This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, December 29th, 2020.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty spoke with public defender Kyle Dugger about the Indiana Supreme Court's unprecedented order to suspend in-person jury trials. That’s coming up in today’s feature reports.

Also coming up, we have Artbeat - a segment interviewing artists, activists and educators about their work. In today’s edition of Artbeat, Dr. Filiz Cicek interviews Rachael Himsel, president of the Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington, about the arts alliance’s 10th anniversary.

But first, today's Local News Brief:

4,028 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Indiana on Monday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. There were 164 newly reported deaths.

Locally, Monroe County saw 54 new confirmed cases yesterday, and reported four new COVID-related deaths. Lawrence County reported 47 positive cases and one new death. Brown County reported 7 new cases.

***

The City of Bloomington has confirmed that four additional city workers tested positive for COVID-19 during the week of Christmas.

One employee in the Public Works Department who works in animal care and control, one city hall employee, one city utilities worker, and a parks and recreations employee who works at a Banneker Center.

All four city employees are currently on leave.

***

A member of the Bloomington community who is experiencing homelessness tested positive for COVID-19, as well. The Bloomington Homeless Coalition confirmed in a press release late Monday evening that the community member was released from the hospital last night after the positive test.

According to the press release, the community member who tested positive was denied access to the isolation shelter. Beacon, the organization that runs the isolation shelter in Bloomington, has not made an official statement.

However, Beacon’s executive director Forrest Gilmore responded to the press release on Facebook this morning. Gilmore says they are looking into a workable solution, but that the story presented in the press release is not the full story.

Gilmore says he will not be sharing more info on the situation publicly, since doing so would, “violate client confidentiality and the dignity our clients deserve by holding their information privately.”

Gilmore asks that the community be more understanding, saying that, “some decisions involve important information you don’t have.”

Ellettsville Town Council

The Ellettsville Town Council discussed a COVID-19 Personnel Policy Response. Attorney Darla Brown proposed the policy during their December 28th meeting.

Brown said the policy requires all employee travel into or from a high-risk area to be reported to their employer. Council member Scott Oldham questioned how a high-risk area would be determined. He expressed disapproval over requiring an asymptomatic employee to report their travel.

Council member Trevor Segar mentioned that the constant fluctuation in reports of COVID-19 high-risk areas would create stress on employees with travel plans. Oldham mentioned how confusion over high-risk areas could lead to disciplinary and legality issues. However, he said any employee with a known exposure should be required to report their exposure to their employer.

Oldham requested time away from work as a precaution to a close contact scenario should not count towards someone’s sick leave. He stated the town work force is too small to risk virus transmission.