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This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, April 20th, 2021.
Later in the program, we turn to WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty, for an interview with Dave Askins, the founder and writer for the B Square Beacon. Askins spoke about the Bloomington Plan Commission vote last month to recommend that the City Council adopt the new zoning changes in the UDO, the city’s new Unified Development Ordinance. Stay tuned to hear the interview in today’s feature report.
Also coming up, the state of Indiana alloted $1.9 billion into K-12 schools and hopes to raise teacher salaries in its two-year budget. Governor Holcomb made the announcement today. More in your daily headlines.
But first, your local news brief:
The WFHB Local News Brief breaks down the daily local news cycle into 2-3 minutes of what you need to know each day. Listen live Monday through Thursday at 1:30 p.m. on WFHB Community Radio. Visual broadcasts of the news briefs are available on our Youtube channel, WFHB-TV.
Bloomington Redevelopment Commission
Director of Economic and Sustainable Development Alex Crowley shared updates on the Old Hospital site with the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission. At the April 19th meeting, Crowley revealed that a proposal had been selected for reuse of the Kohr building on Second Street. He said the proposal would redevelop the Kohr building into a residential building. IU Architect David Walter added the proposal has a lot of potential.
Commissioner Deborah Myerson asked how many units would be built. She wondered about the proposed cost of housing. Crowley said the room number is in flux, but that the proposal focused on low-income housing.
The city will move forward with the selected partner and work on a formal resolution. The resolution will come back to the Redevelopment Commission in the future for more discussion.
Indiana Allots Almost $2 billion for K-12 Schools in 2-Year Budget, Hopes to Raise Teacher Salaries
At 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Governor Eric Holcomb announced an investment into the state’s K-12 schools as a part of the two-year budget.
After a compromise between Holcomb and state lawmakers, the state allotted 1.9 billion dollars for K-12 schools over the course of the next two years.
One element of the budget compromise includes a 600 million dollar down payment to raise teacher pay in Indiana.
Governor Holcomb spoke about the education portion of the state budget during a press conference on Tuesday.
In addition, the two-year state budget includes tuition support for public schools. It will also increase funding for private school choice programs.
Speaker of the House Todd Huston discussed teacher pensions and the increased funding.
Huston also addressed increased funding for private school choice programs.
According to a report by the Indiana Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission, it would cost an estimated $600 million to raise teacher salaries to a competitive wage.
The report says it hopes to raise starting teacher pay to 40,000 dollars per year with an average teacher salary of 60,000 dollars per year.
According to the commission, Indiana’s average teacher salary ranked 38th in the nation at just over 51,000 dollars during the 2018-2019 school year.
Monroe County Commissioners
The Monroe County Commissioners discussed an amendment to personnel policy at their April 14th meeting. County Attorney Jeff Cockerill presented the amendment, which would allow county employees to receive benefit time while attending the funeral of another county worker.
Cockerill said the change will take place retroactively starting April 1st. Commissioner Julie Thomas recognized that this was omitted from county policy. Commissioners unanimously supported the amendment.
Feature Report:
Up first, we turn to WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty, for an interview with Dave Askins, the founder and writer for the B Square Beacon. Askins spoke about the Bloomington Plan Commission vote last month to recommend that the City Council adopt the new zoning changes in the UDO, the city’s new Unified Development Ordinance. Aaron Comforty has more.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News.
Today’s headlines were written by Katherine Patterson, Kade Young and Jake Jacobson, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our engineer and executive producer is Kade Young.
Our feature was produced by Aaron Comforty.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
