After a lull in Monday’s report of COVID-19 deaths, the Indiana State Department of Health is now reporting a record number of deaths from the disease in the state with yesterday’s update.

The state is adding 143 new deaths to the tally, up one from the high hit earlier this month. However the newly reported deaths happened between Nov. 10th and Monday. The state is now reporting 72 hundred and 44 deaths from the disease.

December could soon surpass November as the deadliest month for COVID-19 in Indiana. The coronavirus killed 982 people during the first 21 days of November. Through December 21st, 1,469 Hoosiers died of COVID-19. As of yesterday, the virus was killing an average of 69 Indiana residents per day.

Of the counties in our area, Johnson County is reporting six new deaths, while Bartholomew, Jennings and Decatur counties are each reporting one new death.

Bartholomew County had 38 new cases reported, Decatur 9, Jennings 11, Jackson 32, Brown 4, Johnson 137 and Shelby County 27.

Statewide there were 3,258 new cases reported with a 7-day positivity rate of 12.2 percent. The total since the pandemic began in Indiana is 471,876 cases.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will start the new year with in-person, five-day-a-week teaching for elementary students and with what they are calling a hybrid model of in-person and online learning for secondary students. That is a move back from the all e-learning program that has been in place for weeks.

At the middle and high school level, students would attend part of the week in class and part in e-learning, depending on the letters of their last name. A to K students would be in person Mondays and Tuesdays, while L through Z students would be in person Thursdays and Fridays. Should the county drop into the red level on the Indiana State Department of Health rankings, elementary school students would follow the same model.

The school district announced yesterday that it will continue daily to evaluate and discuss the local situation with local medical professionals including the Bartholomew County Health Department and Columbus Regional Health.

Families that have already signed up for the full-time e-learning, or Bridge program, will continue with distance learning.

The district says there are no restrictions on travel during the winter break, but they encourage staying home if you have had direct contact within the last 14 days with someone experiencing symptoms or who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Or if you yourself has shown any of the symptoms.

If you do come down with COVID-19, the district asks that you call to report cases during the winter break at 812-314-3867.

The new semester starts on January 5th.

Three more deaths were reported in area counties from COVID-19 yesterday, with only 31 deaths reported across the state in the newest update from the Indiana State Department of Health. Those deaths dated from Friday through Sunday.

Under those newly reported numbers, Shelby, Johnson and Decatur counties each had a single death from the disease. Bartholomew County had 55 new cases reported, Decatur 10, Jennings 19, Jackson 35, Brown 41, Johnson 110 and Shelby County 28.

Statewide there were 3,978 new cases reported with a 7-day positivity rate of 12.2 percent. That is the first time since the first week of November that the state has reported fewer than 4,000 new cases. The total since the pandemic began in Indiana is 468,219 cases, with 7,101 deaths and a total of nearly 5.3 million tests given.

Hospitals across the state say 75-percent of the ICU beds they’ve designated for the coronavirus are full.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission plans to purchase the former Eynon Law Offices on First Street for more than half a million dollars as part of a land swap with the Bartholomew County government.

The commission approved the purchase of property behind the Bartholomew County Jail on First Street as part of a land swap deal with the county government. The county and city are making deals to allow the city to own the property including county parking lot between Second and Third streets across from the jail. The property behind the jail will be used for a new county court services building built by the city.

The commission approved the purchase of the property at 555 First Street for $555,000 dollars from Moravec Realty LLC. The purchase will have to get further approvals from Columbus City Council because it is more than the commission’s half million dollar spending limit.

Design drawings courtesy of Bartholomew County Commissioners.

As the year wraps up, downtown development in Columbus is moving forward on several fronts.

The city has been approved for its Indiana Department of Natural Resources permit to make improvements in the downtown riverfront. Heather Pope, redevelopment director for the city, updated the Columbus Redevelopment Commission at its meeting yesterday, saying that the city has also had several meetings with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about what improvements they will will allow in the river. She said the Columbus team has begun the modeling necessary to meet those requirements. The city is also planning to submit its application for the project soon to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

She called it a huge step forward for the riverfront project.

Columbus police are looking for a suspect in a burglary at a Middle Road salon.

The police have released still shots and video from a burglary at Vivian Lou Salon at 3075 Middle Road early Monday morning. Police say the suspect, who appears to be dressed in a black hooded jacket, light-blue shirt, jeans and a black knit cap, broke into the cash register and left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

You can view a video of the suspect and the break-in on our Facebook page.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Columbus Police Department at 812-376-2600. Tips and information can be left anonymously.

Photos courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

A Columbus woman died after being trapped inside a vehicle after a crash Saturday evening.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that 24-year-old Ashley Cox died from her injuries at IU Methodist Hospital after being rescued from the wreckage.

Deputies were called to the crash at North County Road 280W and Fawn Court at about 10:17 Saturday night. They found one victim, 29-year-old Matthew Hunstable outside the vehicle and Cox trapped inside. She was freed by German Township firefighters and first taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, then to Indianapolis.

Hunstable was also taken to CRH for treatment of his injuries.

More than 7,000 people have now died from the coronavirus in Indiana. According to the Indiana State Department of Health’s daily updates on COVID-19 spread throughout the state, Indiana passed that milestone on Saturday.

Yesterday there were 6,558 new cases reported, with a 7-day positivity rate of 12.2 percent and 53 new deaths. Those deaths happened between November 6th and Saturday.

No new deaths were reported in area counties yesterday. Bartholomew County had 66 new cases, Decatur 17, Jennings 33, Jackson 35, Brown 11, Johnson 161 and Shelby County 51.

Shelby, Johnson, and Jackson counties are still under the red, or severe spread advisory level, on the state’s color coded map, after previous poor metrics, and will remain so until they return to the orange, or serious spread metrics for two consecutive weeks. Brown County is the only area county that is red based on its current score.