Some Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. customers in the Elizabethtown area are under a boil water advisory.

The water company says a water main was damaged southwest of Elizabethtown leading to low water pressure and outages. Customers who were affected by the water outages are under a boil water advisory. The affected area includes County Road 475 south to 500 South and Road 300 E.

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.

The boil water advisories are in effect until noon Tuesday

For more information, you can call the water utility at 812-526-9777.

Government offices will be closed on Friday in celebration of the Independence Day holiday

In Columbus, city trash, recycling and yard waste routes will be running a day late, with normal Friday routes running on Saturday. You should have your trash to the curb by the normal 7 a.m. in the morning.

Columbus City Utilities offices will also be closed Friday. If you have a problem with your water or sewer service, you can call 812-372-8861 and follow the prompts.

Thee Columbus and Bartholomew County Recycling Center will be closed Friday along with the cardboard route and the Solid Waste Management district offices and the Bartholomew County Landfill

In Seymour, the Department of Public Works will be running normal Friday trash routes a day early, on Thursday.

First Financial Bank says last month’s book drive generated 548 donations at the Columbus-area financial centers.

The book drive was from May 5th to the 31st and generated more than 5,700 donations in the four states served by the bank. First Financial provided a list of recommended books on financial literacy at its centers during the drive. The books will be donated to schools, libraries and non profit groups in the community.

Roddell McCullough, chief corporate responsibility officer for First Financial thanked the community and the First Financial team for the books to improve financial literacy in the communities it serves.

File photo from 2024 courtesy of First Financial Bank

Washington Street in downtown Columbus will be closing today, tomorrow and Wednesday as crews work to replace damaged decorative bricks in the city’s streetscape.

According to the Columbus Engineering office, the work is expected to be from 5 to 3 and will close Washington from Third to Fourth Streets downtown today and Tuesday, and Washington from Second to Third Streets on Wednesday.

Two lanes of westbound traffic on Third Street will remain open.

You will see traffic control equipment in place during the closures. Officials urge you to avoid the area if you can and to use extra caution around the workers.

An area hospital would be in danger of closing or cutting services if the Big Beautiful Bill reconciliation package passes, according to Democratic U.S. senators.

Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Chuck Schumer of New York outlined the threat of funding cuts to rural hospital systems earlier this month, saying that the bill would cut funding for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act by more than $1trillion and $500 billion would be cut from Medicare. They say that the cuts will have “devastating consequences for health outcomes and costs, jobs, and the economic success of rural communities.”

The senators identified 338 rural hospitals that are at risk, listing those that have had three consecutive years of negative margins, serve the highest share of Medicaid patients or both. Twelve of those hospitals are in Indiana including Ascension St. Vincent Jennings in North Vernon.

None of the Indiana hospitals met both of the criteria.

The letter to President Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson urged changes to the bill, saying “Addressing the crisis in rural health care access is a national, bipartisan priority and it should be bipartisan to not worsen it.”

Flash flood warnings are in effect in our area after heavy rainfall overnight.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says that 4 to 8 inches of rain has fallen across parts of south central Indiana overnight, leading to flash flooding warnings. And up to another half of an inch of rain is expected.

A flash flood warning is in effect for Southwestern Brown , Northwestern Jackson, Northeastern Lawrence and Southeastern Monroe Counties until 8 a.m.

Emergency officials say that flash flooding is likely of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-lying areas.

They warn you not to drive onto flooded roadways. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Turn around and don’t drown.

The Bartholomew County 4-H Fair continues today with Bartholomew County Pork Producers Day at the fair.

Entertainment tonight will include the Antique Tractor Pull at the grandstand starting at 7 p.m. Registration will begin at 7 p.m. for the fair cornhole tournament which starts at 7:30 p.m.

The midway will open at 5 p.m. with regular prices from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and midnight madness from 8 p.m. on with $25 wristbands.

Saturday is the last day for the 2025 Bartholomew County 4-H Fair.

You can get more information at Bartholomew county fair dot com

Some Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. customers are now under a boil water advisory.

The water company says another company doing work in the area broke water mains leading to a water outage in Wayne Township near County Road 800S and in the Mineral Springs neighborhood in separate incidents. Customers who were affected by the water outages are under a boil water advisory.

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.

The boil water advisories are in effect until noon Monday afternoon.

For more information, you can call the water utility at 812-526-9777.

You will have a chance to learn how to reduce your stress in a series of workshops being organized by the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County and the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department.

ASAP will be offering the Stress Reduction through Mindfulness series next month as part of its Rethinking Wellness Initiative.

The “Stress Reduction through Mindfulness” series will focus on the physiological impact of stress and provide effective strategies to promote mindfulness and reduce stress. The series is facilitated by Skye Nicholson, a certified life coach.

The sessions will be from 6 to 7 p.m. on July 7, July 15, and July 22 in Nexus Park’s Parks and Recreation Conference Room A. You are encouraged to attend all three sessions, but you can register for each session separately.

The workshops will be free. You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stress-reduction-through-mindfulness-series-tickets-1411018126199