This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, October 27th, 2020.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty talks about his experience as a reporter for the local news. Also coming up in the next half hour, we have Art Beat – your weekly segment that interviews artists, activists and educators about their work. Dr. Filiz Cicek has more later in the program.

BPD Investigates Murder of a 26-year-old

The Bloomington Police Department is investigating the murder of a 26-year-old man.

On Monday, at 8:32 p.m, officers were called to the 1600 block of North Willis Drive after multiple reports of shots fired.

Upon arriving, police officers found an unresponsive 26 year-old man with a gunshot wound to the chest.

According to the Bloomington Police Department, the man was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital by ambulance. The man died before arriving at the hospital.

A news release from the city police department said it is believed that three males were invited to the victim’s residence. The suspects fled the area before police arrived.

Bloomington Police Department Captain Ryan Pedigo said no arrests have been made.

Bloomington Mask Drive Distributes over 37,000 Free Masks to Community

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says to wear masks on public transportation – it also says to social distance and wear masks in all public spaces.

During this pandemic, masks are a vital and essential resource for the community to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Bloomington Mask Drive, a community effort by Patient PT and the Bloomington Quilters Guild, aims to provide more people with masks.

So far, it has distributed over 37,000 free masks.

The group was founded by Nola Hartman and Kelly Clark. Clark talked to WFHB this afternoon about what the organization does.

“I handled a lot of the organizational stuff – getting the masks cleaned, sorted and distributed,” she said.

Clark said the group partnered with the Mask Project at Indiana University to combine forces in order to provide the community with more facial coverings.

“They help us keep that full on a day-to-day basis and get masks delivered back out there whenever they run low,” she said.

The group is made up mostly of volunteers, and the organization is sometimes made up on-the-spot. According to a story in the Bloomington Herald Times, the group has “runners” who run materials to volunteer mask makers. Clark talked about how it managed to gather volunteers to help the cause.

“Honestly, there’s a part of me that doesn’t understand how it is that we keep volunteers so interested in this – over 7 months in,” she said.

Clark closed by explaining why masks are so important to slow the spread of coronavirus. She said face coverings only work if everyone chooses to wear one.

“The more people that are doing it, the better our chances are of keeping our numbers down,” said Clark.

Kelly said you can sign up to volunteer for the Bloomington Mask Drive by visiting bloomingtonmaskdrive.com/volunteer.

Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals 

The Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals discussed a variance request to allow dwelling units on the ground floor of Stageyard Apartments. Zoning Planner Eric Greulich proposed the variance during their October 22nd meeting.

Greulich stated the petitioners requested to convert the space due to difficulty in finding commercial tenants, which would not qualify as a peculiar condition keeping the petitioners from meeting code compliance.

Greulich mentioned developing amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance would address similar situations other properties are facing. Petitioner Craig McCormick argued their unique qualifications.

McCormick said long term plans would reintroduce commercia...