WFHB Local News Features

The state of Indiana has a bad reputation for pollution. It may lead some to wonder: Why? One of the largest reasons came from the man-made material called PCB, short for Polychlorinated Biphenyl. PCBs are made from 209 individual chlorinated compounds called congeners. They range from light oily fluids to heavy oils, greases and waxes. The use of PCBs began …

BLOOMINGTON – Hoosier Energy announced last Tuesday their plans to close The Merom Generating Station in Sullivan County in 2023, affecting nearly 200 utility workers. Founded in 1949, Hoosier Energy is a non-profit generation and transmission cooperative. It serves 18 member electric cooperatives in central and southern Indiana, as well as southeastern Illinois. The cooperative’s mission is to provide members …

Law firm Mallor Grodner LLP filed a tort claim notice against the City of Bloomington representing activist and academic Cara Caddoo. A tort claim is a civil case brought against a party if it caused the plaintiff suffering, loss or harm – resulting in legal liability. The law firm said Caddoo was wrongfully arrested at the Bloomington Farmers Market in …

This week celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Junior. King fought tirelessly against racial segregation and discrimination in the 1950s and 60s. Fifty-two years after King’s death, a study by the Pew Center for People in the Press shows the United States still suffers from racial inequality. Rasha Kamhawi looks at how Bloomington remembers his legacy.  In a national …

Coming from a long line of volunteers and extraordinarily good neighbors, it was only natural that Lucy Shaich would make volunteerism her life’s work. She’s been in charge of the City of Bloomington volunteer coordination program since the year 2000. The city’s Volunteer Network, an arm of the Department of Community and Family Resources, was the nation’s second such program …

Two weeks ago, eight advocates and eight bishops, released a proposal that calls for a “amicable separation” of the United Methodist Church. The proposal prompted a special session of the church’s legislative session last February. The special session, which addressed full inclusion of the LGBTQ community, was left unresolved. Lisa Schubert Nowling is the lead pastor of the First United …

Recycling has been growing exponentially for years, but it wasn’t until recently that cities have found issues with the abundance of recycling and contamination issues from it. Junior Correspondent Katrine Bruner reports on the impact that contaminated recycling has on the City of Bloomington and Monroe County. It’s the crack of dawn and as many citizens of Bloomington are asleep …

Part I: Reactions to the Mayor The announcement came yesterday from Mayor John Hamilton: the city will not privatize the farmers market in 2020. The Board of Parks Commissioners voted to remain under city leadership by a unanimous vote on Thursday. Parks Commissioner Lisa Thatcher said at the meeting that the city had greater concerns of protesters at the market …

The Owen County Commissioners passed an ordinance that made it harder to host special events on county property. News Director Kade Young talked to the President of Spencer Pride, an LGBTQ organization that now has to change the location of its annual festival. After the commissioners made revisions and improved the language of the special events ordinance, it passed with …