Bartholomew County government offices will be mostly closed next week for an expanded cleaning and social distancing to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Government offices are closed today under a normal holiday schedule. But next week, only essential workers will be allowed in the buildings on a case-by-case basis and the public will be largely kept out of county facilities. The plan is meant to allow maintenance crews to perform a deep cleaning of county facilities, but also to allow workers to remain separated in the wake of Thanksgiving festivities where COVID-19 might have spread.

Some essential functions will still happen next week including court hearings and the Monday County Commissioners meeting, which will be open to the public via the Zoom app.

Starting Dec. 7th, county offices will only be staffed at 50 percent on a rotating schedule to increase social distancing. The public will still be able to get their business done through phone, email or appointments with individual offices.

Two local counties have been downgraded on the Indiana State Department of Health coronavirus spread map, as of the most recent update.

Decatur and Brown counties had been listed by the state as red counties, showing severe spread of the disease but have now been downgraded. Bartholomew and all of its surrounding counties are now orange, showing serious spread of the disease.

Bartholomew County has 66 new cases and a 7-day positivity rate of 11.7 percent. In other area counties, Decatur had 21 new cases, Jennings 34, Jackson 69, Brown 7, Johnson 164 and Shelby County 75. Johnson County had four new reported deaths, and Shelby County had one.

Indiana has added 6,434 more positive COVID-19 cases and 63 deaths, as of the most recent update on Wednesday. That report showed 318,894 total cases since the start of the pandemic and 5,295 total deaths.

Indiana State Police have released the name of a homicide victim, found over the weekend in Brown County.

Authorities say the body has been positively identified as 38-year-old Angela Weisheit of Indianapolis.

Sheriff Scott Southerland told the Brown County Democrat newspaper that the body was found by a deer hunter near Bean Blossom and Bell roads Saturday. Detectives with the state police said that they believe this is an isolated incident and stress that there is no indication of danger to the public.

This remains an active investigation. Investigators believe that someone has information in the case and are urging anyone to come forward with that information. They say that if you are in fear of reporting what you know, law enforcement has the means to mitigate those concerns. All tips will be investigated and you can remain anonymous.

If you have any information you can contact Indiana State Police Bloomington Post at (812) 332-4411.

The city of Columbus is giving up on collecting rent from its restaurant tenants in The Commons and the Jackson Street parking garage until at least July of next year.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission adopted a proposal to fully abate the rent at a special meeting Wednesday afternoon to fully abate the rent for Orange Leaf, Subway, Bucceto’s, Luciana’s, The Garage Pub & Grill and Lucabe’s Coffee from January through June 30th.

The city has already abated rent on the properties in full or in part, starting in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Heather Pope, director of the city’s redevelopment department, said that in a normal year from June through December, the city would have collected more than $136,000 in rent, while this year the city has only collected just over $20,000, due to the previous abatements.

Councilman Tom Dell urged the commission to approve the rent abatement, saying that downtown restaurants are facing some of their toughest times ever because of the COVID-19 restrictions. Dell said that the city doesn’t view the rents in the city-owned buildings as a profit-maker, instead just as a way to recover some costs. In this case, the greatest cost would be having to replace those restaurants.

The commission approved the proposal unanimously.

Columbus firefighters are warning that Thanksgiving celebrations also carry the potential for fire dangers.

Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the Columbus Fire Department, says that statistically tomorrow brings the greatest chance for a kitchen fire, the most common type of residential fire. Frequently that is due to distractions, he said.

Frying your Thanksgiving turkey is popular right now but that brings its own set of dangers.

That includes inside of a garage. When outdoors, Wilson said you should keep the fryer off of wooden decks and away from eaves or overhangs.

And you should invest in a non-water fire extinguisher, Wilson said.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department says several legitimate organizations are working with the department to develop fundraisers to honor fallen police dog Diesel. But there are also fake fundraisers that have popped up which are not approved by the department.

The sheriff’s department said that the Bartholomew County Humane Society, Dog World and veterans organizations have volunteered to host fund raisers for a memorial and to sustain the department’s K9 Program. However, the department has not approved any fundraisers through online sites like Spot Fund or Go Fund Me. Those sites appear to be scammers who are acting as if they are supporters of the efforts. The sheriff’s department warns you not to fall victim to those activities.

If the department does decide to approve a fundraising effort, there will be a public endorsement of the fundraiser by Sheriff Matt Myers.

Myers said that Diesel’s handler, Deputy Matt Bush, and other deputies have been touched by the hundreds of cards, prayers and donations supporting the department after the death of the dog during a chase earlier this month.

If you would like to drop off a card or other donation item, you can bring it to the front desk at the Sheriff’s Office or mail it to 543 2nd Street.

Indiana is reporting more than 100 deaths from COVID-19 according to the newest numbers from the State Department of Health.

Tuesday’s report show 5,702 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 306,538 since the pandemic started. The state’s 7-day all test positivity rate is 11.4 percent.

The 103 deaths reported today brings the state total to 5 thousand 169 since March. The deaths reported today happened between Oct. 30th and Monday.

Bartholomew County has 50 new cases and a 7-day positivity rate of 13 percent. In other area counties, Decatur had 11 new cases, Jennings 27, Jackson 68, Brown 7, Johnson 90 and Shelby County 37. Johnson County had one reported death, the only area county with a new fatality from the disease.

Jennings County deputies recovered a pound of methamphetamine and other drugs after a vehicle chase through the county Monday.

A deputy attempted to stop a vehicle after a traffic violation at about 8:04 p.m. Monday night on County Road 600W but instead the driver took off, according to police reports. As the vehicle fled, items were thrown out the windows, according to police.

After having its tires deflated near County Roads 550W and 300N, the vehicle drove through a field before crashing into a drainage ditch. Two men then attempted to run away before being taken into custody.

The items thrown out the window turned out to be the pound of meth and more than an ounce of heroin or fentanyl. Police also recovered $3,000 in cash from one of the men.

The driver, 43-year-old Michael Franklin of Floyds Knobs and the passenger, 51-year-old Robert Sibley of Madison, are facing charges including dealing Methamphetamine, Resisting Law Enforcement, Possession of Methamphetamine, a syringe and marijuana. Sibley’s bond is being doubled because he was already on house arrest through Jefferson County.

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle on Friday night, according to deputies.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that 34-year-old Amberly Napier was struck by a northbound semi in the 10000 block of South U.S. 31 at about 10 p.m. Friday night.

Witnesses said that Napier was in the travel lanes of northbound U.S. 31 when she was struck.

The investigation is ongoing.