A Columbus man is behind bars after he was found sleeping in the backseat of a woman’s vehicle.

The owner of the vehicle called police just before 4 a.m. Sunday and said that that a man, later identified as 24-year-old William Hickey, was asleep in the backseat of her car. She told police she had just gotten off work and stopped at a gas station. She said she didn’t know Hickey was in her car until she heard him snoring.

Officers found Hickey face-down in the backseat of the woman’s vehicle. When the officers woke Hickey up, they smelled alcohol on his breath. Hickey was combative with the officers and hit his head repeatedly against the safety partition in the back of a Columbus police cruiser after he was arrested, according to police.

Hickey was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail on multiple charges including public intoxication and unlawful entry into a motor vehicle.

Indiana hospitals are handling a surge in coronavirus patients so far, but they’re warning that could change.

More than 1,600 Hoosiers are hospitalized with COVID. Indiana hasn’t seen numbers that high since April. Indiana Hospital Association president Brian Tabor says hospitals are better able to handle the flood of patients now than they were then. They’re now confident of their supply of ventilators, and while the pipeline for masks and other protective equipment isn’t perfect, Tabor says it’s vastly improved from where it was in the spring.

But Tabor says capacity issues involve not just equipment and beds, but staff. He says hospital staffs are feeling the strain of dealing with the pandemic for nearly eight months, and that strain is multiplied when doctors or nurses need to quarantine because of contact with someone who tests positive. He’s pleading with Hoosiers to keep health-care workers in mind and help them manage the increasing load, by masking up, washing their hands, and social distancing.

Some states are already confronting a hospital crunch. North Dakota has just 28 open intensive care beds in the entire state, and was down to 16 a few days ago. Utah hospitals predict they’ll have to start triaging ICU space in the next week or two.

In contrast, Indiana still has 700 ICU beds, and can add more than a thousand in a pinch. But Tabor says hospitals are approaching staff shortages in the South Bend and Evansville areas. The 12-county Indiana State Department of Health district for southwest Indiana set a record October 15 with 182 patients hospitalized with COVID, then matched it five days later. The district was down to 155 on Sunday.

And the seven-county district which includes South Bend and Evansville, after peaking at 136 COVID patients on May 3, fell below 100 three days later and didn’t return to that level until the end of September. The region has now been above the May high-water mark for 15 straight days, and reached its highest level yet, 210 patients, on Sunday.

This past weekend the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund, Walmart, and WKKG held their First Pre-Kamp Out For Kids event. White River Broadcasting partnered up with the Cheer Fund and Walmart for the first of two toy drives at both Columbus area Walmart Locations.  From Noon until 4:00 PM on Saturday the two locations combined brought in a few hundred toys.  On top of the toys the Cheer Fund raised a total of $1,633 in cash donations.  If you would like to help there is still time!  This weekend Walmart will again be taking toy and cash donations at the customer service desks at both Columbus Walmart Stores! Additionally on November 6^th and 7^th toy and cash donations will also be accepted during WKKG’s Kamp Out for Kids broadcast at Fire Station Number 1.

On Election Day, Tuesday November 3^rd, The City Collection Office will be closed but trash/ compost/ brush/ recycling and loose leaf collection will be running on a normal schedule. The office will reopen the following day on the 4^th.

If you have any questions check out w-w-w-dot-columbus-dot-in-gov or call 812-376-2509.

An Indiana University student was killed by a stray bullet in New York City early Saturday morning.

Police say Ethan Williams, 20, of Indianapolis, was sitting with a group of friends in Brooklyn when several shots were fired around 2:30 a.m. Williams was shot in the chest. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died.

Williams was a sophomore in the I-U film media program. He was also a member of the Mayor’s Youth Council of Indianapolis.

No arrests have been made.

We interviewed both candidates for Bartholomew Consolidated School Board District 7, Lacretia Ulery and Nicole Wheeldon.

The interviews had to be trimmed to run on air, but you can listen to the entire interviews below:

Lacretia Ulery:

Nicole Wheeldon:

We interviewed candidates for Indiana State Representative District 59.

The district covers most of Columbus and Bartholomew County. Both interviews had to be trimmed for time. You can hear the complete interviews below:

Republican Ryan Lauer, incumbent for the District 59 seat:

Democrat Dale Nowlin:

Columbus police say a suspect is in custody after a stabbing this morning in Lincoln Park.

Police were called to the 2500 block of Lincoln Park Drive at about 6:30 a.m. this morning on a report of a woman being attacked in a parking lot. A male suspect allegedly crashed a stolen vehicle into the car she was driving and then stabbed her. As officers arrived, they saw the suspect run away.

Officers provided aid to the victim, who was flown by Lifeline helicopter to IU Methodist Hospital where she is in stable condition.

Police found the suspect hiding outside a home ithe 2500 block of 23rd Street where he was taken into custody.

The names of those involved and the preliminary charges have not yet been released.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department