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Indiana public transit ridership cracks 20 million trips, but far from pre-pandemic years
Hoosiers are heading back to public transit after a pandemic-induced plunge, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation’s (INDOT) latest annual report on public transit ridership. The report also revealed that systems are serving more people but logging fewer miles, and that urban systems are more cost-efficient. The state’s 65 public transit systems recorded 20 […]
State police truck weight enforcement recovers from closures; numbers still down post-pandemic
Eight weigh stations on the outskirts of Indiana’s interstate system weigh increasing numbers of commercial vehicles — millions, annually — as they drive into the state. Vehicles found overweight get warnings, citations and more, but such enforcement actions remain below pre-pandemic levels. It’s part of states’ deal with the federal government: weight enforcement, in exchange […]
White House provides another $9 billion in student debt relief as pandemic pause ends
WASHINGTON — As federal student loan repayments restart, the Biden administration Wednesday announced another $9 billion in student debt relief for 125,000 borrowers. “For years, millions of eligible borrowers were unable to access the student debt relief they qualified for, but that’s all changed thanks to President Biden and this Administration’s relentless efforts to fix […]
New Indiana ILEARN scores show more improvement, but still no pre-pandemic bounce-back
An increasing number of Hoosier students in grades 3-8 are passing state standardized tests — signaling continued learning loss recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. But ILEARN scores still trail behind 2019 results, and students who struggled before the pandemic are not making academic rebounds as fast as their peers. Nearly 41% of Indiana students who […]
New research underscores widespread, pandemic-fueled learning loss in Indiana
Indiana students lost nearly six months of learning in math and over four months in reading as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research from Harvard and Stanford universities. The new Education Recovery Scorecard released last week offers the first comparable view of district-level learning loss that occurred in Indiana between 2019 […]
Box reflects on pandemic, health disparities as she departs state health commissioner role
State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box took a retirement lap Friday, announcing her departure and saying she has no regrets about the state’s response to COVID-19 or vaccine rollout. Box guided Hoosiers through the pandemic, featuring in near-daily press conferences for months. She will retire at the end of the month after nearly six years […]
As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next
WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States has ended the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations to how […]
Pandemic stress, gangs and fear fueled rise in teen shootings
Diego never imagined he’d carry a gun. Not as a child, when shots were fired outside his Chicago-area home. Not at age 12, when one of his friends was gunned down. Diego’s mind changed at 14, when he and his friends were getting ready to walk to midnight Mass for the feast of Our Lady […]
Two communities find a cure for medical debt: pandemic stimulus funds
Local governments in Ohio and Illinois are using American Rescue Plan Act money to relieve residents struggling with medical debt by partnering with an organization that buys debt and wipes the slate clean for debtors. It’s a strategy advocates say could be duplicated across the country to help erase a multibillion-dollar problem. On Nov. 9, […]
Hoosier children still suffering from mental health pandemic
Children in America are in a mental health crisis, struggling with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels. And we are just starting to understand the effects the past two years have had on the mental health of our Hoosier children. Indiana’s overall child well-being rank is 28th in the country, according to the recently released […]