A diaper drive to benefit Clarity of Columbus is being set for Sunday afternoon at the Chic-Fil-A parking lot on National Road.
Organizers are looking for donations of disposable diapers and pull ups. The most needed diaper sizes are newborns and size 6. Pull ups of all sizes are needed. The drive will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. If you would like to donate but can’t deliver to the the event, pickups can be arranged.
You can get more information at 812-569-8573.
Gleaners Food Bank will be holding a drive-thru food pantry distribution from 4 to 6 p.m. 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. The food bank will be providing enough food for 600 families.
Indiana reported 5,700 new positive cases of COVID-19 as of Monday afternoon’s report from the Indiana State Department of Health.
The state is also reporting 42 deaths and a 7-day positivity rate of 13.8 percent.
Bartholomew County had 62 new cases to report, with a 7-day positivity rate of 12.5 percent. Decatur had 26 new cases, Jennings 19, Jackson 79, Brown 17, Johnson 150 and Shelby 36. Johnson County a single death from the disease, the only area county to record a fatality in today’s report.
Jackson County continues to be red on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 spread map, showing a severe spread of the disease. Bartholomew and other surrounding counties remain orange, showing serious spread of the disease.
Rose Acre Farms in Seymour is increasing its partnership with Benson Hill, a food tech company, to upgrade its soybean crushing capacity and to add more local farmers providing soybeans.
Benson Hill has contracts with growers for 30 thousand acres of premium soybeans in Indiana. The company sought out Rose Acre Farms to develop a processing facility here as a way to minimize costs and to reduce the carbon footprint through less transportation. Benson Hill uses high-protein soybeans for plant-based foods, healthy oils, animal feed and aquaculture markets.
Tony Wesner, COO of Rose Acre Farms, said that the partnership opens new market pathways for soybeans, which will increase local land and commodity prices over time.
Benson Hill and Rose Acre Farms are now actively enrolling interested growers for next year’s growing season.
You can get more information online at goodegg.com.
Columbus could be getting some places to buy donuts for dunking.
The Republic is reporting this morning that the company which owns the Dunkin brand has submitted plans with the city to open two franchises in Columbus.
Plans submitted to the city call for an 1,800 square foot store at the Northern Village Shopping Center off of National Road and a 3,000 square foot store at the site of the former Daily’s Farm Market building on West Jonathan Moore Pike, city planners told the newspaper.
The applications do not specify the exact type of store that Dunkin Brands would be bringing to those locations. The paper said that the paperwork review process with the city could take two months to complete.
Bartholomew County has already received more than 1,200 responses in a survey of the county’s rural broadband needs.
Tony London, incoming county commissioner and head of the county’s new rural broadband initiative told the commissioners yesterday that the number of participants in the Purdue-created survey in its first week online here has already dwarfed responses in other area communities.
Tami Hines, the county recorder, asked how rural residents without internet service could take the online-only survey. London said that many residents without home internet do have access through their phones. However, if there is anyone who wants to participate but have no way to access the survey, London said he would be happy to enter their information over the phone. He can be contacted through the County Commissioners office at 812-379-1515. You can find a link to the survey on our website. The survey continues through the end of December.
Counties in Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District will be getting a share of $169 million in funding for rural broadband from the FCC, according to Columbus Congressman Greg Pence.
Pence said local communities including Bartholomew, Decatur, Jennings and Shelby counties will see some of the funding from a program to provide access to reliable and affordable high-speed Internet service. Pence stressed that the need is especially great now with the disruptions caused by COVID-19 forcing many Hoosiers to work and attend school from home.
The FCC announced on Monday that the the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction would bring internet to 5.2 million unserved homes and businesses. Indiana has 11 bidders with FCC support of $169 million to provide service to almost 153,000 locations in the state.
The Jackson County Health Department is reporting that a new COVID-19 testing site will be open this week with walk-in service.
That will be at 207 and 208 North Pine Street in Seymour. Parking will be along Pine Street and in the Smith Parking lot at 2nd & Pine. Testing will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Because there are no appointments, the wait time to get tested could be extended. Results will be available 3 to 5 days after the test.
The tests are free to anyone and available for anyone older than two, however minors will need their parents permission.
Masks and social distancing will be required.
Jackson County continues to be red on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 spread map, showing a severe spread of the disease.
Indiana is reporting 6,678 new positive COVID-19 cases of COVID-19 as of yesterday’s update from the Indiana State Department of Health, but some of those tests date back to late November.
The state is also reporting 34 deaths and a 7-day positivity rate of 13.6 percent. That’s the highest positivity rate since April.
Bartholomew County had 60 new cases to report, with a 7-day positivity rate of 12.9 percent. Decatur had 53 new cases, Jennings 41, Jackson 60, Brown 10, Johnson 207 and Shelby 54. Johnson County had two new deaths from the disease and Shelby had one.
Jackson County continues to be red on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 spread map, showing a severe spread of the disease. Bartholomew and other surrounding counties remain orange, showing serious spread of the disease.
Jennings County authorities say a resident shot a man who invaded his home Friday evening.
The homeowner called 911 at about 7:15 p.m. Friday night to report the incident in northwestern Jennings County. The man who was shot drove himself to the Elizabethtown Fire Department where he told rescue workers that he had a gunshot wound. After being treated at the scene by law enforcement and police, he was flown to an Indianapolis hospital by medical helicopter and was last reported to be in critical condition.
Deputies report that the victim entered the home and got into a fight with the homeowner, who pulled the firearm and shot the intruder.
No names have been released and the incident remains under investigation.