The Indiana Department of Health COVID Strike Team will be holding a free testing and vaccination clinic this week at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines will be available, as well as PCR COVID testing.
The clinics will be held Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. at the fairgrounds Family Arts Building off of County Road 200S. No appointment is necessary.
Local philanthropists Bob and Helen Haddad have been recognized with the Sagamore of the Wabash award, according to a report from The Republic newspaper.
The couple have been involved with many local fund-raising efforts, including a $1 million campaign to build a new performance space at the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra’s Franklin Street headquarters in 2018. In 2016, the Haddad Family Foundation donated the office building that has housed the orchestra since 2003.
According to the newspaper report, the couple have also been contributors to the Orchard School, University High School, Indianapolis Children’s Choir and Columbus Children’s Choir, Franciscan Health, Indianapolis Public Library, Boy Scouts of America, School on Wheels, Starfish Initiative, Providence Cristo Rey High School and Harrison Center for the Arts.
The Sagamore of the Wabash is the highest honor which the Governor of Indiana bestows. The award was created during the term of Governor Ralph Gates, who served from 1945 to 1949. According to the state website, the term “sagamore” was used by the Native American tribes of the northeastern United States to describe a lesser chief among the tribe to whom the chief would look for wisdom and advice.
Candidates continue to file to run for election in Bartholomew County’s upcoming primaries.
Since our last report a week ago, in the 9th Congressional District race, Matthew Fyfe has filed to run as a Democrat. The seat is being vacated by Congressman Trey Hollingsworth. That district now includes southern Bartholomew County.
Republican State Senator Greg Walker has filed to run for re-election for the district that covers Bartholomew and part of Johnson counties.
In countywide races, Judge Kelly Benjamin has filed to run again for Circuit Court Judge as a Republican. Joshua K. Scherschel has filed to run as a Republican for county prosecutor and Laura DeDomenic filed to run as a Republican for county assessor.
Republican Greg Duke has filed to run for County Council’s 2nd District. He was appointed to the position in November 2020 after DeDomenic stepped down.
Chris West filed to run again as German Township Trustee as a Republican. Republicans Mark Floyd filed for the Clifford Town Council, Levi Brown for the Elizabethtown Town Council and Jerry Bragg for the Hope Town Council.
The last day to file for the major party races is noon on Friday, February 4th in the county clerk’s office. The primary election is Tuesday May 3rd.
With the cold temperatures, Columbus Animal Care Services is offering a reminder on the city’s ordinances regulating outdoor pets, and tips for keeping you pets warm and safe.
The city of Columbus requires that you bring your outside dog indoors into a temperature controlled building, when temperatures drop to 20 degrees or below.
If you have outdoor pets, you need to make sure you have adequate shelter and drinkable water. Water bowls can freeze quickly in extremely cold temperatures and if pets can’t get to their water, they are more likely to drink from puddles that contain antifreeze or other toxic chemicals.
Your dog house should keep your dog dry and help them maintain their body heat. It should only be big enough for the dog to turn around inside and not much bigger. You should place the opening to the south and cover the entrance with heavy plastic or cloth strips. Also, straw provides much better bedding material in the cold than blankets.
Columbus Animal Care Services does have several doghouses available. You can call the shelter to check on availability at 812-376-2505
An 8-year-old girl kidnapped from Nevada was rescued Friday evening at Brown County State Park.
According to reports from the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were called to the park Friday evening after a suspicious looking man was seen with a girl near the park’s south gate. Police stopped the vehicle for a traffic infraction on Main Road within the park. The driver refused to identify himself and was taken into custody.
Police determined that the man was Daniel N. Eggers, of Nevada, who was wanted on multiple warrants including kidnapping. Police also found that the girl in the vehicle with him was the kidnapping victim.
Eggers is being held on local charges and for extradition to Nevada, according to the sheriff’s department. The girl was turned over to the Department of Child Services.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Brown County State Park staff and the Nashville police department assisted with the incident.
The Edinburgh Police Department plans to start a drone program and to replace officers’ bulletproof vests after receiving a safety grant from the Indiana Public Employers Plan.
Chief Doyne Little and Edinburgh Town Manager Dan Cartwright say that the town is receiving a nearly $24 thousand dollar grant from the state workers compensation program. The money will purchase two drones as well as replacement vests for the members of the reserve program.
Little said the drone program will be used for many applications including crash investigations, searches for missing children and for building and fire inspections.
IPEP partners with its member agencies to enhance their safety programs by providing an incentive for up to 80% of the purchase price for safety equipment or safety training programs which reduce or limit workers compensation exposure, according to the company website.
Cummins and Isuzu will be creating a prototype battery electric truck to demonstrate in North America, with the hopes of commercializing medium-duty battery trucks with Cummins-powered systems across the region.
The Colubmus based engine maker announced the agreement yesterday, saying this is the first zero-emissions solution to be facilitated under the partnership with Isuzu Motors Limited formed in 2019. Cummins will integrate its Cummins PowerDrive6000 powertrain with Isuzu’s F-Series truck and will demonstrate the product to North American fleets later this year.
Assuming a successful demonstration and pilot phase the companies will explore opportunities to build the vehicles.
Cummins and Isuzu say they will continue to support customers in achieving zero-emissions and the companies will seek opportunities to further expand collaborations to drive global growth.
The Arc of Bartholomew County is changing the date for its upcoming chocolate fundraiser due to the spike in COVID-19 cases.
Originally set for Feb. 18th, the Always Ready for Chocolate event will now be held on June 25th from from 6:45 to 9 p.m. at The Commons. There will be live entertainment, tasty treats and local vendors offering chocolate and other desserts. The Arc of Bartholomew County supports local individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
You can get more information on the web at thearcbc.org.
You will soon see new signs officially replacing Fair Oaks Mall with Nexus Park and other work is ongoing at the site.
The city and Columbus Regional Health purchased the 35-acre mall site at 25th Street and Central Avenue in 2018 with an eye to making the property into a health, wellness, sports and recreation center for the city.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop explains that the old signs came down on Wednesday.
They will soon be replaced with new signs sporting distinctive fonts and colors to show something new is happening at the site.
Lienhoop said that work has begun on CRH’s portion of the building and a new window was installed so mall walkers can watch the progress.
The city hopes to put its portion out to bid in March, and begin construction in June, the mayor said.
The number of COVID-19 patients taking up Bartholomew County hospital beds remain high, but not quite at the record level seen earlier this week.
The Bartholomew County COVID-19 Community Task Force released numbers yesterday, showing 65 hospitalizations for the disease on Wednesday, down slightly from Monday’s all-time high of 69. The numbers have stayed above 50 hospitalizations in the county for most of the past month.
During the worst of the pandemic surge last winter, there were only 59 local hospitalizations.
Indiana has set a new record level of hospitalizations due to COVID-19, with more than 3,500 people hospitalized with the virus as of Thursday. Last week, the state broke a record with 3,467 hospitalizations, which exceeded a record from November of 2020 when 3,460 were in the hospital. Health officials say there are now just over ten-percent of ICU beds available across the state.
Bartholomew County did set a new record for positive test results, with 290 on Wednesday. That tops the previous high 283 positive test results on Jan. 12th.
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