Aisin USA Manufacturing, a Japanese-owned manufacturer of automotive parts, announced plans to expand its operations in Seymour, creating up to 100 new jobs by the end of 2018.

WBIW radio is reporting that the company will invest nearly $100-million to expand its manufacturing operations on Fourth Street. Aisin USA manufactures automotive components and systems, supplying parts for vehicle makers Honda, Chevrolet, Toyota and Lexus. WBIW reports that expansion work will begin later this year.

The report states that Aisin USA employs more than 1,700 at its Seymour facility and plans to begin hiring for new manufacturing positions in 2017. Interested applicants can apply by emailing a resume to [email protected] or by completing an application on-site.

WBIW says that the Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Aisin USA up to $500,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Seymour approved tax abatement for the first phase of the project earlier this week, says the report.

There is still time to get your name on the ballot for the Bartholomew Consolidated or Flat Rock-Hawcreek School board races in the November election.

Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps says you have until noon tomorrow to apply. You can pick up the documents you need at the voter registration office in the county courthouse. Phelps said you must have a completed petition with 10 signatures to get on the ballot.

Phelps said that the incumbents for the three open seats on the BCSC board have filed for re-election, as have most of the incumbents on the Flat Rock-Hawcreek board. There are also challengers in several of the BCSC races.

Ivy Tech students will be able to work toward their Six Sigma White Belt certification under a program from Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus.

Chris Schilling, spokesman for the school says that the white belt training gives students strategies for continuous improvement in quality assurance, problem solving, customer relations, project team work and waste elimination. The skills are used and are demand in industries such as healthcare and manufacturing.

Schilling said 16 students have enrolled in the Associate Accelerated Program this fall, where the white belt training is being conducted. Students in the Associate Accelerated Program can earn their associate’s degree in a year and take that on to a four-year college. After finishing the white-belt training, students can earn the white belt certification through testing.

For more information you can go to www.ivytech.edu

Hope United Methodist Church and Miller’s Merry Manor will be holding a health fair at the church on Saturday. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the church. It will feature more than 15 vendors providing health information.

Kristin Car, with Miller’s Merry Manor, explains:

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They will be having a drawing for a television set and those who give blood will receive extra entries in the drawing for the set. Pastor Warren Kirk explains the need:

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Kirk  also says that there will also be a presentation by a representative of the Indiana Attorney General’s office on how to avoid various scams.

A Bartholomew Consolidated Schools teacher has been chosen as a statewide recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science teaching.

Mike Spock, with Columbus North High School, was chosen for this year’s award says BCSC Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts. Roberts said Spock is one of three Indiana recipients.

Spock has taught mathematics, physics and computer science at North for 17 years. He currently teaches pre-calculus, advanced placement statistics, and advanced placement computer science to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

For more information, click here.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is announcing the recipients of the their Community Crossings Grants. Dave Hayward, Columbus City Engineer, talks about what the city received…

Specifically, Hayward says that money will cover 50-percent of the costs to improve the following areas…

Danny Hollander, Bartholomew County Highway Engineer, talks about what the county received…

Hayward and Hollander say that these awards are dollar-for-dollar grants covering 50-percent of the cost of the projects.

Two women were shot in rural Brown County Tuesday afternoon.

Network Indiana News is reporting that 30-year-old Joshua Asher, of Nashville, shot his ex-girlfriend and another woman at a house in the 1700 block of Lucas Hollow Road, east of Gnaw Bone, at about 4:15 p.m.

The report says that one of the victims was taken to IU Health in Indianapolis. The other woman went to Columbus Regional Hospital. They are both reported in stable condition.

Investigators say Asher was served a protective order the night before the alleged shooting.

Network Indiana is reporting that Asher surrendered to deputies. He faces two counts of Attempted Murder, Criminal Recklessness with a Deadly Weapon, Battery with Serious Bodily Injury, Domestic Battery and Invasion of Privacy.

A Jennings County resident was arrested early Tuesday morning on a number of charges.

The North Vernon Police Department says that officers responded to an active alarm in the area of North State Street at 3:58 a.m. When they arrived, officers reported seeing Mica Manning, 41, of North Vernon, fleeing the scene. The NVPD says that Manning was arrested on preliminary charges of Resisting Law Enforcement by Fleeing, Theft, Burglary, Criminal Mischief, Disorderly Conduct and Possession of Paraphernalia. In addition to these charges, police say that Manning was also wanted on a pair of warrants.

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that there were 10 overdoses between 6 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. last night and one person has died after being treated with Narcan.

Lt. Mike Mowery, spokesman for the sheriff’s department, says that nine people were treated with Narcan, a drug that counteracts the effects of opiate overdoses. A 52-year-old North Vernon woman was found unresponsive and not breathing. Deputies administered the drug and performed CPR, but she was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Jennings Hospital.

Mowery said that the exact cause of that woman’s death has not yet been confirmed.

Mowery said there two drug overdoses in Center Township, two overdoses in Geneva Township and five in Spencer Township.

Deputies made several arrests including:

• Jarvie Williams III, 23, of North Vernon, faces preliminary charges of possession of a controlled substance, a syringe and drug paraphernalia along with a Jennings County warrant.:
• Damon Clark, 25, of North Vernon faces preliminary charges of possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.
• Caleb Barton, 18, of North Vernon faces a preliminary charge of possession of a controlled substance. :
• Devin R. Fear, 21, of North Vernon faces a preliminary charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Mowery also said that a 16-year-old male, a 16-year-old female and a 17-year-old male were administered Narcan by Jennings County Deputies and Rescue 20. They were transported to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital and later released.

Mowery said that almost all of the overdose cases involved heroin and/or fentanyl. A similar outbreak happened overnight in Seymour and in Cincinnati, according to news reports.

Authorities are warning of a bad batch of heroin that has led to many overdoses overnight in Seymour, Jennings County and as far as Cincinnati.

Indiana State Police, Seymour police and Jennings County deputies are dealing with a rash of bad heroin that has led to at least 12 overdoses overnight and at least one death, police report. Trooper Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the Indiana State Police says that the extent of the situation is still unclear.

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Fentanyl is a powerul opiate pain killer. Many people have been found unconscious and barely breathing after taking the drug, Wheeles said.

Wheeles said there have been four arrests in Jennings County overnight related to the situation, but there are no further details on those arrests. Seymour police report arresting 34 year old Seymour resident Michael Purvis on drug-dealing charges overnight due to investigations into the overdoses.

On the Seymour Police Department’s Facebook page, the agency is reporting that officers have had to use Narcan several times overnight to combat the effects of overdoses and multiple men and women thave been taken to Schneck Medical Center for evaluation.

Authorities are still searching for the source of the bad heroin, police say.