Indiana fully vaccinated its first person against COVID-19 on Jan. 18. That marked the beginning of a meteoric decline in cases. But, with 3,713 new cases reported Thursday, the state recorded its highest number of new cases since the beginning of the vaccine rollout.

Indiana’s 2022 U.S. Senate race is starting to take shape. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott is taking steps to join the campaign, seeking to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.).

The Indiana Department of Health will notify nearly 750,000 Hoosiers that data from the state’s COVID-19 online contact tracing survey was improperly accessed. The data included name, address, email, date of birth and demographic information collected during contact tracing.

Local school boards, school officials, teachers and parents are suddenly finding themselves on the frontlines in the battle to keep kids safe from contracting COVID-19 at school. 

Across the country and across the state, each school district is faced with important decisions on safety protocols:  masks or no masks? Vaccine mandates or not? What should the district do when infection occurs? 

As 25-year-old Torian Jones sorted out the fresh produce section at Cleo’s Bodega grocery store, he put the bad tomatoes in a small box. Part of his work as manager of inventory is to gather and take them for composting at a nearby farm.

Working at the grocery store makes Jones feel good because, “the store is part of the community; it’s a nonprofit and we are offering an important service.”