The 812

Originally started in 2013 to rescue hamsters, The Pipsqueakery has expanded to become an animal rescue (which adopts out domesticated creatures) and sanctuary (which cares for wild creatures). Along…

Our guest is Megan Betz, the CEO and President of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, the Bloomington community resource center that's one element of the local emergency food sector. She lays out how, acting …

Duncan Campbell is an advisory member of the city's Historic Preservation Commission, and before that was a voting member for its first 16 years. He's also a former professor of architecture, plannin…

Clerk Browne's duties include providing the clerical services needed for the county court system to function, as well as administering elections in the county, whether local, state or federal. We tal…

Our guests today are Dawn Adams and Juliet Roberts, who are part of the committee that puts on the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts, the community's biggest annual arts event, where tens of thousan…

Deborah Myerson is a professional urban planner who specializes in housing policy. She talks about working for cities all over the country, including Bloomington where she lives. She's currently help…

Our guest is Amy Swain, the county Recorder. If you're lucky enough to own land in Monroe County, her office is the place that helps you prove it. It's a bigger, and older, and more complicated job t…

As we collect interviews with elected officials in the county, we occasionally come across the word "resiliency" -- is the community resilient enough? 

Our guest today is asking that question, among m…

The world of public housing has moved past the negative reputation it's had from decades of national neglect. Thanks to legal changes at the federal level, our guest today, Nathan Ferreira, is having…

The Stride Center is a program started a few years ago in Bloomington that serves people who are experiencing mental health or substance abuse crises, both at their headquarters and where those peopl…

The second of our 2-part interview with Mayor Kerry Thomson, in which she talks about her current initiatives. It should be no wonder that, as befitting her former role as the longtime director of th…

The 812 marks its 100th episode with Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson, who graciously sat for a double interview earlier this week. In this first part, we ask about her Bloomington origin story -- it'…

In their respective offices since the beginning of 2023, Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté and his deputy, Monroe County Jail Commander Kyle Gibbons, argue that no matter what else happens, any new j…

The 812 returns for its second season! We have new music, new segments, and a new program schedule to lead us off.

Our first show back from break features a conversation with Angela Van Rooy, director…

Our guest today is Katarina Koch. She's the fourth-ever director of the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, the organization whose primary production is the annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festiva…

Many local homeowners have...thoughts, about the assessed value of their homes. Some of those thoughts are ...less than charitable, especially when assessments go up dramatically. Today, we talk to t…

(This is an encore presentation.) The city has dozens of boards and commissions, to contemplate big local issues and recommend or take action on them. What's it like to be on one...what's it like to …

If your human rights have been violated in Bloomington or Monroe County, you have recourse. Our guest today is Ryne Shadday, chair of the city/county Human Rights Commission. (He's also chair of the …

Our first two excerpts are from interviews with members of the Monroe County Council. We get thoughts about the problems with the county jail and developing a new so-called justice system in the coun…

Our guest today is Jennifer Crossley. She's been the 4th District representative to the Monroe County Council since December 2021, when she was elected in a Democratic Party caucus to replace Eric Sp…