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This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, January 27th, 2026.
In today’s newscast, you’ll hear from Jack Davis, opinion editor at the Indiana Daily Student. A task force is currently working on recommendations for the future of the IU student newspaper after censorship became one of the biggest stories of the year. Learn more later in the show in a feature report.
Also coming up, Mayor Kerry Thomson addressed questions from residents on the aftermath of the snowstorm, housing priorities and the city’s contract with Flock Safety during a town hall last night.
Bloomington Continues to Recover from Winter Storm
Extremely cold temperatures continue today in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern. A cold warning is in effect with wind chills as low as -25 degrees Fahrenheit.
The city has delayed trash and recycling pickup until Wednesday. Many schools in the area are closed today for in-person learning, including Monroe County Community School Corporation and Richland Bean Blossom schools.
The county is currently under an “orange” travel watch – the second highest level of advisory in Indiana. This means only essential travel is recommended. Road conditions may be slick and hazardous.
Right now, warming stations remain open in Monroe County. Locations are available at the photo below.
Walkout and Rally on Friday to Protest Against ICE Surveillance
Bloomington Democratic Socialists of America are hosting a walkout and rally at 12 p.m. on Friday at City Hall.
Protesters demand that Bloomington cut its contract with Flock Safety, a company whose cameras are utilized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for surveillance.
Bloomington DSA put out on their Instagram account, “police departments are known to share Flock surveillance data to make it easier for ICE to abduct people off the street. After the murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this week on top of the thousands of other victims of ICE’s state violence, makes any tool that aids ICE unacceptable.”
The local chapter of the DSA says Bloomington Police Department has a contract for at least 40 Flock cameras, and the county has 6 more.
WFHB News spoke with Pat Wall, organizer for DSA and co-host of our punk show Radio Regazzo. Wall walks through how the city utilizes Flock and urges city officials to be transparent about its use.
“It would be great if the city council would explain this,” said Wall, “because personally, I do not want these cameras around, and I bet other people don’t.”
Protest organizers urge people to walk out of school and work to demonstrate against the city’s contract with Flock.
Mayor Thomson Addresses Snow Cleanup, Housing Priorities and City Contract with Flox Safety in Town Hall
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson discussed public safety, housing attainability and the city’s contract with Flock at her Traveling Town Hall last night.
The town hall was supposed to take place at the Frank Southern Ice Arena, but the mayor moved the meeting to Zoom following inclement weather.
Director of Utilities Katherine Zaiger and City Councilmember Isabel Piedmont Smith joined Thomson to answer questions from residents in District 1. Thomson addressed the city’s response to the winter storm.
“I just want to start with a shout out to our crews, public works and parks, street, utilities, sanitation – all these folks and fleet who have been out clearing roads and helping to keep people safe,” said Thomson.
The mayor said property owners – both residential and commercial – are responsible for shoveling snow from their sidewalks.
“That means businesses and residents and so the downtown sidewalks, whatever is in front of your business, please get that cleared. Homeowners as well,” Thomson said.
She also reminded residents of the city’s Snow Buddies program, which pairs volunteers with people who are unable to shovel their own sidewalks.
Thomson gave an update on the Hopewell neighborhood, which she says should promote housing affordability. She says development for Hopewell will take place in three phases beginning in late summer on the south side of the neighborhood.
In her view, the Hopewell project will increase greater housing supply in Bloomington – allowing there more units for those who want to live here. She acknowledged the city’s affordability crisis and how she sees the Hopewell neighborhood addressing it.
“When we increase supply, of course, we can help drive the cost of housing down, but really, what we need is ultimately, to prepare for the generation we already have here, as well as the generations to come,” said the mayor.
Thomson addressed the city’s contract with Flock Safety, a company used by ICE for surveillance.
“The use is limited and governed locally, and we have the very tightest controls on our Flock systems now, where our flock cameras are only directly accessed by BPD,” she said. “We are in discussions with Flock to make sure that we are protecting civil liberties here and that we are locking down this information to the best of our abilities.”
As DSA organizer Pat Wall mentioned earlier in our first story, the city has a contract with Flock for at least 40 cameras. Flock maintains that they don’t have a direct contract with ICE. The company works with local law enforcement, and ICE obtains that data through police departments.
To view the full town hall, you can visit this link.
Featured Segments:
Censorship of the Indiana University student newspaper was one of the biggest local stories of 2025, but that story is still being written. In November The Media School announced the members of a task force that will deliver recommendations on editorial and business operations for the IDS sometime this semester. Correspondent Nolan Shaw has that story in a feature report. In the interest of full disclosure, this story was produced for a class taught within The Media School.
Up next, we have Lil Bub’s Lil Show – a co-production between WFHB and Lil Bub’s Big Fund. That’s coming up next on the WFHB Local News.
Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were produced by Zoe Moczek Kade Young, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Today’s feature story on the future of IU’s student newspaper was produced by Nolan Shaw in partnership with The Media School at Indiana University. Theme music by DJ Griffin.
Stacy Bridavsky and Lena Swayze produced Lil Bub’s Lil Show.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.
Anchors are Benedict Jones and Jim Odom.
