Twenty-four residents of a central Indiana nursing home hit hard by COVID-19 now have died, the state's health commissioner said Friday.

The new order says schools can use a teacher's evaluation from last year, or conduct a new one. If it's new, they can't use test scores or observations unless those were done while classes were still meeting in person.

Across the country, almost 17 million workers filed for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks due to COVID-19. That includes more than 300,000 people from Indiana.

Emily Gartner has a sewing studio in the Circle City Industrial Complex. The professional seamstress would normally be creating fashion and teaching classes, but now she's making surgical gowns for Eskenazi Health Care workers.

WFYI's Jill Ditmire spoke with Arts for Learning President and CEO Joellen Florio Rossebo about the sudden changes that she, her staff and artists had to make to keep bringing creative arts to kids.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Indiana experienced a third week of unprecedented spikes in applications for unemployment insurance in response to massive COVID-19-related layoffs.

WFYI's Jill Ditmire spoke with the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation's Artistic Director, Rob Dixon, about a relief fund created specifically to help local "gig" musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WFYI's Jill Ditmire spoke with Deputy Director for Horticulture and Natural Resources Jonathan Wright about the decision to close Newfields, and when it might reopen its gardens and the Fairbanks 100 Acres Art and Nature Park.

Nursing homes and senior living facilities in places like Indiana, Illinois and Iowa have experienced dozens COVID-19 cases and deaths. Now, these places are facing a lot of pressure to keep residents safe -- and occupied.

WFYI's JIll Ditmire spoke with Lawrence Central High School theater teacher Kathleen Clark Horrigan about finishing the school year with distance-learning, and how she changed the curriculum to help students process the disruption and fear.