Longform

GM falls behind Toyota in annual global sales

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. sold more cars and trucks last year than General Motors Corp., stripping the Detroit automaker of the No. 1 global sales crown. But it’s a victory made hollow by the overall industry’s continued struggle for viability amid one of its worst sales declines ever.

Bear’s Place celebrates 26th anniversary with famous prankster

Nationally-known comedian Tom Mabe came to Bear’s Place Monday Night to help celebrate the 26th anniversary of Comedy Caravan by doing his signature stand-up routine.One of his albums, “Revenge on the Telemarketers,” was released on Virgin Records and featured pranks he played on telemarketers who called him. The idea was to waste the telemarketer’s time because he said they were wasting his. His new television show on Country Music Television is called “Mabe in America” and features a combination of Mabe’s pranks and comedy routines.

Exhibit explores black roots of pop music

An exhibit featuring African-American culture as the roots for much of America’s popular music will take place in Bloomington City Hall Atrium through Jan. 26, with a schedule of events including gallery talks and musical performances. The Archives of African-American Music and Culture created “Rock, Rhythm & Soul: The Black Roots of Popular Music,” a traveling exhibit promoting and informing people of the history and roots of black popular music.

Read ‘The Reader’

Books. The idea of reading them makes some people cringe, but it doesn’t always have to be a negative experience. Although I love watching movies, and I currently have a list five feet long of television programs with which I am keeping up, books have an element that movies and TV will never have.The most recent novel I have read is “The Reader” by Bernhard Schlink.

Grand jury indicts man who faked his death

A federal grand jury indicted an Indiana investment adviser Tuesday on charges of deliberately crashing his small airplane in the Florida Panhandle to try to fake his own death as part of a plan to escape financial ruin.

Newborn abandoned in shoebox

A newborn baby was found in a shoe box on the porch of a home in the northeastern Indianapolis suburb of Lawrence.

Children’s home faces closure

Opponents of the state’s plan to close a home for troubled children in Knightstown are planning a Statehouse rally to press their cause.

Proposed bill to protect ill adults

Indiana would join several states that have public warning systems to help find endangered, missing adults if a bill endorsed by a state Senate committee Wednesday becomes law.

Fallen bridge might relocate

A southern Indiana county might need to repay $123,000 in federal funds if it goes ahead with a plan to give away the surviving sections of a 19th-century covered bridge that collapsed into a river.

Group protests Roe v. Wade over weekend

The annual Rally for Life happened on the Courthouse lawn Sunday, with a protest and march past Planned Parenthood.

Chaos in Washington doesn’t keep people from having hope in Obama

About 2 million people packed the National Mall on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of America’s first black president. The sea of people extended from the Capitol building to the Lincoln Memorial, nearly a two-mile stretch. But the distance and commotion surrounding Washington hardly mattered to those who turned out, for one reason: history.PODCAST: Hoosier Headlines

IU students in D.C. recognize change in Obama's rhetoric from campaign trail

IU students who traveled to Washington to witness Barack Obama's inauguration said the 44th president did a good job addressing the nation. But they could sense a change in the way the nation's first black president spoke. He has transformed, they say, from candidate Obama to President Obama.

Obama takes historic oath

Barack Obama raised a hand to history as he recited the oath of office as the nation’s 44th president, declaring Americans have “chosen hope over fear” and promising to rebuild the country in difficult times. About 2 million people poured into the National Mall to watch the country’s first black president address the crowd from the Capitol building. The chanting throngs of spectators began to turn out before dawn in sub-freezing temperatures and spanned from the Capitol building past the Washington Monument.

Students watch inauguration together, thanks to event that was hosted by Indiana Memorial Union

Students and faculty of all ages, nationalities and political preferences came together in one of IU’s most familiar places to view the unfamiliar: President Barack Obama’s inauguration. The Indiana Memorial Union showed the live CNN broadcast of the swearing-in of the 44th President of the United States on Tuesday in the Frangipani Room.

Civil Rights trip explores American Indian culture

In the spring of 2010, junior Eli Major will escape the winter weather in Indiana and travel west to student teach on a Navajo reservation. But on Thursday, Major and 50 others bundled up against the Indiana cold before traveling to Lawrence, Kan.

IU Students for Liberty stage rally

Shortly after most of their classmates watched President Barack Obama take the oath of office, members of IU Students for Liberty stood outside to protest and question the actions Obama has taken – and intends to take – as the new president. The group’s main complaint is that President Obama’s record, rhetoric and cabinet appointees thus far do not represent the change he promised during the election.

Steelers knew about Cards’ Fitzgerald’s skills long ago

PITTSBURGH – Larry Fitzgerald might be the most scouted player in Pittsburgh Steelers history. For two years, they needed only to look out their office windows to watch him.

Kendall flourishes as rising star due to praised ‘upperclassmen-like’ work ethic

Will Kendall is a beast. On the court, his solid shots and strong serves dominate opponents. IU coach Randy Bloemendaal said the freshman tennis player has the potential to become one of the top competitors in the country.

Spaniard Alba Berdala leads her tennis team as número uno