This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, July 26th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Assistant News Director Jake Jacobson interviews Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton, in today’s edition of a Few Minutes with the Mayor. More coming up in the bottom half of tonight’s program.

Also coming up in the next half hour, the City of Bloomington released its 2021 community survey last week. City residents cited homelessness, affordable housing and policing as issues of concern. More in today’s headlines.

But first, your local news brief:

According to a press release, the results of the third biennial City of Bloomington survey were presented at the Bloomington City Council meeting - showing a decline in positive feedback for some of Bloomington’s government services. From 2019 to now, out of the 3,000 citizens sampled, the positive opinion about Bloomington city police declined 23%. The categories who had less than half of a positive response included availability of affordable childcare, mental health care, health care and housing options in Bloomington, and the government taking care of vulnerable residents.

Two of the pantries from the Little Free Pantry Bloomington have been vandalized the last few weeks, leaving members of the Little Free Pantry to consider relocation. Little Free Pantry Bloomington offers outdoor mini-pantries around the Bloomington area that provide emergency food access. However, locations have faced destruction of glass, the tearing off of the doors, and being struck with a blunt object. In the next few weeks, the Little Free Pantry will be considering new areas to put the pantries to ensure the food stays fresh for those in need.

On Thursday, new IU President Pamela Whitten announced that she has contracted COVID-19 after being vaccinated. While some may say this is a sign of the vaccine being ineffective, however Whitten believes that the vaccine helped aid from the most extreme symptoms. With the Delta variant of COVID-19 becoming more and more prominent in Indiana, the CDC encourages everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Bloomington Historical Preservation Commission 

Historic Preservation Program Manager Gloria Colom presented a request for a new building in a historic neighborhood at the July 22nd Bloomington Historic Preservation Committee meeting. Colom discussed the proposed home in the Near West Side Conservation District on West Kirkwood Avenue. She said the staff recommended conditional approval with optional recommendations for the design.

Commissioner Chris Sturbaum questioned the use of non-traditional materials for the front of the building. Petitioner Dawn Gray said she designed the house in a way that would respect the historical neighborhood but not mimic it.

Commissioner Sam DeSollar showed support for the design. He agreed that the petitioner was using materials that reference the historical nature of the neighborhood while allowing the house to look modern.

Commissioners voted to approve the design 5 to 1, with Commissioner Chris Sturbaum dissenting.

City of Bloomington Releases 2021 Community Survey

The city of Bloomington conducted a community survey to gather feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the municipality from city residents.

According to survey results, Bloomington residents said they were most concerned about homelessness, mobility and affordable housing.

The city tapped the National Research Center at Polco to conduct the survey. In March, the city mailed postcards to three-thousand Bloomington households selected at random...