Columbus Regional Health is announcing that the CRH Wellness Center is being closed for the rest of December, with the hope to reopen on January 4th.

The hospital announced that with the spread of COVID-19 at an all-time high, that it would close the center and suspend ongoing classes to try to limit the spread of the disease. The center leadership and fitness instructors are encouraging residents to continue to take part in solo exercise plans or by including household members in group fitness activities.

CRH says the decision to close was made to keep Wellness Center customers as safe as possible.

The Bartholomew County Health Department and the Indiana Immunization Coalition will be holding a walk-in flu vaccination clinic on Saturday at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds Community Building.

The clinic will be for those older than six months. Private insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare will be accepted as well as those with no insurance. Masks are required.

The clinic will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the fairgrounds on Bartholomew County Road 200S. You can get more information at 317-628-7116.

The Town of Hope will be holding its community-wide Deck The Town holiday lights competition again this year. And the prize will be the traveling trophy – a replica of the leg lamp from “The Christmas Story” movie.

All homes in the town limits will be considered if they are decorated for Christmas on or before Dec. 16th. Photos from all the lit homes will be hosted on the Main Street of Hope Facebook page for voting. Voting will continue until 10 p.m. in the evening on Dec. 20th.

Main Street of Hope Facebook page

Two Columbus men found in a storage facility with bolt cutters Wednesday night are facing attempted burglary charges.

Columbus police say that they were called to the storage facility on North Indianapolis Road at about 11:30 Wednesday night after a security guard saw the two men in the facility. He said they did not come through the front gate and police found a hole cut in the fence.

The two ran away when police arrived but officers cordoned off the area and soon found 31-year-old James M. Kapetanois. Police brought in police dog Argo who found 39-year-old Matthew B. Herron. A set of bolt cutters were also recovered with Herron.

They are both facing charges of attempted burglary and trespassing. Kapetanios is also being accused of carrying a syringe.

A report of a woman being held at gunpoint led to a standoff with police and the arrest of a Jennings County man yesterday morning.

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department said deputies were called to a domestic dispute in the Hickory Hills Subdivision at about 9:45 a.m. Thursday morning. Deputies say that a woman had escaped from the home and called for help after having a gun pointed at her by 57-year-old Anthony R. Dean.

Dean wouldn’t talk to deputies by phone but repeatedly tried to call the victim. The Jennings County Emergency Response Team and Indiana State Police SWAT teams were called in and continued to try to contact Dean. He reportedly walked onto the front porch several times and eventually was talked into sitting in a chair on the porch. The SWAT team and Jennings County police dog Axle moved in to prevent him from going back inside.

After a brief struggle, including punching Axle and the use of less-lethal weapons, Dean was taken into custody. After being taken to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital to be checked out, Dean was arrested on preliminary charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon, domestic battery, resisting law enforcement and criminal confinement.

Indiana had its highest single-day total number of positive COVID-19 tests reported yesterday, although some of the tests are weeks old.

The state reported 8,527 new positive COVID-19 cases but some of those date back to Nov. 13th. The previous single day high was Nov. 13th with 8,283 three cases.

The state is also reporting 60 deaths and a 7-day positivity rate of 11.4 percent.

Bartholomew County had 124 new cases to report, with a 7-day positivity rate of 10.4 percent. That marks a new single-day high. Decatur had 34 new cases, Jennings 39, Jackson 116, Brown 21, Johnson 249 and Shelby 36. Jackson and Brown counties each had one new death from the disease.

Jackson County continues to be red on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 spread map, showing a severe spread of the disease. Bartholomew and other surrounding counties remain orange, showing serious spread of the disease.

The Columbus Design Institute is kicking off an online workshop today aimed at the mayors of five Indiana cities, to help improve their Main Streets and downtowns during the pandemic.

According to the Landmark Columbus Foundation, the Columbus Design Institute is an initiative to promote the value of good design in the sustainable and equitable development of cities. The institute was one of three throughout the country to hold a regional session last year for the Mayor’s Institute of City Design, hosted through the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The mayors of Columbus, Shelbyville, Elkhart, Zionsville and Warsaw are taking part in the workshop today through Dec. 10th. Each mayor will be able to work with a team of design experts from around the country to learn about national trends and to have a workshop on their own community’s design challenges.

If you need help paying for health insurance in Bartholomew County, you might be able to get assistance through the Premium Link Bartholomew County program organized through the United Way.

You household income has to be less than twice the federal poverty guidelines to qualify and you have to be getting health insurance through a marketplace Silver Plan or Indiana’s HIP Plus plans. Alicia Monroe with the United Way says the Premium Link program is meant to keep cost from getting in the way of people’s health care.

You can get more information by calling 812-314-2960 or emailing premiumlink@uwbarthco.org. The deadline to sign up is December 15th.

Bartholomew County officials want to get your thoughts on the availability of broadband internet in the rural areas of the county.

Tony London, incoming county commissioner and head of the county’s new broadband initiative, said he has been working with Purdue University and others to develop the study.

Speaking at the Bartholomew County Commissioners meeting earlier this week, London said:

London said he is working with Purdue’s Dr. Roberto Gallardo, who literally wrote the book on broadband internet in rural Indiana.

The initiative will help identify underserved areas of the community and work to attract service providers to offer expanded service and higher speed in those areas.

You can find a link to the survey here.