This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, December 6th, 2021.

Later in the program, today’s feature is a preview of tomorrow’s Interchange - Presenting Fernando Pessoa, with translator and biographer Richard Zenith. This will be the first of two episodes on the greatest Portuguese poet of the 20th century. More in the bottom half of our program.

Also coming up in the next half hour, the Indiana University Board of Trustees voted on Friday to officially rename Jordan Avenue to Eagleson Avenue. More in the top half of our show.

Monroe County Health Department Town Hall

At the Monroe County Health Department Town Hall held on December 1st, Dr. Carol Touloukian, Dr. Scot Moore, and Dr. Jason Simmonds shared information and answered questions residents have on the Covid-19 Vaccination for children.

Dr. Touloukian explained how the mRNA vaccine works to address parents' concerns over how it would affect their children.

Residents submitted questions about if their child should still get the vaccine if they have already had Covid. Dr. Simmonds said that they should.

Another question that was submitted asked if the adult dose of the vaccine is different from the child dose.

Simmonds answered that the child dose is smaller.

This video can be accessed on the Community Access and Television Services website if individuals would like to hear the answers to all of the questions Monroe County residents submitted.

IU Board of Trustees Vote to Officially Change the Name of Jordan Avenue

The Indiana University Board of Trustees voted on Friday to rename the street that runs through campus from Jordan Avenue to Eagleson Avenue.

Last year, a joint task force between the City of Bloomington and Indiana University completed a report with recommendations to rename Jordan Avenue.

The task force recommended renaming the section of Jordan Avenue from Davis Street to 17th Street to “Eagleson Avenue” and the section from 17th Street to Fee Lane to “Fuller Lane” or “Mattie Fuller Lane.”

The press release says that the task force considered names that reflected the city’s values and principles, which leads to the Eagleson family name.

Eagleson Avenue was named after Halson Vashon Eagleson, who was born a slave in 1851. Eagleson escaped slavery, came to Bloomington in the 1880s and became a well-known barber in the community. According to the university, several generations of Eaglesons have historical connections to both the city and university.

The street was originally named after IU’s seventh president, David Starr Jordan, who was a major figure in the American Eugenics Movement, an ideology that influenced Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

In October 2020, the IU Board of Trustees voted to remove the surname of the former university president from Jordan Hall, Jordan Avenue Parking Garage and the Jordan River.

The university first voted to change the name, because Jordan, “held views that conflicted fundamentally with the university’s values in diversity and equity.”

Mayor John Hamilton said the old name goes against the city’s commitment to promote inclusion and equity in the community, so he organized a task force to rename Jordan Avenue. The city and university each own part of the road - so members of each entity represented the task force.

According to a press release, the city created a website where members of the public could submit names and provide comments. Also, members of the task force submitted names and conducted historical research on names provided by the community.

The street name change will go into effect in February of next year.

Monroe County Election Board Meeting