The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District (HCSWCD) announces its annual meeting scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in the O.V. Winks building, 2003 Pleasant St.

In celebration of its recent 50th Anniversary, the HCSWCD is re-instituting an evening meeting and a chili supper. “We are excited to throw it back this year to get back to our roots and rekindle those conservation feelings from the past. We hope to see some of our longstanding partners-in-conservation within the community at the dinner along with our new partners,” said Ginger Davis, Conservation Administrator.

Blood supplies are always in critical demand. For those inclined to help, there will be at least two opportunities to give blood in Hamilton County this month.

Saturday (Jan. 5) in Fishers from noon to 5 p.m. at Harley-Davidson of Indianapolis, 12400 Reynolds Drive, and Jan. 16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at IU Health Saxony Hospital - Medical Office Building, 13000 East 136th St.

The American Red Cross encourages people to help meet the urgent need for blood and platelets by resolving to give blood this January – National Blood Donor Month.

Photographers, painters, sculptors, illustrators, and other two- and three-dimensional artists are being invited to exhibit their artwork at the Cool Creek Nature Center during our Nature’s Inspirations Art Exhibit. This show is multimedia and open to artists of all experience levels.

Each artist can enter a maximum of two pieces. All exhibited art must reflect the theme, ‘Nature’s Inspirations’. Subject matter is limited to nature, wildlife, or “nature-scapes” in which natural objects are the primary subjects of the piece.

The Legacy Fund, the community foundation for Hamilton County, announced a new name and a new strategic vision recently. President Tom Kilian Jr. told a crowd of more than 400 at an awards dinner that the organization will become Hamilton County Community Foundation. He also introduced a direction for the coming years that includes a focus on mental health, family and youth empowerment, and inclusive economic growth.

“We are excited to be Hamilton County Community Foundation. It feels true to who we are, who we serve and what we do,” said Kilian. “Our new name helps better express the foundation’s goal to build a community where opportunity meets growth for everyone, and philanthropic efforts support not-for-profit organizations doing vital work.”

The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District partnered with local organizations to grow more than 200 dwarf tomato and pepper plants for the summer produce donation program.

“These plants will continue to grow in their 2-gallon containers and HCSWCD will provide free technical assistance via text messaging throughout the year," said Andrew Fritz, HCSWCD Urban Agriculture Conservationist.

Drive sober or get pulled over. That's the message drivers should take to heart this weekend when there will be sobriety checkpoints around Hamilton County.

About 750 people are convicted of an impaired driving offense annually in Hamilton County a lone, and nearly 100 of those are repeat offenders. In 2015 in Hamilton County, for example, the State filed 732 cases of operating while intoxicated. Of these, 106 drivers had prior convictions for operating while intoxicated within the last five years.

As part of a pay it forward campaign, Farm Credit Mid-America, a long-time Indiana FFA partner and agriculture lender, pledged up to $30,000 in matching funds to the Indiana FFA Foundation and is challenging businesses, FFA alumni and others to follow their lead. The goal of the campaign is to retire an original loan on the Indiana FFA Leadership Center in Trafalgar, Ind. and aims to raise $60,000 by June 2018.

"FFA lays the foundation of a dynamic generation of agriculture leaders and supports developing skills that benefit the agricultural industry and our communities," said Tom Sloma, Senior Vice President of Farm Credit Mid-America. 

Hoosier homeowners, renters, businesses and private non-profit organizations that sustained uninsured damage caused by severe storms and flooding starting on or after Feb. 15 can now report damage online.

Individuals will be asked to provide their name, address, phone number and type of damage the property sustained. Losses can include structural damage to homes and loss of personal property.

Information gathered from citizens will assist county and state agencies in determining the scope of damage, as well whether state or federal assistance will be available for recovery efforts.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s office is warning residents to be aware of a new tactic on an old scam. Apparently calls are going to potential victims and the number on the Caller ID shows it's the Sheriff’s office.

According to a press release from the HCSD, the potential victim speaks with a male with a foreign accent, sometimes described as an “Indian sounding voice.” The caller states he has a partial Social Security Number and needs to verify the number and other personal information. As usual, pressure is put on the victim to make a hasty decision under the threat of arrest or being sued.

The following is a newsletter sent from U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind. to announce the end of the government shutdown and explain some about it.

Today, Senate Democrats agreed to move forward with funding the government. Together, we passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through February 8, 2018, with an added provision to pay federal workers who were furloughed during the shutdown.

While I am pleased this needless government shutdown has ended quickly, it was irresponsible of Senate Democrats to shut down the government. I never wanted us to get to a point where our men and women in the Armed Forces who work around the clock to keep us safe were not paid on time because of partisan politics.