Nearing the end of April 2020

The big news in the past few days is that Indiana Beach has been purchased by a man from Chicago. The Saturday Rensselaer Republican has the story and you can find it in many news outlets on the Internet.

Work has begun on sidewalk ramps along SR 114. Crews have marked sidewalk ends with barrels and are digging them out. Some sidewalks marked have recently been put in place by the City of Rensselaer. We will see if they are redone as well as sidewalks that are in terrible shape.

The foundations for crossing gates are in place at the Cullen Street rail crossing but they have not yet been installed at the Jefferson Street Crossing.

Walmart and Strack and Van Til have erected barricades to funnel people into their stores through one entrance only. I think it is to be able to control the number of people in the store at one time. Walmart has most of its garden merchandise outside.

This past Friday's weekly JECDO roundtable was shorter and less informative the first roundtable meeting. I missed the very opening because I was not paying attention to the time but I think I heard most of what Patty Stringfellow, head of the Jasper County Library, had to say. She listed some of the on-line resources the Library has that can be accessed through its website at myjcpl.com. Reopening will not happen until State and local authorities say it is OK. There will be a few days in which staff will have staggered work schedules and will catch up on accumulated tasks. There will be less face-to-face interaction and perhaps a period of curbside service. Everyone will be wearing masks at work. Expect changes.

Next up was Brienne Hooker from the Jasper-Newton Foundation. The Foundation has set aside $50,000 in each county to deal with emerging needs as a result of the shutdown. These are being used in cooperation with several local community service organizations and businesses to fill unmet needs and to make sure local food pantries are stocked. The Rensselaer High School has provided several iPads that are being used by residents in care facilities to communicate with family members. On May 5 there will be another Giving Tuesday and the focus will be on helping non-profits that have been hurt financially by the results of the shutdown. CDC Resources was named as an example. The Foundation is looking for ways to help those in the hospitality/food industry that are suffering from the shutdown.

Those attending the meeting got a chance to share thoughts. Several times the theme of "Shop Local" was raised. Two web sites that were mentioned were philsfriends.org, which provides support to those suffering from cancer, and saintjoearchives.org, which is preserving SJC history on-line. The Jasper County Airport remains open, though events such as the May Career Day for local schools have been canceled. Fenwick Farms Brewing is remodeling and will opening for carry-out on Monday. Ivy Tech plans a full schedule of classes this fall on the SJC campus. A summer class on entrepreneurship will now be done through e-learning.

If the video and audio from this meeting have been posted to the Internet, I have not yet found them.  Video and audio from this meeting are here.

Kendell Culp put up another County update on Facebook, here.