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This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, August 12th, 2021.
Later in the program, we have the latest edition of Prescription for Healthcare – a monthly segment dedicated to increasing the understanding of healthcare issues for the WFHB listening community through interviews with and commentary from medical and community experts. That’s coming up in today’s feature report.
Also coming up in the next half hour, WFHB Correspondent Emily McCoy provides a rundown of the latest in Indiana news and politics during our segment, the Statehouse Roundup. More following today’s headlines.
Local News Brief
By Robert Robinson
The City of Bloomington has begun excavation work at Lower Cascades Park, as part of their Streambank Stabilization and Trail Construction project. This project will include installing new storm drains, road resurfacing, and refurbishing the stream bank walls. A new paved trail and boardwalk leading to the waterfall will also be installed.
A tract of land along I-69 to the north of Bloomington that was up for annexation has been removed from consideration, after pushback from residents and city council members. Residents, among other concerns, feared an increase in their property taxes, and some council members expressed skepticism about the viability of the land for development. Annexation will continue for other slated areas, as the city of Bloomington seeks to keep its municipal services at pace with urban development.
Monroe County’s universal mask mandate remains in effect, after being reinstated last week. Monroe County’s vaccination rate remains at roughly 60%. Indiana University-Bloomington has also reinstated their universal mask mandate for the upcoming academic year, with the rate of vaccination among students and faculty currently at 85%.
Bloomington City Council
By Jake Jacobson
On August 11th, the Bloomington City Council reconvened to continue its August 6th public meeting on annexation. Monroe County Commissioner Lee Jones talked about the county jail. She said the county would need financial support to make the changes necessary to reduce the prison population, and that annexation would take away a large chunk of those funds.
Resident Pamela Tier-Snyder showed concern over public safety. She wondered how an allegedly understaffed Bloomington Police Department could provide better service than what the Sheriff’s Department already provides.
Resident Kyleen Crane commented on the economic effect of annexation. She said she opposes annexation because it may reduce funding for county schools and libraries.
Council members officially closed the public hearing. The City Council motioned to meet for a special session on August 31st for first readings and amendments for the annexation ordinances.
Monroe County Commissioners
By Jake Jacobson
Monroe County Commissioners talked about health order enforcement at their August 11th meeting. County Attorney Jeff Cockerill presented a contract with a security company to help enforce the county’s emergency health order. He said the county would be hiring the same company they hired to help enforce the last Coronavirus-related health order.
Bloomington Chamber of Commerce representative Jim Shelton expressed support for the contract. He said having a company handle enforcement and education takes those burdens away from regular employees.
Commissioners ratified the contract unanimously.
Monroe County Stormwater Management Board
By Jake Jacobson
The Monroe County Stormwater Management Board considered additional funding for the Lake Monroe Water Fund. At the August 11th meeting, Lake Monroe Water Fund Chairperson Jane Martin addressed concerns that LMWF may be siphoning funds away from other Lake Monroe groups. She said her organization acts as a funding gap for organizations like Friends of Lake Monroe.
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Coordinator Kelsey Thetonia showed hesitancy funding staff positions for non-county organizations. She said the stormwater board should focus on funding the maintenance and operation of Monroe County’s storm sewer system.
County Surveyor Trohn Enright-Randolph suggested the board table the request until a 2022 meeting. He said this would give the board time to figure out how things like the ongoing watershed study will affect this decision in the future.
Board members voted to table the request to their March 2022 meeting 3 to 1, with Commissioner Penny Githens dissenting.
Covid-19 Update: Masks, Vaccine Hesitancy and the Delta Variant
By Tilly Robinson
Covid-19 cases in Monroe County are still rising. Data from the New York Times reported Wednesday shows Monroe County’s seven-day average case count at 24 new Covid-19 cases each day. That represents a 53% increase in = cases over the past two weeks.
The state of Indiana’s seven-day average for Covid-19 cases had increased to nearly 2 thousand cases yesterday, which is a 143% increase over the past two weeks.
In response to the uptick, local health officials have reinstated a mask mandate. All residents are required to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces. The order went into effect last Thursday and is expected to stay in place until at least September 30th.
The Monroe County Board of Health met again on Monday. Monroe County Health Administrator Penny Caudill said that an array of precautions continue to be necessary.
Indiana University is also once again requiring masks inside campus buildings.
Area school districts have responded to the rise in Covid-19 numbers as well. On July 27th, the board of the Monroe County Community School Corporation approved changes to this year’s reentry plan.
In the adjusted plan, MCCSC announced that students and unvaccinated staff will be required to wear masks in school buildings.
The Richland-Bean Blossom school district had previously planned to make masking optional. But in an email last week, RBB Superintendent Jerry Sanders announced that masks would be required for all students and staff. So far, only one Monroe County school, Seven Oaks Classical School, has announced that it plans to violate the county mask mandate. The Ellettsville charter school will not require masks nor encourage vaccinations.
The most recent Covid-19 update from the Indiana State Department of Health was live-streamed on July 30th. State health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said that guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now encourages masking once again.
Dr. Box also said that individuals who are close contacts of someone with Covid-19 should get tested, regardless of their vaccination status. She emphasized the increased risk posed by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The Delta variant now accounts for almost 83% of Covid-19 tests sequenced in Indiana.
Indiana Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver explained that although vaccines are not perfect, they are still a vital tool in fighting the coronavirus.
Dr. Box also highlighted the importance of widespread vaccination.
As of Monday’s Monroe County Board of Health meeting, the vaccination rate in Monroe County was 57.5% of eligible residents.
For more vaccine information, visit ourshot.in.gov. To register for a free Covid-19 test, visit coronavirus.in.gov and navigate to the “Testing Information” page. The Indiana Department of Health will livestream its next Covid-19 update tomorrow on YouTube.
The Statehouse Roundup
By Emily McCoy
This week on Monday Governor Eric Holcomb signed the House Enrolled Act 1384; an educational law that will require all students in Indiana Public middle schools to complete at least one semester of civics education. The law was initially proposed by State Representative Tony Cook. In a statement Cook said, “Young adults are not always armed with the tools and knowledge to successfully participate in our democracy.” Representative Cook commented that the concept of this law was initially recognized by the Civics Education Task Force, which is led by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. Currently, before graduating from an Indiana Public School, Seniors are required to take one course in government.
On Tuesday, the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus or the IBLC approached Attorney General Todd Rokita on the legality and bias surrounding the announced Parental Bill of Rights back in late June of this year. The Parental Bill of Rights is an outline for parents of students attending Indiana public schools of their rights in accordance with Indiana law. The Parental Bill of Rights outlines the ways in which parents can attend meetings and question or review what their student is being taught within the classroom.
However, The IBLC is concerned that because the state of Indiana doesn’t currently have a law in effect that requires Indiana public schools to educate students on critical race theory, Indiana public schools could refrain from teaching students about race and its history. The IBLC commented, “We encourage the Attorney General and our fellow state officials to simply let our teachers teach.” The IBLC announced that it is looking forward to working further on its mission to present a more effective and inclusive cultural education system in the Indiana public school system next year during the Legislative Session.
Feature Report:
Now it’s time for Prescription for Healthcare – a monthly segment dedicated to increasing the understanding of healthcare issues for the WFHB listening community through interviews with and commentary from medical and community experts. In today’s episode, we hear from Erin Bammann, a fourth-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.
Prescription for Healthcare airs on the second Thursday of each month on the WFHB Local News. It’s available online and wherever you find your podcasts.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Robert Robinson, Emily McCoy, Tilly Robinson and Jake Jacobson, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Dr. Rob Stone and Karen Green Stone.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
