Indiana
Looking for more ways to have fun this summer? Use this to explore Southern Indiana
 
																								
												
												
											 
People will now have more fun exploring Southern Indiana with the SoIN Fun Trail digital passport.
The digital passport allows visitors to explore Floyd County and Clark County with friends, family or even alone. Those who complete stops will earn discounts and special offers.
Southern Indiana has two other digital passports running throughout the year, according to a news release — Scenic SoIN and Inspired SoIN.
Here is what to know about SoIN Fun Trail:
What is SoIN Fun Trail?
SoIN Fun Trail is a digital passport for people to explore locations in Southern Indiana including attractions, restaurants and stores.
Is SoIN Fun Trail free?
Yes.
When does SoIN Fun Trail run?
The passport can be used until Sept. 2. The first day was Monday.
How does SoIN Fun Trail work?
- The participant will get the pass on their phone — click the “Sign Up” button online and register using your phone number and email.
- The participant will get the passport sent via text and email, and it can be used instantly. No mobile app is required.
- The participant will check in to the locations they visit using their phone’s GPS.
Are their prizes with SoIN Fun Trail?
Yes, and many.
“With each check-in, you’ll earn points, which you can use to ‘shop’ for gift cards to your favorite spots in SoIN, or use your points to rack up entries for the grand prize drawing,” the website states. “You might even earn enough points to claim multiple prizes!”
The first 20 people to complete the passport will earn a t-shirt.
There is also a grand prize, which includes a one-night stay at TownePlace Suites in Jeffersonville, a gift card to J&B Magic Shop & Theater, a 1-hour pickleball clinic at Goodbounce and a gift card to RecBar 812.
What places can I visit with SoIN Fun Trail?
Here are some of the places you can explore with the SoIN Fun Trail:
- Derby Dinner Playhouse
- Faidodos
- Floyd County Carnegie Library Cultural Arts Center
- Hope Coffee Co.
- Huber’s Orchard and Winery
- Maxwell’s House of Music
- NoCo Arts and Cultural District
- River Run Family Water Park
- Ten20 Craft Brewery Clarksville
 
																	
																															Indiana
Indiana University reverses course, allows student newspaper to resume print
 
														 
	In a reversal, Indiana University Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold will allow the Indiana Daily Student to resume print editions this semester.
	In a letter to the IDS editors, Reingold said he will allow the paper to use its budget through the end of the fiscal year as the editors see fit. He also called for a “reset” with the paper and asked to “affirm what unites us.”
	IDS co-editors-in-chief Andrew Miller and Mia Hilkowitz described it as a win for student media but cautioned the campus community against considering the matter resolved.
	“We do want to make sure that we ourselves and our community and our faculty and our alumni and everybody keep the administration here to their word,” Miller said to WFIU/WTIU News. “Thus far, it’s been kind of hard to trust their word, quite honestly.”
	“The last time IU had a committee to look at student media, they didn’t fully follow their recommendations,” Hilkowitz said, referring to a recently announced task force on press freedom and the existing student media plan.
	“We would want more confirmation that that’s going to be binding. Also, I’m going to stand by the fact that I think our staff and the faculty and students of the media school deserve an apology.”
	The university’s decision to end print editions coincided with it firing the director of student media Jim Rodenbush, who refused to remove news from a planned Homecoming edition at the university’s direction.
	Earlier Thursday,Rodenbush filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana claiming IU violated his First Amendment rights.
	Since then, the perception that IU censored its student paper has cost the school at least $1 million in donations and provoked the ire of faculty.
	Reingold said the perception that he attempted to censor editorial content was “not grounded in fact.”
	“Indiana University has never attempted to censor editorial content, period,” he wrote. “The IDS is, and remains, editorially independent.”
	He did not address the directive given to Rodenbush to remove news from the Homecoming print issue.
	The chancellor admitted the “campus has not handled recent matters as well as we should have. Communication was uneven and timing imperfect.”
	He stopped short of an apology, saying that the decision to end print editions was a long-term financial plan to staunch the paper’s nearly $300,000 annual deficit.
	The student media plan calls for limiting print to a few special editions per semester, but it also calls for preserving the IDS print product as a “critical learning experience for student media workers.”
	Ethan Sandweiss is a multimedia journalist for WFIU and WTIU.
Indiana
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to speak in NW Indiana Thursday
 
														 
CHICAGO (WLS) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will visit northwest Indiana Thursday.
She’s expected to bring updates on the immigration enforcement that’s happening across the area.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Secretary Kristi Noem will give an update on recent immigration enforcement deemed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino has called “wildly successful” in an interview with ABC News earlier this week.
She will be joined by Indiana governor Mike Braun in Gary along with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, among others.
SEE ALSO: Court pauses order requiring CBP Chief Bovino to meet with judge daily on immigration operations
Her visit has been met with some criticism, though, from other local northwest Indiana leaders.
Gary’s Mayor Eddie Melton said his office was not involved with planning the event and is not participating.
Hammond’s Mayor Thomas McDermott also posting on Facebook, criticizing how the press conference was announced.
Counter-protests are expected later Thursday morning.
RELATED | Chicago federal intervention: Tracking surge in immigration enforcement operations | Live updates
Bovino says nearly 3,000 people have been arrested in the Chicago area, as part of “Midway Blitz.”
The expanded immigration enforcement started in September.
Wednesday night, Governor Pritzker sent a letter to Secretary Noem, requesting a pause in ICE enforcement this weekend in and around homes, schools, hospitals, parks and place of worship, so children can safely celebrate Halloween.
The governor referenced an incident in his letter this past weekend in Old Irving Park – in which he says, federal agents reportedly interrupted a children’s Halloween parade and deployed tear gas without warning – on residents peacefully celebrating the holiday.
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Indiana
Indiana BMV reports another text-related scam impacting Hoosiers
 
														 
INDIANAPOLIS — Officials with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles are warning Indiana residents of a new scam that is being sent to Hoosiers via text.
According to a news release from the Indiana BMV, the scam asks the user for overdue payments over text, including traffic violations or unpaid tolls. The text reportedly “strongly” mimics the BMV’s mobile website and improperly cites Indiana code.
Officials said the messages should be considered fraudulent. The BMV is urging people who receive the message to delete it immediately and not click on any links.
This is not the first time that the Indiana BMV has been the subject of scam texts. According to previous reports, a scam was sent out to some Indiana residents from the “Indiana Department of Vehicles” regarding outstanding traffic tickets in early June.
“We want to make it clear that these messages are not from the Indiana BMV,” the release said. “The BMV does not send SMS text messages about outstanding penalties. In fact, the fees outlined in the messages are not ones that the agency actually collects.”
For a list of known BMV-related scams, click here.
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