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Wednesday, December 4, 2024

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Trump's pick to lead DEA withdraws from consideration; Report: NYS hospitals' operating margins impact patient care; Summit County, CO aims to remain economically viable in warming climate; SD Gov. sets aside 2026 budget funds for new education savings accounts.

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GOP Senators voice reservations about Kash Patel, Trump's FBI pick. President Biden continues to face scrutiny over pardoning his son. And GOP House members gear up for tough budget fights, possibly targeting important programs.

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Residents in Colorado's rural communities face challenges to recycling, climate change and Oregon's megadrought are worrying firefighters, and a farm advocacy group says corporate greed is behind high food prices in Montana.

Juneteenth honors freedom amid possible IN graveyard extinction

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Wednesday, June 19, 2024   

Today is Juneteenth, the federal holiday recognizing this date in 1865 when slaves in Texas were told they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Some migrated to Indiana and stayed until their death and were buried in segregated cemeteries. One site was recently uncovered at a proposed location for a new 20,000-seat sports stadium in Indianapolis. The discovery has paused the project for now.

Eunice Trotter, director of the Black Heritage Preservation Program for the nonprofit Indiana Landmarks, said the cemetery is one of many.

"All over Indiana, there are Black cemeteries that are attached, typically to AME churches," Trotter explained. "The African American population was buried in the city's first cemetery, which opened in 1821 in the area between Kentucky Avenue and White River. And of course, there was segregation then, like there is even still today."

The stadium proposal includes connecting the east and west bank to White River, with the future Henry Street Bridge across the lower southern area of the cemetery. City officials own almost two of 24 acres at the site. Trotter estimates at least 650 burials are there. The price tag for excavation and memorialization is $12 million.

As accusations grow of increased efforts to erase Black history in America, there are fears more segregated cemeteries nationwide are being eyed for future projects. Trotter noted these locations present the least resistance.

"They are in areas where the land is typically devalued, disinvestment, and abandonment," Trotter pointed out. "They become easy targets for development. Even here in Indiana, farmers who plant crops over cemeteries, when they are tending to their farm, they uncover headstones."

In 2020, Congress signed the African American Burial Grounds Network Act into law. The measure establishes a National Park Service program to provide grants and technical assistance to local partners to research, identify, survey and preserve Black cemeteries.


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