This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, October 13th, 2021.

Later in the program, Monroe County Residents Against Annexation have begun the process to remonstrate, or formally challenge, Mayor John Hamilton’s annexation plan. More coming up in the bottom half of tonight’s show.

Also coming up in the next half hour, host Richard Fish covers some of the most famous swindlers in history during a classic edition of Better Beware, our weekly consumer-watchdog segment on WFHB. That’s following today’s feature report.

But first, your environmental news brief:

In Portage, Indiana, the U.S. Steel Midwest plant has reported a second pollution spill in the last two weeks. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management announced that the nearby Burns Waterway was polluted with an oily sheen from the steel plant. Existing pollution precautions have contained the spill and it is unlikely that it will enter nearby Lake Michigan. This event occurred a week after nearly twenty Lake Michigan organizations called on Indiana politicians to do more to protect the waterways and Lake Michigan.

President Joe Biden has recently announced the restoration of national monuments that were reduced in size under former President Donald Trump. Biden signed three proclamations that increased the sizes of the national monuments of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine off the coast of New England. The national monument of Bears Ears has an important historical connection with the Native American tribe of the Laguna Pueblo. This represents a sizable step forward for the Biden Administration’s climate priorities and the Native American community.

A recent study from the Pew Research Center has found that the concern for the impending climate crisis has greatly increased in many areas of the world. Seventy-two percent of the people surveyed from countries around the world expressed concerns that climate change could impact their lives at some point in the near future. Only two countries did not have an increase in concerns, Japan and the United States. However, worldwide, the concern among younger people has risen, which lends hope to the need to address the crisis. Public concern about climate change is the biggest motivator for organizations such as the United Nations to take steps to implement aggressive policies to address global fossil fuel emissions.

Monroe County Council Discusses Indigenous Peoples' Day, Remonstration Against Annexation and A Sidewalk on Rodgers

On October 12th the Monroe County Council Council member Cheryl Munson gave an update on the holiday the solid waste district took this week and recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Next on the agenda, County Auditor Catherine Smith explained the remonstration process currently going on against annexation. She said that county residents should not be afraid to ask for help, and that they are attempting to be as non-partisan as possible.

During public comment on General Obligation Bonds, resident Jackie Porter expressed her concern for the safety of students walking to school on Rogers Street without sidewalks. She said she hopes to see a sidewalk there before she retires.

Council member Trent Deckard responded to Porter’s comment, and said he supported investments like these, proposed on behalf of the community.

Munson added that the need for the sidewalk has been a problem since the mid-1980’s, saying, "it is time to get this fixed."

The General Obligation Bond appropriations noted not to exceed three million one hundred thousand dollars, were approved unanimously.

The next meeting will be held on November 9th.

Monroe County Residents Against Annexation Begin Remonstration Process

Three weeks ago,