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This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, July 29th, 2021.
Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Max Campbell concludes his series of Bloomington annexation. You will hear from both the city and county on their respective concerns regarding annexation. That’s coming up in today’s feature report.
Also coming up in the next half hour, we have a new segment on Indiana news and politics titled the Statehouse Roundup. That’s coming up following your daily headlines.
But first, your local news brief:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated this week on Tuesday that residents should be wearing masks while indoors if they live in a county with a high or substantial amount of Covid-19 spread. This is recommended to both people vaccinated and unvaccinated. The CDC explained that substantial transmission means that there have been 50-100 cases per 100,000 over a 7-day period and high transmission means there have been more than 100 cases per 100,000 over a 7-day period. According to these guidelines, 65 of Indiana’s 92 counties have a high or substantial transmission. Monroe county is in the substantial transmission category.
President at Bloomington Bagel Company Inc., Suzanne Aquila announced via their social media pages that after reviewing the CDC guidelines the company would be going back to requiring guests to wear a mask when inside their stores. She also stated that indoor ordering and outdoors seating will be available but indoor seating will not. The stores had just recently opened their doors for people to order and sit down inside. She concluded the statement saying, “ The more we mask and vaccinate the sooner we return to normal. Thank you as always for your understanding and support of our locally owned and boiled BBC.”
A fisherman from Illinois spotted an alligator in the water while fishing at a lake in Whitley County, Indiana. The man, Sawyer Burgett reported the sighting to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, who then sent a conservation officer to the lake on Sunday, and a second officer on Monday. When both came up empty-handed, Burgett returned to the lake during overnight hours and ended up capturing and putting down the alligator. It ended up measuring 5 foot 3 inches in length. Officials stated that the wild animal was likely kept as a pet by someone who then dumped it in the lake when it became too big. Indiana state law allows ownership of an alligator, however you must obtain a permit once it grows to be 5 feet or more. Burgett stated, “Around the lake, everyone is very relieved. Social media standpoint, not so much.” Many people took to WANE-TV’s Facebook page to discuss the decision to put the alligator down. Several questioned why it wasn’t taken to a zoo or an animal sanctuary. Burgett responded saying, “We caught the animal and had to take matters into our own hands… No one is scared to swim anymore or scared to go fishing.”
Storms are expected to roll into Indiana and cause some severe weather today. Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, Mike Koch said the entire state is under marginal risk for severe weather including storms, damaging winds, small hail and possible a tornado. Koch said that because of this cold front moving in, high temperatures will drop across the state starting Friday.
Bloomington City Council Committee of the Whole
The Bloomington City Council Committee of the Whole looked at the first wave of American Rescue Plan Act appropriations. Council member Jim Sims asked for clarification on whether the appropriation to City of Bloomington Utilities is a grant or a loan. Director of C-B-U Vic Kelson said it was a grant that may be repaid.
Council member Dave Rollo asked about Bloomington Parks’ request for 250 thousand dollars. Bloomington Controller Jeff Underwood broke down the funding. He said most of the money would go towards park security.
The Committee of the Whole recommended approval of the appropriations 7 to 0. The ordinances will receive a final reading at a future City Council meeting.
Impact of Annexation on Monroe County Public Meeting
Monroe County Commissioners hosted a public meeting to discuss the impact of annexation on Monroe County with advisory firm Baker Tilly. Resident Jim Shelton asked why the report did not analyze the impact on Monroe County’s TIFs. Baker Tilly partner Paige Sansone clarified that Baker Tilly only analyzed the City of Bloomington’s fiscal report. She said they could not analyze the impact because the city’s report did not give enough information.
County attorney Jeff Cockerill talked about the remonstration process. He pointed out that a remonstration, which is an official objection, cannot legally be issued until the City Council passes the ordinance that states what areas will be annexed.
Cockerill added that each annexation area would need to be remonstrated separately. The next public county meeting on annexation will be on August 1st.
The Statehouse Roundup
Mayor John Hamilton has announced that the previous annexation process that was unconstitutionally terminated by the State Legislature in April 2017 is now back in progress. Eight areas are currently up for consideration for the annexation. The annexation will allow for these areas to have access to more services including, policing, trash removal, street construction, storm water constructions, and better access to Bloomington Transit services. However, some Monroe County residents are against these changes brought on by the annexation. The Monroe County Residents Against Annexation is a group promoting the downsides of the annexation process of these counties. Including the higher taxes and greater association within the city of Bloomington. A public Hearing concerning the development of the annexation will be held on August 4th, at Bloomington City Hall inside the Council Chambers and virtually through zoom. In a press release dated July 15th, the MCRAA explained that, “if 65 percent of property owners in an annexation zone exercise their right to remonstrate, annexation of that zone will fail and the residents will remain in Monroe County.” More information on meeting times and locations for the annexation process can be found on bloomington.in.gov/city/annexation.
On Wednesday Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law legislation that would make the production of Safe Haven Baby Boxes easier and more efficient. The Safe Haven Baby Boxes legislation was proposed in the House Bill of 1032 as a method of saving abandoned babies. The process of the Baby Box allows for parents to not be prosecuted for placing their babies within the safety box up to 30 days old. The Baby Boxes are constantly monitored and placed near police stations, fire stations, and hospitals. Just last year, five babies’ lives were saved using this method. The adjustment signed by Governor Holcomb was proposed by State Representative Randy Frye. Representative Frye said, “My goal is for every county in Indiana to have a Safe Haven Baby Box, and this takes us one step closer to achieving that milestone.”
Member of the State Budget Committee, State Representative Gregory W. Porter wrote a letter to governor Holcomb addressing the need for an increase to the cost-of-living-adjustment or COLA that’s provided to retired teachers and state employees. In his address to governor Holcomb, Representative Porter commented, “…The state has exceeded its revenue forecasts and will have substantial surplus for the rest of the fiscal year.
Porter proposed that the approved COLA that governor Holcomb signed of 1% is not sufficient for retired teachers and state employees. Instead Porter proposed that the Governor look to increase the percentage using the surplus announced by the 2021 Budget Closeout by paying an additional amount of $300 dollars to every retired state teacher and employee .Porter continued saying that the 1% COLA barely helps to offset the cost of inflation that Indiana has seen in the past few years.
Feature Report:
In today’s feature report, WFHB Correspondent Max Campbell concludes his series on the City of Bloomington’s effort to annex roughly 10,000 acres of Monroe County land. We turn to Max Campbell for more.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Katrine Bruner, Emily McCoy and Jake Jacobson, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Max Campbell.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
