Updated 5:40 a.m.
Few power outages are being reported today after Friday’s strong winds. From power companies in our area:
Greenwood-based Indiana American Water is urging Hoosiers to be careful to protect their pipes from freezing in the upcoming blast of cold weather.
Company officials warn that failing to protect our plumbing in these cold temperatures can be disruptive and costly.
The company suggests, searching your house for uninsulated pipes, especially in unheated areas. You should consider wrapping pipes with foam insulation or electric heating tape. You should also check to make sure your garage door and crawl space doors and vents are closed.
You should leave cabinet doors in your bathroom and kitches open and let a faucet drip to allow water to keep moving in your pipes.
Make certain the water to your hose bibs is shut off inside your house, the lines are drained and the hose is disconnected from the spigot.
Schneck Medical Center in Seymour has put new restrictions in place for visitors after a surge in cases of respiratory illness in the community.
Those illnesses include influenza, RSV and COVID.
According to officials, starting on Saturday no more than two visitors are being admitted to a patient’s room at one time. Visitors include immediate family and significant others.
Visitors with respiratory illnesses are not permitted to visit patients. If you have any symptoms you should refrain from visiting patients including:
All visitors must wash their hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after visiting a patient. Sanitizer can be found throughout the hospital as well as outside each patient’s room.
Local emergency officials say that there will be two warming centers operating in Columbus this weekend, if you need a place to get out of the cold.
Brighter Days shelter will be open from 6:00 in the evening to 8 in the morning. The Community Engagement Center will be open from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening, so that their open hours mesh with Brighter days.
Brighter Days is on South Mapleton Street on the east side of Columbus. The Community Engagement Center is at 1075 2nd Street, in downtown Columbus. You can get more information at (812) 314-3475
The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a wind warning for our area in effect from 4 to 8 p.m. tonight.
According to the agency, a period of stronger winds are expected to push through southeastern and eastern portions of Indiana this afternoon and evening. Wind gusts of up to 60 mph are forecast. That will be accompanied by a shift in the wind from the southeast to southwest. The rapid direction shifts and increasing gusts could cause additional damage to weakened trees and structures.
Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
The weather service says you should move to the lower floor of a building during the windstorm and stay away from windows. You should avoid being outside in forested areas or around trees and branches.
A wind advisory also remains in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday morning.
Forecasters say we are looking at windy days today and Saturday.
The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a wind advisory from 10 this morning to 4 Saturday morning. You can expect sustained south winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts of up to 55 mph, especially this evening.
The agency says that will be strong enough to blow around any unsecured objects you have in your yard, to knock down tree limbs and we could see some power outages.
Light snow showers are also possible tonight into early Saturday with up to an inch possible in some areas. Combined the light snow and wind and you could see some areas on the road with reduced visibility and slick spots. You should use extra caution if you have to be out on the road.
Forecasters are warning that an Arctic blast of sub-freezing air will be plunging into the lower 48 states next week, and could set records for daily low temperatures.
A Jennings County Sheriff’s Department detective is being praised for his recent life-saving efforts while off duty.
According to the department, Detective Ian McPherson and his family were visiting Santa’s Candy Castle in Santa Claus, Indiana a few days before Christmas when a young girl became faint and started losing consciousness, McPherson stepped in to assist the family, stabilizing the girl until paramedics arrived. Later that night he received word from the girl’s family that she had made a full recovery.
On Saturday, McPherson was involved in another off-duty incident, this time when he and his family stopped at a restaurant to eat in Evansville. A young girl began to choke at a nearby table and McPherson performed the Heimlich maneuver on the girl, dislodging the chicken nugget that was causing her to choke. After she recovered, McPherson is credited with buying the girl an ice cream cone.
The sheriff’s department is praising McPherson and other officers “who have the courage, strength, and integrity to serve and protect at any moment, without hesitation.” Sheriff Kenny Freeman said that “at any given moment these self-less officers will do what needs to be done…” for their fellow citizens.
Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.
You can watch the IU vs. Purdue men’s basketball game on the screen at Yes Cinema next week.
Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Cetner is announcing that there will be a special viewing party for the game Tuesday evening. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the game tips off at 7 p.m.
You are encouraged to wear the colors of your favorite team while you enjoy the game.
Admission will be free but concessions including beer and wine will be available for purchase. Proceeds from Yes Cinema go to benefit Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center.
For more information you can call the center at 812-379-1630.
California is celebrating the largest ever clean air settlement with Columbus based engine manufacturer Cummins.
The state will be getting more than $372 million dollars. This resolves claims that the engine manufacturer used illegal devices in trucks to bypass vehicle emissions tests and requirements. About 100-thousand of those vehicles were sold in California. The California attorney general says the company knowingly harmed people’s health and the environment.
Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks
A biofuel producer with local facilities is receiving a share of $19 million in grants from the USDA to give travelers more clean, affordable fuel options.
According to Terry Goodin, the state director for the agency’s Rural Development department, $5 million in grants is going to Bulk Petroleum Corp. which will use the money to expand access to biofuels at stations including three in south-central Indiana at Columbus, North Vernon and Bedford. The grant will also benefit fueling stations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Kentucky.
The agency made $450 million in grants available in June through the Inflation Reduction Act’s Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program. The program provides grants to fueling station and distribution facility owners to help expand access to domestic biofuels which the agency says is a clean and affordable source of energy. Business owners are using the grants to install and upgrade infrastructure such as fuel pumps, dispensers and storage tanks.
Bulk Petroleum Corporation expects the grants to allow it sell 7.8 million more gallons of biofuels each year.