This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, January 19th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty speaks with the founders of the Bloomington based "Terran Robotics" start-up, which is using artificial intelligence and drone technology to construct environmentally sound buildings out of natural materials. Terran Robotics is a recent recipient of a National Science Foundation grant worth about a quarter of a million dollars.

Also coming up, the League of Women Voters brings you the latest installment of its podcast on the WFHB Local News - Civic Conversations. Today’s episode revolves around disinformation and features our guest, Professor Betsi Grabe of the IU Media School.

But first, your local news brief:

2,756 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Indiana on Monday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. There were 126 newly reported deaths. Locally, Monroe County saw 79 new confirmed cases yesterday and no new confirmed COVID-19 deaths. Lawrence County reported 18 new cases and one confirmed death. Brown County reported two new cases, and one death.

The age requirement to sign up to receive the COVID-19 vaccination from the Indiana Department of Health remains at 70 years of age and older. If you qualify, you can sign up by visiting ourshot.in.gov, or by calling 211 for assistance.

***

Indiana University Bloomington, in coordination with the Monroe County Health Department and local government officials, have initiated plans to open a COVID-19 vaccine site on campus. However, the site would not be restricted to IU faculty, staff, and students. Any local residents eligible for the vaccine would be able to receive the vaccine at the IU site. Regardless, the opening of the site will likely be affected by the amount of vaccine available in Indiana. Members of the IU campus community are prepared to distribute the vaccine, pending state registration confirmation and finalized plans.

***

Last night approximately 150 people gathered to march in protest of the evictions of people experiencing homelessness at Seminary Park. The protest followed two city led evictions of the park since December 9th. Concerned citizens gathered at Seminary Park at 9pm and marched through freezing rain to Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton’s home.

The event was organized by Bloomington Homeless Coalition volunteers and Bloomington’s unhoused population. Demonstrators led the march to Hamilton’s home holding signs which read, “Everybody’s got a right to live” and, “Fight Poverty, Not the Poor.” Five demonstrators spoke outside of Hamilton’s home about their experience with city policies regarding people experiencing homelessness. The crowd even directly addressed Mayor Hamilton outside of his home, but Hamilton did not greet the crowd.

Feature Reports: 

Up first, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty speaks with the founders of the Bloomington based "Terran Robotics start-up," which is using artificial intelligence and drone technology to construct environmentally sound buildings out of natural materials.

Up next, we have the January edition of Civic Conversations - brought to you by the League of Women Voters of Bloomington and Monroe County and the WFHB Local News.

In today’s episode, host Jim Allison discusses disinformation with our guest, Professor Betsi Grabe of the IU Media School.

Credits:

You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,

Today’s headlines were written by Sydney Foreman, in partnership with Cats - Community Access Television Services.

Our feature was produced by Aaron Comforty

Civic Conversations is produced by the League of Women Voters.

The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County brings you the latest installment of its podcast on the WFHB Local News - Civic Conversations. Today’s episode revolves around disinformation and features our guest, Professor Betsi Grabe of the IU Media School.

Professor Grabe says disinformation can be used as an umbrella term for false information, but she adds that an important distinction of disinformation pertains to intent. She said a false statement stemming from an honest mistake should be categorized as misinformation. Purposely constructing a lie and misleading the public, on the other hand, constitutes as disinformation, according to our guest.

"Understanding the motives for disinformation is really understanding the motives for deception," said Grabe. "It comes down to two things: to sway political opinion or to make money."

She said the term disinformation originates from warfare, particularly  tactics used by the KGB's Active Measures program - a Soviet Union form of political warfare that used propaganda, deception and espionage to achieve its political ends.

Betsi Grabe was born and raised in South Africa, where she worked as a television news documentary producer during the State of Emergency in the mid-1980s. She is affiliated with the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, as a research associate. Grabe's book, Image Bite Politics: News and the Visual Framing of Elections, received the 2010 Outstanding Book Award from the International Communication Association and the 2010 Distinguished Book Award from the Communication and Social Cognition Division of the National Communication Association (IU Media School).

In today's show, our civic conversation with Professor Grabe spans from fake news, the spread of false stories on social media and how to combat rising forms of disinformation. She mentions the alt-right social networking site, Parler, and what role it played in the storming of the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the death of 5 people.

Grabe says that local news is currently undergoing a crisis, which leads to the phenomenon of "news deserts" - essentially small communities that receive little to no news coverage as the broadcast industry becomes more and more consolidated. According to a study conducted by the University of North Carolina, about 1,300 U.S. communities have totally lost news coverage.

"Local news is in fairly bad shape at the moment," she said.

The bottom line - host Jim Allison asks - how do we deal with disinformation in our societal and political discourse?

"Detect it so we can see where it's happening," responds Grabe, "and then we need to do a lot more social science research to understand human vulnerability to disinformation."

Grabe adds that if we use the tools and what we know about human vulnerability to design media literacy programs that we should introduce in primary school through high school, then the public would be empowered to better understand disinformation.

Furthermore, Grabe says that based in our understanding disinformation, how it functions and how we become vulnerable to it, we desperately need policy reform - particularly with the First Amendment - to prevent increased polarization in the U.S.

"I'd say our social fabric has been stretched by disinformation," said Grabe.

Find out more by listening to the January edition of Civic Conversations. The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan, grassroots, citizen-led organization that has fought since 1920 to improve our government and engage all citizens in the decisions that impact their lives.

Tune in next month to hear about gender equality with Susan Williams of the Indiana University School of Law.

Credits: 

Our host is Jim Allison.

This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, January 18th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty speaks with Reverend Forrest Gilmore, executive director of Beacon Inc, about the opening of the organization's new Winter Homeless Shelter.

Also coming up, we have the latest edition of A Few Minutes with the Mayor - where listeners pose questions to Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton on issues in our community.

But first, your local headlines:

Bloomington COVID-19 Press Conference 

Indiana University Assistant Vice President for Strategic Partnerships Kirk White reported that IU-operated COVID-19 vaccination clinics are in Bloomington’s future. He spoke about vaccinations during the January 15th COVID-19 Press Conference.

White stated the clinics still await state approval before their operation could begin. Monroe County Health Administrator Penny Caudill mentioned vaccination appointments can be made online at Our Shot DOT in DOT gov. She reported appointments will open as the county received the vaccination.

Caudill stated the state has also planned partnerships with local pharmacies to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. Indiana University Health South Central Region President Brian Shockney reported on a decrease in COVID-19 inpatients at the hospitals.

Shockney stated 58 percent of COVID related deaths since March occurred over the last 90 days. He mentioned IU Health can now offer over 700 vaccines per day.

Bloomington City Council Public Safety Committee - Public Outcry Over Seminary Park Eviction

The Bloomington City Council Public Safety Committee held a discussion on the unhoused population in Bloomington during their January 14th meeting. Community member Tassy Gniady spoke about Wheeler Mission.

Bloomington Homeless Coalition member Mark Teller stated Seminary Park residents have chosen to stay in the park. He said the location provides comfort.

City Resident Timothy Clark said the city’s homeless evictions do not keep the community safe. Community member Tyler Burkabile mentioned his experience with Wheeler Mission.

Homeless Coalition member Heather Lake explained her involvement bringing encampment residents warm drinks in the morning. She expressed concern for the residents’ safety.

Resident Kay Goodman stated the homeless population is in crisis. Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith mentioned a meeting would be held on January 25th to discuss long term hopelessness solutions.

Bloomington City Council

Bloomington City Council took a vote on the consolidation of council standing committees. Council member Steve Volan presented the resolution during their January 13th meeting.

Council members amended the resolution to allow the Transportation Committee to take the responsibility of the sidewalk committee. Council member Sue Sgambelluri proposed an amendment to maintain the Climate Action and Resilience Committee.

Sgambelluri worried that without the Climate Action Committee climate issues would be lost within other committees. Council members unanimously adopted the amendment. Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith proposed an amendment to preserve the Housing Committee.

Piedmont-Smith mentioned the Land Use Committee already has a large amount of work and housing issues could get overlooked if combined. Council members approved the proposed amendment, and the resolution as a whole.

2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration

Every year, the City of Bloomington organizes a public celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which normally takes place at the Buskirk-Chumley theater.

However, this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event will happen virtually through the video-conferencing app, Zoom.

This interview was lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Aaron Comforty: Isabel Piedmont-Smith is a Bloomington City Council Member. She recently published a statement in response to some of the claims made by the Stop Upzoning group, a group which is against proposed changes to Bloomington’s zoning laws. The changes, which are called the Unified Development ordinance, or UDO, would allow for duplex, triplex, and quadruplex construction in Bloomington’s central neighborhoods. Piedmont-Smith joins us now to talk about her statement. Council Member Piedmont-Smith, welcome on WFHB Local News.

Isabel Piedmont-Smith: Thank you for having me.

Comforty: Your statement is fairly detailed and issue based. You focus on nine different points. We don’t have time to get to all of them today, but what is the distilled take-home message that you want everyone to understand?

Piedmont-Smith: I want everyone to understand that, first of all, I recognize that there are legitimate concerns about the UDO changes that have been proposed by the Mayor’s administration. But I think the arguments against the greater density in some of our inner neighborhoods are based on conjecture and supposition rather than on fact. I also think that there has been some exaggeration of the proposal itself.

Comforty: Do you believe that the proposed zoning changes have enough regulations to ensure that housing affordability in the central neighborhoods improves?

Piedmont-Smith: The short answer is no. I think that housing affordability is a huge problem that has to have many solutions to it. I don’t think this proposal for the increased density in some of our core neighborhoods is a silver bullet. I think creating more housing, especially close to where people work, play, and go to school is a good idea. It won’t necessarily be affordable housing because those locations are highly valued in the real estate market. I think overall we need more housing of all types. In that respect, I am in favor of increased density close to our downtown and close to campus. I think we also need to look into some of the issues which have been raised by people living in those neighborhoods, like parking and current infrastructure which might be insufficient. But the petition really just assumes that everything is going to go to hell if the zoning is passed, and I think that that is not reasonable.

Comforty: What is one of the major misconceptions that you believe people have about the zoning changes?

Piedmont-Smith: I think one misconception is that houses that are build in the R4 district are going to be larger than what’s currently there. The R4 district has set requirements for the maximum allowable impermeable (built upon) surface. The flip side of that is they also have requirement minimums–requirements for green space. Those are going to be the same, whether your building has two units, four units, or is just a single family house. The footprint of that building is still going to be the same. Right in the prelude to the Stop Bloomington Upzoning Resolution, it misquotes the proposal. It says, ‘[T]his would allow significantly outsized structures.’ and that’s just not true.

Comforty: We’re going to have to leave it there, but Council Member Piedmont-Smith, thank you so much for joining us on WFHB.

Piedmont-Smith: Thank you for your interest.

This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, January 14th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Katherine Patterson speaks with Emily Isaacman, co-editor of the Indiana Daily Student about how local, independent sources of media are struggling to make ends meet in today’s corporate news media landscape.

Also coming up in the next half hour, Better Beware - your weekly consumer watchdog segment brought to you by Richard Fish.

But first, your local news brief:

4,411 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Indiana on Wednesday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.  There were 40 newly reported deaths. Locally, Monroe County saw 105 new confirmed cases yesterday as well as two confirmed COVID-19 deaths. Lawrence County reported 25 new cases and one confirmed death. Brown County reported one new case.

The age requirement to sign up to receive the COVID-19 vaccination from the Indiana Department of Health has been lowered to 70 years of age and older. If you qualify, you can sign up by visiting ourshot.in.gov, or by calling 211 for assistance.

***

The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County will be hosting its first legislative update of 2021 this Saturday, January 16th. Saturday’s legislative update is the first of four scheduled updates, and is free and open to the public. In a press release, the League of Women Voters clarify that these meetings are intended to be informative. Saturday’s update will be held over Zoom, from 9:30 to 11 am. To register for the meeting, go to www.lwv-bmc.org/leg/update. The recording will also be available on Community Access Television Services shorting after the update.

***

The Bloomington City Council’s public safety committee will be meeting tonight to hold a public discussion about members of the community who are experiencing homelessness. According to the city’s website, the meeting, which will be held over Zoom, is to, “receive public comment from the unhoused population, other advocates and social service agency providers.” 

In Early December, the city’s Board of Parks Commissioners voted down a proposed ban on tents and similar structures during daytime hours in city parks. Days later, on December 9, the Bloomington Police Department dismantled an encampment at Seminary Park. Temporary Guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention make clear that such encampments should be allowed to stay up, so long as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues. Regardless, the City posted signage in January that people staying in Seminary Park would be required to clear out by January 11th, though as of this reporting, the encampment in Seminary Park is still there.

Tonight’s Public Safety meeting starts at 7 PM. The link to join via Zoom can by found on the city’s website, by going to bloomington.in.gov/council, then clicking on the Calendar button, and navigating to January 14th on the calendar.

Bloomington Economic Development Commission

Bloomington Housing Authority Director Amber Skoby presented the second phase inducement resolution for Crestmont to the Bloomington Economic Development Commission. The resolution would issue revenue bonds for financing economic development facilities. Skoby spoke of the location during their January 13th meeting.

Skoby stated Crestmont contains 196 apartment units. She mentioned the inducement would not affect ownership of Crestmont.

Skoby mentioned the subsidy could be moved from section 9 into section 8 of Public Housing Choice Voucher Subsidy. She stated more funding would be available within section 8.

Skoby reported renovations would bring units up to code requirements such as handicap...

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Aaron Comforty: Senator Shelli Yoder is the State Senator for Indiana’s 40th Senate District. She’s calling for teachers to be included in the next round of the state’s Covid vaccinations. Senator Yoder, thanks for joining us on WHFB News.

Yoder: Thank you so much. First, thank you for all that you do. WFHB plays an important role in education our community. So, thank you.

Comforty: What’s inspired your call to include teachers in the next round of vaccinations? And, at this point, when is Indiana planning to actually vaccinate teachers?

Yoder: That has been a question that I’ve been wondering about, considering for the last ten months we have been scrambling to figure out how we can best protect out teachers and staff, as well as keep our children in school. I commend and thank the administrators and teachers for working so incredibly hard to do so, in a way that was thoughtful to public health concerns as well as how are we going to continue to provide the outstanding education that our public education system always provides. Our teachers are on the front lines. If that wasn’t the case then I would understand why the teachers would not be part of the conversation in terms of the economy, healthcare, and food insecurity–with so many of our children. They are on the front lines delivering exceptional care and education every single day. So I would expect that we would be talking about getting the this vaccination right away. Because we want our children back in school. We want our children to be getting the kind of education that our teachers want and that our families want. But there was no conversation. What I’m hearing now is that teachers still are not part of the roll out for vaccinations. There is no plan for teachers being part of that tiered system. And I would like teachers to be part of that conversation.

Coomforty: Governor Eric Holcomb announced last week that Indiana would prioritize vaccinating its elderly residents. The move goes against federal recommendations and the Governor’s original vaccine distribution plan. Does your district have the power to prioritize vaccinating teachers, even if the State Government chooses to go a different way?

Yoder: I know that there is a push to get those vaccinations out there, but we are not moving quickly enough. We should be propping up local governments to be able to administer the vaccine in arms as quickly as possible, and that is not happening.

Comforty: Unlike a some other states, the vast majority of schools in Indiana have remained open during this school year. What have you heard from teachers in your home district?

Yoder: I’ve heard commitment to our schools. I’ve heard fear for their own health. I’ve heard questioning whether or not they need to retire early or leave the profession. I’ve heard a real desire in our community to protect our teachers. I’ve heard a need to do all that we can so that our students are receiving the care and education that we want them to receive. So I’ve heard many different layers and complexities to this question. But when it comes down to it, the answer is that we have to make sure that our staff and teachers are vaccinated.

Comforty: You were recently elected to the State Senate. You’re one of ten Democrats, if I’m not mistaken. Is there enough political will amongst your colleagues at the Indiana State House to bring teachers to the front of the line for vaccination? What kind of conversation are you having with your colleagues both Democratic and Republican?

Yoder: First we are excited to say that we did expand our caucus. We have eleven Democratic members. I wanted to say thank you to Senator Mark Stoops, who served us so well. We also expanded our caucus,

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

In today's program, WFHB Contributor Kevin Weinberg reported on the gathering of advocates, concerned residents and journalists at Seminary Square Park on Monday in anticipation of the city's planned eviction of the encampment that's become the center of a standoff between the Hamilton administration and several social service agencies.

Also coming up, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty talks to State Senator Shelli Yoder about when teachers are next in line to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. That’s coming up in today’s feature reports.

But first, your local headlines:

Bloomington Commission on Sustainability 

The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability discussed a Resolution on Housing First during their January 12th meeting. Commissioner Nejla Routsong described the housing first concept.

Routsong said the resolution would provide homes to people regardless of substance use disorder or disability. She mentioned the program began in Europe and has come into the United States.

Routsong reported the program has been proven successful. Commissioner Josheph Neukman stated the housing first program would be more affordable than operating multiple shelters. Routsong quoted the average program costs.

Commissioner Matt Flaherty mentioned Indiana landlords can discriminate against tenants based on their income source. He reported the discrimination CANNOT be prohibited through local law. Commissioners agreed to present the resolution to city council at a future meeting.

City of Bloomington Utilities Water Rate Case 

The Bloomington Utilities Service Board Finance Subcommittee met to discuss the 2021 Water Rate Case. Utilities Director Vic Kelson spoke about commercial rates during their January 11th meeting.

Kelson clarified residential customers would see a maximum increase of about 3 dollars and 74 cents per month. Board members will vote on the water rate at their next finance subcommittee meeting, held on January 19th.

Bloomington Plan Commission 

Zoning Planner Eric Greulich presented a Rezone Request for 87 acres at 3100 West Fullerton Pike form Planned Unit Development to Mixed-Use Corridor. He mentioned the zone use differences were too broad during the January 11th Bloomington Plan Commission meeting.

Greulich said the petitioned rezone would not compliment the comprehensive plan. He stated typical Mixed-Use Corridor zoned developments would not be suitable for the site.

Petitioner Representative Michael Carmin argued most PUD developments are allowed in MC zones.

He stated the property costs would not allow for small developments.

Greulich mentioned not many properties are available in Bloomington for large employment businesses. Commissioner Karin Saint John mentioned significant employment could be determined on current circumstances.

Saint John stated the zone purposes are very similar and the rules are unclear. Commission members forwarded the petition to City Council with no recommendation.

Ellettsville Town Council 

The Ellettsville Town Council discussed the town’s COVID-19 Personnel Policy Response during the January 11th meeting. Attorney Darla Brown spoke about employee travel restrictions.

Brown stated any approved sick leave would be in addition to what was required by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. She mentioned the policy would end when the public health emergency is revoked by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. Council members approved the policy, retroactive to January first, 2021.

Feature Reports:

December 24, 2020 – Bloomington, Indiana USA: A man puts items inside a tent at Seminary Square. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Aaron Comforty: The City of Bloomington gave notice last week that it would evict the encampment of unhoused people at Seminary Park on January 11th. January 11th is today, and a number of civil society groups, non-profits, politicians, and prominent community members signed on to an open letter which urges Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton to call off the City’s planned eviction. One of the signatories of that letter is Matt Flaherty. He is an At-Large Representative of the Bloomington City Council and joins us now on WFHB Local News to talk about the issue and his decision to sign onto the open letter. Council-Member Flaherty thanks for coming on the show.

Matt Flaherty: Thank you for having me, and thanks for discussing these important issues in our community.

Comforty: What’s your understanding of the Mayor’s plans in regards to clearing tents at the encampment, and why did you decide to sign on to this open-letter?

Flaherty: Sure, first I’d like to say that I know Mayor Hamilton and his team are working hard and are doing what they think is best. I appreciate that, regarding the proposed January 11th action, they had provided notice, and I think some greater property protection provisions than the previous eviction of Seminary Park in early December. But that said, as a matter of public health policy, I just strongly disagree with their proposed course of action. And I agree with the sentiments of Beacon Inc. and many other community members, including those who signed onto a Change.org petition regarding the same subject. I agree with the sentiments shared by those community individuals, and the arguments they’ve shared. So that’s why I decided to elevate their work and sign on to that letter.

Comforty: You mention Beacon Inc., which is a community organization dedicated to solutions for people in poverty. That organization authored the letter. They recently counted almost forty individuals who, it says, are sleeping in the Seminary Park Encampment. The letter also notes that area homeless shelters are at or are near capacity. Council Member Flaherty, what should Bloomington do right now to address the urgent issue of homelessness at Seminary Park and in Bloomington in general?

Flaherty: I think you highlighted some important facts there. We have, what’s sometimes called a “street homeless population,” or people literally experiencing homelessness who are not in shelter at all. That is really unprecedented for this time of year for us. Including some other areas, there may be as many as sixty or more people currently sleeping outside in Bloomington. We know that we do not have enough shelter beds for them, which is why I think it’s really important not to to evict anyone from a park or surrounding area at this time. As we saw in early December, when that happened, even though there was ostensibly shelter space available, many  individuals did not feel safe or comfortable going to shelter. As such, most of them dispersed into the community, where service providers, advocates, and helpers, like the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, did not know how to find them. I think that that increases the danger and undermines the safety of some of our most vulnerable community members. So I think most immediately, we need an extended moratorium on the proposed eviction, at least through the end of the Covid-19 emergency, as well as more support for those in the Seminary Park area, in particular through the provision of bathrooms and hygiene stations and frequent trash service. I realize of course, that it’s not ideal for anyone to be sleeping outside. This is about reducing harm in the immediate term. I think much better would be to have individual housing options...

This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, January 11th, 2021.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty speaks with city councilman Matt Flaherty about the city’s decision to clear out an encampment at Seminary Park on Monday.

Also coming up, we have A Few Minutes with the Mayor - a weekly segment where Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton answers listener-posed questions on community issues.

But first, your local headlines:

COVID-19 Joint Press Conference 

Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton reported COVID-19 vaccinations were received by approximately three percent of the county population. He stated a quicker vaccination rate would be needed during the January 8th COVID-19 Press conference.

Hamilton encouraged all residents to get the vaccination when it becomes available to them. County Health Administrator Penny Caudill specified vaccination appointments can be made online or by calling 211.

Caudill reported 400-600 vaccinations are expected each week. She mentioned the vaccination is free, however Indiana University Health can still bill insurance companies. Indiana University Health Hospital South Central Region President Brian Shockney said there are no walk-in vaccination appointments.

Indiana University Assistant Vice President Kirk White stated the IU-Bloomington campus was enrolled as a vaccination site and is awaiting state approval. Caudill said the Morton Street COVID-19 testing site now offers rapid testing.

Caudill continued to encourage any community member experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to get tested.

City of Bloomington Utilities Service Board Discusses Water Rate Increase

The Bloomington utilities Service Board Finance Subcommittee met to discuss the Water Rate Case. Director Vic Kelson spoke about a rate case from 2016 during their January 7th meeting.

Kelson stated the 2021 rate increase would support maintenance, continue water main replacement efforts, and begin new projects. He mentioned their revenue was designed to cover costs.

Kelson spoke of a Cost of Service Study which disclosed how costs are distributed across customer classes. He mentioned some inequities in the distribution.

Kelson stated all customer classes except Residential and Irrigation would pay their cost of service by the end of the rate increase. He clarified residential customers would see a maximum increase of about 3 dollars and 74 cents per month. He mentioned the increase would happen in phases.

Kelson stated any increase would not take effect until 2022, contingent upon approval form the Bloomington City Council and The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

New Variant of Covid-19 Originally Found in UK Identified in Indiana

On Monday, the Indiana State Department of Health announced in a statement that the UK variant of novel coronavirus was identified in Indiana.

According to the BBC, little is known about the strain of the virus, but UK health officials said they have “high confidence” that it spreads more easily.

Dr. Kristina Box, state health commissioner, said in a statement, “it’s common for viruses to mutate and we are seeing that occur with Covid-19. Because this strain of the virus can be transmitted more easily, it’s more important than ever that Hoosiers continue to wear their masks, practice social distancing, maintain good hygiene and get vaccinated when they are eligible.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists are working to learn more about this variant to better understand how easily it might be transmitted and whether currently authorized vaccines will protect people against it.

The strain nicknamed B.1.1.7 contains 23 mutations of the virus, 8 of which are in the spike protein that binds to and enters human cells,

This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, January 7th, 2021.

Later in the program, we have an excerpt from the Brown County Hour. Host Vera Grubbs interviews local author Debora Bowden. Bowden was a former English and science teacher, and has several books out now. That interview is coming up in today’s feature reports.

Also coming up in the next half hour, we have an excerpt from Kite Line, our public affairs program devoted to prison issues around the Midwest and beyond.

But first, your local news brief:

7,344 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Indiana on Wednesday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. There were 81 newly reported deaths. Locally, Monroe County saw 78 new confirmed cases yesterday as well as one confirmed COVID-19 death. Lawrence County reported 42 new cases, while Brown County reported two.

***

On Wednesday, Congress met to verify President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Elsewhere in Washington D.C., Trump supporters met at a rally to oppose these results. At the “Save America” rally, president Donald Trump gave a speech to his supporters in which he encouraged them to “walk down to the Capitol,” to “cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women.”

And so they did. The group marched to the Capitol building and, allowed to pass by D.C police officers, broke inside, interrupting the process and forcing elected officials and other staff to evacuate.

Congress was able to reconvene late Wednesday evening to finally begin verification. Leading up to yesterday’s session, members of Congress, all Republican, had planned to object to the counting of electoral votes, citing unfound and unproven claims of voter fraud. After armed trump supporters broke into the capitol, many of the lawmakers who supported objecting, including Indiana Senator Mike Braun, decided not to object as they had originally planned.

Despite this, objections were raised in both the House and the Senate. Congress voted against both objections; 92-7 and 282-138, respectively. Among the 138 Representatives who still voted to object to verification include Representative Jackie Walorski, who represents Indiana’s 2nd District; Representative Greg Pence, of Indiana’s 6th District; Representative James Baird, of Indiana’s Fourth District, and Representative Jim Banks, of Indiana’s 3rd District. In a statement released this morning, the Indiana Democratic Party called for the four representatives and Senator Braun to resign.

City of Bloomington Posts Notice in Seminary Park

The City of Bloomington posted a sign in Seminary Park, which said it’s illegal to sleep there overnight and for people experiencing homelessness to vacate the public park by Monday.

According to the Associated Press, the notice lists phone numbers and addresses of seven local organizations that provide free lodging.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, set national guidelines for homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In these guidelines, the CDC recommends allowing encampments to stay where they are.

According to the CDC guidelines, clearing these camps, can, “cause people to disperse throughout the community and break connections with service providers. This increases the potential for infectious disease spread.”

Last month, after the Bloomington Police department dismantled tents at Seminary Park, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty interviewed Forrest Gilmore, executive director at Beacon Inc.

The most recent move by the city sparked outrage from local activists and concerned citizens.

Molly Stewart, a concerned resident affiliated with the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, spoke out during the city council meeting on Wednesday.

Nathan Mutchler, another local resident,