Hot Air: Local News?

Pencillista George Bull tells us he’s heard the Milton Knight incident happened right here in Bloomington, although I’ve yet to be able to verify that. I mentioned Knight and the beating he took on a bus earlier this week in yesterday’s post. Knight revealed on a Monday, February 25th, social media post that a man shouting racial slurs busted his nose in a brawl on a bus. Bull linked me to TSSZ, a gamers’ website, for one account of the story and I’ve since found the incident mentioned on the Anime News Network site. Knight is a renowned cartoonist whose comic book drawings have appeared in the Village Voice, National Lampoon, High Times, Heavy Metal, and many others.

Knight‘s work has been on display locally through the month of February at the Dimensions Gallery by Artisan Alley in a group show entitled “Night Comes on Gently.” Knight lives on the west coast but it’s entirely possible he’s been in town, especially this week, one might assume, to take down his pieces.

I’ve got a call in to Dimensions and have sent an email to Knight asking for more details about the incident. As soon as I get more info, I’ll share it.

Here, BTW, is a good example of Knight’s work:

© Milton Knight, 2002

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Council Contests

The second in my series of interviews with selected candidates for Bloomington city council aired yesterday on Big Talk. Miah Michaelsen, the self-described former “arts czarina” of this town, talked about her campaign to unseat long-time incumbent council member Dave Rollo in District 4.

Michaelsen currently serves as the deputy director of the Indiana Arts Commission and she was the driving force behind the establishment of Bloomington’s first-in-Indiana arts and cultural district. Indiana now boasts ten such designated districts and the state senate is considering a bill allowing municipalities to grab some local tax dollars to finance their districts and spur nonprofit and for-profit “creative economy” businesses.

Here’s the link to the Michaelsen podcast.

Next week, my guest will be the sole Republican in this year’s city council contests, Andrew Guenther. The 24-year-old is hoping to replace Dorothy Granger in District 2. For her part, Granger is trying to fend off challenges in the Democratic primary from newcomers Sue Sgambelluri and Daniel Bingham.

Tune in every Thursday at 5:00pm for Big Talk on WFHB, 91.3 FM.

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