Our Hospice of South Central Indiana is offering several fundraising events next week leading up to its annual Labor Day weekend concert.

According to the hospice, you will be able to buy raffle tickets, baked goods and concert T-shirts next Wednesday and Thursday. The sales will be from noon to 5 both days in the parking lot of the Lincoln Park ball diamonds off of 25th Street.

Raffle tickets will be $10 each for a chance to win $10,000 thousand dollars. Cookies are available with a box of three dozen for a minimum $20 donation. T-shirts will be $20 each.

There will also be a fundraising fish fry on Friday, Aug. 23rd from 10:30 to 8:00 at the Elks Lodge 521 on Ray Boll Boulevard. The meal is estimated at a $10 value with free will donations accepted.

The concert is Saturday, August 31st and will be held inside the Circle K Fieldhouse at Nexus Park. Tickets are available for $10. You can get more information or buy tickets at www.ourhospice.org/concert.

Photo: Woomblies Rock Orchestra courtesy of Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.

Fairlawn Presbyterian Church in Columbus has been certified as Dementia Friendly, through Thrive Alliance, the local agency for aging.

According to the agency, the process to be considered as a Dementia Friendly business included a one-hour educational session for all church members. The session taught how to serve and support people who live with dementia and their families. The training also focused on physical changes that should be made to facilities such as moving signage to eye level and offering restrooms that are friendly to care partners.

Columbus North High School student Caroline Brucken also provided further dementia education for church members as her senior project. She presented a program called The Virtual Dementia Tour, sponsored by Thrive Alliance.

The tour offers an informational session, followed by a hands-on component that simulates life with dementia, using special equipment that limits one’s physical senses.

Pastor Elizabeth Kirkpatrick said the programs offered a spiritual connection for those living with dementia, their families and caregivers.

For more information on the Virtual Dementia Tour contact Sue Lamborn at Thrive Alliance at 812-314-2764.

Photo: Columbus North senior Caroline Brucken leads a Dementia Friendly program at Fairlawn Presbyterian Church. Photo courtesy of Thrive Alliance.

Eastern Bartholomew Water Corporation has issued a boil water advisory for customers in the Heritage Heights Mobile Home Park

According to the water company, the advisory comes after an water main was damaged Wednesday, knocking out water in the area.

The boil water advisory is in effect until 4 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Under a boil water advisory, you should bring water to a full boil for three to five minutes before drinking it or using it in food preparation.

If you have any questions you can call the utility at 812-526-9777.

The Indian Association of Columbus will be celebrating India Day with a block party in downtown Columbus starting tomorrow afternoon.

According to organizers, the event will feature traditional food, music and Indian culture. While food will be available for purchase, the event is free and you are invited to attend.

The party will start at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16th on Fourth Street in downtown Columbus.

You can find more information here: https://iac-columbus.com

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department is warning drivers about the dangers of running through temporary stop lights in construction work zones.

According to deputies, there are two of the signals active in the county, one between Vernon and North Vernon and one on U.S. 50 heading toward Seymour. There have been complaints from residents about traffic violators at the lights.

The department is actively looking for violators and you will be ticketed, deputies say. And because the ticket is in a work zone, the fines are doubled. And disregarding a stop sign or stop light is a four point penalty on your driver’s license.

Our Hospice of South Central Indiana has received gifts to aid in the comfort of its patients with dementia.

According to the Columbus-based hospice, Thrive Alliance has provided lifelike robotic animals designed to provide sensory-based stimulation and comfort to patients. The robots provide tactile stimulation along with realistic movements and sound, such as purring and meowing. Steph Cain, president of our Hospice, said the robot animals will smooth the transition from home care to the center.

Hospice officials said that the agency has also received a a Music & Memory kit. The kit includes a portable music player, headphones, and a speaker. The kit will allow the staff to create personalized playlists filled with music from the patients preferences. Dr. Leigh Anderson, Medical Director at Our Hospice, said that music can soothe agitation, reduce anxiety and
promote a sense of calmness.

The hospice is a certified Music & Memory organization.

Cain said the number of patients with dementia under the hospice’s care has steadily increased. She said innovative therapies allow the hospice to create a more dementia-friendly environment.

Photo courtesy of Our Hospice of South-Central Indiana: From left, Steph Cain, President; Molly Jenkins RN, Education; Amy Dager RN, Education; Sue Lamborn, Thrive Alliance; Laura Guill, Hospice Center Manager

The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce is looking for nominations for appointments for its board of directors for next year.

According to the chamber, a nominating committee is looking for residents to fill open full-term seats, or to fill partial term vacancies on the board. Full terms are for three years.

To be considered, you must be employed by a member business or organization, be a\available to regularly engage in monthly Board meetings and with a Chamber committee, and have the potential to serve as an officer on the board in the future.

To nominate yourself or someone else, you can email Dan Robison at [email protected]. The deadline is Friday August 23rd.

Bartholomew County judges say that they are facing a serious shortage of public defenders, due to low pay, large case loads and a shrinking pool of attorneys in the county.

Judge Jim Worton told the County Council this week that the assignment of public defenders to suspects judged to be indigent is a constitutional necessity for the justice system. But he said that where there used to be more than 100 attorneys practicing in Bartholomew County, there are now about 40. And of those 40, fewer are interested in being public defenders. Where the job used to be a side gig, the case loads have increased to the point where they are overwhelming.

Worton said the county courts rely on about 13 public defenders.

The judges are asking the county council and commissioners for better pay and benefits for the attorneys. Under the judges proposal, pay would be increased from the current $51 thousand a year to $65 thousand for the rest of this year going forward. And the judges would like to find a way to offer the public defenders health insurance under the county plan.

The judges also proposed a study to determine the best path forward to solve the crisis. In 2017, a local panel recommended changes where the Indiana Supreme Court would pick up 40 percent of the cost of the county public defenders. However, that would also require the county meet all of the state guidelines on staffing and support. Worton said that the state paid public defenders make more than $85 thousand a year and have smaller case loads than Bartholomew County’s defenders.

The judges will bring the proposal formally before the council soon and ask the commissioners about how to bring the defenders into the county benefits plan.

The city of Columbus will be holding a public conversation with former mayors of the city next month, focused on the history of the city.

The Legacy of Leadership — Our Mayors Remember talk will be on September 11th at The Commons. It will feature Mayor Mary Ferdon, former mayors Nancy Ann Brown-Poynter, Fred Armstrong and Jim Lienhoop, as well as former Deputy Mayor Sherry Stark representing the Stewart Administration. WCSI’s own John Foster will be the moderator for the panel.

There will be a hospitality hour from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by the conversation from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and questions and answers from 7:30 to 8 p.m.

Heritage Fund is the sponsor for the event.

IU Health is moving its primary care offices into the new Sue Borgelt Medical Center in Nashville, as of Wednesday.

The new offices are located at 100 Maple Leaf Boulevard. The new offices are part of a partnership between IU Health and the YMCA. The center is named after Borgelt, who along with her husband, Burt, proposed the creation of the present Brown County Community YMCA. IU Health officials said last fall that the facility is possible through help from the IU Health Foundation and a generous gift from Burt Borgelt in honor of his wife.

Construction began last fall.

The center will be offering services including visiting Orthopedics specialists every Wednesday, visiting Cardiology specialists every third Friday, a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) location every Monday, as well as after-care hours from 4 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday

If you have any questions you can call 812-988-2231