You‘ve probably noticed that gas prices are falling fast.

A few weeks ago, problems with refineries in northwest Indiana and Illinois caused prices to spike as high as 4.29 per gallon.

Now, you can find gas for a full dollar-per-gallon less in some parts of Indianapolis, according to GasBuddy.com.   Patrick DeHaan, Senior Petroleum Analyst with Gas Buddy, says the average prices for metro Indy is now 3.53 per gallon for regular unleaded, a drop of 30 cents from this time last week.

Part of the reason is the refineries that have come back online, but DeHaan also says economic jitters are playing a role.  Anxiety over the Federal Reserve possibly ending it‘s effort to stimulate the economy with extra dollars.

The Fed‘s announcement that it believes the economy may be strong enough to survive without the stimulus sent stock prices down, and DeHaan says it sent the price of oil down, too, as traders wonder whether people will use as much oil if the economy slows.

The drop in gas prices is expected to continue at least through this week, as DeHaan says the wholesale price of gasoline continues to fall.  The U.S. is also starting to produce more of its own oil – thanks largely to fracking and other new technologies, the country is on track to produce more oil than it imports this year for the first time since the 1990‘s.

But DeHaan says having more crude here will not translate into lower gas prices unless more refining capacity is added.  He says capacity is especially tight in the Midwest, where any refinery problems can lead to price spikes like the one from a few weeks ago.

The Federal Building in Downtown Indianapolis is back open.

This after the IMPD bomb squad blew up a suspicious backpack.  Lt. Chris Bailey says authorities evacuated the building at Pennsylvania and North just after 2 pm Monday.  He says that‘s when a woman carrying the backpack entered.

Bailey says federal security got suspicious about the pack while running it through their scanner.  They evacuated the building including a daycare center.  Bailey says everyone is fine and they returned inside the building just before 4 pm.

Bailey says the woman remains in federal custody.  He says IMPD is taking over the investigation

The National Weather Service says everyone should heed the dangers of lightning.  This week is “National Lightning Safety Awareness Week.” Indianapolis-based Meteorologist Jason Puma says seven people nationwide have been killed by lightning so far this year.

Last year, lightning killed 28 Americans.  Puma says the numbers seem low, but they wouldn‘t likely be even that high if folks heeded the warning signs.

Puma says the rule of thumb remains, “When Thunder Roars Go Indoors.”  Puma says summertime is the time when most people are hit by lightning.  Puma says more men get hit by lightning than women.  He attributes that to mainly because men are more likely to remain outside rather than seek shelter during those storms.

Last night, the board of the First Christian Church in Salem unanimously voted to hire Syd Dye as the new full time pastor of the church.

Dye, a graduate of Freed Hardeman University in Tennessee and owner of Religious Workers Association, will lead the church beginning July 1.

Join WSLM at the Washington County Fair tonight at its booth in the 2nd Commercial Building. Stop by and win prizes for the kids and sign up to win a variety of tickets — Holiday World, Louisville Bats, Cincinnati Reds, Kentucky Speedway and more!

1220 AM Country will also be signing you up for the Texaco Country Showdown to be held next week at the Pekin Park on July 4th!

Today’s activities at the fair include:

• 8:00 – 10:00a – Livestock check in.
• 8:30 – Noon – Open Class Exhibit Entries check in.
• 5:00p – Open Class Exhibit Hall & Commercial Building Displays Open
• 5:00p – 9:00p – Beef BBQ
• 6:00p – Midway Opens
• 6:00p – Sheep Show begins
• 8:00p – West Washington County Fellowship of Christian Churches
• 8:00p – Queen Pagaent at the Grandstand – $6 adults, $4 children 6-12.

Check back daily for pictures, contest results and more information on the Washington County Fair.

Indianapolis community leaders are meeting one final time tonight (Monday, June 24th) to discuss the future of voting in Marion County.

Clerk Beth White says the “Voter Experience Project” is all about how to upgrade voting equipment and procedures in the county. White says current voting equipment is fine, but it‘s also twelve years old and upgrades will be needed.

White says they haven‘t discussed costs connected to upgrading equipment. She says the project is still assessing needs and concerns involved in the overall process.

After tonight, White says the project will hold a series of public hearings and gather comments from residents about the types of voting procedures and equipment they think works best for the county.

Hearings are set to begin in September. White says they‘ll start to examine the costs associated with the project in early 2014.

An annual survey assessing children‘s well-being in the 50 states ranks Indiana 30th — one spot better than last year.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation ranks the states on 16 measures in four broad categories. Indiana vaulted ahead 13 slots to 21st place in children‘s health, largely on the strength of a half-a-percent improvement in four years in the number of low birth-weight babies.

Indiana Youth Institute president Bill Stanczykiewicz says that translates to hundreds of lives.

The percentage has steadily improved for four years — Stanczykiewicz credits efforts to educate women on the importance of prenatal care and avoiding alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy.

A decline in the number of child deaths due to fewer car crashes also boosted Indiana‘s health ranking.   

The improvements were offset by backsliding on economic measures. One in four Hoosier children lives in poverty, while one in three have parents without fulltime jobs.

The data are from the recession year of 2011, but have been going up for six years. Stanczykiewicz says the slippage underlines the need to improve job training and education. Indiana‘s performance on education and “family and community” measures, such as the number of children in single-parent homes, was essentially unchanged.

A jury has recommended the death penalty against a convicted arsonist and murderer. After five hours of deliberations, the jury unanimously recommended that Clark County Circuit Judge Dan Moore impose the death penalty against Jeffrey Weisheit.

Weisheit was convicted Tuesday of setting fire to his girlfriend‘s Evansville home in April 2010, killing her two children.

Weisheit had plead not guilty to all charges. The jury found that all aggravating circumstances made by the State outweighed any mitigating circumstances from Weisheit and his attorneys. Judge Moore set a sentencing hearing for July 11.

At that hearing, he will hear victim impact statements from Weisheit‘s family and friends, any comments or evidence from either side and will review a pre-sentencing investigation prepared by his probation staff. If the judge does impose the death penalty, he will set an execution date at that hearing.

TAMPICO, Ind. (June 23) – Indiana State Excise Police officers arrested 24 people during a tractor-and-truck pull in Jackson County last night.

Caleb M. Goering, 20, of Salem, was jailed at the Jackson County Detention Center on a preliminary charge of illegal possession of alcohol after he was caught a second time in possession of alcohol by two different excise officers two hours apart.

Excise officers arrested 17 minors for illegal consumption or possession of alcohol, five of whom were less than 18 years of age.

Joseph G. Spencer, 28, of Scottsburg, was jailed at the Jackson County Detention Center on a preliminary charge of possession of a controlled substance (Schedule II and Schedule IV).

Three people were charged with providing alcohol to a minor and three juveniles were issued tickets for possession of tobacco.

One person has also arrested on a felony drug charge.

WSLM is working to get a complete list of names of all those arrested and will have more details as they come in.

The annual tractor-and-truck pull and fish fry is a fundraiser for the Grassy Fork Volunteer Fire Department, which is located south of Brownstown on State Road 39.

As the enforcement division of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, the primary mission of the Indiana State Excise Police is to promote public safety by enforcing Indiana’s Alcoholic Beverage Code. While excise officers have the authority to enforce any state law, they focus primarily on alcohol, tobacco and related laws.

All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

St.Vincent Salem Hospital was named as a 2013 PRC 5-Star Hospital in Observation and Swing Bed for Patient Perception at an awards ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.  Healthcare leaders from across the United States gathered here to participate in the 2013 PRC Excellence in Healthcare Conference hosted by Professional Research Consultants, Inc.  PRC is a nationally-known healthcare marketing research company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

The 5-Star Award is given annually to healthcare facilities that score in the top ten percent (at or above the 90^th percentile) of the PRC national client database for the prior calendar year. This award is based on the percentage of patients who rate the St.Vincent Salem Hospital Medical/Surgical Unit “Excellent” for the Overall Quality of Care question.

This 5-Star research is conducted to obtain the opinions of the patients at St.Vincent Salem Hospital via a confidential survey to assess their perceptions of patient care.  The healthcare facility uses the research findings to continuously improve and enhance patient satisfaction.  “We are thrilled to present St.Vincent Salem Hospital with this National Excellence in Healthcare Award,” said Joe M. Inguanzo, Ph.D., President and CEO of Professional Research Consultants.  “It was through their hard work, dedication and determination that they have made their facility a better place for the entire community.  In the past 33 years we’ve never seen hospitals more determined to exceed customers’ expectations than the hospitals we recognized this year.  It speaks to their passion that St.Vincent Salem Hospital is among the best of the best.”

“The staff at St.Vincent Salem Hospital always strives to provide excellent care for all of our patients,” stated Mia Williams, RN, Medical/Surgical Unit Manager. “This award is proof that our patients appreciate the level of care they received while in our facility, and for that, we are grateful.”

“This is the second award the hospital has received this year,” stated Administrator, Dana Muntz. “Earlier this year, we were also named a HealthStrong™ Award Winner for Excellence in Efficiency by the Indiana Rural Health Association. We are proud to be recognized for our performance on so many levels.”