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🌕 Mark your calendars: Monday marks the 57th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing when astronaut Neil Armstrong, a Purdue Boilermaker, became the first human to ever walk on the moon on July 20, 1969.
🎉 Perhaps just as importantly, FPI News’ website officially launches Wednesday. Bookmark it now and check it out once we’re live!
What’s on your mind? Hit reply and let us know. |
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Getting up close and personal with an Indiana data center |
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Carson Gerber, civic accountability reporter
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A rendering of Meta’s data center campus in Lebanon. Construction started earlier this year on the project. (Photo provided by Meta) |
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Earlier this year, I took a drive to Lebanon to check out Meta’s massive new data center. It’s a $10 billion, 1-gigawatt campus — the second largest the company is currently building in the nation and the largest by acreage in the state.
The 1,500-acre construction site stretches roughly two-and-half miles along Indiana 32 and encompasses two former county roads. The area covers the equivalent of about 1,140 football fields.
Dozens of towering flood lights lined the area, and fleets of white pickup trucks entered and exited the security checkpoints leading into the construction zone.
After getting an up-close look at the campus, it’s easy to see why Hoosiers around the state have concerns. They are massive developments and can feel almost intimidating.
This week, I reported on why a third of Indiana counties have now passed restrictions on data center construction. In Marshall County, pushback from residents became so fierce that officials voted in April to outright ban them.
As one commissioner there told me: “We believe that government should reflect the will of the people. It was a move for us to signal to other elected officials that it was OK to say ‘no’ to this kind of stuff, and that the sky wouldn't fall.” |
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Related: Lebanon residents are not happy about the Meta data center construction. (IndyStar) |
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Beer at the county fair? Yep, new law allows alcohol sales |
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Laura Lane, civic accountability reporter |
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Anybody want a drink before riding the Ferris wheel? (Claire Nguyen/Mirror Indy) |
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You might notice something different at your local county fair this year, and it’s not more deep fried foods, but it might pair nicely with it.
A new state law, which took effect July 1, allows beer, wine and liquor to be sold at county fairs from businesses that already have a permit from the state alcohol and tobacco commission.
It’s up to local fair boards to decide whether to allow booze to be available on site.
The Vanderburgh County Fair is hosting its first-ever alcohol-allowed event July 22. From 5:30 until 9:30 p.m. the fair will feature a beer garden near the grandstand in conjunction with a Braxton Keith country music concert. Beer will be sold for $5.
I recently visited the Cass County Fair for an upcoming story, but no alcohol was being served there.
Is your county imbibing? What do you think about the change? |
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A message from our partner |
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(Josiah Bates/The Trace) |
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Fort Wayne recently organized a youth-led violence summit to hear from high school students. When the students, who were selected as part of a program that does violence prevention work, were asked to stand if they knew someone who had been killed, the majority of them stood up. (The Trace) |
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(Stephanie Amador for Mirror Indy) |
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Indianapolis resident Joanna Garzes Lopez recently had to make the difficult decision to move to Honduras to be with her husband, Manuel de Jesus Montes-Lazo, who was arrested by U.S. immigration agents in April and is being deported. For months, he was held at the Clay County Justice Center, and he’s now in a federal facility in south Texas. Mirror Indy chronicled the family’s experience and their final days in Indianapolis.
(Mirror Indy)
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(Javonte Anderson/Capital B) |
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For much of the 20th century, Northwest Indiana’s steel mills created one of the most reliable pathways into the Black middle class for families moving into The Region. The industry allowed Southern migrants to build stable lives and created opportunities for the generations that followed. Some of those families recently shared their stories. (Capital B Gary)
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A message from our partner |
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🌊 Singing Sands Sand Sculpting Festival
World-renowned sand sculptors create masterpieces on this iconic lakefront beach.
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🗓️ July 17-19
📍 Michigan City
🔗 Details |
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🖼️ T.C. Steele — Indiana’s Master Impressionist from Munich to Brown County
The largest collection of Steele’s art in 100 years will be on display.
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🗓️ July 19-Sept. 20
📍 Nashville
🔗 Details |
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Brickyard 400 Weekend
NASCAR Cup Series comes to Indianapolis for the Pennzoil 250 and Brickyard 400.
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🗓️ July 24-26
📍 Indianapolis
🔗 Details |
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Construction starts next week on a three-year, $300 million project on I-64 in southern Indiana. The “Improve 64” work in New Albany will include new lanes, a new I-64/I-265 interchange ramp and bridge replacements. (WLKY)
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Fireflies used to be a summertime staple, but declining habitat is threatening populations around the world. But a new species, the cypress firefly, discovered in 2019 at Indiana’s Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve is giving scientists a chance to learn more. (The Herald-Times)
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Two priests long affiliated with the University of Notre Dame groomed and sexually abused young men at the school and elsewhere over many years dating to the 1980s, according to a recently released report commissioned by Notre Dame. (Chicago Sun Times)
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👋 I'll be at History on the Block at the Monroe County History Center from 12-3 p.m. today, handing out FPI News stickers. Come say hello if you're there! |
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Lindsey Erdody, editor in chief |
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