Swap Shop Podcast 02-06-2014
Swap Shop Podcast 02-06-2014
Looking for a change in weather? Not soon
If you’re sick and tired of winter by now, the state climatologist’s office at Purdue University says that’s too bad.
“The jet stream is what we look at closely to determine where the storm track is going to run. If we look at January versus February, we don’t see a whole lot of change coming,” said Ken Scheeringa, assistant state climatologist.
Scheeringa says their office actually saw evidence of a potentially harsh winter last fall.
“We look globally, and one thing we noticed is that south of Alaska in the northern Pacific Ocean, the water has been getting warmer over time,” Scheeringa said. “That was an indicator that the jet stream pattern would start very far north in that area, and then dive down to Indiana.”
As a result, we have had one of the snowiest winters on record and an unusually cold winter simply because of where we are on the map.
Scheeringa expects the cold to continue for the rest of this month, with possibly a little less snow than what we’ve been seeing.
As for the spring, his office doesn’t exactly know what to expect yet.
“When you get further out in time, it gets more difficult to predict. We already know that what happens in one season does not necessarily carry over to the next season.”
Coffee Club Podcast 02-06-2014
Coffee Club Podcast 02-06-2014
B’ton Police Find Man In Motel Room With 15-Year-Old
Bloomington Police arrested a 20-year-old Ellettsville man after he was found in a motel room with a 15-year-old girl Tuesday night.
According to Bloomington Police Sgt. Joe Crider officer went to the motel in the Motel Six on North Walnut Street after they received a call of a 20-year-old woman being held against her will.
But when officers traced the woman’s cell to a room at the motel, they found Smith with the girl. The woman was not in the room, but had left.
Police arrested 20-year-old Tanner Allen Smith on preliminary on two felony charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and dealing meth and a probation violation.
The parents of the minor were contacted and they came to the motel. The teen told police she had been in a sexual relationship with Smith for about three months and that he knew she was just 15.
The girl also told police that Smith provided the girl with meth.
Smith denied selling meth, but admitted to the sexual relationship with the girl. He also told police he thought she was 16, the legal age of consent in Indiana.
Cold brings homeless inside
Yesterday afternoon, Washington County Sheriff Claude Combs said he was prepared to activate emergency shelters in the county to accept those who were homeless or in case of power outages and had no heat at their homes.
Lawrence County has taken the concept to a different level and opened a warming center for men at the Salvation Army on K Street.
It opens today. 
The center will allow men who don’t have a warm place to sleep to enter the facility between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
If no one comes between those hours the center will close for the night. A sign will be posted with information about other options for anyone that shows up after 8 p.m.
Men staying at the facility will receive two meals provided by Bertha’s Mission, have access to showers and a warm place to sleep.
The center will be open seven days a week during the winter months.
The project is sponsored by the Bedford and Mitchell Ministerial Associations
Commisioner Marshall explains SOE process
Commissioner Phil Marshall and others including the Washington County Sheriff Claude Combs, highway foreman, drivers, Sheriff’s deputies, the new highway superintendent and two others commissioners – John Fultz and David Brown, have been talking constantly about the state of roadways in Washington County.
One of the largest counties by miles of roads in the state as well as in land size, Washington County always presents a unique situation to county government – whether it’s trying to do more for less in the summer months with blacktopping and repairing roads or in the winter, when it’s time to put the county’s 26 snow plows and crews to work opening roads for the population to drive upon.
Marshall and the rest of the group decided last night before midnight to issue a state of emergency for driving conditions in the county. Only two other counties in Indiana had been declared an emergency – Marshall and Parke counties.
“Basically, you look at the road situation of the county,” said Marshall. “We determined it was best if only emergency vehicles would be out working on the roads. This helps keep traffic down so our crews can do the best work. It also helps keep our residents safe. We will re-evaluate the situation at 9 a.m. [on Thursday]. It’s a pain in the neck, but we don’t want to get anyone hurt.”
On Thursday morning, the group will reconvene at the Sheriff’s Department to analyze the weather, roads and driving conditions and make a determination on keeping the emergency driving order in place — or decide to lift it.
County government offices were closed today and Marshall said they will remain closed on Thursday.
Marshall said all snowfalls are different and present their own challenges.
“It’s taking longer to shove the snow,” he told WSLM today. “Temperatures are dropping lower….it was 24 and now lower…it will be 7 by early morning Thursday. It’s already starting to re-freeze. It’s easier [for] the county trucks with the blades on to do road clearing and then get [emergency personnel] able to move around the county.”
This year has been especially challenging without salt, which has been extraordinarily hard to find around the area. Many cities and counties have used their supplies and are without.
Marshall said they’ve had to rely on a mixture of sand, cinders and gravel. “The closest supply of salt we could find was in Texas and we can’t afford to go out there and haul it back. I’m sorry it comes to that but It all comes back to a money situation. The cost would be devastating to our county. People don’t like to hear the truth…but overall … 90 percent of the time you’re OK. When you get into these situations, you have trouble. We ask for their patience.”
Marshall said the county’s Calcium Chloride was another option but it can cause damage to vehicles and also causes the oil in paved roads to dry up and the roads to break up as a result. “A blacktopped road now is about $78,000 a mile,” Marshall said. “When you have 760 miles of roads….what you have to realize is there is two sides to a road. Over 1500 miles of roads, which takes us time. We have a limit of 26 trucks.”
The County Highway Department staff has been working all day Wednesday — since about midnight and will continue until late Wednesday night, said Marshall.
“Our trucks have been our since Midnight and will work until midnight again tonight,” he said. “Hopefully all the roads will get plowed at least once. All of our trucks are running. Two trucks have slid off and we had to get them back on the road. County roads are in better shape than the state highway towards Martinsburg. If you don’t have to be out there, don’t get out on the roads.”
Swap Shop Podcast 02-05-2014
Swap Shop Podcast 02-05-2014
Swap Shop Podcast 02-05-2014
Swap Shop Podcast 02-05-2014
Washington County “Emergency” continues until Thursday AM
Washington County Sheriff Claude Combs met with Washington County Commissioners, highway foreman and determined that the State of Emergency for road conditions will remain in effect through today and until at least 9a on Thursday, Feb. 6.
“We’ll meet again then and re-evaluate how things are,” said Combs. “We’ve got 60 percent of the county roads cleared but there is ice forming on the roads now as the temperatures drop. We’re supposed to be in the Teens tonight and it’s not going to be warming up anytime soon.”
The State of Emergency was finally determined last night just before midnight and continues through today.
Combs said although people will be out on the road, driving is harzardous and motorists should be cautious.
“As far as what we’re doing now. We want emergency traffic only on the road. We’re not penalizing people who are on the road trying to get food, etc. But a State of Emergency does pertain to emergency vehicles only – ambulance, highway and street workers, police…those people whose job it is to take care of the welfare of the people,” said Combs. “We’re dealing with vehicles off the road and medical emergencies, too. We take care of those folks who need dialysis or those who need to get to a hospital for a surgery or who have run out of medicine. We’ll make sure they get transported. Call 911 and we’ll take care of that.”
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will dip into the teens and will be about 7 degrees by daybreak on Thursday.
“We’re prepared to open shelters in case we lose power and if people need heat,” Combs said. “The City [of Salem] and County have coordinated that and we’re prepared to move to that level in case we need to. All of that has been taken care of.”
Commissioner Phil Marshall talked about how hard county employees are working to clear the roads and the amount of roads in Washington County. “It’s a big area for 26 trucks to try and cover,” he said. “They will continue throughout the day into the evening, then come in and warm up and rest. We’ll start all over in the morning.”
Combs commented on the many hours city and county employees are putting in during these weather events. “We all knew that when we took the job,” he said. “Safety of the people of our county is first and foremost on our minds. We thought we might not need to go there, but the weather didn’t change. Here’s where we’re at and where we’ll stay until at least 9a Thursday.”
Stay tuned to WSLM for weather conditions and any official reports from the City of Salem and Washington County.
