Pregnant worker protections short of Indiana governor s goal
TOM DAVIES, Associated Press
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Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, speaks during a news conference at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on Thursday, April 1, 2021. Supporters of boosting Indiana s cigarette tax expressed frustration Friday after Bray said Senate Republicans would not include the tax increase in their state budget plan being released next week.Tom Davies/AP
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana legislators are turning aside for the second straight year an appeal from Gov. Eric Holcomb for a law requiring more businesses to provide workplace accommodations for pregnant women.
Such steps, such as longer breaks or transfers to less physical work, are cast by supporters as ways of improving Indiana’s infant mortality rate, which federal statistics show was the country’s 14th worst in 2018 with 525 infant deaths.
In an email to government and health officials Wednesday night, Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood sharply criticized St. Joseph Countyâs health officer for renewing the countyâs mask order, suggesting the move blindsided local leaders who expected the order to be downgraded to an advisory.
Wood has not publicly spoken about Dr. Robert Einterzâs decision Monday to renew the order through May and has declined Tribune requests for comment.
But the email, sent after 11 p.m. Wednesday, was the latest salvo by Republican elected officials who say Einterz ignored a consensus among city and county leaders that the order should be changed to a recommendation, mirroring Gov. Eric Holcombâs path on COVID-19 restrictions.
SOUTH BEND — Although local officials are encouraged by the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in St. Joseph County, the arrival of a new virus strain still presents a concern as
The last-minute save that will allow the St. Joseph County Health Department to hire more workers for its COVID-19 vaccine clinic comes with a sigh of relief â and a head-scratching moment.
Why did one County Council member block a request by the health department, which comes as the state plans to increase the countyâs daily vaccine allotment to 1,000 doses?
Because of council rules, a single vote cast by Councilman Mark Root, R-District I, was enough to keep the request from making it onto Tuesday eveningâs council agenda. It threatened to put off funding for extra workers by at least a month. That spurred Andy Kostielney, president of the County Commissioners, to issue an executive order allowing the department to hire more workers. County officials learned Monday the state would double the health departmentâs supply of vaccine, starting next week.