News

A top lawmaker in Indiana is warning schools they could lose out on 15 percent of state funding if they start the new school year only online. 

Sen. President Pro Tempore Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) sent a letter to school leaders Thursday, saying they could risk up to 15 percent of their state funding if they do not offer in-person classes this fall.

Hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers lost their jobs and income by no fault of their own due to the pandemic. For many, an extra $600 unemployment benefit helped them stay afloat. Then it expired.

But some workers say they’ve waited weeks, sometimes months, for any payment at all from the Department of Workforce Development.

For 12 weeks, Rebecca Schreck has waited for unemployment benefits.

The northern Indiana utility NIPSCO will pay one of the highest fines in state history for natural gas pipeline safety violations. The state said the company failed to timely find or mark some of its pipelines — which could have caused natural gas explosions.

According to a new report from Earthjustice and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, 70 percent of the most dangerous hazardous waste sites in the country are located within a mile of federally assisted housing.

The report said the federal government is doing little to keep lower-income neighborhoods safe from pollution.

Indiana is getting more people with mental health and substance use disorders connected with “peer supports” – trained professionals who have personal experience with those challenges.

Indiana Addictions Issues Coalition director Brandon George said the state isn’t just dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic – it’s also still struggling with an overdose and addiction epidemic. And he said COVID-19 has exacerbated that problem.

Indiana schools are reopening for the new academic year, with some reporting cases of COVID-19 among staff or students, and the state's top school official says efforts to find people who have potentially been exposed to the coronavirus is proving difficult.

There's a serial killer terrorizing World War II London, and all evidence leads to a stolen violin. Sound like a mystery?... Well, it is! Secret Agent Maggie Hope is the only one who can solve this mystery in The King's Justice. West Lafayette Public Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

This week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor: it’s August, and after months away, Purdue University students are returning to campus for the start of a new school year. Is West Lafayette prepared for the influx of people headed into the city – and how will residents be affected in the days, weeks, and months to come?

Farmers’ confidence in their operations held steady in the latest monthly survey from Purdue University. Yet while current outlooks have improved a little, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a slight decline in expectations for the future.

The recent Ag Economy Barometer survey showed farmers feel good about their situation at the moment.