Jennings County authorities are reporting that a wanted man has been arrested after he was spotted by a deputy in Dupont.

39-year-old Jeremiah A. Littrell of Jennings County was wanted on warrants for auto theft and theft. A deputy spotted Littrell at about 7 Tuesday evening, and alerted Indiana State Police, Madison police and the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department. Littrell was followed to a location in Madison and stopped by multiple police agencies where he was arrested.

Littrell was also found to be carrying drugs and paraphernalia and is facing charges for those items in Jefferson County. he is being held in the Jefferson County Jail.

Duke Energy is reporting that customers in need can receive up to $300 towards their winter heating bill this season. Duke says it has more than $460,000 dedicated to struggling Indiana customers who can’t pay their electric bills this winter.

To determine eligibility and to distribute the assistance funds, Duke works with the Indiana Community Action Agency Network and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s Energy Assistance Program. The Bartholomew, Jackson, Shelby and Johnson counties agency to approach for help is Human Services Inc. Brown County residents will work through the South Central Community Action Program and Jennings County residents apply through Valley Court Apartments.

Duke Energy’s Indiana President Stan Pinegar says that the winter bills are arriving on top of families already struggling from the pandemic. The company has dedicated more than $600 thousand dollars so far this year to relief. The funds come from corporate contributions and customer donations.

You can find more information here.

Columbus Regional Health officials say that they are continuing to see improvements in COVID-19 patients through an experimental convalescent plasma treatment program.

CRH began working with the Mayo Clinic and national blood research institute Versiti this spring and has since aided 255 patients through the program.

Dr. Raymond L, Kiser, medical director at CRH, says that due to the spike in COVID-19, almost 80 units of plasma have been administered in just the past three weeks.

CRH is still looking for plasma donors to help out. If you are eligible you can donate at the Verisiti Blood Bank in Indianapolis, or at the mobile unit that comes to Columbus each week. Your donated plasma will be used to treat patients in Bartholomew County and surrounding communities.

To donate, you must be at least 18 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and have either one positive molecular test or two antibody screenings and be symptom free for 14 days. All blood donors are screened for COVID-19 antibodies.

You can go to Versiti.org/covid19plasma for more information.

Shelby County now has the highest COVID-19 7-day positivity rate in southern Indiana and the fourth highest in the state.

Shelby County, which turned red on the Indiana State Department of Health color-coded COVID-19 spread map Wednesday, has a 7-day positivity rate of 21.72 percent, higher than any other county in southern Indiana. That’s according to the Thursday afternoon update from the Indiana State Department of Health. The only other counties in the state to top that rate are Parke and Fountain counties in western Indiana with 27.06 and 23.09 percent and Whitley County in northeastern Indiana with 24.18 percent.

Johnson and Jackson counties also remain red on the Indiana map, showing severe spread of the disease. Bartholomew, Decatur, Jennings and Brown counties remain orange showing a serious spread of the disease.

Bartholomew County has a 7-day positivity rate of 12.5 percent with 69 new cases reported and one new death.

Johnson County had three new deaths, and Jennings County reported one new death from the disease.

The state is reporting that southeastern Indiana’s District 8 has 159 people hospitalized, and COVID-19 patients are using just over a third of the intensive care unit beds in the region.

Statewide there were 6,604 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 96 more deaths. The seven-day all-test positivity rate is just under 14-percent statewide.

Seymour police say that they have made the final arrest in a shooting that happened in October over marijuana and drug money.

The police department reports that they arrested 18-year-old Qwenton Bolden of Seymour in Columbus on Wednesday for a warrant alleging burglary and robbery.

Bolden was shot during an incident on Oct. 12th, when he, and three others, allegedly tried to rob a person in the 900 block of Ewing Street. Several people, pushed into the acquaintance’s home armed with a stolen handgun.

Bolden was taken to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment of his injuries. Kianna Deleon, Destinee Brewer, and Bethany Coomer are facing charges of burglary and robbery. Deleon was arrested in the days after the incident and Coomer was arrested in November.

Police say a juvenile was also arrested on a charge of dealing marijuana.

The investigation is continuing.

Columbus firefighters battled a grass fire Tuesday near Haw Creek and a homeless camp.

When Columbus firefighters arrived on the scene at about 5:21 p.m. Tuesday afternoon they discovered a fire burning in the woods just south of Rocky Ford Road. Realizing that their engines could not operate in the woods, authorities called in Columbus Township’s brush truck — a four wheel drive pickup with a water tank, hoses and pump.

The fire was soon under control. No one was found in the area but firefighters did discover a large amount of trash and camping materials, including a large liquid propane tank, plastic totes and a wheeled cart. What appeared to be debris from a tent was discovered in the fire area. Investigators believe that an unattended campfire may have been the cause of the blaze.

No injuries were reported and the fire remains under investigation.

More counties are turning red in our area, showing a severe spread of COVID-19.

With the latest update from the Indiana State Department of Health this afternoon, Johnson and Shelby counties are both joining Jackson County in the red zone on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 spread map. Bartholomew, Decatur, Jennings and Brown counties remain orange showing a serious spread of the disease.

According to today’s figures, Shelby County is showing a 7-day positivity rate of 19.8 percent, second only to Dearborn County in south-eastern Indiana. Jackson County is at 19 percent and Johnson County is at 15.4 percent.

Bartholomew County has a 7-day positivity rate of 13.8 percent with 49 new cases reported.

Jennings County reported four new deaths from the disease, Shelby and Jackson had 1 new death each.

The state is reporting that southeastern Indiana’s District 8 has 163 people hospitalized, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb says the rising tide of COVID-19 means putting a pause on non-emergency surgeries throughout the state. In a press conference yesterday, Holcomb said he is trying to take the stress off of an already exhausted and overwhelmed hospital system and it’s workers.

Holcomb said the inpatient elective procedure pause will last for three weeks starting on Dec. 16th through Jan. 3rd.

11 people were left homeless after a fire destroyed a building in the Two Worlds Condominium Complex in Columbus yesterday morning.

The Columbus Fire Department is reporting that firefighters were called to the area of Abundance and Prosperity drives at about 10:54 a.m. Wednesday morning, where they found a heavy smoke and fire coming from a condo. As firefighters worked on the blaze it entered the attic space and spread quickly to three other units in the building.

As firefighters got the exterior flames under control, they were able to enter the buildings and recover some essential items from the residents. But much of the property was destroyed by the combination of fire, smoke and water damage.

The Salvation Army is providing assistance and shelter for some of the occupants.

According to the fire department, a contractor first noticed the blaze by smoke coming from a neighboring apartment where he was working. He began alerting residents and everyone was evacuated safely.

26 firefighters were on scene for about four hours, using seven different fire apparatus to get the fire under control. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.

The United Way of Bartholomew County is making plans for the upcoming Canstruction event to benefit local food pantries, including looking for teams of can artists to participate.

The event, now in its 12th year, uses colorful canned food to build large structures in Fair Oaks Mall. Community members vote for the winners and the cans are then donated to local food pantries including Love Chapel, the Community Center of Hope and the Salvation Army.

Magen Pillar with the United Way explains:

The event is coming up on Feb. 20th but registrations are going on now. Teams can register here.