This is the WFHB Local News for Friday, August 28th, 2020.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty talks to Abby Ang, local activist and scholar, about an alt-right flyer found at Indiana University. More in today’s feature report.

Also coming up, Diane Walker, attorney for the District 10 Pro Bono project and Limestone Post magazine contributor, continues her ongoing series titled “Eviction Crisis in Indiana.”

But first, today’s local news brief.

832 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Indiana on Thursday, according to the Indiana State Department of Health, which also attributed 8 deaths to the disease.

Locally, Monroe County saw 21 positive cases reported on Thursday, while Brown and Green Counties both reported one new case.

Indiana University has not yet published the Covid-19 dashboard that it promised in a town hall meeting last month. The university’s COVID-19 statistics are not publicly available at the moment.

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Late yesterday evening, IU announced that it suspended all organizational activities at every sorority and fraternity and at the Evans scholars and Christian Student Fellowship houses.

The suspension of activities affects some 2,600 students. The Monroe County Health Department ordered eight of the fraternities and sororities to not only suspend organizational activities, but to adhere to a strict quarantine, by not leaving their houses.

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In a meeting on Wednesday night for the city’s public safety committee, city council member Isabelle Piedmont Smith asked Bloomington Police Chief, Mike Diekhoff, if systemic racism is present in the Bloomington Police Department.

Diekhoff said “I do not believe that there is systemic racism in our agency … I believe our officers don’t have racist thoughts and don’t participate in racist activities.”

Diekhoff’s comments brought swift condemnations from local activists.

Bloomington City Council Public Safety Committee Meeting 

The Bloomington City Council Public Safety Committee held a public meeting to discuss the Bloomington Police Department. BPD Chief Michael Diekoff said police officers receive 90 to 100 hours of training each year. He said Indiana only requires 24 hours. He said the department seeks new training each year.

Diekoff said BPD owning an armed vehicle is not militarization. He said militarization is about actions not equipment. Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith asked Diekoff about BPD’s ownership and use of non lethal weaponry.

Deikoff said legal tear gas would be used in a mass riot. He said some areas of law enforcement have seen racism; however racism is not a part of BPD the officers do not have racist thoughts. He said officers are monitored with body cameras and held accountable by a Guardian Tracking system. Community member Jada Bee questioned Deikoff’s assessment of racism.

Bee said Bloomington and BPD are not outside of current events. Resident Savannah Pearlman officers chose to be officers, but people don’t choose to be Black. Community member Donyell Bird said social workers should not be involved with BPD.

Local law student William Sanchez said BPD officers must be wearing masks. Deikoff said officers are required to wear masks while interacting with the public. Piedmont-Smith said BPD has used no knock warrants. Deikoff said he could not guarantee a no knock warrant situation would not lead to a death.

IU Professor Put on Unpaid Leave

Indiana University Kelley School of Business Professor Eric Rasmusen has been put on unpaid leave for what IU is calling a “personal issue.”

The announcement comes after a series of sexist tweets Rasmusen made last week. Rasmusen’s comments were in response to a tweet suggesting parents would rather their daughters be “sexually immoral” and get a degree, which the tweet called “divorce insurance” than get married young.

Rasmusen responded to this tweet, saying, “Those girls are really showing off their legs! And I could see girls sitting alone just hoping for a friend– even a female friend, maybe.”

Rasmusen has been under investigation for comments like this since November of last year, IU spokesperson Chuck Carney confirmed to Indiana Public Media. Rasmusen drew national attention when he tweeted a link to an article titled, “Are Women Destroying Academia? Probably,” which implied that geniuses were overwhelmingly male.

Rasmusen is on unpaid leave for the rest of the academic year. As of this recording, IU has taken no further actions.

Ellettsville Town Council Meeting

Ellettsville Town Council discussed payment options and shut off policies for residents behind on utility payments. The Indiana Moratorium on utilities shut offs ended on August 14th. Town Manager Mike Farmer said 734 of 5,500 customers are behind on payments during their August 24th meeting.

Farmer said the amount of past due payments is around 83 thousand dollars. Farmer said 6 months was the advised amount of time to give customers to repay their debt, however it could be extended. He said customers must pay current bills and could burden their repayment abilities.

Farmer said any past due bills during the moratorium would not be changed to a late fee, however current late bills would be charged a 10 percent fee. Commissioner William Ellis said anyone delinquent in January, February, and March should be treated differently and not wave the 10 percent late fee. He said they should not have been affected by COVID-19.

Farmer said a late payment and disconnect notices would be sent out to residents with information on how to make payment arrangements. Farmer said no utilities would be shut off until September 15th. Council members agreed to requiring at least 10 dollar payments per month for 12 months until the cost is covered.

Also during the meeting council members approved an amendment to the town code allowing residents to keep a total of 9 fowl including ducks. Resident Valerie DeWar was concerned about duck mating.

Council members clarified not male ducks would be allowed to be kept. Council member Ellis said constituents expressed concern about the raised number. Council member Scott Oldham allowing ducks would provide an option for farm fresh eggs to people with allergies to chicken eggs.

City Council Rep. Piedmont Smith Hosts Monthly Constituent Meeting

City Council Representative Isabel Piedmont-Smith is hosting her monthly constituent meeting on Saturday, August 29 via Zoom.

Piedmont-Smith will be discussing the city’s budget proposal as well as the proposed local income tax increase. Bloomington residents are encouraged to join this meeting, and bring questions and concerns to a member of Bloomington’s City Council.

The Zoom meeting will start at 11:00 AM.

Monroe County Council Meeting

The Monroe County Council discussed an additional Victim Assistant position for the Prosecutor’s Office during their August 25th Work Session meeting. Prosecuting Attorney Erika Oliphant said new filings are overwhelming current workers.

Oliphant said Victim Assistants are the primary source of information for victims. She said the position would be partially funded by the county and VOCA grant funds.

Oliphant said the total county fund amounts to approximately 42 thousand dollars. She said the position is in the proposed 2021 budget. Council member Peter Iversen asked Oliphant about pretrial release projects’ impact on case numbers.

Oliphant said Victim Assistants work with a wide variety of cases. She said the grant would be lost if not approved with the 2021 budget.

Now it’s time for your feature reports.

1. WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty talked with Abby Ang – a community organizer with No Space For Hate Bloomington. They discussed an alt-right poster, recently found on the IU Bloomington Campus, that encouraged students to put some of their professors on a black list of “cultural marxists.” For a deeper dive into the subject, you can read No Space For Hate’s recent report titled “White Nationalist Recruitment on IU’s Campus.”
2. Diane Walker, contributor for the Limestone Post magazine, continues her series titled “Eviction Crisis in Indiana.” Today, she resumes her conversation with Forrest Gilmore of the Shalom Community Center, Deborah Myerson of South Central Indiana Housing Opportunities, and Jamie Sutton of Justice Unlocked.

Credits:
You’ve been listening to the WFHB Local News,
Today’s headlines were written by Aaron Comforty, Jake Jacobson and Sydney Foreman, in partnership with Cats – Community Access Television Services.
Our feature was produced by Aaron Comforty, Diane Walker and Melanie Davis.
Our theme music is provided by Mark Bingham and the Social Climbers.
Engineer and Executive producer is Kade Young.