This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, July 13th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Max Campbell filed a report on the meeting of the Monroe County councilors and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners who just met for the second time to discuss the county’s comprehensive criminal justice report. That’s coming up in the bottom half of our show.

Also coming up in the next half hour, we have Artbeat - a monthly segment where Dr. Filiz Cicek interviews artists, activists and educators about their work. In today’s segment, we hear from local muralist Rachael Gratz who talks about serpent images in her art and juggling motherhood, marriage and her artwork.

But first, your local news brief:

According to the New York Times, 43% of residents in Indiana are fully vaccinated as of today. The Indiana State Department of Health COVID-19 Dashboard recorded 572 new positive cases and 10 new deaths from the virus over the last 30 days. Monroe County has seen a 93 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks. The County is still at a high risk for residents who are unvaccinated.

Monroe County Community School Corporation will be offering a new program this summer, called Primary Jump Start. The purpose of the program will be to help incoming kindergarten, first and second graders in reacclimating them back to school. Primary Jump Start will begin July 19th until the 30th during weekdays from 9-11 a.m. MCCSC’s first day of school is August 4th.The program will be offered personally at all of the district’s seven Title 1 elementary schools however students from any elementary school in town are invited to participate. Currently there are more than 100 already enrolled. There are twenty-one teachers ready to teach the program in July as well as six Indiana University education students. The program is free for all attendees thanks to the Student Learning Recovery grant of about $90,000 to help pay for staffing and supplies. MCCSC director of elementary education Debra Prenkert said, “with COVID, we want to do everything we can to help make sure our students are ready and fill in any gaps they may have." MCCSC hopes to continue the Primary Jump Start for several years, said Prenkert.

Indiana University will be opening a new building this fall semester before students arrive on campus. The Luddy Center For Artificial Intelligence is 58,000 square feet and was paid for by alumni Fred Luddy, costing $35 million. The building was designed by BSA Life Structures from Indianapolis and built by Weddle Bros Building Group, from Bloomington. The focus for the new facility will be on robotics, health and social media. Interim Dean of Luddy Dennis Groth said that it will, “highlight the strengths of IU in regards to artificial intelligence research and teaching." The center will have offices, meeting rooms, research space and classrooms, according to Groth.

Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Commission 

The Policy Committee of the Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization discussed the transportation improvement program. Monroe County Highway Director Lisa Ridge talked about the struggles to balance a fiscally restraint project budget. She said Monroe County requested to move a key project to fiscal year 2026 to help balance the budget, but that city staff denied the request.

Bloomington City Plan Commissioner Jillian Kinzie asked about the focus on crash data for project priority. Ridge responded that crash reports play a big part in how Highway Safety Improvement Program funding is allocated. Public Transportation Corporation Board member Kent McDaniel showed concern that Bloomington Transit was only listed to receive funding in 2022. He said B-T could not rely on funding from Indiana University.