WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Good evening. Welcome to the WFHB Local News for Monday, March 30th, 2020.
According to the Indiana State Department of Health, 1,786 people tested positive for coronavirus in Indiana. 35 people died from Covid-19 out of 11,685 people tested. These numbers were updated at 11:59 p.m. on March 29th.
The Indy Star reports that the final days of the Indiana General Assembly were dominated by legislation that state lawmakers added onto other bills at the 11th hour that did not receive proper public vetting.
Governor Holcomb vetoed a bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly. This bill sought to reverse a decision by Indianapolis to protect the rights of tenants from predatory landlords.
Lawmakers approved another bill that opens a path for charter schools to tap into tax dollars approved by referendums normally intended to help local school districts.
The Indy Star reported two efforts failed as the clock ran out on March 11th. One would have stalled mass transit approved by voters in Indianapolis and another would have potentially removed Attorney General Curtis Hill from office.
Proposed legislation Senate Bill 178 was amended last week in the House. This was in response to an Indiana Supreme Court disciplinary case against Hill. This case accused Hill of inappropriately touching four women. A hearing officer said they recommend suspending Hill’s license for two months.
No resolution was made by lawmakers on the Curtis Hill case before the state’s legislative session ended.
The Monroe County Council discussed the creation of Account Lines for use during the COVID-19 emergency during their March 25th meeting. County Attorney Margie Rice said the county received COVID-19 fund relief advice from the state.
Rice said the council can, later, appropriate additional funds to backfill the lines. Council member Marty Hawk said the usage of funds should be transparent to the public. County Auditor Catherine Smith said the process needs to happen quickly.
County Commissioner Julie Thomas said the process may become less transparent to speed up the distribution of funds. She ensured the funds will be focused toward small local businesses.
Council members unanimously approved the account line creations.
Council members also discussed transferring County Commissioner general funds into the COVID-19 Emergency Contractual line. Budget Administrator Kim Shell said Commissioners funds are being used to begin distribution quickly.
Council members unanimously approved the fund transfer.
15 cases of Covid-19 were reported at a Johnson County nursing home. 8 patients are now in the hospital. 6 nursing home residents are in isolation, while three are awaiting results.
Otterbein Franklin Senior Life worked with the state health department to test 10 residents who were showing symptoms or had direct contact with people who previously tested positive.
Of the 19 people that were tested, 7 people tested positive while 12 nursing home residents tested negative.
Spread of the virus in nursing homes is now a concern in both Indiana and the rest of the country. The Indy Star found about 73 percent of Indiana’s nursing homes have been cited for failed infection controls in the last 3 years.
Indiana Daily Student reports the I.U. Police Department shut down three parties on Saturday night. Enforcement came, because party goers did NOT follow the CDC’s recommended practice of social distancing and Governor Holcomb’s Stay-at-Home order.
IUPD tweeted, “parties are not considered an essential activity.”
IUPD said it wants to remind people to stay at home and practice social distancing.
A 37-year-old man died in an ATV crash in Bloomington Saturday.
The Indiana State Department of Natural Resources said David Deckard Jr. was driving a four-wheeler at around 9:30 p.m. Friday night. He was driving on private property in a wooded area when he lost control of the ATV. He was thrown from the vehicle, suffering head and chest injuries.
He was then taken to Bloomington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday morning.
While the cause of the crash is under investigation, DNR said Deckard was not wearing a helmet.
Around the world, there are more than 723,000 confirmed cases of expected coronavirus. The United States now sees the worst numbers at well over 150,000 proved cases reported in all 50 states. Before COVID-19 became huge in the United States, China was the first country with a reported pandemic then COVID-19 spread to Italy.
Italy is the worst-hit region of the coronavirus in the continent of Europe. Several Italian citizens have now passed away in the tens of thousands with more than 97,689 confirmed cases reported in the northern and southern parts of the country. According to CNBC although the country is under full lockdown, the cases, deaths, and recoveries are still rising with fears that the virus could furthermore attack parts of the more vulnerable regions in the south. Although the industrial northern half of Italy was the first to be reported with COVID-19 back in late February, quarantine measures were ordered in the north of Italy while in the south more people are returning home possibly spreading the virus with more cases to be rising in the coming weeks.
Later in the program on Interchange, we will be talking about how the hardest-hit regions of Italy are feeling the impact from an economic, political, commercial, and lifelong perspective with clear insight on how the country like so many others are dealing being in the moment.
Features:
1. Up next, we have a brief feature from the producers of Interchange about economic pressure for a local service industry worker and renter.
2. We have an excerpt from Interchange’s episode “On Pandemics and Panotpicons.” The Interchange crew looks at the local effects of COVID-19 in and around the major cities of Italy and then they widen their view to try to see the socio-political impacts of governmentality in the face of a crisis like a pandemic.
Credits:
Today’s headlines were written by Braydyn Lents, Kade Young and Sydney Foreman, in partnership with CATS, Community Access Television Services.
Our features were produced by Doug Storm and Interchange.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Our executive producer is Kade Young.
