• The primary in Indiana will be held June 2, and the voter registration deadline is May 4. All registered voters can request an absentee ballot (vote by mail) and no excuse is required. Request an application in Marion County at indy.gov/activity/vote-absentee-ballot. Check your registration status online at indianavoters.in.gov/
• The Governor of Indiana has issued an extension of the stay-at-home order through April 20. Only essential travel is allowed to the grocery store, pharmacy, medical appointments, or to and from essential work. Non-essential businesses must be closed, or offer delivery/carryout options. The state is also recommending that grocery stores and pharmacies limit the number of people in stores at a given time. Please be patient, everyone, as we go through this pandemic together.
• In Beech Grove, they are doing everything they can to help everyone in need. The Hornet Park Community Center, 5245 Hornet Ave., has a drive-thru food pantry on Wednesday evenings, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Beech Grove City Schools has a daily distribution for students from 9 a.m.-noon at South Grove Elementary, Hornet Park Elementary, and Beech Grove Middle School. Thank you to all the volunteers and organizations that are reaching out!
• Around Community Hospital East, neighbors have started putting up “thank you” signs for health care workers, to show their appreciation. This is a wonderful idea!
• The Indiana Department of Transportation will close I-70 Eastbound and Westbound for approximately 30 days in each direction. I-70 EB will close from the North Split to I-465 on April 13. All lanes and ramps will be closed for 30 days, scheduled to reopen on May 13. I-70 WB from I-465 to the North Split will close on April 23. All lanes and ramps will be closed for 30 days, scheduled to reopen on May 23. This work was originally scheduled for later in the year, but with traffic down 40 percent, INDOT decided to move it up. Detours will be posted.
• COVID-19 and stimulus check scams are ramping up, unfortunately. The latest seems to be scammers creating text messages, e-mails and social media posts to pose as government agencies to get financial information like your bank account number, your Social Security number, and credit card information. If you get any of these, please report them immediately via e-mail at phishing@irs.gov. If you get your Social Security or tax refund payments directly deposited to your account, the Treasury already has your information and your economic impact payment (the IRS official term for the stimulus payment), will be deposited directly to your account.
Paula Nicewanger/Weekly View
• Feeling the blues? If you can, get out for a quick drive, walk, or bike ride along Ellenberger Park West Drive, where the Irvington Garden Club has planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs over the past few years. Gardeners are the most hopeful people — they know that spring always follows the harshest winters.