5/18-5/19/2026: Muncie to Indy to Muncie to Anderson

 I spent yesterday's morning in Indianapolis. First, still trying to find the computer K wanted. No such luck. What I did learn was not to trust Staples' inventorying software. Online, Plainfield was shown as having the computer. Plainfield said that their computer showed North Keystone had three. I went to North Keystone, they had none. When I called Plainfield, the fellow who went to see their actual stock could not find one. I gave up. K was going to work off money lent her by typing up the “Chasing Ashes” manuscript. Someone else will do it for me.

Then I spent hours at the McKinney Law School law library. Too fat, too hot, it was a struggle that it ought not have been. Memory kept losing instructions on how to use their scanner. It was also not helpful in finding the Indiana Reports. I did not finish the job, either. Which worked out to my benefit. There was a massive thunderstorm that hit as I was leaving and accompanied me all the way home. Indianapolis streets were flooding. When I got back here, I found out the biggest selection did not get sent from the scanner.

 I thought I would go back today, but I was too tired at 5 AM. I stayed that way for most of the day. I did manage a quit trip to Anderson and having two Spanish dogs from Gene's Root Beer. They were delicious.

I got the car back to Enterprise on time - 1 PM. Then I made my way back here. A siesta seemed like a good idea. Not ready for the heat; I need to get my inhalers. Two more hard rains came in the afternoon.

I think I heard frogs croaking this morning after the rains, and then again a little while ago. It might be something else. Not any bird song I recognized, so frogs seem likely, if bizarre. 

Indiana abortion ban law stands as state Supreme Court rejects challenge means I need to get the law research done and the article written. Finally.

The Future Fire got Unintended Consequences 

A rejection for “Agnes”:

Thank you for sending us your work. This particular submission wasn't chosen for publication, but we are grateful for your interest in our journal. We wouldn't be able to continue without writers like you.


Great luck with your writing, among all other things.


Sincerely,

The Editors

New Ohio Review

Warren Zevon's Warren Zevon; The Eagles' “Hotel California” tried but never hit the mark set by Zevon.

For something lighter: How a shifting Nile landscape shaped the rise of the ancient empire of Kush in Sudan 

New editions of Georges Simenon's non-Maigret novels are coming out: The Crimes Georges Simenon Declined to Investigate. I admire the Maigret stories but find his non-Maigret novels fascinating. I did not even know of them until I was in my fifties. Do not wait so long to read them.

 Cradle to Career Muncie Lifted as National Example

At the center of the recognition is Muncie Community Schools’ dramatic improvement in early grade reading. During the 2024-2025 school year, districtwide reading proficiency climbed from 69.8 percent to 79.2 percent, a 9.4-percentage-point increase that outpaced statewide gains. Grissom Elementary posted one of the most significant improvements in Indiana, increasing its third-grade reading proficiency rate from 46.6 percent to 79 percent in a single year.

StriveTogether leaders described Muncie as an example of how place-based partnerships can drive long-term systems change when communities align around shared data, coordinated strategies and collective accountability. The national organization’s annual report noted that more than 70 organizations and 200 individuals participate in Cradle to Career Muncie’s work through The Opportunity Blueprint: 2030, a strategic plan shaped by more than 150 local voices.

Local leaders say the progress reflects years of intentional collaboration.

Massie lost in Kentucky. Trump now owns the Republicans. Considering what happens when Trump[ owns anything, this should be the end of the Republican Party. 

What is INvestEd? Indiana’s own student loan provider could see a surge in demand 

A little-known nonprofit created by Indiana lawmakers more than four decades ago could become a major lender for student loan borrowers.

The Indiana Secondary Market for Education Loans — which operates under the name INvestEd — issues private student loans at interest rates starting at 4.26% to 8.51% — far below the maximum 17.99% interest rate charged by some of its for-profit competitors.

The nonprofit’s motto is simple: The best student loan is no loan at all.

But leaders at INvestEd anticipate a surge in demand for private loans once tighter federal student loan restrictions and borrowing limits take effect July 1.

I never heard of this, but then after 1987 I had no interest in the subject.

 Still, very long energy.

 

sch