Indiana is expanding a program for expecting mothers struggling with addiction so that hundreds more can get help, according to an Indy Star report. The Pregnancy Promise Program provides mental and physical care for low-income Hoosiers, especially those in rural communities and parts of Indiana with poor access to care. The additional $2.7 million federal grant for the program will allow 300 Hoosiers to enroll in the next three years, according to state officials.
Interstate 69 is now open from the Canadian border all the way south to Evansville. The project has been under construction for the past 16 years. Construction isn’t finished — work will continue through the end of 2024 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. Once complete, an additional lane will be available for travel in both directions of I-465 between I-65 and I-70.
The Capitol Chronicle reports Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has dismissed a case against IU Health regarding patient privacy protections after a judge’s ruling found the case lacking. The court said in its ruling that there were no factual allegations from which the Court could reasonably infer that IU Health’s policies, or lack thereof, have created an identifiable impending or ongoing threat to Indiana residents’ privacy interests.
The Indiana General Assembly will be using $2 million dollars from part of it’s biennial budget to help food banks across the state. More than 950,000 Hoosiers experienced food insecurity in 2022 and that it’s only getting worse.
The entire Emens Auditorium 2024-25 Season is now on sale. If you have an eye on their newly announced shows, now’s your chance to secure tickets. Visit the Emens facebook page for a direct link to show tickets.
On August 16th the Daleville Town Park will show a free summer movie in the park beginning at dark. Firefighters and EMT’s will be on-hand with their vehicles to allow attendees to meet and greet them as well as the opportunity to climb aboard the firetrucks and ambulances for a peek behind the scenes. The film for the evening will be the Disney and Pixar film, “Elemental.”
Lawmakers are encouraging families with students who have disabilities to apply for Indiana’s Education Scholarship Account before the September 1st deadline. State Representative Julie McGuire said scholarships are available to students between the ages of 5 and 22 who reside in Indiana, require special education services and meet certain financial requirements. Scholarship funds are not considered income and do not impact any other financial aid like Medicaid that students may already receive.
Ball State Economist Michael Hicks says the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is disturbing and a recipe for disaster. He says Project 2025 plans to overhaul the federal employment service by creating over 20,000 new political appointees across the government. Today, there are about 4000 such jobs. Former president Trump has disavowed the entirety of project 2025, even though the works were created as a roadmap for his administration, should he win the 2024 election.
Indiana Democratic nominee for Governor Jennifer McCormick says Indiana’s proposed redesign of high school diploma requirements will negatively impact student success and educational equity, and fails to provide sufficient resources, funding, or clear paths for student success. In a release she says the primary issue facing high schools has been inadequate funding and a depleted educator pipeline – not the structure of the diploma requirements. McCormick is a lifelong educator and fifth-generation Hoosier from New Castle, Indiana.
America’s Hometown Band will perform a free concert at Westside Park, located at 2400 W White River Blvd in Muncie on August 22nd. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is titled “Broadway in the Park.” The concert will feature the music of Broadway with a special visit from America’s Hometown Band vocalist, Mona Dale.
The 2024 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards has announced the shortlist of books eligible for top honors in eight of its literary categories. Fifty-two books written by Indiana authors and published in 2022 and 2023 have been shortlisted and a Muncie author was selected in the YOUNG ADULT category. Sarah Hollowell of Muncie was selected for her book, What Stalks Among Us, a deliriously creepy speculative thriller about two best friends trapped in a corn maze with corpses that look just like them.
High school seniors who hope to attend college in the fall of 2025 can soon fill out the federal application for financial aid. But this time, like last year, the form will be slightly delayed for most students. The federal agency recently announced that the application system would not be ready for all students and institutions until December 1st, despite troubleshooting and reorganizing the process for most of this year. IPR reports In 2020, Congress ordered the Department of Education to rebuild the FAFSA system with aims to make it easier for families to navigate. But its rollout for the 2024-25 FAFSA has been plagued by bugs and technical issues.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall for cookies sold in Meijer stores in multiple states. The recall relates to Meijer Dunking Cookies Chocolate Chip because they have undeclared milk in them. The recalled Meijer Dunking Cookies were sold at Meijer stores in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. Customers with this product are encouraged to stop eating the cookies and return them to the Meijer customer service desk for a full refund.
The Muncie Noon Rotary Club Board of Directors considers grant requests annually. The Club typically awards between $8,000-$10,000 annually to eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The Board evaluates all requests as objectively as possible, consistent with the expressed priorities of the Club. The Rotary Club of Muncie Endowment Fund Grant Application Deadline is August 31st! Learn more at https://www.muncierotary.org/.
WTHR reports Efforts being rolled out Monday include a new Federal Communications Commission inquiry into whether to impose requirements on communications companies that would make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one. The Federal Trade Commission in March 2023 initiated “click to cancel” rulemaking requiring companies to let customers end subscriptions as easily as they started them.
This week we are giving you grill maintenance tips from Grill Nation News as we approach the Labor Day Holiday. Let’s start with cooking grates. Give them a good brush down. Stainless steel rods or uncoated cast iron grates should be replaced when they become pitted or the rust is irremovable. Coated grates are less durable – check for pits or blemishes in the enamel that will hold germs and replace if necessary.
