Free Republic

A congressman from the Indiana 9th district named Baron Hill had a major league arrogant temper tantrum on camera last Saturday which has become a big hit in the blogosphere with over 100,000 viewers on YouTube. So one would figure that the local Bloomington newspaper, the Herald Times, would cover it, right? Wrong. Amazingly the most interesting thing that has happened in Bloomington in at least a year has been studiously avoided by that newspaper. Here is the scene as described by the American Thinker:It is not just the career safe seat members of Congress and the Senate who are...

The Tea Party Express will be rallying in Bloomington, Indiana this morning at 11:00 am and in Bloomington, Illinois at 5:00 pm tonight!! Next rally stop: Joliet, IL tomorrow morning!! Woo hoo!! Thirty-five cities, thirty-five tea parties in sixteen days!! Be sure to check the tour schedule and join us when we get to a city near you: TeaPartyExpress.org!! And if you are going to DC for the big March on Washington and National Tea Party on 9/12, you won't want to miss our National Freeper Convention!! Click here to order your tickets today!! If you can't go to DC...

UPDATED 2:45 p.m. BLOOMINGTON -- A 22-year-old Normal man who was shot during an alleged break-in at a Bloomington apartment was charged Wednesday with one count of residential burglary. Joshua A. McGuire appeared in front of Associate Judge Rebecca Foley in a wheelchair on Wednesday afternoon on the residential burglary charge. He must post $1,500 to be released from the McLean County jail. McGuire was shot three times in the legs after allegedly breaking into a lower-level unit in an apartment house in the 400 block of West Chestnut Street about 10 p.m. Monday, police said. The shooting happened after...

Bloomington 1, 4:30 p.m. Greetings from Read Center, on the IU campus just off 3rd and Jordan. This is polling site Bloomington 1. I’m here in the sun-filled lobby with about three dozen students, lined up to vote. There are comfy couches and food and drinks off in one corner. Chris Purvis, 19, an IU sophomore, has been here working the site since 5 a.m. as a paid precinct sheriff. He says, on the whole, the day has been slow. “This morning was kind of crazy,” he said. There were a handful of people waiting in line when he arrived...

For most of my life I've been told that the government was to protect our rights and freedoms in the United States, how is it doing these days? Not well as I see it and here's why: Socialist government now is to raise us all from cradle to grave so we can all be equally unhappy. Government now knows best what to do with your money; you are too ignorant! Do you really want this government to run your health care? They tried to run the mortgage industry, see where that got us - $800 trillion in debt and no...

On the evening of Monday, May 19th, the newly formed River City Animal Defense League (ADL) and friends made our public debut. We took to the neighborhoods, and more specifically the houses of executives and contractors of Gohmann Asphalt and Construction, Inc. Gohmann Asphalt and Construction, Inc. is a disgusting company that has decided to proceed with business in the construction of Interstate-69 (I-69) which is the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) superhighway. NAFTA’s superhighway has already been built from Ontario to Indianapolis. It is planned to extend into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Once in Texas...

A Minnesota community college has "a Muslim place of worship" featuring "a schedule for Islam's five daily prayers," according to a local newspaper columnist who visited the campus. Tax-supported Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., also has a "sign requesting that shoes be removed" and a barrier that divides men's and women's "prayer spaces," writes Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. College officials denied it was anything more than a "meditation" room available for "all faiths." The description of the facility, however, led one faculty member to tell Kersten the room is "unprecedented" and "goes beyond religious toleration." "For all...

Buddha is welcome but the Bible is banned at the Bloomington, Ind., city hall after officials booted a display of the Ten Commandments erected by Christians wanting equal treatment with the Far East religion promoted by the Dalai Lama. A WND request for comment from Mayor Mark Kruzan wasn't immediately returned but a team of Christians upset over the promotion of Buddhism told WND they are seeking legal advice about their next step. The dispute arose over a display of religious statues of Buddha and other items, including religious cloth paintings, erected in the Bloomington City Hall to coincide with...

Now in Osceola, she is appealing her dismissal in Indiana to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kissimmee Middle School reading teacher Deborah Mayer said her world has been "devastated" by four words she uttered in an Indiana classroom four years ago: "I honk for peace."

Bloomington - College students are facing sticker shock when it comes to the price of birth control. Statistics show about 40 percent of undergraduate women take oral contraceptives, but suddenly, they're being forced to pay much more for the pill. Oral contraceptives make up a quarter of all prescriptions filled at Indiana University's Health Center. Traditionally, college women got deep discounts, but the price of birth control is doubling or even tripling on campus. "We had a number of prescriptions that were $10, $12, $13. Those have at least doubled and in some instances, with some of the new things...

The Rush is no longer going to be on the air on WJBC. Radio Bloomignton General Manager Red Pitcher announced this afternoon the syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show will air for the last time March 2, 2007. Pitcher tells WJBC's Steve and Beth on The Drive, local programming will replace Rush. Pitcher believes Limbaugh's popularity is declining becuse of controversial remarks that are offending even his Republican fans. He pointed to today's show in which Limbaugh compared players in the NFL with gang members. Details of the local programming line-up that will begin on March 5th will be announced in coming...

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. - In a town that is one of the key battlegrounds in the Interstate 69 fight, environmental groups Monday announced a federal lawsuit to block design and planning of the Evansville-to-Indianapolis leg of the highway. The plaintiffs, including the Hoosier Environmental Council and several business owners, allege that the Indiana Department of Transportation ignored harmful environmental impacts of building a direct route between Evansville and Indianapolis. It also claims INDOT was biased against a route that would have upgraded the existing U.S. 41-Interstate 70 corridor into a new highway. It accuses 11 defendants - state and federal agencies...

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5282228

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. An Indiana University student was piloting a small plane through dense fog when the aircraft crashed, killing the four passengers and fellow classmates, officials said Friday. The five graduate students in the university's school of music were returning from a rehearsal for a community concert in West Lafayette, about 90 miles north of campus, when the plane disappeared from radar about 11:40 p.m. Thursday. Georgina H. Joshi, who had studied at the Royal College of Music in London and sung in Wales, piloted the single-engine Cessna. Investigators said they did not immediately know how much flying experience Joshi...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Muslim leaders are concerned about their community's safety after someone saw a man rappelling from the roof of a city mosque. A witness in the Islamic Center of Bloomington to pray Saturday heard footsteps on the roof and spotted the man climbing down the building's roof around 6 a.m. After the man shimmied down the side of the building, he got into a Jeep with two other men and drove away, police said. "Because of the sophistication and apparent specialized training of the intruder, we are again concerned about the safety of the Muslim community," said Islamic...

Bloomington, October 10, 2005 - For towns hoping to cash in on tourists, the goal is to set themselves apart from the competition. Bloomington is looking for a "niche" in the travel industry. It is launching a new campaign to promote itself as a destination for a specific type of visitor. Indiana University, rolling hills, and downtown charm. There are plenty of reasons to visit Bloomington. But it's what you "can't" see that's given tourism insiders an idea to bring more travelers to southern Indiana. "If we have such a heavy population that's enjoying living here, why not target that...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- An airplane that raised questions in this college town is being used by the FBI to monitor people who might have terrorist connections, agency officials acknowledged. The FBI denied knowledge of the plane earlier this week after aviation officials disclosed that the aircraft was conducting law enforcement surveillance. Agent Thomas V. Fuentes said the FBI issued the denial because a reporter asked if the airplane is doing electronic surveillance, which it is not. Fuentes and agent James H. Davis said the FBI is not aware of any threat to Bloomington or the state, but is watching...

INDIANAPOLIS - Planned Parenthood (news - web sites) sued the state of Indiana Monday to stop the seizure of its clients' medical records, saying investigators were on a "fishing expedition," possibly to identify the partners of sexually active 12- and 13-year-olds. The lawsuit filed in Indianapolis seeks temporary and permanent injunctions barring Attorney General Steve Carter and his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from searching the private records of clients at 40 Planned Parenthood clinics across the state. Already, the unit has seized records of eight clients from clinics in Bloomington, Franklin and Lafayette, according to Betty Cockrum, chief executive officer...

The New York Times was impressed by Bloomington’s overreaching ban on smoking in public places. Libertarians are not so dazzled. The last thing Indiana cities should do is to copy Bloomington’s lead. Karla Sneegas, the executive director of Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, told a New York Times reporter that “one way to start changing cultural norms on smoking is to institute new policies.” Only one problem. It’s not the government’s job to set cultural norms. Imagine if it were not something as maligned as smoking. Maybe these cities ought to ban coffee. It stains teeth a nasty shade, the...

Activist: Fight nuclear power Disarmament advocate talks at IWU, ISU By Michele Steinbacher msteinbacher@pantagraph.com BLOOMINGTON -- Nuclear arsenals still point at the world's cities more than a decade after the Cold War, and atomic power plants like the one in Clinton dot the nation's landscape. That should terrify Americans into action, one of the world's leading advocates for nuclear disarmament told Central Illinois residents Thursday. "Why do you have all these missiles if Russia is now your best friend?" Dr. Helen Caldicott asked a crowd gathered at an Illinois Wesleyan University lecture hall Thursday. Later that night she spoke at...

I just want to announce to everyone that the Grand Old Cause conservative activism club at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana will be holding a support the troops rally on Thursday March 25th starting at 11 am. There will be free hotdogs, chips, and apple pie for everyone, and you will also be provided the opprotunity to meet and personally thank some soldiers, who have returned from Iraq, for protecting our freedom. The even will be held in Dunn Meadow between 7th St and the Indiana Memorial Union. Any and all are welcome. Any service men and women and their...

Ex-Iraqi official touts war Iraq's former nuclear chief speaks at IWU By Kelly Josephsen Pantagraph Staff BLOOMINGTON -- Khidhir Hamza was a member of the Iraqi elite -- part of Saddam Hussein's inner circle and the top official in the country's nuclear weapons program. Yet he and millions like him left their native land because they saw no hope. "We gave up," Hamza said. Now, Hamza is preparing to go back to Iraq in a month. His return will probably be during wartime, and he goes back a defector who had to escape through the mountains of Turkey in 1994....

<p>BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Aviation officials said they could not disclose the purpose of a small aircraft whose night flights over Bloomington have raised terrorist worries among residents.</p> <p>The white, single-engine propeller airplane has been circling the city of 69,000 late at night and about noon recently, The Herald-Times reported today.</p>

<p>Yvonne Spector said the people of Bloomington have spoken, and they don't want the Interstate 69 extension to cut through their town.</p> <p>BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- To Yvonne Spector, the planned Interstate 69 extension represents all that she's against.</p> <p>With cup of coffee in hand and her dog tied to a pole outside The Scholars Inn Bakehouse, the Indiana University researcher rattled off her reasons -- ''the strip malling of America,'' the destruction of ''green space,'' jobs that do not pay a living wage.</p>