WFHB Local News – February 20th, 2025

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This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, February 20th, 2025.

Later in the program, local journalist Steve Hinnefeld talks about school vouchers on Civic Conversations – a podcast in collaboration between WFHB and The League of Women Voters of Bloomington and Monroe County. More in the bottom half of our program.

That’s Little 500 rider Charles Mo. You might think of Little 5 as a spring event, but serious competitors train year-round, including in the darkest depths of winter.

But first, your local headlines:

Ellettsville Town Council

Ellettsville Resident Jim Perry spoke at the Ellettsville Town Council meeting on February 10th, calling out the town for failing to build a sidewalk on a property finished four years ago. He said it is unacceptable and a serious flaw in the code enforcement of the town.

Planning Director Denise Line assured Perry and the council that the project would be started in March when concrete plants open.
The council moved on to discuss a fire department promotion and two police hires. Travis Abrams was promoted to Captain, while Ben Muncie and Shannan Bunger joined as full-time officers.

During the discussion, Councilmember William Ellis asked if the hires were for new or existing positions. Ellis shared how Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith are pushing property tax cuts that would reduce the town’s budget, and he didn’t want to hire any new positions.

Chief of Police Jimmie Durnil responded.

Ellis was assured that the hires would not add a position to the 2026 budget.

The council continued to talk about the proposed tax cuts. Ellis noted that Ellettsville shouldn’t face much change.

Ellis said the state wants local governments to demonstrate their budget use, proposing the town perform an audit to prove its effectiveness.

Council President Scott Oldham said that while he thinks Ellettsville could act as a template for other small towns on how to be fiscally responsible, the town shouldn’t spend money to prove it.

During the meeting, the council approved an $11,000 resolution to fund mandatory vaccines for town employees.They also approved a policy granting residents the ability to apply for a credit towards their water bill for accidents causing at least 50,000 gallons of excess use, like a burst waterline.

The next Ellettsville Town Council meeting will be on February 27th.

Feature Report:

Indiana’s school voucher program has expanded significantly over the years, shifting public education funding toward private school tuition. This month, the League of Women Voters of Bloomington and Monroe County Civic Conversations podcast explores that shift with longtime Bloomington journalist Steve Hinnefeld, author of the nationally recognized blog School Matters. Hinnefeld discusses the evolution of the state’s voucher program, last year’s legislative expansion, and how Governor Braun’s recent budget proposal could make vouchers universally available. He also considers what this means for public school funding. More on that conversation, coming up.

Up next, WFHB Correspondent Chloe Fischer reports on how participants train for the Little 500 bicycle race each year. We turn to that report on the WFHB Local News.

Now it’s time for your Sports News Briefing with WFHB Sports Correspondent Nate Rushemeza.

Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Elyse Perry, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature report on Little 500 winter training was produced by Chloe Fischer.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.