Indiana News Summary

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“Click or Ticket” starts this weekend….bird flu quarantines lifted, tickets are selling fast for the 500…..

 

 

 

SEAT BELT-CRACKDOWN

Indiana State Police are warning motorists that law enforcement agencies throughout the state will be cracking down on people who don’t use seat belts.

State police announced it will be taking part in the “Click It or Ticket” campaign from Friday until May 30. State troopers will try to raise awareness of the benefits of restraints through education and enforcement, using high-visibility patrols and sobriety checkpoints.

Click It or Ticket is an annual enforcement effort supported by federal funding.

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute says one third of the more than 800 people killed on Indiana roads last year were unrestrained.


 

BIRD FLU-INDIANA

Animal health officials have lifted their quarantine on the last of 10 southwestern Indiana poultry farms where a bird flu outbreak discovered in January impacted the state’s top turkey-producing region.

The quarantine at the Dubois County farm was ended Sunday when it was declared virus-free after the composting of the carcasses of its euthanized birds and thorough cleanings of its poultry barns.

State Board of Animal Health spokeswoman Denise Derrer says the first quarantine at the 10 affected farms was lifted March 19. The quarantines at the nine other farms were lifted over the last several weeks as each was declared virus-free.

The release of the last quarantine coincides with Indiana achieving virus-free status after going 90 consecutive days with no new cases of the poultry disease.

 


 

BOVINE TB-INDIANA

 Indiana officials say a beef cattle herd in southeastern Indiana will be destroyed after the disease was found in six steers at a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse.

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health says the six steers were condemned after showing signs of bovine TB during a routine inspection last week. It says the disease was confirmed at a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory in Ames, Iowa, over the weekend.

Bovine TB is an infectious disease that primarily affects cattle but can be spread between different mammals.

The board did not identify the location of the herd, but says it has worked with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources on surveillance of hunter-harvested white-tailed deer in Franklin and surrounding counties since 2009. Franklin County is 30 miles northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio.

 


 

HIV OUTBREAK-INDIANA

Indiana has extended for another year the public health emergency declaration in the rural county at the center of an HIV outbreak that spurred a state law allowing needle-exchange programs.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams extended the declaration in Scott County through May 24, 2017. That will allow the county about 30 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, to continue to operate its needle-exchange program to curb the spread of diseases among intravenous drug users.

Nearly 200 people have tested positive for HIV in Scott County since an outbreak linked to sharing of needles used by drug users was identified early last year.

Adams says the risk factors that led to the HIV outbreak still exist in Scott County.

 


DRUG TAKE BACK RESULTS

Nearly 1400 pounds of unused and unwanted drugs and medication were collected at state police posts this past weekend.

During the 11th annual Drug Take Back Day, over 350 pounds were collected at Jasper, over 400 pounds at Evansville, over 30 pounds at Bloomington and 40 pounds at Putnamville.

Officials say based on the success of the program another Drug Take Back Day is planned for this fall.


500 TICKETS

 It’s looking like the Indy 500 could be a sell-out this year. This would be a first in 25 years. For IT to happen, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway would have to sell just under 240,000 seats and as of last night, there were only 2,000 tickets left. President Doug Boles of the Indy Motor Speedway said 500 to 600 tickets a day are being sold and they could quite possibly be sold out by the end of this week. This year marks the 100th anniversary for the event.