The Bartholomew County Health Department is seeking a grant to help the agency assess the health needs of local schools.

Amanda Organist, with the public nursing division, asked the County Council to approve the grant application at the council’s meeting this week. She said that the state is offering funds to hire more nursing staff to liasion with the county’s schools to make sure that they are reporting and categorizing COVID cases correctly, as well as to help with COVID vaccination clinics and testing. She said the vaccination and testing program is still very busy every day.

Organist said she is already in near daily contact with the schools in the county.

The size of the grant is determined by the size of the county, and Bartholomew County would be asking for $330 thousand dollars to hire three contracted nurses for two years to assist with the work. While the grant would cover IT equipment, the positions would receive no benefits.

Organist said she has a strong lead already on one nurse, and is looking for applicants for two more.

Council approved the grant application.

Local state legislators are touting a bill clearing the Indiana House that will make it easier to carry a gun in Indiana.

Republican State Reps. Ryan Lauer of Columbus and Jim Lucas of Seymour were co-authors of the Lawful Carry bill that passed the House on Wednesday. The bill would allow law-abiding adults who are legally eligible to own a gun, to carry a gun without a permit.

Lucas called the bill “common-sense legislation to ensure Hoosiers can exercise their basic Second Amendment Right without having to wait weeks to receive a state-mandated license.”

Lauer said that the bill helps “Hoosiers who can already lawfully own a firearm protect themselves and their family, he said. “This legislation benefits responsible gun owners and increases penalties for illegal gun crimes. There are also strong processes already in place that are designed to prevent firearms from ending up in the wrong hands.”

Hoosiers who purchase a firearm are still required to complete the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form, and be approved by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

The bill now moves to the Indiana Senate.

Columbus firefighters rescued a worker who had a nail gun injury on the second story of an house under construction yesterday.

According to Columbus Fire Department reports, firefighters were called to the 5600 block of Poplar Woods Court at about 9:34 Thursday morning. Firefighters and medics found that a nailgun had discharged and a more than 3 inch long framing nail had pierced the back of the knee of the worker. He was in stable condition but unable to move his leg.

The only apparent way down was via a construction ladder, but instead firefighters used the department’s ladder truck to scoop up the man from a window and take him to a waiting ambulance. He was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department

The U.S. Congressman representing Indiana’s 9th Congressional District is not running for re-election.

Republican Representative Trey Hollingsworth has been in office since being elected in 2016. In a Facebook post, he says he made a pledge to limit his terms. Hollingsworth says the founders of our country didn’t intend for serving the public to be a career. Under the new redistricting maps adopted last year, the 9th Congressional District now includes southern Bartholomew County.

Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks Inc.

Bartholomew and Jackson County REMCs are reporting that scammers are trying to trick you into paying them for a bill that you don’t actually owe.

The power companies are reporting that a few members have received calls claiming to be from REMC, demanding immediate payment of a past due bill or the power will be cut off. REMC stresses that the calls are not coming from the companies and REMC will not call and demand immediate payment from customers.

The Federal Trade Commission says the utility scams can target customers of power, water or gas utilities. The scammers goal is to make you nervous so that you will follow their instructions demanding immediate payment, usually through wiring money by Western Union or Moneygram, buying gift cards or pre-paid debit cards or even with cryptocurrency.

All of those methods are hard for authorities to track and it is almost impossible to recover your money once it is gone.

If you get such a call, you should hang up and call your utility company directly using the number on a recent bill or on the company’s website.

You should never wire money or buy gift cards to pay a bill. That is a payment method used exclusively by scammers.

You can call Jackson County REMC with any questions at 812-358-4458. You can reach Bartholomew County REMC at 812-372-2546

An elderly man was killed Tuesday in Decatur County when the tree he was cutting down fell unexpectedly.

According to reports from the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department, 74-year-old Alvin U. Wuestefeld of Greensburg was working to cut down the tree, damaged in a storm. As he worked on an offshoot of the trunk, the main tree suddenly gave way. His brother-in-law was on the scene to call authorities.

Wuestefeld was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Bartholomew County Highway Department is hoping to overlay seven more roads this year, out of money left over from last year’s Community Crossing Matching Grant program.

Approval for the money came from the state on Nov. 3rd and the county share will be just over $137 thousand dollars. Commissioner Tony London said the second, and smaller disbursement from the state fund, brings the county up to its $1 million dollar maximum match for last year’s grants. This money will not take the place of the regular road plan starting later this year, he said.

County Commissioners said that the seven roads on the plan include portions of N. 1050E, Baker Hollow, Southern Crossing, East 750N, West 400S, Deaver Road and 50W. Commissioners President Carl Lienhoop said the roads were left over from last year’s overlay plan and are all in bad shape.

The County Commissioners plan to open bids for the supplementary overlay program at their January 31st meeting.

The Indiana Department of Health COVID Strike Team will be holding a free testing and vaccination clinic later this month 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 from January 26th to the 29th from noon to 8 p.m. at the fairgrounds Family Arts Building off of County Road 200S. No appointment is necessary.

Columbus Regional Health nurses and health care workers vented their frustrations with the current COVID-19 surge in a national news segment on ABC News.

Becky Bevis, a surgical nurse at CRH, said that she is frustrated and feels like the virus should have been squelched in the first year. She said constantly dealing with the virus leaves her exhausted.

Dr. Lee Kiser, hospitalist at CRH, told ABC that there are fewer health care workers than a year ago. He said that the hospital was prepared for the pandemic to be difficult, but not difficult for two years with no end in sight. In some ways, he said he thinks the community has turned away from doing what needs to be done to stem the pandemic.

Bartholomew County is showing a 7-day positivity rate of 22 percent, slightly lower than the statewide positivity rate of 25.4 percent. Newly reported cases in Bartholomew County, as of Tuesday, stood at 229, a new record high, beating out Friday’s 225. The highest point during last winter’s surge was 126 positive cases.

Bartholomew County had 50 hospitalizations for COVID-19 according to the most recent figures available from the Community COVID-19 Task Force.

You can view the ABC News segment here

Thrive Alliance will be offering its Powerful Tools for Caregivers virtual sessions again starting next week.

The sessions are an educational program that helps family caregivers. Each class consists of six sessions held once a week. They will be held via Zoom from January 19th through February 23rd from 3 to 4:30 on Wednesdays.

Thrive Alliance is also offering the first of a six-part video series called “Help and Hope for Family Caregivers” starting at 2:30 the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 20th. Each program is offered virtually via Zoom and lasts one hour.

For more information or to register you can call 812-372-6918.