Good afternoon. This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, April 14th, 2021.

Later in the program, we report on Indiana University being awarded $8 million to host a competition aimed to develop better technology to track first responders.

WFHB News spoke with David Wild, a professor in the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering and Director of the Crisis Technologies Innovation Lab.

Also coming up in the next half hour, we have the latest edition of Better Beware - your weekly consumer-watchdog segment hosted and produced by Richard Fish.

But first, your local news brief:

The 85-room Wingate hotel on North Walnut Street, near the 45-46 bypass will be converted into an 85-unit micro-apartment complex.

The Bloomington Plan Commission approved the proposal earlier this week. The eighty-five new apartments will be rented at market rate.

While the sheer size of the micro-apartments is expected to make them rent for less than the standard studio apartment in Bloomington, the lack of units expressly carved out for individuals without housing or living in poverty is an expected disappointment for local housing activists.

It’s morel mushroom season here in south central Indiana, which means that foragers are scouring the forest for the local delicacy, which tends to grow near dead or dying trees.

While the mushrooms may evoke memories of a sweet smelling buttery saute, foragers should be aware that the City of Bloomington recently sprayed the forest around Griffy Lake with the toxic pesticides, ecozampyr and glyphosate.

The pesticides are very toxic and can be easily ingested by consuming morels that were incidentally sprayed. Before you forage this year, check to see whether the area you’re in is free from pesticides or other harmful contaminants.

You may have noticed new construction near the B-line bridge which passes over Grimes Lane. The construction marks the groundbreaking of the next location of the New Hope For Families emergency shelter for families without access to housing.

The new facility will be able to serve twelve families instead of the current seven family limit. There will also be an early childhood care center and educational programming building which will have the capacity to serve 48 children.

That’s a threefold increase from New Hope’s current capacity.

ISDH Pauses Its Use of the One-Shot Johnson and Johnson Vaccine

The Indiana State Department of Health temporarily halted its use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

This comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they will review six reported cases of a rare blood clot found in recipients of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Indiana Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver, addressed the halt of the single-dose vaccine in Indiana.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was scheduled to host a mass vaccination site using only the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

Now, after the pause, the state health department will primarily use the two-shot Moderna vaccine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway site.

Dr. Weaver stated those who have scheduled their appointments for the one-shot dose will now have to make a second appointment for the Moderna follow-up dose.

As for other clinics in Indiana who were offering the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, they will follow the same course of action as the Speedway.

Weaver addressed those who have already received the one-shot vaccine during the press conference.

Dr. Weaver says, to her knowledge, none of the blood-clot cases were reported in Indiana. She recommended those who have an appointment at the Indi...