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INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Indiana’s statewide network of public broadcasting television stations is preparing to use its over-the-air TV signals to provide a form of internet service to students who are learning virtually but may not have access to the internet at home.

The Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations group will be one of the first in the country to use datacasting to provide educational materials from teachers into student’s homes.

IPBS says member stations will use their existing broadcast towers.

In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, IPBS Executive Director Mark Newman said the educational content is delivered on the same video signal, or spectrum, as television programming.

“It’s running across the same broadcast spectrum as the stations are using for all of their other outlets,” explained Newman. ”This takes a segment of that broadcast spectrum. And it is made private. It’s targetable. It’s controllable. It’s manageable.”

Newman says the technology is not new. He says emergency services in a community use the same technology, sending encrypted data, when radio and cellular services can be overwhelmed during a crisis or disaster. But it is a first for public broadcasters to use it in this capacity.

“So, while you’re watching TV, on your favorite station with that favorite channel, we’re able to datacast files to student homes,” said Newman.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how the gap in available internet service, especially in rural parts of Indiana, is limiting the use of e-learning and online teaching tools.

“It gives them an opportunity to have their schooling experience and really not miss as much of a beat if they had to drive to the local supermarkets parking lot where a school bus has been parked with a hotspot. That’s just inconvenient. That’s impractical. This gives them the opportunity to be successful,” said Newman.

Households that qualify for the program will use a small antenna and receiver in their home to receive the signal. It will allow students to log onto a browser that simulates traditional internet, giving them access to encrypted data, including educational material and assignments.

IPSB estimates approximately 85,000 Hoosier homes do not have internet access. The network has secured $6.7 million in federal and state grants which will allow IPBS to help 8,200 households.

Newman says it is more affordable than schools using hotspot technology. He says the annual maintenance cost of datacasting for IPBS stations combined is about $205,000.

In comparison, he estimates one small district could spend at least $20,000 each month for hotspot service with a fee that increases with the number of users.

“The annual cost for datacasting for hundreds of districts is matched in 10 months of hotspot cost in one district,” said Newman.

The service will be initially launched in Jennings County in January, which will receive the signal from WTIU-TV in Bloomington.

“Datacasting will enable us to bring our classrooms to about 1,200 students who don’t have Internet access in their homes,” said Teresa Brown, superintendent of the Jennings County School Corp. “It’s a sustainable, cost-effective solution to enable remote learning in the areas of our county where internet connections have always been a challenge. “

Newman is working now to provide datacasting to other schools with similar levels of students that have difficulty accessing online education.

Newman says datacasting won’t replace broadband internet, but it does provide an immediate solution by using existing technology and infrastructure

“PBS began as educational television,” he said. “You might say we’re using technology to get back to our roots.”

Public broadcasters in South Carolina were the first to implement the technology.

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Indiana coronavirus timeline

With information from the Indiana Department of Health through March 4, 2021, this timeline reflects updated tallies of deaths and positive tests prior to that date.

BUTLERVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Three people are facing criminal charges of physically harming and confining a 22-year-old woman, Indiana State Police said Friday night.

John E. Staples, 54, is charged with neglect of a dependent.

Rose-Kathryn F. Staples, 54, and the 22-year-old’s caretaker, Trudy N. Henry, 47, were each charged with neglect of a dependent and criminal confinement.

The 22-year-old had been confined in the Staples’ home, according to a news release from state police. The release did not indicate the Staples’ relationship if any. The caretaker’s charges came, in part, from the confinement in the straitjacket, police said.

The three were in the Jennings County jail in North Vernon awaiting an initial appearance in a Jennings Circuit Court to face formal charges, police said.

State police detectives investigated seven months in advance of the charges.

JENNINGS COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — Police believe they have solved a murder in Jennings County.

Indiana State Police say Alan Marantos, 34, killed Brian Kirby, 52, in late March. Both men are from North Vernon.

The investigation began on March 28 after Kirby’s family reported him missing.

Police believe Marantos attacked at a home on Primrose Court near North Vernon on March 27. Police say he loaded Kirby’s body into a vehicle, burned his body at another location, then left his remains at several spots around Jennings County.

Investigators at ISP’s lab recently discovered the remains matched Kirby’s DNA.

Marantos faces charges of murder, robbery, aggravated battery, abuse of a corpse, obstruction of justice and intimidation.

Marantos was already incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail after being arrested on a robbery warrant on April 2. Police say that case also comes with charges of possession of methamphetamine, resisting law enforcement and leaving the scene of a crash.

NORTH VERNON, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — The Jennings County School Corp. will Thursday break ground on a more than $4.5 million addition to Jennings County High School. The 24,000-square-foot facility will be dedicated to the district’s wrestling program. 

The district says the addition will connect to the south side of the existing gym at the high school. The new facility will seat about 800 people and include two locker rooms, a large equipment storage area, and an office for the wrestling coach.

“This is a state-of-the-art facility that will allow the students who wrestle to experience ownership and pride,” Jennings County High School Wrestling Coach Howard Jones said in a news release. “The facility will benefit wrestlers from preschool through high school and offer more opportunities and access at all levels to our wrestling program and to our community.”

The addition was designed by architecture and engineering firm Woolpert through its offices in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. It will be built by North Vernon-based Harmon Construction.

The district says the facility is slated to be complete ahead of the 2020-2021 wrestling season. 

VERNON, Ind. (WISH) — Hey, drug dealers, are competitors putting you out of business? The Jennings County Sheriff’s Office has an offer for you. 

Sheriff William Kenny Freeman posted on Facebook a form headlined “Attention drug dealers!” 

“Too Much Competition Bringing You Down? Are You Not Making The Profits You Once Did? We Are Here To Help You Eliminate Your Competition!”

The form asks drug dealers to name their competitor, the drugs the competitor sells, the address of the person, the person’s license plate information and the times and day of the person is most active. 

Reaction was positive. One Facebook commenter even suggested, “You should offer a turn 10 drug dealers, get a get out of jail free card.”

Another commenter said, “Someone should print these off and hang them at the laundry mat.” 

How did the sheriff get the idea. Freeman said Friday in an email reply to News 8 that one of his detective showed him something a month of two ago. Freeman said he took that idea to the next level. 

The sheriff declined on Friday to discuss whether he’s received any replies to the form.

VERNON, Ind. (WISH) — Hey, drug dealers, are competitors putting you out of business? The Jennings County Sheriff’s Office has an offer for you. 

Sheriff William Kenny Freeman posted on Facebook a form headlined “Attention drug dealers!” 

“Too Much Competition Bringing You Down? Are You Not Making The Profits You Once Did? We Are Here To Help You Eliminate Your Competition!”

The form asks drug dealers to name their competitor, the drugs the competitor sells, the address of the person, the person’s license plate information and the times and day of the person is most active. 

Reaction was positive. One Facebook commenter even suggested, “You should offer a turn 10 drug dealers, get a get out of jail free card.”

Another commenter said, “Someone should print these off and hang them at the laundry mat.” 

How did the sheriff get the idea. Freeman said Friday in an email reply to News 8 that one of his detective showed him something a month of two ago. Freeman said he took that idea to the next level. 

The sheriff declined on Friday to discuss whether he’s received any replies to the form.

VERNON, Ind. (WISH) — Changes have been made in Jennings County after an inmate escaped custody earlier this month

According to the sheriff’s office, while Kimlynn Patton was on his way to court, he was able to unlock his handcuffs. Investigators said he used a key taken by an inmate from the booking counter.

Sheriff Kenny Freeman said Monday that all escape risks will be transported with two jail officers; only one was available to transport Patton.

There will be cameras in the transport vehicle, and parking areas closer to the Courthouse.

Patton is back in custody. He was found the day after he escaped after a tip from someone in the community. He now faces additional charges.

SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (WISH) — A 19-year-old North Vernon man faces rape and child sex charges after he allegedly forced himself on a 15-year-old girl he had met on a social media website, state police said Friday.

Jon Wesley Anthony faces charges of rape by force, sexual battery and two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, Indiana State Police said in a news release. The charges were filed in Scott County, where the girl lives.

The Indiana Department of Child Services in Scott County reached out to state police on Feb. 7. Detective Brian Busick learned Anthony agreed to meet the girl at her home to do beautician work on her hair. When Anthony arrived, the release said, he told the girl he had forgot the materials needed to work on her hair, but he stayed at the residence and allegedly forced himself onto her.

Anthony was placed in the Scott County Jail, state police said, and being held without bond awaiting his first court appearance. Online court records Friday night had no case listed.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WISH) — An Indiana man charged as part of the violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia has pleaded guilty in the case.

Dennis Mothersbaugh, who lives in North Vernon in Jennings County, pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor assault for punching a protester at the rally in Charlottesville.

The punch was captured on cell phone video and that is also how police identified him.

Jail records show he is set to be released from jail on Jan. 26, 2018.

He was also fined $1,500.

SCIPIO, Ind. (AP/WISH) – Police say two young girls were killed when the car they were riding in was hit from behind on State Road 7 om Jennings County.

Indiana State Police say the car had slowed down to turn off the road near the Jennings County community of Scipio when it was hit Friday around 1:10 p.m. by a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer. The crash happened in a rural area about 50 miles south of Indianapolis.

Police say two girls, a 4-year-old and a 22-month-old, were in the backseat of the car and died from their injuries. The car’s 36-year-old driver, Mary Bailey of Columbus, was flown to an Indianapolis hospital with serious injuries, as was a 63-year-old passenger in the truck.

Police said the crash remained under investigation and toxicology results were pending for both drivers.