Indiana is still not fully opened and will remain in “Phase 4.5” of a five-phase reopening plan, for at least the next two weeks. Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the hold in a news conference Wednesday afternoon, according to Network Indiana.

State health commissioner Dr. Kris Box said an increase in positive cases of coronavirus played a part in the decision, as did factors like hospitalizations.

In “Phase 4.5”, restaurants are limited to three-quarters capacity, while bars, bowling alleys, theaters, nightclubs, casinos and museums have been capped at half capacity since they were allowed to reopen three weeks ago. Box said those are the places where capacity limits are most important. She said the virus spreads 19 times more easily indoors than outdoors.

Holcomb said events like festivals will have to be approved by the state department of health, based on local conditions.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 53,370 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 700 cases since Tuesday’s update.

There have been 2,592 deaths in Indiana as of Wednesday afternoon’s update, an increase of 10 since Tuesday.

Bartholomew County has had 612 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths. There have been no deaths in Bartholomew or surrounding counties since last week.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop says the city is putting the brakes on plans to get rid of Greenbelt Golf Course.

The mayor announced yesterday afternoon that the city would be adding about 60 days to the decision timeline all allow for the consideration of other options and proposals. Under the original timeline, City Council could have received a recommendation to close Greenbelt next week and the parks and recreation board would have considered that proposal in early August.

But Lienhoop said that the delay shows that there is no “done deal” to close Greenbelt.

Ultimately though, the mayor said that the public showed it was more interested in maintain the mission of Greenbelt than the financial or other factors being weighed in closing it.

The city will be seeking proposals on the operations of Greenbelt, and Lienhoop said that they would consider any serious proposals. He said there are no serious proposals on the table yet, but there have been people express serious interest in making a proposal.

The parks department is expected to release details of its request for proposals by Friday, July 24th.

Columbus City Utilities will be considering a rate hike when the Utility Service Board meets today.

As outlined in a public hearing last week, Columbus City Utilities is looking to increase its rates, in large part to replace aging water mains some of which are more than 100 years old.

The new rates, if approved, would be phased in and for an average residential customer using 4,000 gallons of water a month, would go from $9.82 a month for water service to $17.97 a month after all the increases are phased in.

The increased revenue will be used to improve the service over 20 years. A recent survey of the city’s 300 miles of water pipes shows that much of the infrastructure is aging. A third of the city water mains are more than 50 years old, and 10 percent are 100 years old or older The proposed rate increase would allow the city to replace just under two miles of water main a year.

Under a tentative time line, if approved today, the rate increase would go before City Council at their July 21st meeting for their first consideration. After that it would go before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for approval. The first increases would go into effect in August of next year.

The Utility Service Board is meeting at 11:30 a.m. today in the Cal Brand Meeting room at Columbus City Hall.

Bartholomew County will be going forward with a plan to buy body cameras and car cameras for county deputies.

The County Council unanimously approved the plan to spend just over $308,000 dollars to provide the cameras this year. That’s after County Commissioners offered up funds that had originally been allocated for maintenance projects on the County Courthouse.

Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said that the county has done more than $300,000 in immediately necessary maintenance on the courthouse this year, and had about $700,000 more in projects planned. But those could be deferred.

Previously, council members had expressed concerns about the expected upcoming revenue slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic led drop in income taxes. But with the alternative funding source, County Councilwoman Laura DeDomenic made the motion to go ahead with the purchase.

Council president Matt Miller praised the commissioners for offering up the maintenance funds to make the sheriff’s department project happen.

The sheriff’s department proposed buying Axon cameras, the same used by the Columbus Police Department at a first year cost of just over $280 thousand dollars including installation. The county IT department also estimated it would need $25 thousand dollars to help implement the camera installation.

Although there had been talk of separating the body cameras from the car cameras, Capt. Brandon Slate explained that the remote internet access point installed in each deputy’s vehicle would allow footage to be uploaded in near real time while still in the field. Without that infrastructure, the deputies would have to spend 20 to 30 minutes at the end of each shift, uploading their day’s video to cloud storage. Slate estimated that they would use about 5 terabytes of bandwidth a month, with the county government having to increase its internet capacity to allow that.

Now that a funding source is secured, the sheriff’s department will now go out to seek formal bids for the project.

Sgt. Julie Quesenbery, a Columbus Police Department School Resource officer at Columbus East High School and Fodrea Elementary, has been recognized with an award from the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Earlier this month, Quesenbery was chosen for the Regional Service Award for Region 5 which includes Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. She has been a school resource officer since 2014 and is the co-author of the Situational Awareness for Everyday, or SAFE, program which teaches high school seniors to be safe in and away from school.

The program has been taught locally for five years and Quesenbery will be presenting the program at a conference later this month. She hopes to make the program available to officers statewide.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have released more details of the district’s plans to reopen schools on Aug. 6th.

School officials said that the use of masks has been one of the biggest concerns of parents and the community. Under the guidelines issued last night, students and staff will be provided two washable cloth face coverings. Students and staff should carry face coverings with them at all times and they are expected to wear the coverings. Face coverings are required when physical distancing is not possible, such as during group activities, in hallways and on buses. The district also recognizes that some students and staff may be exempt from wearing masks due to health needs.

The district is also changing the way attendance will be calculated. Student will be considered present whether attending in person or engaging remotely. The district is also going to discontinue the use of attendance incentives for this school year.

Students will still have recess, according to the plan. Playground equipment will be cleaned at least daily and students will be required to wash their hands before and after recess.

You can find the current draft of the plan at bcscschools.org.

If you have questions, you can submit those to reopening at reopening@bcsc.k12.in.us.

Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash is asking the County Council for $30,000 to pay for translation services in an upcoming murder trial.

Nash told the council at last week’s work session that none of the people allegedly involved in an east Columbus shooting earlier this year speaks English, so every interview has required a translator. So far the 14 batches of interview transcripts have run into the thousands of pages, before the first trial has even happened.

Nash said that about half of the money will go to pay for the work already done, with the other half going toward expected future translation expenses. Nash said that the Columbus Police Department and the prosecutor have an agreement where the city is already paying for half of the cost.

37-year-old Leonardo Rodriguez Flores was found dead from a gunshot wound to the face in a factory parking lot on South Marr Road in February.

31-year-old Eliel Avelar of Midlothian, Illinois was arrested on a charge of murder at a Chicago hotel by U.S. Marshalls.

Council will also be considering a $284,238 request from Sheriff Matt Myers for body and vehicle cameras for deputies.

The council meets at 6 p.m. tonight.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has declared an Ozone Action Day for part of our area today including Jackson County.

During an Ozone Action Day, a combination of high temperatures, light winds and other factors combine to produce conditions where ozone levels exceed federal standards. Anyone sensitive to changes in air quality may find it hard to breathe when ozone levels are high. Children, the elderly and anyone with heart or lung conditions should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors. If you have to be outside, drink plenty of water and take frequent breaks.

IDEM recommends that you take actions to lower ozone levels, including walking, biking, carpooling or using public transportation; avoid going through drive-throughs, if your vehicle is going to be idling for more than 30 seconds, shut it off; and combine your errands into one trip; avoid refueling your vehicle or using gas-powered lawn equipment until after 7 tonight.

You can get more information online at www.in.gov/idem/airquality/

Bartholomew County deputies used the state’s Red Flag law to confiscate firearms from a man who was making threats to harm himself or others Friday.

The person’s name and address is not being released.

Deputies report that the incident started at about 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon when they were contacted by a woman was said she was concerned and fearful over her husband’s mental state. He was making statements about harming himself or having others harm him, and he had a history of mental health and medical issues, she said..

He had placed numerous firearms around the home and asked his wife to shoot him, according to reports. Deputies say he also threatened to draw a weapon so that responders would open fire on him.

Deputies talked to the man through an open window and saw the staged firearms, as well as a gun on his hip. After about a half hour with no progress toward a resolution, deputies grabbed the man through the window and secured him. He was then taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for evaluation.

Under the Red Flag Law, authorities are allowed to confiscate a person’s guns if it is determined that the subject is dangerous or mentally unstable. Deputies took 20 firearms from the home.

Sheriff Matt Myers said that he and his deputies support the Second Amendment but in this case they saw no other choice.

It has been a week since a death from COVID-19 was reported in area counties.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 51,612 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 560 cases since Saturday’s update.

There have been 2,567 deaths in Indiana as of Sunday afternoon’s update, an increase of 4 since Saturday.

Bartholomew County has had 601 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths. The most recent death in Bartholomew and surrounding counties was July 6th in Jennings County.