There will be no Christmas of Yesteryear celebration in Hope next month.
The Yellow Trail Museum in Hope announced yesterday that it was canceling the event due to the uptick in cases of COVID-19 and the governor’s new restrictions. The event in and around the Town Square usually includes holiday lights and re-enactors taking on the roles of famous Hope residents of the past.
In previous years, the event has drawn more than 250 people, well over the new limits on gatherings of 50 people.
Columbus police say a driver was drunk when he flipped his car yesterday morning on Rocky Ford Road.
The incident happened at about 2 a.m. in the area of Rocky Ford Road and Westenedge Drive after the vehicle hit a guard rail. The driver, 21-year-old Nicolas C. Garrett of Columbus seemed unsteady and his speech was slurred, according to police reports. He failed several field sobriety tests and refused a blood test at the hospital.
During a search, officers allegedly discovered pills in his clothing that he did not have a prescription for.
A warrant was issued to have his blood tested and he was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance.
Gov. Eric Holcomb says starting on Sunday, we will no longer be in Stage 5 of the Back on Track Indiana plan. Instead, individual counties will be working with state health officials to set their own restrictions based on whether they are seeing substantial or severe spread of the coronavirus.
The restrictions will include limits to social gatherings, and limited attendance at school extracurricular events. Businesses and restaurants will not be closing, but masks must be worn, and social distancing practiced.
Only five counties in the entire state were color-coded yellow on the Indiana State Department of Health map yesterday, showing moderate spread of the disease. The vast majority of Indiana is now orange, or showing substantial spread. And nine counties are showing severe spread of the disease.
Holcomb said that while Indiana hospitals are not full now of COVID-19 patients, health officials see that the surge will be overwhelming them in the weeks ahead.
According to state figures, more than half of the intensive care unit beds in our area, southern Indiana District 8, are still open and available, with about half of the full beds being used for COVID-19 patients and the rest being used for other illnesses.
Holcomb said that social gatherings will be limited to 50 people in counties that are orange, and to 25 people in counties that are red. If you want to have an event with more than that, you will have to submit plans and get approval from local health officials.
Indoor school extracurricular activities in orange counties will be limited to 25 percent capacity. Red counties will be limited to only participants, support personnel, and parents.
As predicted by local officials, Bartholomew County has moved into the orange category on the state color coded map, which means significant spread of the disease. Bartholomew joins surrounding counties in the orange including Brown, Shelby, Jennings, Jackson and Johnson counties. Decatur County has moved into the red, or severe spread category as of Wednesday.
The new restrictions go into effect on Sunday.
Jennings County authorities say a standoff with a wanted man ended without anyone getting hurt.
The incident started at about 11 p.m. on Tuesday night when Jennings County Sheriffs Department deputies tried to serve arrest warrants on 46-year-old Larry Nantz of North Vernon at home in Country Squire Lakes.
Deputies learned that Nantz had barricaded himself inside a back bedroom in the home saying he would not go back to jail. He said he had a gun and threatened to kill the deputies if they tried to take him into custody, according to police reports
Deputies cleared residents from the home and called in the department’s Special Response Team along with the Indiana State Police SWAT team. Authorities negotiated with Nantz for about an hour, before he surrendered to Sheriff Kenny Freeman. Police recovered an air gun that closely resembled a firearm.
While in the driveway, Nantz allegedly spit in the face of a 15-year-old girl while she attempted to secure dogs at the home.
He is facing new charges of battery by bodily waste, intimidation with a deadly weapon and resisting law enforcement, along with the original outstanding warrants for charges including resisting law enforcement and arson.
Cummins is announcing a new deal with Navistar to develop a truck powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
The company announced the project to develop the Class 8 truck this morning, saying that it is being funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The award is one of two DOE grants awarded to Cummins, totaling more than $7 million dollars. Grant objectives include reducing the upfront capital costs by 35 percent to make the adoption of zero-emission fuel cell technologies viable for commercial fleets.
Amy Davis, president of New Power at Cummins, said the vehicle will feature a next generation fuel cell configuration and will allow the company to advance hydrogen technology for line haul trucks. The goal is to develop an integrated fuel cell electric powertrain for heavy duty trucks with a range of 300 miles or more and improved fuel efficiency over other heavy duty truck options.
The prototype truck will see a year-long field test and will be integrated into Werner Enterprises’ fleet of more than 7,700 tractors, operating out of Fontana, California.
Indiana is reporting more than 5 thousand positive COVID-19 test results, the highest in the state since the pandemic was first recorded here in March. The 5,135 positive test results is a positivity rate of just over 10 percent of those taking the test. The previous daily high was 4,951 on Friday.
There were also 31 new deaths reported statewide, bringing the state total since March to 4,512. The new deaths reported today dated back to Oct. 10th.
As predicted by local officials, Bartholomew County has moved into the orange category on the state color coded map, which means significant spread of the disease. Bartholomew joins surrounding counties in the orange category including Brown, Shelby, Jennings, Jackson and Johnson counties. Decatur County has moved into the red, or severe spread category as of today.
Bartholomew added 47 new positive cases in today’s numbers with 354 tests administered, a positivity rate of just over 8 percent. That brings the total cases since the pandemic started to 2,021 in Bartholomew County.
According to state figures, there are still more than half of the intensive care unit beds in the southern Indiana district 8 still open, with about half of the full beds being used for COVID-19 patients and the rest being used for other illnesses.
A family is setting up a charity fund for canine medical care after the loss of their dog, Nala, last month.
Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County said that Angie and David May wanted to help local veterinarians provide emergency medical care for dogs in need and those waiting to be adopted at local shelters. Heritage Fund is partnering with the Bartholomew County Humane Society to administer the fund.
Local veterinarians and shelters will be able to contact the humane society to request funds. The criteria for assistance will include financial need, treatment outcomes and potential for quality of life. Funds will be administered annually on a first-come, first-served basis.
The May family will be hosting a 5K Walk/Run and raffle at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21st at Noblitt Park and all proceeds will benefit the Nala Fund. Registration for the 5K is $15 by this Saturday or $20 afterwards. Raffle prizes will include a custom color sketch of your dog by artist Leslie Weaver.
T-shirts can be purchased for $10 and you can celebrate your own dogs or your dog’s memories by adding their names to the back of the shirt. A $10 donation per pet name will go directly to the Nala Fund. Names must be received by Nov. 15 to be included.
Participants can register for the 5K online at indianatiming.com
To support the Nala Fund directly, you can go to heritagefundbc.org/donate
The Bartholomew County government is extending its partial shutdown of county offices. The changes, set to expire later this month have now been extended to at least January 4th.
Public access to the county government buildings will be by appointment only and only one person is allowed at each appointment, with some exceptions.
County government meetings will continue online through the Zoom app. That includes the Bartholomew County Commissioners and County Council.
The Bartholomew County Public Library is putting restrictions back in place as the community prepares for an expected spike in COVID-19 infection levels.
Both the main library branch in downtown Columbus and the Hope library branch will remain open their current hours. But starting after today, the library is moving all the chairs so that patrons will not be able to sit at tables for studying or other purposes. The use of all library meeting rooms is also suspended. A one-hour time limit will be in effect for computer use and availability will be at 50% capacity.
Library staff are encouraging customers to use the library’s curbside service. You can place holds online through my BCPL dot org or by calling the Reference Department at 812-379-1266. The Reference Staff is also available to answer questions either in person or via phone/email.
The library is also making home deliveries of materials to those quarantining at home, or those at high risk for the virus. You can get more information about the outreach efforts by emailing bookmobile@mybcpl.org or calling. 812-379-1278.
The changes are in effect until at least Nov. 27th and will be re-evaluated every Wednesday after that. If you have questions you can call the Main Library at 812-379-1255.
Photo courtesy of Columbus Area Visitors Center
Bartholomew County is reporting its 61st death from COVID-19. The most recent death came on Monday, according to details reported to the Indiana State Department of Health.
The county has had 73 new positive test results, bringing the total to 1,974. Under the state color-coded map, Bartholomew County remains yellow or showing moderate spread, while Johnson, Shelby, Decatur, Jennings and Jackson counties are all orange, showing high community spread. Brown County is coded as blue, showing minimal spread.
Statewide, Indiana reported 4,879 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, a new state record. That brings the state’s total to 219,338 since the pandemic began. There have been 4,481 COVID-19 deaths in the Hoosier state since the pandemic started after 64 more were announced yesterday. Those deaths were reported between October 14th and Monday.