Editorial Roundup: Indiana

Kokomo Tribune. Nov. 17, 2020 The public’s right to know Hoosiers support the right to know what government at all levels is up to, and they believe public notices in community newspapers are a trusted source of that transparency. A 2014 survey by the Princeton, New Jersey-based American Opinion Research asked state residents their thoughts on the importance of public notice advertisements in local newspapers. The study was commissioned by the Hoosier State Press Association’s board of directors and surveyed 1,000 Indiana residents. The findings, published in the Nov. 13, 2014 edition of The Indiana Publisher, were overwhelming: ‘¢ 85% supported publication of public notices as a way to inform residents of government actions. ‘¢ 64% said governmental entities should be required to publish these announcements, even though they cost them thousands of extra dollars per year. ‘¢ 61% said they had read or seen public notice advertising in a newspaper. State legislators placed a ‘œsunset’� in 2013 to the requirement that local government agencies publish their budgets as part of the notice of budget hearings. The rollback took effect in 2014. The change in the budget-publishing requirement was sought by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. Removing budget details from newspaper public notices reduced resident access to this important information. The Hoosier State Press Association says just 12,000 unique visitors saw local government budgets on the DLGF website in 2017, compared to the 3 million Hoosier newspaper readers who no longer read budget details in their local newspapers. The American Opinion Research shows Hoosiers agree on the importance of public notice advertisements. It’s pretty difficult to keep tabs on governmental entities if one can’t even find basic information like the annual budgets they will debate. In the 2021 legislative session, state lawmakers must make annual budgets a part of the notice of budget hearings again. Such a requirement puts information in the one place where local residents are likely to find it: the community newspaper. ___ South Bend Tribune. Nov. 22, 2020 Have you heard what doctors and nurses are saying about COVID? This is not a lecture. This is not an attempt to pick a fight. This has nothing to do with politics. We are simply relaying the words of our local medical community. These are doctors and nurses in our cities. These are the neighbors who work in our local hospitals. These are the folks who safeguard our health. And their words reveal a level of anxiety and stress that we can’t recall being revealed publicly, with this type of urgency, for at least several years. They’re not just asking and pleading. They’re begging. The topic, of course, is COVID-19. Dr. Sam El-Dalati, chief clinical officer for Beacon Health System: ‘œWe don’t want to end up rationing care in the hospital.’� Dr. Dale Patterson, vice president of medical affairs at Memorial Hospital: ‘œWe have to have people to take care of these patients. And we’re running out of people.’� Amber Hodges, respiratory therapist at Elkhart General Hospital: ‘œWe don’t have enough resources. We’re running out of everything right now.’� Dr. Michelle Bache, VP of medical affairs at Elkhart General: ‘œThe time to act is now. We really just need something to change.’� Chad Towner, CEO of Saint Joseph Health System: ‘œAt the start of the day this morning, we were 11 COVID beds short.’� They are explaining their reality, what they see on a daily basis when they go to work.