A LEVEL I TRAVEL WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR WAYNE COUNTY ROADWAYS AND THE CITY OF RICHMOND STREETS AND THE TOWN OF CENTERVILLE ROADS DUE TO HEAVY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW ON ROADWAYS.

This WARNING has been issued to warn those who must travel on Wayne County roadways and City Streets to use extreme caution due to heavy snow accumulations and possible blowing and drifting snow. Roadways are becoming slick and hazardous. All county roads and Richmond and Centerville streets are snow covered and hazardous. If you do not have to travel, please stay where you are during this warning.

If you must travel, use main roads whenever possible and travel at reduced speed. Expect to encounter slick and hazardous roadways and heavy snow accumulations on roadways.

This WARNING takes effect immediately at 1:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 and will expire on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 12 Noon. This Warning applies to all roads maintained by Wayne County Highway Department and the City of Richmond Street Department and the Town of Centerville Street Department.

Motorists are urged to use extreme caution when driving while this WARNING is in effect. Motorists should travel at a reduced speed and remain alert for roadway obstructions and changing roads conditions.

A LEVEL I TRAVEL WARNING DOES NOT IMPOSE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON TRAVEL ON COUNTY ROADWAYS. MOTORISTS MAY TRAVEL AT THEIR OWN RISK.

The City of Anderson has issued a Level 2 Snow Emergency—Travel Warning (description follows)

LEVEL 2: Travel Warning: Roadways are slick and hazardous with blowing and drifting snow.  Motorists should use extreme caution and are encouraged to travel only as necessary to and from work, in a medical emergency, or to obtain home necessities.

Please broadcast to the public through your usual channels.

The Henry County Commissioners have terminated the Level 3 Transportation Declaration put in effect on January 28^th 2009 due to the snow storm of the 27^th/28^th.

After the major snow storm that swept through Central Indiana on early Tuesday morning and continued until mid morning Wednesday, the Carmel Street Department crews have completed the plowing of all main, secondary and residential streets.

City employees began plowing main streets at midnight on Monday and continued to work 12 hour shifts throughout the last couple days equipped with 60 pieces of snow removal equipment to clear 465 miles of roads and over 800 cul-de-sacs.

After the main roads and secondary roads were cleared the crews began clearing residential streets starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening. By 4 a.m. Thursday all roads in the City of Carmel including main, secondary and residential were cleared.

The Street Department crews will continue to monitor the roads throughout the city.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank all the hard-working and dedicated City employees that work hard every day, and put forth extra effort during these emergency situations.  We also appreciate the patience of the community as we work to clear the streets and keep you safe,” said Mayor Jim Brainard.

PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Steady progress continues to be made in restoring power to Indiana customers following significant icing of power lines, trees and highways from a winter storm that struck the Midwest late Tuesday.

As of 8 a.m. Thursday, Duke Energy had resolved approximately 61,000 of the approximately 95,000 power outages in its Indiana service area. About 34,000 customers remain out of service. The hardest work is still ahead, however, as the company begins to tackle time-intensive repairs affecting smaller groups of customers. Restoration work is expected to continue into the weekend. Estimated restoration times for the hardest hit areas include:

Clarksville, Jeffersonville, New Albany-By 11 p.m. Saturday, with some isolated outages into Sunday

Corydon/Salem-By 6 p.m. Saturday

Madison-By 6 p.m. Friday

(Restoration times are estimates for when Duke Energy expects to have storm-related outages restored. There may still be some isolated outages remaining after these times.)

“We have brought in a second wave of additional crews from the region and our companies in the Carolina’s to help speed power restoration,” said Duke Energy Indiana President Jim Stanley. “We’ll have about 1,370 line workers, damage assessors and tree clearing personnel working in southern Indiana today. We appreciate our customer’s patience during this significant outage.

The Connersville District covers Wayne, Henry, Fayette, Union, Rush and Franklin Counties.

I-70 – Both lanes are clear and dry.

State Roads – Clear to slick in spots.

Secondary Roads remain snow covered slick and hazardous with some north – south roads down to one lane with blowing and drifting.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana National Guard Soldiers with 81st Troop Command and 1st Battalion, 163rd Field Artillery will help first responders in the Evansville, Ind. area.
Seventeen Soldiers will meet at the Evansville armory and will help first responders assist and transport Hoosier citizens to warming centers, which are located at the below addresses.
*    Evansville, 29 S. Stockwell Rd. off Lloyd Expressway.
*    Newburgh, St. Johns Church 625 Frame Rd.
*    Boonville, Boonville High School, 300 N. First St.
*    Mount Vernon, First Presbyterian Church 120 E. Sixth St.
According to reports about 65,000 Southern Indiana Vectren customers are without power, which might not be restored until next week.
About 1,500 Indiana National Guard troops were activated in 2008 for state-active duty missions during state emergencies that included the floods in June. This is the first state-active duty mission in 2009.

It’s been so exciting working at WISH-TV on Election Day. The AP has declared Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. The staff here has worked incredibly hard to bring the best coverage not only locally but nationally. It’s been great to be a part of it all.

I’ve worked in several markets, but WISH-TV has been the most exciting place to work on Election Day. You can just feel the energy in the newsroom. Everyone wants to do a great job and it shows. It’s great to be a part of a team that strives for excellence.

Incumbent Andre Carson is on stage at the downtown Marriott Hotel giving his victory speech. Carson told Democratic supporters Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States.