Two free Covid-19 vaccine clinics are scheduled for September 17 and 21st in Salem.

This will be the FDA approved-Pfizer vaccine. 

The first will be at Friday Night on the Square from 6-9p. 

Insurance is not required but those attending are asked to bring your card. 

The other clinic will be on Tuesday, Sept. 21 from 10a to 3:30p at the St. Vincent hospital in their classroom inside the main entrance of the hospital. 

No appointment is necessary. 

Appointment for the second shot made at the time of Vaccination

In a letter to congressional leaders, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita warns that a reckless piece of legislation under consideration on Capitol Hill “would allow the United States Department of Justice to usurp the authority states rightly possess over their own elections, essentially federalizing the election system.”

Attorney General Rokita’s letter opposing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — or H.R. 4 — is joined by 22 other attorneys general.

Already passed in the House, the legislation requires states to obtain “preclearance” from the federal government before enacting election reforms such as voter identification requirements and voter list maintenance laws.

“This legislation is a misguided, clumsy, and heavy-handed effort to circumvent Supreme Court decisions, state sovereignty, and the will of the people,” Attorney General Rokita writes in the letter.

The legislation essentially establishes the U.S. Department of Justice as a national election czar dictating to states exactly how they must administer their elections.

“States that create laws based on what works best for their jurisdiction to respond to a crisis of confidence in our elections systems,” Attorney General Todd Rokita writes, “will inevitably be targeted by the Department of Justice leading to more confusion, litigation, and concerns over the validity of elections going forward.”

The proposed legislation ignores states’ legitimate interest in preventing voter fraud, safeguarding the right to vote, and ensuring that every legal vote is counted without being diluted by illegal votes.

H.R. 4 letter 9.13.21

Detectives from the Indiana State Police (ISP) in Sellersburg arrested a 30-year-old Pekin woman for the death of a 2-year-old girl in her care.

Around Midnight Tuesday morning, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department responded to a Poplar Street address in Pekin after receiving a 911 call reporting an unresponsive child. 

Washington County EMS immediately transported the child to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Salem after deputies and emergency medical personnel arrived.

Tragically, the child was pronounced deceased by the Washington County Coroner after arriving at the hospital. 

Sheriff Brent Miller requested ISP assistance, and Detective Travis Baker and Crime Scene Investigator Phil D’Angelo responded to the Pekin address scene.  

As part of the investigation, officers obtained a search warrant for the residence as Detective Travis Baker spoke with 30-year-old Sarah Maire Bierly, the live-in-girlfriend of the child’s father, as well as other family members at the scene.  

The investigation continued at the Washington County Jail, where Detective Baker later arrested Bierly for Neglect of a Dependent Causing Death, a Level 1 Felony.  

An autopsy has been scheduled for later this afternoon.   

Officers from Indiana State Police were assisted by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, the Pekin Town Marshall, Washington County EMS, Pierce-Polk Township first-responders, the Washington County Coroner’s Office, and the Washington County Prosecutor.

This case is still under investigation and will be updated as information becomes available.