Every month, WBOI looks back at news from northeast Indiana and around the state on WBOI Presents. This week, we took a look back at 2018.
Andy Downs, the Director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue-Fort Wayne, knows state politics better than just about anyone. We spoke with him about the 2018 elections and what might be impacting local politics in the coming year.
Zach Bernard has been covering municipal government for WBOI, and last year that included chronic garbage collection issues in the city of Fort Wayne.
He and Ben Clemmer touched base on trash, development, and looked back at his feature on an Indiana law that could help address the issue of gun violence.
From a severe influenza outbreak that lasted for months to continued struggles with opioid addictions, local health officials were busy in 2018.
Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deb McMahan talked about these issues and others in a two-way conversation about public heath.
We also featured Barb Anguiano's December coverage of the sentencing of John D. Miller, accused of the abduction, assault and murder of 8-year-old April Tinsley in 1988.
In the next few months, stay tuned to WBOI for further stories on some of the issues surrounding this case.
In 2018, then-WBOI reporter Araceli Gomez-Aldana covered the growing community of Puerto Ricans making their home in Whitley Countyin the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
We caught up with Coesse Elementary School Principal Michelle Urban to find out how this school year was going, and the impact of the new students on their school.
With a year full of arts and culture headlines in the books, WBOI's Ben Clemmer and Julia Meek discussed some of the biggest stories. The conversation began with the impact of the newly reopened Clyde Theatre and expanded outwards to cover even more stages, breweries, and music festivals.
You can go back and listen to Julia's coverage from 2018 here:
The Clyde Theatre and Musical Conexion
Breweries such as Hop River, Mad Anthony, and Trubble Brewing
Authors across multiple genres like Anna Huber, Laura Bonano, Jim Pickett, Helen Frost, Darren Hunt, Michael Martone and BJ Hollars
Plus many theatrical productions throught northeast Indiana, starting with Fort Wayne Youtheatre's Young Heroes of Conscience Series, the Three River's Music Theatre production of Cabaret, First Presbyterian's all-female Hamlet, Arena Dinner Theater's A Little Night Music, First Presbyterian's My Dead Clown, Veteran's Spouse Project,The Embassy's SCORE program, the world premier of Bentley, USF's production of War Of The Worlds: The Panic Broadcast, Shakespearemachine's Macbeth, and First Presbyterian's upcoming fiftieth anniversary
Julia and Ben ended their covnersation with a look back at the weekend art attack.
This has been an episode of WBOI Presents. Our theme music is by Mark Waldick. Additional music is by Mark Waldick and Noah Campodonico. Special thanks to Andy Downs, Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deb McMahan, and Coesse Elementary Principal Michell Urban for contributing to our news roundup.
And thank you for listening to our work in 2018. The news team looks forward to bringing you more stories from our community in 2019. Have a great year!