The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a freeze watch for our area Friday night into Saturday morning.

Temperatures as low as 29 are possible. Frost and freezing conditions could kill crops and other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.

The weather service recommends taking steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.

To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes you should wrap, drain or allow them to drip slowly. If you have in-ground sprinkler systems, you should drain them and cover above- ground pipes to protect them from freezing.

A Hope man is being accused of murder after a shooting incident yesterday morning on the east side of Jackson County.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department says the case is still under investigation and few details are being released. Deputies were called to the scene at 5:37 a.m. Wednesday morning and discovered a dead male. They say a subject and a witness were interviewed and 30-year-old Tobias E. Au was arrested. He was booked into the Jackson County Jail at 11:43 a.m. yesterday morning on a charge of murder and is being held without bond.

The Seymour Tribune is reporting that deputies were dispatched at 5:39 a.m. after a man called dispatchers and said he had shot another man who was violating a protective order at a Seymour address.

Further details will be released at a later time, according to Sheriff Rick Meyer. A press conference is scheduled for later today in Brownstown.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health., there are 21, 870 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 862 cases since Tuesday’s report.

There have been 1,264 deaths in Indiana as of this afternoon’s update, an increase of 51 deaths from the previous day’s numbers.

Bartholomew County has 314 confirmed cases, an increase of 17 since Tuesday. There have been 19 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County, two more since Tuesday’s update.

In other area counties, Decatur has 206 cases and has had 28 deaths, Jennings 87 cases and 3 deaths; Jackson 188 cases and 1 death; Brown 21 cases and 1 death; Johnson 746 cases and 77 deaths; and Shelby 241 cases and 14 deaths.

Centra Credit Union is making a second major donation to local efforts to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Way of Bartholomew County is announcing that Centra has given a $20 thousand dollar donation to the United Way’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.

The gift is in the form of a matching grant, so each donation from others will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Centra.

The United Way says that the grant is in addition to a $5,000 donation that Centra Credit Union made when the Relief Fund was started in March.

The money from the fund is going to local agencies working directly with those most in need in our community. More than $160,000 from the fund has already been distributed to nine local agencies, helping more than 2,500 people in need.

The first wave of state testing sites for COVID-19 are due to open today, including a site at the Columbus National Guard Armory

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last week that Columbus would be among the first large-scale testing sites for COVID-19. There will be a total of 50 testing sites around the state with 20 opening in National Guard armories this week and 30 more sites over the next week.

The Indiana State Health Department reports that the site at the Columbus Armory, at 2160 Arnold Street, will be open from 7 to 7 today through Friday this week with an appointment required for testing. The test is free.

The testing is open to those with symptoms who have close contacts with confirmed COVID-19 positive patients or who have close contact with at risk populations.

To register you can go to lhi.care/covidtesting testing or you can call (888) 634-1116.

A drive-thru testing site is also opening today in Jackson County at Seymour High School. You do not need an appointment to get tested. It will be open from 9 to 6 this week, Wednesday through Saturday.

A new downtown revitalization area designation in Columbus would open the door for the possibility of tax breaks to build townhouses across from Central Middle School.

Columbus City Council gave its first approval to the request last night from Central Townhomes LLC to create the economic development target area on the north side of Seventh Street between Sycamore and Chestnut streets. In the company’s application to the city, Richard Sprague, with Central Townhomes said that the company plans to remove four homes in that area, and to build 16 townhouses. The almost $5 million dollar investment would create 10 2-bedroom units and six 3-bedroom units, to be sold for between $199 and $279 thousand dollars each.

The Envision Columbus downtown plan calls for greater housing density in the downtown area as a way to spur development.

Approval of the revitalization area means the company can seek a tax abatement for the project, which would phase in property taxes for 10 years, rather than paying the higher property taxes immediately.

Robin Hilber with the city’s community development department, said that the project would come for final approval of the area designation in two weeks, along with the tax abatement request.

The council also approved a tax abatement request for Tulip Richardson Manufacturing on Norcross Drive. The battery component company is planning to invest almost $3 million in the plant and add 19 new jobs by August.

The company’s average wage is almost $24 an hour.

The first wave of state testing sites for COVID-19 are due to open Wednesday, including a site at the Columbus National Guard Armory

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last week that Columbus would be among the first large-scale testing sites for COVID-19. There will be a total of 50 testing sites around the state with 20 opening in National Guard armories this week and 30 more sites over the next week.

The Indiana State Health Department reports that the site at the Columbus Armory, at 2160 Arnold Street, will be open from 7 to 7 Wednesday through Friday this week with an appointment required for testing. The test is free.

The testing is open to those with symptoms who have close contacts with confirmed COVID-19 positive patients or who have close contact with at risk populations.

To register you can go to lhi.care/covidtesting testing or you can call (888) 634-1123.

A drive-thru testing site is also opening tomorrow in Jackson County at Seymour High School. You do not need an appointment to get tested. It will be open from 9 to 6 this week, Wednesday through Saturday.

To see all Indiana testing sites, go here https://isdh.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=fa61af71d4474e62b2408647d1624817

Indiana has passed 21,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, as of Tuesday’s update from the Indiana State Department of Health.

According to the most recent update, there are 21, 033 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 541 cases since Monday’s report.

There have been 1,213 deaths as of this afternoon’s update, an increase of 62 deaths from the previous day’s numbers.

Bartholomew County has 297 confirmed cases, an increase of 28 since Sunday. There have been 17 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County, three more since yesterday’s update.

In other area counties, Decatur has 205 cases and has had 28 deaths; Jennings 86 cases and 3 deaths; Jackson 183 cases and 1 death; Brown 18 cases and 1 death, Johnson 730 cases and 75 deaths, an increase of three deaths since yesterday; and Shelby 229 cases and 14 deaths, an increase of one since yesterday.