Dear Indy,
Hi, it’s Jennifer Delgadillo, guest-writing while Ryan is out this week.
Yesterday was Mirror Indy’s first time covering an election. What was different in how we did it?
Documenters.
We had seven reporters on the ground, talking to candidates and voters in the primary. But we also had six Indy Documenters at voting centers, asking people what they want to see from their city and state leaders.
Documenters are paid citizens who are trained to cover public meetings and other events of community interest.
Janna Thomas and Kayla Bledsoe arrived at noon at Indy’s Global Village, where they interviewed Angelica Carter, an Indy resident and a Democrat. It was Carter’s first time voting at the Indy Global Village polling site.
“I’m disenfranchised by my party. I feel like nobody is fighting for the Black voter,” Carter said. “Especially with the system and gerrymandering, where is the outrage?”
Also around noon, Documenter Erica Fuller visited the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library, where she interviewed Susan Ramos.
Ramos, a Republican, said she’s happy with her party’s direction. She said she wants the education and the public service sectors to be changed from behind the scenes.
You can see the Associated Press election results here.
If you know all you need to know about the results and would rather people watch, Mirror Indy staff and correspondents captured the election buzz through some really great photos.
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In other news
- In the spring of 1985, Becky Wilson was preparing to graduate from Herron School of Art and Design with a degree in painting, her cap and gown ready to be worn as she walked across the stage. Just weeks before her graduation, she was sexually assaulted. She didn’t finish her last three classes to earn her degree. This year, on May 9, Wilson will receive her bachelor’s degree in painting from Herron School of Art and Design, 43 years after she enrolled in 1980.
- Musician, DJ and emcee Rusty Redenbacher offers some words of wisdom ahead of the first Made Rock ‘N’ Roll Festival on May 18 at the American Legion Mall. “Just don’t miss Robert Randolph for god’s sake.”
- Some Indy Eleven fans are questioning whether it’s right to build a soccer stadium on the site of a former cemetery without removing the human remains buried there. “Take care of our people,” one source told Mirror Indy. “These are the people who’ve come before us. How would you want to be taken care of when you are gone?”
What’s going on around the city
- Friday, May 10: Daredevil Brewing Co., 1151 Main St., hosts CheeseFest from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Food trucks will offer a signature dish featuring a hearty helping of cheese. The free, pet-friendly event will also have music and a family fun zone.
- Friday, May 10: See “Psycho Beach Party,” the cult classic written by Charles Busch, at Fonseca Theater, 2508 W. Michigan St. As a group of friends catch some waves at Malibu Beach in 1962, a string of murders coincides. Tickets are $20.
- Sunday, May 12: Southeast Community Services offers free yoga classes for queer and transgender community members at the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, 46228 W. 38th St. The course goes from 10 a.m. to noon.
— Breanna Cooper, arts and culture reporter
Looking for other things to do? Check out Mirror Indy’s events calendar.
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What else we’re reading today
- The Pulitzer Prizes: The winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on May 6. Mirror Indy’s editor in chief, Oseye Boyd, was one of the judges for the local reporting award, which went to Sarah Conway of City Bureau and Trina Reynolds-Tyler of the Invisible Institute for their investigative series on missing Black girls and women in Chicago.
- The 19th: Many polls and surveys provide only one checkbox to represent all Asian-American people, even though more than 20 different Asian ethnic groups live in the U. S. This lack of specific data can have wide-ranging consequences in medical research and in understanding voting patterns. But that may be about to change.
- The Weekly View: In his column “Words with Woods,” writer CJ Woods III contemplates the emotional power of finding handwritten words by departed loved ones, after he finds a note with his mother’s handwriting.
Notes from our Documenters
Six Indy Documenters did a great job interviewing voters around Marion County yesterday. Read their coverage of Indiana’s primary election here.
Interested in becoming a Documenter? Register here for our virtual orientation happening at 6 tonight.
— Ariana Beedie, community journalism director
Interested in being a Documenter? Here’s how.
Reflections
Dearest reader:
This is a blind item.
Working late under stressful situations is one way to get to know your coworkers better.
Last night, while all eyes were on the primary results, I saw [redacted] eat two pounds of loaded tot-chos (tater tot nachos), and [redacted] stacking three slices of BBQ chicken pizza while calling it a “time-saving hack.” One reporter, who spoke under anonymity, shared that they ate 10 egg rolls in the breakroom because the suspense for the Republican governor’s primary race was just too much.
If all this newsroom gossip makes you hungry, consider supporting democratized storytelling through your hankerings. Now through May 12, ClusterTruck will donate 20% of all proceeds to support Mirror Indy’s journalism when you use the code MIRROR-24.
Yours truly,
Jennifer
P.S. If you liked something about today’s newsletter, or didn’t, let Ryan know at ryan.martin@mirrorindy.org. It helps us serve you better.
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