One of the three seats on the Monroe County Board of Commissioners is contested this fall. Today, our guest is the Republican candidate, Joe Van Deventer. He's the director of street operations for the city of Bloomington's Public Works Department. We get his perspective on all the local issues, including housing, the jail, zoning, the unhoused. He also advocates for taking advantage of the newly-complete I-69's presence as an incentive to bring blue-collar jobs into the county. (The Democratic ...
Sep 20, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 118
It's 40 years since Bloomington became a so-called Tree City. We talk about what that means with our guests: Haskell Smith, the city's Urban Forester, and George Hegeman, an inaugural member of the Bloomington Tree Commission, which has been in existence since 1992. We talk about the importance of trees and shade, invasive species and how they're dealt with, how utilities and the city interact when it comes to trees in the right of way, and, if you're lucky enough to own a house, how to get the ...
Sep 18, 2024•39 min•Season 2Ep. 117
Today, we talk with the first of the two candidates vying for the marquee local race this cycle: Jody Madeira, the Democratic nominee. She's an IU law professor in her first political run, up against Joe Van Deventer, the director of the city of Bloomington's street division. (We've invited him and he's agreed to appear on the show; we look forward to publishing that show soon.) We talk with Jody Madeira about her reasons for running, what she brings to the table, and how she would govern the co...
Sep 16, 2024•39 min•Season 2Ep. 116
This is the second of two episodes released today (note: we strongly recommend listening to the previous episode first), part of our conversation with NPR's Eric Deggans, an alum of the IU School of Journalism, back in Bloomington to speak at its successor, the Media School. Among other topics, Eric Deggans talks about the reasons he went from music to television criticism; Bloomington's neighborhoods -- and its vibrant music scene -- in the eighties; and the racial dynamics of being a mostly-Bl...
Sep 13, 2024•34 min•Season 2Ep. 115
Eric Deggans is the TV critic for National Public Radio, as well as a media analyst, and guest host. Before NPR, he was by turns a TV/media critic, music critic and reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, the Asbury Park Press, the Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He's the author of the book, "Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation," published by St. Martin's Press. A 2024 inductee into Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, he's also an adjunct instructor at b...
Sep 13, 2024•35 min•Season 2Ep. 114
The Reverend Bill Breeden is perhaps most famous for a protest in 1987, when he stole a street sign in his nearby hometown of Odon, Indiana. It was named for John Poindexter, the admiral convicted of multiple felonies in the Iran-Contra affair during the Reagan administration. But that affair was the tip of the iceberg for this minister emeritus of the Bloomington Unitarian Church, who's had a long career as a peace activist. We talk about how anti-war protests, and the policing of them, have ch...
Sep 11, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 113
Our guest today is Trohn Enright-Randolph, Monroe County Surveyor. He explains how his work is crucial to everything regarding the use and ownership of land in Monroe County -- if you don't know where the property lines are, well, it's pretty much chaos. Besides measuring those, though, he's involved in drainage and stormwater management, and is an integral part of county planning. He also talks about his advocacy for trails and connecting them to regional and statewide trail networks. Why is th...
Sep 09, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 112
Originally started in 2013 to rescue hamsters, The Pipsqueakery has expanded to become an animal rescue (which adopts out domesticated creatures) and sanctuary (which cares for wild creatures). Along and in consultation with Wildcare, which focuses on wildlife, and the city of Bloomington's Animal Control division, which focuses primarily on dogs and cats, the Pipsqueakery is part of the notable local public-private spectrum of animal care. We talk with veterinary assistant Amy Clark and directo...
Sep 06, 2024•34 min•Season 2Ep. 111
Our guest is Megan Betz, the CEO and President of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, the Bloomington community resource center that's one element of the local emergency food sector. She lays out how, acting from the belief that food pantries won't end hunger, the Hub strives to be more than a food pantry; they try to tackle the root causes of hunger by building relationships and community through initiatives like their community garden and their farm-to-family program. Later on in the program, the Last ...
Sep 04, 2024•39 min•Season 2Ep. 110
Duncan Campbell is an advisory member of the city's Historic Preservation Commission, and before that was a voting member for its first 16 years. He's also a former professor of architecture, planning and preservation at Ball State University, where he directed the graduate program in historic preservation. We talk with him about the background and history of preserving buildings, the definition of historic districts, how the preservation of buildings has played out in Bloomington over the past ...
Aug 30, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 109
Clerk Browne's duties include providing the clerical services needed for the county court system to function, as well as administering elections in the county, whether local, state or federal. We talk about the logistics of voting in Indiana, clear up confusion about similarly titled offices like that of the Bloomington City Clerk, and talk about the biggest things that people don't get about her job. Later in the show, for those new to town, we give our list of the five most significant news to...
Aug 28, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 108
Our guests today are Dawn Adams and Juliet Roberts, who are part of the committee that puts on the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts, the community's biggest annual arts event, where tens of thousands of pedestrians view the wares of more than 100 painters, sculptors, jewelers and other visual artists, not to mention the performing arts stages the Festival hosts. It's taken place ever Labor Day weekend since 1977, and this year's festival promises to be as big as ever. We talk with Adams and Ro...
Aug 26, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 107
Deborah Myerson is a professional urban planner who specializes in housing policy. She talks about working for cities all over the country, including Bloomington where she lives. She's currently helping the city's Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) Department develop the update of the city's Consolidated Plan, a document required of every place that gets funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This week as part of her job, she began hosting a number of ...
Aug 23, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 106
Our guest is Amy Swain, the county Recorder. If you're lucky enough to own land in Monroe County, her office is the place that helps you prove it. It's a bigger, and older, and more complicated job than you might guess. Besides telling us about the lengths she has to go to preserve records in perpetuity, there's also other matters, like scammers and what her staff does to guard against them, and how she serves veterans. On the Last Pitch: a bit of advice for how to most effectively say your peac...
Aug 21, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 105
As we collect interviews with elected officials in the county, we occasionally come across the word "resiliency" -- is the community resilient enough? Our guest today is asking that question, among many others. Peter Iversen talks about the job of the council to manage the county budget, some of the boards he's on like the Justice Financial Advisory Committee and the county Environmental Commission, where the watchword is "resiliency"...and what it's like to represent all the lakes in Monroe Cou...
Aug 19, 2024•35 min•Season 2Ep. 104
The world of public housing has moved past the negative reputation it's had from decades of national neglect. Thanks to legal changes at the federal level, our guest today, Nathan Ferreira, is having success making more public housing available, as the Director of Real Estate Development at the Bloomington Housing Authority. He talks with us about whatever happened to the term "Section 8", about the power of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and about the reestablishment in the city of a housing l...
Aug 16, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 103
The Stride Center is a program started a few years ago in Bloomington that serves people who are experiencing mental health or substance abuse crises, both at their headquarters and where those people live, even if they're unhoused. Our guests today are Tia Magee, the Center's Program Manager, and Jennifer Scott, who leads its Mobile Crisis Response Team. The Stride Center serves as a crisis stabilization receiving center, providing resources to people experiencing mental health or substance abu...
Aug 14, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 102
The second of our 2-part interview with Mayor Kerry Thomson, in which she talks about her current initiatives. It should be no wonder that, as befitting her former role as the longtime director of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, her number one priorities are street homelessness, followed by housing construction. But she also discusses transportation, economic development, and the 2025 budget process. On today's Last Pitch: what's the right way to respond to the assertion, "Bloomington...
Aug 12, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 101
The 812 marks its 100th episode with Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson, who graciously sat for a double interview earlier this week. In this first part, we ask about her Bloomington origin story -- it's not typical -- and her life before taking office, including about her long tenure running the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, and how she decided to run for mayor. Part II, on her administration's status and plans, will be available Monday. In the Last Pitch: a philosophical treatise about the ...
Aug 09, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 100
In their respective offices since the beginning of 2023, Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté and his deputy, Monroe County Jail Commander Kyle Gibbons, argue that no matter what else happens, any new jail needs to be larger than the old one. Meanwhile, in today's Last Pitch segment, host Steve Volan exhorts you to sign up for a Residents Academy course. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.
Aug 07, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 99
The 812 returns for its second season! We have new music, new segments, and a new program schedule to lead us off. Our first show back from break features a conversation with Angela Van Rooy, director of the city's neighborhood services program. She tells us about grants that people can apply for to improve their neighborhoods, and the city's Residents Academy, which starts in a couple of weeks. It's where people can sign up to get a guided tour of how every department in the city works. Today w...
Aug 05, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Our guest today is Katarina Koch. She's the fourth-ever director of the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, the organization whose primary production is the annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival. Since 1994 the Lotus Festival has presented musical artists from all over the world in multiple venues in downtown Bloomington, and on the streets between those venues. We learn about the Festival, how it works, and other initiatives its foundation conducts. While there's much for it to celebrate ...
Jun 21, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 97
Many local homeowners have...thoughts, about the assessed value of their homes. Some of those thoughts are ...less than charitable, especially when assessments go up dramatically. Today, we talk to the person doing the assessing...she has thoughts, too. Welcome...to The 812. Our guest today is Judy Sharp. She's been the Monroe County Assessor since 1991, one of the, if not the longest-serving assessor in the state of Indiana. Her job is to assess the value of every property in Monroe County, so ...
Jun 20, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 96
(This is an encore presentation.) The city has dozens of boards and commissions, to contemplate big local issues and recommend or take action on them. What's it like to be on one...what's it like to chair one? Our guest is Dr. Gloria Howell. We learn about what the Dr. Martin Luthe King Jr. Birthday Celebration Commission does -- and it's more than just hosting the annual event in its name -- and what a city commission chair does. amd deals with. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2...
Jun 19, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 95
If your human rights have been violated in Bloomington or Monroe County, you have recourse. Our guest today is Ryne Shadday, chair of the city/county Human Rights Commission. (He's also chair of the Traffic Commission, but we'll leave that for another day.) He’ll talk about one of the oldest commissions in Bloomington, one with a proud history of standing up for those unfairly discriminated against, and how they go about adjudicating complaints. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©20...
Jun 18, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 94
Our first two excerpts are from interviews with members of the Monroe County Council. We get thoughts about the problems with the county jail and developing a new so-called justice system in the county from at-large member Cheryl Munson and District 4 member Jennifer Crossley . In the second half, we welcomed back at-large Bloomington city councilmember Matt Flaherty to discuss the need for a version 2.0 of the city's Climate Action Plan. Then at-large member Isak Asare , who agreed to come back...
Jun 17, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 93
Our guest today is Jennifer Crossley. She's been the 4th District representative to the Monroe County Council since December 2021, when she was elected in a Democratic Party caucus to replace Eric Spoonmore, who resigned to become president of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. When she took office, she resigned her position as chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party. She won election to her seat in 2022. She also serves as a Deputy City Clerk in Bloomington, so her knowledge of th...
Jun 14, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 92
Steve Volan passes the gavel and his hosting duties to at large councilmember Isak Asare, who was not satisfied with his first appearance on this show, and insisted -- insisted! -- on grilling your humble interlocutor about his time on city council. If you heard that original interview, or you've met the man in person, the force of his charm and irrepressible wit rendered Steve helpless to object. And so, we're trying a new segment called Pass the Gavel, where the guest becomes the host and gets...
Jun 13, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 91
Matt Flaherty is an at-large member of the Bloomington City Council in his second term. One of his strongest concerns as a candidate and officeholder is climate change. He's been an avid participant in the discussions about local responses to climate change, and a close reader of the city's Climate Action Plan. We invited him back to discuss and review the Plan -- has it has the desired impact? Is it going to? We talk climate action in Bloomington in today's interview. Some helpful links to docu...
Jun 12, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 90
Today's show features county councilmember Cheryl Munson, who's running for her fourth term. She is also an archaeologist (emerita) from IU Bloomington, who has done research here in the state of Indiana. We dig up her opinions on salaries, public safety, the convention center, and more. Support the show A production of Plateia Media ©2024-5. All rights reserved.
Jun 11, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 89
