The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is declaring a statewide Air Quality Action Day alert for today due to the smoke from western wildfires that have moved into Indiana.

IDEM is forecasting high levels of fine particles in the air due to smoke from wildfires in the western United States and southern Canada. Those particles are composed of microscopic dust, soot, and liquid that settles deep into the lungs and cannot be easily exhaled. People already at risk are particularly vulnerable after several days of high exposure. The levels are expected to be in Orange or Unhealthy range for sensitive groups range.

Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor exposure.

IDEM says there are actions you can take to reduce the amount of fine particles in the air. Those include:

• Reduce activity time outdoors to reduce unhealthy exposure to the fine particles and avoid exercising near busy roads.
• Avoid burning wood and other unnecessary fires.
• Avoid using the drive-through and combine errands into one trip.
• Avoid refueling your vehicle or using gasoline-powered lawn equipment.
• Turn off your engine when idling for more than 30 seconds.
• Conserve energy by turning off lights or setting the air conditioner to 75 degrees or above.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have adopted a set of COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions for the new school year.

The school board this week approved a draft plan from the district staff guiding the reopening of the schools.

The plan recommends the use of face coverings be optional for all staff members and students. However, they are recommended for those at risk or who are not vaccinated.

Masks will be required on school buses, due to the federal mandate for masks on public transportation.

Parents spoke for and against the plan at Monday night’s meeting.

Dr. Tamara Iorio, a local pediatrician, said that masks work:

Dr. Amy Hale, a local physician and parent, urged the schools to follow CDC guidance, especially on masking young children who can’t yet get vaccinated.

Angie Grimes, a parent of five, said that parents are responsible for their children’s health. She said that a teacher chastised her daughter after overhearing that she would not be getting the vaccine.

Grimes said that the teacher then showed the entire class a video from Vox Media which stated that COVID-19 is worse than the flu.

Among other measures approved by BCSC, the plan recommends physical distancing of 3 feet in classrooms. However contact tracing will be conducted for those who are within six feet of each other. And the use of hallway lockers will be allowed, but managed to limit opportunities for large group gatherings.

As the city of Columbus begins putting together next year’s budget, things are not looking as bleak as they did just last year.

Local governments were expecting huge shortfalls, because of reduced fees and tax revenues caused by the pandemic. However Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said that the city is actually looking at being down about a million dollars over previous years.

Local governments lost revenues when facilities were closed, such as the Donner Center pool. But ongoing costs remained, he said.

Lienhoop said that the city will also be able to provide funding to help other agencies that were struck hard by the pandemic, such as not for profits which had to cancel their large annual fundraisers.

The Columbus and Bartholomew County bicentennial will be celebrated Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Henry Breeding Farm’s Family Fun on the Farm event organized by the Bartholomew County Historical Society.

Saturday’s hands-on event will include blacksmithing, pewter pouring, ceramics, corn shelling and story time, among other events.

Diane Robbins with the historical society talked recently about the history of the farm:

The event is sponsored by Landmark Farms Foundation and admission is free.

The Henry Breeding Farm is at 13730 N. County Road 100W near Edinburgh.

You are encouraged to register for Saturday’s event by calling 812-372-3541

You can get more information online at bartholomewhistory.org.

The Bartholomew County Health Department and Windrose Health’s mobile unit will be offering a COVID-19 vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department at 849 E. County Road 450S.

The clinic will be giving doses of the Pfizer vaccine to those 12 years old or older.

There will be free gifts for those who get vaccinated.

Walk-ins are welcome but you can also register by calling Windrose Health at 317-680-9901.

A crash early Saturday morning led to the arrest of a wanted Columbus man on several charges.

Columbus police are reporting that officers were called to the 1100 block of Phoenix Court at about 12:20 a.m. after a driver fled the scene after a crash. The crashed vehicle was soon found in the 1100 block of Central Avenue. The driver initially gave police a fake name, but they determined he was 46-year-old Edward A. McAllister of Columbus, who was wanted on three outstanding Bartholomew County warrants.

McAllister allegedly had poor balance and officers smelled alcohol on his breath.

After a blood test at Columbus Regional Hospital, he was arrested on preliminary charges of:

• Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated (Prior Conviction)
• False Informing
• Leaving the Scene of an Accident
• Possession of Methamphetamine and Drug Paraphernalia

The winners of this year’s Dick Moren Scholarships will be recognized next month at a breakfast hosted by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.

This year’s scholarships are being awarded to Kourtney Otte, of Seymour, and Abby Stuckwisch, of Brownstown. The scholarships are open to any Jackson County high school senior who will pursue an Ag related degree at a college or university.

Otte, a senior at Seymour High School was awarded the $1,000 scholarship. She is the daughter of William and Angie Mousa and will pursue a degree in Agriculture Education at Purdue University.

Stuckwisch, a senior at Brownstown Central High School, was awarded the $500 scholarship. Macey is the daughter of Keith and Misty Stuckwisch and will pursue an Agribusiness Management degree at Ivy Tech Community College.

The chamber breakfast will be August 13th at the Seymour High School Ag-Science Facility and will include the scholarship winners, their families, area FFA members, farmers and Chamber members.

To become a sponsor or register to attend the breakfast, you can call 812-522-3681 or visit www.jacksoncochamber.com

The Bartholomew County Health Department and Windrose Health’s mobile unit will be offering a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on the Hartsville Town Square from 10 to 1 today.

The clinic will be giving doses of the Pfizer vaccine to those 12 years old or older.

There will be free gifts for those who get vaccinated.

There will also be a clinic from 10 to 2 tomorrow at the Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Department at 849 E. County Road 450S.

Walk-ins are welcome but you can also register by calling Windrose Health at 317-680-9901.

A $3.2 million dollar empty building being planned by Force Construction for the Edinburgh area will be a major tool to help economic development in the northwestern part of Bartholomew County, according to economic development officials.

Jason Hester, head of the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp. told the Bartholomew County Commissioners yesterday that the county has missed out on more than 50 prospective businesses simply because there were no ready and open buildings to use here. Hester said he has been begging local developers to consider shell buildings as a way to help lure companies. The Force shell building, on County Road 800N, will initially be 50,000 square feet with walls, a high ceiling and unfinished floor. It could be expanded to 400,000 square feet on the 11 acres of property.

Force Holdings was one of two companies to be granted tax abatements last week by the Bartholomew County Council in the newly designated economic development area in the Taylorsville and Edinburgh corner of the county. Hester said because the properties are also in the county’s Tax Increment Financing District, the commissioners also needed to consent to the abatement requests.

County Commissioners voted unanimously to consent to the Force request, as well as a second abatement request from the Georg Utz company.

The National Weather Service says this has been the wettest first half of the summer in parts of central Indiana, since records started being kept. And our area has been especially damp this year.

According to the Indianapolis office, central Indiana normally gets just over 7 inches of rain between June 1st and July 16th. This year however, there has been between 10 and 18 inches of rain across the area. The wettest part has been Owen and Monroe counties which have had between 20 and 22 inches of rain. The site at Indiana University in Bloomington has recorded 16.91″ inches during this period, making it the rainiest first-half of summer in the site’s 126-yr record. That breaks the old record of 14.64″ set in 2008.

That soggy path continues along State Road 46, including Brown, Bartholomew and Decatur counties which have had 15 to 19″ of rain in the past six weeks.