The Town of Hope has gone through a series of improvements over the past several years and they will be able to show those off starting tonight at the 49th annual Hope Heritage Days — the biggest event of the year for the town and one of Bartholomew County’s largest annual events, drawing 20,000 to 30,000 people.

Chuck Caldwell, one of the organizers of Hope Heritage Days, said upgrades around the square have meant a big difference for the event.

“Updating the power, it has allowed us to have quite a bit more power in the square, so the booths are not tripping circuits and stuff,” Caldwell said “We also have done the addition of the clock.”

“We have put in ground terracing for the bandstand. Which is really nice, it allows a stepped view for a little better view when you are watching.”

Town Manager J.T. Doane praised the work of volunteers in their efforts to spruce up the foliage around the town.

“Both of our Hope signs — the one on South (State Road) 9, Randy Paetzel and his family have just done a phenomenal job on that sign and getting it ready. The sign on the North 9, Jonna Shepherd was a huge part of getting that cleaned up. And of course Linda Cleland and Barry Anderson both were instrumental in getting some things planted around that and just maintaining our flowers around the square.”

Caldwell said the annual event draws 20,000 to 30,000 people, depending on the weather and this weekend’s weather should be perfect.

Events kick off tonight at 6 p.m. on the Town Square and run through Sunday. Fireworks are at 9:30 p.m. Saturday and the parade hits the bandstand at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

For a complete event schedule, go to hopeheritagedays.org

Seymour police are saying they had to use a Taser to subdue a suspect after breaking up a domestic dispute last night.

The incident happened at about 7:40 p.m. in the 100 block of Walnut Street. Officers on patrol noticed a violent domestic dispute. 24-year-old Alexander Garrard is suspected of battering a woman.

Garrard allegedly tried to run away as officers went to arrest him. Officer Devlin McMindes used a Taser to end the chase. Garrard is facing preliminary charges of domestic battery, and resisting law enforcement.

Daniel Messel was sentenced Thursday afternoon in a Brown County court to 80 years in prison for murdering IU student, Hannah Wilson.

WRTV Channel 6 is reporting that Messel was found guilty after Wilson’s body was found hours after she was reported missing, in the wooded area of Plum Creek in 2015. His cellphone was laying nearby and investigators found her blood, hair and DNA in Messel’s SUV.

The Brown County coroner confirmed Wilson died due to blunt force trauma to the head. They said she was struck three or four times in the back of head with an unknown object.

During Messel’s sentencing, the judge took into account his prior convictions and said he showed a pattern of criminal conduct and violence, said the report. He plans to appeal the sentence.

The Columbus Fire Department christened a new engine Thursday afternoon at Station 1. Fire Chief Mike Compton gives the details on this $522,000 purchase…

Compton says that getting it was a time-intensive task…

Mayor Jim Lienhoop says that this was 522-thousand-dollars that was well spent….

Chief Compton says that this new engine will replace the old Engine 1, which will now go into reserve service at Fire Station 2 at Columbus

Municipal Airport.

Thursday’s ceremony included the transfer of water from the former Engine 1 to the new engine, along with a “wet-down” of the new engine from the old.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a local woman in connection with a burglary.

Judy Jackson, department spokeswoman, says that on September 13, Captain Dave Steinkoenig and Detective Will Kinman were conducting

surveillance in the 4900 block of Georgetown Road. While outside the home, deputies heard movement in a wooded area near an outbuilding located on the property.

After seeing two men, Steinkoenig identified himself as law enforcement and ordered the pair to stop. Both men turned and allegedly fled. Following a short foot pursuit, both men were arrested. They were identified as Jeremy Kittle, 38, of Columbus, and Jeffrey Harris, 47, of Columbus. Jackson say that Kittle was carrying a large backpack that contained bolt cutters and pry bars.

Authorities say that further investigation revealed that Kittle had been involved in a recent burglary at the same residence for which he was charged with a level 5 Felony and a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Kittle and Harris were arrested on preliminary charges of Resisting Law Enforcement.

Investigators say that Thomas Brockman, 43, of Columbus, and Lee Ann Hoy, 27, of Columbus, as persons of interest in the prior burglary. Brockman is currently in the Bartholomew County Jail on non-related charges. Authorities are asking for your help in locating Hoy. She is described as a white female, five-feet three-inches tall and weighing 110 pounds. Hoy has brown hair, brown eyes and multiple tattoos.

If you have any information on Hoy’s whereabouts, you are asked to call Detective Will Kinman at (812) 565-5926 or the Sheriff’s Department Tip-Line at (812) 379-1712. You may also send an email to [email protected]. Authorities stress that you can leave any information you may have anonymously.

Hope Heritage Days is this weekend. Thousands of people are expected for music, crafts, activities, food and fireworks around the town square.

Chuck Caldwell with Heritage of Hope says events kick off on Friday at 6 p.m.

“All the vendors will be open and all the food booths inside the square,” Caldwell said. “We start off with entertainment on the bandstand at 6 p.m.”

Caldwell said all of the food booths in the Town Square are run by local not-for-profit groups and raise money for local causes.

“They are 501c3s and that is one of our requirements for that,” Caldwell said. “.For some of these organizations, Heritage Days is close to 100 percent of their budget for the year. It really supports the Hope Community Center, the Hope Community Church, FFA, Hauser athletics, cheerleading. It is basically, if you are (Hope) not-for-profit you are in the square working some time that weekend.”

Caldwell said many familiar activities will be available during the event.

“Of course, we have back the Dr. Hope Medicine Show, which will be Saturday,” Caldwell said. “It is kind of a trip back to the snake-oil salesman type thing. Then we have the Pioneer Village. It is going to be happening on Saturday and new htis year, they will be open for a time slot on Sunday.”

The featured act on Saturday night will be Sounds of Touch, performing Motown music from 8 to 9:30 p.m. But there will also be country, gospel and rock for people to enjoy over the weekend.

Fireworks are at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday after the Sounds of Touch performance. Caldwell said the fireworks will be a little different this year.

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The parade is scheduled to hit the bandstand at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information go to hopeheritagedays.org

Two people were seriously injured in a rollover crash yesterday morning in the 8000 block of Bartholomew County Road 475 South.

A pickup driven by 59-year-old Candy Francis of Elizabethtown was headed east when it ran off the side of the road and struck a utility pole at about 9:55 a.m., says Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department. The pole snapped off and the truck rolled over an unknown number of times. A passenger, 72-year-old William Francis, also of Elizabethtown, was partially pinned under the vehicle.

Both had to be rescued from the vehicle and were flown by helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital.

The crash remains under investigation and Jackson said authorities still don’t know exactly why the truck ran off the road.

The fourth annual Mill Race Marathon is Saturday in Columbus. Erica Tucker, a marketing director for the marathon, says that events kick off on Friday…

The Kids Fun Run, say organizers, is made up of various distances and is designed for children of all ages. On Saturday, Tucker says that the race kicks off at 7:30 a.m…

Organizers say that they are hoping for five-thousand runners between the marathon, half-marathon, 5K and Kids Fun Run. David Venable talks about whom some of these races are geared toward…

Tucker stresses that you don’t have to take part in the marathon to enjoy it…

The “Finish on Fourth” event also includes the giveaway of a pickup truck valued at 50-thousand dollars. That is scheduled to be awarded around 4 p.m. Saturday.

For more on this year’s Mill Race Marathon, visit www.MillRaceMarathon.com.

A Nashville woman died in a crash on Interstate 65 in Columbus Wednesday when the vehicle she was riding in was crushed between two semis.

47-year-old Melissa S. Morris died at about 12:05 p.m. when the pickup she was riding in was hit from behind by a tanker truck driven by 54-year-old Jon W. Harris of Crawsfordsville while traffic was stopped for a previous accident, says Sgt. Stephen Wheeles of the Indiana State Police. The collision forced the pickup under the trailer of a semi driven by 35-year-old Charledrix N. Green of Atlanta, Ga., which was also stopped for the previous accident.

The driver of the pickup, 52-year-old Randall F. Brown of Nashville and an unidentified female passenger were also trapped in the wreckage and had to be rescued by Columbus firefighters. The rescue took more than an hour and they both were flown by IU Lifeline helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Wheeles said they believe they know the uniidentified passenger in Brown’s truck but they are waiting for verification of her identity.

Morris was pronounced dead at the scene by the Bartholomew County Coroner’s office.

Green, Harris and a passenger in Green’s truck were taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Traffic in the area was already slowed by several previous accidents. At one point, Bartholomew County emergency dispatchers requested drivers to avoid southbound Interstate 65 through Columbus altogether while rescue crews were working at the scene. Wheeles said it took about four hours to clear the highway after the fatal accident.

Trooper. Matt Holley was assisted at the scene by numerous other troopers and motor carrier inspectors with the Indiana State Police, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Columbus Fire Department, Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office, Columbus Regional EMS, Lifeline Helicopter, and 31 Wrecker.

A planned development for affordable housing in Columbus that was first introduced last year is set to expand. The project, Bartholomews on Sycamore, encompasses the site of the former St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church, along with other parcels encompassing the Seventh Street to Eigth Street block of Sycamore Street. Nick Surak is with the Woda Group, a national developer of affordable housing…

Surak says that most of the units will be one-bedroom apartments. He adds that Columbus has a real need for affordable housing…

Surak also told the council that the increased number of units, along with the property being part of an Economic Development Revitalization Area, should “put the project over the top” in allowing it to obtain tax-credits from the state. Those credits, he explained, will make the project viable. If the project does commence, Surak says that those units will remain affordable housing, based on income requirements, for 30 years.

The Columbus City Council voted Tuesday night to approve the developer’s request to declare that site an Economic Revitalization Area.