The Indiana Region of the American Red Cross is offering safety tips if you have to be out driving in this severe weather.

They say to make sure you let someone know your destination, your route, and when you expect to arrive. If you don’t make it to your destination, help can look for you along your route.

If you do get stranded, stay in the vehicle and wait for help. Don’t leave the vehicle unless you can see help within 100 yards. You can quickly become disoriented and confused in blowing snow.

You should display a sign to indicate you need help such as hanging a brightly colored, preferably red, cloth on the antenna and raise your hood after snow stops falling.

You can run the engine occasionally to keep warm. Turn on the engine for about 10 minutes each hour (or five minutes every half hour). Running the engine for only short periods will reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and conserve fuel.

Updated: 7 p.m. Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a winter storm warning for our area, with the possibility of 8 to 11 inches of snow.

That warning starts at 7 p.m. Sunday night and lasts through 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Locally, the affected area includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson and Shelby counties as well as the cities of Brownstown, Columbus, Greensburg, Greenwood, Franklin, Seymour, Shelbyville and North Vernon.

Heavy snow is anticipated and travel will be very difficult. Snowfall tonight is expected to amount to around 2 inches with the heaviest snow falling from 4 Monday afternoon through the night. Snowfall rates in excess of an inch an hour at times are possible with locally heavier periods. Blowing snow will lead to higher drifts of snow.

The hazardous conditions could impact the Monday evening commute. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

The Indiana Department of Transportation Southeast District has issued a full call-out of plow trucks ahead of  the storm.

Plow drivers will begin reporting between 6 and 11 p.m. Sunday evening to start monitoring and treating state roads. Shift changes will take place at midnight and noon until roadways improve.

Truck totals for the southeastern district:

• Bloomington Sub District: 28 trucks (full call-out)
• Columbus Sub District: 29 trucks (full call-out)
• Madison Sub District: 30 trucks (full call-out)
• Aurora Sub District: 28 trucks (full call-out)
• Falls City Sub District: 24 trucks (full call-out)

The Columbus Transit Department is announcing  that the ColumBUS system will shut down at 1 p.m. Monday and the last full run will be at noon. On Tuesday, February 16, there will be no bus service. The city will make decisions about the schedule later in the week based on weather projections at that time. City officials say safety for riders and staff is their priority.

A Columbus woman is being accused of driving under the influence after both vehicles fled a crash scene Friday morning.

Columbus police report that Bartholomew County deputies stopped a damaged vehicle on 10th Street at about 1:45 a.m. Friday morning after a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of National Road and 10th. Authorities determined that a passenger, 23-year-old Brittney A. Spears of Columbus, was actually driving at the time of the crash.

Spears failed sobriety tests and was arrested on preliminary charges of false informing, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.

Gov. Eric Holcomb is ordering flags at state facilities be flown at half-staff in remembrance of former Indiana first lady Susan Bayh and is asking businesses and residents to do the same.

Bayh died last Friday at the age of 61. She was an attorney and the wife of former Governor Evan Bayh. She had been battling brain cancer since 2015.

The family will be holding memorial services at a later date when health conditions allow, so Holcomb is ordering the flags remain at half-staff until sunset on Thursday.

A man seen littering is under arrest after trying to flee from police in downtown Columbus early Friday morning.

According to Columbus police, officers on a foot patrol saw a man littering in the 1500 block of Chestnut Street at about 1 a.m. Friday morning. But after stopping him and asking for his ID, police say the man ran away.

Officers followed his foot prints in the snow an found him hiding behind a shed in the 1400 block of Sycamore Street. 37-year-old Clifford D. Roberts, of Columbus was arrested on a new charge of resisting law enforcement and for outstanding warrants in Bartholomew and Jennings counties.

Two Columbus police officers have been commended for their actions helping an elderly woman in need.

Police Chief Michael Richardson said that officers Chris Strickland and Adam Wisenbaugh checked on the welfare of the woman on January 28th and found that she did not have food, water or electricity in her home. Strickland purchased food for the woman using his own money, Richardson said, while Wisenbaugh worked with a local charity to get the woman a temporary hotel room.

Richardson said that police have many roles and sometimes that involves being a caretaker for the less fortunate. He praised the officers for taking the extra steps to make sure the resident was cared for.

Both officers have both been with the department for about six years.

The American Red Cross is holding a blood drive this weekend at The Commons.

The drive will be between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday in the Xenia Miller Conference room in the upper lobby of The Commons. The goal is to have at least 60 donors for the drive.

This month, the Red Cross Indiana region is urging you to donate blood, platelets or plasma. COVID-19 survivors are especially needed as donors to help with a shortage of convalescent plasma for other patients. Those who have made it through the disease may have antibodies in their plasma that could help patients currently battling the virus.

You can schedule an appointment by going online to redcrossblood.org

Most area counties remain orange on the state’s color coded map of COVID-19 spread in the state, indicating serious spread of the disease.

According to yesterday’s report from the Indiana State Department of Health, Bartholomew, Johnson, Shelby, Decatur and Jackson counties remain in the orange category, while Jennings and Brown counties are now in the yellow showing moderate spread of the disease.

Bartholomew County reported 29 new cases in yesterday’s update, while Decatur had 10, Jennings had 4, Jackson had 24, Brown had 1, Johnson had 37 and Shelby had 12 new cases. Johnson County had three deaths, while Bartholomew and Jackson counties each had a single death from the disease.

Statewide, there were 17 hundred and 62 new cases of COVID-19 reported yesterday, with 26 newly reported deaths and a 7-day positivity rate of 6 point 1 percent.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are planning to phase back to in-person learning for all of their students, over several steps with the first coming after next week.

The school district announced yesterday that the phased approach would move the middle school and high school students back to an in-classroom experience, after a hybrid approach that only had them in class for two days a week and at home for two days.

Next week will remain the same for all of the students, but starting on Feb. 22nd, middle school students will return to five-day a week in-person classes. High school students will be making the same transition but not until after spring break. Full-time in person learning for them will return on March 22nd.

School officials said that the local COVID-19 statistics are trending in the right direction and the phased approach is believed to be the best way to meet the needs of the students while protecting the health and well being of everyone in the community.

Gleaners Food Bank will be holding a drive-thru food pantry distribution from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Columbus Municipal Airport at 5175 N. Warren Drive.

You will be able to stay in your vehicle and the food will be delivered to you. There will be no early arrivals and there is no parking allowed on River Road or Cunningham Drive.

No ID is required.