WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, August 30th, 2021.
Later in the program, we have a Few Minutes with the Mayor – a weekly segment where Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton answers questions on community issues. In today’s segment, Mayor Hamilton discusses results from the 2020 census, the 2022 budget hearings and more. That’s coming up in today’s feature report.
Also in the next half hour, you will hear from participants of this year’s Pridefest, which took place on Saturday. That’s coming up during a new edition of Voices in the Street – public opinion polls in the streets of Bloomington.
Local Covid-19 Joint Press Conference
At the August 27th COVID-19 Press Conference Mayor John Hamilton discussed Bloomington’s rising Covid-19 rates. He shared that Monroe County is among the lowest counties in the state in relation to cases per hundred thousand residents.
Health Administrator Penny Caudill, updated the press on issues surrounding vaccines. She promoted the official approval of the Pfizer vaccine. She highlighted that the new name for the vaccine is Comirnaty which has been causing some confusion.
Caudill explained the difference between a third dose of the vaccine versus a booster shot, noting a third dose would be for individuals who are immunocompromised and a booster shot would be for individuals who have received a full vaccine, but immunity is expected to be wearing off.
Kirk White, Co-Chair of Indiana University Bloomington’s Covid Response Unit, shared that there are 58 cases of Covid on campus at IU Bloomington. He also said that they have a 91.4 % vaccination rate.
Brian Shockney, President of IU Health, mirrored the message that Indiana University has been doing a good job at mitigating Covid-19 cases.
Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, meetings will officially be weekly instead of bi-weekly to keep the public up to date. The next Covid-19 Press Conference will be held on September 3rd.
Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission
The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission discussed a home on West Kirkwood Avenue. At the August 26th meeting, Historic Preservation Program Manager Gloria Colom introduced plans to make renovations to a home in the Near West Side Conservation District. She said city staff approved the COA but that the Near West Side Design Review Committee had additional concerns with the windows.
Commissioner Chris Sturbaum asked the petitioner about the condition of the wood siding. He suggested that the siding underneath windows might be worth keeping.
Commissioners approved the COA unanimously.
Bloomington Community Advisory on Public Safety
The Community Advisory on Public Safety Commission discussed leadership roles at its August 26th meeting. Commissioner Nicole Johnson recommended that Commissioners rotate through officer roles each week. She suggested that roles are assigned to new commissioners at the end of each meeting.
Commissioner Nejla Routsong suggested scheduling the rotation out in advance. She said commissioners are not always keen to volunteer for officer roles, so scheduling would help make sure each Commissioner performs the role.
Commissioner Renee Miller moved to have a work session on September 9th to continue discussion on establishing bylaws for the CAPS Commission. Commissioners agreed.
Feature Report:
Up next, we have a new edition of Voices in the Street – public opinion polls on the streets of Bloomington. In today’s segment, WFHB speaks with participants of the 2021 Pridefest, which happened over the weekend. We turn to Kade Young and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider for more.
Now it’s time for a Few Minutes with the Mayor – a weekly segment where we pose questions to Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton on community issues. In today’s segment, Mayor Hamilton discusses results from the 2020 census, the 2022 budget hearings and more. We turn to Jake Jacobson, who conducted that interview.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Noelle Herhusky-Schneider and Jake Jacobson, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Jake Jacobson.
Voices in the Street was produced by Kade Young and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
