Tag: opioid settlement

County commissioner candidates Peter Iversen, Julie Thomas field questions on new jail, housing

On Saturday afternoon, a total of five candidates in two different Democratic Party primary races for county commissioner fielded questions at a forum hosted by League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County.

The forum took place in the auditorium of the downtown Bloomington location of the Monroe County Public Library.

In one race, incumbent Julie Thomas is competing with Peter Iversen for the party’s nomination. Iversen currently serves on the county council.

In the other race, incumbent Penny Githens is competing for the nomination with Jody Madeira, an Indiana University law professor, and Steve Volan, a former Bloomington city councilmember.

As a group of five, over the course of 90 minutes, they answered a dozen questions that asked for their thoughts on a new jail, housing,  and more.

This report focuses on just the race between Thomas and Iversen. The B Square will report on the other race separately.

At a mid-February event hosted by the Building Association of South Central Indiana (BASCI), Iversen and Thomas answered questions from moderator John Fernandez, who is now vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill.

The full forum from Saturday (March 23) is available to watch on CATS. Below is a summary of just a few highlights, which are not necessarily organized in the chronological order of the forum.

The event was cosponsored by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, Monroe County NAACP, Monroe County NOW, IU PACE, IU BIG Voting Challenge, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Kappa Tau Omega Chapter.

Moderating the forum was Maria Douglas who is development director for Middle Way House. Continue reading “County commissioner candidates Peter Iversen, Julie Thomas field questions on new jail, housing” →

Bloomington puts first installment of opioid settlement money toward downtown outreach, matching grant for substance abuse treatment

At its Tuesday meeting, Bloomington’s city council approved the appropriation of $391,906—to address substance abuse, outreach to the houseless community, and other programs to be determined by the city’s community and family resources department (CFRD).

The money came from the proceeds of a global settlement in a class action lawsuit that was filed against several pharmaceutical companies. More than 2,000 federal lawsuits, including the joint action filed in February 2018 by Monroe County and Bloomington,  were consolidated in the Northern District of Ohio.

The amount appropriated on Monday ($391,906) was the total paid to the city of Bloomington in 2022 through the opioid settlement. That total was made up of $315,334 in restricted funds and $76,572 in unrestricted funds.

The restricted funds have to be spent on treatment, prevention, and care for substance use disorder.

As a part of the opioid settlement agreement, Bloomington is supposed to receive a total of about $1.95 million over a period of 18 years.

On Tuesday, the presentation of the appropriation request was made to the city council by CFRD head Beverly Calender-Anderson. Continue reading “Bloomington puts first installment of opioid settlement money toward downtown outreach, matching grant for substance abuse treatment” →

Monroe County, Bloomington opt back in for opioid lawsuit settlement, look to net $4.6M so far

chart showing non-fatal emergency Department Visits involving any opioid overdose for Monroe County Indiana. The lines for both jurisdictions show an increasing trend.
The portion of the data charted out in the city of Bloomington and Monroe County’s 2018 lawsuit is from 2011 to 2015. Image links to the Indiana State Department of Health datasets.

On Wednesday, Monroe County government and the city of Bloomington both opted back in to the state of Indiana’s process for allocation of settlement money from a class action lawsuit.

After deducting 8.7 percent in attorney fees, in the initial round of payouts, the two local governments look to net a total of around $4.6 million over a few years.

The breakdown would be $2,689,674 for Monroe County and $1,944,711 for Bloomington.

The proceeds will come from a global settlement in a class action lawsuit that was filed against several pharmaceutical companies. More than 2,000 federal lawsuits, including the joint action filed in February 2018 by Monroe County and Bloomington, were consolidated in the Northern District of Ohio. Continue reading “Monroe County, Bloomington opt back in for opioid lawsuit settlement, look to net $4.6M so far” →