Wednesday, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced that 13 rural Hoosier communities will receive more than $1.96 million in federal grant funding, through the new COVID-19 Response Program.

“After setting up weekly calls with our local elected officials and Main Street organizations, I was able to hear how quickly we needed to provide funding to assist with rising medical needs and to save jobs and small businesses,” said Crouch. “Our rural communities are truly the next economic frontier and we have to do all we can to ensure they survive this crisis.”

In March, Governor Eric Holcomb issued Executive Order 20-05 that allowed the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) to redirect Community Development Block Grant funds to assist with COVID-19 needs, based on guidance from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

On April 1, the COVID-19 Response Program launched and, over the course of two weeks, received 108 Letters of Need, totaling an estimated $23 million in requests. Eligible activities for this program include but are not limited to:

• Expanding or altering existing medical facilities to help in the increasing patient load due to COVID-19;
• Provide fixed or mobile testing;
• Expand food pantry services to low-to-moderate (LMI) populations; and
• Provide grants or loans to small businesses to help retain LMI jobs.

“Our rural communities are feeling the effects of COVID-19 and need immediate support to ensure that critical services and supplies, as well as economic recovery resources, are available,” said Jodi Golden, Executive Director of OCRA. “These are the first of many projects we hope to fund through this new program.”

Below is a summary of the projects funded under each category. More projects will be announced as they continue to be evaluated and reviewed by OCRA. For further information on the program, visit www.in.gov/ocra/3010.htm.

Provide testing, diagnosis or other services

• The Town of Lacrosse is awarded $10,000 to install four Wi-Fi hotspots for residents to access the internet to complete e-Learning activities, file unemployment claims, and submit job applications.
• Cass County and Logansport Memorial Hospital are awarded $150,000 to provide COVID-19 testing at the Cass County Fairgrounds to residents of Cass County. Special hours will be set aside for those that are seniors aged 62 and older.

Establish delivery service

• Tippecanoe County is awarded $100,000 to provide a distribution service for essential supplies to families or individuals in quarantine and isolation because of positive testing for COVID-19.
• The City of Logansport is awarded $100,000 to deliver supplies and meals to LMI residents in partnership with the United Way of Cass County.
• The City of Bargersville is awarded $100,000 to deliver needed supplies to residents in partnership with the local main street organization.

Grants to businesses to retain jobs

• The Town of North Manchester is awarded $250,000 to build upon an existing Revolving Loan Fund to provide grants to local businesses with employees who have low-and-moderate income households impacted by the current COVID-19 crisis.
• Noble County is awarded $95,250 to fund a micro-grant program that will target at-risk small county businesses in partnership with the Noble County Economic Development Corporation.
• Fulton County is awarded $250,000 to provide Grants to small businesses in order to retain employees.
• The City of Delphi is awarded $198,600 to create funds for local businesses that can be used as working capital.
• The City of Knox is awarded $250,000 to provide working capital to local businesses for job retention.
• The Town of Hebron is awarded $152,500 to create a fund to provide short term working capital for small businesses in order to retain jobs.
• Pike County is awarded $60,000 to provide $5,000 grants through the county’s economic development corporation to local businesses for working capital.

Loans to businesses to retain jobs

• The City of Greensburg is awarded $250,000 to provide loans to local small business owners who are LMI or to retain LMI jobs. The funds will be processed through the local economic development revolving loan program.

Police and firefighters are currently searching for 23-year-old Heron Phillips.

According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Michael Allen of the Jasper Post, Phillips was last seen wearing an orange-reddish sweater and green pants and sandals.

He has blonde hair and stubble of a beard on his face.

Phillips has autism and is missing. He was last seen around 6:30 p.m. in the 6140 blocks of South County Road 325 East in Hardinsburg.

Firefighters from Orange, Crawford, and Washington counties along with Indiana State Police troopers and officers from several area police departments are searching for Phillips on foot, by vehicle, and on ATVs.

A helicopter has been requested to assist with the search.

WSLM will update this story when more information becomes available.

As summer approaches Hoosiers are worried mosquitoes might spread COVID-19.

Professor of Entomology/Vector Biology Catherine Hill says there are many reasons it’s “extremely unlikely” that mosquitoes can transmit the virus.

“It is early days but we’re always looking at things from risk management and assessment perspective and I think the risk is very low,” Hill said.

COVID-19 belongs to the coronavirus family and other viruses in the same family – such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) – are not transmitted through mosquitoes or ticks, she added.

Residents of Meadow View Healthcare and Salem Crossing were expecting another day of the “new normal” thanks to the Covid-19 virus.

Were they ever in for a big surprise?

As Holly Ann Lee Thompson, the executive director of Salem Crossing, said, “We’re offering something we’ve never done before. It’ not normal. Horses…people love horses.”

In this case, it was the ASC Cavalry, Horses of Hope.

Wednesday afternoon, Wess Jackson, co-owner of American Senior Communities (ASC), pulled up with his wife, Marci, two of their therapy horses, a pony, and a dog.

Jackson described the horses as “essential employees.” On Wednesday he had Preacher and Titus along with pony Romeo. They also had their dog, Sinch along. 

“It’s much harder on residents now with the isolation requirements, with visitors, etc., so these guys are essential for the emotional health of our residents.”

Jackson said his equines are therapy horses and anyone watching would see their visit was clearly therapeutic.

At the Meadow View visit, executive director, Joe Cox, led Romeo around the outside of the facility. 

“Residents came to the windows to clap and wave as the animals paraded past. This has been an awesome day for our residents, something they were very excited about,’ he said. 

Jackson and Marci guided the horses from window to window, prompting smiles and laughter from those inside.

“Hey, hey, you need a new roommate?” Jackson shouted to one resident through the window. “How about this guy right here?”

Jackson said they visited a couple of communities earlier in the spring and were so overwhelmed the response, they decided to take their dog and pony show on the road.

Their hope now? To visit every single one of them, spreading joy and hope to those in need of a lift and a little nuzzling…through the window.

ASC has 87 communities across Indiana and the Jacksons have visited more than half and expect to complete the circuit in the coming weeks. 

Jackson said their hope is when the quarantine is over to come back and bring the horses to bring the residents, their families and staff outside to share in visiting with the animals in person.

Washington County has had no reported new cases of the Covid-19 virus since Sunday and is holding at 31 positive cases.

There still have been no deaths reported and as of Wednesday, there had been 186 people tested.

There has been no change in new cases since 29 cases were reported on April 19.

The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Wednesday announced that 394 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at ISDH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and private laboratories.

That brings to 12,438 the total number of Indiana residents known to have the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous day’s total.

The new cases and new tests reported today are lower than expected due to a technology issue and should not be interpreted as a decline in new infections.

The additional positive cases not included in today’s report will be captured in the coming days and reflected appropriately.

To date, 69,470 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 67,264 on Tuesday.

Marion County had the newest cases, at 97. Other counties with more than 10 new cases were Cass (31), Hamilton (12), Lake (72), Porter (10), and St. Joseph (21). The Lake County totals include results from East Chicago and Gary, which have their own health departments.

• Lawrence County has 83 positive cases, 9 deaths, and 433 people have been tested
• Monroe County has 118 positive cases, 5 deaths, and 927 people have been tested
• Bartholomew County has 146 positive cases, 7 deaths, and 454 people have been tested
• Brown County has 14 positive cases, 1 death, and 53 people have been tested
• Daviess County has 38 positive cases, 6 death, and 228 people have been tested
• Greene County has 44 positive cases, 4 deaths, and 313 people have been tested
• Jackson County has 97 positive cases, 0 deaths, and 451 people have been tested
• Martin County has 6 positive cases, 0 deaths, and 49 people have been tested
• Orange County has 38 positive cases, 4 deaths, and 185 people have been tested

A total of 661 Hoosiers have died to date. Deaths are reported based on when data are received by ISDH and occurred over multiple days.

The complete list of counties with cases is included in the ISDH COVID-19 dashboard at coronavirus.in.gov.

Cases are listed by the county of residence.

Private lab reporting may be delayed and will be reflected in the map and count when results are received at ISDH. The dashboard will be updated at noon each day.

The dashboard also has been updated to make corrections based on the updated information provided to ISDH.

Floyd County Health Department (FCHD) said there was an isolated cluster of COVID-19 cases at the Providence – A Diversicare Transitional Care Community on Charlestown Road in Floyd County.

The facility has tested all consenting patients.

There have been over 50 positive tests and five deaths. 

Not all of the positive tests are currently symptomatic.

Additionally, 13 staff have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus.

FCHD is identifying this facility due to the number of cases to keep our county informed.

FCHD has been involved on-site since the first cases were reported, over three weeks ago.

Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) has also made multiple visits to the site.

The FCHD and the ISDH are continuing to work with Providence in a response to the outbreak. The Health Department has been providing additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as well as in-service training to promote effective use of the PPE.

ISDH has also assisted the facility with a Strike Team evaluation and Epidemiological support and analysis.

The facility has responded to input from ISDH and the FCHD with transparency and cooperation.

Patients have been moved into areas to facilitate care of positive patients.

This is called Cohort Placement. The facility has arranged for extra staff in this area. The facility no longer allows visitors and
is screening staff before their shift starts. They reported that they have contacted family members of positive patients.

Providence is working to keep patients in their rooms to avoid the spread of disease.

Additionally, they will not be taking new residents for at least the next seven days.

The FCHD will continue to monitor and work closely with both Providence and the other nursing homes
in our county, as other extended-care facilities/nursing homes have reported positive cases.

If additional information is required you can contact the FCHD at (812) 948-4726, or
tharris@floydcounty.in.gov