Ben Thorp

5 days ago | wfyi.org | Benjamin Thorp |Ben Thorp

April 19, 2025 A large group of anti-Trump protestors gathered Saturday at the Indiana Statehouse, part of an ongoing national protest movement. Local organizers said this is the tenth protest they’ve held so far this year. Chanting, holding signs and listening to guest speakers, members of the crowd said they're worried about a laundry list of issues — from free speech to deportations — arguing that the Trump administration is behaving in an unlawful manner.

1 week ago | wfyi.org | Benjamin Thorp |Devna Bose |Ben Thorp

April 15, 2025Unable to load the audio player. You could try direct download? At her mother’s home in Illinois, Tracy Balhan flips through photos of her dad, Bill Speer. In one picture, he’s smiling in front of a bucket of sweating beers and wearing a blue T-shirt that reads, “Pops. The man. The myth. The legend.” Balhan’s father died last year after struggling with dementia. During one episode late in his life, he became so agitated that he tried to exit a moving car.

2 weeks ago | wfyi.org | Benjamin Thorp |Ben Thorp

April 9, 2025 Workers at the Indianapolis VA Hospital are required to go back to the office starting on April 14, as part of a new federal policy. The change was announced to VA employees in February, with supervisors already having to report in-person. But some are raising concerns about the move. They say the change will impact staff and could harm patients. Emails and PowerPoint slides presented to staff and obtained by WFYI show the VA hospital doesn’t have enough office space.

3 weeks ago | wfyi.org | Benjamin Thorp |Ben Thorp

March 31, 2025 Horseshoe crab blood has been used in medical testing for at least the last five decades. But environmental groups worry that bleeding the animals, which can kill some of them, can negatively impact the environment. The Indianapolis Zoo and Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly are among those advocating for the use of synthetic alternatives.

1 month ago | indianapublicmedia.org | Ben Thorp

A judge ruled on Monday against the release of abortion records, also known as terminated pregnancy reports or TPRs, kept by the Indiana Department of Health. The court granted the preliminary injunction to two Indianapolis physicians, Caitlin Bernard and Caroline Rouse, who argued that the release of individual terminated pregnancy reports would violate patient privacy.