The Worthington Times

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15: Honey-mustard chicken, potato wedges, California-blend vegetables, pineapple, bread.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16: Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, baby carrots, grape juice, bread.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19: Johnny rib on bun, granny potatoes, peas, fruit cocktail.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20: Chopped steak, mashed potatoes, pickled beets, tropical fruit, bread.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21: Fish on bun, Lima beans, cauliflower, fruit cup.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22: Beef stew, biscuit, corn, tropical fruit.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23: BBQ Chicken, baby bakers, broccoli, apple, wheat bread.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26: Taco salad, lettuce, corn chips, Mandarin oranges, granola bar.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27: Hamburger on bun, potatoes with peppers, steamed cabbage, pineapple.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28: Meatball sub on bun, seasoned potatoes, corn, applesauce.

The official travel advisory for Greene County residents to stay off the roads was lifted this afternoon even though residents are being urged to stay in unless absolutely necessary to get out and about.  The official State of Emergency for Greene County, however, does remain in effect for seven days.  A state of emergency gives emergency services workers some special powers if needed to cope with situations caused by or aggravated by the weather.  Declaring the state of emergency also gives the county the chance to apply for aid.  Roads are being cleared but basically it’s still slick and dangerous out there. 

A state of emergency has been declared in Greene County.  This declaration was made by the Greene County Commissioners this evening (Tuesday).  We are advised not to get out on the roads until after they have been cleared.

WRV Schools will be closed again on Wednesday.

The Forecast listed for our area on the National Weather Service Site:

Today: Periods of rain before 11am, then periods of rain or freezing rain between 11am and 3pm, then periods of snow after 3pm. Temperature falling to around 25 by 5pm. Northeast wind between 15 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime ice accumulation of around a 0.1 of an inch possible. Total daytime snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Tonight: Snow likely, mainly before 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 11. Wind chill values between zero and 5. North northwest wind between 14 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Wednesday: A chance of flurries. Partly cloudy, with a high near 22. Wind chill values between -6 and 4. Blustery, with a north northwest wind between 14 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

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Tuesday Morning Weather Bulletins from the NWS

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
611 AM EST TUE FEB 13 2007

INZ060-061-067>072-141115-
SULLIVAN-GREENE-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS-
611 AM EST TUE FEB 13 2007 /511 AM CST TUE FEB 13 2007/

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT TODAY…

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL INDIANA.

.DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT.

A MIXTURE OF RAIN…FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET WILL GRADUALLY CHANGE
TO ALL SLEET AND SNOW LATER TODAY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD REMAIN
LESS THAN ONE QUARTER INCH. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD REMAIN LESS
THAN 4 INCHES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SNOW SATURDAY.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
511 AM EST TUE FEB 13 2007

…MAJOR WINTER STORM TO BRING HEAVY SNOW AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
NORTH OF I-70 TODAY WITH FREEZING RAIN…SLEET AND SNOW SOUTH OF
I-70…

.A WINTER STORM WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER ACROSS
CENTRAL INDIANA TODAY INTO TONIGHT. AREAS NORTH OF INTERSTATE
70 WILL SEE 6 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOW ALONG WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS
BY THIS AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY NORTH OF A CRAWFORDSVILLE TO ANDERSON
LINE. AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70 WILL SEE A MIXTURE OF
SNOW…SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN. AREAS SOUTH OF A SULLIVAN TO
COLUMBUS LINE WILL SEE RAIN CHANGE TO FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET AND
EVENTUALLY SNOW LATER TODAY.

INZ060-061-067>072-131815-
/O.CON.KIND.WW.Y.0003.000000T0000Z-070214T0500Z/
SULLIVAN-GREENE-KNOX-DAVIESS-MARTIN-LAWRENCE-JACKSON-JENNINGS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…VINCENNES…BEDFORD…SEYMOUR
511 AM EST TUE FEB 13 2007 /411 AM CST TUE FEB 13 2007/

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST
/11 PM CST/ TONIGHT…


A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCUR THIS MORNING. THE
MIXTURE SHOULD BECOME A SLEET AND SNOW MIXTURE BY LATER TODAY.
SNOW IS THEN EXPECTED TO OCCUR THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT. ANY ICE
ACCUMULATION SHOULD REMAIN AROUND ONE TENTH OF AN INCH. SNOWFALL
ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD RANGE FROM 1 TO 4 INCHES BY MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR
FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.

There’s no school today, Tuesday, February 13 and it looks like most all schools in the Wabash Valley area are closing as well.  WTWO has the list.

Here’s the text from the NWS this morning for our area

.A WINTER STORM WILL BRING A MIXTURE OF FREEZING RAIN…SLEET AND SNOW TO CENTRAL INDIANA LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. AT THIS TIME…IT APPEARS THAT MAINLY SNOW WILL IMPACT AREAS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 WHILE AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70 WILL SEE A MIXTURE OF FREEZING RAIN…SLEET AND SNOW. THE EXACT TRACK OF THIS STORM REMAINS UNCERTAIN AND ANY SHIFT IN THE TRACK WILL HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON THE AMOUNT AND TYPE OF PRECIPITATION RECEIVED ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA. WE URGE EVERYONE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS ON THIS DEVELOPING WINTER STORM.

It’s been a blue Monday evening in Indiana.  This column is for Worthington news but the Colts have taken over everyone’s news today.  And I’ve heard from an old Worthingtonian who is far away that they’ve enjoyed this since they don’t get quite the same Colts scoop in other places.

Many of us spent the evening once again in front of the TV watching the Colts celebration.  From 4 p.m. the Indy news channels pre-empted everything, even their own evening news shows, to carry every minute of this homecoming, for about 5 hours.  They had reporters on corners and their helicopters in the air.  The coverage was better than anything Presidential.

The news choppers caught the planes touching down then followed the buses along the roads.  When the Colts got out of the bus, we saw the players taking pictures of the news choppers.  People were lining the streets and filling the Dome despite near zero temperatures.  They waited for hours.  At first, news people said the Colts would be bused down this parade route because of the cold, but the Colts fooled everyone.  They changed into warm gear, gloves, hats etc, put their Jerseys on as the top layer so people would recognize them, and surprised everyone by jumping onto old Indy 500 floats and pickup truck beds and convertibles with the top down and they rode the route in the cold. 

Fans wore blue, lights in windows along the route were blue, and Monument Circle was bathed in blue light. (And in all of auto ads in today’s Indy Star, all of the cars were blue.)  It took them much longer to make it to the Dome because they had to go so slow.  Fans did not stay on the sidelines - they moved out into the street right next to the vehicles and floats and high-fived and shook hands and reached out to the Colts players.  The Colts leaned out too and stretched out their hands to touch the fans.  The fans were taking pictures of the Colts, and the Colts players were taking pictures of the fans!

In this day and age, with all the talk about security, watching police barricades for motorcades and all the rest of the things we see on TV, seeing the Colts and their fans crushing together, without any ugly incidents… it was most heartening to watch such a joyful time.  And just plain cute to watch the excited Colts players taking pictures, not acting like celebrities, but just having the time of their life with their fans.

Celebrate by listening to Blue Sunday , posted on YouTube about a week ago.  Then watch the best of the parade by going to the WTHR website to find the videos called “Colts Parade (Part Two)” and “Fans Rock the Dome.”

The Indianapolis Colts have won the Super Bowl.  It’s a happy day for Hoosiers.  The Colts will return to Indy this afternoon around 4:00 and even Oprah is being pre-empted in Indiana so that Hoosiers can watch the celebrations on the local channels.  There will be a parade in downtown Indy and lots of people are on the roads now in order to be there despite bitter cold temperatures.  We’re in a horrific cold snap and many schools are conveniently closed today.  Most official words are that the schools are closed because of the dangerous temperatures….  most unofficial words from the kids are that the schools are closed because the Colts have won the Super Bowl.  It’s all worked out quite nicely.  Today, Indiana is “bleeding blue.”    

It’s Sunday morning but not just any ol’ Sunday morning.  It’s Super Bowl Sunday, but not just any ol’ Super Bowl Sunday.  Today, our Indianapolis Colts are playing for the world championship.  It’s almost unbelievable - the Colts are at the Super Bowl!

For those of you who are reading this from somewhere in the rest of the world, I’m writing to let you know that this is a BIG DAY back home in Indiana.  People are so excited, even those of us who normally are not big football fans.  Offices and factories, schools and businesses have declared “Blue Days” where everyone dresses in their very best bright Colts blue.  Parties are planned, families are getting together for the day and Hoosiers are anxiously awaiting the kick-off.  Oh, how we want them to win so bad!  Go Colts!

The other thing I want to tell you who are afar is this - there’s no doubt about the outcome around here.  They’re going to win it - Colts fans are absolutely certain.  It’s our year.  So watch the game and drink it in - it’s going to be a great day for Hoosiers.  

The winter epizootic hit home for the Times family this past week - we fell to the bug one right after another.  Judging from the number of coughin’ kids in the doctor’s waiting room, we’re not the only one.  It’s that time of year around here.