Editorial Roundup:

South Bend Tribune. May 31, 2020.

A few good steps, with more needed to address the homeless situation

When it comes to South Bend's ongoing challenges with the homeless population, Mayor James Mueller this past week summed up the issue succinctly.

'œThere is no easy solution,'ť he said.

It was actually an understatement.

The issue has for years frustrated mayors, who are right to feel the city bears an unfair share of the burden because the homeless congregate around service providers, mostly in and around downtown.

But he's also right that allowing the city and advocates to create makeshift tent cities on vacant lots is a potentially dangerous option - especially during the coronavirus pandemic. The mayor has twice broken up tent cities that formed along Michigan Street.

Mario Sims, pastor of Doulos Chapel, stepped in to offer his site as a temporary shelter, buying the city a bit of time to figure out a longer-term plan.

Advocates, meanwhile, are right in insisting that it's well past time to stop dancing around potential solutions and actually try to implement some.

To be fair to the city, some efforts to find shelter and housing have in recent years been met by a 'œnot in my backyard'ť resistance by many residents.

So how does the city move forward? The cycle of pop-up tent cities, followed by a move to break them up and a tense standoff with police, followed by hand-wringing debates and then opposition, needs to end.

Mueller has proposed that the city run a winter amnesty center in the Salvation Army building. That's one good step. He also wants partners throughout the region to pitch in. He's right. This problem shouldn't be South Bend's alone to grapple with.

Some members of the Common Council, including Lori Hamann and Tim Scott, say the city needs to reconvene a task force previously established to plan long-term solutions for homeless services. That's another good step.

A center in the winter, a revamped task force effort and outreach to potential partners outside the city are all good ways to kick-start a new, revived effort to address homelessness.

For their part, many city residents may have to agree that 'œno'ť can't be the first and only answer.

The mayor was spot-on: There are no easy solutions.

But as events the last couple of weeks have shown, the problem isn't going away, either.

Time for a new round of creative ideas, with several viewpoints at the table and building on good ideas that were floated before. Let's hope that this time, urgency, practical solutions and open minds can win the day.

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(Terre Haute) Tribune-Star. May 29, 2020.

Don't let apathy trigger another round of misery

The sunshine, warm temperatures and blooming scenery look the same. It is that enticing transformation of spring into summer.

Short sleeves, sandals, cookouts, parties, swimming pools and festivals. Yes, our senses view summer of 2020 no differently than 2019, 2018, 2000 or 1970.

But this season is indeed different, despite all the invigorating, familiar cues.

COVID-19 has not magically disappeared. In fact, the highly contagious coronavirus is spreading through Vigo County at a quicker rate than in April or March, when residents more keenly observed public health officials' calls to maintain six feet of physical distance between people, wear face masks and practice proper hygiene.

The pandemic has been called 'œthe invisible enemy.'ť This community must be careful not to consider the disease 'œthe nonexistent enemy.'ť COVID-19 is real, and it is infecting more residents of this county.

The growing numbers are not the result of increased testing. County Health Commissioner Dr. Darren Brucken made that clear to the public on Thursday evening. Brucken delivered a sobering reality check.

'œUnfortunately, all but one of our new positives sought testing because of signs and symptoms of the illness. Coupled with known asymptomatic people in the community, this means there are simply additional cases of active COVID-19 within our community, as of today, than in weeks past,'ť Brucken said in a Health Department statement posted on Facebook.

'œWe had eight more (positive cases and) then three more come in later in the day,'ť he told the Tribune-Star later Thursday. 'œAnd we're seeing that every day - six positives one day, nine positives another, 10 the next.'ť Testing is only revealing the truth. 'œPeople are getting sick,'ť Brucken said, succinctly.

This reality comes as the economy in Vigo County and others around Indiana and Illinois reopen. That process is unfolding in phases, a week or month at a time. COVID-19 pays no attention to calendar dates or deadlines, though. A community's only weapons against the coronavirus, at this point, are the precautions repeated over and over by public health and medical experts - adhering to social distancing, wearing face masks and thorough hygiene practices. Researchers are rapidly working to discover vaccines, but those are months from being available.

Attention must be paid to the health of children, as well. Youngsters were seen as less vulnerable at the onset of the pandemic. Now, cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (or MIS-C) are showing up in kids, attacking their organs. MIS-C tends to arise after COVID-19 cases surge, Brucken explained. Earlier this month, MIS-C cases emerged in Indiana.

A reopening of businesses, public services and facilities is not a signal that coronavirus has vanished. As residents venture into spaces that once were closed under state shutdowns, they need to act accordingly. People who refuse to wear a face mask in a store may infect multiple others. Newly infected men, women and children could then share COVID-19 with an unsuspecting loved one. Folks with diabetes, obesity, respiratory ailments and heart disease - a demographic group highly prevalent in Vigo County - should be wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and avoiding public settings, the Health Department advises.

Instead, too many individuals have abandoned those preventive measures. The signs of summer may have tricked them into letting their guard down. Or, they accept the false narrative that COVID-19's danger is exaggerated for political reasons. Or, they have become apathetic and are just tired of hearing about it.

Terre Haute and its surrounding region must rise above those inclinations.

'œPlease don't be apathetic right now,'ť Brucken warned. 'œIt's just not the right time for that.'ť

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The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin. May 30, 2020.

Ignore Trump - mail-in voting has integrity

Hoosiers should ignore President Donald Trump's tweets and comments trying to discredit voting by mail.

In Indiana, as elsewhere in the country, the standard methods of voting - by mail, early in person and at the polls on election day - have strong safeguards against fraud.

The president tweeted this Tuesday morning:

'œThere is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.'ť

In response, Twitter for the first time posted a retort to the president's tweeting, urging Twitter users to 'œget the facts about mail-in ballots.'ť

Though the president claimed mail-in ballots would lead to a rigged election, Twitter said, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud.

Twitter also called out the president's claim that California would send mail-in ballots to 'œanyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there.'ť In fact, Twitter said, only registered voters will receive ballots.

The fact-check also credited NBC News with reporting that five states already vote entirely by mail and all states offer some form of mail-in absentee voting.

All mail-in ballots in Indiana are logged in a state database to assure that voters don't try to vote again in the same election by mail or in person, according to Madison County Clerk of Courts Olivia Pratt.

In Madison County, all such ballots are stored in a 'œdouble-locked room that requires a bipartisan team to open,'ť Pratt said. 'œThose ballots are not touched again until the morning of the election when bipartisan teams open the envelopes to count the ballots.'ť

No form of voting is 100% free of fraud, but evidence shows that mail-in voting is no more susceptible than in-person voting.

Over the past 20 years, The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has kept track of documented voter fraud cases across the country. Only about 200 of the 1,200 cases involved mail-in ballots. During that time more than 250 million ballots were mailed.

Indiana offers a range of voting options, and Hoosiers should feel comfortable using any of them to participate in the democratic process.

If you requested a mail-in ballot, you should complete it and send it back to your county clerk's office by noon Tuesday with full assurance that your vote will be properly registered. Likewise, if you prefer to vote early in-person, check with your clerk's office on remaining hours to do so.

And if you choose to vote in person Tuesday at a polling site, you should be far more concerned about following public health directives than about whether your ballot will be counted accurately.

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