Noon Edition

Noon Edition will broadcast live Dec. 6 from the Viewpoint Books: Chapter Two in Columbus, Indiana.  Join WFIU's Noon Edition host Bob Zaltsberg and a panel including New York Times bestselling author Michael Koryta, Bartholomew County librarian Lindsey Bailey and Viewpoint Bookstore Owner Beth Stroh.  Find out what books have been popular in 2024, our panel’s favorite books, trends in books, and...

Veteran journalist and best-selling author Carl Bernstein has been making the rounds on the Indiana University campus as IU’s Poynter Center chair this school year.   As the chair, Bernstein has attended lectures to discuss the U.S political landscape and the current state of the media.  Read More : Carl Bernstein returns to IU as Poynter Chair   Bernstein is known for he and Bob Woodward’s report...

Indiana is resuming executions after a 15-year pause.  Joseph Corcoran who was convicted of murder, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 15. It's also the first time the state will administer the execution with the drug pentobarbital, the same used in federal executions.  Read more: Death penalty foes rally against plans to restart Indiana executions   Eight men are on death row in Indiana. The las...

Stream the show LIVE   IU recently reopened the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology with six exhibits and interactive experiences.  The museum, which opened on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, tells the stories of indigenous cultures in the American Midwest — with an inventory of over five million objects of cultural heritage.   Read more: IU’s Archaeology Museum reopens   The museum previously consist...

Stream the show LIVE IU’s Kelley School of Business showcases professors and economists on a tour around Indiana, where they discuss the state’s economic outlook for 2025. It’s called Futurecast and is meant to help Hoosier businesses prepare for the future. Read more: State, national economies looking up while Bloomington struggles, Futurecast says  A variety of panelists will share their experti...

Stream the show LIVE Donald Trump called it a “lovefest.”   The New York Times called it “a carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism.”  Trump’s presidential campaign rally at Madison Square Garden last Sunday started with a comedian saying Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.”   Speaker after speaker offered a dark assessment of America, with some adding crude comments, even by Trump’s...

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce recently published “Untapped Potential in IN,” a report on how childcare issues affect the state’s economy.  The report concluded that Indiana is losing more than $4 billion annually — including more than $1 billion in tax revenue — because of childcare issues.  Read the report here. The data came from a survey in March of 609 parents with a child under the age of 6...

IU’s Media School recently announced a merger of its three student media organizations --- the Indiana Daily Student, WIUX radio and IUSTV.  They will share business operations and advertising revenue in hopes of putting the Daily Student on stronger financial footing within three to five years. The IDS had a $1 million deficit that the Office of the Provost paid to eliminate in July.   Read more:...

This week, Noon Edition will broadcast live at the Monroe County Courthouse in advance of the Nov. 5 election.  Join WFIU's Noon Edition host Bob Zaltsberg and a panel of political experts for a discussion about the upcoming general election, key races in the state and issues important to Hoosiers. This special Noon Edition will have a live audience. Seating opens to the public at 11:30 a.m. at th...

The three school board members who are up for reelection in the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation are running unopposed in November. They are Jimmie Durnil, Larry DeMoss, and Brad Tucker  The district has almost 3,000 kids attending six schools.  The board’s budgeting and federal programs allow students at Edgewood Primary and Intermediate schools in Ellettsville to eat free and h...

IU had 20 athletes and coaches in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Together, they brought home one gold and two silver medals, increasing IU’s all-time medal count to 124. Six Hoosiers competed in the Paralympics. IU athletes participated in five sports, and has had a diver in every Olympics since Toyko in 1964. Tokyo 2020 medalist Andrew Capobianco travelled to Paris for his second Olympics. This week on...

Indiana University received a $16 million Lilly Endowment grant to help connect the university to the Bloomington community. The grant money will be used for the development of the Trades District. The partnership is prioritizing building out more spaces for upcoming business startups to keep local talent in the city. Read more: IU Innovates nurtures entrepreneurs IU leaders and representatives of...

The Monroe County Community School Corp. has four of seven board member seats open for election. Incumbent board members in districts two, five and six are running unopposed. A non-incumbent candidate is unopposed for the District 4 seat, where current board member Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer is not seeking re-election. The four candidates who have no opposition will join the three other board members ne...

Earlier this month, the City of Bloomington announced it is partnering with local housing groups to tackle issues related to homelessness.  The plan calls for a short-term pause on welcoming people who are unhoused from outside the region to overnight emergency shelters, focusing on reunification services instead. Long term, the plan calls for increasing the number of housing units with rent under...

Universities across the country responded to pro-Palestine encampments and protests in a variety of ways this summer.  In July, Indiana University implemented an Expressive Activities Policy, joining schools like the University of Pennsylvania and University of Southern Florida in creating new restrictions for protest on campus.  The policy – technically called UA-10 - introduces a clear ban on ca...

After a slow summer for home sales nationally, experts say mortgage rate decreases signal an upturn in the housing market toward the end of the year.  Affordability is the main constraint on the housing market now. Home prices increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and homebuilding has not kept pace with population growth. But the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been below 7 p...

Indiana is set to revise its high school diploma options and graduation requirements. State officials have voiced that the current diploma options such as General, Core 40, Academic Honors, and Technical, lack hands-on courses and career training for students. The diploma changes proposed by the IDOE this year would go into effect for the class of 2029. But the options, meant to push career- cente...

Cyber-attacks on state and local governments increased from 2022 to 2023, according to the Center for Internet Security. The FBI 2023 Internet Crimes Report said ransomware reports increased 18 percent from 2022 to 2023. Losses from the attacks totaled nearly $60 million. Last month, Monroe County Government was hit by a ransomware attack, halting some local government operations.  Read more: Loca...

This week, both Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance visited Indiana.  Harris’ visit was planned before President Joe Biden’s announcement Sunday that he would be dropping from the presidential race and endorsing Harris as the democratic party nominee.  Harris spoke to a crowd of thousands of Black women at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s Grand Boulé Wednesday.  She...

It’s been almost a week since Secret Service ushered Donald Trump off stage after a man shot at him during a rally in Pennsylvania.    The gunfire killed one attendee and injured two more.   Secret Service killed the suspected shooter, a 20-year-old man, who was set up on a rooftop outside the rally when he opened fire.   The shooting is under investigation. Also, the Department of Homeland Securi...

The Supreme Court issued several major decisions , including Trump v. The United States, which ruled the former president is partly immune for his involvement in efforts on Jan. 6 to overthrow the 2020 election results.  In another case, it overturned the precedent set by the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council , which had given deference to governmental agencies in interpreting laws...

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission approved a new plan for a Major League Soccer stadium in June.  It's the second Professional Sports Development Area created for a soccer team in Indianapolis. The first was planned for Indy Eleven. But the plan approved for an MLA stadium ends any potential financial support from the city for the Eleven Park project . Our guests spoke during a...

Storms with winds reaching 70 mph tore through Monroe County and surrounding areas Tuesday evening, leaving approximately 42,000 homes without power.  Monroe County Commissioners declared a local disaster emergency that night.  By Wednesday, Indiana 211 received 36 damage reports for Monroe County. Crews have been working to repair power lines and remove trees from roads. According to Duke Energy’...

Indiana lawmakers passed a near total abortion ban after the US Supreme Court overturned its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade in June 2022.   Indiana’s ban went into effect in August 2023.   The ban only allows an abortion if the pregnant person’s serious health or life is at risk; if there’s a lethal fetal anomaly up to 20 weeks post-fertilization; and in cases of rape or incest, but only up to 10...

A development is coming to Bloomington’s southwest side, and it is expected to add more than 4,000 homes to the city.  Construction could start as early as next summer, since the city council approved a rezone of the 140-acre site for Sullivan Development and Ridge Group in May.    Rezoning is the first phase, according to Sullivan Developer Travis Vencel. Permits still need to be granted from the...