Legal Aid is holding a Free Legal Aid Phone Clinic for residents of  Bartholomew and its surrounding counties on Tuesday, August 4th,. The phone clinic will be conducted from 3 pm – 5:30 pm although registration is required between 12 pm to 1:30 pm.

The Legal Aid Clinic and Pro Bono Program utilizes local volunteer attorneys, offering free legal consultations to low-income individuals for the provision of legal advice and assistance in furtherance of equal access to justice within our communities whom might not otherwise be able to afford the counsel of an attorney.

Individuals calling to the Legal Aid Phone Clinic can expect to receive a brief consultation to answer general questions, offer legal information, or to receive other limited pro se assistance or advice, over the phone. Individuals seeking legal consultation must register by calling Legal Aid at 812-378-0358 on Tuesday, August 4th, between 12 pm and 1:30 pm. A volunteer attorney will return calls to registered individuals between 3 pm and 5:30 pm. Individuals must be available between 3 pm and 5:30 pm to answer a call from an attorney.

Legal Aid will be offering additional Phone clinics throughout the service region. The next Legal Aid Phone Clinic is on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 with the same registration requirements and time frame.

Over 150 Hoosier farm families have been awarded the Hoosier Homestead Award in recognition of their commitment to Indiana agriculture by Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Bruce Kettler.

To be named a Hoosier Homestead, the farm must be kept in the same family for at least 100 consecutive years and consist of more than 20 acres or produce more than $1,000 in agricultural products per year.

Since the program was established in 1976, more than 5,800 families have received the award.

Families were eligible for three different award distinctions. Based on the age of their farm, they received the Centennial Award for 100 years, Sesquicentennial Award for 150 years or Bicentennial Award for 200 years of ownership.

This year, two families are being recognized with the Bicentennial Award; the Paul E. Henry farm from Fayette county was established in 1819 and the Ferguson farm from Lawrence county was established in 1820.

Due to the current ongoing pandemic, Lt. Governor Crouch and ISDA Director Kettler were unable to host a traditional Hoosier Homestead Award Ceremony. Individual family ceremonies were held at the Statehouse today and more families are set to be recognized on August 7, all following Governor Holcomb’s ordinances, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s orders and the CDC guidelines.

To find the Hoosier Homestead Award recipients for your county or to learn more about the reward visit https://www.in.gov/isda/

Gyms, pools, rec sports leagues, and a lot more places across most of Indiana can reopen today.

Governor Eric Holcomb said everywhere but Lake, Marion, and Cass counties will move to Stage Three as of today.

In addition to the new openings, Stage Three means bars and restaurants can open to more customers.

Social distancing and common courtesy are still in effect when it comes to hand washing and wearing masks.

Indianapolis and the rest of Marion County are set to jump to Stage Three on June 1st.

More Hoosiers are out of work because of the Coronavirus.

30,311 people filed for unemployment in Indiana last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

That’s up from the adjusted total of 29,668 from the previous week, a change of 643.

About 670,000 Hoosiers have filed for unemployment over the last nine weeks.

The Dept. of Labor says 2.4 million people across the U.S. filed for unemployment last week.

A North Vernon man has been arrested for murder.

Brian Kirby, 52, has been missing from Jennings County since March. Now, two months later, police confirm: he was murdered by Alan Joseph Marantos, 34.

The joint investigation by the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police began on March 28, 2020, when Kirby was reported missing. Kirby was last seen alive at his home on Primshire Court on March 27, 2020.

The investigation revealed Marantos attacked Kirby at his home. Marantos then loaded Kirby’s body in his car and left. Later, Marantos burned Kirby’s body and scattered his remains all over Jennings County.

Alan Marantos has been incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail since April 2, 2020 when he was arrested on a Jackson County warrant for Robbery.

He will soon face an initial appearance in the Jennings County Circuit Court.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 29,936 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 676 cases since Yesterday’s report.

There have been 1,764 deaths in Indiana as of this update, an increase of 48 deaths from Yesterday’s numbers.

Bartholomew County has 452 confirmed cases, an increase of 4 since yesterday’s update. There have been 33 deaths from COVID-19 in Bartholomew County.

In other area counties, Decatur County has had 220 cases and 31 deaths, Jennings 121 cases and 4 deaths, Jackson 345 cases and 1 death, Brown 32 cases and 1 death, Johnson 1049 cases and 102 deaths, Shelby 303 cases and 20 deaths.