Thursday, November 7, 2019

Page 1

Thursday, November 7, 2019

IDS Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com

Basketball Guide inside FOOTBALL

Penix Jr. out for rest of season By William Coleman wicolema@iu.edu | @WColeman08

LYDIA GERIKE | IDS

Mayor John Hamilton, center, and Ron Smith shake hands while talking with Sue Sgambelluri on Tuesday night at the election watch party for the Monroe County Democrats. Smith won the election for Bloomington City Council District 3, and Sgambelluri won the District 2 race.

CITY COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS

SGAMBELLURI, SMITH WIN Democrats Sue Sgambelluri and Ron Smith won the only two contested elections in the county. Sgambelluri won District 2 and Smith won District 3. By Lydia Gerike lgerike@iu.edu | @lydiagerike

Unofficial Tuesday night results for Bloomington’s only two contested elections show Democratic candidates Sue Sgambelluri and Ron Smith won the District 2 and 3 seats, respectively, for Bloomington City Council. Results for District 2 reported Sgambelluri with 365 votes over Republican Andrew Guenther, who earned 218 votes. In District 3, Smith’s results reported 448 votes. Independent candidate Nick Kappas came in with 425 votes. Marty Spechler, another independent candidate, had 95 votes. About 40 local Democrats including unopposed candidates, supporters and party officers gathered after polls closed to watch the results come in at the Monroe County Democratic Party headquarters downtown with a spread including pizza, La Croix and beer from Upland Brewing Co. All results were reported around 7:15 p.m., just over an hour after polls closed, and the Democrats shouted and applauded when Sgambelluri and Smith were announced the winners. Smith, the only one of the two candidates who had arrived by this point, gave

Charity erases $2.2 million in local medical debt By Claire Peters clapete@iu.edu | @claire_peterss

munity members alike can participate in art therapy led by Lauren Daugherty, arts -based wellness

For families struggling with crushing medical debt, help can come in the form of a bright yellow letter. RIP Medical Debt is a charity that collects donations, buys debt collections and eliminates medical debt for families in poverty. According to its website, it has bought and paid off $715 million in medical debt for about 240,000 Americans. In the last year, it worked with 56 campaigns with local media and just over 70 faith-based groups to erase medical debt. City Church pastor David Norris said he found out about this charity through friends who had done the same thing in other communities. He said this has been done in Howard and Hamilton counties as well. He said medical debt is the leading cause for bankruptcy in America. “We’re excited about being able to bless families,” Norris said. He said when people are financially insolvent, which means they are not able to pay the debts they owe, the medical companies aren’t going to get their money anyway, so he wants to help with that burden. He said paying off the medical debt is a juggling act for families. The charity chooses families who need it the most, but the choice is confidential until the debt is bought and the RIP Medical Debt letters are sent out to their homes. Daniel Lempert, RIP Medical Debt communications director, said there are three qualifications for debt to be forgiven: being financially insolvent, being two times below the poverty level and the family’s medical debt is 5% or more of their annual income. In order to work with the campaign, a group needs to raise $15,000 for the charity. They then will locate the medical debt in the area to see which debt bundles they can buy. They work with groups like local campaigners, churches, citizens or school groups. Anyone can donate to RIP Medical Debt from its website, and all of the proceeds go directly to eliminating the debt. Lempert said because the medical debt costs only pennies on the dollar, one dollar relieves $100 of medical debt for the families. “The community gets to benefit from this relief, and the campaigners get to make their statement about

SEE ESKENAZI, PAGE 5

SEE CHARITY, PAGE 5

LYDIA GERIKE | IDS

Sue Sgambelluri speaks about her victory Tuesday night in the city council District 2 election at the Monroe County Democrats watch party. Sgambelluri was the only one to face a republican candidate.

a speech alongside Mayor John Hamilton and city clerk Nicole Bolden. Both ran unopposed but still stood next to Smith to celebrate the victories. “I will work very hard and do my best

to represent the citizens of District 3 and the citizens and people of Bloomington, to do my very best,” Smith said. SEE ELECTION, PAGE 5

Eskenazi’s renovation focuses on guests By Claudia Gonzalez-Diaz clabgonz@iu.edu

You may have taken a photo of your legs pressed against the wall of the Eskenazi Museum of Art building that reflects the colors of the light totem at night. From 4-8 p.m. this Thursday, you'll finally be able to go inside. For three years, the Eskenazi Museum of Art has undergone a $30 million renovation led by Susan T. Rodriguez of IU’s Capital Projects office, overseen by Ennead Architects. These renovations transformed several spaces inside the museum. For instance, what used to be an enclosed gift shop is now officially the Luzetta and Del Newkirk Café and Gift Shop that is easily accessible with a new entrance facing the arboretum. This cafe will offer coffee, breakfast, lunch and pastries, with plenty of seating options. IU spokesperson Chuck Carney commented on the significance of establishing a gathering space for students within the mu-

IU Athletics announced Tuesday that redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will miss the rest of the season due to an injury sustained last Saturday night against Northwestern. “We feel really bad for Mike,” IU head coach Tom Allen said in a press release. “He’s worked extremely hard and had a great season. He’ll recover from this and get bigger and stronger this offseason. Mike has a very bright future with the Hoosiers.” The press release said Penix Jr. injured his right sternoclavicular joint. In his first season as IU’s starter, Penix Jr. accumulated 1,513 total yards and 12 total touchdowns over six games started. As a true freshman, the quarterback suffered a season-ending injury when he tore his ACL against Penn State. Junior quarterback Peyton Ramsey – starter of all 12 games in 2018 – will assume the starting quarterback position.

IZZY MYSZAK | IDS

Director of Creative Services Mariah Keller leads a tour Nov. 4 during a press event at the Eskenazi Museum of Art. The museum will be reopen Nov. 7.

seum. “Indiana University is a place that should ideally offer everything that it has in all of its schools to every one of its stu-

dents,” Carney said. “That’s what this museum does.” Another addition is the artmaking studio, which used to be a library. Here, students and com-


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Thursday, November 7, 2019 by Indiana Daily Student - idsnews - Issuu