Bartholomew County Emergency Management is reporting that the county’s travel status has been downgraded to a Yellow Advisory Level.

According to the agency, roads have been cleared, although some have snow remaining on them. Sunday’s weather helped to improve conditions across the county. You should continue to use caution as some slick spots may remain over the next few days in some areas.

Brown, Johnson, Shelby, Decatur and Jackson counties are all also still under a yellow travel advisory.

Jennings County remains in the Orange Travel Watch status. That means conditions are threatening to the safety of the public. During a travel watch only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says the worst of last week’s snowstorm hit northern Indiana, with a band around Lafayette, Logansport and Kokomo getting 12 to 18 inches of snow.

According to the weather service, Bartholomew County received between 6.5 inches in Taylorsville to 5.5 inches in Columbus.

In the neighboring counties, Johnson County was hit the hardest with 8.7 inches in Greenwood and 7.9 inches in Franklin. Brown County had 6.3 inches at Bean Blossom and 4.4 at Nashville, Decatur County had 3 inches at Lake Santee. Jackson County ranged from 4.8 inches in Brownstown to 2.4 inches in Seymour. And Jennings County had 4.3 inches at North Vernon.

15 of the 39 central Indiana counties declared travel warnings during the storm.

In our area, as of 9:10 a.m., Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jennings and Shelby counties have  orange travel watches in place. Which means that conditions are threatening and you should only travel if it is essential such as to work or for emergencies.

Johnson and Jackson counties are under a yellow travel advisory, the lowest level of local travel restrictions, meaning you should use caution or avoid areas that are restricted.

Authorities recommend that you stay home if you can.

The National Weather Service says that if you have to travel, you should make sure you have an emergency kit with an extra flashlight, food, water and a blanket in your vehicle.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

Bartholomew County is lifting its red travel warning as of 2 p.m. this afternoon, downgrading to an orange travel watch. Which means that conditions are threatening and you should only travel if it is essential such as to work or for emergencies.

Shannan Cooke, head of the Bartholomew County Emergency Management department, says that county emergency officials  met at noon today to consider the current conditions and whether to keep or relax the travel restrictions. She said road conditions have improved in most areas throughout the county and crews are making great progress. However, extreme cold temperatures are expected today that will lead to re-freezing of some areas.

She asked that if you not need to travel, then stay home. If you must go out, allow yourself extra time to reach your destination and use caution.

Bartholomew County joins Johnson and Shelby counties under an orange travel watch. Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties still have red travel warnings in place, the highest level of local travel restrictions. Under red conditions travel may be restricted to emergency workers only and you should refrain from all travel.

Many businesses are announcing closings and delays. You can check out the most up to date list here:

Businesses and events

Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.

Although our area is no longer under a winter storm warning, and a winter weather advisory expired at 7 this morning, roads are still extremely dangerous.

Officials are urging you to stay off the roads this morning. Most area counties are under a red travel warning, meaning you should refrain from all travel.

Sgt. Stephen Wheeles with the Indiana State Police says there have been multiple crashes on I-65 this morning near the Jonesville exit. He says roadways are still ice and snow covered and the cold temperature means pavement could freeze and become slick.

Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur Jackson and Jennings counties have red travel warnings in place this morning, the highest level of local travel restrictions.

Shannan Cooke, head of the Bartholomew County Emergency Management department, says that red travel warning will not likely change until mid-morning or later, if at all. She said officials will take into account current conditions, but also the expected cold temperatures coming tonight and additional refreezing of roadways.

Johnson and Shelby counties are under an orange travel watch, which means that conditions are threatening and you should only travel if it is essential such as to work or for emergencies.

You could still see some light snow with minor accumulations. But blowing snow will continue to be a hazard, lowering visibility.

Temperatures tonight are expected to drop to -1.

Photo: A semi crash on Interstate 65 near Jonesville exit this morning. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.

Bartholomew County is seeing some improvement in its COVID-19 numbers.

According to numbers released last night by the Bartholomew County Community COVID-19 Task Force, the number of hospitalizations is at less than half of its all-time high and positive COVID tests are only a third of record highs.

The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have dropped to 32 and the number of new positive tests were 97 as of Wednesday’s numbers. Those are both down from recent record highs of 70 COVID-19 patients on January 17th and 326 positive test results on Jan. 27th, according to Indiana State Department of Health records.

Of those hospitalized in Bartholomew County, the largest age group hospitalized here is those 80+ with 7 patients. The 50-59, 60-69 and 70-79 age groups each have 6 people hospitalized. There are three 20-year-olds hospitalized, two 30-year-olds, a single person in their 40s and a single child. No 18- to 19-year-olds are hospitalized.

Every county in Indiana is still showing severe spread of the disease according to the state health department.

Duke Energy has crews standing by to restore power across Indiana but so far there are few outages.

Duke Energy is reporting less than 100 customers without power this morning across Indiana. Most of those customers are in central Indiana.

Chip Orben, with Duke, reports that nearly 1,500 workers are standing by to restore power as soon as they can safely do so. The workers include power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers, including some brought in from North and South Carolina to help in Indiana.

However Duke is cautioning that the hazardous road conditions could delay crews’ ability to begin restoring power. More than six inches of heavy, wet snow and ice buildup from freezing rain can both result in power outages.

With the expected cold temperatures over the next few days and nights, you should make alternative housing arrangements, especially if you have elderly residents or those with special medical needs.

To report power outages, you can text “OUT” to 57801 or call 800-343-3525.

The Jackson County Chamber is now accepting applications for the Dick Moren Agribusiness Scholarships.

Two scholarships are awarded to graduating seniors from a Jackson County school who will pursue an agriculture-related degree starting this fall.

The Chamber hosts a breakfast for the scholarship winners, their families, area FFA members, farmers and chamber members. This year’s breakfast is scheduled for 7 a.m. on April 8th at the Seymour High School Ag-Science Facility.

You can get a scholarship application on the chamber website at jacksoncochamber.com com, in e-mail from [email protected] or from the chamber offices.

If you are interested in being a sponsor for the breakfast or want to register to attend, you can go to the chamber website or call 812-522-3681.

Emergency officials are warning that we could still see 4 to 7 inches of snow in our area today, along with a 10th of an inch of ice is possible. That comes on top of all the water already on the ground beginning to freeze as temperatures fall, further complicating travel and cleanup efforts.

According to the Bartholomew County Emergency Management agency, the heaviest snow hitting the area should be falling until 6 p.m. this evening before tapering off. Snow should end between 2 and 5 a.m. Friday morning.

You can also expect to see 35 to 45 mph winds until 7 this evening, which will cause blowing and drifting snow.

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for our area until 1 Friday morning. The winter storm warning extends south to Seymour. South of that an Ice Storm Warning is in place until 7 p.m. Friday morning.

Bartholomew, Jackson and Brown counties have red travel warnings in place this morning. Under a red travel warning, you should refrain from all travel, comply with emergency measures, cooperate with officials executing emergency operations plans and obey directions from officers.

Jennings, Johnson, Decatur and Shelby counties are under an orange travel watch, which means that conditions are threatening and you should only travel if it is essential such as to work or for emergencies.

Officials say roads, streets and highways are in especially bad shape today because the heavy rain overnight meant they could not be pre-treated.

Photo: Two semis crashed this morning on I-74 in Shelby County. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.

Columbus firefighters rescued an unconscious man from the scene of a fire early Wednesday morning.

According to reports from the Columbus Fire Department, firefighters were called to the Williamsburg Court Apartments about a structure fire at about 2:44 a.m. yesterday morning. One occupant was reportedly trapped in the basement level apartment. When firefighters arrived, they saw no smoke or flames but could smell smoke when they entered the building.

Firefighters breached the locked apartment door and encountered heavy smoke and heat. About two feet inside the door a thermal imaging camera revealed an unconscious man on the floor. After pulling him to a stairwell, Columbus police helped carry the man outside. Columbus Regional Health paramedics transported him to the hospital for treatment. .

His condition is not known but it appeared to be critical at the scene, firefighters said.

Firefighters went back inside and found there were no more occupants and there were no flames. Investigators believe that the fire started in the kitchen area and was doused due to a lack of oxygen before rescue workers arrived. Fire damages were restricted to the kitchen, but smoke damage was visible in several apartments. Damages are estimated at $50,000.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department

Hope the groundhog says we are in for an early spring, despite the current bad weather.

According to HSJ Online, the Hope news website, the event this morning under the shelter house on the Hope Town Square led to Hope’s prediction after she could not see her shadow.

Hope the groundhog is almost two years old and this is her second year being the centerpiece of the area Groundhog Day festivities. She is a resident of Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators.

For the previous five years of the event, the weather forecasting marmot was Grubby, also a Utopia resident. However Grubby was too ill to participate last year and died later in the year, according to the news website.

You can read more here.