IUPUC is being honored by the Arbor Day Foundation for the school’s commitment to effective urban forest management.

The college announced recently that IUPUC is being recognized with the 2021 Tree Campus Higher Education award from the foundation.

IUPUC met Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards. Those include maintaining a tree advisory committee, having a campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual funding for a campus tree program, holding an Arbor Day observance, and hosting student service-learning projects.

IUPUC plans to hold a tree planting event on April 27th to celebrate Arbor Day. Two redbud trees, native to Indiana, will be planted as well as the creation of a rock garden around an established tree on campus, and a giveaway of 100 starter trees.

The campus goal is eventually to have a 40 percent tree canopy for the campus. It is currently at about 14 percent coverage.

For more information, visit go.iupuc.edu/treecampus.

Schneck Medical Center in Seymour is announcing that it has been named one of the top 20 rural and community hospitals in the country, according to the National Rural Health Association.

The award is based on an evaluation by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. The award is based on eight criteria including inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, costs, charge, and financial efficiency.

This is the second consecutive year Schneck has been named to the Top 20.

As part of Severe Weather Preparedness Week, a statewide tornado drill is planned for about 10:15 a.m. this morning.

You will hear emergency sirens going off and radio broadcasts for the drill.

Emergency officials say that the drill is an opportunity for families, schools and businesses to practice severe weather emergency plans. You should make sure your family, including children, know what to do and where to go in the event of a real tornado siren.

In the event of bad weather Tuesday, the drill will be postponed to Wednesday.

U.S. Congressman Greg Pence’s office is accepting entries for the Artistic Discover Contest, a nationwide high school arts competition sponsored by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The contest is open to all high school students in Indiana’s 6th Congressional District. The winning artwork will be displayed for a year in the U.S. Capitol. The winner will also receive two round-trip tickets to Washington D.C. to attend a reception and to meet the Congressman.

The deadline to submit artwork is April 25th.

Artwork entered in the contest may be up to 26 inches by 26 inches, may be up to 4 inches in depth, and not weigh more than 15 pounds. If your artwork is selected as the winning piece, it must arrive framed and must still measure no larger than the above maximum dimensions.

• Paintings – including oil, acrylics, and watercolor
• Drawings – including pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, and markers (It is recommended that charcoal and pastel drawings be fixed.)
• Collages – must be two dimensional
• Prints – including lithographs, silkscreen, and block prints
• Mixed Media – use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.
• Computer-generated art
• Photography

All entries must be original in concept, design and execution and may not violate any U.S. copyright laws. Any entry that has been copied from an existing photo or image (including a painting, graphic, or advertisement) that was created by someone other than the student is a violation of the competition rules and will not be accepted. Work entered must be in the original medium (that is, not a scanned reproduction of a painting or drawing).

Click here to fill out the competition form and review the rules here.

To arrange artwork submission, contact Ryan Jarmula: 812-799-5230 or [email protected].

A downtown Columbus home was a total loss after a Saturday evening fire.

According to Columbus Fire Department reports, they were called to the 700 block of Werner Avenue at about 6:34 p.m. Saturday for a residential fire. Firefighters found a single story home with heavy fire coming from the roof and eaves.

Firefighters entered the home and began using water to fight the flames, but as exterior conditions continued to show the fire was free burning, they were ordered back outside to fight the fire from there.

In below-freezing temperatures, the firefighters sprayed water from the ground and from an aerial truck. It was about an hour to get the fire under control, and then firefighters entered the home again to manage hot spots of smoldering material.

The occupants of the home escaped without any injuries. They were assessed by paramedics at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Damages are estimated at $100,000.

The city of Columbus wants to alert you to street closings and detours coming up this week.

Starting today, Milestone Contractors will begin work rebuilding Fourth Street from Lafayette Avenue to Chestnut Street. The whole project will include installing a new water main, storm sewer, sidewalks, curb and gutter.

The contractors will be closing the street to work on the water main between Franklin and Lafayette first. That could include the intersections too.

Also today, the city is kicking off its annual crack sealing program. Crews from RLH Sealcoating will begin the work in Wildflower Estates and Wildflower Commons. Other subdivisions scheduled in this year’s program are Brookfield Place, Cross Creek, Skyview Estates, Stonehaven, Westlake Hills, Presidential Parks – Grant, Madison & Washington and several other city streets.

You will see No Parking signs posted at least 24 hours in advance of the work. You will need to move your vehicles by 7 in the morning to avoid getting towed.

Officials say that crack sealing is part of the city’s preventative maintenance plan. The work means less water penetrates the asphalt pavement, which results in fewer potholes and longer lasting streets.

The crack-sealing project should finish in May, weather permitting.

You should avoid those areas if you can, use caution around workers and obey flaggers in work zones.

Jennings County deputies disjointed encounter with a North Vernon woman during an unrelated crash Friday morning, led to her arrest on several charges.

According to Jennings County Sheriff’s Department reports, deputies were investigating a crash with a deer in the Scipio area at about 6:45 a.m. Friday morning. That’s when a woman walked up and asked a deputy for a ride to North Vernon. She then got into the driver’s seat of the truck that was involved in the crash. The truck’s owner yelled at her, leading to her getting out of the truck, walking through heavy traffic despite deputies orders to stop, and then tried to get into a passenger car.

That car had been reported stolen from North Vernon.

The woman, identified as 30-year-old Jessica Lewis, was taken into custody after struggling with deputies and trying to run, police say. They also discovered that she had tried to enter a nearby home before coming upon the crash scene.

She is facing preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement, residential entry and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle.

Authorities are warning of scammers who pretend to be offering you more Social Security benefits.

Jackson County Sheriff Rick Meyer is alerting you to a scam that has been circulating, which starts with a letter that appears to be on Social Security Administration letterhead. You are asked to call a toll-free number to activate a cost-of-living benefits increase or increase in other benefits. But Social Security makes cost-of-living increases automatically and those do not require activation.

You should not respond directly to a letter or phone call that appears to be from the agency. Instead call your local office or check the SSA website first.

Meyer offered several tips to protect yourself from scammers. He says you should assume any unsolicited phone call is a scam. You should never give out your banking or credit card number to a caller. Instead, hang up and call your bank or credit card company to check the situation.

And if you have any questions about whether a call is legitimate, you can call the sheriff’s department in your community to check it out.

“If you ever suspect a call, email or letter is not legitimate, stop and call us,” said Meyer. “Please call us first. It’s our job to keep residents safe and free from harm, and that includes scam artists.”

Former Vice President and Indiana Governor Mike Pence visited Ukraine yesterday with his wife, Karen.

The two journeyed to the border between Ukraine and Poland to support Ukrainian refugees. On his Twitter page, Pence encouraged people to pray for Ukraine. He also asked that we “stand together as one” with the people, many of whom are fleeing for their lives from Russian attacks.

The Pences were there with Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian organization that works to help people in need around the world. Samaritan’s Purse is opening and operating clinics and field hospitals in Ukraine and surrounding countries.

Photo courtesy of Mike Pence’s Twitter feed. Story courtesy of Network Indiana.

A winter weather advisory is in effect just south of our area and we will likely see cold temperatures and snow. According to the National Weather Service, up to two inches of snow is expected south of Jackson County starting this evening and going into Saturday morning. Arctic air is moving in tonight for Saturday. Wind chills around zero are possible into Saturday morning.

The high Saturday is only expected to be in the 20s.

Most of the flood warnings in our area have expired as rivers drop back to normal levels, but Seymour residents are still seeing high water.

As of this morning, the flood warning remains in effect for East Fork White River at Seymour, with the river running at just over 14 feet, two feet above the minor flood stage. The river is expected to drop back below flood levels by this evening and return to normal levels by Monday morning.