Repairs are being made to McKinley Avenue between Riverside and Neely beginning today. The repairs will be complete by the end of July 20, according to a Facilities Planning and Management report. Riverside and Neely will remain open during the road work on McKinley. The Northbound lane of McKinley will be closed from Neely to Riverside today and will be open again at 5:00 p.m.
With six weeks until the first 2024 Republican presidential debate, some hopefuls are finding creative ways to boost their donor numbers and ensure they make it on stage. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy rolled out a plan to let people who raise money for his campaign keep 10% of what they take in from other donors. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is offering $20 Mastercard or Visa gift cards in return for campaign donations of as little as $1. Businessman Perry Johnson is offering copies of his book in exchange for donations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials have approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will let American women and girls buy contraceptive medication from the same aisle as aspirin and eyedrops. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it cleared Perrigo’s once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription, making it the first such medication to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The company won’t start shipping the pill until early next year, and there will be no age restrictions on sales.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to Associated Press investigative stories on the Supreme Court, said Tuesday it was time for the justices to bring their conduct in line with the ethical standards of other branches of government. “If they just establish the basic standards of every other branch of government, it would give us much more confidence in their integrity,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. He commented in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he was attending the NATO summit as part of the U.S. delegation.
Ball State Public Media has been awarded grants from The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) and Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations (IPBS) to support its arts and culture content initiative. The IAC also recognized Ball State Public Media as an Indiana Arts Trust award winner. The grants will enable Ball State Public Media to launch a comprehensive arts and culture initiative.
Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing female gymnasts including Olympic medalists, was stabbed multiple times during an altercation with another inmate at a federal prison in Florida.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the 500th day of the war Saturday by hailing the country's soldiers in a video from a Black Sea island that became the symbol of Ukraine’s resilience in the face of the Russian invasion. Speaking from Snake Island, Zelenskyy honored the Ukrainian soldiers who fought for the island and all other defenders of the country, saying that reclaiming control of the island “is a great proof that Ukraine will regain every bit of its territory.”
Ball State University film production students are getting an opportunity to learn from Heartland Film, an Indianapolis-based company according to the press release. Heartland Film is well known for hosting the Heartland International Film Festival. It will also be a partnership between Heartland and the University’s new Radiance Cinema.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In the bedroom of the Betsy Ross House, a reconstruction of where the upholsterer worked on her most famous commission, a long flag with a circle of 13 stars hangs over a Chippendale side chair and extends across the floor. Over the weeks in 1776 needed to complete the project, Ross would have likely knelt on the flag, stood on it and treated it more like an everyday banner — not with the kind of reverence we'd expect today.
As Independence Day approaches there are a variety of locations to celebrate around Muncie and Delaware County. The City of Muncie will have Fireworks on The Levee. It will be on the Muncie Central High School grounds. It is an annual tradition and will also be able to be viewed from the downtown area. It is free to the public. The Canan Commons will have “Our American Character” with America’s Hometown Band. They will be playing the Fourth of July music. It is free and open to all with lawn space available. It will be concluded with fireworks.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Fourth of July is Americana at its core: parades and cookouts and cold beer and, of course, fireworks. Those pyrotechnics also make it an especially dangerous holiday, typically resulting in more than 10,000 trips to the emergency room. Yet fireworks remain at the center of Independence Day, a holiday 247 years in the making. Here are five things to know about July Fourth, including the origin of the holiday and how fireworks became part of the tradition.
SEATTLE (AP) — Need Plan B? Tap your credit card and enter B6. Since last November, a library at the University of Washington has featured a different kind of vending machine, one that's become more popular on campuses around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion last year. It's stocked with ibuprofen, pregnancy tests and the morning-after pill.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled the Biden administration overstepped its authority in trying to cancel or reduce student loan debt, effectively killing the $400 billion plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in federal student loans for 43 million people. Of those, 20 million would have had their remaining student debt erased completely. The court's decision means, barring an act of Congress, those Americans are on the hook for payments starting in October.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for gay rights, the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled Friday that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples. The court ruled 6-3 for designer Lorie Smith despite a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender and other characteristics. Smith had argued that the law violates her free speech rights.
Many events are going on this weekend around Muncie and Delaware County. Yorktown will have its Farm and Artisan Market from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. The market is in Walnut Grove in Morrow’s Meadow Park. The park has playgrounds, trails and launching sites for kayak trips. Tonne Winery will have the Hunter Lee Band play as a part of their Music Series. The concert will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Food available will be La Patrona and Farmland BBQ. It is encouraged to bring your own lawn chairs.
She stands at 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a pounding heart. There’s a moment of silence. Counts are whispered. She breathes, then, drumsticks are flying. When the question of ‘who’s good?’ was on the table, students at the Music For All Summer Symposium, held June 24 through July 1 on the campus at Ball State University, were quick to turn their heads and look at Evey Arleth.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit area woke up Wednesday to some of the worst air quality in the United States as smoke from Canada's wildfires settled over most of the Great Lakes region and unhealthy haze spread southward, as far as Missouri and Kentucky. The Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov site showed Detroit in the “hazardous” range and warned that “everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels.”
The Muncie-Delaware County Coalition of Women’s organizations is looking for local nominations of women to honor during the 31st Annual Women’s Equality Day Program. The Coalition invites nominations of women who have made an impact and contribution in the arts, education, religion, business, politics, environment and social or community service by improving the quality of life in the communist. Other categories will also be considered, according to the release.
Activists and politicians are marking the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned a nationwide right to abortion with praise from some and protests from others. Advocates on both sides marched at rallies Saturday in Washington and across the country to call attention to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling on June 24, 2022, which upended the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was notorious for unbridled and profane challenges to authority even before the attempted rebellion that he mounted Saturday. The reported agreement for him to go into exile in Belarus would place him in a country where such behavior is even less acceptable than in his homeland. Prigozhin on Sunday was uncharacteristically silent as his Wagner private army forces pulled back from Russian cities after a Kremlin announcement that he agreed to depart for Belarus; it remains unclear whether he’s actually there.
