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This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, October 25th, 2021.
Later in the program, WFHB News speaks with Erin White, Director of Leisure, Marketing and Media Relations for Visit Bloomington, about the second annual Bloomington Restaurant Week, which celebrates local restaurants in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. More in today’s feature reports.
But first, Abe Shapiro has your local news brief:
On Thursday, The Monroe County Board of Health voted to extend the countywide mask mandate into November.
The mandate is likely to remain in effect until cases drop below 50 per every 100,000 residents.
Recently, the rolling average has dipped towards 100 cases per 100,000 residents, meaning Monroe County remains in the yellow rank of advisory but is now in hot pursuit of blue, the rank provided to counties no longer requiring a mask mandate.
Based on comments from IU vice president for strategic partnerships Kirk White, 93 percent of IU students are vaccinated. However, because Monroe County’s overall vaccination rate stands at around 60.7 percent, Board of Health member Robert Wrenn reasoned that the vaccination rate for the non-university population must be lower.
While the board of health was unanimous, one concern came from board member Mark Norrell, a schoolteacher. Norrell commented that while he and his students must, “do what we gotta do,” he expressed frustration that wearing a mask obscures facial expressions of both himself and his students, hindering effective communication in the classroom.
Norrell explained “My students cannot see my facial expressions. They don’t know when I’m kidding around and I’m smiling. I can’t recognize faces as well as I did.
Despite the Board’s affirmative vote for extending the mask mandate, The county’s board of commissioners will need to approve the board of health’s change to the regulations. Such a vote has been scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 10 a.m.
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The Indiana Supreme Court announced today the implementation of a pre-eviction diversion program for providing rental assistance to landlords and tenants in a more effective manner.
Tenant lawyers expressed concerns that the program is non-mandatory and that landlords will not have an incentive to participate.
In addressing the possibility of making participation in the program mandatory, Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Robert Altice Jr. replied that “It can be difficult for a court, not a legislative branch, to mandate a landlord to do certain things.”
In September, the Indiana Supreme Court created a nine-person task force to review the eviction process in the state and submit recommendations on how the program should work by Jan. 17.
Following the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium on Aug 26, tenants were being taken to court by their landlords over non-payment of rent, However, effective Nov. 1, courts must advise tenants and landlords at the first hearing of any eviction case if they are interested in or pursuing rental assistance or participating in a settlement conference.
The free Landlord and Tenant Settlement Conference Program, which both landlord and tenant must both agree to participate for this option to be considered, entails that tenant and landlord engage in a discussion facilitated by a neutral helper to ensure productivity on both sides. While facilitators may be registered Indiana mediators, senior judges, or attorneys but cannot offer legal advice to either party.
The federal government gave about $410 million to Indiana state and local governments in December 2020 for distribution to houses in need of emergency rental assistance (ERA) but only 38% of those funds have been allocated as of Sept. 27.
When questioned about this, Brandon Beeler, director of the housing law center at Indiana Legal Services and a member of the eviction task force explained that “Tenant and landlord advocates are, often times, against each other but there is universal agreement among everybody that the ERA funds need to get out quicker and quicker”
The eviction task force’s report said courts handling eviction cases face challenges such as informing parties about available eviction resources, ensuring attendance of parties in court, and a lack of timely status updates on rental assistance applications.
However, the Nov 1 reforms crafted by the eviction task force will be the latest effort to correct an ongoing issue in public policy that has become further prominent particularly during the pandemic.
Bloomington City Council Discusses Climate and Sustainability Goals
At the Bloomington City Council meeting on October 20th, Public Works Director Adam Wason gave an update on the Sanitation Department. He said that in January they started using a new software Routeware to help monitor waste pickup more efficiently.
He reported that there was an increase in recycling and solid waste since the start of the pandemic, which he attributed to residents spending more time at home and food delivery services becoming more popular.
He also shared that back in 2019 Hoosier Disposal said that they would start requiring a processing fee for recycling due to changes in the International Commodities Market. Director of Economic & Sustainable Development Alex Crowley and Assistant Director of Sustainability Lauren Clemens gave a climate and sustainability progress report. Clemens shared Bloomington’s energy and emission related goals.
She also reported that transportation sector emissions decreased by 20 percent in 2020 due to pandemic related impacts; however, Covid-19 has led to less people taking public transportation and emissions have increased in 2021. Council member Sue Sgambelluri asked Clemens and Crowley how to collaborate with surrounding communities on this global issue.
Clemens said that Monroe County has a similar emissions report to Bloomington even though an official study hasn’t been done yet, so she recommended that opportunities for working together on energy efficiency and solar power would be a good place to start.
The next city council meeting will be a special session held on October 27th.
Commissioner Lee Jones Issues Apology at Monroe County Board of Commissioners Meeting
At the Monroe County Board of Commissioners meeting on October 20th, Commissioner Lee Jones gave an apology to County Clerk Nicole Brown for a misunderstanding that occurred during a meeting between the election board and the county commissioners on October 18th.
She said that due to tensions between the commissioners and the election board have been high recently, and she understood why her comments were perceived as disrespectful. She explained that she was talking to her cat who had climbed on top of her computer, but she was sorry for any interpretations that came across as contemptuous.
Commissioners’ Administrator Angie Purdie presented the Heading Home 2021 Letter of Support.
Commissioner Penny Githens said that the fund would be a preventative measure to help prevent homelessness in Monroe County.
Commissioner Julie Thomas added that the fund would help with things like down payments, securing mortgages and to be a bridge to get people out of poverty and homelessness. She said it came out of the decision for community members to work together to address the problem instead of having multiple groups fighting over funds.
The commissioners unanimously voted to approve the Heading Home 2021 Letter of Support. The next county commissioners meeting will be held on October 27th.
Feature Report:
WFHB News Director Kade Young spoke with Erin White, Director of Leisure, Marketing and Media Relations for Visit Bloomington, about the second annual Bloomington Restaurant Week. White says the idea of Bloomington Restaurant Week was born out of the Covid-19 pandemic as a means to celebrate local restaurants during trying times for the dining industry.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Abe Shapiro and Noelle Herhusky Schneider in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Kade Young.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
Anchors are Don Geyra and Nicki Stewart-Ingersoll.
