Cummins is reporting first quarter revenues of $5 billion dollars, a decrease of 17 percent since the first quarter of last year. In its quarterly SEC filing, the company said lower truck production in North America and weaker demand in global construction, mining and power generation drove the decreasing revenue.

Sales in North America declined by 16 percent while international revenues ere down by 17 percent. That was led by declines in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, India, and China.

The company declined to provide revenue or profitability guidance for 2020, due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger said that the company has faced unforseen crises before in its 100 year history and he said he is confident the company can navigate the current crisis and emerge stronger.

Cummins reported that it is planning for weak demand levels to persist for some time.

Read Cummins 2020 Q1 report

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have been keeping in close contact with their teachers on how the current eLearning program is going and on ways to improve it.

Dr. Laura Hack, the school district’s director of elementary instruction explains during this week’s school board meeting that a survey was sent out to the teachers about three weeks after the switch to e-learning.

Hack said that about 26 teachers responded that they needed help.

The school district was able to pair them up with mentors and coaches who were able to assist them.

A second survey went out this week, Hack said.

Columbus police say that a woman’s vehicle nearly struck a fire truck responding to a reported overdose Saturday morning before leading police on a chase through the city.

At about 6:25 Saturday morning officers were on the scene of the incident in the 3100 block of Miami Court when 29-year-old Catina M. Caudill began screaming at officers. She then got into her vehicle and took off with no headlights, running over a curb and nearly crashing into the fire truck. Police tried to stop her but she ignored a traffic light and sped off down 25th Street.

Bartholomew County deputies joined in the pursuit and tried to stop her vehicle with tire deflating devices and she hit the obstacles twice before her vehicle was finally disabled near State Street and Repp Drive.

She was taken to Columbus Regional Health to be checked out before going to jail on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement and driving while suspended.

Indiana now has 15,961 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 being reported, an increase of 963 cases since Sunday’s total. That is the highest single day increase since the start of the disease tracking in early March. It is more than 250 cases higher than the second highest day, which was Friday.

The state has had 844 deaths as of this afternoon’s update, an increase of 31 deaths from the previous day, according to the state health department.

Bartholomew County has 206 confirmed cases, an increase of 26 cases since Sunday. There have been 10 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County unchanged since the weekend. 1,504 tests have been done on Bartholomew County residents with 1,126 negative results and 128 tests still pending.

In other area counties, Decatur has 194 cases and has had 27 deaths. Jennings 72 cases and 1 death, Jackson 118 cases and no deaths, Brown 15 cases and 1 death, Johnson 538 cases and 51 deaths and Shelby 184 cases and 8 deaths, an increase of two deaths since yesterday.

Indiana is giving the go-ahead to dentists’ offices, abortion clinics, dermatology practices, and veterinary clinics to reopen today.

Local food pantries are seeing a sharp increase in need during the current crisis, as more families find themselves in dire straits.

I talked recently with Kelly Daugherty, director of Love Chapel, who said about 20 percent of their clients are new over the past few weeks and their need for food assistance is greater than normal.

The food bank is in need of food donations. They are in especial need of dried goods including pastas, cereal and macaroni and cheese.

The food bank is in need of volunteers to help behind the scenes packing food boxes. Many of the center’s regular volunteers are elderly and have opted not to take part during the virus pandemic.

If you want to donate food you can drop items off at the pantry at 292 Center Street, from 9 to noon Monday through Saturdays. Love Chapel is operated by the Bartholomew County Ecumenical Assembly.

Chelsea Warriner from the Community Center of Hope food bank, said that they are seeing about 50 percent more families as before the crisis.

Warriner said that the food bank sees itself working in conjunction with the Flat Rock-Hawcreek schools lunch program to feed families in need.

The Community Center of Hope is at 534 Washington St. in Hope and it serves residents of Flat Rock and Hawcreek Townships in Bartholomew County.

Indiana now has 15,012 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 being reported, an increase of 634 cases since Saturday’s total. The state has had 813 deaths as of Sunday afternoon’s update, an increase of 29 deaths from the previous day, according to the state health department.

Bartholomew County has 206 confirmed cases, an increase of 31 cases since Friday. There have been 10 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County an increase of two since last week. 1,447 tests have been done on Bartholomew County residents with 1,084 negative results and 121 tests still pending.

In other area counties, Decatur has 194 cases and has had 27 deaths, an increase of 3 deaths since last week. Jennings 72 cases and 1 death, Jackson 114 cases and no deaths, Brown 15 cases and 1 death, Johnson 533 cases and 51 deaths — an increase of 3 since last week, and Shelby 180 cases and 6 deaths.

Mental health advocates say that we should all be taking care of ourselves during this stressful time. Nicki Vreeland with Columbus Regional Health’s Healthy Communities mental health action team explains that it is important to take steps now to protect your mental health.

Vreeland suggests setting a regular schedule, eating healthy foods, and giving yourself grace for not having a perfect system right now.

You can hear more from Vreeland in her video posted by the Bartholomew County COVID-19 Task Force on our Facebook page.

Local Resources

Family Service Inc.:
812-266-0575, 9a-4p, 812-372-3745 to leave a message

Centerstone Crisis Line:
800-344-8802

National Suicide Hotline:
800-273-8255, text and social media options available

INDOT says that you will see delays on State Road 11 near Garden City next week, as crews put beams in place for the railroad overpass heading into downtown Columbus.

On Wednesday and Thursday you can expect intermittent closures will take place for up to 20 minutes at a time while the beams are set in place over State Road 11. Those closures are planned between noon and 8 in the evening each day, with a break from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Law enforcement will be on site to direct traffic and message boards will be in place to alert motorists.

Beams will be set over the railroad tracks earlier in the week, but no road closures will be necessary.

The new overpass is set to open late this year. In the coming months, you will see lane closures on the Third Street bridge in May, a full closure of State Road 11 in June and lane restrictions on State Road 46 this fall.

Milestone Contractors is the contractor for the $30 million interchange project.

Indiana now has 13,039 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 being reported, an increase of 612 cases since Wednesday’s total, The state has had 706 deaths as of this afternoon’s update, an increase of 45 deaths from the previous day, according to the state health department.

Bartholomew County has 163 confirmed cases, an increase of 17 cases since Wednesday. There have been 8 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County, an increase of one.

In other area counties, Decatur has 182 cases and has had 22 deaths. Jennings 67 cases and 1 death, Jackson 100 cases and no deaths, Brown 15 cases and 1 death, Johnson 478 cases and 43 deaths, and Shelby 145 cases and 6 deaths.

State expands drive-thru testing criteria

The Indiana State Department of Health is conducting drive-thru clinics at areas in need throughout the state.

To increase our testing of Hoosiers who are sick, starting tomorrow we are expanding who can be tested at our drive-thru clinics to include healthcare workers, first responders, or essential workers and someone in your household is symptomatic. If you are not a healthcare worker, first responder, or essential worker but you are at higher risk due to your age, weight, or underlying health conditions and are symptomatic, you also can visit a drive-thru clinic for testing.

One test per vehicle, Indiana residents only.

To get your results from a drive-thru test, if you were tested at an ISDH drive-thru site after April 13, you can visit https://eportal.isdh.in.gov/COVID. Enter the number you were given onsite to access your results.

Who needs a COVID-19 test?

Indiana State Department of Health says healthcare providers may order a test for any patient who needs one based on their clinical evaluation. ISDH will continue to focus on testing our highest-risk Hoosiers so that we can continue to quickly provide results needed to protect the most vulnerable residents.

Those individuals include:

• • Anyone who is admitted to the hospital whose physician is concerned that their symptoms are consistent with COVID-19.
• Symptomatic healthcare workers (inpatient, outpatient, nursing home, and other long-term service facilities) and first responders who provide direct care to at-risk patients.
• Symptomatic long-term care facility residents or staff who have direct contact with patients.
• Persons experiencing homelessness.
• Patients who expire with suspected COVID-19 symptoms.
• Patients and staff at correctional facilities
• Patients age 65 and older with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
• Patients with underlying health conditions with symptoms of COVID-19, including lung or heart disease, or who are immunocompromised, obese or pregnant women.

If you still have questions,  call the ISDH COVID-19 call center at 877-826-0011.

For additional information, visit https://coronavirus.in.gov.

Two motorcyclists were injured after a crash yesterday in eastern Bartholomew County.

The Hartsville Volunteer Fire Department is reporting that the crash happened at about 5:50 yesterday afternoon at the intersection of County Roads 200N and 1140E.

Bartholomew County deputies report that a group of cyclists were traveling on 200N road when 36-year-old Lee M. Watts, of Columbus tried to make a turn to head to Anderson Falls. The following motorcycle, driven by 34-year-old James B. Fox, struck the rear of Watts bike, throwing Fox off and onto the pavement.

Fox was flown by Lifeline helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment, although he was conscious and speaking to rescuers according to firefighters. His condition is not available.

Watts was checked for minor injuries at the scene and released.

Both riders were wearing helmets and protective leather racing jackets.

Hartsville volunteers and Bartholomew County deputies were assisted at the scene by  Columbus Regional Hospital paramedics.

Photo courtesy of Hartsville Volunteer Fire Department