This is the WFHB Local News for Wednesday, October 28th, 2020.

Later in the program, WFHB News Director Kade Young breaks down last night’s second and final governor’s debate. More election coverage in today’s feature report.

Also coming up in the next half hour, Better Beware - your weekly consumer-watchdog segment.

But first, your local news brief:

The Indiana State Department of Health reported just under 2,600 new Covid-19 cases today. That’s the state’s third-highest count on record.

Indiana is averaging about 2,400 new cases per day and about twenty-four deaths per day.

That means that at this point, about one in 100 Hoosiers who gets Covid, will likely die from it. Covid-related hospitalizations remain at their highest levels since mid-April. Right now, there are about 1,700 hundred Hoosiers hospitalized because of Covid-19.

Locally, Monroe County recorded about fifty new cases, that’s the highest number in a month and a half. Surrounding counties saw between two and about thirty new cases.

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In an email to WFHB, Indiana University Director of Communications, Dr. Chuck Carney, confirmed the university’s so-called, “new positive test results” term corresponds with the more common, “new positive cases” term.

As such, this morning Indiana University-Bloomington reported 99 new cases of Covid-19. That’s a slight uptick from last week.

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MCCSC School Board 

The Monroe County Community School Assistant Superintendent Doctor Markay Winston presented a Supporting the Whole Child update during the October 27th School Board meeting.

She mentioned the need for mental health responsiveness heightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winston reported every MCCSC school has implemented the Whole Child program.

Family Case Manager Supervisor, Byron Turner, of the Indiana Department of Child Services said reports of child abuse have dropped by forty three percent.

Turner stated the drop in reported cases resulted in a drop of investigations. He reported by June cases had doubled. He mentioned case manager claims of increased mental health needs for children.

However, Turner reported July and September saw a twenty five percent increase of reports, still below the percentages from last year. Lakeview Elementary Principal Angie Evans said three tiers of support would provide students with differing intensities of mental health instruction.

Also during the MCCSC School Board Meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Operations Doctor Andrea Mobley said 12 out of 23 buildings with in-person learning have no reported COVID-19 cases.

Mobley said any transmission most likely occurred in gatherings outside of schools.

Monroe County Council Work Session

Monroe County Commissioners heard a Final Validation Report presentation on Pretrial Reform Indiana. Assistant Chief Probation Officer Troy Hatfield presented Pretrial Reform goals during their October 27th meeting.

Hatfield said the program began 4 years ago. He stated over 8 thousand pretrial defendants were assessed.

Hatfield said the assessment looked at defendant’s criminal histories, employment, residential stability, and substance abuse. Researcher and Professor Dr. Evan Lowder reported good predictive validity for an...