The decision this week by Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. to drop its mask requirement and make wearing face masks at school optional was a good one. It comes as the omicron variant surge phase of the pandemic is finally, mercifully, easing.
School officials relied on the guidance of state health officials and exercised the local control the state granted for COVID-mitigation decisions based on community needs. And on that measure, the local trends are all pointing in the right direction.
As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed daily COVID cases in Bartholomew County had declined to five. At the height of the surge on Jan. 27, the number of daily cases reached 326. Likewise, just 19 county residents were hospitalized with COVID, compared with record number of 70 at the peak of the omicron wave.
All of which means we can breathe a little easier and hope that those numbers keep declining, hopefully to zero. Until then, “optional” means that students who wish to wear masks may continue to do so, and we should respect that individual decision without question.
Let’s never forget, at least 237 county residents have died from COVID. All of our lives have been changed by it, some far more than others. So if a young person feels safer continuing to mask up, that’s their choice.
You’ll have plenty of voting options
The May 3 primary election is a little more than two months away, but you will be able to cast a ballot in just over one month, thanks to the plan approved this week by the Bartholomew County Election Board.
Early voting will begin April 5 at the former JCPenney store at NexusPark (the former FairOaks Mall) in Columbus. County residents will be able to vote there weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 29, and from 8 a.m. until noon on May 2.
In addition to the 13 in-person voting centers that will be open on Election Day, early in-person voting will also be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 23 and 30 in the new Bartholomew County Council chambers in the Bartholomew County Governmental Office Building, 440 Third St., in downtown Columbus.
Meanwhile, absentee voting by mail also is a popular option that Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz said is “not going to go away.” There were bills in the Indiana General Assembly that sought to restrict absentee voting, but those efforts appear thus far to have been turned back.
Voters have plenty of options to cast their ballots in May’s primary election, and officials deserve credit for making early voting options easy and accessible for county residents.
Why we charge for political letters
Speaking of politics, you soon may see letters to the editor on this page that carry a disclaimer that they are paid political letters.
A few years back, due to the volume of letters we received in support of political candidates, The Republic began charging $25 per letter for those that endorse candidates for public office. We’ll be doing the same this year.
Now that the filing deadline has passed for candidates for local, state and federal offices on the ballot this year, we are in a political season. Therefore, letters to the editor endorsing political candidates must be prepaid, and our normal criteria for letters to the editor otherwise apply. That is, in general, they may not exceed 500 words, they must be verified, and letters will be fact-checked and edited for grammar, clarity and style.
The fee was established because we don’t want a flood of political letters in support of or against a particular candidate or party to drown out worthy letters on a wide range of diverse topics. Last year, we published 214 free letters from members of the community on this page. The nominal $25 fee for political endorsement letters balances the interests of those who wish to write a letter of support for a particular party or candidate with the mission of this page as an inviting forum for views that are not about urging people how to vote.
