Local schools and utilities are slowly becoming involved in the effort to win a nationwide energy conservation competition. This summer Monroe County passed the quarterfinals of the Georgetown University Energy Prize contest. Communities are competing to track energy use and making plans to conserve. Ian Yarbrough, a member of the County Environmental Quality and Sustainability Commission, told the Commission September …

Upper-story corporate offices won’t have to comply with one of Bloomington’s newest rules. The City Council passed an amendment last week excluding those offices from its ordinance governing standardized businesses. The Council passed that ordinance in June. It allows the city to regulate the design of new chain restaurants and chain stores downtown. Tom Micuda, the city’s planning director, suggested …

Jackson Creek Middle School is not in Bloomington. Neither is the Bloomington Country Club, or the new Walmart location. These and other major players to Bloomington’s economy are all located in the county-controlled Urban Enterprise Zone. Tomorrow evening there will be a public open house regarding the county’s plans for this area. To find out more, WFHB News Director Alycin …

Eli Lilly yesterday announced a partnership with U. K. drug maker AstraZeneca to develop and commercialize a potential new drug for Alzheimer’s; Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined collegues in thirty-seven states urging the FCC to allow more extensive use of call blocking technologies; The Alzheimer’s Association raised more than $55,000 this past Saturday in Monroe County with its Walk …

The national debate about militarized police forces continues as awareness grows about local campus police acquiring surplus military gear; Same sex couples in Indiana are still not able to marry, at least until the Supreme Court addresses the case later this month; Last Thursday, the Board of Director’s of Jill’s House voted to shut the organization down; Free furnace inspections, …

Host Doug Storm is joined by William Morris and Joe Varga to discuss the genesis of the Moral Mondays Movement in North Carolina and how it has begun to form a broad coalition here in Indiana. A Mother Jones article from April, 2014 describes the impetus for Moral Mondays as being political action against a Republican agenda in North Carolina. …

Pawn shops in Ellettsville now have to send their sales data to the Town police at the same time they provide it to a nationwide law enforcement database. The Town Council passed second-hand dealer regulations late last year. Afterwards, there was dispute about how quickly businesses must report certain information. Town attorney Darla Brown proposed an amendment to the new …

More than fifteen months after the issue first surfaced, Interstate 69 construction is still damaging waterways in Monroe County. That’s according to members of the Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy committee. At a meeting September 12th, Committee member Scott Wells showed photos of brown tap water and streams contaminated with sediment. Wells said local officials need to keep pressure …

Early and absentee voting hours for Monroe County residents will begin on Tuesday, October 7th at the Election Center, 401 West Seventh Street in Bloomington. Ruth Hickman, Monroe County Election Supervisor announce the office will be open Tuesdays through Fridays from 8:30-6:00 p.m. with times increased after October 24th to accommodate voters. A public test of electronic and ballot voting …

Free furnace inspections, cleanings and repair will be offered on “Bring the Heat Day,” October 11th through a volunteer partnership between Bloomington’s Housing and Neighborhood Development Department and the Heating and Air Conditioning Alliance of Indiana. From 8:00 a.m. until noon “Bring the Heat Day” volunteers will supply resources to conduct up to fifty furnace inspections and repairs for owner-occupied, …