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This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, August 15th, 2024.
Later in the program, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita dropped a lawsuit over the privacy of a 10-year-old girl who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion.
More in today’s Statehouse Roundup.
Also coming up in the next half hour, the Bloomington City Council met last night for a special session addressing street homelessness in the city. More in today’s headlines.
The Statehouse Roundup
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita dropped a lawsuit over the privacy of a 10-year-old girl who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion.
Rokita accused Indiana University Health Hospital, the state’s largest hospital system, of violating the patient’s privacy rights after the doctor told a newspaper about the procedure.
The state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit alleging Dr. Caitlin Bernard violated the HIPAA law. However, Dr. Bernard’s attorneys argued that she did not share any personal information about the 10-year-old rape victim.
A federal judge approved Rokita’s dismissal of the case last week. The attorney general’s office stated that the state’s initial complaints have been satisfied by IU Health.
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Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb called the completion of a major interstate highway a “historic milestone.”
The Martinsville-to-Indianapolis stretch of Interstate 69 was completed last week. This marked the end of a 26-mile segment of the I-69 extension from Evansville to Indianapolis which began in 2008.
Holcomb was joined last week by two former Indiana governors, Mike Pence and Mitch Daniels, for a ribbon cutting ceremony in Indianapolis.
According to a report from the Associated Press, before work began, I-69 ran from Port Huron, Michigan to Indianapolis. The completion of this final stretch means the interstate now runs from Port Huron to Evansville.
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On Tuesday, candidates for Indiana Lieutenant Governor participated in a debate at the state fairgrounds.
The three candidates sparred over Indiana’s agricultural policies and property taxes during the debate.
Candidates for Lieutenant Governor include Republican Micah Beckwith, Democrat Terry Goodin and Libertarian Tonya Hudson.
The debate was hosted by AgrIInstitue, a Danville-based non profit organization advocating for the state’s agricultural industry.
Republican candidate Micah Beckwith argued for more limited government when it comes to the state’s farming policies.
Democratic candidate Terry Goodin focused on an economic revival of rural Indiana by investing in infrastructure and developing a new property tax plan.
Lastly, Libertarian candidate Tonya Hudson advocated to abolish property taxes and emphasized smaller government in Indiana.
To watch the full lieutenant governor’s debate, visit this link.
Sources: Associated Press, Indy Star
Bloomington City Council Convenes Special Session on Street Homelessness
The Bloomington City Council met on Wednesday to tackle the question: “what actions should the council take to address street homelessness and support the work of others addressing street homelessness?” The special session was labeled as a common “consensus building activity.” It consisted of an overview on the issue of street homelessness and two breakout groups where members of the public engaged with the city council. Council Member Isak Asare started the session off with an overview of the issue.
Then, Council-at-large Member Matt Flaherty outlined what policies the city council could enact to address street homelessness in the city.
Members of the public then went into breakout groups with council members for “facilitated discussion” of the issue. After the breakout session, Flaherty touched on some of the common themes he heard in the discussion group.
Asare outlined what he heard in his breakout group, saying that local residents focused on the humanity of those experiencing homelessness.
Each city council member shared their thoughts on what they heard in their breakout groups. You can visit cats tv dot not to watch the full meeting to hear what council members had to say. According to the agenda packet, the common council will hold another meeting to continue the process, “toward building consensus and taking action on this topic.” The next regular session of the Bloomington City Council will take place on August 21st.
Feature Report:
Up next, we have an archived edition of Civic Conversations – a podcast collaboration between the WFHB Local News and the League of Women Voters of Bloomington and Monroe County.
In today’s episode, host Jim Allison speaks with Professor Ranjan Rohatgi who was a member of All IN for Democracy’s Citizens Redistricting Commission. Rohatgi is an Assistant Professor in Mathematics and Computer Science at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
The conversation spans redistricting and representative democracy as a whole. It begins with host Jim Allison asking our guest about the redistricting of the U.S. Congress. Rohatgi explains how the process consists of a partisan remapping of congressional districts.
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.
Our feature was produced by Becky Hill.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
