped bar in the back of the facility, more than 50 thirsty patrons waited for their first round of free beer.Every Tuesday at 7 p.m. Yogi’s offers Beer School, which offers a variety of free beer samples from a featured brewery, as well as demonstrations about different beer styles and brewing processes.This week, Upland Brewing Company’s Head Brewer Caleb Staton and Sales Representative Jackson Heiss presented a range of five different brews crafted in Bloomington.“I’m a much better brewer than I am a public speaker,” Staton said into a microphone before explaining Upland’s brewing process. Patrons listened under flat-screen televisions displaying ESPN broadcasts in the dimly lit bar.“Beer School provides an opportunity to share our craft beer with people who may not normally venture out,” Heiss said. “It gives us an opportunity to surprise people with something new and different that they otherwise may have never tried on their own.”As an added bonus, Upland provided an additional beer, a special Raspberry Lambic, which is red in color.“The type of beers Upland brews fits into the category of craft beer, and there is a lot of education that goes along with our type of beer,” Staton said. “We generally have multiple styles of beer we’re doing throughout the year, and each one is unique.”They also took the opportunity to discuss their new 35,000-square foot brewery, which will have an open house July 15.The new facility will allow for a larger brew house, fermenter and conditioning tank.The company began renovating the new building six or seven months ago, Staton said, which will not only allow for the production of a larger quantity of brews but will also allow the business to offer a larger diversity of craft beers.“We’re doing everything we can to keep up with Wheat and Dragonfly (demands), which is the majority of what we do anyway,” Staton said. “Keeping up with those two beers has been a challenge for the last three or four years.”The brewery currently sells more than 1 million bottles of beer per year in Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin, but the expansion will provide 15 to 20 percent more output.“We’re going to be expanding the market and be pushing out into new territory down the road, and if everything goes according to plan, it may be fairly soon. We may possibly be in a new state,” Staton said.Heiss said they are looking to distribute to Ohio next, bypassing Illinois because “Chicago is such a huge market.”Yogi’s co-owner Chris Karl, who has co-owned the business since it first opened in 1992, said the best part of Beer School is giving customers an opportunity to try beers they have never tasted before. Although Beer School originated as a training program for Yogi’s employees about three years ago, it became open to the public in 2012.“I do believe it helps us move products that people don’t know about or have just heard about. Once they actually try it they come back to have some,” Karl said, adding that it is hard to tell whether it has had a positive impact on the business financially.About half the people who attend Beer School are regulars to the event, ranging from dedicated beer enthusiasts to newbies to the craft beer scene.For Yogi’s server Sean Dupree, however, Beer School is a success.Dupree, who began working part-time at Yogi’s four years ago while studying at IU, said he works every Tuesday during Beer School. He said the Bar School crowd will typically purchase drinks before or after the event.“It’s good because it brings a bunch of people in here to try the beers,” Dupree said. “It’s free, so every time at 7 o’clock people come in here to try different beers.”
(06/24/12 11:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington’s investment in the nonprofit arts and culture industry is paying off, according to a study revealing that the industry generates $72,276,722 in annual economic activity within the city.According to the Arts and Economic Prosperity IV national economic study, 3,430 full-time equivalent jobs and $6,288,000 in local and state government revenues are generated through the nonprofit arts and culture industry.“The results of this study bear out the strong linkages between arts and economic vitality here in Bloomington,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said in a press release. “Arts activity enriches us socially and culturally, but the study shows that it also enhances our economy in measurable and meaningful ways.” The study, which was conducted by Americans for the Arts, is the nation’s most comprehensive economic impact study of nonprofit arts and culture industry, according to the Americans for the Arts’ website. The study used findings from 182 regions representing all 50 states and D.C.Americans for the Arts is the nation’s leading nonprofit advocacy organization for the arts and art education.Nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent $52,300,406 in Bloomington during fiscal year 2010, according to the release. This spending accounts for employee pay, supply purchases, contracts for services and acquired assets within the community. Nationally, the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study revealed that the nonprofit arts industry produced $135.2 billion in economic activity in 2010. This spending — $61.1 billion by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and $74.1 billion by their audiences — created 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs and generated $22.3 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues, according to the release.“This study shines a much-needed light on the vital role the arts play in stimulating and sustaining economic development,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, in the release. “Contrary to popular belief, the arts are a bustling industry that supports a plethora of diverse jobs, generates significant revenues for local businesses and to federal, state and local governments and provides quality of life that positions communities to compete in our 21st century creative economy.” Despite economic turbulence, nonprofit arts and culture organizations pumped an estimated $61.1 billion into the national economy in 2010, according to the survey. The revenue generated through arts events also generates funds for local businesses. Miah Michaelsen, assistant economic development director for the Arts for the City of Bloomington, said the arts contribute to the community’s high quality of life and its economic progress.An average arts attendee spends $24.60 per event, not including the cost of the event’s admission price. On the national level, these audiences provided $74.1 billion of valuable revenue for local merchants and their communities, according to the study.Cultural event attendees often eat dinner in local restaurants, pay for parking and buy gifts and souvenirs, according to the release. Attendees from out of town often stay overnight in local hotels. In Bloomington, these dollars support 651 full-time equivalent jobs and generate $2,239,000 in local and state government revenues.“The arts strengthen our local economy by helping to diversify it,” Michaelsen said. “More than 40 local arts organizations and more than 1,300 audience members assisted in quantifying the arts and cultural sector’s impact and contribution to our community during this study.”
(06/13/12 11:53pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Standing on an A-frame ladder in a narrow alleyway, Melissa Johnson, 25, applied a thin black line of acrylic paint onto a large, spray-painted stack of pancakes.When the lotus flowers mural on the side of Village Deli was vandalized with graffiti, it needed to be replaced. Johnson, who works full time between her jobs at Laughing Planet and Lennie’s, was commissioned to do the work. Using spray paint as her dominant medium, she began the project almost two weeks ago.The large mural is expected to be complete by Friday. But until she applies the final brush stroke, no one will know exactly what she is painting, excluding herself and Village Deli owner Bob Costello. She refuses to tell. Even her closest friends, she said, do not know the specific details.“People walk by and ask me what the image is going to be, and I’m waiting to add the last element until the very last day I’m working on it because I feel it’ll explain everything,” Johnson said. “I want to surprise people, and people walk through this alley so often that they can wait a couple days to see what it’s going to be.”As Johnson worked, Village Deli employee Taylor Marshall, 22, who is also an IU student, watched and talked about the painting.At first, Marshall said he thought the large, central figure on the mural was going to be a hamburger. But as the painting progressed, he said he recognized the object as a stack of pancakes.“Are you going to do anything with the white triangles?” Marshall asked Johnson, referring to large spaces left in the white background she had painted onto the entire wall last week. Surrounding the white triangles were multi-colored abstract swirls, created with spray paint.Like everyone else, she did not reveal her plans to Marshall. It is a surprise, she told him, but she hinted that the space would be visible at night.Though the mural is mostly created with spray paint, Johnson said she is using outdoor acrylic paint for the finer details. The mural will also include glow-in-the-dark paint, metallic gold paint and glitter.“Most of my work includes really bright colors,” Johnson said. “I feel like it makes it more lively and exciting, and I like flashy work that catches your eye. I just try to make my work exciting because I want people to be excited about seeing it.”This community excitement has been evident since Johnson first began painting the mural, she said.“That’s fun,” a woman said to Johnson as she passed through the narrow alley.“Oh, it’s so fun,” Johnson replied. “I’m having a blast.”Although members of the community will not know what the finished mural is intended to represent until its completion, she hopes it brings joy to those who see it.“In my opinion, as far as street art goes, I’m just trying to make an interesting space rather than just a blank wall,” Johnson said. “I’m not really trying to say anything serious. I don’t have a serious intent behind the piece except to make people happy.”Johnson, who is originally from Evansville, moved to Bloomington almost four years ago to attend IU. She graduated with a degree in studio art two years ago.Although she applied for the bachelor of fine arts painting program at IU, she wasn’t accepted. But now, still able to focus on her career as an artist, she said she doesn’t mind.“Throughout school, I was always miserable doing assignments and doing work that was required, and I always wanted to just have the time to express myself,” Johnson said. “So now I’m definitely where I’ve always wanted to be, doing large work and doing what I want to do.”And a street artist, she said, is exactly what she hopes to become.Johnson said she began spray painting in late 2011. She painted her first mural on the side of Lennie’s and most recently completed a brain for Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s “Brain Extravaganza!” Using spray paint, she produced a music-themed brain for the project displaying large brains across Bloomington.Her brain was sponsored by local radio station WFHB.Johnson said she hopes her involvement in “Brain Extravaganza!” will help jump-start her career as a full-time artist.“Doing the ‘Brain Extravaganza!’ gave me a great opportunity to work with other local artists who are full-time artists,” Johnson said. “To see that it is possible and to see how they’re making that their career was really an inspiring experience for me.”
(06/11/12 12:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Randy Hubach has vivid dreams.Frequently, the 29-year-old IU doctoral student lives an entire day while asleep.He imagines himself going to class; he takes exams and he solves specific statistics problems. Living in his dreams are the people he was last with before going to bed, possibly a classmate or family member. On one occasion, Hubach recalls sitting at the cluttered wooden desk inside his small, one-bedroom apartment. Only mentally, he wrote an entire essay.Unlike some, this dream did not end in violence. Sometimes, he suddenly loses recognition of the characters in his mind. Then he kills them. “It’s not like when you think of a horror film where you see the chainsaw come out and do it,” Hubach said. “You don’t really go through that process.” Usually ending his dreams by waking up at about 4 a.m., he thinks “Oh, that was kind of screwed up,” falls back asleep and later forgets most of the specific details. When he first started having the vivid hallucinations in 2008, he thought they were only nightmares, something everybody experiences. But he soon realized they mean something more. Instead, the dreams are a common side effect of his $3,000-a-month medication. Every day, Hubach goes to class, sometimes as a student and other times as the instructor. He strives to find his place in this world, to find success. But he never forgets that he lives with an incurable, and sometimes deadly, infection.In 2002, he tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus. ***Worldwide, an estimated 33.3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, more than 1 million of whom live in the United States, according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics. An estimated 56,300 new HIV infections are reported in the U.S. each year, with one new infection every nine and a half minutes.As of December 2011, approximately 10,225 Hoosiers are living with HIV/AIDS, 212 of which live in Monroe County.New HIV diagnoses are most prevalent in individuals between the ages of 18 and 24, Hubach said.“People who are college-age, emerging adults, only about 50 percent of those living with HIV actually know their diagnosis,” Hubach said. There is no cure.“How many people know somebody who is living with HIV?” Hubach asked, standing at the front of a lecture hall in the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building.None of the students raised their hands.“You all said that you probably know nobody with HIV in your circle,” Hubach said. “Well, I’m in your circle now.”Hubach taught two classes spring semester: human sexuality in the psychology department and stress management for HPER. But on this occasion, he was a guest lecturer for Alexandra Marshall’s human sexuality course.“He disclosed his HIV status to the class,” said Marshall, who is a Ph.D. candidate and associate instructor at IU. “I think that adds a personal component and some exposure that students may not have had before.”Before his lecture, Hubach taped large sheets of paper on the walls of the lecture hall, each including the name of one STI. The students were asked to walk to one of the sheets of paper and write everything they knew about that specific STI.“I haven’t had this talk in so long,” one of the students said to another, who agreed.“Who wants to go first?” Hubach asked.A woman in front of the paper marked for HIV/AIDS volunteered.“How do you get it?” Hubach asked the woman.“Mothers to infants, drugs, sex, blood transfusions, bad needles basically,” she responded.“Oh,” Hubach said. “So, you have the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll type of thing, and then your mom.”All transmissions mentioned were correct, he said. But he later explained other ways someone can become infected. “It is in saliva, it is in tears,” Hubach said. “However, the amount that is in it is so minuscule that if we look at saliva, you would have to drink about five gallons of someone’s saliva to get enough concentration of the HIV virus to where you would be even remotely at risk for the virus. So technically, your stomach would explode and you would die, and then maybe you would be at risk for HIV.”Hubach continued through the other STIs. “If you’re going to get one of these, if you had to choose, the two I would pick are chlamydia and gonorrhea,” Hubach said in his typical deep, nonchalant voice. “You take some pills, you do two weeks of doxycycline, you go through it, you’re as good as gold, go fuck some more.”Although Hubach disclosed his HIV status, he excluded his sexual preference.He does not want to perpetuate the stereotype that only homosexuals contract HIV, he said. Anybody — straight, gay, male, female — can become infected. He just happens to also be gay.***Hubach said he always knew he was a little different. Born in San Diego, he and his family moved a lot when he was younger. His father was in the Navy. “Even as a child, you wouldn’t meet your best friend,” Hubach said. Though reclusive, he said he developed tight relationships with his family.When Hubach’s father retired from the Navy in the mid-’90s, they moved back to southern California. Hubach met his first girlfriend in eighth grade. She was a sophomore in high school, he said. Throughout high school, he had three other girlfriends. Hubach said he was attracted to them. He enjoyed the relationships. He was still unaware of his homosexual status.“Going through the struggles in junior high and high school where you’re quote and quote (sic) attracted to your girlfriend, but you’re also attracted to some guy in your class and you don’t really know what to make of it,” Hubach said.Instead of finding guidance, Hubach drove himself harder academically. Hubach wanted to become a politician. He said he even interned as a page for a Republican congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives.Preparing to graduate high school, he hoped to go to Stanford but never applied. He settled with Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he studied political science and history and played trombone in the marching band. While at a bowling alley his freshman year, he first came out to another gay member of the band.Back in California for fall break, he first told his mother.His mother, he said, was sitting on the couch in the living room. He walked into the room, sat down on another couch and told her outright. “I’ve got something I want to talk to you about,” he remembers telling her. “I’m gay.”Next was his father.Leading up to the conversation, he said he was nervous, but if they reacted adversely, he knew he would return to Texas in only a few days.“How are people going to react?” he said he asked himself at the time. “What is going to happen when they take it?”Turns out, he said, they handled the news quite well. During his freshman year at SMU in 2000, he found his first boyfriend. But during his sophomore year, he found the boyfriend who would eventually give him HIV.After dating for about a year in what Hubach thought was a monogamous relationship, he started getting sick. Eventually, he went to the doctor.“You might want to get your affairs in order,” Hubach said he recalls his doctor telling him. “Just so you know, we ran an HIV test and you’re HIV positive. I don’t know how much longer you are going to live.”At first, Hubach said he got angry.“You have these thoughts about ‘Oh, I want to kill so-and-so,’” Hubach said. “For me it was like, ‘Oh my god, am I going to die?’”But he quickly went back to his daily routine. To him, he said, the news did not seem real. He ignored the virus’ existence until he went back to California. For several years he went without taking any form of medication, until his infection progressed. Then, for the first time, his infection felt real.His mother was the first person he told, Hubach said. Though shocked, Hubach said his mother still remained calm.“It was almost like a dual coming-out process because sometimes when you meet people you have to first come out as a gay individual, but then you have to say you’re a gay individual who is living with HIV,” Hubach said.He said he still struggles to determine when it is appropriate to disclose his infection.***Outside class, Hubach brings his condition with him everywhere he goes, more than just physically.At the Indiana Memorial Union, Hubach and Margo Bennett, a colleague and fellow doctorate student with Hubach, spoke to a group.Hubach and Bennett, who are both volunteers at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, have decided to form a networking group of IU students interested in issues surrounding sexuality and gender. On the balcony at the IMU, they had their first meeting on March 21.“I think it is just a nice social outlet,” Hubach said. “Our social lives are usually research or hanging out with people in our program, so it is kind of nice to meet people with similar interests.”Although no plans were finalized, the students brainstormed the details of their soon-to-be student organization. Among the attendees was sophomore Jenny Agostino, who took a human sexuality course taught by Hubach Fall semester.“One day he brought in dildos and stuff and showed us how to put condoms on them,” Agostino said. “He did a lot of demonstrations that really got the class to interact.”Although she learned from him for a semester, Agostino said she was unaware of his HIV status. “You don’t go up to somebody and say, ‘Hi, my name is Randy or so-and-so, and I have high cholesterol, so I might die by the age of 40,’” Hubach said.And when he has told people he has HIV, he has received negative reactions.In an Italian restaurant in Orange County, Calif., in 2006, Hubach went on a date with his partner of two months. They ordered their food, and then Randy disclosed his HIV status.“It looks like this relationship might be going farther,” Hubach recalls saying. “I respect you and so before we do anything else, or even go down that path, I’m HIV positive.’”Hubach said the man immediately reacted negatively.“‘Oh my god, you’re trying to kill me,’” Hubach recalled the man saying. “‘You’re such a fucking asshole.’” Then the man walked out of the restaurant.When the server arrived with their food, Hubach told the server that his friend was not feeling well. He asked to get the meals to go, paid the bill and left.“I think there’s a time in all of our lives when we want to be in a relationship and we seek a relationship,” Hubach said. “I think for myself, that was the turning point of focusing more on ‘What do I want to do with my life?’”***Hubach sat alone at the desk in his apartment. On his laptop, he checked his email for the last time that night. With a quiz scheduled in one of his classes the following morning, his students had last-minute questions. Procrastinating, he checked Facebook. On his desk, the date on his wooden Mickey Mouse calendar had already been changed. Standing from his large wooden desk, Hubach walked into his bedroom. On the nightstand was an assortment of pill bottles.For the last four years, he has taken the pills every day except two. But just to be sure, he set the pill on the lid of the bottle, left his bedroom and began unpacking his overstuffed backpack. All prepared for his next day of school, he poured a glass of water and choked down the pills in one gulp.In a matter of minutes, his eyelids began to droop. Sitting at his desk, he began to feel loopy, drowsy. It was time for Hubach to go to bed.
(06/10/12 11:27pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The United States House of Representatives passed the Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012 on Thursday by a 270-146 vote. The bill, co-sponsored by Indiana Representatives Todd Young and Mike Pence, intends to repeal a 2.3-percent tax on medical devices imposed under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The medical industry is heavily centered in Indiana, Young said in a press release, and the tax on medical devices would have negative impacts on the state. If the Health Care Cost Reduction Act is not enacted, the medical device tax will begin in January 2013.“The medical device industry employs more than 20,000 Hoosiers, with nearly 6,800 in Warsaw alone,” Pence said in a press release. “Every day these researchers, scientists, technicians and high-tech manufacturers produce a multitude of life-saving and life-enhancing products that are sold around the world, generating an economic impact of more than $10 billion in Indiana.”The tax could also have an impact on the economy in Bloomington, where Cook Medical is headquartered. Cook Medical is the nation’s largest privately owned medical device company and has plants in Indiana, Illinois, North Carolina, California and Pennsylvania. “This repeal is vital to patients and their caregivers who want their critical-care devices manufactured in the U.S.,” Steve Ferguson, chairman of the board of Cook Group, parent of Cook Medical, said in a press release. “The threat of this imminent tax has already led companies to move existing manufacturing offshore and plan for future growth outside the U.S.”In addition to the repeal of the medical device tax, H.R. 436 would repeal limitations on the purchase of over-the-counter medications under the ACA. It would also make changes to the use of health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts.“This tax would be devastating to Indiana and to device manufacturers across the country,” Young said in a press release. “Indiana is recognized internationally in this industry because dozens of medical device manufacturers are headquartered here, and 20,000 Hoosiers work in this field. I’m proud to co-sponsor and vote for a bill to protect Indiana jobs.”The Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimate this bill would increase the deficit by $2.2 billion in 2013 and $3.2 billion during the 2013-17 period but decrease the deficit by $6.7 billion during the 2013-22 period.That total reflects on-budget savings of about $9.2 billion and off-budget costs of about $2.5 billion, according to the CBO.“We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives, which today passed bipartisan legislation that repeals the medical device tax,” Ferguson said. “We hope the U.S. Senate will act in the near future. If not repealed, this tax will lead to U.S. technology and jobs being relocated outside the U.S. Further, we will see a loss in future jobs and delays in the latest medical innovations being available to American patients. Americans want their critical devices manufactured in the U.S. and to have access to the latest medical technologies.”
(06/10/12 11:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 100 Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally protesters gathered on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn Friday to express opposition to the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate issued in January.The date for the rally, according to a press release, was chosen to highlight the HHS mandate’s unconstitutional infringement of religious freedom, coming just weeks before the highly anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act from the U.S. Supreme Court, expected at the end of June.The mandate, under President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, requires employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs to employees.Although the mandate includes a “religious exemption,” Friday’s protesters said the mandate is a violation of their religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.“As a Christian, I completely oppose the abortion of unborn children,” protester Andrew Henry said. Henry, who graduated from IU in 2006, is currently a history teacher and staff member at ClearNote Church in Bloomington. “We’re made in the image of God, and a human life is sacred and should not be killed.”The protest began with a rosary at 11:30 a.m. and the rally commencing at noon. As speakers prayed into a microphone, the protesters bowed their heads in silence. From the elderly in wheelchairs to young children, attendees held cardboard signs that read, “your freedom is next,” “Stop Obama’s HHS mandate” and “stand up for your religious freedom.”The HHS mandate, Henry said, requires religious institutions to directly fund contraceptive and abortion drugs, although these religious institutions specifically oppose such practices.“This whole idea of the president mandating things to the American people is against our constitutional rights,” said Carole Canfield of ClearNote Church, who helped organize the demonstration. “That’s not the way this is set up, that is a dictatorship. He has no right to dictate these things, especially when they go against the Constitution.”The Bloomington protest, which was organized by IU Jacobs School of Music student Martha Sliva, 18, was part of a nationwide movement. With the closest protest in Indianapolis, Sliva said she organized the event to inform the Bloomington and IU communities.“I think it was a really good show of people who aren’t going to take it, who are being treaded on by the government,” Sliva said. “There are so many people who just stopped and looked and saw people are not in the closet about this and we won’t take it. I mean, if you go to any other country, they can’t believe what America is letting slide by.”In more than 150 cities throughout the nation, more than 10,000 people rallied against the HHS mandate during the second Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally. The first rally was in March.Friday was also the 223rd anniversary of the day James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights to the first Congress, including what would later become the First Amendment.“If Obamacare is ruled unconstitutional, we must insure that religious freedom will be protected in subsequent health care legislation,” Stand Up Rally national co-director Monica Miller said in the release.“But if Obamacare is not struck down, we’ll be sending the federal authorities a clear message that the faith based institutions and private businesses affected by the HHS mandate simply will not comply with it.”According to Miller, the federal government does not have the right to define “the scope of religious ministry,” referring to the “religious exemption” in the mandate that does not include several religious institutions, including Catholic schools and hospitals.“We have an obligation as citizens to do everything in our power, from praying, talking to our friends and family, writing letters to our representatives in the city, county, state, the governor, Congress, anybody we can to oppose this because it is evil,” Henry said.“When the laws of a nation are evil, the nation will not prosper. The nation will suffer and eventually die.”
(06/08/12 9:26pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 100 Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally protesters gathered on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn Friday afternoon to express opposition to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate issued in January.The date for the Stand Up Rally, according to a press release, was chosen to highlight the HHS mandate’s unconstitutional infringement of religious freedom, coming just weeks before the highly anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act from the U.S. Supreme Court, expected at the end of June.The mandate, under President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, requires employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs to employees.Although the mandate includes a “religious exemption,” Friday afternoon’s protesters said the mandate is a violation of their religious freedom, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.“As a Christian, I completely oppose the abortion of unborn children,” said Andrew Henry. Henry, who graduated from IU in 2006, is currently a history teacher and staff member at ClearNote Church in Bloomington.“We’re made in the image of God and a human life is sacred and should not be killed.”The mandate, Henry said, requires religious institutions to directly fund contraceptive and abortion drugs, although these religious institutions specifically oppose such practices.Bloomington’s protest, which was organized by IU Jacobs School of Music student Martha Sliva, 18, was part of a nationwide movement Friday.In more than 150 cities, from New York City to San Francisco, about 10,000 Americans rallied against the HHS mandate during the second Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally. The first rally was held in March.Friday was also the 223rd anniversary of the day James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights to the first Congress, including what would later become the First Amendment.“If Obamacare is ruled unconstitutional, we must insure that religious freedom will be protected in subsequent health care legislation,” Stand Up Rally national co-director Monica Miller said in the release. “But if Obamacare is not struck down, we’ll be sending the federal authorities a clear message that the faith based institutions and private businesses affected by the HHS mandate simply will not comply with it.”According to Miller, the federal government does not have the right to define “the scope of religious ministry,” referring to the “religious exemption” in the mandate that does not include several religious institutions, including Catholic schools and hospitals.“We have an obligation as citizens to do everything in our power, from praying, talking to our friends and family, writing letters to our representatives in the city, county, state, the governor, congress, anybody we can to oppose this because it is evil,” Henry said. “When the laws of a nation are evil, the nation will not prosper, the nation will suffer and eventually die.”
(06/07/12 12:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Inside the Monroe County Courthouse, ceilings in some rooms are still missing and carpet is yet to be laid. But renovation on the historic building, which began September 2011, is nearing completion.However, workers recently discovered a problem. Two panes in a 100-year-old stained glass window beneath the building’s dome are cracked. Approximately 75 feet above the courthouse’s ground floor, on the underside of the structure’s dome, is a large stained glass window. Dirt, debris and bird droppings covered the historic glass, which hadn’t been cleaned for years.“The dome is so high it is nearly impossible to clean because, above the floor, it is basically open all the way to the top of the dome,” said Mark Stoops, Monroe County Commission president. Construction work on the courthouse began after renovations in the county assessor’s office revealed structural problems throughout the entire building. Because the steel beams supporting each of the floors in the building were initially placed too far apart, additional beams were added beneath each of the floors.“When they were renovating the assessor’s office, they took a core sample of the concrete floor and determined it was not even 25 percent of the structural strength required for the building,” Stoops said.Currently, workers are adding the finishing touches to each of the different offices, said Site Manager Bill Ludlow of Weddle Bros. Construction Co. Although each of the rooms are in different stages, Ludlow said the construction work is only slightly behind schedule. Putting the steel beams beneath the floors was the most difficult part of the construction, Ludlow said. But another challenge, he said, was just dealing with the old building, which was built in 1906.During this extensive construction work, grime covered the building further, Stoops said, so the commissioners decided to have it cleaned.That is when workers discovered two of the four panes in the glass are cracked. While one of the white panes has a minor hole, only allowing a small ray of sunlight to seep into the courthouse below, the other pane is different. “I had never noticed it before, but once they were cleaned, the crack was obvious,” Stoops said. “It turned out that when they were replacing the copper dome, a workman dropped a hammer on it and it cracked, but because it was a type of safety glass, it was never repaired.”Copper siding surrounding the dome’s exterior was replaced in 2006.The dropped hammer cracked the pane from one end to the other, which is approximately eight feet across and three feet wide. “Part of the issue is trying to find appropriate replacement glass. Any modern glass we put in is so obviously different from the old glass that it wouldn’t look right,” Stoops said. “So we’re researching and trying to find chutes of glass that are big enough, because it is a large, continuous piece of glass.”City Glass of Bloomington, Inc., is currently searching for a matching piece of glass, and if this glass is found, they will also perform the installation. But finding the correct glass might not be possible, Stoops said.“The difficult part is seeing if, once we find a piece of glass, if it really looks the same from the floor, or if not, finding enough glass to replace all the panels at once,” Stoops said.And if all panels are replaced at once, finding modern glass could be cheaper. But if finding matching glass is not an option, leaving the cracked glass in the building is also a possibility.“The glass itself is stable and won’t fall down, so there is a possibility of leaving the glass,” Stoops said. “If anything, it kind of records a historic event on the courthouse of a worker dropping a hammer on it. Hopefully we can replace it.”Although Stoops said construction on the courthouse is about a month behind, with the addition of searching for the glass, the setback only requires that county offices remain in their current locations in the Showers Building until construction is complete. Although an exact date has not yet been set, Stoops said there will be an open house at the Courthouse upon construction completion in August. Whether the county decides to replace the glass or not, Stoops said the courthouse will look different than anybody has ever seen.
(06/06/12 11:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The B-Line Trail, a 3.1-mile trail providing accessibility to downtown Bloomington, received national recognition last week when it was designated as a National Recreation Trail.“I’ve long thought the B-Line would be an investment that would help further put Bloomington on the map, and now that’s literally the case,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said. “Everyone involved in making the trail a reality and every trail user should know they are part of an important bigger picture.” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Director of the National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis made the announcement that, due to its connection to downtown attractions, the B-Line will become one of 53 trails in 23 states to receive the designation.“We’re the only one in Indiana, so it’s a very unique and prestigious designation,” said Mick Renneisen, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, which oversaw the construction of the trail beginning in 2008 and is responsible for its ongoing maintenance. “I would think the numerous ways the trail connects people to the community is a big factor.”National Recreation Trail designation recognizes existing trails and trail systems that link communities to recreational opportunities on public lands and in local parks, according to a statement from the United States Department of the Interior. The B-Line Trail will receive a certificate of designation and a set of trail markers in recognition of its newest honor.The trail’s popularity is most noticeable during Saturday’s Farmers’ Market, Renneisen said, when 10,000 people commute to the Shower’s complex. Many of these people, he said, either bike or walk on the trail for transportation.But it is also used simply for exercise.“More people than ever are using the trail for exercise, recreation and transportation. It’s been an economic driver as well,” Renneisen said. “It’s an active community. It values highly the connection the B-Line Trail project has presented to the community.”Both the Clear Creek Trail and Rail Trail were established in Bloomington before the B-Line Trail was built. But neither of the trails, Renneisen said, connected to anything. But with the addition of the B-Line Trail, which used to be a railroad track dividing the city east to west, the B-Line, Rail and Clear Creek trails now come together to form a continuous 7.5-mile trail system.This connectivity, Renneisen said, has increased foot traffic on all three trails, but the B-Line Trail remains the most used.In the 1800s, the path was used to deliver raw material to the community when Bloomington’s downtown was a central hub for industrial-type uses, Renneisen said, such as when the Showers Building was a furniture factory. “The railroad tracks were a divider of the community, and that’s no longer the case,” Renneisen said. “Drawing improvements on top of what was once the railroad have created a common feature that everyone can use.”And this use, he said, is about to extend even further as the city works on the Switchyard Park Property master planning process. The southern part of the B-Line Trail travels through the former switchyard property and was a major consideration in the area’s design ideas as a large community park. “The switchyard park would just become yet another anchor,” Renneisen said. “Imagine the Farmers’ Market as a programmatic anchor on the downtown section. ... Then imagine on the other end of this 3.1-mile trail a large community park that draws people to that end. I think you can see how powerful the B-Line has become as a driver of other economic development activities that might occur around the trail.”
(06/06/12 11:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Following the command of “fire in the hole,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Chad Hilton, who serves as explosive ordinance disposal commander, pressed the detonator.Moments later, dirt and rubble launched into the sky with a boom as 33 students in the IUPD Police Academy plugged their ears and felt the explosion’s shock wave pass their faces. Police academy students were trained how to handle a situation involving explosives during an explosives demonstration Wednesday in a grassy field off of IU’s Ridge Road, near the cross country course.The class is designed to give academy students a general idea of what explosives are on the market for when they graduate and are officers on the street.“The whole point of teaching this class is to make officers aware of what explosives can do, how they can hurt you and to make them aware not to touch them and not to move them,” said Indiana State Police Sgt. Rich Myers, who is a bomb technician. “We want to train them to move the people away from the device, not the device away from the people. If the building goes down, so be it, but get the people out and take care of it.”During the class, state police bomb technicians demonstrated how to utilize K-9 units trained to find explosives, how to spot different fuses, how to clear a building following a bomb threat and how different types of explosives work.Bomb technicians demonstrated five different explosions to the cadets, ranging from a small blasting cap inside a coffee can to a larger explosive — a TNT Booster.“We do have an occasional call of a suspicious object or package, and this just tells an officer what they should be doing when they come across it, so it’s really good training,” IUPD Chief Keith Cash said.