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Indiana

Supporters Rally Behind Political Prisoners Who Stopped White Supremacist Attack

An upcoming clemency hearing will determine the near-term fate of Christopher “Naeem” Trotter, a political prisoner who has been held captive for over 40 years as punishment for a spontaneous act of community self-defense inside prison walls. On February 1, 1985, Trotter and another incarcerated man — John “Balagoon” Cole — led a rebellion within the prison now known as Pendleton Correctional Facility to protect a fellow prisoner, Lincoln “Lokmar” Love, who was being attacked with nightsticks by Indiana Department of Corrections prison guards. Trotter and Cole are now known as the “Pendleton 2,” and people nationwide have rallied in their defense.

Kroger Workers Vote Down Contract In Indiana By 74 Percent

Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 700 members in Indiana voted down a tentative agreement May 31 covering 8,000 Kroger retail workers, with 74 percent voting no. Rank-and-file members bucked the recommendation for a ‘Yes’ vote by local union leadership and the bargaining committee. The tentative agreement includes wage increases of 50 cents over four years for some job classifications, while the first pay step would receive a 75 cent bump. Both the first and second pay steps would see a 25 cent raise in the first year. “With inflation, our wages are backsliding,” said Amy Reynolds, a 24-year Kroger worker in Fishers, near Indianapolis.

Indiana State Officials Sued For Blocking Media Access To Executions

The state of Indiana has a law that blocks journalists from observing executions at the Indiana State Prison. But on May 5, a coalition of media organizations filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn the law as unconstitutional. In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) sued Indiana state prison officials on behalf of the Associated Press, Gannett, the Indiana Capital Chronicle, TEGNA, and WISH-TV. “Indiana’s total prohibition on access for the press to attend and witness executions is an outlier among death penalty states and the federal government and severely limits the ability of reporters and news organizations, including Plaintiffs, to exercise their First Amendment rights,” the lawsuit declares.

The Private Pilots Flying Abortion Seekers Across The Midwest

In the fall of 2022, Mike climbed into the pilot’s seat with an idea. For the past few months, the private pilot had been volunteering with the Illinois-based Midwest Access Coalition, an abortion support fund that he’d come across in his post-George Floyd anti-racism journey. “I thought, there’s gotta be people out there helping people travel for abortions, because it’s not like every medical facility you go to provide abortion care,” says Mike. Next City has agreed to use Mike’s first name only to protect his safety and privacy as he engages in this sensitive work. “So I reached out to say, hey, I want to volunteer for anything you might need – driving, hosting, whatever.”

Lawmakers Trying To Kill Historic Suit Seeking Gun Industry Accountability

For nearly a quarter century, some of the world’s largest gunmakers have tried unsuccessfully to beat back a lawsuit brought by the city of Gary, Indiana, accusing them of turning a blind eye to illegal gun sales. The lawsuit was one of dozens that cities filed against gun manufacturers in the late 1990s, but it is the only one to survive a barrage of legal challenges and legislation aimed at limiting the gun industry’s liability for crimes committed with their products. Now, facing the prospect of turning over internal documents that gun-control advocates believe could contain damning evidence, the industry has returned to an important ally in a last-ditch effort to kill the suit: the state legislature.

Our Housing Crisis Is Literally Killing People

Last week, my students and I worked with several unhoused persons who had been recently living in dangerous, unhealthy apartments or homes in our community of Indianapolis. One, a young mother of a toddler with another baby soon on the way, had just left a home where eight people across three generations were living. The house had no central heat, so space heaters were the only source of warmth during a month when the temperature dipped below zero for several days. Those heaters and everything else electrical in the house were linked to a complex web of extension cords connected to a solitary working outlet.

Pushback Continues Against Genetically Modified Salmon

As demand for seafood grows, including across the Hoosier state, a remote Indiana farm is harvesting thousands of pounds of salmon every year — on land. But the genetically modified fish teeming in the Albany tanks are continuing to draw pushback from environmental advocates who say the “Frankenfish” threaten local ecosystems and are not a sustainable food source. Engineered by biotech company AquaBounty Technologies Inc., the “AquAdvantage” salmon is the first such altered animal to be cleared for human consumption in the United States. The boycott against the salmon has largely come from activists with the Block Corporate Salmon campaign.

Teamsters Picket MonoSol Plant Over Forced Overtime, 60-Hour Workweeks

LaPorte - Firewood was stacked high outside the MonoSol plant as bundled-up Teamsters huddled around burn barrels and open fires in the frigid chill. The plant that normally cranks out water-dissolvable film for Tide Pods and other single-use detergents and dishwasher soaps sat quietly behind a barbed wire fence, its windows dark and its parking lot empty. Workers picketed outside. They stood in circles in the bitter cold amid the acrid smell of wood smoke, a giant inflatable Scabby the Rat and a Teamsters semi-trailer truck. Passing trucks often blared their horns in solidarity in the industrial park. Their tents were stocked with bottled water and other provisions. They brought in porta-potties and Frisbee golf to pass the time. They're prepared to stick it out for the long haul.

Bloomington Faculty Vote In Support Of Graduate Student Employee Union

An electronic vote of all Bloomington faculty has expressed overwhelming support for efforts of the Indiana University graduate student employees to seek union recognition. Between April 13 and the end of the spring semester, graduate student employees at Indiana University Bloomington, organizing with the United Electrical Workers, struck for campus recognition. The strike was temporarily suspended on May 10th for the summer, with plans for broader and deeper participation should the strike resume in the fall. Faculty on the Bloomington campus were galvanized to support graduate employees by the anti-union response by the campus administration which refused any dialogue with representatives of the union, the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition-United Electrical Workers (IGWC-UE). 

Abortion Rights Protesters Demonstrate In Indianapolis

Tensions were running high Wednesday evening in downtown Indianapolis as protesters both for and against abortion met in demonstrations at Monument Circle. The crowd of at least 500 people was made up mostly of pro-abortion rights activists, with about 25 anti-abortion protesters. Police blocked off nearby streets as the two groups converged at close distances, sometimes yelling at each other. The pro-abortion rights group chanted "abortion ban has got to go" and "we stand with Roe", while the anti-abortion group chanted "we are the pro-life generation and we will abolish abortion." Anna Benz, 35, of Castleton, said Wednesday was the first protest she has ever attended.

IU Graduate Workers Continue Strike, Faculty Float Vote Of No Confidence

Bloomington, Indiana - As the graduate worker strike at Indiana University extends into finals week, some faculty members and students plan to take bold measures against the administration to show their solidarity. On Tuesday, graduate students who are part of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition voted to extend the graduate student workers' strike through May 3. The extension was supported by 867 votes, a 95.7% majority. Since the strike's beginning on April 13, graduate workers have been requesting union recognition from IU and an outlined process on how to discuss benefits, higher wages and fee reduction with administrators. Around this time of year, graduate workers such as Cole Nelson would typically be heading into one of their busiest weeks of the semester.

Indiana University Graduate Workers Go On Strike For Union Recognition

Bloomington, Indiana - Around 1,000 graduate student workers at Indiana University’s Bloomington campus are on strike to demand the school recognize them as a union. But the school said it has no intention of bargaining with the group – and no legal obligation to do so. The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition-United Electrical Workers began the week-long strike on Wednesday. The strike includes in-person picket lines and labor education events scattered around campus. They say with recognition, graduate workers could better bargain for an end to an annual $700 student fee and better wages. The strike comes after IU denied a petition from roughly 1,600 graduate workers earlier this year asking that the school recognize the union and hold an election per its policy for staff.

Abandoned Indianapolis School Reclaimed

Indianapolis, IN – A pastor is leading the charge of reclaiming an abandoned school and creating a community-and-trades center on the east side of Indianapolis. Pastor Denell Howard’s vision of The Evolve Education Center is slowly coming to fruition after years of planning, praying and a community effort to fix the building up. Requiring about a half million dollars to get the lights turned on, the center needs the help of the broader community to generate enough resources together. A volunteer named Stan, who spent months cleaning up the building, gave Unicorn Riot a tour of the reclaimed school in July 2021. We heard from Stan and Pastor Howard about their vision for the center and the work they’ve done up to that point.

Doctor Fights To Let Pharmacists Prescribe Birth Control

Indiana - People love the pill. As a pediatrician and a researcher who studies access to contraception, I speak to patients from all walks of life, and, even if they choose not to use the birth control pill themselves, most people support making it affordable and easy to access for everyone. Its near-universal support is not surprising: Birth control can improve people’s lives by giving them the freedom to plan their families, allowing them to delay pregnancy until they decide they are ready. Still, for many people, getting to a doctor to get a prescription for birth control isn’t as easy as it should be. That’s why I support and advocate for legislation that would make Indiana the 20th state to expand access to birth control by allowing pharmacists to directly prescribe and dispense the birth control pill and patch.

Demonstrations In Bloomington During 300-Mile ‘Walk For Licenses’

Undocumented immigrants, immigrants and allies of the community passed through Bloomington Thursday on day six of their seven-day, 300-mile “Walk for Licenses” through Indiana, according to a press release from Cosecha Indiana. The goal of the walk, which started Saturday in Gary, Indiana and East Chicago, is to bring attention to the need for drivers licenses for undocumented Indiana residents, according to the release. The walk will end in Indianapolis on Saturday. Cosecha Indiana, which organized the walk, is a part of a national movement, working towards permanent protection, dignity and respect for all immigrant workers, according to their Facebook page The group started in Switchyard Park before marching to Sample Gates and then to the Islamic Center of Bloomington.

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