The town of Hope has substantially completed a major upgrade to its water system.

Town Manager J.T. Doane says that with the $2 million project done there should be money left over for other projects. The project was funded by grants and a state low-interest loan program that will forgive much of the loan.

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The work replaced more than two and a half miles of water mains in the town. Some of those had been in the ground for 80 years or more and leaks were wasting up to 45 percent of the town’s water.

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The project has been going for almost a year, Doane said.

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Doane said that there is still work to be done on a connection to Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. along County Road 600N. Eastern Bartholomew provides the town its water supply.

Current and former Bartholomew County officials are facing a federal lawsuit over the handling of the investigation into Cary Owsley’s 2013 shooting death.

Bartholomew County Coroner Larry Fisher opted not to have an autopsy performed and ruled the death a suicide. However family members disagreed and Owsley’s body was eventually exhumed and autopsied. Several sheriff’s deputies were disciplined for the way the crime scene was handled.

This year, Fisher has elected not to seek re-election and two new candidates are seeking the coroner’s office, Republican Clayton Nolting, who is a current deputy coroner and Columbus police officer, and Paula Rothrock a case manager for Columbus Regional Hospital emergency department and former Columbus Police officer.

We asked the candidates “The county coroner’s office has been drawn into controversy and a federal lawsuit by the death of Cary Owsley and how that death investigation was handled. What policies would prevent that sort of issue going forward?”

Rothrock said:

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Nolting said:

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Nolting’s primary opponent, Ron Shadley, recently endorsed Rothrock saying that he thought there should be  a separation between law enforcement and the coroner’s office. We asked the candidates:

• Ron Shadley brought up a question about whether it is a conflict of interest for law enforcement officers to also be a county coroner? How do you address those concerns or are they even valid?

Rothrock said:

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Nolting said:

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Purdue Polytechnic is going to be holding a “Day in College” event at the Columbus campus for students interested in engineering and technology careers and for their parents.

The event will be from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4th at the school on 4444 Kelly Str.

Students will be able to meet with professors and students in classes, and get demonstrations of technology used in the classrooms such as virtual reality and robotics. They will also be able to meet with area businesses offering internships and careers in engineering and technology fields.

You can find more information and register online at polytechnic.purdue.edu/columbus/dayincollege.

Bartholomew County officials believe they have arrested a man who has been bringing heroin into the community from Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

The county’s joint narcotics enforcement team, arrested 25-year-old Ryan S. Redmon of Columbus and 27-year-old Chelsie D. McFall of Elizabethtown in a traffic stop on Indianapolis Road at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus police department says that Redmon was wanted on a Bartholomew County warrant for allegedly dealing narcotics. McFall was driving the vehicle when it was stopped and she was allegedly intoxicated.

Redmon was arrested on the outstanding warrant and is facing new preliminary charges of possession of methamphetamine and of a legend drug injection device.

McFall is facing preliminary charges of driving a vehicle while intoxicated, possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a legend drug injection device.

Harris said the investigation into drug trafficking into Bartholomew County is still continuing.

The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is a combined effort of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office.

A large group of area school superintendents are protesting the results of the ISTEP exam.

Superintendents from District 8 in southeastern Indiana sent a letter to state lawmakers and the State Board of Education this week taking issue with the accuracy of the tests and the school grades that would come out of the test scores.

The school superintendents said that while they believe in accountability, they think that the schools should be graded on more than just a single flawed test score. They asked state officials not to put letter grades on their schools based on the flawed exam.

Among the school superintendents signing the letter are school leaders from Flat Rock-Hawcreek, Decatur, Jennings, Brown county schools, as well as Seymour, Crothersville, Brownstown and Greensburg school districts.

You can read the letter here.

Bartholomew County voters will be choosing from seven candidates for the three at-large seats on the County Council in next month’s election.

Incumbent Republicans Bill Lentz and Evelyn Pence are facing fellow Republican Matt Miller, along with Democrats Pam Clark, Lynne Fleming and Diane Hawes plus Libertarian candidate Josh Brown.

We asked the candidates if they would support any new taxes:

• Some current County Council members say the county needs more revenue. How do you feel about raising income taxes, instituting a wheel tax or the commissioners creating a community capital development fund?

Brown said he supported a diversity of taxes to better spread the burden. But raising taxes wouldn’t be his first choice.

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Clark said that most counties in Indiana have instituted a wheel tax.

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Fleming said that there will have to be new taxes.

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Hawes said that she would support an income tax before a property tax hike

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Lentz said that he does not support raising taxes

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Miller said that ultimately the decision will be up to the taxpayers

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Pence said she would prefer greater efficiency and savings, rather than more taxes

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A planned low-income housing development at the site of the former St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in downtown Columbus has cleared another hurdle after the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals agreed to a number of variances. Nick Surak is with the WODA Group, the developer of the proposed project…

Surak says that the development calls for 60 units in three buildings, with 42 one-bedroom units and 18 two-bedroom units. He explains this will reduce the need for on-site parking spaces…

Surak talks about the expected tenants…

The BZA agreed to the variances during its meeting Tuesday night. They include: building setbacks from the street, a reduced number of parking spaces and an entrance to the development.

As for the next step, Surak says that he must file applications with the state for the development to receive the necessary tax credit to make this project economically feasible. He says that these applications must be filed by November 7th with a response coming in the next few months. Surak says that while he can’t guarantee that this project will get the tax credits needed, he told the BZA, “I feel good about it.”

Officials in North Vernon will need to make a decision soon on what to do about the city’s aging pool. Chad Speer, the city’s parks director, explained to the city council this week what was found with pool’s liner…

Speer says the cost of a new liner would be around $30,000. However, that may not be the answer, due to the condition of the concrete underneath…

The city pool has been at Shields Park for over 50 years, said Speer. He noted that a new pool and bath house would cost around $2 million.

Council members agreed to study the issue.

The Indiana Department of Transportation met with its contractor on Monday to discuss the bridge replacement project on State Road 250, just west of Uniontown in Jennings County.

INDOT says that Dave O’Mara contractors will be removing and replacing the bridge at Crooked Creek in Marion Township. A 24-foot, three-sided concrete box culvert with wing-walls is set to be installed sometime after May 1st. This will require closing State Road 250 for 45 days.

INDOT says that crews are expected to be onsite in March to stake and clear. The total cost of the project is listed at $542,408.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is asking for your help finding it’s most-wanted fugitive this week.

Judy Jackson, department spokeswoman, says that deputies are searching for 23-year-old Anthony Michael Brown, of Columbus. She says that his last known address was in the 2000 block of Newton Street. Brown is described as a white male, standing 5’6″ tall and weighing 125 pounds. Authorities add that he has multiple tattoos.

If you have any information on Brown’s whereabouts, you are asked to contact Capt. Dave Steinkoenig at (812) 565-5940. You may also use the Sheriff’s Department Tip Line at (812) 379-1712 or email [email protected]. Authorities stress that tips and information can be left anonymously.