Some of the more than seven-thousand Afghan refugees temporarily housed at Camp Atterbury will be staying in Indiana permanently.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says about 250 refugees so far will make Indiana their new home. Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry announced last week 75 Afghans would be settling there. Aaron Batt, D-H-S’s lead coordinator at Camp Atterbury for the resettlement operation, says others so far have left the base for Indianapolis, Bloomington, Muncie, Hammond, South Bend, Terre Haute and Columbus.

About 7,200 Afghans have been housed temporarily at Camp Atterbury. Batt says about half have been resettled so far. The department’s goal is to finish processing the rest by New Year’s.

State Department representative Christine Elder says Indiana has been “the gold standard” in helping Afghans adjust to their new lives and get resettled. Governor Holcomb says he was inspired by what he describes as the look of hope on the faces of refugees who fled chaos at home and now see a path to peace and security opened to them.

“That peace is priceless, and it fuels us to want to do more,” Holcomb says.

Holcomb says individual Hoosiers have recognized a shared responsibility, and met it. He says he’s heard secondhand of several companies offering jobs to dozens of refugees, and promising to work around language barriers or other difficulties.

Cole Varga with the resettlement agency Exodus says many of those jobs have been low-skill warehouse jobs with companies like Amazon and Wal-Mart, which are trying to add staff amid a labor shortage and the approaching holiday rush. But Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Fred Payne says there have been offers of help from just about every industry sector.

Part of the DHS mission at the camp is to assess refugees’ job skills, and steer them into either job training or adult education programs to get them ready for life in the United States. Varga says Exodus has used federal funding to help Afghans with their first couple of months of expenses in new homes, including rent, utilities and Internet service, to help them get their feet under them. And the state is still coordinating donations of clothes, toys, and personal items like nail clippers.

Donations of diapers and baby formula are also needed. 30 women have given birth since arriving at Camp Atterbury.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana.

Photo credit: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Collin S. MacKown, 14th Public Affairs Detachment. Spc. William Shafer, a soldier assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, distributes cold weather gear to Afghan guests as part of Operation Allies Welcome at Camp Atterbury, Ind., Nov. 3rd. Donated winter apparel received for Afghan guests included coats, shoes, hats, and gloves. 

People across Indiana have provided the Afghan evacuees at Camp Atterbury with more than a million items.

But more help is still needed.

Hoosiers have donated over 1.5 million items so far, according to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.  Items currently in high demand include:

• Bottle brushes
• Bras
• Closed-toed shoes in all sizes
• Fingernail clippers
• Men’s pants in various sizes

Only new items in original packaging are accepted.

You can donate locally at the Indiana National Guard armory on Arnold Street in Columbus. It and seven other armories around the state are open to accept donations for Operation Allies Welcome from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting again on Monday.

Other armories that are accepting donations include:

• Evansville: 3300 E. Division St., Evansville, IN, 47715
• Fort Wayne: 130 W. Cook Road, Fort Wayne, IN, 46825
• Kessler (Indy): 2625 W. Kessler Blvd N Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46222
• Lafayette: 5280 Haggarty Lane, Lafayette, IN, 47905
• New Albany: 2909 Grant Line Road, New Albany, IN, 47150
• Terre Haute: 3614 Maple Avenue, Terre Haute, IN, 47804
• South Bend: 1901 S. Kemble Avenue, South Bend, IN, 46613

For more information on how you can donate items or money to Team Rubicon, visit www.teamrubiconusa.org.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana

Photo credit: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Trinity Carter / 14th Public Affairs Detachment. Amanda Wallace, a volunteer with Member Club United Soccer, coaches and plays soccer with Afghan guests during a two-day soccer and futsal event hosted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Indiana Soccer Association as part of Operations Allies Welcome at Camp Atterbury, Ind., Nov. 9th.

A fire damaged a vacant Columbus home last night.

According to reports from Columbus Fire Department, firefighters were called to the 900 block of Short Wilson Street at about 8:56 last night after witnesses saw smoke coming from a home. Firefighters feared that there might be residents inside and forced their way inside. After crawling through the smoke, firefighters found no one was home but a bed was on fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished and an investigation discovered some charring to roof joints in the attic, but the fire did not spread there. Damage was isolated to the bedroom and caused about $15 thousand dollars in damages.

The homeowner said the home had been vacant for about two weeks. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department

The Petersville Convenience trash and recycling collection site has been closed for the last two weekends, but will be operational again on Saturday, according to the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District.

The county agency says that the refuse site was closed over the past few weeks on Saturdays because of two separate electrical problems. However the site will be open this Saturday from 8 to 3 to take residential bagged trash and recycling for Bartholomew County residents. The Petersville Convenience Site is on East 25th Street.

According to the agency, the Harrison Township Convenience Site is also open from 8 to 3 on Saturday. That is on West Old National Road.

The Bartholomew County Landfill, the Columbus/Bartholomew Recycling Center and the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District offices will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.

The recycling Center and offices will also be closed Friday but the landfill is open normal hours.

Columbus Parks and Recreation will be holding its annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

You can take part in the 5k Run/Walk starting at Hamilton Community Center & Ice Arena on Lincoln Park Drive at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.

There will also be a virtual element. ​You are encouraged to post photos or videos of your 5K run or walk with your family and friends before Sunday.

Donations will be accepted for the Chuck Wilt Youth Scholarship Fund. The fund approves up to $140 per child per calendar year to cover the cost of sports or recreation programs they may not otherwise be able to experience.

Pre-registration is encouraged. You can find more information here.

Indiana State Police will be joining hundreds of law enforcement agencies from across the state for the Safe Family Travel campaign. You will see more officers out over the next six weeks, to discourage impaired driving and to ensure drivers and passengers are properly buckled.

The increased high-visibility patrols are funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. They will be concentrated around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.

Last year during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, there were 2,352 crashes in Indiana which resulted in 450 injuries and eight fatalities.

Two people were arrested on drug dealing charges after a traffic stop Monday in Jackson County after more than a pound and a half of methamphetamine was found in their vehicle.

According to Indiana State Police reports, troopers pulled over a vehicle just south of the Seymour exit Monday for several traffic violations. But the trooper became suspicious and his police dog alerted to the odor of drugs in the vehicle.

A search uncovered about 1.6 pounds of meth, along with fentanyl pills, three guns, drug paraphernalia and about $2,000 in cash.

The driver, 36-year-old Patrick J. Doornbos and a passenger, 30-year-old Amber L. Balser, both of Monticello were arrested on charges of Dealing in and possessing methamphetamine, and for possessing the narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

Doornbos is also facing an additional charge of possession of a handgun by a serious violent felon. Balser is being charged with possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

Evidence photo courtesy of Indiana State Police

Two area hospitals are announcing their plans to comply with a federal mandate on COVID-19 vaccination for staff.

Columbus Regional Health and Schneck Medical Center in Seymour issued a joint statement today, saying that they intend to comply with the mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid that requires all healthcare facilities workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Members of the workforce must receive their single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the first dose of the Moderna and Pfizer two-dose vaccines by December 5th. The second dose must be taken by January 4th.

The workforce includes hospital employees, licensed practitioners, students, trainees, volunteers, and individuals who provide care, treatment, or other services for hospitals or patients under contract or other agreement.

Employees can also show proof of a valid exemption from receiving the vaccine.

The majority of patients served by Columbus Regional Health and Schneck Medical Center are covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

Dr. Eric Fish, president and CEO of Schneck, said that the vaccines are safe and effective. He said that COVID-19 vaccines cannot make you sick with the virus and they do not contain the virus that causes COVID-19.

He urged everyone to “Protect yourself. Protect your loved ones. Protect your community.”

The hospitals said that they are working to achieve compliance with the mandate. Both facilities are committed to ongoing communication and transparency with the patients and communities, as well as employees.

The Bartholomew County Highway Department is getting close to a move into its new highway garage on rural 25th street.

County Commissioners approved several change orders and expenses at the site during their meeting Monday. The five final change orders for the project totalled more than $21 thousand dollars. Those included changes to doors, paneling, caulking, electrical outlets and painting and including a panic button in an electrical room, a requirement to occupy the building.

Commissioners President Larry Kleinhenz said that the county would soon be issuing a certificate of occupancy for the new building. A final inspection was set for Monday afternoon and Kleinhenz said he was sure that the county would pass that inspection.

The county has been working for years to move out of its aging existing facility on State Street.

Jennings County Sheriff’s Department is working to fill a Humvee with toys to take to children in need for Christmas.

The department is partnering with Jennings County Helping Hands and Family Ford. The department Humvee will be at Family Ford and toys will be accepted until Dec. 20th. The toys will be wrapped by Helping Hands and delivered to those in need by sheriff’s department staff.