pandemic

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue University plans to reward its faculty and staff with a $750 bonus for their “heroic work” keeping the West Lafayette campus open during the coronavirus pandemic. School officials announced Wednesday that more than 15,000 faculty, staff and graduate student staff hired before Sept. 1, 2020, will get the money in their checks in December. Part-time staff will get a pro-rated amount.

NEW (Nov. 2): 

Indiana as a whole reported 3,080 new cases Sunday. That means the state as a whole has seen 3,000+ new daily cases in the last 4 out of 5 days for which data is available.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s public pension funds for state and local government employees, including teachers, has apparently weathered the financial markets’ volatility during the coronavirus pandemic, new data from the state show. The General Assembly’s Pension Management Oversight Committee heard Wednesday that the Indiana Public Retirement System increased its pension assets by 2.56% to $30.6 billion during the 2020 budget year, which ran from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.

While Gov. Eric Holcomb stresses the state is ready to re-open, many local health officials aren’t convinced.

For weeks, the state has blamed coronavirus spread on younger people attending bars, nightclubs and parties.  However, yesterday, Holcomb and State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box shifted their rhetoric.

“We have proven effectively—whether it be at schools or businesses—that you can operate safely and manage your interaction,” Holcomb said.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Discontent among some conservatives about Gov. Eric Holcomb's statewide mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions poses a possible disruption to his reelection campaign. Some longtime reliable Republican voters complain Holcomb’s coronavirus orders have been “overbearing" and say they intend to support Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater. Holcomb defends the mask order has helping keep the coronavirus spread in check.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — When he became football coach at South Florida in December, Jeff Scott had one regret. He would not have a chance to visit Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 7 with Clemson, where he was offensive coordinator. Because of the pandemic, he will get a chance after all.  Scott and South Florida will visit No. 7 Notre Dame on Saturday. The Fighting Irish lost to USF in 2011, but they are currently riding a 19-game winning streak at home.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says it doesn't make sense for Michigan to enforce coronavirus restrictions at President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign rallies and also points to people's constitutional rights. The Democrat has expressed safety concerns with thousands attending a Trump rally last week, calling it a potential superspreader event. Her order restricts outdoor gatherings to no more than 100, though there's an exception for political speech.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill would rather a court eliminate the current vote-by-mail option for Hoosiers aged 65 or older than allow every eligible voter to cast a mail-in ballot.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The Associated Press and other news organizations and publishers have no digital images from Saturday’s Notre Dame home game against Duke because of the school’s COVID-19 restrictions. Notre Dame did not allow independent photojournalists on the field or in the stands to photograph its opening game. The school used three photographers it employs to shoot images that will be uploaded to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s website.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Kyren Williams ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns in his first start, grad quarterback Ian Book threw for 263 yards and No. 10 Notre Dame beat Duke 27-13 on Saturday at rainy Notre Dame Stadium in the season and Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. The speedy Williams, who saw limited action last season as a freshman, had 19 carries and also was Notre Dame's leading receiver with two receptions for 93 yards, one a 75-yarder in the first half.

Hoosiers across the state are receiving unsolicited absentee ballot applications in the mail from the Indiana Democratic and Republican parties.

The Indiana State Dept. of Health's latest COVID-19 testing figures show that on Thursday, Sept. 10th, the state hit a new all time high in positive coronavirus cases. 

1,282 new cases were reported. That is the highest daily number since the pandemic started. Ten new COVID-19 deaths were reported Thursday. The state's 7-day positivity rate for testing is 7%. 

Previously the highest number of cases reported on any given day in Indiana had been 1,279 cases on August 6th. 

Reeling from another crisis of his own making, President Donald Trump tried to refocus attention on his Democratic rival at a rally in battleground Michigan Thursday as he pushed to move past revelations that he purposefully played down the danger of the coronavirus last winter. But the virus controversy followed him as he faced new pushback from local officials worried about the growing size of his rallies and his campaign’s repeated flouting of public health guidelines intended to halt the COVID-19 spread. That includes Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who raised alarms about Thursday’s event. Trump, however, reveled in the crowd of several thousand, packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a cavernous airport hangar, mostly without masks.

According to the Michigan Secretary of State's office, more than 2.1 million Michigan voters had already requested absentee ballots by Tuesday, eight weeks ahead of the November 3 general election.

Ball State University is postponing all graduation ceremonies this year because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The university previously postponed spring and summer commencement plans, rescheduling both for a ceremony on October 10.  Now Ball State president Geoffrey Mearns says that ceremony and one scheduled for December to honor winter graduates will not be held.

On a Friday evening in late June, Liliana Quintero received a call from one of the Spanish interpreters working at a COVID-19 testing site in Goshen, Indiana. The area has one of Indiana’s higher Latinx populations and higher rates of COVID-19 cases, according to state data.

Notre Dame has posted online what the university's policies will be as it relates to attendance at home football games this season during the pandemic.