The Indiana Department of Education announced Tuesday that all Indiana teachers have been named the 2021 Teacher of the Year.
“The COVID-19 pandemic brought new complexities and challenges to schools with no advance warning,” said State Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick. “Teachers across our state have displayed a level of flexibility and commitment.”
Normally, one Hoosier teacher wins the award from the IDOE. The Department has been handing out the annual award for more than 60 years.
All Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles branches will be closed Saturday through Monday in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.
Branch appointments will resume Tuesday.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic Customers are required to have an appointment before visitng a branch.
The appointment scheduler along with more information can be found on the BMV website at in dot gov.
Tonight, northbound traffic will be shifted to the southbound side of I-65 from MM 53.6 to MM 56. Southbound traffic will remain in its current configuration on the southbound side.
With this switch complete, southbound and northbound traffic will travel on the southbound side from MM 50 to MM 56. Access to SR 11 from I-65 northbound will be maintained in this configuration, but will be shifted to fully construct the new northbound pavement.
The Indiana Gaming Commission has issued five pages of guidelines for casinos on how to protect workers and gamblers from coronavirus. Casinos will have capacity limits based on the number of gaming positions, capped at no more than half their normal capacity. They’ll have to enforce and reconfigure the gaming floor to keep people six feet apart, closing off enough machines and tables to make that possible.
Poker rooms will stay closed, while other table games will have strictly enforced limits on how many people can play at once
All workers will have to wear masks — masks will be recommended for patrons, and required if they’re playing table games.
The guidelines also set disinfecting requirements for all gaming equipment including chips and dice.Cards will have to be replaced at the start of each shift
Commission deputy director Jennifer Reske says there’s no date yet for reopening casinos.
The commission ordered all casinos to close March 16th, eight days before Holcomb’s stay-home order for the rest of the state.
An Indianapolis nurse is helping other Hoosiers fight Covid- 19.
Emily Corn-Propst (Prost) is a nurse at Franciscan Health, and she has survived the coronavirus.
She has since tested negative and found out she has antibodies to the virus.
Emily made a third plasma donation Friday and hopes that she can somehow help those who are battling the virus.
Curtis Hill will still be Indiana’s attorney general, although he is suspended from practicing law for 30 days for groping four women in 2018.
The Indiana Supreme Court declined to get involved in whether or not Hill should be forced to leave office, due to the suspension of his license.
The court issued a one-page ruling Monday, saying they should not be involved in issuing such advisory opinions.
Gov. Eric Holcomb made the request of the court last week. He and other Republicans, said Hill (who is also a Republican) should resign.
Hill was disciplined and his law license will remain suspended for one month. After that, it will be automatically reinstated.
The former assistant athletic director and boys basketball coach at Shelbyville High School is accused of stealing from the school’s booster club.
The Shelbyville Police Department says Ryan Mack, 32, turned himself in on Monday.
He was being investigated for stealing funds from the Golden Bear Booster Club twice in June 2017, and again in September and October 2019.
Police did not specify how much money he stole
In January, Mack resigned from his positions for “personal reasons” in the middle of the basketball season.
Mack now faces six counts of theft and one count of corrupt business influence.
The Bartholomew County Redevlopment commission and Mayor Jim Lienhoop have reached an agreement for a land swap which will make way for future development in the downtown area.
The property involved is the Court Services building and the county owned parking lot between second and third streets.
The city of Columbus would take ownership of the block and would assist the county with the building of a new court services building south of the Bartholomew County Jail.
The proposed development is part of Envision Columbus, the 2018 initiative commissioned by the Heritage fund to study the needs and potential for future growth in Columbus.
Officials believe that the area could be revitalized into a destination that would attract cultural , dining, and entertainment opportunities.
Detectives with the Indiana State Police are conducting an investigation into the death of an inmate being held on a murder charge at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown.
On May 10th, 2020, Tobias Au (ow), age 30, was found unresponsive in a bathroom area of the Jackson County Jail. He was provided medical attention before being transported to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Indiana. On Sunday, May 17th, Au passed away at the hospital.
Au was being held at the Jackson County Jail after he was arrested by officers with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department on May 6th for allegedly shooting and killing a man at an apartment near Seymour.
The investigation into Au’s death is ongoing although no foul play is suspected at this time.
According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 28,255 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 492 cases since Yesterday’s report.
There have been 1,621 deaths in Indiana as of this update, an increase of 14 deaths from Yesterday’s numbers.
Bartholomew County has 432 confirmed cases, an increase of 12 since yesterday’s update. There have been 30 deaths from COVID-19 in Bartholomew County.
In other area counties, Decatur County has had 220 cases and 31 deaths, Jennings 116 cases and 4 deaths, Jackson 332 cases and 1 death, Brown 32 cases and 1 death, Johnson 1002 cases and 94 deaths, Shelby 297 cases and 20 deaths.