Friday, April 17, 2020 Woof Boom Morning briefs

The Indiana hunker down order expires Monday, but Governor Holcomb has said he’ll announce tweaks on Friday.  He’s floated several possible components of a phase-in approach, including requiring masks in public, loosening restrictions in some parts of the state before others, or sending those already exposed to the virus back to work before others.

Ball State spokesperson Kathy Wolf told Woof Boom Radio news yesterday that no decisions have been made about virtual learning for the Fall semester.  Some unconfirmed reports were circulating among students and even some staff, so we went to the source for the facts.

Purdue University President Mitch Daniels says he and his team, as of right now, are planning for students to start the fall semester with online classes.

Indiana Senator Mike Braun was invited to serve on the task force to address when the Country should return to normal business functions.  He believes most small businesses can do what they normally do, but add in social distancing.  We’ll need to “take a little risk, take what we’ve learned so far about the disease, and be entrepreneurial about it.”  He joined the IBA on a teleconference yesterday.

The $350 billion limit from the Small business loan program was hit Thursday, and the Small Business Administration is no longer accepting any more lenders or applications.

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) spoke of funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, which lapsed yesterday: it, “has helped tens of thousands of Hoosier businesses make it through this challenging time and keep their employees on payroll, but there are countless more still in need of assistance. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to provide additional funding for this bipartisan program is indefensible.”

A first glimmer of hopeful economic news in weeks, says Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University.  Though the initial jobless claims were very high, at 5.2 million, this is a deceleration from last week’s 6.6 million, he said.

Earlier this week, we were contacted by a Listener and her family who are making and selling masks, to fund her cancer treatments.  A local business heard about it on the Radio, and offered to sell the masks to help the effort.  After this all was arranged, a thank you note came to us saying, “I also wanted to say thank you and giving me back the feeling that there are still good people in the world.”

Yesterday, we aired a story about the broken weather radio transmitter that serves Muncie and all or parts of 11 counties in WLBCland.  We mistakenly directed you to comment to local EMA office, and some were inundated by calls – the National Weather Service operates and is responsible for those facilities, and comments should be urgently directed there, as well as your legislators.  WLBC remains concerned about the length of time it has taken to get this public safety feature fixed.

We broke the story yesterday about the Ignite and Unite Downtown Muncie fundraising effort.  Just a few hours after the Radio interview, nearly $2,500 was raised, on their way to a $25,000 goal.  Visit downtownmuncie.org for the link, as well as resources for who’s open now, curbside, delivery, web sales and more.

Indiana Rep. Trey Hollingsworth is standing by his position that the government should allow businesses and the economy to reopen sooner rather than later — in spite of whatever health risks are still in play when it comes to coronavirus. Hollingsworth said just staying at home and riding out the virus may be working in a health sense, but not in an economic sense for Americans livelihoods. He says keeping the economy mostly closed is doing just as much damage as the virus is to Americans health and that the plan going forward is not one that means choosing one or the other.

Anderson University recognizes that seniors graduating in 2020, as well as former graduates, are facing unprecedented challenges in starting their careers due to COVID-19 and its economic effects. Because of this, AU will offer limited-time scholarships to our 2020 Residential MBA cohort.

Some coal miners in southern Indiana won’t be going back to work once the coronavirus quarantine is over. Executives with the Gibson County Coal Company said they are making some of their virus-related layoffs permanent. The company says there is less of a demand for coal, and they cannot support all of the miners at the mine in Gibson County.

Earlier this week, we were contacted by a Listener and her family who are making and selling masks, to fund her cancer treatments.  A local business heard about it on the Radio, and offered to sell the masks to help the effort.  After this all was arranged, a thank you note came to us saying, “I also wanted to say thank you and giving me back the feeling that there are still good people in the world.”

In Indiana, 152 long-term care facilities have reported at least one positive COVID-19 case, according to Indiana health officials.  In response to a request for information from The Herald Bulletin, state officials said 119 residents of long-term care facilities have died from the disease. Officials said 681 residents of the facilities have tested positive.  The state is also reporting that 512 staff members have tested positive and one staff member has died.

Anderson University recognizes that seniors graduating in 2020, as well as former graduates, are facing unprecedented challenges in starting their careers due to COVID-19 and its economic effects. Because of this, AU will offer limited-time scholarships to our 2020 Residential MBA cohort.

Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box has announced a new assistance program for families who are having trouble getting the food they need. Box says the department of health received approval from the Disaster Distribution Program to make this happen. Families will be able to more easily get food from various food banks and pantries through the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) through May 14. Hoosiers suffering economic loss due to the coronavirus outbreak will be given priority.

Tomorrow on Takin’ it to the Street Beat on WHBU, James Burgess will talk about millions of veterans getting letters this week on potential reimbursements for medical costs, a former NYC Top Cop blasting officials that are using covid-19 to take away freedoms, and actions taken by DOJ on government regulations regarding religious services.  Live from 7 – 8 a.m., and replayed on several Woof Boom Radio stations Sunday mornings.

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