{"id":3910,"date":"2022-08-17T10:14:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T10:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=3910"},"modified":"2022-08-17T10:14:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T10:14:28","slug":"local-news-headlines-august-17-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomingtonnews.online\/?p=3910","title":{"rendered":"Local News Headlines: August 17, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Alexandra’s Army recruiting kids for August neighborhood food drive event<\/strong>
Alexandra\u2019s Army, a Bloomington-based organization which is run by area youth, seeks kids interested in joining the fight against local hunger! Alexandra\u2019s Army was founded in 2020 by a Bloomington 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0grade student in response to a growing need of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank for summertime donations of non-perishable food. The group is looking to recruit\u00a0kids in Monroe County to register for the event, conduct their own neighborhood food drive the week of August 21st, and deliver the collected food on Saturday, August 27th\u00a0<\/sup>for the Big Collection Day. The deadline to register is August 19th.

Alexandra\u2019s Army is hoping to increase from their 2021 total, when they raised 4585 pounds of food!

“We have demonstrated to the community that kids can truly make a difference,”\u00a0says the now 10 year-old Founder and organization President, Alexandra Daley. \u201cLast year, we recruited and trained almost 50 kids, who did an amazing job and worked so hard to help those in need. The team is excited to try to add to our totals, this year!”

Daley founded Alexandra’s Army after conducting her own neighborhood food drive for several years. The Hoosier Hills Food Bank encouraged her to take her efforts to the next level, which was the inspiration to transform her annual activity into creating the all kid-run organization, now operating in its second year.

Interested kids can visit\u00a0www.AlexandrasArmy.org<\/a>\u00a0with the help of their parents. The next steps include clicking the ‘Join Army’ link, creating a log-in account, watching the 4-minute training video, and completing the registration form. Registrants can then expect follow-up email correspondence.\u00a0

Participants will all receive an Alexandra\u2019s Army T-shirt to wear when they knock on doors in their neighborhood so the community knows that they are part of the united efforts of our youth to help end hunger. Participants will also receive a coupon for a free ice cream from The Chocolate Moose, and a certificate of completion. Additional awards will be issued to the top food collectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bloomington recognizes Mayors Fight Back \u2013 A Week of Action Against Violent Crime<\/em><\/strong>
Mayor Hamilton joins Democratic Mayors across the nation in highlighting and addressing the increase in gun violence across the nation. This is why the Democratic Mayors Association (DMA), in partnership with the Center for American Progress Action Fund, announced Mayors Fight Back \u2013 A Week of Action Against Violent Crime for the week of August 15th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bloomington Police Department (BPD) faces the proliferation of firearms every day and works to reduce gun violence in our community. According to a press release issued by Mayor Hamilton’s office, major crimes in Bloomington decreased 9 percent in 2021, but the number of crimes involving firearms continues to rise in Bloomington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BPD has recently embraced a number of initiatives that have been found by the Police Executive Research Foundation (PERF) to be effective in helping to lower gun crimes, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n