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This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, December 2nd, 2021.
Later in the program, WFHB’s youth radio hit the streets of Bloomington to interview locals on the events that occurred at the Astroworld festival last month. That’s coming up in the newly revived segment, Voices in the Street. Also coming up in the next half hour, WFHB News speaks to an IUPUI researcher who discusses parents’ attitudes on the Covid-19 vaccine. More in today’s headlines.
But first, The Statehouse Roundup:
Indiana lawmakers canceled a one-day session to hear a bill that would make it harder for private businesses to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine at workplaces throughout the state.
After backlash from critics, Governor Eric Holcomb announced he will extend the state’s public health order by another 30 days. This marked a walk-back from last week, when the governor said he wanted to end the health order “responsibly” by passing three statutory measures.
Those measures included: continuing enhanced federal matching funds for Medicaid expenditures, receiving federal food assistance and the ability to vaccinate 5-to-11 year olds.
Holcomb said even though the state will move forward without those changes, he will continue to work with House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray to end the public health order in the future.
In a statement, House Speaker Todd Huston said, “’Over the next month, we’ll continue to listen and talk with stakeholders about our policy proposals, and we’ll file legislation in the near future. Hoosiers can rest assured that we’ll hit the ground running come Jan. 4.”
Meanwhile, Indiana Democrats criticized GOP lawmakers saying that the special session was a partisan attack on Covid-19 vaccines.
Lauren Ganapini, executive director for the Indiana Democratic Party, said in a statement, “Indiana Republicans embarrassed themselves and the state government when they tried to cancel out the necessary tools needed for businesses and Hoosiers to fight COVID-19. Republicans are quickly proving they are the party that’s bad for business, and it’s because they would rather put their extreme partisanship ahead of creating a better future for Hoosiers.”
In proposed legislation for the special session, lawmakers would require businesses to allow exemptions for pregnancy, “anticipated pregnancy” and for religious reasons.
The preliminary draft of the bill also stated that employees can submit to weekly testing if they do not want to get the vaccine. Furthermore, the bill said that an employer cannot deny an employee’s request for exemption.
Although the state’s public health order has been extended, the issue is certainly not over as lawmakers will convene for the 2022 legislative session in January of next year.
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Over 3,000 Afghan refugees have resettled throughout the United States after being temporarily housed at Camp Atterbury.
Camp Atterbury is located in Johnson County, Indiana, and it serves as a training base for the Indiana National Guard. Nearly three months ago, the base was selected as a location to temporarily house evacuees fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
Nahid Sharifi says she came to Camp Atterbury in early September and her journey has been, “long and scary.” Sharifi fought back tears as she explained that she was separated from several family members during the evacuation. However, she says she’s excited for her new life in the United States.
“I want to say that people of the United States has a heart of the gold. Thank you so much for everything. I’m sure that in difficult conditions, they never leave African people alone,” said Sharifi.
Since September, Camp Atterbury has brought in over 7,000 refugees – less than 10 percent of the 82,000 people who have relocated to the U.S. as a part of the “Operation Allies Welcome” initiative.
As of now, roughly 250 people have permanently resettled in Indiana. State officials say the goal is to resettle over 700 people throughout cities in Indiana, such as Bloomington, South Bend, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, among others.
Indiana residents can still donate items for Afghan refugees at eight locations throughout the state. For more information, you can visit team rubicon usa dot org slash resettlement.
Bloomington City Council Approves Sibling City Partnership with Palo Alto, California
On December 1st at the Bloomington City Council meeting the council discussed approving a Sibling City partnership with Palo Alto, California. Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton introduced the resolution and explained why he supports it.
Palo Alto Mayor Tom DuBois said he was excited about the cities sharing ideas and forming relationships. Founder of Sibling Cities USA Vicki Veenker attended Indiana University and lives in Palo Alto. She believes both cities have a lot to offer each other.
During public comment President of the Economic Development Corporation Jen Pearl supported the connection with Palo Alto and said the technology and innovation aspects are growing in the region and could benefit from this. Bloomington resident Greg Alexander expressed concern over the city’s partnership with Palo Alto which he said he didn’t want anything to do with.
Council Member Steve Volan supported the partnership, but acknowledged Alexander’s concerns. President Jim Sims and Council Member Isabel Piedmont Smith also supported the partnership.
The city council voted unanimously to approve the sibling city partnership
IUPUI Researcher on Parent’s Attitudes Regarding the Covid-19 Vaccine
Several weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an emergency use authorization for children ages 5 to 11 to receive the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19.
So far, about 62,000 Indiana residents in that age group have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Nir Menachemi, Director of Health Policy at IUPUI, says he expects that number to climb in Indiana.
“I expect that number to continue to climb,” said Menachemi. “How high it goes, I think is another question that’s still open ended.”
Menachemi touched on how some parents may want their children to get vaccinated, while others may remain skeptical.
“I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and I think it’s been challenging on parents to try to gather information from trusted sources in a way to make the personal decision on what to do with their child,” he said.
Schools often require vaccines, but it varies state-to-state on which vaccines are mandated. For instance, common required vaccines in schools include: measles, chicken pox and hepatitis.
Menachemi says that given the hyper-partisan divide over the vaccine, he believes that mandating the Covid vaccine in schools may not be the best idea. However, he postulates that it’s only a matter of time before the vaccine will be a requirement in school.
“There’s so much unease right now about this issue, that even though I personally would be supportive of schools making that kind of decision, I don’t know that it’s the right time quite yet,” said Menachemi. “I think we need the rollout to continue to go. Let people do it voluntarily.”
He says that this is a difficult time for students – having to wear a mask or abide by social distancing protocols. Regardless, he believes that getting the vaccine is the first step back to normalcy in schools.
“There’s no question the vaccines put us on the road back to normalcy, including in the schools,” said Menachemi.
In our fragmented media landscape today, people tend to get their news and information from unverified sources, often on social media. Menachemi says that the best solution for someone who remains skeptical of the vaccine, is to consult with your family doctor.
“One of the traditional, important, respected and trusted sources of health information for parents have been their child’s doctor or healthcare provider. I almost wish we can, you know, get through all the noise on the radio and on social media and on TV, and just have those one on one conversations,” said Menachemi.
Anyone 5 years of age or older is eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. To register for the vaccine, you can visit our shot dot in dot gov or call 211.
Feature Report:
Up next, WFHB’s Youth Radio hit the streets of Bloomington to interview locals on the events that occurred at the Astroworld festival last month in our newly-revived segment, Voices in the Street. We turn to Engineer and Producer Wilder Mouton for more.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Kade Young and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Wilder Mouton.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
Anchors are Benedict Jones and Lucinda Larnach.
