Five Years and Counting...

I've come to the stark realization after doing some counting on my fingers that this is in fact the start of my 5th year running The Lavender Newsletter. I've taken my fair share of breaks, so in some ways it doesn't feel like five years, but somehow the time has passed anyway. The Lavender started as the project of a J-school dropout who couldn't figure out what she needed after leaving school, but who knew she needed something. That something was actually a break lol, but I settled for a passion project instead. It's been a constant exercise in learning to be myself, learning to make mistakes in public, and learning how to believe in myself. I am now 26 and still very much a work-in-progress. Still working on believing in myself, still working on fighting the anxiety paralysis that comes from trying to do something in public, but I'm in a better place now than I was 5 years ago.

Thank you to all the people who have stuck around, and hello to all the new folks who found us during Pridefest. Welcome to your new favorite chaotic newsy site, hope it's worth the inbox space <3

P.S. I know this usually comes out on Fridays, but I'm trying out Mondays to see if that works better for me!

News to Know

For all our new friends, this column is just for me (Jada) and anyone else on The Lavender Team to share important news with y'all that may not explicitly be about queerness but is worth knowing!

• Trans people with Long COVID navigate a new “dark age” in trans health (The Sick Times): A great article written in collaboration with the trans journalists association. Remember Long Covid is only growing in prevalence as folks continue to collect covid infections, so this is a great primer to be aware of how that can affect your use of hormones and future healthcare!​​​​​​​
  
• Two years after Illinois Answers exposed restraint-chair abuse, jails are doing better (IPM News): An update on some great reporting from the folks at Illinois Answers Project regarding restraint-chair abuse in Illinois jails. I definitely recommend reading the original project from 2024/2025. This project is honestly a great example of what journalism can do, because through this project we learned that Champaign County Jail wasn't even keeping track of their usage of restraint-chairs, despite that being a state requirement. They've now started reporting the usage, which is great because the public can keep track of when these systems are being abused. There are also some horror stories out of other Central Illinois jails, this one from Peoria County Jail from their original investigation is especially scary with one person being held in a restraint chair for FIVE DAYS. Hard to read but it's good to know, and this article is a great update on how our jails have improved due to the original reporting. 
• C-U Reparations Coalition receives $1M to help repair harms caused by slavery, systemic racism (IPM News): Absolutely amazing news coming out of CURC's Roads to Reparations event last Thursday! It's truly amazing knowing that someone from Champaign County was dedicated enough to the cause of reparations to donate a million dollars to this work locally. 
  
• Champaign County Board takes steps to prohibit tax breaks for data centers (IPM News): An exciting move from the Champaign County Board. The official vote for this will be at their meeting this Thursday, October 22, and honestly, I'm happy they're moving so quickly on this. Also check out these stories from WGLT on what's going on in Bloomington-Normal regarding the current draft data center ordinance and the public's response to it. 
  
• One Earth Energy scales back carbon capture proposal in eastern McLean County (WGLT): A good read for anyone keeping up with carbon capture efforts in Central Illinois!
  
• Bloomington council approves BPD drone docks, emergency shelter ordinance (WGLT): Y'all why does Bloomington PD need drones??????? 
  

Lavender Vibes

This section is just a space for me and other Lavender Team members to share cool stuff they're reading/watching/listening to.

• What An Interesting Girl, album by Vanisha Gould: So, I've been telling anyone who will listen that I'm in a jazz era right now, and Vanisha Gould is one of my current muses. Her new album What An Interesting Girl just dropped on October 9th and I am highly considering getting it on CD. My Sweet Kitty is for sure my favorite track, but it's an album with no skips for me.

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HOW ARE WE DOING?

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