wildfire

Hot and dry weather across the Midwest is creating a ripe situation for wildfires, especially as farmers head into the fields for harvest.

Indiana ranks in the middle of the Rural Capacity Index with 56 percent of communities below the national median. Plains states such as the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas sit in the bottom 10. 

Did the army corps of engineers may have left graves unexhumed when they flooded Lake Monroe? What will happen to Catalent's tax abatement since it laid off 150 employees? And why is Bloomington covered in smoke? These stories and more on Indiana Newsdesk.

Jonathan Raff, an IU professor who studies the chemistry of air pollution, said local weather conditions interact with wildfire smoke to worsen health outcomes for Hoosiers.

More than a million and a half acres have burned this year across 13 western states, but Indiana forests may be suffering the consequences of less frequent burns.