By Diane Daily
There has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in Monroe County and throughout Indiana this summer. According to a report in the IDS, COVID-19 hospitalization rates were up by nearly 40-percent. In Monroe County, the Indiana Department of Health recorded 67 Covid 19-cases in June. That number doubled during the month of July. New COVID-19 vaccines that target the X-B-B variant are expected to available this fall.
With the end of vacuum leaf collecting in Bloomington next January, Mayor Hamilton is encouraging local residents to mulch and compost their leaves. Both methods are more sustainable. The City will offer free yard waste services for dried leaves in November. The change to discontinue the vacuum collection service will affect over 13-thousand Bloomington households and will save the City an estimated $400-thousand per year.
Governor Holcomb has announced the statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library as part of his 2023 Next Level Agenda. The goal of the expansion is to make books available to children up to the age of 5 in every zip code in Indiana. Since 1995, the Imagination Library has become the most extensive early childhood book-giving program in the world.
A Knox County arrest could be the first of its kind in the country. A 51-year-old man in Vincennes was charged with Operating a Vehicle while intoxicated after he was pulled over by an Indiana State Police trooper Wednesday night. What makes the arrest unusual is that John McKee was driving a Mattel Power Wheels Jeep. The battery-operated cars are designed for kids age 3 to 7. They have no headlights or reflectors and have a top speed of 5-miles-an-hour. According to published reports, McKee appeared to be under the influence and he failed field sobriety tests.
