The National Weather Service says a large ridge of high pressure will cause temperatures to climb to 90 or above every day this week.

The weather service says with the 90 degree temperatures combined with expected humidity levels could put today’s heat index at 100 or above.

The Weather Service says a long stretch of heat like this can cause extra stress on people prone to heat related illness, especially,  young children, the elderly, and those that work outdoors, or in hot buildings.

David Hook, of Austin was formally charged Monday with the murder of 46-year-old Joey Verble, of Sellersburg.

According to Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Hook allegedly beat Verble with a claw hammer several times in the head and then stabbed him multiple times in the neck and chest after a disagreement on August 22 along Mount Eden Road and State Road 39 not far from Little York in Northeastern Washington County.

Washington County Circuit Court Judge Larry Medlock entered a preliminary plea of not guilty and informed Hook that if found guilty he could face between 45 to 65 years, with 55 years being the advisory sentence in prison, along with a $10,000 fine.

Judge Medlock appointed a public defender to represent Hook, but one has not yet been assigned to him.

His trial date has been set for February.

A Pennsylvania truck driver was arrested in Gibson County after allegedly hitting a truck stop employee with his semi.

Indiana State Police say 43-year-old Edward Raber stopped at the Pilot Truck Stop East on Tuesday, entered the shower facility without paying and allegedly defecated in the shower stall, despite the restrooms being nearby.

Raber allegedly shoved an employee who confronted him about what happened and left the building.  The employee and two of his coworkers went out to take pictures of Raber‘s truck and license plate as he left the truck stop.

However, Raber re-entered the parking lot and drove directly to the three employees, hitting one of them with his front bumper.  The employee refused medical attention.

State Police caught up with Raber near I-65 and U-S 231 and Raber was arrested without incident.  He‘s being held in the Gibson County Jail without bond on misdemeanor charges of Criminal Recklessness with a Vehicle, Reckless Driving, Battery and Trespassing.

Indiana State Police are investigating the death of a three-month-old girl at a Zionsville day care center Tuesday.

Police were called to the Dawn ‘til Dusk day care center on a report of a dead infant.

Investigators say three-month-old Charlotte Henthorne was found unresponsive in her crib shortly after 10:30 Tuesday morning.  Employees at the day care center tried to resuscitate her.

She was taken to Peyton Manning Children‘s Hospital where she was pronounced dead.  The investigation is ongoing but State Police say there is no indication of a criminal act.  State Police took over the investigation because the girl is the daughter of a Zionsville Police officer.

A Fort Wayne doctor of Syrian descent says the U.S. has a moral obligation to take action against the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Dr. Ammar Ghanem says it‘s clearly evident that Assad has been using chemical weapons against his own people and now the U.S. should take some sort of military action to stop him.

Ghanem says he cannot say what the Obama administration should do exactly, but he adds that the most civilized nation in the world shouldn‘t sit back and watch inhumanity in action.

Ghanem says he still has lot of family members in Syria and remains concerned about their welfare.

Ghanem says after years of watching the regime in action and the continued acts of inhumanity, the world needs to punish dictators who abuse their people no matter where they are.

According to West Washington High School Athletic Director Ron Smith, this Friday’s West Washington High School Varsity Football game will be moved back to an 8p kick off due to the heat.

High temperatures in the mid 90s have been predicted for this week and there is a concern for the safety of the players and fans.

“Hopefully by 8p, things will be a little cooler,” said Smith. Gates will open at 7p for fans to arrive.

The Senators face the Crawford County Wolf pack in their season home opener. The game will be broadcast live on WSLM 1220 AM.

The pre-game will begin at 7:45 p.m. with the kickoff at 8:00 p.m. with play by play with Matthew Deaton and Darrin Russell and Color and Stats by Wade Tomlinson.

The conservative Heritage Foundation rolled into Indianapolis Monday night to rally support for defunding the federal health care law.

Heritage president and former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint is traveling to nine cities to dial up public pressure on Republicans to keep health-care funding out of the budget bill, even at the risk of a government shutdown.

Indiana Congressmen Marlin Stutzman, Luke Messer and Jackie Walorski have signed a letter urging House leaders to cut the pursestrings.

But Indiana Senator Dan Coats is among a rival faction of Republicans warning a showdown wouldn‘t accomplish anything except to damage the G-O-P politically.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis State Representative Ed DeLaney (D) acknowledges the law isn‘t perfect, but charges opponents‘ all-or-nothing approach has made improvements impossible.

He says that‘s why the White House has resorted to delaying several provisions. DeLaney and Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) argue Indiana is already reaping benefits from the law, and has more to gain as the law takes full effect. They blast Governor Pence for not embracing the law‘s expansion of Medicaid. Pence has asked the government to let Indiana use its own state plan for the uninsured as the vehicle for a Medicaid expansion.

If you haven‘t heard as much about tornadoes this year, that‘s because there haven‘t been as many as usual.

Nationwide, 610 tornadoes have been confirmed by the National Weather Service so far this year.  Typically, more than a thousand tornadoes have hit by now, putting the U.S. on pace to have the fewest twisters in at least a decade.  In Indiana, the number is as low as anyone can remember.

“Only four tornadoes have been confirmed across this state this year,” said Dan McCarthy, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis.  “We‘ve only had 59-percent of the number of tornadoes that we‘ve normally had by this time of year.

45 people have died in tornadoes in the U.S. in 2013 – 42 of those deaths took place in the month of May.  24 were from one storm; the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma.   Weather patterns that the country sees occasionally are the reason for the low numbers.

“A trough of low pressure that set up during the spring kept our spring and our summer cool for the most part, forcing most of the tornadic activity to north Texas, Oklahoma, and parts of Kansas and Nebraska,” said McCarthy.    Since some attribute spikes in storms to global climate change, can a drop in tornadoes also be caused by changes in the climate?  McCarthy says both are difficult to link.

“When you compare tornadoes and the small scale in which they happen, in the whole scheme of things it‘s much (more difficult to tie) to climate change.”   While the U.S. is officially on pace to have its lowest number of tornadoes since the early 1950‘s, McCarthy says such comparisons are not necessarily fair.  “In the ‘50‘s, we didn‘t have the spotter network nor the radar to really go after where tornadoes have occurred.

No, with our larger populations in states, especially east of the Mississippi River around the cities, you more have to compare with what‘s happened since 1970.”  Still, McCarthy says this could be one of the most quiet tornado years since then.  However, the year isn‘t over yet.

“We do have a second tornado season around here, and that‘s in the fall when the warm air is being pushed out by weather patterns that bring stronger cold fronts into our area,” McCarthy said.

Indiana is currently ranked 4th nationally for railroad crossing collisions. To raise the public’s awareness about the dangers of disregarding railroad crossings, this week has been designated as Indiana Rail Safety Week.

Law enforcement agencies and railroad special agents will be out monitoring rail crossings across the state.

Jessica Feder, Executive Director of Indiana Operation Lifesaver, says motorists need to take the rail crossing warning devices seriously because it is the law.

In 2012, there were 106 railroad crossing collisions resulting in 38 people injured and 17 fatalities in the state.

This afternoon a single vehicle crash just North of Salem on State Road 135 claimed the life of a 10 year old Seymour girl.

Indiana State Police said the accident happened at approximately 3:40 pm.

Troopers from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg responded to the accident.

The crash was near the 900 Block of State Road #135, north of Salem, in Washington County.

The driver of a gold 2002 Nissan Quest, Misty Woods, 32, from Seymour, IN, was south on State Road #135 when for an unknown reason the vehicle she was driving drove off the east side of the roadway.

When the vehicle left the roadway it flipped an unknown number of times before coming to rest on its wheels.

The front seat passenger, Sierra Woods, driver’s ten year old daughter, was wearing a seatbelt, but was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, Misty Woods, was flown to the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, KY with non-life threatening injuries. It is unknown at this time if the driver was wearing her seatbelt.

This investigation is continuing.

Assisting Agencies; Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Washington County Fire and E.M.S. and a trooper from the Indiana State Police Post at Versailles