In talking with Delaware Township Trustee Debbie Driskell a few days ago, she said her work load has tripled in the past few weeks.  Fall Creek Township Trustee Doug Allman has not seen his township’s work load increase much lately, but his operation is distributing much more food from the food bank in the past two months.  Here is my podcast conversation with Doug Allman.

The weekly update on Fishers road construction for next week is available.  Here is the listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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With the city largely hunkered down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness wants his city prepared once the governor of Indiana slowly begins to open up commerce.  Fadness announced his plan to the public Thursday morning.  Here are my thoughts.

“Today is a conversation about an action-oriented, comprehensive plan that will allow our city to be in a strong position as (Governor Eric Holcomb )and (Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box) make their decisions around recovery and reopening.  Our City of Fishers will be ready.”

That’s how Mayor Scott Fadness opened his Thursday morning news conference announcing a plan to have Fishers set and ready once state officials gradually allow the business community to open up.  The mayor says he will dip into the city’s cash reserves to finance an aggressive COVID-19 testing program, allowing businesses the opportunity to reopen and remain open by combining public health with the city’s economic health.

The testing program, projected to provide 200-300 tests per day, will be financed with about $2.5 million from  cash reserves.  The city will partner with Community Health and Mid-America Labs to conduct the tests.  Fadness expects the testing program to get underway late next week.

The mayor also plans to establish a city health department, using authority granted second-class cities, such as Fishers, under state statute.

The mayor will establish rapid-response teams for any business that, once open, deals with a COVID-19 outbreak.

Fishers plans to partner with the OneZone Chamber of Commerce to administer a $500,000  fund aimed at startup money for local business operations that have been shuttered.

Fadness envisions helping opening businesses with safe practices from health experts to provide confidence for business owners, employees and customers that the businesses are as safe as possible.

The mayor emphasized that at this time, it is critical to join public health and economic growth in dealing with the current challenges.

The city has established a new web site, FishersRecovery.com, with more details on the city’s plans.

(Editor’s Note:  Yes, I know I had announced the end of the local news blog.  But since meetings and news conferences and meetings are being held remotely, I do occasionally participate.  Plus, this is a very big announcement and believe all should know about this story)

In Indiana, township trustees are on the front lines of poor relief.  A township trustee just told me her office’s workload has tripled in the past few weeks, and she expects the worst is yet to come.  That and more in tonight’s Larry’s Log

In Indiana, poor relief is handled by the township trustees.  As the economic indicators point downward, the trustees often begin to see the impact first.  I spoke with Delaware Township Trustee Debbie Driskell about how he office has been impacted by the economic hit resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.

There were a number of novel coronavirus developments today.  Allow me to review just a few facts.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness has been working on responses to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.  The mayor announced at a city council meeting that the third phase of the city’s response to the virus will be released later this week.  Also, the city has started the process of approving a 10-year property tax abatement for Knowledge Services to locate its headquarters in Fishers.  For that and more, here is Larry’s Log:

There has been a lot said and written about the protests staged in several states, including Indiana, in the past few days, protesting the stay at home orders and business closings due to the spread of coronavirus.  The protesters want to start working again in their shut-down industries.

The health experts that specialize in epidemiology are clear that we must practice social distancing or death rates from the novel coronavirus will spike upward.  Those involved in the protests say they just need to work and start bringing in money now.

I have seen much heavy criticism of these protests, particularly the Saturday demonstration at the Indiana Governor’s residence on the north side of Indianapolis.  Those protesting were very close together with few wearing masks.

In politics and public policy, fear can be a key emotion.  Fear can dictate how one advocates for or against public policy and can greatly influence how you vote in an election.  When you can no longer work and money stops coming into your family, fear becomes a very real thing.

Just talk to people involved in food banks.  They have never been so overwhelmed.  Those groups are helping people that have never needed food assistance and never imagined they ever would need such help.

As human beings, we are all in this together.  I have seen one argument that “being in this together” does not mean we are all in the same boat.  Some of us are not working, or working fewer hours.  Some of us continue to work, either out of our homes or as essential employees.

I understand the fear I am seeing, but we all must do whatever we can to stop the spread of this virus.  Because people without symptoms can contract the virus and spread it to others, this is particularly lethal.

Yelling at each other and placing blame doesn’t help right now.  There will be plenty of time to study how this happened and everything that went wrong, and our media is doing a good job of watching all that.

Our common humanity must prevail.  Government and non-governmental organizations must help those without work get through this very terrible period.  We must help each other to keep us all safe.

Do not blame those fearful of this situation.  I understand that emotion.  But let’s pull together and help each other to the extent we can.

The wealthiest among us, some of whom are doing very good work, have a special responsibility.  Organizing protests with a political motive is not the right choice at this moment.

The Paycheck Protection Program, aimed at keeping small businesses going and keeping their staff intact, is out of money until Congress approves more funding.  NBC financial reporter Stephanie Ruhle said recently on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that lots of businesses, such as law firms, who qualify because they have fewer than 500 employees, are doing just fine but are taking this money when the program is not aimed at them.  This is not the time for businesses to take the government money just because they can, Ruhl said.

Speaking with public radio station WBUR in Boston, entrepreneur Mark Cuban said something about businesses that do not use this situation to do something better for society:

“Their brand is going to get destroyed. I mean, how you treat your employees today will have more impact on your brand in future years than any amount of advertising, any amount of anything you literally could do. Because, again, we’re all suffering from this. Every single person is looking to see how their company is treating them, how their employers are treating family members and friends.”

When food banks are overwhelmed with people that never expected to need that help, every business person should pay attention to Mark Cuban’s advice.

We may not all be in the same boat, but as human beings that want to live and want our loved ones to live, we are together and should be united.

Listen to the health experts.  Stay at home to the extent possible.  Wash your hands.  No protest will change any of that.  You cannot live your life in fear.

People in the public eye need to think before they speak.  In today’s Log, I look at three people, a member of congress and two popular TV personalities, and lament the lack of responsibility public figures take when speaking publicly.