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This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022.
Later in the program, the Monroe County Democratic Party elected Shruti Rana as vice-chair after a resignation last winter left the office vacant. More in the bottom half of tonight’s program.
Also coming up in the next half hour, we have Better Beware – your weekly-consumer watchdog segment on WFHB.
But first, your Environmental News Brief:
Across the state, farmers have been reporting cases of a highly lethal bird flu called H5N1 in turkey populations. The outbreak has been occurring globally but the first confirmed case in Indiana was on February 9th in Dubois County, but has since spread to a farm south of Bloomington and in Greene County. The total number of turkeys impacted is estimated to be around 103,000 birds, with many of them having to be euthanized to contain the spread. There are a total of 28 poultry farms in the state that are in a form of quarantine, and are going through massive cleaning operations to help stop the spread of the bird flu. Indiana is one of the largest poultry producing states, and if the flu spreads the amount of chicken eggs, turkeys, and ducks in supermarkets and restaurants could decrease nationwide.
Southwestern Indiana was recently the center of attention on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” which is the most listened to podcast in the world, with an average of 11 million listeners per episode. The host, Joe Rogan, was discussing air pollution with world-renowned climate scientist Andrew Dessler when the topic came up about pollution caused by coal-fired power plants. According to the discussion, the city of Evansville, Indiana has the worst air quality in the country primarily due to seven coal-fired power plants located around the city. This portion of Southwestern Indiana is often cited as a sacrifice zone, in which people suffer respiratory issues due to power plants. There are signs that this statistic is changing, as more coal-fired plants are being shut down or changing to alternative sources of energy.
Recently, residents of the city of Lake Tahoe, California have been terrorized by the infamous “HANK THE TANK”. Weighing at 500 pounds, Hank is an extremely large and overweight black bear who no longer fears humans and thus has the courage to break into dozens of homes to feast on leftover pizza. Despite breaking into 28 homes, he has not harmed a single person. His passion for eating processed food and avoiding the fruits and veggies has caused the bear to become a social media sensation. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking to capture Hank, as despite his friendly nature, it is too dangerous to have bears living alongside humans. The Bear Education Aversion Response League is an organization that is working towards finding an animal sanctuary for Hank the Tank to live at once the California DFW is finally able to capture the notorious black bear.
Monroe County Board of Commissioners Talk Funding for Service Agreements
On February 16th at the Monroe County Board of Commissioners meeting Assessor Judith Sharp, asked the commissioners to approve funding for service agreements with Midwest Presort, which she hires to handle the mailing of personal property assessment forms.
Sharp shared that Indiana changed the Business Personal Property Tax requirement to be eighty thousand dollars rather than forty thousand dollars.
Sharp explained that although this is convenient for businesses, the burden of property taxes then falls upon the shoulders of the homeowners.
Commissioner Penny Githens asked Sharp what they can do to push back against the shift away from taxing businesses. Sharp responded.
The next county commissioners meeting will be held on February 23rd.
Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees Discuss Future Plans
At the Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees meeting on February 16th Director Marylin Wood gave an update on the library’s services in light of how the pandemic has affected the use of the library.
Board member Jaime Burkhart shared that they went to a kindergarten registration to get families signed up for library cards.
Wood also shared she will be retiring from her position as Director.
Finance Manager Gary Lettelleir, shared a resolution to establish a depreciation policy for the library’s capital assets.
Lettelleir explained that for purchases over five thousand dollars he sends the depreciation schedule to the county; however, smaller purchases don’t need to be reported in the Capital Asset Statement.
Items such as computers are tracked so that when they become too old staff know to replace them. Wood added that the tracking of assets is important for the collection of books, as well.
The board unanimously voted to approve the policy. The next board of trustees meeting will be held on March 23rd.
MCDP Elects Shruti Rana as Vice Chair
On Sunday, the Monroe County Democratic Party of Indiana elected Shruti Rana as vice chair.
Rana is a progressive activist and attorney, focusing on areas of international law and human rights. She also works at Indiana University as a professor and senior assistant dean.
At a zoom meeting hosted by MCDP to fill the vacancy, Rana outlined what inspired her to run for vice chair.
After former vice chair Jennifer Crossley handed in her resignation to take over Eric Spoonmore’s county council seat last winter, that left the office of vice chair vacant.
Rana discussed the main reasons she ran for office – mainly focusing on the future of the county.
Her history in local government includes a membership on the Bloomington Board of Public Safety and her role as chair of the Monroe County Election Board.
In other areas of community work, she serves as a board member for All Options and co-chair of the Indiana Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s forum.
Rana walked through three goals she set for her tenure as vice chair.
During the question-and-answer portion of the virtual conference, IU Researcher Sarah Bauerle Danzman asked Rana about how she plans to implement her goal of building diverse coalitions.
Rana responded saying that her background in community organizing would guide her in that effort.
All in all, Rana says that as vice-chair, she plans to cultivate a diverse coalition to strengthen the party, professionalize party operations and recruit strong progressive leaders.
Featured Segment:
Up next, we have on Better Beware – your weekly consumer-watchdog segment on WFHB. 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 Kade Young and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
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.
