Indiana On Google News; Indy News; Nothing Much This Week

 I started this post on Tuesday.

Yeah, I went to sleep and got hit with insomnia until around midnight. The guy behind me is trying to bake me. The furnace is still running. I did not get to sleep until I turned on the AC. Overlept and feel like shit. One apartment to look at around 11. I would like to get some work done today.  

The email brought a rejection:

Thank you for letting us consider "No Ordinary Word" for publication in the Missouri Review. We enjoyed reading your work, and though it doesn't quite fit our needs at this time, we wish you excellent luck with it and hope we will have the chance to read more of your writing in the future.

Sincerely,

The Editors
The Missouri Review 

A reminder from Sheila Kennedy: Put This On Your Calendar 

Meet Lawrence’s new used bookstore  (Mirror Indy)

From the outside, Lawrence’s newest bookstore doesn’t look like much. There’s an open sign in the window and a red banner with the shop’s name, Red Dog Books, hanging off the roof.

But inside, customers will find rows of used books. So many books, some are stacked on top of each other just to fit on the shelves.

***

The new store in Lawrence is located in a Census tract where the median household income is between $23,000 and $35,000. That’s compared to the median household income for Marion County at $63,450.

House hopes Red Dog Books allows people to buy affordable books. Many of the books are priced between $1-$3.

***

In addition to offering affordable books, Red Dog Books is also a nonprofit that helps community members develop job skills.

Volunteers help stock shelves, assist customers and run the cash register — all skills that are transferable to other jobs, House said.

***

📍 7115 E. 46th St.
🕰️ Noon-6 p.m. Sunday
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday

Find more information on the Red Dog Books Facebook page.

The ugly: All’s well in Indiana, as long as we’re ahead of Kentucky by Morton Marcus:

So we find Hoosiers content with average weekly wages in December 2024 of $1,222, which ranked 44th in the nation. That we were down from 41st place a year earlier does not matter. We were ahead of 46th place Kentucky by $33. In addition, we could boast that our gain of $51 over a year earlier (35th best in the nation) outpaced 46th place Kentucky by $6 per week.

Never mind that our state’s numbers were worse than Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. We weren’t embarrassed. We had just reelected a moribund legislature and a new governor who freely admitted the impotence of his office. We remained ahead of Kentucky. 

 From this afternoon's Google News alerts:

Solar Walkway at Honda Greensburg Plant Could Be a Record-Setter 

 It could be the longest solar pedestrian walkway in the world – spanning longer than two football fields – and is designed to provide clean energy for the plant and support its associates.

The walkway was motivated by Honda associates at IAP after the Greensburg facility’s environmental team saw an opportunity to align infrastructure improvements with energy efficiency to activate a fully-functioning power-generation system. 

Indiana University ranked as U.S.'s worst public college for free speech (Indy Star)

In Tuesday's rankings, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression tanked IU's score largely because leadership cancelled a speaker in response to the anti-DEI movement and placed a sniper atop the student union during 2024's pro-Palestine encampment.

FIRE, a nonpartisan organization that defends First Amendment rights across the political spectrum, and survey company College Pulse rank the campus speech environment of 257 public and private universities each year. It uses student surveys, policy wording and university decisions to calculate each college's score.

But!

Purdue sits on the opposite end of FIRE's free speech rankings as the country's top public university for its First Amendment environment — though the group notes that could change next year.

Meet Lawrence’s new used bookstore  (Mirror Indy)

From the outside, Lawrence’s newest bookstore doesn’t look like much. There’s an open sign in the window and a red banner with the shop’s name, Red Dog Books, hanging off the roof.

But inside, customers will find rows of used books. So many books, some are stacked on top of each other just to fit on the shelves.

***

The new store in Lawrence is located in a Census tract where the median household income is between $23,000 and $35,000. That’s compared to the median household income for Marion County at $63,450.

House hopes Red Dog Books allows people to buy affordable books. Many of the books are priced between $1-$3.

***

In addition to offering affordable books, Red Dog Books is also a nonprofit that helps community members develop job skills.

Volunteers help stock shelves, assist customers and run the cash register — all skills that are transferable to other jobs, House said.

***

📍 7115 E. 46th St.
🕰️ Noon-6 p.m. Sunday
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday

Find more information on the Red Dog Books Facebook page.

The ugly: All’s well in Indiana, as long as we’re ahead of Kentucky by Morton Marcus:

So we find Hoosiers content with average weekly wages in December 2024 of $1,222, which ranked 44th in the nation. That we were down from 41st place a year earlier does not matter. We were ahead of 46th place Kentucky by $33. In addition, we could boast that our gain of $51 over a year earlier (35th best in the nation) outpaced 46th place Kentucky by $6 per week.

Never mind that our state’s numbers were worse than Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. We weren’t embarrassed. We had just reelected a moribund legislature and a new governor who freely admitted the impotence of his office. We remained ahead of Kentucky. 

I did get to work on "The Women in His Life".

What else did I do? 

Wednesday? 

Good Lord, another day when I am getting lethargic for too many hours. I am not sure if it is the meds or getting more exercise or both. It doesn't help that I woke about 3:30 this morning and had just enough steam to make it to 8:30.

 

KH and I had been going back forth in the emails about paying $69 for an evaluation of a story, As I told him, If I am going to spend $69, then I would like to get more out of it than just one story - like my whole style. Something I can apply than just one story. But "Problem Solving" just does not make any sense to me - not in any version (I keep feeling that I am dumbing it down) - other than its subject. 

 

I think I saw an apartment that I had to decline, then off to Payless by way of Staples. Or was that Tuesday? I think I was gone for three hours. 

I would like to have more energy. I did get the latest section of the story written, then I made a run to the convenience store, then another nap where I couldn't really sleep. Oh, I need to do dishes.

 Apartment hunting was unsuccessful.

Thursday, I had an epiphany: I don't tell very happy stories.

 

There was a trip to Walmart - or was that Wednesday?  I needed some things, so I didn't need to do laundry. 

I read this when I got back from a convenience store run - after deciding I was too pooped to do dishes and cook: The Legend of the Convenience Store Cashier by Anna Vangala Jones (Long Story, Short). I submitted "No Ordinary Word" to the same publisher.

 

I planned on seeing a movie Thursday afternoon. Only I screwed that up. This I remember because "Caught Stealing" ended its run on Thursday. I had to send my ID to a potential landlord, so I scanned that into the computer. Then I went to work on the story, I thought I would miss the bus downtown, so I hustled out to the bus stop. I got to the movie theater with enough time, only I had left my debit card and all my plastic back at the apartment. All I managed to do was get in some shopping for shoes.

 

I decided that I was going to Anderson on Saturday morning. 

 

Friday:

 

The group session after running off to Social Security to get my benefits letter for one of the potential apartments. 

 

Then I went to check on an apartment and to get the rental car.

 

I called CC since I had wheels. That resulted in a minor miracle, I got her to Vespers. Afterward, we got barbecue and I took her home. 

 

Afterward, I got glued to YouTube. Now, I have been listening to history on YouTube.

 

 

Proof that Florida was always cursed?
 

  

 

That got me into WWI airplanes and somehow to the Gripen. Fascinating airplane. 

 

 Do not only listen to the thing, but look at the comments. Europeans and Canadians are all for the Gripen and dumping America. It may seem small, I think it says much about the future of our influence and trade.

 

 

I went to a political meeting in Anderson this morning. Funny how ignorance of the younger generations came up several times, and a duty to educate (paraphrasing). I met a woman who is running for Secretary of State. I was impressed. If we give up, they win. I stood by once, marinating in frustration and anger, and I cannot go back there.

 

The plan from Friday was to pick up CC and let her get a truck to move her stuff. She was not ready to go. Coming back from Anderson, I grabbed a sandwich from Arby's in Daleville, I went off to Payless to pick up items that are hard to carry on the buss. The car had to be back at 2 pm. It was 12:30 when I got home. Groceries in and laundry out. I had the laundry in the dryer in time to get the car back on time. The bus brought me back to the laundromat. From there I walked home.

 I got back here, put up the groceries, and fixed dinner. Over dinner, I started to finish "The Long Goodbye" and did finish it just a few minutes ago. I saw in full decades ago, it still underwhelms. The only worse is the Robert Mitchum "Big Sleep" (although I still have not seen "The High Window".) Even Robert Montgomery's "The Lady in the Lake" (talk about a movie that do with a remake!) is not so poorly conceived. Perhaps, it is a sign of its time, this nihilistic Marlowe, but just does not hold up.

 Tired, rainy outside. Going to call it a day.

sch