WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, September 9th, 2020.
Later in the program, you will hear from Pallavi Rao, a PhD candidate at Indiana University’s Media School. She spoke with WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty about her involvement with the Indiana Grad Workers group and the protest they organized back in August.
But first, your local headlines.
COVID-19 Joint Press Conference
Indiana University Assistant Vice President for Strategic Partnerships Kirk White said an increase in COVID-19 cases was detected through 20 thousand COVID-19 mitigation tests from IU students and staff. During the September 4th COVID-19 Press Conference meeting, White presented a concern for rising cases among congregate Greek living facilities.
White stated IU does not have authority to close Greek living facilities. Monroe County Health Administrator Penny Caudill said Greek house isolation would be safer than sending students home. White mentioned one residence hall was set aside for student quarantine space. Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton reported low virus prevalence rates from City of Bloomington Utilities wastewater studies.
Caudill said a mass increase in testing could cause a lag in reported results. She reported 33 mandate compliance complaints last week and reminded businesses to publicly post their reopening plans. Caudill said a COVID vaccine is likely to come in 2021.
IU Health Program Director for Community Relations and Outreach Shana Gergis stressed the importance of getting a flu vaccination to preserve healthcare resources. She said Indiana University Health ordered extra vaccinations.
Gergis reported steady COVID-19 case numbers for the South-Central Region. She said fewer cases are being reported than at the beginning of August.
MCCSC Moving into “Code Yellow”
The Monroe County Community School Corporation announced earlier this week that it would be moving into “code yellow” instruction.
Monroe County has established a green-yellow-red color scheme for its re-opening plan. A code red means all grade levels will be online-only; a code green means all grades are open to in-person instruction with an online option.
This week’s Code Yellow means different things for different grades. All elementary schools will be offering in-person instruction, Monday through Friday. Secondary schools will move into a hybrid schedule, with students alternating in-person and digital days based on their last name. For example, students with last names beginning with L through Z will meet in-person today, while students with last names beginning with A through K will meet online. Students who choose to meet online-only can continue to meet online.
Bloomington Commission on Sustainability
Founder of Carbon Neutral Indiana Daniel Poynter spoke to the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability during their September 8th meeting. Poynter stated three main climate change combatters listed in New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s America’s Pledge Report.
Poynter said all states were grouped into three tiers, and Indiana was in the 3rd tier.
Poynter said carbon pricing covers all solutions. He reported Indiana as one of 10 states that produce half of America’s carbon emissions. Poynter said Hoosiers must offset the social cost of carbon.
Poynter added there are over 200 ways to create carbon offset. He said Carbon Neutral Indiana transformed 5 businesses and 75 houses into carbon neutral buildings, preventing approximately 4 hundred and 60 thousand dollars in damage. He said currently Indiana does not have any offset projects.
Poynter said measuring Bloomington’s footprint would initiate transformation.
October 5th Deadline for Voter Registration
October 5th marks the deadline for voter registration in Indiana.
To register, you can go online to www.Indianavoters.com to check your registration, see what candidates are on the ballot and apply to vote by mail. In addition, you can go online to www.MonroeCountyVoters.us to print off an application and send it by mail.
You can also register to vote in-person at the Monroe County Election Central at 401 West 7th Street, Suite 100. There you can call 812-349-2690 to request an application. Since the building is currently closed to the public, election officials will hand you an application outside of the building.
Vote-by-mail in Indiana will not look the same as the primary election. No-excuse absentee ballots will not be allowed for the election in November.
There are 12 reasons you can legally request to vote-by-mail, which include if you will be out of the country or at work during the entire time that polls are open. People who are over 65 years old or have a disability are eligible for mail-in-voting.
The Indiana Election Commission met on August 14th – where it voted down a proposal along party lines to increase voting-by-mail options.
Andy Long, vice chair of the election commission, argued that anyone who wants to vote-by-mail should be allowed to. He wrote a proposal along with Commissioner Susannah Overholt Wilson to allow no excuse absentee voting like in the primary election.
Commissioner Zach Klutz countered Wilson’s statement by saying that Governor Holcomb’s stay-at-home order has since expired and that Hoosiers should vote in-person.
If you are eligible to vote-by-mail, it’s recommended you request a ballot as soon as possible. The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is October 22nd.
Feature Reports
Dean James Shanahan presents doctoral candidate Pallavi Rao with the Frances G. Wilhoit Research Paper Award, which she won in 2017 for “The Five-Point Indian: Caste, Masculinity, and English Language in the Paratexts of Chetan Bhagat.” (Ann Schertz | The Media School)
- In today’s feature report, you will hear from Pallavi Rao, a PhD candidate at Indiana University’s Media School. She spoke with WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty about her involvement with the Indiana Grad Workers group and the protest they organized back in August.
Credits
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Aaron Comforty, Jake Jacobson, Kade Young and Sydney Foreman, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Aaron Comforty.
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.
