Local officials will be meeting today to decide whether to move Bartholomew County forward on the governor’s back on track plan.

Mary Ferdon, director of administration and community development for the city of Columbus, says that the COVID-19 working group will include the county health officer, Columbus Regional Health and Bartholomew County government officials.

They are set to meet later this afternoon and will have an announcement ahead of the governor’s reopening date, tentatively set for Friday.

Governor Eric Holcomb is expected to announce the state’s plans at a press conference this afternoon.

Photo: Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop speaks at the March 13th COVID-19 press conference at Columbus City Hall.

The city of Columbus finds itself with too many holes of golf.

With golf courses being expensive to operate, city officials are taking a hard look at whether the current number of city-owned or city-operated golf courses are sustainable and what should be done to bring those numbers back to a more manageable number.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop says the problem really became apparent in January when Otter Creek fell back under city control. The course had been operated by a board of Cummins appointees for about 50 years, but at the start of the year, the course was turned over to city control.

The city is kicking off a public review of the golf situation, with an initial focus on Greenbelt Golf Course, the mayor said. There will be a public information session at 6 p.m. next Wednesday evening at The Commons to discuss proposed golf course changes.

There will be a limit to the number of people allowed in The Commons due to the pandemic, but the meeting will be streamed live so you can watch on the web.

You can listen to the whole interview with Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop here.

Greenbelt Golf Course

Rockyford Par 3 Golf Course

Otter Creek Golf Course

Indiana drivers will once again be paying penalty fees for expired driver’s licenses, permits, state identification cards, and vehicle registrations.

Administrative penalty fees were waived early in the COVID-19 public health emergency to aid Hoosiers and to support the state’s efforts to limit the spread of the virus. But that grace period has now ended, as of July 1st.

Walk-in services at BMV branches resumed on June 15. With the exception of driving skills exams, Hoosiers can again complete all transactions in a branch. Individuals who had a driving skill exam canceled due to the public health emergency will soon be contacted to reschedule. New appointments for driving skills exams should start again in late July.

Whenever possible, you are encouraged to complete your BMV transactions online through myBMV.com. You can also visit a BMV Connect kiosk, call the contact center, or return registration renewals through the mail using preprinted forms.

Jennings and Johnson counties have each added another death from COVID-19

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 45,594 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 312 cases since Monday’s update.

There have been 2,448 deaths in Indiana as of Tuesday afternoon’s update, an increase of 16 since Monday.

Bartholomew County has had 578 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 44 deaths.

In other area counties, Decatur County has had 243 cases and 32 deaths, Jennings 170 cases and 10 deaths, Jackson 454 cases and 3 deaths, Brown 38 cases and 1 death, Johnson 1,232 cases and 118 deaths, and Shelby 414 cases with 25 deaths.