This is the WFHB Local News for Thursday, September 9th, 2021.

Later in the program, we have Prescription for Healthcare - a collaboration between WFHB and Medicare for All Indiana. Our guest today is Dr. Ed Weisbart, a retired family physician from St. Louis and chair of the Missouri chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. More coming up in the bottom half of tonight’s program.

Also coming up in the next half hour, the City of Bloomington will host the Black History 101 Mobile Museum on Saturday. More in today’s headlines.

But first, Emily McCoy has today’s Statehouse Roundup:

This week Statehouse Republicans announced their plan to introduce abortion laws similar to the abortion ban legislation in Texas during next years Legislative Session. State representative Sue Errigton publicly disagreed with the proposed plan, citing that 49% of pregnancies are unintentional and often caused by a lack of education and accessible contraception. Representative Errigton urges that the focus should be on providing funds to pregnancy prevention and not by finning women that seek medical clinical abortions.

Representative Errigton also called out statehouse republicans for the number of women that are killed or severly injured because they seek outside medical abortions. Stating that if this new legislation were to be passed, this number would only climb higher. “Indiana shamefully holds the title for the third highest maternal mortality rate in the nation and we will sink lower if we force women out of the safety of a licensed medical clinic.”

The expected drafts of Indiana's new redistricting maps are expected to be publicly announced on September 14th. State Representative Tim Wesco will then hold meetings gathering public feedback on these map drafts on September 15th and 16th. On August 31st, State President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray and House speaker Todd Huston announced a new online portal that will allow citizens to draw and submit their own ideas on new district boundaries. Representative Bray commented, “This portal is a great opportunity for Hoosiers to share their proposed maps with lawmakers.”

Monroe County Commissioners 

At the Monroe County Commissioners meeting on September 8th, Director of Emergency Management, Allison Moore, shared that this month is Emergency Preparedness month. She encouraged residents of Monroe County to sign up for alerts through their Emergency Alert Program.

The commissioners unanimously approved a partnership between Ivy Tech’s nursing program and the correctional facility. Monroe County jail commander Sam Crowe said the program would be mutually beneficial, and introduce nursing students to an area of the field that typically gets less staffing.

During public comment, Laurel Tanneberger, spoke up about the Seven Oaks appeal made about the mask mandate in schools. Since an appeal had been filed, County Attorney Jeff Cockerill stepped in to say the correct procedure to bring the matter to the commissioners would be through Seven Oaks first. This is what she had to say before being redirected.

The Board of Commissioners will virtually host the Appeal Hearing for Seven Oaks on September 16th.

Monroe County Board of Health

Photo courtesy of University of Michigan.

The Monroe County Board of Health discussed the possibility of extending the county’s indoor mask mandate during its September 8th meeting. County Health Administrator Penny Caudill said that the mask mandate will likely extend beyond the September 30th deadline.

Caudill said the health department received complaints from business owners when it comes to enforcing the mandate. Board member Carol Touloukian questioned whether the energy spent on enfo...