A Statewide Silver Alert has been declared.

The Boonville Police Department is investigating the disappearance of Donna Gail Hatfield, a 72 year old white female, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 125 pounds, with grayish brown hair and hazel eyes.

Donna is missing from Boonville, Indiana which is 169 miles southwest of Indianapolis and was last seen on Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 9:09 am.  She is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance.

If you have any information on Donna Gail Hatfield, contact the Boonville Police Department at 812-897-1200 or 911.

This concludes this Silver Alert.

Schneck Medical Center has announced a new member of the leadership team at the Seymour hospital. Dr. Eric Fish has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In addition, Susan Zabor’s role as Vice President of Clinical Services has been expanded to include Chief Quality Officer.

Dr. Fish brings nearly 15 years of leadership experience at Schneck, including Medical Director of Schneck Obstetrics & Gynecology, President of the Schneck Medical Staff, Chairman of the Board of Managers for Inspire Health Partners, and most recently, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer.

Schneck officials say that Dr. Fish earned his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. He joined the medical staff at Schneck in 2005 and founded Schneck Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2006. He is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology. In 2013, he received his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee.

In addition to managing all operational aspects of Schneck’s physician practices as well as maintaining his role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Fish will oversee all aspects of the Schneck’s strategic planning initiatives. In his new role, Dr. Fish will no longer practice at Schneck Obstetrics & Gynecology.

“Dr. Fish brings to this position a strong commitment to our mission and patients, excellent strategic insight, a broad perspective, and strong working relationships with leaders both at Schneck Medical Center and in our community,” says Warren Forgey, President/CEO of Schneck. “He is dedicated to improving the healthcare experience for patients and their families and will provide Schneck with the opportunities to shape the future of healthcare in the communities we serve.”

Susan Zabor has been promoted to Vice President of Clinical Services and Chief Quality Officer.

As Vice President of Clinical Services, Zabor plays a critical role in developing, communicating and driving organizational strategy, while overseeing clinical operations. In her expanded role as Chief Quality Officer, she will focus on the continued improvement of the medical center’s quality metrics. Zabor will also work to improve processes that result in providing value for patients through the delivery of effective care.

Zabor earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Purdue University, and her Master of Science in Nursing with a specialty in Nursing Management and Leadership from the University of Southern Indiana. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration in healthcare administration from the University of Southern Indiana.

“Susan has been integrally involved in projects to improve the quality of care and the effectiveness of operations, all for the benefit of our patients and the communities we serve,” said Forgey. “That commitment and level of attention to every detail in the care process makes her the perfect fit for chief quality officer.”

A fire alarm at Columbus North High School Wednesday morning was caused by a sprinkler.

Columbus firefighters responded to the school at approximately 11:24 a.m. Capt. Mike Wilson, department spokesman, says that firefighters arrived on the scene and learned that the alarm was caused by the sprinkler system activation in a second floor chemistry classroom. No fire was present.

Firefighters were able to stop the flow of water shortly after arrival. Wilson says that a significant amount of water was released inside the classroom before the water flow was stopped. The water flooded the classroom floor and hallway, and also flooded the classroom directly underneath.

No damage estimates are available at this time. Students remained outside the building for about an hour before classes resumed.

Our news-gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that 33-year-old Christopher Purdy of Columbus was found dead in a vehicle at a Taylorsville gas station Friday afternoon and the woman who drove him there was arrested.

The paper is reporting that Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies received word of a possible impaired driver in the Taylorsville area. They found the vehicle at a gas station and spoke with the driver, 27-year-old Emily A. Clarence of Columbus. Purdy was a passenger in the vehicle and appeared pale and blue. Purdy was pronounced dead at Columbus Regional Hospital by Coroner Clayton Nolting.

An autopsy was performed and toxicology results are due back in a couple of weeks.

Clarence is facing a preliminary charge of Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated – Drugs.

For more on this story, visit therepublic.com.

Nearly three years of work to establish drug recovery efforts in Columbus and Bartholomew County are coming to fruition. The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress provided an update to the community Monday evening at The Commons.

In 2016, representatives of the city of Columbus, Bartholomew County and Columbus Regional Health created ASAP as a collaborative effort to develop a community-wide response to the opioid epidemic. ASAP started a three-pronged approach to the abuse problem, assessing local prevention, criminal justice and recovery responses to the epidemic and making recommendations on areas for improvements. That has led to more than 40 projects and changes like the creation of a drug court, the recruitment of treatment options to the community and funding through income taxes of many of those efforts.

A Substance Abuse Advisory and Accountability Committee, made up of representatives from all three groups, assess funding requests and make recommendations to the Substance Abuse Public Funding Board. If the funding board recommends action, it will kick the request to the Columbus City Council and Bartholomew County Council for funding approval. Each government body must agree on any funding.

In recent months, the alliance has transitioned to a new role as a not-for-profit group operating the ASAP Hub Recovery Resource Center, which is now open at the Doug Otto United Way Center on 13th Street. The Hub is meant as a central location to get someone into treatment. Organizers say the idea is that when someone with a substance use disorder asks for help, they need services right away. The Hub is expected to be fully operational by April of 2020.

Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin addressed the gathering. She talked about the Drug Recovery Court, a voluntary program designed to provide motivation and skills to high-risk, non-violent offenders. The program currently has a maximum cap of 30 participants with the average time taken to complete the program being 18 to 24 months.

Jeff Jones, former volunteer executive director of ASAP, says that much work has been done, by much more remains. He received a standing ovation from the crowd for his efforts in helping to combat the opioid epidemic. Jones was also honored by Mayor Jim Lienhoop, County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop and Jim Bickell, CEO of Columbus Regional Health at the end of the program.

The trio unveiled the “Jeff Jones Fund.” Lienhoop explained that friends, coworkers and other supporters of Jones contributed to this fund, which is designated to help ASAP cover certain expenses. That fund totals $63,763.17.

Jones is re-entering retirement and has been succeeded by new executive director, Doug Leonard.

You can get more information on ASAP and their community report at asapbc.org.

Cummins has announced a multi-year partnership with the University of California San Diego and its battery validation lab. The agreement allows the university to analyze viable business and technical approaches to effectively reuse and repurpose electric vehicle batteries.

Under the agreement, UC San Diego will perform accelerated testing and real-world application testing, and will develop an outdoor second-life demonstration system comprised of Cummins battery modules. Cummins officials say this allow the company to acquire valuable data on the aging behaviors of its battery modules, test integration solutions for second-life battery systems and validate stationary energy storage system performance under grid energy storage applications.

“Electrification has the potential to play an enormous role as we move toward decarbonization of many industries, but in order to maximize that potential, it’s crucial that we focus on the sustainability of the entire product life cycle,” said Julie Furber, Vice President – Electrified Power, Cummins. “One piece of the puzzle that requires additional research is the second-life of batteries, and Cummins now has a highly-skilled and capable partner in UC San Diego as we move towards the development of reuse solutions.”

Cummins says that batteries retired from electric vehicles still maintain significant battery capacity. While that capacity may no longer meet the need for vehicular use, they could be utilized in less-demanding applications.

“Cummins is the nexus between the transportation and stationary energy storage sectors,” said Mike Ferry, Director of Energy Storage and Systems at the Center for Energy Research, University of California San Diego. “Battery module design is a crucial aspect to making second-life more feasible and their experience will be invaluable as we continue to develop solutions. Given their reputation, global footprint, and all they’ve accomplished in the last century, it’s a real privilege to partner with them on this project.”

Cummins says this partnership with UC San Diego represents one of the first lithium-ion battery projects to exclusively study second-life battery capabilities with batteries that were designed for commercial applications.

Columbus New Tech Signature Academy will be hosting a traveling exhibit meant to help parents recognize potential warning signs in their children’s lives. “Hidden in Plain Sight” is an interactive display designed to help parents of teens recognize unfamiliar hazards that are often in plain sight.

By walking through a makeshift child’s bedroom, parents learn to identify objects that could provide critical insights about risky behavior. Amidst the clutter, organizers say are more than 100 items that can actually be signals that a young person could be involved in harmful or illegal activity.

“Hidden in Plain Sight” will be on display at Columbus New Tech located at 2205 25th Street on September 4th at 5:30 p.m. The exhibit is open to adults only. There is no charge to attend.

If you’ve wanted to get out and enjoy Columbus, you now have an option to get around for free, for a limited time.

The ColumBike bikeshare program is free through the end of October. Organizers explain the idea is to get more people to enjoy the displays put up throughout the city as part of “Exhibit Columbus.” You are encouraged to visit any of the eight bicycle stations and ride free of charge. Simply visit a kiosk station, swipe your credit or debit card, enter the promo code “278.” This code will allow you to ride for two hours free of charge. After that, you’ll be charged $3 per hour. If you don’t want to pay, you can check your bike back into a kiosk and start the checkout process over again.

For more information, visit columbike.bicycle.com/station-map.

Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County recently awarded $372,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations.

Grant recipients were:

• Developmental Services, Inc. – $40,000 for the construction of a new modular classroom to allow for expanded programming options.
• Kidscommons – $100,000 over two years as a contribution to its $500,000 capital campaign for the build-out and installation of a new exhibit.
• Foundation For Youth – $102,000 to fund new staff positions to help with increased demand for services, space and fundraising.
• Sans Souci – $70,000 over two years to fund the incremental cost of management positions in the areas of Human Resources, Operations, Human Services and Outreach.
• Advocates for Children – $60,000 over two years to create a full-time Director of Development position.

That grant money is coming from the unrestricted Community Fund as part of its third-quarter grants cycle.

Officials say these Community Fund grants help Heritage Fund to meet emerging needs in Bartholomew County in the areas of Youth Development, Substance Abuse, Neighborhood Revitalization, Innovation and Creativity and Welcoming Community.

You have the opportunity to enjoy free live music while helping out Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.

The band “Survivor” is headlining this Saturday’s (Aug. 31) show at Mill Race Park. Julie Davis is an organizer for the event. She talks about the entertainment on tap for the evening.

Davis says this event wouldn’t be possible without the help of sponsors.

Davis explains how money is raised for Our Hospice.

In addition, Faurecia will be raffling off four of their specially constructed grills.

For more information, visit facebook.com/OurHospice.