This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, April 5th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Sydney Foreman interviews Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton in our weekly segment - A Few Minutes with the Mayor.

A Few Minutes with the Mayor features listener-posed questions to Mayor Hamilton on community issues. More in today’s feature report.

Also coming up in our legislative update, Governor Holcomb signed a police reform bill into law and said he would veto another bill aimed at stripping away his executive power on public health restrictions. More in today’s headlines.

Your Local News Brief

The WFHB Local News Brief breaks down the daily local news cycle into 2-3 minutes of what you need to know each day. Listen live Monday through Thursday at 1:30 p.m. on WFHB Community Radio. Visual broadcasts of the news briefs are available on our Youtube channel, WFHB-TV.

Photo courtesy of University of Michigan.

1,000 Hoosiers a day are diagnosed with Covid-19 on average right now. The uptick in new cases signals that Indiana is likely entering a fourth wave. It was last October, that Indiana first averaged 1,000 cases per day, and at that same time, the state started a steep climb into a third wave. On the Indiana State Department of Health graph, which charts diagnosed cases, the third wave was so large that it makes the first two waves look like ripples in a bathtub.

The U.S. as a whole appears to be entering this fourth wave, and while deaths are still a near-all-time lows from the lull after the last wave, we can expect Covid-19 related deaths to tick up in the next week or two. Deaths usually lag behind cases by about two weeks. In the middle of last October, about two weeks after the state was averaging about 1,000 new deaths per day, Indiana was averaging about 25 deaths per day.

With the spring weather, the vaccine rollout underway, and about one-fifth of Indiana’s population already vaccinated, it can be tempting to let one’s guard down and be a little lax on Covid-19 safety guidelines, but local and national health officials have voiced concerns that this fourth wave will be quite severe.

In the weekly Covid-19 press conference, hosted by the City of Bloomington last friday, Indiana University Assistant Vice President, Kirk White, announced that this week the university was set to vaccinate 7,000 people. Until now, that number has been closer to 700.

Kinser Flats, a new 50-unit apartment complex in Bloomington for people without housing is just opening now. The project is run by Centerstone, a national community health organization. The project is opening behind schedule, but for the people moving in, it serves as permanent low cost housing, costing 50 dollars per month.

Local Joint Covid-19 Press Conference

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton reported three new positive COVID-19 cases among city employees at the April 2nd COVID-19 press conference. Monroe County Health Commissioner Penny Caudill addressed the spike in positive cases.

Caudill stated the Optimserve and Morton Street COVID testing sites will remain open, despite an increased number of vaccinations.

Governor Holcomb Plans to Veto Bill to Strip Emergency Executive Powers

In today's legislative update, WFHB reports on several bills which made their way to the governor's desk. Governor Eric Holcomb says he plans to veto House Bill 1123, which is designed to limit the governor's executive authority to declare a public health emergency. Also, last week, Holcomb signed a bipartisan police reform bill into law, which some supporters are calling "historic."

Photo courtesy of CBS Indy.

Governor Eric Holcomb says he plans to veto a bill designed to limit his emergency p...