Bartholomew County government offices including the county governmental office building, the solid waste management district offices and the sheriff’s department’s administrative offices will be closed today and Monday for the holiday.

The Bartholomew County Recycling Center and the county landfill will be open from 7:30 to 4:30 today. The recycling center will close Saturday but the county landfill will be open Saturday from 7:30 to 1. Both locations will be closed Monday.

As for the city of Columbus, City Hall is closed today and Monday. Columbus City Utilities are also closed today and Monday, but if you have an emergency with your water or sewer service you can call 812-372-8861 and follow the prompts.

Seymour city offices are closed today and Monday also. If you normally have your trash picked up on Monday, it will be picked up on Tuesday next week.

A Seymour High School student who threatened and planned to shoot students at the school, was properly declared a delinquent, even though part of the evidence came from Facebook postings.

That’s from an opinion upheld yesterday by the Indiana Court of Appeals and first reported by TheIndianaLawyer.com.

The incident began in January when the student was overheard discussing plans to shoot a number of people at the school on April 20, noting the anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School. The student also was heard talking about how he had an accomplice in this would-be shooting. Another student overheard the conversation and informed school officials, leading to an investigation.

During a hearing in May, prosecutors sought to admit Facebook conversations into evidence. The student objected, arguing that the conversations were not properly authenticated and contained inadmissible hearsay. Those social media conversations were ultimately admitted into evidence. According to court documents, after the end of the hearing, the student admitted to one incident of Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Battery as a minor.

The student later appealed, claiming that the Facebook conversations should not have been accepted as evidence.

On Thursday, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the lower court ruling, stating that the Facebook conversations could be used as evidence.

For the second year in a row, members of the Jennings County Color Guard purchased toys for children at Schneck Medical Center who are

hospitalized over the holidays. Stephanie Furlow, Schneck’s director of marketing, says that dozens of toys were delivered to the Pediatrics Unit earlier this week by Color Guard coaches Seth and Cathy Hulse.

The Jennings County Color Guard began in 2003 as an extracurricular group and continues to function independently. Members of the Color Guard are responsible for raising their own money, through fundraisers and donations, to participate in the group. Furlow says that, this year, the Color Guard raised money to purchase gifts for children they did not even know.

A number of Nashville Utilities customers are under a Boil Order through Friday. The utility has issued the order for customers in the following areas:

10 Artist Drive to 625 Artist Drive
310 Redbud Drive to 333 Redbud Drive
335 Wells Drive to 455 Wells Drive
400 West Drive to 444 West Drive
575 Oak Run Drive to 720 Oak Run Drive

Nashville Utilities says that these customers should boil all cooking and drinking water until 4 p.m. Friday. Customers with questions should call their office at (812) 988-5526.

North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs has announced that a local business person and another benefactor have contributed $25,000 each to the Jennings County United Way. The mayor says that the $50,000 will go towards the rebuilding of the “Farmers Market” shelter house at the North Vernon City Park. He says that the gifts were made anonymously through a local attorney that transferred the money to the local United Way office.

Mayor Ochs says that when the attorney was asked why the large contributions were made, the response was that the two persons “wished to anonymously indicate their pleasure with the recent advances of the city of North Vernon.”

Bartholomew County government offices including the county governmental office building, the solid waste management district offices and the sheriff’s department’s administrative offices will be closed Friday and Monday for the holiday.

The Bartholomew County Recycling Center on Mapleton will be open from 7:30 to 4:30 Friday and closed Saturday. The county landfill will be open from 7:30 to 4:30 Friday and from 7:30 to 1 on Saturday. The recycling center and landfill will be closed Monday.

Gov. Mike Pence released his 2016 Christmas message to Hoosiers this morning.

Pence, a Columbus native who will soon be leaving office to take on the role of vice-president, said:

Many Hoosiers across Indiana will be celebrating Christmas with their own special and time-honored traditions, sharing with one another not only material gifts but also the rich blessings of family, faith and friendship.

During this season of giving, let us also remember the reasons we celebrate by finding ways to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. Donating to a food bank or volunteering time to a charitable cause are just some of the ways we all might better fulfill the true meaning of the holidays.

Many of you already are pouring your hearts into these very acts of compassion. I have seen firsthand the amazing generosity of Hoosiers. During this special time of the year, let’s make a renewed effort to share the joy of this season with those most in need.

As you spend time with family and friends during the holidays, let us also pray for those serving in our Armed Forces and their families, for our police officers and firefighters, and all those faithfully standing post this holiday season to defend our liberties and keep us safe.

Karen and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

May God continue to bless you.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers who cover our area have a new leader.

The department reports that long-time spokesman Angela Goldman has been promoted to lieutenant and appointed commander of District 6 of the conservation officers.

Goldman is a Shelby County native, who grew up in Fairland and graduated from Triton High School and Purdue University. She began her career in law enforcement in 1998 and has been assigned to Allen, Marion and Monroe counties.

In addition to serving as public information officer, she has also served as boat accident investigator and field training officer.

A Seymour photography studio is hoping to help a police officer and his family recover priceless memories lost when the family’s home burned down Sunday morning. The home of Gilbert and Amy Carpenter was a total loss including irreplaceable photos and other memories.

But Sharayah Cornwell Photography is organizing a community effort to rebuild some of those heirlooms. The photo studio is asking if anyone has photos of Gilbert, Amy or their children Zack and Haley, to get those to the studio on Chestnut Street.

Cornwell said she saw others in the community doing so much for the family, such as donating clothing. So she wanted to help by doing her part.

Cornwell is the wife of a Seymour police officer who has started a Go Fund Me page to help the Carpenter family. As of this morning, it has raised more than $11 thousand dollars.  You can find more information here.

There are other efforts underway to raise money and household items for the family of the city’s DARE officer.

• Celebrations will be having an event tonight, Dec. 22nd, with live bands starting at 7 p.m. and a silent auction. Tickets start at $6 or you can reserve a table for $20. Doors will open at 6 p.m.  If you would like to donate something for the auction you can text 812-569-0287 for drop off details.
• On Monday Dec.  26th, Pizza Palace will donate a percentage of all sales that day to the family.

Residents of Hope who plan on having garage or yard sales next spring should be aware of proposed changes to a sign ordinance. JT Doane is the town manager…

Doane explains that, under the proposed change, signs posted advertising yard or garage sales would need to be removed within 24 hours after the sale ends. Failure to do so would result in a daily fine, per sign. Doane says that a big reason for the ordinance change is to eliminate clutter around the town.

The Hope Town Council is scheduled to consider final approval of the change at its January meeting. That meeting has not yet been scheduled.