This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, August 31st, 2020.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty speaks with Bradi Heaberlin, author of an opinion piece in the Indiana Daily Student titled “Reopening IU Puts Everyone in Harm’s Way.” The opinion piece said, “students’ presence in Bloomington will put more vulnerable people at risk.”

Also coming up on today’s ‘A Few Minutes with the Mayor,’ Mayor John Hamilton answers questions about recent criticism of the Bloomington Police Department and 11 Greek organizations forced to quarantine after a spike in Covid-19 cases.

But first, today’s local news brief:

Monroe County hits record high number of new positive cases of Covid-19 for the second day in a row. The graph above shows data from John’s Hopkins University (Photo courtesy of Gregory Reed Travis).

For the second day in a row, Monroe County has broken its own record for newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19.

On Sunday, the county reported 56 new cases, and on Saturday, it reported 38. The Indiana state Department of Health reported the state’s second highest weekend tally with 897 new cases on Sunday and another 866 on Saturday. 6 new deaths were also reported over the weekend.

Nearby, Green County saw 5 new cases, while Lawrence County saw three.

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Indiana University released its Covid-19 dashboard on Friday. The latest numbers show a one percent positivity rate (Photo courtesy of Indiana University).

Indiana University published its Covid-19 dashboard on Friday evening, shortly after it announced that three more Greek houses were being forced to quarantine.

The data reflects Indiana University’s testing results as of last week. Of the almost 34,000 test results, 344 tests were positive. That’s about a one percent positivity rate.

The university announced that it would update its dashboard today, but it has not yet done so.

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(Photo couresy of All Events).

There is a summer send-off concert in the Performing Arts Series at the new Switchyard Park. The show will feature back-to-back concerts with Matixando & Kid Kazooey and The BallRoom Roustabouts.

The send off will be on Friday, September 4th from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are free, but are required for admission. To register to attend the event, check out the Bloomington parks website. There are a limited number of spaces available to accommodate physical distancing, and concert goers must wear masks.

 

Covid-19 Press Conference

WFHB Assistant News Director Sydney Foreman reports on the Covid-19 Press Conference from Friday, August 28th (Photo courtesy of Community Access Television Services).

Indiana University Professor of Pediatrics Aaron Carroll said approximately 1 percent of IU students tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival to campus. During the August 28th COVID-19 Press Conference Carroll said any infected student had to isolate.

Carroll said a higher prevalence rate was found after retesting all on campus students. He said IU and Monroe County are working to increase isolation for campus living areas with an increased spread. Monroe County School Corporation Superintendent Judith DeMuth said MCCSC approved a comprehensive plan to begin in person classes.

DeMuth said 10 percent of Indiana school corporations are still virtual. She said a red, yellow, green, method would determine the teaching method.

DeMuth said students are not required to attend classes in person. County Health Administrator Penny Caudill said as of August 28th Monroe County saw 1,030 positive COVID-19 tests. She said the 7-day positivity rate was 2.3 percent. Caudill said local sport events must follow the county gathering size limit.

Caudill said the county is working on future plans for COVID-19 vaccination clinics. President of IU Health South Central Region Brian Shockney said within two months, behavioral health service needs increased by 22 percent.

Shockney encouraged everyone to get a flu vaccination.

Indiana’s First Overdose Boxes Installed in Hamilton County

Each overdose box contains gloves and two doses of NARCAN®, a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses. (Photo courtesy of The Times).

Today marks Overdose Awareness Day in the United States. In response, Hamilton County, Indiana becomes the first county in the state to install overdose boxes.

According to Indiana University, every two and a half hours, someone in Indiana is sent to the hospital for an opioid overdose. The state is one of four where the fatal overdose rate has quadrupled in the past two decades. Due to this rise, Indiana residents are more likely to die from an overdose than a car accident.

Jim Ginder, health education specialist at the Hamilton County Health Department, told WRTV Indianapolis there have been 72 overdoses in the county since the start of this year.

“We’re going to be able to lower those numbers within the county,” said Ginder.

The overdose boxes are funded by a grant from the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction. Hamilton County Councilman Steve Schwartz, owner of Schwartz’s Bait and Tackle, became the first business owner to sign up for the program.

According to The Times, the county’s daily newspaper, each overdose box contains gloves and two doses of NARCAN, a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses.

The Hamilton County Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs will provide the boxes to businesses for free and will refill the NARCAN as it is used or expires.

Black Bear Spotted in Kentucky May Cross into Indiana

A Black Bear was sighted in north Kentucky and may cross the Ohio River into Clark County, Indiana (Photo courtesy of People.com).

A Black Bear spotted in north Kentucky may cross the Ohio River into Indiana, according to state wildlife officials.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said the bear was located north of Prospect, Kentucky. That’s just south of Clark County, Indiana, which is less than twenty miles from the Kentucky town, separated by the Ohio River.

Brad Westrich, a non-game mammalogist for the Indiana Department of Wildlife told the Clark County based News and Tribune, “The sighting provides an opportunity for Hoosiers in the area to secure outdoor grills, trash cans or pet and bird food.”

He said black bears prefer to avoid humans and that removing potential food sources goes a long way in preventing a negative interaction.

Until 2015, there had not been a sighting of a bear in Indiana since 1871. Since 2015, there have been three confirmed sightings of bears in the state, according to the I-DNR.

Feature Reports:

1. Now it’s time for your feature reports. Up first, WFHB Correspondent Aaron Comforty talked to Bradi Heaberlin, author of an opinion piece in the Indiana Daily Student titled “Reopening IU Puts Everyone in Harm’s Way.”
2. In today’s segment of “A Few Minutes with the Mayor,” Mayor John Hamilton answers questions about Chief Diekhoff’s denial of systemic racism in the Bloomington Police Department, reports of officers not wearing masks and the shutdown of 11 Greek organizations at IU due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Credits

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