Walmart and Sam’s Clubs will begin requiring customers to wear face masks to help curb the spread of Covid-19 at its stores on Monday, July 20.

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus and priority has been and continues to be on the health and safety of our associates, members and customers, according to a statement from Dacona Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Walmart U.S., and Lance de la Rosa, Chief Operating Officer, Sam’s Club

As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so too have the number and types of face-covering mandates being implemented.

Currently, about 65 percent of the more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings.

To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, they will require all shoppers to wear a face-covering.

“This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage and train associates on the new protocols,” Smith and La Rosa wrote in the release. 

“While we’re certainly not the first business to require face coverings, we know this is a simple step everyone can take for their safety and the safety of others in our facilities,” said Smith. 

According to the CDC, face coverings help decrease the spread of COVID-19, and because the virus can be spread by people who don’t have symptoms and don’t know they are infected, it’s critically important for everyone to wear a face-covering in public and social distance.

In addition to posting clear signage at the front of the stores, Walmart has created the role of Health Ambassador and will station them near the entrance to remind those without a mask of our new requirements.

“Our ambassadors will receive special training to help make the process as smooth as possible for customers. The ambassadors, identifiable by their black polo shirts, will work with customers who show up at a store without a face covering to try and find a solution. We are currently considering different solutions for customers when this requirement takes effect on July 20,” said La Rosa. 

To help ensure consistency with this new process, all stores will have a single entrance.

At Sam’s Clubs, associates at the entrance will follow the same process with members, politely reminding them of our requirement to wear a face-covering when shopping with us.

Complimentary masks will be provided if the member doesn’t have one.

Or members can purchase masks in the club.

“We know it may not be possible for everyone to wear a face covering. Our associates will be trained on those exceptions to help reduce friction for the shopper and make the process as easy as possible for everyone,” said La Rosa.

Smith pointed out, “As we have seen in states and municipalities with mask mandates, virtually everyone either brings a mask or readily complies with the requirement, and we anticipate that to happen in other areas as well.”

“We know some people have differing opinions on this topic. We also recognize the role we can play to help protect the health and well-being of the communities we serve by following the evolving guidance of health officials like the CDC. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of our customers and members in wearing face coverings to protect their safety and the safety of our associates,” she said. 

Indiana Department of Transportation contractor E&B Paving Inc. plans to begin rehabilitation work early next week on the S.R. 56 bridge over Stucker Fork in Scott County. The $324,000 contract includes structure patching and repair, in addition to bridge maintenance.

On or after Tuesday, July 21, the bridge, located just west of S.R. 3, will be reduced to one lane and a temporary traffic signal will be installed. The contract is expected to be complete by August 31, 2020.

Motorists are reminded to slow down, use extra caution and drive distraction-free through all work zones. All work is weather dependent and schedules are subject to change.

The Indiana State Police is accepting applications for a Communications Operator position at the Bloomington Post to help staff its personnel and command. The successful applicant’s primary responsibilities will be to act as the receptionist for the post facility by effectively routing incoming telephone calls to the proper individual and assisting the Post Commander with notifications of short notice messages.

The successful applicant must be a high school graduate or possess the equivalent GED and be able to successfully pass a department typing test, along with being able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. The communications operator also must be able to input and retrieve information using a computer, and be able to update the community bulletin board or similar systems.

This position’s work is normally performed in an office environment and the ability to operate and maintain office equipment including a computer, printer, copy and fax machines is a must.

A background investigation will be completed and applicants are asked to submit a complete work history.

All applicants are required to submit copies of a high school transcript or GED certificate, any college transcripts, technical certificates and a military DD214 (if applicable).

(Please indicate your name and the position for which you have applied when forwarding all attachments.)

Please email the above-listed items to ISPCivilianJobs@isp.in.gov

Pay starts at $25,766 per year and the position include benefits (medical, dental, vision, life insurance, retirement plans and accrued time off).

The deadline for applications is Friday, July 24th, 2020.

Just before 8 o’clock yesterday evening, after being the first on the scene, Sullivan County Sheriff Clark Cottom contacted the Indiana State Police Criminal Investigation Division at the Putnamville Post requesting assistance with an alleged shooting that had taken place at a local gas station on Old Highway 41 South.

Investigators arrived and found probable cause to believe, the victim, Faran D. Brown, 59 of Carlisle, was shot shortly after exiting the gas station and having a verbal interaction in the outside lot with Susan J. Brown, 65 also of Carlisle.

Area medical ambulance services and medics attended to Faran Brown and transported him immediately thereafter.

Investigators were able to recover a handgun in the gas station lot.

Susan Brown was arrested today by Indiana State Police Detective Angie Hahn without incident and is currently being held at the Sullivan County Jail on $50,000.00 cash bond only.

Faran Brown is currently receiving medical treatment for his injuries.

CHARGES –

1. Attempted Murder: 35-41-5-1, Level 1 Felony

AGENCIES ASSISTING –

Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department, Sullivan City Police Department, Shelburn City Police Department, Vigo County Sheriff’s Department, Sullivan City Medic 1, Sullivan County Ambulance Service and Carlisle Ambulance Personnel.

Sullivan County Prosecutor Ann Mischler also assisted with the investigation.

Bartholomew County REMC to remove overhead power lines across the interstate

The Indiana Department of Transportation has issued a permit to Bartholomew County REMC for a short-term closure on I-65 in Bartholomew County. 

The morning of Sunday, July 19, both directions of I-65 will close for up to twenty minutes near MM 73.9, south of Taylorsville.

The southbound entrance ramp at Taylorsville (Exit 76) and northbound entrance ramp at the Taylorsville rest area (MM 73) will also be closed during this time.

Indiana State Police and pilot vehicles will be on-site to assist.

Motorists are encouraged to use an alternate route or allow extra travel time to avoid delays.

Here are the student handbooks for 2020-2021 as approved by the Salem Community Schools Board of Trustees this week. 

A separate page is also available which is an addendum for Covid-19. 

Bradie Shrum Elementary Handbook

Salem Middle School Handbook

Salem High School Handbook

Copy of COVID Addendum

Detectives from the Indiana State Police are investigating a fatal interstate shooting that occurred this evening.

This is the second interstate shooting in the Indianapolis area in two days, however, these incidents are not believed to be related. Tonight, at 6:05 p.m., emergency crews were called to I-465 westbound near the 5 mm on the south side of Indianapolis for reports of a person shot.

When troopers arrived CPR was in progress by an INDOT Hoosier Helper who had stopped to help.

Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service along with the Indianapolis Fire Department arrived quickly and resumed life saving efforts.

The victim was transported to an area hospital and later pronounced deceased.

Preliminary investigation has led detectives to believe this shooting began with a road rage incident.

The suspect pulled alongside the victim’s vehicle, which was a full-size white van, and opened fire. The suspect fled the scene in a newer model black Chevrolet Impala or Malibu.

The suspect, who was the sole occupant of the black Chevrolet, was described as a light skin black male, with tight dreadlocks that stopped above his shoulders and a skinny build.

Anyone who may have witnessed this incident, or was in the area with a dash camera is asked to contact the Indiana State Police at 317-899-8577 or CrimeStoppers at 317-262-TIPS (8477). You can remain anonymous. 

The victim is a resident of Georgia however their identity is being withheld at this time. 

This investigation is ongoing and there is no further information to release at this time. 

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has issued an Air Quality Action Day and is forecasting high ozone levels for Tuesday, July 14, 2020 in the following areas: 

• Southeast Indiana – Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Scott and Washington
• Southwest Indiana – Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick 

IDEM encourages everyone to help reduce ozone while remaining safe during the COVID-19 health crisis by making changes to daily habits. You can:

• Walk, bike, or work from home when possible
• Combine errands into one trip
• Avoid refueling your vehicle or using gasoline-powered lawn equipment until after 7 p.m.
• Turn off your engine when idling for more than 30 seconds (e.g., at a bank or restaurant drive-thru)
• Conserve energy by turning off lights or setting the air conditioner to 75 degrees or above 

Air Quality Action Days are in effect from midnight to 11:59 p.m. on the specified date. Anyone sensitive to changes in air quality may be affected when ozone levels are high. Children, the elderly and anyone with heart or lung conditions should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors. 

IDEM examines weather patterns and current ozone readings to make daily air quality forecasts. To learn more about ozone or sign up for air quality forecasts, visit www.SmogWatch.IN.gov.

Ground-level ozone is formed when sunlight and hot weather combine with vehicle exhaust, factory emissions and gasoline vapors. Ozone in the upper atmosphere blocks ultraviolet radiation, but ozone near the ground is a lung irritant that can cause coughing and breathing difficulties. 

The Salem Board of School Trustees approved a Return to School Plan at their first regular meeting that was completely open to the public since the start of the pandemic. Meetings up until now have been held with live feeds for the public to observe. 

All members were present except Ericka Garloch who appeared via live video from home. 

Superintendent Jon Acton said the plan was very fluid and could and would change over the course of the school year. 

The plan (which can be found at http://www.salemschools.com/returntoschool

Parents can also sign up for the online portal through this site.

The plan sets out a return to school for all students – in person – on Thursday, August 5. 

One of the biggest changes for students is not being able to use their lockers. They will be required to carry their items around during the day in their backpacks. 

Two school corporations in northern Indiana have said they will operate in an online-only environment. 

Today, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb will meet with the Indiana State Teachers Association and will have a press conference at 2:30p on Wednesday. 

California’s two largest public school districts said on Monday that instruction would be online-only in the fall, in the latest sign that school administrators are increasingly unwilling to risk crowding students back into classrooms until the coronavirus is fully under control.

The school districts in Los Angeles and San Diego, which together enroll some 825,000 students, are the largest in the country to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August.

Students and parents at Salem who are skeptical about in-person schooling can sign students up for the Online Lions option, which allows students to take online classes and still participate in sports.

Acton said the online classes will be limited and cannot fully mirror the full in-person experience. 

The following health and safety protocols will be in place for in-person education —

1. Masks – students and staff will wear masks when not being able to social distance — for example, passing in hallways or in classrooms. Acton said masks will not be required during gym class or during lunch. 
2. Training – Professional development will be provided to all staff at the start of the school year on symptoms, sanitizing and screening measures. 
3. Clinic locations – There will be the addition of a second nurses station at each school for students who are displaying Covid-19 symptoms. The wellness clinic will be still be operated for other needs. 
4. Hand washing and sanitization – hand washing will be required throughout the day. Additional hand sanitizer will be available in each classroom. 
5. Seating charts – Will be required for contact tracing on buses, classrooms and in the lunchroom. Siblings will be seated together on buses. 
6. Water Bottles – Students will be allowed to carry water bottles. Acton said no-touch water bottle filling stations were being installed in all the school buildings. 
7. Visitor Protocol – Visitors will be asked to wait in a designated area for student pick up. Visitors will not be allowed to eat lunch with students or visit classrooms. “We’re not going to be having speakers in the school as in years past. This will be different but we’re trying to be safe.”
8. Stay Home if Sick – Families must screen their children and keep them home if they are sick or exhibiting symptoms. Sick children will be directed immediately upon arrival to the nurse who will require them to be picked up if exhibiting symptoms.
   1. Self Screening Factors
      1. Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms?
         1. A fever of 100 degrees or higher. 
         2. Cough
         3. Shortness of Breath or difficulty breathing
         4. Chills
         5. Repeated Shaking and Chills
         6. Muscle Pain
         7. Headache
         8. Sore Throat
         9. New loss of taste or smell 

If a staff member or student exhibits symptoms or is tested positive for Covid-19, then the student or staff member will be quarantined at home for 14 days before returning to school. 

Acton said contact tracing will be conducted by the Washington County Health Department. 

The following changes have been made to classroom and the school environment: 

1. Family events will be primarily virtual.
2. Student events will be held in-person requiring masks or social distancing with limited family participation in a highly structured environment. 
3. More personal space will be created in classrooms through the reduction of furniture to allow desks to be spread out. Students will face the same direction. 
4. Students will be required to immediately report to classrooms upon entering school and not allowed to congregate in the hallways. 
5. Sharing of supplies will be minimized. 
6. No visitors will be allowed for lunch. 
7. Adjustments will be made to serving lines. 
8. Additional cleaning will occur between lunches. 
9. Seating charts will be used in all cafeterias. 
10. Students will not be required to dress for PE class to minimize locker interactions. 
11. No playground equipment will be used during recess. 
12. Barriers and other health procedures will be used in all offices. 
13. Adjustments will be made to band, choir and related arts to clean in between classes and will encourage outside activities and social distancing to the greatest extent.
14. Parents are encouraged to drive there students to school and pick them up. 
15. No external field trips or convocations until further notice. 
16. Volunteers (during the day) will not be scheduled until further notice. 
17. Facility usage is limited to those entities with whom SCS has a written agreement.
18. Attendance awards have been eliminated.  

OTHER BUSINESS

Several changes to staff were announced and approved. 

• Alison Felice – Resignation from Bradie Shrum Elementary Art Teacher.
• Mike Brown – Resignation from Salem Middle School Health Teacher
• RJ Hartsfield – Resignation from Salem High School PE Teacher
• Savannah Hartsfield – Resignation from Salem Middle School Career Coach
• Allison Brown – Resignation from Bradie Shrum Elementary School Title 1 Teacher
• Donna Amburn – Resignation from SMS Cafeteria
• Freda Walton – Resignation from SCS Bus Driver
• Cassie McIntyre – Resignation from SMS Counselor
• William Cantrell – New Hire – SHS PE Teacher and Varsity Boys Basketball Coach
• Vanessa Read – New Hire – BSE Art Teacher (K-2)
• Noah Cobb – New Hire – BSE 5th Grade Teacher
• Monika Spaulding – New Hire – SMS/SHS Journalism, ELA Teacher
• Tressie Barrett – New Hire – SHS Science Teacher
• John Skomp – New HIre – SCS Director of Digital Convergence and Innovation
• Savannah Walton – New Hire – SMS Special Education Math Teacher
• Ashley Williams – BSE 5th Grade Teacher to BSE Title 1 Instructor
• Alex Davidson – BSE 5th Grade Teacher
• Ashley Jarrell – BSE 2nd Grade Teacher – co-teaching setting for Special Ed inclusion option
• Elizabeth Heavin – Transfer from SMS Special Ed to BSE 5th Grade Special Ed Instructor
• Patricia Peacock – Transfer from SHS Cook to SHS Interim Cafe Manager
• Debbie Ball – SHS School Nurse
• Ashley Hammack – Maternity Leave
• Jean Dowen – 2020 Band Camp Assistant
• Blair Winslow – 2020 Band Camp Assistant
• Cheyenne Sanders – 2020 Band Camp Assistant
• Larry Hoover – 2020 Band Camp Assistant
• Tim Johnston – 2020 Band Camp Assistant
• Jordan Johnson – Volunteer Assistant HS Volleyball Coach
• Kylie Brown – Volunteer Assistant HS Volleyball Coach
• Jacob Thompson – Volunteer Assistant Boys Soccer Coach
• John Noel – Volunteer Assistant Boys Soccer Coach
• Rodney Brough – Volunteer Head Coach Varsity Softball
• Chanda White – Volunteer Girls Soccer Coach
• ECA Recommendations – Salem Middle School (not listed individually)
• ECA Recommendations – Salem High School (not listed individually) 
• ECA Athletic Recommendations – (not listed individually)

BOOK RENTAL FEES

Book rental fees were approved for all schools. 

• Kindergarten – $71.34 (2 cent increase)
• First Grade – $75.39 (five cent decrease)
• Second Grade – $61.97 ($2.08 increase)
• Third Grade – $59.71 ($2.08 increase)
• Fourth Grade – $77.39 ($30.02 decrease)
• Fifth Grade – $64.53 ($26.90 decrease)
• Sixth Grade – $75.40 ($49.50 decrease)
• Seventh Grade – $123.50 (Same)
• Eighth Grade – $125.50 (Same)

High School course fees range in price from no charge up to $32.40 for entrepreneurship and new ventures at Ivy Tech. 

HANDBOOKS

Handbooks for students at all three schools were approved. 

FREE LUNCHES

Salem Food Services Director Karen Libka announced that breakfast and lunch will be available to all students at Bradie Shrum Elementary School beginning this fall. 

She said they were available to all students regardless of income status. 

Beginning Thursday, August 6, the school will be serving a free lunch. 

Free breakfast will be served beginning August 7. 

“The breakfast will be given to students as they enter the school and they can take that with them to their room,” said Libka. 

She said the program is due to a government program that allows the schools to participate for four years with a possible one-year extension. 

Those students with food allergies can go to the cafeteria to pick up breakfast so cafeteria staff can make sure they make safe choices. 

The Salem School Board of Trustees met in regular session last night – the first completely open meeting to the public since the start of the pandemic – and hired several new employees, including a new head boys basketball coach. 

William Patrick Cantrell of Bogart, Georgia, was chosen from a special basketball committee that interviewed and reviewed applicants, according to Board President Rodney Brough. The board voted 7-0 to approve his hiring. 

Cantrell has 23 years of experience coaching basketball in Georgia and most recently has been the head coach of the Prince Avenue Christian School for the past four years and was 57-47 over those years. 

His resume said his teams have appeared in 7 of the past 10 Georgia High School Sports Association State Tournaments. 

“My family and I are extremely humbled and excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Salem community,” Cantrell wrote in a statement. “It has been my life-long dream to be a head boys basketball coach in the great state of Indiana and to have the privilege to fulfill that dream at Salem is truly a dream come true. 

“Words cannot express my gratitude and excitement to lead the Salem Lions this year and future seasons to come,” he wrote. “I will strive each day to bring passion and energy to our program, school and community. We cannot wait to get started and look forward to many years of success. Go Lions”

While he was the head boys basketball coach at Prince Avenue, Cantrell co-founded and operated a year-long basketball training program for youth grades 3-8 and also developed a successful summer basketball program for players in grades 9-12. 

Between 2010 and 2016, Cantrell served as the head varsity coach at Hebron Christian Academy. His record there was 86-86 over six years. 

He started his career between 2007 and 2010 as the head JV Coach at Monroe Area High School. 

Cantrell is married to a teacher and together he and his wife have two children.