The 812

From 2016 to 2023, Alex Crowley served in the Hamilton administration as Bloomington's director of Economic and Sustainable Development. Since last summer, his new role is as executive director of the new Indiana Energy Independence Fund. In the second half of the show, he'll explain what a "green bank" is and his new job running one. In the first half, though, he talks about h...

How much do you really know about the typical homeless person? Are you sure, or are you just making assumptions? Homelessness among children, for example, is a significant thing. Our guest today is Emily Pike, the executive director of New Hope for Families, the only shelter in Monroe County dedicated to helping children under the age of 18 experiencing homelessness, and the parents or guardians w...

To everyone visiting Bloomington, and about to make Monday the largest tourism event in the city's history, this episode is for you.  The 812 podcast is all about explaining how the city of Bloomington works. In the first half of today's episode, we talk with  Michael Large from the Public Works Department John Connell, general manager of Bloomington Transit, and  Tim Street, the city&ap...

When you hear the words "public" and "works"... what do you think of first? Potholes, maybe? Street paving? Yeah, that's not uncommon. But it definitely depends on the city you're in. In Bloomington, Public Works does everything from animal control to sanitation. Michael Large, the Operations Manager for the city's Public Works department, lays it all out for us,...

Professor Pilachowski, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, and the Daniel Kirkwood Chair of the Astronomy Department at Indiana University, has been planning for Bloomington's April 8 eclipse for many years. She talks about its significance astronomically, its impact on people locally, her career in astronomy, and shares the plethora of activities her department and IU generally have in sto...

Our guest today is new director of Bloomington Parks & Recreation, Tim Street -- and not once...not ONCE was the word "pickleball" mentioned. But he talks with host Steve Volan about the breadth of city parks issues, including the remediation of invasive trees, the state of the Farmers' Market, programs they're sponsoring for the coming eclipse, and how he feels about the A...

A look back at interviews The 812 has conducted with: Communications Director Holly McLauchlin of City of Bloomington Utilities, about how the local water works works: General Manager John Connell of Bloomington Transit, about how the local system  of busses is so bussin' and Jordan Davis, host of the No Dishes podcast about the local restaurant scene, and Operations Manager for the Chocolate...

BT General Manager John Connell gives The 812 an overview of the state's busiest bus system per capita, its scope, how it works, and what's next for public transit in Bloomington, including an update on the Green Line, soon to be the city's first bus rapid transit line.  Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

After the Lineup for Thursday, March 28, we revisit our interview with At-Large Councilmember Matt Flaherty, recorded in January. He discusses how the city can take significant climate action and decarbonization by rethinking policies on development, utilities and parking. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

Our guest today is Jordan Davis, director of operations at the Chocolate Moose. He's also host of the No Dishes podcast which is all about the local restaurant scene, and a board member for Visit Bloomington, the local convention and visitors' bureau. Among other things, we talk about his career in food service, the Chocolate Moose's history, the growth of food trucks in Bloomington...

Water, water everywhere, but every drop you drink, dear city dweller, is cleaned somehow. Who delivers -- and takes away -- your water? We talk with Holly McLauchlin, the communications director for City of Bloomington Utilities. She'll explain the ginormous operation that provides us drinking water, carries off and cleans our wastewater, and disperses our stormwater. Topics include the prosp...

On this Digest episode we look back at people whom we've interviewed to explore how they became candidates. We'll hear segments from former fire chief Jason Moore and now-city councilmember Courtney Daily about their origin stories, and a longer look at how Jonas Schrodt, who ran last year for an at-large seat and whom we interviewed last week, found his hat thrown into the ring. In the...

Sorry, Bloomington! No public meetings to promote and all our guest prospects fell through. We'll be back with a full schedule next week. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

What it's like to run for local political office for the first time? What motivates people to run, and how does a campaign make affect a candidate's self-esteem? Our guest today is Jonas Schrodt, the local stand-up comedian and winemaker who ran among six other candidates for one of three at-large seats on the city council last year. We do a post-mortem on his candidacy, exploring his ex...

So far on this show, our interviews have been with decision and policy makers in the city of Bloomington. But there are some people who know a lot about the city, and can explain the issues well, who may never have been elected or appointed officials. Today we debut a new occasional feature: The 812 Work Session. Mike Leonard was the primary columnist at the Herald-Times newspaper from 1985-2013,...

The 812 is still re-tooling post-spring break. Today's Lineup of public meetings is fresh for March 19, but please enjoy this encore presentation of our interview with City Clerk Nicole Bolden, originally recorded in January. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

On this digest episode, we hear excerpts from interviews all about the local economy, including: Jane Kupersmith, director of the city's  Economic and Sustainable Development department; Jennifer Pearl, president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation; Mike McAfee, director of Visit Bloomington, the Monroe County Convention and Visitors' Bureau; and Isak Asare, the newest at...

This bonus mini-episode is our first extended interview, in a week when we otherwise have no programming planned. In this inaugural version of The 812 Overtime, Isak Asare, the raconteur city councilmember who stole the show last week, stuck with us for another round of conversation. In this surprisingly serious segment, we talk about the rules of order for meetings, how they came to be, how they...

We're mostly off this week for Bloomington's spring break. Public meetings, however, are not off, so we're still filling out the Lineup to keep you up to date.  Also: Happy Pi Day! Celebrate with a local pizza (preferably a round one). Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

We're mostly off this week for Bloomington's spring break. Public meetings, however, are not off, so we're still filling out the Lineup to keep you up to date.  Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

We're mostly off this week for Bloomington's spring break. Public meetings, however, are not off, so we're still filling out the Lineup to keep you up to date.  Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

We're mostly off this week for Bloomington's spring break. Public meetings, however, are not off, so we're still filling out the Lineup to keep you up to date.  Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.

Our guest today is Mike McAfee, the director of VisitBloomington , otherwise known as the Monroe County Convention and Visitors Bureau. He'll talk about the CVB, how it's organized and funded, and how it promotes tourism and helps organize events. He talks with Steve Volan about the importance of the Convention Center as a greeting card for the community and the potential economic benefi...

This one's a doozy. In our game of Pokemon Go City COuncilmember edition, we've landed one of the two most elusive creatures in the Bloomington legislature. But one of his powers is to turn the tables.  Today, the newest at-large member of the city council, Isak Asare, all but takes over the show, and the putative interviewer finds himself as often as not the interviewee. The conversatio...

Economic development seems to be an emerging theme on this week's shows. Yesterday was about small business; today we'll talk about, well, bigger business. Our guest is Jennifer Pearl, the president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. She'll explain what that is and how it fits into the overall landscape of local economic development, especially in the era of climat...