A new agreement between Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College will mean lower costs to earn a degree according to university officials.

The two colleges announced last week that they had reached an agreement that provides a clear pathway to an IU degree for transfer students. According to IU, the Guaranteed Admissions Agreement means Ivy Tech associate degree graduates are guaranteed admission into certain programs at IU regional campuses. The agreement means there will be no loss of credits with the transfer, allowing students to minimize costs while completing their bachelor’s degrees on time.

The agreement spells out necessary coursework toward degree requirements at both institutions. There will also be a waiver of application fees for the campus transfers.

Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said that community college students can enroll in their first two years at the school in one of the program areas covered by the agreement. And they will know that they will be accepted into the four-year regional campus as long as they finish their associates degree with the required GPA.

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According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 37,397 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 417 cases since Saturday’s report.

There have been 2,121 deaths in Indiana as of Sunday afternoon’s update, an increase of 11 deaths from the previous numbers.

Bartholomew County has 534 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and has had 40 deaths, an increase of one since last week.

In other area counties, Decatur County has had 231 cases and 32 deaths, Jennings 132 cases and 4 deaths, Jackson 403 cases and 2 deaths, Brown 34 cases and 1 death, Johnson 1,133 cases and 114 deaths and Shelby 398 cases and 22 deaths.

A Newbern area mobile home was a total loss after a Sunday afternoon fire in eastern Bartholomew County.

Hartsville Volunteer Fire Department first responded to the blaze at about 5:14 p.m. Sunday in an older, single-wide trailer in the 16000 block of East County Road 265N. They were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Hope, Clay Township, Columbus Township and Elizabethtown according to Hope 1st Assistant Chief Adam Mathis.

The homeowner escaped without injuries and told firefighters that the fire started as a grease fire, Mathis said. Heat from the blaze damaged a neighboring trailer.

First they marched around the Bartholomew County Courthouse. Hundreds of supporters of Black Lives Matter and racial justice then crossed over to City Hall to rally for the cause. Many carried signs, including those recognizing African Americans who have died at the hands of police.

City officials estimate that up to 700 people took part in the Solidarity rally organized by the Bartholomew County NAACP and the African American Pastors Alliance.

Olisa Humes, head of the local NAACP, said she was grateful to the crowd, which filled the City Hall steps, lawn and Washington Street, spilling out across Third Street. She said that her heart was full because the community showed that it cares.

Jerone Wood, the first black City Council member in Columbus history, spoke about his experience growing up here.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers came out strongly against the actions captured on video in Minneapolis with the death of George Floyd.

Other speakers included Mayor Jim Lienhoop, Pastor Felipe Martinez of First Presbyterian Church, Pastor Charles Sims of Calvary Community Church, Jeanine Lee Lake, Democratic candidate for 6th District Congressional Candidate, Phil Murray of the Columbus Justice Resource Center and Pastor Mark Teike of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church