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This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, August 25th, 2021.
Later in the program, WFHB News speaks with Nola Hartman, co-founder of the Bloomington Mask Drive – who provides clean, high-quality, homemade fabric masks to Bloomington and Monroe County free of charge. More coming up in today’s feature reports.
Also coming up in the next half hour, we have Better Beware – your weekly-consumer watchdog segment on WFHB. More coming up following today’s feature report.
But first, Nathaniel Weinzapfel has your Environmental News Brief:
New research out of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has a goal of understanding and then implementing insects into human diets. Due to overpopulation and climate change, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization expects agriculture to fall short of feeding the world by 2050. According to the research, the raising of bugs could help feed livestock as well as feed humans. Unlike the rest of the world, the people of the United States are not used to eating insects due to the large amount of land area and water supply for agriculture and livestock. The new Center for Environmental Sustainability Through Insect Farming at IUPUI hopes to find insects that can be farmed and are nutritious and safe.
According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resource the body of a black bear has been found in Elkhart County. The bear was found near a motorway and was greatly decomposed. The Indiana DNR believes that the bear was hit by a vehicle on the motorway. This is the fifth black bear found, dead or alive, in the modern history of Indiana. Black bears were once fairly common in Indiana before the civil war, but between 1871 and 2015 there were no reported sightings. As bear populations grow in neighboring states, it is likely that Indiana will become a more common home for the black bear.
The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have recently come to an agreement to amend the 2012 Clean Water Act consent decree with the City of South Bend, Indiana. The amendment allocates more time to South Bend to further reduce and treat sewage in order to meet Indiana’s water quality standards. This is all in an effort to prevent E. coli. Prior to the 2012 Clean Water Act, South Bend was sending 2 billion gallons of untreated human and industrial sewage into lakes and streams. With the amendment to the act, the revised plan and additional time should improve the public health of the South Bend area.
Covid-19 Update: Over 2,000 Hoosiers in the Hospital, Compared to 641 in July
Governor Eric Holcomb has not given a Covid-19 briefing since July 30th. Since then, Indiana has seen its hospitalizations triple.
On Wednesday, the Indiana State Department of Health reported 5,037 new infections and 19 newly reported deaths. Over 2,000 Indiana residents are currently hospitalized due to Covid-19.
The seven-day positivity rate stands at 10.9 percent, while its unique individuals metric shows 18.6 percent positivity. State data revealed that the Delta variant accounted for almost 98 percent of samples tested this month.
Right now, according to the state’s color-coded map, 62 counties are labeled in orange, 19 are yellow and 11 are in red. Zero counties were in the blue category.
Meanwhile, Monroe County has seen 60 new positive cases and one newly reported death, according to the ISDH dashboard.
Those between the ages of 20 and 29 made up one third of positive cases in Monroe County. Hospital census data shows that the county has 104 patients hospitalized from the virus. The county remains in the yellow advisory level.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the best way to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is to get the vaccine, which is free and widely available.
To find a vaccination clinic near you, visit ourshot.in.gov or call 211 if you do not have access to a computer or require assistance.
MCCSC School Board Discusses Covid-19 Protocol
The Monroe County Community School Corporation School Board discussed changing their procedure for determining when to close due to COVID-19. At the August 24th meeting, board member Erin Cooperman presented recommendations from the RBBCSC COVID Monitoring and Advisory Committee. Cooperman recommended that the school district look at individual COVID-19 cases per classroom rather than look at the overall percentage of positive cases. She said each classroom is unique and should be treated as an independent situation when determining if classes should close.
Board member April Hennessey suggested that more emphasis be put on contact tracing. She said finding and isolating positive cases early would be the optimal way to keep kids in in-person classes.
Hennessey requested the vote be tabled so changes could be made to the policy. Her motion failed. Board members voted to approve the policy.
Monroe County Board of Health Provides Local Update on Covid-19
The Monroe County Board of Health revisited how the county is doing in relation to Covid 19. At the August 23rd meeting they covered Indiana University students coming back to campus, the Monroe County mask mandate, and the potential for a third vaccination shot.
Kirk White, Co-Chair of Indiana University Bloomington’s Covid Response Unit, shared how IU has continued to prepare for Covid. He explained that IU is giving out masks, testing, requiring vaccines, and establishing ways for students to quarantine if they contract Covid. Board member Ashley Cranor expressed concern over students who were unvaccinated or had been exempted from the vaccine. White, assured the board that the students who have received exemptions from the vaccine, are receiving weekly mitigation testing.
Board member Celinda Leach also expressed concern that the students at IU and some Monroe County residents aren’t aware of the mask mandate.
Legal Counsel Margie Rice, shared her experience with mask compliance. She was overall positive about how Ellettsville and Monroe County as a whole have been doing with mask wearing.
The Board of Health also discussed the potential for Monroe County residents to receive a third vaccination shot. Health Administrator Penny Caudill, explained they aren’t sure yet what the booster shot would be, but that they are working on it.
The next board of Health meeting is scheduled for September 8th.
Feature Report:
Up first, WFHB News Director Kade Young spoke with Nola Hartman, co-founder of the Bloomington Mask Drive, about the organization’s need for more volunteers as Monroe County residents are again required to wear face coverings in indoor settings.
Hartman talks about how the Bloomington Mask Drive has provided free masks available to the public for the last year and a half – and how they try to meet the demand for face coverings in light of the new mask mandate. For more information, you can visit Bloomingtonmaskdrive.com.
Up next, we have Better Beware – your weekly consumer-watchdog segment on WFHB. Today, we present a classic edition of the radio column. The episode is titled “Masks Unmasked” and it comes from the August 19th, 2020 edition of Better Beware. We turn to host and producer Richard Fish for more.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Nathaniel Weinzapfel, Kade Young, Noelle Herhusky-Schneider and Jake Jacobson, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Kade Young.
Better Beware is produced by Richard Fish.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
Anchors are Benedict Jones and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider
