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(01/30/13 6:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Data from Duke Energy Indiana and the Monroe Water Treatment Plant revealed a reduction in water and electricity use in 2012.Duke Energy provides electricity for commercial, government, industrial and residential establishments.The electricity report for the Bloomington district showed a 2.25-percent drop in total use from 2011 to 2012 and a 5.09-percent drop in total use from 2010 to 2012. The commercial, residential and government categories showed decreased use between 2011 and 2012, while the industrial sector’s electricity use showed a 1.92-percent increase.The Monroe Water Treatment Plant serves Monroe County and parts of Brown County, said Rachel Atz, water quality coordinator for the utilities department.In addition to being used to provide water to customers, water treated at the plant is also used to backwash water filters, fight fires and flush water transmission mains, Atz said.The 2012 report showed a 6.82-percent decrease in water treated at the plant compared to the previous year. Usage levels in 2012 were higher than 2010 levels by less than 0.001 percent.Atz said she believes last year’s drought contributed to the reduction in 2012.She said in May and June 2012, the treatment plant was producing water at its maximum capacity of 24 million gallons per day. Because there was less rainfall, residents used more water by watering their lawns and filling their swimming pools to cool off, she said.“We actually had, for the first time ever, voluntary and mandatory water restrictions,” she said. Despite above-average water usage levels prior to the restrictions, the same restrictions resulted in an overall decrease for the year, Atz said.Currently, the facility is undergoing a $46 million expansion to increase the amount of water it can treat to 30 million gallons per day.Atz said this will help prevent water restrictions in the future.“We don’t expect to have that problem this year,” she said. “Our new facility will allow us to meet the needs of the community.”
(01/29/13 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The runway is quiet, save the caw of the birds circling overhead in the crisp winter wind.A distant rumble.Then, a roar. The Cessna 172SP rips down the straightaway, gaining momentum, reaching speeds of 80 miles per hour. Matt pulls back on the yoke, lifting the nose of the plane. Inch by inch, the wheels rise.The 2,000-pound craft is airborne.In minutes, the sight and sound of the plane are swallowed by the blue expanse of sky.***Two years and $10,000 ago, Matt Laherty, 41, could only dream of a flying license. He’d flown before in friends’ planes and with his twin brother, who owns a personal aircraft, a Piper Cherokee.But passing the Federal Aviation Administration test to earn his private pilot license was a goal he had yet to achieve.“I’ve always wanted to fly,” Laherty said. “I decided to do it now before I retire.”He is taking lessons at BMG Aviation, Bloomington’s only fixed-base operator at the Monroe County Airport. After 75 hours of flight instruction, Laherty has scheduled his final test for next week.He said he’s feeling confident, a grin spreading beneath his scruffy beard. Even his first time flying, he wasn’t nervous.“For me, it was never scary,” he said. “Once you’re in the plane, your training kicks in.”Laherty is just one of the 10 to 20 students instructor Joe Deckard teaches. Deckard has taught at BMG for five years since graduating from flight school and has flown private planes around the country.“It’s unlike anything else that you’ll ever do,” he said. “Unless you’ve done it, it’s hard to explain. Once you get hooked on it, though, that’s it. It’s over.”He talks about the aircraft in BMG’s hanger with a sense of familiarity that shows his expertise.“They’re just machines,” he said. “Unlike a car, you have to control a plane in three dimensions left, right, forward, up and down.” He tilted a wooden airplane model to demonstrate. As the plane moves down the runway, the pilot uses his feet to control the plane, which is called taxiing, he explained. In the air, it’s a combination of using the steering wheel, called a yoke, and the pedals, which together control the horizontal and vertical flaps.Deckard has controls on his side of the plane as well — just in case. “I can always relieve him of his command,” he said. “But you have to let them learn from their mistakes, too. I never let them go past the point where I can’t fix it.”He said his students come from all walks of life. “It ranges greatly from 15-year-old kids to, one time, I had a 67-year-old,” he said.Some complete the minimum 40 hours in months, while others, like Laherty, might take several years.“What happens is you really have to spend the time to understand the controls,” he said. “You have to go back and refresh your skills.”You can’t go away for two months and come back and be in the same place you left off, he said. He wants to make sure he is going to pass the test when he takes it.“It’s a big commitment, both in terms of time and money,” Laherty said. BMG has been in business for more than a decade, manager Mary Beth Wampler said. She said about 30 people are in the flight program at any given time.“Everyone from factory workers, to professors, to doctors,” she said. “Most do it just for fun.”For Laherty, flying is for recreation. He said he considers one day taking his 11- and 9-year-old kids for a flight, but for now, it is just him in the sky.“It’s very serene,” he said. “It’s very liberating.”***Not every day is a good day to fly, Deckard said, but Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. “A day like today is great — it’s five knots straight down the runway,” he said.The instructor and the student walked to the hanger, joking about how thankful they were to have heat in the Cessna 172SP that day. Laherty performed the preflight check on the single-engine airplane, a process that has become second nature. He ducked beneath the wing to check the fuel and oil, then the antennas, wing flaps and radial tires before moving to the interior. Finally, the plane was deemed ready for flight. Deckard rolled the hanger door open, the sunlight streaming in, illuminating the hanger and reflecting off Laherty’s sunglasses as he sat ready in the cockpit. “He had to put on his sunglasses to look cool,” his instructor said, laughing.They taxied down the runway, the black asphalt crisscrossed with the chalky tread marks of thousands of aircraft.“November 498 Sierra Papa is ready for departure,” Laherty said into his headpiece.The familiar response came over the airwaves.“Cleared for take-off.”
(01/28/13 5:22pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Somewhere amid a muddle of leases and landlords, you are trying to figure out the logistics of renting. Here are a few tips from Randall Frykberg, director of IU’s Student Legal Services. Consider them before you get the keys to your new home.Do take pictures of your property before you move in.Inspect the area thoroughly and note any defects. The strongest cases Student Legal Services receives are those with visual evidence, Frykberg said. “If a defect seems important (windows, door locks, bugs), don’t accept the keys unless your landlord fixes it,” he said.Do know your rights as a tenant.Though most of your rights are specific to your lease, the government also mandates certain standards. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability.Bloomington code requires all residential renting units meet specific qualifications including:• a heating unit that reaches 65 degrees• working plumbing• stable structure and lockable doors• sufficient light and ventilation• fire protection systems and exitsFor the complete list visit bloomington.in.gov.Don't give your landlord a reason to report you.Your landlord, or your neighbors, can report you for a variety of city violations. These include noise, trash and yard maintenance.Your landlord might require you sign a list of house rules covering pets, quiet hours and so forth.If you break them, you can be evicted. Clauses on your lease might allow your landlord to evict you for certain criminal violations. These include “use and/or sale of illegal drugs, serving alcohol to a minor and even consumption of alcohol by a minor,” according to Student Legal Services.Do purchase renters insurance.Renters insurance protects your belongings in case of fire, flood, theft and other disasters. Frykberg said renters insurance is especially important for students with valuable possessions, such as expensive computers, televisions, cameras or other electronics.Adding renters insurance onto your parents’ homeowners insurance for about $15 to $20 a month is easy. Your car insurance provider can also easily add renters insurance to your policy.Don’t allow friends to engage in illegal activities on your property.As the Student Legal Services website says, “You did a bad deed, hosting friends and their weed.”Keep in mind you can be held accountable for any illegal activities you permit.Do pick your roommates carefully.“It’s not a Friday night hookup, it’s more like a marriage,” Frykberg said.It’s important to live with someone you trust. You could end up paying your roommate’s share of the rent if your lease includes a “joint and several liability” clause.Do contact Student Legal Services or the Housing and Neighborhood Development Department if you have questions.Student Legal Services, 703 E. Seventh St., offers legal services paid for by your student activity fee.HAND investigates rental complaints for violations of the Property Maintenance Code. The department’s website describes necessary steps in filing a rental complaint at bloomington.in.gov/hand.Don’t sign your lease until you have read it carefullyYou are agreeing to a binding contract with your landlord.
(01/28/13 5:22pm)
Insurance, legal matters, rights and responsibilities
(01/25/13 3:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With a drink in one hand and the desire to go green in the other, the Bloomington branch of Green Drinks met Wednesday evening to begin the year.Green Drinks is an international organization that encourages local, social and educational interactions regarding environmental issues. Edwin Datschefski, who founded Green Drinks in 1990 in London, England, said in an email he estimates there are 1,000 branches in 60 countries. The Bloomington branch was formed in 2009, said Marcia Veldman, a member of the organizing committee. “It was an instant success here in Bloomington,” Veldman said. “It’s helped bring together people interested in sustainability, but working on it in different sectors. I think through Green Drinks those connections are made.”At Wednesday’s meeting, IU geology professor Michael Hamburger presented “Catastrophe! Natural Disasters, Sustainability, and the Future of Civilization.”“He was kind of comparing the two parts of his professional interests — natural disasters, things out of human control, and things in the environment that are results of people’s choices,” O’Donnell said. Hamburger said his talk was a turnaround from typical speeches on protection of the environment to protection from the environment.“It’s a topic that interests people,” he said. “What I tried to do was link the concept of disasters and disaster mitigation with the concept of sustainability and the long-term survival of civilization.”He spoke to a packed house of about 80 people, Veldman said.Hamburger said the audience was responsive for his first presentation with Green Drinks. “They were an engaged and interested audience and after a few beers, they were eager to learn more,” he said with a laugh.Green Drinks meetings typically last from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Banquet Facility of the Upland Brewing Company. Each meeting combines a presentation by a speaker with time for the green community to socialize and make announcements.“It’s a really neat way to bring together people in the sustainability community,” Veldman said. “Because Bloomington is kind of a sustainability hot spot. It allows us to get speakers in the forefront of sustainability issues.”Molly O’Donnell, a Bloomington resident and a regular Green Drinks attendee, said a wide variety of topics are discussed.“It’s interesting to meet people talking about creating a hiking trail or focused on local food,” O’Donnell said. Green Drinks will meet again 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Upland Brewing Company. The meeting will feature presentations from local faith communities and solar contractors who will be installing solar panels this spring at four Bloomington places of worship.
(01/24/13 3:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jeffery Allen stood behind the Broadview Learning Center lectern Wednesday, a blue pinwheel, the symbol of Prevent Child Abuse America, pinned to his lapel.He announced the formation of Nurture Engage and Transform, the Bloomington chapter of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana, an organization working to prevent child abuse and neglect in Indiana.“The aim is simple,” said Allen, president of NET. “To fully realize the vision of Monroe County and Bloomington by addressing the common stresses that can lead to abuse and neglect.”The Bloomington chapter specially selected the name NET. “We liked the image of a net, the security of having a safety net,” Allen said. “It speaks to what our chapter wants to adhere to.” Mayor Mark Kruzan spoke at the event, reflecting on his past work to combat child abuse.“I’m happy to see how much has happened since then, but one glaring issue remains, and that is fatalities,” Kruzan said. “When you have 30 to 50 fatalities a year on your hands, that’s a crisis.”He spoke about the costs of child abuse — the loss of life, the opportunities lost and the costs to social services. “This is done for the generation of children that will suffer if nothing is done,” he said.The Asset Building Coalition of Monroe County and the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office collaborated to form the new chapter.Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Gaal proposed the idea of forming the Bloomington chapter to ABC. He recalled the child abuse and neglect cases he encountered during the years.“It was a terrible tragedy when a child was hurt in the community,” he said. “We need to do something to prevent those terrible cases from happening in the first place.”He spoke about recent initiatives to prevent child abuse, such as the formation of Susie’s Place, a child advocacy center in Bloomington. He hopes the new chapter will not only respond to the problem of child abuse, but also prevent new occurrences.“We have to be always thinking about more than our response,” Gaal said. “We have to think about how to get out in front of the problem.”Emily Perry, director of Susie’s Place, said she hopes to continue working with NET. She said the need for prevention is exemplified by the increase in cases Susie’s Place has seen in the past years — from 31 cases in 2010 to 169 cases in 2012.“We don’t want to meet those kids,” she said. “The key is to get them before they ever get to that point.”Mary Armstrong-Smith, Prevent Child Abuse Indiana community partners director, presented the Bloomington council with their official charter.“There are all kinds of people, artists, mechanics (and) cashiers that can do something in our community that can make it less likely for a child to be hurt,” she said. “Our communities are interconnected. They are woven together. That’s why the process of getting together is crucial.”Allen said the chapter plans to begin the year by partnering with the Broadview Neighborhood Association.He said this partnership will focus on the needs of the neighborhood and create a strong model to expand to other neighborhoods in the future. “We’re not doing this because it’s easy, we are doing this because it is hard and it is necessary,” he said.To report an incident of child abuse or neglect in Monroe County, Monroe county child services can be contacted at 812-336-6351.
(01/22/13 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nine-year-old Michael Proffer dug his hands into the fake chimpanzee dung at WonderLab Museum of Health, Science and Technology on Monday. “There’s another one,” he said excitedly as he extracted a seed from the mixture. When it didn’t match the seeds on the identification card, he moved it to the unknown pile. “This is cool,” he said.Proffer and his younger twin brothers came to WonderLab Monday for the Real Life Science: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. The event consisted of 12 presentations by IU scientists and volunteers, ranging from geology and biology to entomology. Children touched beetles, jumped to make earthquakes, mixed solutions and dug through rocks to find fossils.“It’s great for them to have a place to do hands-on activities,” Alyssa Conner, a Lawrence County resident, said. Her daughter Vanessa, 8, learned about plants while Lili, 4, hoisted herself up using the pulley system. “We’ve had a membership since they were in strollers,” Conner said.The event also showcased the diversity of scientists in terms of gender, race and ethnicity, said Staci Radford-Vincent, WonderLab program and outreach manager.“We have done special programming for MLK day the last few years,“ she said. “As this year came around, we planned a program to interact with scientists and see the diversity of science. It’s the idea that everybody can do science. It’s about being curious and wanting to learn about the world around you.” She said many participants this year were particularly enthusiastic.“I’ve seen lots of kids interacting and becoming excited about the presentations,” she said. “And the presenters are really enjoying interacting with the families, both the parents and the kids.”WonderLab volunteer Fran Weinberg held an Australian bearded dragon to her chest. “He’s called ‘bearded’ because of all those spikes he has,” she said to a group of children. “But they are really very soft. All he can do is scare people and make them run away and not eat him.”Julie Hong, 7, reached out to stroke the lizard’s spiky skin. Hong said she felt, but softer than she expected. Julie’s favorite activity?“Climbing the leaves,” she said, referring to the floor-to ceiling structure.Eight-year-old Andrew Theriault enjoyed the pH station. He helped measure liquid and salt into a test tube.“Give it a really good shake,” said Allison Bryan, a volunteer with the IU presentation.“I want to make it like seawater,” he said as he vigorously shook the tube.Bryan showed him how to check the pH of a substance using the meter. If it’s less than seven, it’s an acid, she said. He then tested a tube of Coke and confirmed its acidic status. “This is a great experience for children to learn about science in a hands-on way,” Bryan said. “Hopefully it will install an interest in future scientists.”She said she liked the pH presentation because it allowed the kids to see the color change as they changed the pH of the substance. “They ask ‘what happened, why did it do that?’”Weinberg said she also enjoyed watching the children’s curiosity as they explored the museum.“Kids and science are really two things that should go together,” she said.
(01/18/13 4:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Terrible Awful No Good Really Bad Bike Ride might not be as awful as it sounds. Despite the menacing moniker, the seven-mile Bloomington bike ride is for the whole family, said Jacqueline Bauer, sustainability coordinator for the Economic and Sustainable Development Department.“It’s a good way to get everyone out, especially in a season when people aren’t usually biking,” Bauer said.Participants, ”both the fearful and the fearless,” according to bloomington.in.gov, should meet at 10 a.m. Saturday at City Hall. Registration is not required.The second annual ride aims to show participants biking is possible year round.“We really are trying to encourage people to think of biking as a way to get around all the time,” Bauer said. “We are trying to show people how to get out there on their own in what they might not think of as biking weather.” The route will take riders through neighborhoods and public areas, with few street crossings, Bauer said. Though the race is intended to take place in any type of weather, last year’s race fell on a sunny day.“Last year, we did it in February, and we thought by pushing into January, we would get colder weather this year,“ Bauer said.However, with forecasts in the 40s and sunny for Saturday, that might not be the case.“We might just have people out and biking on a really nice day,” Bauer said, laughing.Allen Edwards, an culinary arts instructor at Ivy Tech Community College and an IU student, is participating in the race for the first time. “It sounds like a fun way too promote cycling,” Edwards said.When Edwards worked as an executive chef at Four Winds Resort near Monroe Lake, he biked the 25-mile round trip two to three times a week. Now, he said he cycles to class and on short trips into town.“I think if anyone lives within five miles of their work place, they can make the effort to bike to work, at least a few times a week,” he said. Edwards also emphasized the environmental impact of commuting via bicycle instead of a car.“Anytime we can get cars off the street we are helping the quality off the air,” he said.Vince Castiro, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Planning Department, said Bloomington has a higher percentage of bicycle commuters than the national average. He said he hopes the ride will encourage more residents to try transportation on two wheels.“One way, is it will reach out to the people who aren’t biking very much, or biking for transportation, and it’s important for them to feel that they are part of a community,” Castiro said. “The second thing is this ride specifically is intended to show that biking is possible even in the winter.”Bauer will be riding Saturday, and said she anticipates a turn out of about 65 people.“Almost all of us can figure out a way to get out on our bikes,” she said. “It’s a really easy thing to do.”
(01/11/13 4:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan met Wednesday at the Monroe County Public Library to discuss Medicaid expansion. The event, in conjunction with the League of Women Voters, was named “Medicaid expansion: It’s good for all of us!”Rob Stone, director of HCHP, spoke to about 75 audience members in the library auditorium. “I’m going to try to explain some things that seem really complicated, but I think they are understandable,” Stone said. “The Affordable Care Act, ACA, or Obamacare, if you prefer, was passed and contained two portions. The mandate and the exchanges have gotten all the headlines. The Medicaid expansion was really a kind of forgotten portion.”Indiana can decide to accept Medicaid expansion or opt out of the program. A decision must be made by the state legislature before it closes April 29.“My goal for 2013 is that Indiana, the legislature and the government, will take the steps necessary to initiate the Medicaid expansion and fund the Medicaid expansion,” Stone said. “It will cover roughly half of the uninsured people in the state, which is huge.”Stone said the opposition to Medicaid expansion is both political and financial. “Unfortunately, a lot of the people on the Republican side ran in one way or another in opposition to the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “That’s what kind of makes it political.”He presented financial data supporting the expansion.He said 60 percent of Medicaid is currently covered by the federal government. With the ACA, though, the federal government will pay 100 percent for the first three years. It will taper down to 90 percent “indefinitely,” he said.A study, commissioned by Gov. Mitch Daniels, determined it would cost the state $150 million to invest in the program, Stone said. He said other estimates are closer to $50 million and could be covered by the cigarette tax funding the Healthy Indiana Plan.According to a letter Gov.-elect Mike Pence wrote to Daniels last year, Pence acknowledged support for HIP but not for Medicaid expansion. While President Barack Obama’s administration granted a one-year extension to HIP, it did not permit it to substitute Medicaid.“The Medicaid program continues to be one of Indiana’s largest budget items,” Pence wrote in a letter to Daniels last year. “Its costs grow every year, and we have struggled to pay for our existing program. The Medicaid expansion would increase dependency by putting one quarter of all Hoosiers on Medicaid and could cost Indiana billions between now and 2020.”Stone said he disagreed with these claims.“For every dollar Indiana puts in, they are going to get back $11, at least, and those are conservative estimates,” Stone said,Rep. Matt Pierce, D-61, spoke at the event as well, encouraging the audience to voice opinions regarding health care.“Legislatures want to hear from their constituents,” he said. “That can really drive them to vote one way or another.”Eighty-eight-year-old Ferne Stout of Bloomington said she came to the event because her grandson, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was denied Medicaid coverage.“He can’t get anything,” Stout said. “He’s 34 years old, and he’s never had a primary care doctor. If he can get into the Medicaid program, the door opens to many things.”Former Bloomington Hospital CEO Rolande Kohr said he was there to support HCHP and Medicaid expansion.“This provides coverage to more people with very little cost to the state,” he said. Though the ACA includes cost cuts for hospitals, he said he would support the initiative if he were still the CEO today.“I’d be concerned about it, but I’d work hard to reduce costs,” he said.In the next few months, conversation will come to a close, and Medicaid expansion will be either a reality or an issue of the past. “A couple of months ago, around election time, I think I would have told you that there’s no way this could happen,” Pierce said. “If I had to make my bets now, that if we do our job, argue for our numbers and show that people want this, we can make something happen.”
(01/09/13 5:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Century-old City Hall became the first Bloomington government building to become Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified.LEED is an initiative by the U.S. Green Building Council, providing third-party verification of green buildings.“It is probably the best nationally recognized green building certification,” said Jacqueline Bauer, sustainability coordinator for the Department of Economic and Sustainable Development.To earn LEED certification, a building must satisfy all LEED prerequisites and earn a minimum of 40 points on a 110-point scale in the areas of energy and water use, sustainable management practices, site management, air quality and waste reduction. Buildings with 40 to 49 points become certified, while buildings with 50 to 59 points are silver, 60 to 79 points become gold and 80 points and above become platinum.“This is a remarkable achievement for a former factory that is more than 100 years old,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said in a press release. “City Hall is a real asset for downtown Bloomington, and the fact that it’s such a great model of both sustainability and historic preservation just adds to its value.”The process began with an energy audit and cost analysis, followed by renovations.“We upgraded lighting, did upgrades to the motors that run the boilers and installed more water-efficient toilets,” Bauer said. “We also did a waste audit and began a recycling program.”The certification was pursued as part of the Green Building Ordinance. The 2009 ordinance passed by the city council requires exploring LEED certification for 15 target buildings, Bauer said. Buildings on this list include the Utilities Service Center, Bloomington Police Headquarters, Bloomington Animal Shelter and Twin Lakes Recreation Center. The Recreation Center will be assessed in 2013.The Green Building Ordinance mandates that buildings must be brought up to LEED-Silver standards, assuming savings will offset construction costs within 10 years. The GBO also requires that future city construction be built to LEED-Silver standards.Though the original goal was for City Hall to reach the silver level, Bauer said they were not able to hit the threshold necessary for silver, even with the energy improvements.“We have a number of additional improvements scheduled, so we hope to eventually hit that target,” Bauer said in an email. “We’ll need to recertify in five years, so we will shoot for it then.” The City Hall certification was made possible in part by a federal grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.“We were able to bypass a lot of the cost-benefit requirements because of a stimulus grant,” Bauer said.Because City Hall was a renovated furniture factory and then a storage warehouse before becoming City Hall in 1994, Bauer said there was a lot of work to be done to update the old building. “The certification process is quite a bit more complicated for existing buildings than new ones,” she said. “It’s a lot of kind of internal, tedious stuff, where as with new construction it’s really visible and photogenic.”Despite the challenges, the preparation for certification improved the energy efficiency of the building.“It took us about a year and a half total, from the time that we received the grant until we selected the company that would certify us,” said Barry Collins, facilities management coordinator for the Department of Public Works. “We were able to significantly reduce the energy bill here at City Hall.”Since 2006, City Hall has reduced its energy use by 46 percent, Bauer said. She said she believes the LEED changes have contributed to this reduction. “We expect that use will keep going down as we implement more improvements,” she said.
(01/08/13 11:20pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Century-old City Hall became the first Bloomington government building to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified.LEED is an initiative by the U.S. Green Building Council, providing third-party verification of green buildings.“It is probably the best nationally recognized green building certification,” said Jacqueline Bauer, sustainability coordinator for the Department of Economic and Sustainable Development.To earn LEED certification, a building must satisfy all LEED prerequisites and earn a minimum of 40 points on a 110-point scale in the areas of energy and water use, sustainable management practices, site management, air quality and waste reduction. Buildings with 40-49 points become certified, while buildings with 50-59 points are silver, 60–79 points become gold and 80 points and above become platinum.“This is a remarkable achievement for a former factory that is more than 100 years old,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said in a press release. “City Hall is a real asset for downtown Bloomington, and the fact that it’s such a great model of both sustainability and historic preservation just adds to its value.”The process began with an energy audit and cost analysis, followed by renovations.“We upgraded lighting, did upgrades to the motors that run the boilers and installed more water-efficient toilets,” Bauer said. “We also did a waste audit and began a recycling program.”The certification was pursued as part of the Green Building Ordinance. The 2009 ordinance passed by the city council requires exploring LEED certification for 15 target buildings, Bauer said. Buildings on this list include the Utilities Service Center, Bloomington Police Headquarters, Bloomington Animal Shelter and Twin Lakes Recreation Center. The Recreation Center will be assessed in 2013.The Green Building Ordinance mandates that buildings must be brought up to LEED-Silver standards, assuming savings will offset construction costs within 10 years. The GBO also requires that future city construction be built to LEED-Silver standards.Though the original goal was for City Hall to reach the silver level, Bauer said they were not able to hit the threshold necessary for silver, even with the energy improvements.“We have a number of additional improvements scheduled, so we hope to eventually hit that target,” Bauer said in an email. “We’ll need to recertify in five years, so we will shoot for it then.” The City Hall certification was made possible in part by a federal grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.“We were able to bypass a lot of the cost-benefit requirements because of a stimulus grant,” Bauer said.Because City Hall was a renovated furniture factory and then a storage warehouse before becoming City Hall in 1994, Bauer said there was a lot of work to be done to update the old building. “The certification process is quite a bit more complicated for existing buildings than new ones,” she said. “It’s a lot of kind of internal, tedious stuff, where as with new construction it’s really visible and photogenic.”Despite the challenges, the preparation for certification improved the energy efficiency of the building.“It took us about a year and a half total, from the time that we received the grant until we selected the company that would certify us,” said Barry Collins, facilities management coordinator for the Department of Public Works. “We were able to significantly reduce the energy bill here at City Hall.”Since 2006, City Hall has reduced its energy use by 46 percent, Bauer said. She said she believes the LEED changes have contributed to this reduction. “We expect that use will keep going down as we implement more improvements,” she said.
(01/08/13 5:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ben Ayers is no stranger to snow.For 15 years, Ayers has operated a snowplow for the Monroe County Highway Maintenance Department. This winter, he has a 30-mile route in the Stanford, Ind., area, roughly seven miles outside Bloomington.“It can be stressful,” Ayers said. “You are going down the road covered with snow, and once it piles up, you can’t even find the edge of the road. It makes it challenging.”A snowy winter can also be demanding for the county budget.“Our budget comes from the state gasoline tax,” said John Chambers, superintendent of the Monroe County Highway Maintenance Department. “It fluctuates year to year, but it’s right around $4 million.”The yearly budget covers street resurfacing, snow removal, fleet maintenance of all county-owned vehicles, street sweeping, dust and vegetation control, chip and sealing, grading gravel roads and sign maintenance.However, Chambers said he is not worried about lack of money for snow removal, because the department can distribute money as needed based on its budget.“We probably would never run out, due to the fact that we don’t have a snow-and-ice budget per se,” he said. Chambers said the county has stockpiles of salt and sand mixtures to spread on county roadways. “When we have big snows like we had a couple of weeks ago, with the 12 inches, what we do is plow,” Chambers said. “The plows leave salt or a salt solution in their wake.”He said the major problem with the recent snowstorms has been piling the snow that was plowed off the streets.“There’s simply nowhere to put the snow when it gets that deep,” he said.Clearing ice is even more difficult and expensive, he said.“Ice is a totally different ball game. We basically have to back through the whole area so we have traction,” Ayers said.He said he remembers the snowy winter more than a decade ago when repeated snowfall depleted their resources.“About 13 years ago, it just kept coming and coming,” he said. “We ran out of material, and we couldn’t get any in. We had to get chicken grit and put that down until we got more material.”Susie Johnson, director of the Bloomington Public Works Department, has worked to ensure Bloomington won’t have to use any chicken grit this winter. “That would be poor planning,” she said. “My goal is that that won’t ever happen.” Public Works dictates the budget for the Street Department, which maintains the city streets by paving, patching, performing sidewalk repairs and street tree maintenance and snow plowing. In 2011, the street department was allotted a $3.8 million budget, according to city controller office records. Johnson estimated $4.5 million was used by the Street Department — the extra money came from additional Public Works funds. In 2012, Public Works requested $1.2 million for asphalt and de-icing materials. The 2012 budget has not yet closed.Each year, the city government starts from scratch in determining the budget. Money is allotted based on the planned capital projects and the priority of each department and division, she said.Like Chambers, Johnson also said she does not believe a heavy winter will deplete the budget enough to prohibit the ability to afford snow plowing, though she said it could affect other projects.“The way we budget the Street Department is that snow removal, concrete and asphalt are all out of the same category,” Johnson said.“If we have an extraordinarily snowy winter, we will cut back on projects on the roads in the summer.”She said one of her first initiatives when first elected was to add a second pile of salt for snow removal. If these resources run low, she said the salt would be diluted. “If we got down to a really low stockpile, we would begin to mix that with sand,” she said. However, sand is expensive to clean up, as it would entail running street sweepers in the spring, she added. Though she said she predicts this winter will be snowier than last year’s, Bloomington is in good shape.“Some years, the snow is with you. Some years, it’s against you,” she said.
(01/04/13 3:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Metaugus recently expanded to Bloomington with the formation of the Natural Product Research Institute.The new Bloomington research institute will act as the principal research front for Metaugus. The company is a Food and Drug Administration-registered custom product development and contract manufacturing company.The Georgia-based parent company produces products for “chemical, nutritional, flavor and fragrance industries,” such as capsules, tablets, liquids and lotions, according to its website. “Metaugus is a manufacturer, meaning that they will make any sort of chemical nutritional product, like a vitamin, and they do that on a contract basis,” Nathan Gould, director of NPRI, said.Its products are found in “anything you could find in a GNC,” Gould said. Such products include Satisfactrim, an appetite suppressant, and Extenergen, an energy stimulant.NPRI will focus on “the dynamic and rapidly changing field of nutritional chemistry,” according to a press release.Bloomington was chosen as the location primarily because of IU, Gould said. “The proximity to IU gives us access to well-trained employees,” he said. “Also, we are able to use some of their facilities.”Gould said he hoped the company would connect with the University through internship opportunities that will also be available to students. Jay Connaughton, owner and CEO of Metaugus, is an IU alumnus. “The NPRI will allow us to bring a strong scientific arsenal to bear on the field of nutritional chemistry. We look forward to fostering a rich relationship with Bloomington, Indiana University and the local business community,” Connaughton said in a press release.NPRI is housed in an abandoned powder-coating facility at 2116 W. Industrial Park Dr.“It was basically large and empty, so it served as a blank slate,” Gould said.Gould also said he hopes the new institute will grow and hire locally.“Over the next year or two we hope to expand as the space allows,” he said. The Bloomington Economic Development Corporation classifies Metaugus NPRI as a life sciences employer. According to the BEDC website, Bloomington’s concentration of employment in the life sciences is six times greater than the national average.“On a basic level, Metaugus NPRI has renovated a vacant building,” Ron Walker, president of the BEDC, said in an email. “They have also hired approximately five employees, most of which are highly educated and highly skilled. The company will bring new business to this community, which will support the employees at the site as well as indirectly support work at other employers.” Walker, who is also the president of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership, presented NPRI at the December BEDC meeting. This was primarily an opportunity to introduce NPRI to the Board and give BEDC members a chance to meet NPRI staff, he said. “Dr. Gould gave a brief presentation that described the company’s work and what they propose to do in Bloomington. They were thrilled with the information and other biotech leaders in the room chose to meet with Dr. Gould after the meeting,” he said.Walker also said the wages paid at NPRI will upwardly influence the local area’s median wage and further strengthen the life sciences industry.“NPRI will not be a large employer, but they are a specialized employer that provides high-level research and development services (in Bloomington),” he said. “This type of work can attract additional investment and create new opportunities with existing life sciences employers.”
(12/10/12 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A lone ebony piano gleamed under blue lights Dec. 7 at the IU Auditorium.The audience erupted in applause as rhythm and blues singer John Legend strode onto the stage and immediately began to play.The acoustic show put on by the nine-time Grammy winner felt more like an intimate conversation than a concert.“I love you, John Legend,” someone in the audience yelled.“I love you, too,” he replied, smiling into the microphone. Legend began with the song “Prelude.”“There’s something new for you to see,” he sang. “Come on and go with me.”Freshman Brenda Amwayi knew the words to every song. “It’s a John Legend concert, so it’s calm, but it’s also a sing-along type of atmosphere,” she said. The performance was presented by the Union Board. Though the auditorium was not full, Union Board public relations director Brad Domash said the goal was to focus on quality of the show rather than quantity of attendees. “If we had more time, I think word would have spread a little more,” Domash said. “But everyone was very happy about the show.”Legend took the audience back a couple of decades as he began to play Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.”“You guys are pretty young, so I should tell you that’s a Bruce Springsteen song,” he said to the audience, who laughed in reply. “I first played this song with Jimmy Fallon and the Roots.” He said he didn’t hear for months if Springsteen liked his R&B rendition. Legend said he recently received an email asking him to play the song at a concert honoring Springsteen.“After months of insecurity, I know now Bruce approves of what I did with his song,” he said.The smooth atmosphere continued as he played “Save Room” and “Again.” For his next piece, he called on the audience to help. “I’m up here all alone, no background singers, no band, no auto-tune,” he said. “I need this auditorium to be my background singers, is that OK?”The crowd responded by singing the chorus as he played his very first single, “Used to Love U.” A glowing orange background accompanied his rendition of “Here Comes the Sun.” “That was the Beatles,” he said to the crowd.The mood turned seductive as he performed “Good Morning,” a song from his third album, “Evolver.”Lance Howard drove from Indianapolis with his mother to see the show, his second John Legend concert. “It was one of the best shows I’ve been to in ages,” he said. “‘Good Morning’ was about to make panties drop in there.”Legend continued with “PDA,” something Legend said is “so obnoxious when other people are doing it, but when you’re doing it, it’s awesome,” and Kanye West’s “Blame Game.” He displayed his range of talent as he played the hit “Tonight” and “All of Me,” his favorite song from his upcoming album “Love in the Future.” The stage background turned green as the beginning notes of “Green Light” floated from the piano. Legend recruited the audience to sing backup for this song and for his hit “Ordinary People.”“It’s good to be in the Hoosier state,” Legend said. “I grew up next door in Ohio. I hear you guys have a pretty good basketball team this year. I wish you well, except against Ohio State. I still love you, though.” Legend bowed and left the auditorium to a standing ovation – then reemerged to thunderous applause to play one more song.He played “So High,” singing “Let’s go to the moon, baby.”The audience was ready to follow him. “To the moon!” someone in the crowd shouted.Sophomore Kelsey Carlisle won the Union Board video contest to score free VIP tickets to the show, including a meet and greet with Legend. “He was just smiling the whole time at everyone,” Carlisle said. “He was really polite. You kind of see on stage, he’s also really goofy.”She said she could see his face from her seat in the second row.“It seemed like he always tried to make eye contact with the audience, which isn’t that easy to do when you’re playing the piano,” she said.The atmosphere was one of sophomore Gabriel McHaffie’s favorite parts of the concert.“I thought it was like he was playing in my living room,” McHaffie said. “Very intimate and personal.”
(12/06/12 4:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior Brett Markowitz likes Bruce Springsteen. Sophomore Elise Ruff wants to see John Mayer.The Union Board concerts committee has the task of catering to both their interests and those of their tens of thousands of peers on campus. “Students don’t really understand the process,” Union Board President AJ O’Reilly said. “It’s tough, but I think the board does a really good job.”The first step in concert selection is polling the opinions of students, Union Board Concerts Director Sam Shechtman said. He places surveys at events such as the Student Involvement Fair.At Shechtman’s weekly meetings he discusses the results of the surveys and what genres students want. The meetings are 7 p.m. every Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union Board office and are open to all students.“Hip-hop, rock and country are the top three,” he said.From there, he makes a big list of popular artists from these top genres. He looks at feedback for their past performances and ticket prices, then starts contacting agents. Planning concerts is all about the availability of the artists, he said.“We have these strict time lines,” he said. “If you don’t plan a show ahead of time, you don’t get the artists you want.”Little 500 requires advanced planning since it falls around the last week of April each year.Concert planning continues while the 2013 Union Board replaces the 2012 Board. “It’s kind of a gray area,” O’Reilly said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to line up a Little 500 concert before this term ends. If we don’t get anything done, we’re not going to push it just to push it.”Shechtman is optimistic. “We are working on the Little 5 concert as we speak,” Shechtman said.Bringing Lil’ Wayne to campus for “the greatest college weekend” at IU in 2011 was one of the high points of the board, O’Reilly said.“What happened with Lil’ Wayne was like a miracle for us,” he said. “It was like catching lightening in a bottle.” For Markowitz, it was the only Union Board concert he paid attention to.“I know Lil’ Wayne came here, but I don’t know much else about their concerts,” Markowitz said.Last year, Union Board brought Sublime with Rome for Little 500.Shechtman said that, because past Little 500 concerts had been hip-hop and pop shows, the board felt it was important to bring in diverse artists and appeal to the entire student population.The student reaction was admittedly different than the announcement for Weezy.“It wasn’t negative,” Shechtman said. “It just wasn’t as exciting as Lil’ Wayne. That’s tough to beat.”Ruff believes Union Board accomplishes its objective of bringing in different artists.“Overall, they’re pretty good,” Ruff said. “They bring a wide variety.”Friday, Union Board will present rhythm and blues singer John Legend at the IU Auditorium. Tickets are still available for purchase.O’Reilly encourages students to voice their suggestions or opinions to Shechtman or the 2013 concerts director, who will be decided on in January.“We love suggestions,” said Shechtman, “We are here for the students.”
(11/29/12 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the year draws to a close and students prepare for finals and winter break, the IU Auditorium keeps things rolling with three final performances. Aside from this weekend’s musical, “Rock of Ages,” and the annual “Chimes of Christmas” performance, rhythm-and-blues artist John Legend will make his way to Bloomington for a Dec. 7 performance.Legend spoke with reporters from the Indiana Daily Student, Indianapolis Star and Bloomington Herald-Times about his upcoming performance.“I’m absolutely excited to go and be at IU, especially for someone who grew up watching sports,” Legend said. “It’s such a famed and fabled place.”Legend’s performance will preview his upcoming album “Love in the Future,” set to release in early 2013.“The inspiration for making it is telling stories about life and love, things that are personal to me, things that people can relate to,” he said. “The things that will be meaningful and connect with people’s lives.”Legend said he will perform his new favorite song, “All of Me,” from the upcoming album. The Bloomington audience will be the third to hear this song.The show will be an acoustic performance, which Legend explained will allow the audience to feel each note he hits. “There’s no cluster and clutter around it,” he said. “Musically, it’s very pure. It’s really me as a songwriter communicating the song as it’s written.” Legend hopes to convey his passion to the students attending his performance. “I feel like I have advice for people who want to do what I’m doing as well, as any career in general,” he said. “Part of being successful is learning through experience. Everybody starts out by trying to be great at what they’re doing.”“When I get the opportunity to try to inspire young people to do great things in life it’s always a good thing for me,” he said.Legend’s influence was one of the reasons Brad Domash, Union Board public relations director, said the board asked him to perform at IU. “He has a great message in his songs,” Domash said. “He is a nine-time Grammy-winning superstar.”Domash hopes the concert will be a fun atmosphere for students to take a break from studying. PhD student Nalette Brodnax is worried about attending the concert right before finals but said she is still considering buying tickets for her first John Legend concert.“I have all his albums,” Brodnax said. “I really want to go.” Students can purchase tickets at IUauditorium.com, the IU Auditorium Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations.
(11/28/12 3:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Briscoe and Third and Union Apartment residents need no longer wait for their whites and colors to finish washing.The latest addition to the IU Mobile application titled ”Laundry Availability” allows students to track the cycle time and availability of washers and dryers at these locations. David West, a residence assistant in Briscoe, heard about the application from University Information Technology Services. “It would be cool to have just so you don’t have to walk to the laundry room,” West said. He also believes it will help prevent people from throwing others’ laundry out of the machine when it’s finished.“Our hope is that if everything goes OK this year, we will implement the app in other centers next summer,” said Ranji Abraham, director of Auxiliary Information Technology, the organization that created the laundry application. AIT develops new technologies for departments across the Bloomington campus. The idea for the laundry app came from a consultation between Residential Programs and Services and graduate students at the Kelley School of Business a few years ago, Abraham explained.“We took that request to try to develop an app to show students the status of machines,” he said.The laundry application was released Sept. 28, but RPS did not announce the app to residents until Monday through their “In Touch” e-newsletter. “We just put it out there, and there it was on the home screen for the Bloomington campus,” said Nate Johnson, manager for the Enterprise Services Presentation and Delivery team that created the IU Mobile application.He estimated that IU Mobile, which includes information such as bus routes, dining schedules and sports updates, has been downloaded to more than 50,000 iPhones. The laundry app is just the latest addition to a growing list of resources. “We add lots of features to IU Mobile all the time,” Johnson said.Implementing the laundry application meant installing “laundry alert wiring” to the machines, allowing a transfer of information to the app. The information updates about every 20 seconds, Abraham said. AIT has had to collaborate with the third-party vender who runs the laundry machines.Lexi Newton, a sophomore living in the Third and Union Apartments, tried using the application before doing her laundry but wasn’t impressed. “The timing is not quite right,” she said. “Usually, I just set an alarm.” Johnson said IU Mobile strives to fix this kind of issue, and he suggested students give feedback through the icon on the IU Mobile home page.Both he and Abraham mentioned several in-progress additions to IU Mobile. Johnson suggested improving the bus route application to make it more user friendly. Abraham said AITS is working on a package-tracking application for next year.“We always have lots of ideas,” he said. “It’s just a question of resources.”
(11/16/12 4:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When the results of the Union Board election were announced Nov. 14, it was revealed the 2013 board will include six new directors and two returning faces.Erin Brown, current director of design, and Eric Farr, current director of debates and issues, were re-elected as directors.Kellie Boberek, Kelsey Padgham, Alexis Parrill, Marco Pineda, Asher Wittenberg and Paul Zuradzki were also elected to the 104th Union Board.In addition to the eight directors elected by the student body vote, student leaders from several campus organizations will select another eight through interviews on Dec. 1, creating a total of 16 board members.Hearing the news she was elected surprised and excited Boberek, a freshman.The voting ended at 8 p.m. Nov. 13, and Boberek learned the results from a phone call only a half-hour later.“I was in the middle of class and I had a minor freakout,” Boberek said. “I went into a little bit of shock. I was very, very surprised. As a freshman, I didn’t think I had any chance of being elected.”After all 16 members of the board have been chosen, they will embark on a retreat and undergo an initiation process. At this point, executive and committee positions will be selected.Committee titles can change from year to year, though core committees, such as the concerts committee, have stayed in place for years.“The reason we do that is because our mission as the board is to represent the student body,” Brown said. “Since their needs are constantly changing and evolving, we adjust to represent them.” The training period will allow the board members to become comfortable in their new roles.“Right now, I have to figure out the ins and outs of being a director,” Wittenberg said.The board will make the official switch Jan. 19.Zurazdki explained the main goals for the new board.“I think in general, across the board, we want to try to engage more students,” he said.He suggested one way to do this is through providing more interaction during events.“The tradition of bringing in well-known and thought-provoking speakers will continue,” Zurazdki said. “But I think we can try to make it less one-sided and let the students discuss with them.”Wittenberg also stressed the importance of student involvement with the new board.“Union Board doesn’t serve much of a function unless students are actively involved,” he said. “The more people have a say, the more we can cater events to their interests.”Brown also said she looks forward to spreading student awareness about the existence of the board. She said she knows what it is like to come into the board as a new director with this goal in mind, having been in that situation a year ago.Now, she said looks forward to working with the new board.“They have pretty big shoes to fill,” she said.
(11/14/12 4:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Union Board elections for directorship positions ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Of the 21 candidates who ran for the positions, eight were chosen by the student vote.Students chosen:Kellie Boberek Erin Brown Eric Farr Kelsey Padgham Alexis Parrill Marco Pineda Asher Wittenberg Paul Zuradzki “I just wanted to say that we were very impressed with all of our candidates,” Riley Voss, Union Board vice president of programming, said in an email. “We saw a great deal of creativity and believe that this first eight is reflective of the student body and their wishes for the future of Union Board.” An additional eight directors will be selected by student leaders form across campus. All candidates that did not finish in the top eight of the election along with students who only desire to partake in the selection process will gather Dec. 1 for one-on-one interviews with the selection board.“On behalf of the 103rd Indiana Memorial Union Board, we want to welcome and congratulate the eight director-elects and wish the selection candidates the best of luck on Dec. 1,” Voss said.
(11/14/12 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Matt Wilkinson doubled over in mock pain as Girls Fight Back speaker Bree Swartz demonstrated a knee jab to his groin.Swartz proceeded to pretend knee Wilkinson in the face and elbow strike his spine. “That, my friends, is the bad-ass ballet,” Swartz said to the audience Tuesday evening in the Indiana Memorial Union Whittenberger Auditoritum. Union Board, Gamma Phi Omega and Residential Programs and Services sponsored the Girls Fight Back event.Wilkinson, Union Board director of campus and community engagement, said he was glad to be a dummy for the demonstration and helped plan the event because it is “a good program to empower girls on campus and teach them to live without fear.”Girls Fight Back is a 90-minute presentation aiming to educate girls about personal safety and self-defense. Erin Weed, an Eastern Illinois University graduate, founded GFB after her sorority sister Shannon McNamara died in a break-and-enter assault near the campuson June 12, 2001. After McNamara died, Weed decided to become certified in several self-defense systems and began teaching others the skills. From there, Girls Fight Back evolved. Since 2001, 1 million women nationwide have heard the presentation.“Traveling around, I’ve learned two things,” said Swartz, an Indiana native. “One, everyone has a story and two, no one’s talking about it.”With a picture of Chuck Norris behind her on the projection screen, Swartz explained to the crowd how GFB could help them to become their own “best protector.” “By the end of today, everyone single one of you will know how to take off your pumps and beat someone with it,” she said.Swartz explained the importance of listening to one’s intuition and being a bad victim, making it difficult for an assailant to attack you. She also stressed the importance of being more aware in scenarios where alcohol is present. “We need to up the ante a little bit if we decide to be in situations where alcohol is involved,” she said. “Become best friends with your drink. I don’t care if it’s apple juice or gin and juice.” She brought the audience to their feet to learn self-defense moves from palm jabs to the nose to a booty strike. Swartz also shared her favorite weapons to use during an attack — her keys and her cell phone.The audience laughed at Swartz’s frequent jokes, but also understood the gravity of her message.“It kind of gives you insight as to what you can do as a female,” sophomore Lexi Strafford said. “It was empowering to know what we are capable off.” Freshman Tali Navaaro also said she felt better educated after the presentation.“I do feel powerful,” Navaaro said. “I definitely learned a lot of basic moves, nothing complicated.” True to her word, Swartz taught the audience to use their high-heels as a self defense weapon. The audience moaned as she explained how to jab the heel in an attackers eye and “jiggle it around.”“There is nothing more dangerous than an angry woman,” Swartz said.