Shot fired in Bloomington . . . again
Just before midnight on Wednesday evening, gun shots were exchanged on Bloomington’s Northwest side of town. Although there were no reported injuries related to the violence, this has been the 3rd incident of shots being fired this month in the same general vicinity. Last week the scene was a commercial parking lot in Crestwood Bend. Earlier this month, there were 4 injuries to a shooting in the Crestwood Park playground. Bloomington Mayor Hamilton released a statement recently, saying, “We are deeply concerned about these shootings and will not tolerate this activity anywhere in Bloomington. Public safety is my first responsibility, and we are committed to do all that we can to protect our residents wherever we live, work, or play.”
The Bloomington Police Department is conducting the investigation into these events, with assistance from federal and state agencies. Since the first incident, BPD has increased its patrols of the Crestmont Residential Community, including the presence of officers on foot. The BPD encourages anyone with information about these crimes to contact the department at (812) 339-4477. Callers may report information anonymously.
Case against Bennett finally dropped, 4 months after her death
The Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office has announced that the case against the woman who drove a block through a Bloomington street with a protester who had jumped onto the hood of her vehicle was officially dropped on July 6th, more than 4 months after the woman’s death. 67 year-old Christi Jane Bennett, who died in a Denver hotel room on February 6th of this year, had been charged with criminal recklessness and leaving the scene of an accident for her role in an incident which attained national attention, following a Downtown Bloomington protest. Bennett, a resident of Scottsburg, Indiana at the time of the incident on July 6, 2020. Bennet was attempting to continue North on Walnut Street when several individuals were leaving a protest, and had blocked the road and thrown an electronic scooter in the path of the vehicle. The passenger exited the vehicle and exclaimed for the people to get out of their way. As he re-enters the car, video shows a person jump on the hood of the vehicle Bennett was driving. Bennett then accelerated as another individual appeared to climb onto the driver-side of the car. Both individuals on top of the car held on for more than a block before being thrown to the ground, t which point Bennett left the scene. Bennett was found a couple days after the incident at a hotel where she had been staying in, in Scottsburg. Both of the individuals who climbed onto Bennett’s vehicle were released from the hospital that evening according to reports.
Indiana University awarded $4.4 Million in state funding
The state of Indiana has awarded Indiana University more than $4.4 million in funding as part of the state’s new Student Learning Recovery Grant Program. The five funded projects will support Indiana teachers and help K-12 students recover and retain lost learning from the year of the pandemic and beyond.
IU Bloomington – A new project with support from the IU School of Education in Bloomington will bring vital STEM education to rural students around southern Indiana. The project will provide approximately 90 informal and formal educators with professional development and follow-up support, which will impact more than 3,600 students.
Project LIFT — Literacy/STEM Improvement for Today’s Students — is designed to advance literacy while enhancing STEM education for K-8 students in the region, according to Adam Scribner, director of STEM education initiatives at the School of Education. The project will combine two research-based educational programs, Readable English and Novel Engineering.
IUPUI – IUPUI was awarded three grants totaling more than $3 million: two to the School of Education and one to the Office of Community Engagement.
School of Education faculty Jeremy Price, Cristina Santamaria Graff, Paula Magee and Craig Willey were awarded over $1.1 million for their project titled “It Takes a Village: Student Resilience Learning Plan.”
An additional $567,640 grant to the School of Education was awarded for a project titled “Girls STEM Institute: Advancing Learning Through Interdisciplinary Experiences,” led by associate professor Crystal Morton. The institute is designed to provide holistic learning opportunities for girls of color, who have been historically marginalized in STEM fields, and provide a support system focused on their STEM identity and overall well-being.
IUPUI’s Office of Community Engagement is taking its $1.4 million in grant funding and expanding its statewide IU Student Success Corps program to encompass all grade levels by now including K-5 students. In partial response to learning recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, this grant will support face-to-face tutoring services to disproportionately affected, vulnerable students from kindergarten through college