St. Joseph County

Both Elkhart and St. Joseph County recently passed their budgets for the 2022 fiscal year. 

The St. Joseph County Council passed a roughly $192 million budget Tuesday evening, putting the county at a $2.4 million deficit.

The spending will be used to boost salaries for county employees – the minimum salary is now $32,000 a year, or about $16.41 an hour. 

The St. Joseph County Commissioners voted to establish the county’s redistricting process Tuesday.

State and local lawmakers are required to redraw the boundaries of their districts once every ten years, based on new census data. 

In August, the county commissioners hired Indianapolis law firm Kroger, Gardis and Regas to help with the process. The firm is managed by former Republican state House Speaker Brian Bosma.

Created in August 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Motels4Now program provides low-barrier shelter for the chronically homeless in the Knights Inn at 3233 Lincoln Way West.

The Supreme Court struck down the CDC’s nationwide eviction moratorium last week, but emergency rental assistance is still available. 

St. Joseph County ERA Administrator Corey Szczypka said Tuesday the county is currently processing 343 rental assistance applications and has another 630 waiting in the online portal. 

Judy Fox is a University of Notre Dame law professor and directs the school’s Economic Justice Clinic. She’s represented low-income clients on eviction cases for more than two decades but said now is the worst she’s ever seen.

Though we still don’t know what’s causing a mysterious illness in songbirds, the state said residents in most Indiana counties can fill their bird feeders and baths again. But the Department of Natural Resources has asked 16 counties to keep feeders down while the investigation continues.

The St. Joseph County Council is set to discuss its first round of spending from the American Rescue Plan Act Tuesday evening. About $10.5 million of the county’s nearly $53-million allotment is on the table. 

St. Joseph County and South Bend leaders voted this week to opt out of Indiana’s settlement plan for lawsuits against opioid companies.

Both the county and city have pending lawsuits against different opioid manufacturers, marketers and distributors. They’re seeking redress for the effects of the opioid epidemic on local communities, as well as financial compensation for public funds used to address those effects.

Coronavirus cases in St. Joseph County are at the lowest level since the start of the pandemic, and the county’s COVID-19 tracking metrics are all in the green for the first time ever.

If you live in St. Joseph County, you’ll have an opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine nearly every day this week. The Indiana Department of Health will be hosting two mobile vaccination centers in South Bend. 

The first will be on Tuesday and Wednesday at La Casa de Amistad on South Michigan Street. The second will run from Thursday to Saturday at the Civil Rights Heritage Center on West Washington Street. 

The Indiana legislature’s new law restricting local health officials’ emergency powers won’t immediately affect St. Joseph County, but Deputy County Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox said it will have consequences in future public health emergencies.

The law requires local health officials to get approval from elected officials if they want to enact emergency rules that are stricter than the state’s. State legislators overrode Gov. Eric Holcomb's veto on the bill on Monday.

Monday morning, St. Joseph Co. health officials announced another new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in the county. 

Deputy County Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox said the "California" variant is less contagious than the U.K. variant, which was identified in the county earlier this month. But, he said it’s still about 20 percent more contagious than the original strain, and it doesn’t seem to be as sensitive to the current vaccines.

Fox said that shouldn't stop people from getting their shots. He said they’ll still provide some protection, and will ultimately keep new variants from emerging.

“Even though this variant may not be as responsive to the vaccines, they will help decrease the conditions that allow different variants to flourish,” Fox said.

Fox said if community members want to stop the spread of more contagious variants, all they have to do is carefully follow the mitigation strategies – wearing a mask, washing their hands, and keeping their distance from anyone outside their household.

Leaders from Elkhart, St. Joseph, Marshall and Kosciusko counties came together on Tuesday to oppose state legislation they say would divert money from public schools.

Representatives from over 20 local school districts attended a collaborative event hosted by Strong Public Schools For Strong Communities, where local mayors, business leaders, chamber officials and community members took turns reading from a four-county declaration to Indiana legislators and Governor Eric Holcomb.

St. Joseph County health officials announced Thursday that the more contagious UK strain of the coronavirus had been identified in the county.

Deputy County Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox said the B.1.1.7 strain of the virus is more contagious and, in some cases, more deadly than the original strain. 

“It’s hard to sort out whether there are more cases and that’s why there are more deaths, or if the strain itself is actually more lethal,” he said.

St. Joseph County was recently recognized for being “solar-friendly” and for protecting pollinator habitats in its development projects. The county received the SolSmart Gold designation for meeting national benchmarks to encourage the growth of solar energy. 

SolSmart helps local governments meet those national benchmarks by streamlining zoning approvals and reviewing planning and zoning guidelines. St. Joseph County was recognized for having efficient permitting and zoning processes and training staff on solar energy codes, among other things.

The CDC and FDA authorized the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use this weekend. Ahead of the vaccine's rollout, local health officials are encouraging residents to get a dose of any approved vaccine once they're eligible.