Rally in support of Asian community: “Our little bubble at IU Bloomington is not and never has been a safe place for Asian and Asian-American people.”

On Jan. 11, an Asian student at Indiana University, who was riding a Bloomington city bus, was repeatedly stabbed in the head by another passenger.

A fact that emerged later, in the probable cause affidavit submitted to the court, was the suspect’s description of her motivation: It was based on the victim’s race—she was Asian. The suspect has been charged with attempted murder.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, about 250 people gathered in Dunn Meadow, on the IU campus, to show support for Bloomington’s Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander community.

The reason for the rally was evident in a sign held by one man, which read “We should be able to ride the bus SAFELY.”

A woman wore a T-shirt with a message written in cursive: “Thank you for not stabbing me.”

Among those addressing the crowd were: Linda Shi, president of the Asian Pacific Islander Public Affairs (APAPA) Indiana chapter; deputy mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael, assistant dean of the Hamilton Lugar School Shruti Rana; IU alum Hiromi Yoshida; Joy Basa-King, vice president APAPA; and Michelle Waugh Dahl, co-chair of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Indiana Chapter.

Three more women, who are all Indiana University students, delivered remarks. Continue reading “Rally in support of Asian community: “Our little bubble at IU Bloomington is not and never has been a safe place for Asian and Asian-American people.””

Bloomington works to heed court’s order on art, means temporary delay on OK for Freezefest 2023

A special events application to hold the third annual Freezefest downtown in the Trades District area would have normally received a straightforward approval from Bloomington’s three-member board of public works on Tuesday night.

It’s an ice carving festival set to take place along Maker’s Way from Jan. 15 to Jan. 22, and features a chili cook-off at The Mill, a coworking space located in the former dimension mill of the Showers Brothers Furniture Company.

Instead of receiving an approval, the Freezefest application was pulled from the meeting agenda.

The reason Freezefest didn’t get a vote on Tuesday is not related to any controversy related to Freezefest itself. In fact, the festival’s special event application will likely be approved at the board’s next meeting, on Dec. 20.

But for now, Freezefest falls under a moratorium on special events applications, which the board of public works imposed on Tuesday.

The moratorium is related to litigation against the city of Bloomington that arose out of a request to install an “All Lives Matter” street mural on Kirkwood Avenue, in response to the city’s three “Black Lives Matter” street murals. Continue reading “Bloomington works to heed court’s order on art, means temporary delay on OK for Freezefest 2023”

Federal judge to Bloomington: Create criteria for public art requests in right-of-way, allow application for “All Lives Matter” street mural

Bloomington could see an “All Lives Matter” mural painted on a downtown city street, after previously authorizing three “Black Lives Matter” street murals.

That’s because of a ruling from a federal judge last Friday.

Under Friday’s ruling, by Jan. 2 next year, the city of Bloomington has to  come up with the procedures that private groups and people can use to request approval for use of the city’s rights-of-way to display public art.

The order says that the city has to “promulgate” the application procedure to the public within 45 days of the order, dated Nov. 18, 2022. The public that is described in the order explicitly includes Indiana University student Kyle Reynolds and the Indiana University Chapter of Turning Point USA, who filed suit against Bloomington in late February.

In their lawsuit, Reynolds and Turning Point asked the Monroe County circuit court to issue an injunction requiring the city of Bloomington to allow Reynolds to paint a street mural that states “All Lives Matter” on Kirkwood Avenue in front of the Von Lee building.

The “All Lives Matter” slogan is associated with opposition to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Continue reading “Federal judge to Bloomington: Create criteria for public art requests in right-of-way, allow application for “All Lives Matter” street mural”

Veterans Day 2022 at Indiana University: “Let us strive for peaceful resolution in all conflict.”

To honor Veterans Day, on Friday morning, the Indiana University Army and Air Force ROTC color guard raised the flag on the pole just east of Sample Gates, in front of Franklin Hall.

Franklin Hall is home to the university’s media school. The building’s statue of journalist Ernie Pyle, the iconic World War II correspondent, sitting at a typewriter, is a coincidental connection to the day.

After the flag was raised, IU alum and army veteran Phillip Zook addressed the gathering. Zook served in the Vietnam War and was decorated with two Purple Hearts.

Zook’s theme was the “forgotten focus” of the day of remembrance that is now called Veterans Day. What’s been forgotten, Zook said, is the focus on promoting peace. Continue reading “Veterans Day 2022 at Indiana University: “Let us strive for peaceful resolution in all conflict.””

2022 Little 500 Street Sprints: A perfect fall day in Bloomington

On Saturday afternoon for about five hours, small groups bicyclists pedaled like mad for 200 meters from a standing start, in a series of 62 total heats, to determine the champions for this year’s edition of the Little 500 Street Sprints. [More photos and video below] Continue reading “2022 Little 500 Street Sprints: A perfect fall day in Bloomington”

Believed armed suspect extracted from Bloomington stormwater system after day-long saga

By around 5:30 p.m. a man believed to have been armed with a rifle was removed from the stormwater culvert near 6th Street and Indiana Avenue on the edge of Indiana University’s Bloomington campus.

It’s the place where the Campus River starts its journey under downtown Bloomington, flowing southwest.

A statement from Bloomington police said, “The suspect has been safely removed from the storm drain and will be transported to an area hospital to be evaluated. ”

That ended a day-long saga that started around 9:30 a.m., about a half mile southwest of 6th and Indiana—south of Seminary Park, along 1st Street between College Avenue and Walnut Street.

[This article has been updated below with additional information from a BPD news release issued shortly after midnight.]

Continue reading “Believed armed suspect extracted from Bloomington stormwater system after day-long saga”

Duplex east of IU gets conditional use OK from Bloomington BZA, first one after year of new zoning

In more than a year since Bloomington mayor John Hamilton signed revisions to the city’s unified development ordinance (UDO) into law, just one application to construct a duplex as a conditional use has been heard by the city’s board of zoning appeals (BZA).

The BZA’s approval of that application came at Thursday’s meeting on a unanimous vote by the five-member board.

Grant Properties owner Doug McCoy will now be able to demolish a 432-square-foot house on the lot a couple blocks east of the Indiana University campus, and build a one-and-a-half-story duplex there. The address of the property is 110 S. Roosevelt St. Continue reading “Duplex east of IU gets conditional use OK from Bloomington BZA, first one after year of new zoning”

IU Poplars: Bloomington board closes streets so public stands clear when walls come crumblin’ down

“You have a beautiful neighborhood that we want to assist in improving ever further by the removal of the IU Poplars Building.”

That’s a line from a July 12 heads-up letter that was hand-delivered by Renascent, Inc. to neighbors of the Indiana University Poplars Building on 7th Street, west of campus.

Renascent is the company that has been contracted to do the demolition work, which has already started.

The hand-delivered letter warned residents of upcoming closures of Grant Street, west of the building, and Dunn Street, east of the building.

The sentiment in Renascent’s letter reflects the lack of affection for the building, which was constructed in 1964 as a hotel, purchased by Indiana University in 1972, and eventually converted to office space. Continue reading “IU Poplars: Bloomington board closes streets so public stands clear when walls come crumblin’ down”

Striking IU grad student instructors pedal a lap through Bloomington’s downtown

Around 12:45 p.m. on Friday, about 60 bicyclists pedaled north on Walnut Street past the Monroe County courthouse with printed signs affixed to their machines that said, “ON STRIKE For Union Recognition.”

The chanted slogans like “What do we want? Union! When do we want it? Now!”

They were members of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition – United Electrical Workers (IGWC). The members of the IGWC teach classes to undergraduates at Indiana University.

The group voted on Tuesday to continue their strike which started last week. The vote tally to continue the strike was 967 to 27, or 97.3 percent in favor, according to organizers.

Members of the IGWC voted last week to begin the strike, also with better than 97 percent in favor.

The action by the IGWC is considered by the university’s administration to be just a “work stoppage” and not a “strike” by a union.

The university administration’s refusal to recognize the IGWC as a union is the central grievance of the graduate student instructors. Continue reading “Striking IU grad student instructors pedal a lap through Bloomington’s downtown”

IU graduate student instructors now on strike for union recognition, next vote on Tuesday

On Friday morning, at Sample Gates, on the east end of Kirkwood Avenue, around 100 Indiana University graduate student instructors set up a picket with printed signs that said, “ON STRIKE For Union Recognition.”

The action by the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition – United Electrical Workers (IGWC) is considered by the university’s administration to be just a “work stoppage” and not a “strike” by a union.

The university administration’s refusal to recognize the IGWC as a union is the central grievance of the graduate student instructors.

The strike, which started Wednesday, was authorized by a vote of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition – United Electrical Workers by a tally of 1,008 to 23 (97.8 in favor), according to union organizers.

The job title of graduate student instructors within the university’s employment system is student academic appointee (SAA). The IGWC wants the university’s administration to recognize the group as the union representing all SSAs as provided under Indiana Code.

The kind of issues the IGWC wants to be able to negotiate with the administration as a collective bargaining unit include: elimination of various fees; compensation; benefits; a formal grievance procedure; and equity for international students who are SAAs. Continue reading “IU graduate student instructors now on strike for union recognition, next vote on Tuesday”