Longform

How much for that burger?

In California on Tuesday last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill requiring restaurants with more than 20 locations to post nutrition information – calorie counts, to be exact – on menus by 2011. The issue here, of course, is access. This law targets national fast-food and fast-casual chains, most of which already provide nutritional information. However, such information is usually in brochures tucked discreetly in plastic holders behind the cash registers or on the Internet.

Popular rule

Andrew Jackson once said, “The people are sovereign; their will is absolute.”    Jackson, the original maverick, was born on the South Carolina frontier and once killed a man who insulted his wife. As president, he took on the National Bank and even attempted to abolish the Electoral College. He was just the sort of renegade who Washington outsider Sarah Palin claims to be. The only problem is that Palin is no Andrew Jackson.

Lawmakers have been out-of-touch

In an effort to win back control of the Indiana House of Representatives, Republicans promised they would seek caps on state spending, an increase in drilling in off-shore areas and in Alaska, as well as offering two years of free community college tuition. This agenda for the 2009 legislative section is, according to House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, focused more on issues most important to voters – taxes, jobs and education. Notably absent from the to-do list were constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage and initiatives to crack down on illegal immigrants. It’s about time. The Indiana General Assembly has a history of being fantastically out-of-touch with the needs of the people it represents. Just in the past year, this translated into mediocre legislative sessions marked by occasionally ridiculous and unconstitutional bills designed to pull in quick votes without  delivering any service to constituents.

Presentation aims to erase stigma of mental illness

A presentation today at 7 p.m. will discuss the efforts undertaken this past decade to reduce negative ideas about mental illness.

Shalom Community Center helps those in need, ‘no questions asked’

The Shalom Community Center is capable of providing relief to Bloomington residents in need, but they rely on the work of much needed volunteers.

Rising gas prices to increase heating bills

Bloomington residents might have to turn down the heat this winter. Gas and electric companies project that the price for natural gas heating will rise as much as 15 to 25 percent from last year, due to an increase in all fuel prices.

Strong earthquake kills 30 near Tibet’s capital with 6.6 magnitude

China’s official Xinhua News Agency says 30 people are dead after an earthquake struck Tibet.

Eli Lilly to buy ImClone for more than $6 billion

The drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. said Monday it has agreed to buy biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. for more than $6 billion in a deal that would expand its pipeline of cancer treatments.

Lawmaker’s home bombed in Pakistan; 15 dead

A suicide bomber attacked a lawmaker’s house in eastern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 50, officials and a witness said.

O.J. Simpson jury says witness testimony not trusted

Jurors who found O.J. Simpson guilty in his armed robbery trial say secret audio tapes and surveillance video swayed them more than witness accounts.

German, 2 French researchers share Nobel prize

Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases.

‘The Real World’ seeks new house members

About 200 hopeful candidates attended the casting for the MTV reality show at Jake’s Nightclub and Bar this weekend.

Hoosiers turn out in swarms for charity run

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, members of the IU Foundation partnered with various businesses across Bloomington to sponsor Hoosiers Outrun Cancer, an event aimed at bringing digital mammogram technology to Bloomington.

Artists bring the world to Bloomington

Reindeer, gently falling snow and woolen sweaters are not the first things you think of when Bloomington comes to mind. But this year Scandinavia appeared and extended its wintery hand to downtown, sharing hundreds of years of musical and cultural tradition.The 15th annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival began gently this year compared to other years, opening Thursday night in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater with the Northern Realms concert. In the past, world-renowned world-fusion Balkan Beat Box explosively inaugurated Lotus Fest to begin the three day-long revelry and cultural exchange.Thousands of world music enthusiasts, including students and Bloomington residents, congregated downtown to hear a mostly new artist list. With bands spanning from Spain to Syria, Mongolia to Mexico and Brown County, Bloomington’s arguably largest cultural event delivered the rest of the world to southern Indiana.SLIDESHOW: Lotus Fest

IU professors predict bailout bill aftermath

As the credit crunch worsens and people continue to lose confidence in the stock market and the economy as a whole, a controversial saving grace appeared for the affected financial institutions Friday in the form of a 263-171 vote in the House of Representatives.Though IU professors know the $700 billion bailout plan passed by both the House and the Senate will involve intervention into private financial institutions such as banks and lenders, they are unsure of the impact it will have on the country.

GLBT residents say city has few gay-only resources

When senior Ryne Shadday goes out to the bars, he goes to the same places most IU students do – Sports, Kilroy’s and Jake’s. But he wishes he were at Bullwinkle’s or Willy Joe’s, the gay bars that once inhabited the city of Bloomington and are now gone, leaving the city’s gay community with few nightlife options.PODCAST: Hoosier Headlines

Colts take advantage of Rosenfels’ mistakes in win

IU Art Museum closes for repairs

In light of repairs, the IU Art Museum has scheduled a special closing today through Wednesday.

SoFA gallery builds alternative art space

Penske rental trucks sat in the McCalla School yard Friday night, but this time they were filled with art instead of furniture.

Men finish 3rd, women 7th in Oklahoma meet