The Yellow Trail Museum in Hope is expanding its section on military veterans and their service.

Erin Anderson, a member of the museum board, is organizing the new section and is hoping for donations or loans of more modern military gear.

Anderson said that they have artifacts from the Civil War and both World Wars, but more recent wars and peacetime service are missing from their displays.

Anderson said she has the Desert Storm era largely covered, because of her father’s service.

The museum would also like to hear stories from the veterans about their service. The new military exhibit is scheduled to open in the fall and be up for six to eight months. You can drop off military artifacts starting on August. 1st.

To make a donation or to get more information, you can contact the museum at 812-546-8020. The museum is also available on the web or on Facebook.

Congressman Luke Messer, a Republican representing Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District, is set to formally announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Messer’s campaign announced Wednesday that the announcement will come during a family barbecue next month.

“The Senate has struggled in recent weeks, and Hoosiers are tired of it. We need a proven conservative leader in the U.S. Senate to work alongside Senator Todd Young and get things done,” says Messer Statewide Finance Chairman Greg Pence.

Messer will campaign to replace incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly. The Republican National Committee has identified Donnelly as a vulnerable candidate and is expected to pour money into the state in an effort to expand the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Messer is set to make his candidacy official on Aug. 12th at 1 p.m.

The Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corp. has announced a boil water advisory for a number of its customers. The utility says that a contractor cut into a water main on Georgetown Road Wednesday afternoon, which left customers in the area of Baker Hollow Road and Georgetown Road, including those on County Roads 850 West, 700 West and 600 West, without water. The same customers are under a boil water advisory until noon on Saturday.

Utility officials say that these customers should bring water to a full boil for five minutes before consumption or use in cooking and food preparation.

Customers with questions should call the Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corp. at (812) 342-4421.

Columbus police are accusing a woman of driving while she was intoxicated in an accident yesterday afternoon that injured a motorcyclist and passenger.

39-year-old Elizabeth A. Blair of Columbus was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury in the crash at about 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon at the intersection of 25th Street and Wedgewood Drive.

Blair was driving a pickup truck eastbound on 2th Street and was attempting to turn north onto Wedgewood Drive when she struck the motorcycle driven by 60-year-old Jeffrey Welker of Anderson with 56-year-old Jennifer Welker as a passenger on the bike.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the city police, says that Blair showed signs of impairment at the scene. She was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital with minor injuries before being arrested.

Jeffrey Welker was flown by Lifeline helicopter to IU Methodist Hospital with arm and leg fractures. Jennifer Welker was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for her injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

The Indiana Department of Transportation will be taking U.S. 31 down to a single lane in each direction between Washington and Market Streets in Columbus for up two months.

That work will start as soon as Friday, weather permitting.

INDOT says that contractors will be putting a new deck on the bridge over the Flat Rock River on the northwest side of the city. This is a quarter of a million dollar project with RAM Construction as the main contractor. The state says the new bridge surface material will allow for better maneuverability and stopping distances, as well as sealing the bridge surface so it lasts longer.

The completion date of the project is September 29th.

Main Source Financial Group is merging with First Financial Bancorp and the new company, to be called First Financial Bank, will be moving its headquarters to Cincinnati. The companies made the announcement yesterday.

The merger will create a $13 billion dollar institution and it will be the sixth largest bank operating in Indiana and the fourth biggest in the Cincinnati area. The transaction is expected to close early next year and has to be approved by shareholders of both companies.

As part of the merger, the companies have announced a new community development plan for Greensburg, where Main Source has been based. That includes a commitment of 100 jobs and $1 million in community support over the next five years.

Click for more on the merger.

Bartholomew County deputies averted a train-car collision Tuesday night after an allegedly drunk driver got their car stuck on the railroad tracks near Taylorsville.

The incident happened at almost 10:30 p.m. that night when the car slid sideways off of the tracks and was stuck near County Road 550N and U.S. 31. That was with a southbound train on the way.

Authorities say that they got the train stopped by contacting the railroad. That was in time to avoid the crash and the vehicle was removed.

But the driver, 39-year-old Jennifer P. Grimes of Franklin, was allegedly driving under the influence. She tested at .166 percent blood alcohol content, deputies report, and was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a motor vehicle under the influence.

Cummins announced Tuesday that it will be unifying its brand strategy across its Power Systems business. The portfolio has featured the Cummins, Cummins Power Generation and Cummins Onan brands. Company officials say that, effective immediately, the branding will be consolidated under the Cummins brand. The Cummins Power Generation and Cummins Onan brands will be retired and the Onan name will be “repositioned as a generator product line under the newly unified Cummins brand in the RV market.” Cummins says that it will also be permanently changing all “Fun Roads” branding to Cummins RV, retiring the Fun Roads brand.

“Looking to unify Cummins into one cohesive, unified brand, we decided that consolidating both products (engines and generators) into the Cummins RV family only strengthens the brand and more uniformly speaks to our manufacturers and consumers,” said company executive Jodie Wilson. “The brand changing will not affect product or service offerings, but will help us to continue on our promise of delivering dependability across the globe.”

While rebranding on all marketing activities began Tuesday, Cummins says that product branding changes across all manufacturing plants will be implemented this month.

A Columbus man was arrested on drug charges early Tuesday morning after police allegedly found methamphetamine in his clothes. Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman, says that at approximately 12:30 a.m., Officer Drake Maddix stopped a vehicle near Ninth and Pearl streets. He says that none of the three people inside the vehicle had a valid driver’s license. Harris says that a CPD canine responded to the scene and detected the odor of narcotics inside the vehicle. Officers later found a jacket that contained a small amount of methamphetamine inside the vehicle where 29-year-old Justin D. Jacobs had been sitting. Jacobs was arrested and upon arriving at the jail, Bartholomew County corrections officers reported finding more meth that Jacobs had concealed in one of his socks.

Jacobs is facing preliminary charges of Trafficking with an Inmate and Possession of Methamphetamine, both felonies.

False informing charges have been filed against an Indianapolis woman after she allegedly told Bartholomew County authorities that she was raped under a highway overpass by an ex-boyfriend who was also an out-of-state police officer who was wanted for murder.

Deputies could find no evidence of the crime and found out that the woman allegedly made the same accusations at communities across the state including Bedford, Bloomington and Indianapolis.

According to reports from the sheriff’s department, the local incident started at about 11:35 p.m. the night of June 11th when 29-year-old Tiffany McGinnis went into a gas station and reported the alleged rape. She said it has happened under the Interstate 65 and U.S. 31 overpass. Deputies searched the area extensively and couldn’t find a suspect or any evidence.

McGinnis was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for an evaluation.

Deputies continued their investigation and discovered McGinnis has previously been charged with false informing in Morgan and Lawrence counties after making similar accusations, deputies say.

Based on the information provided by McGinnis, local deputies also could not find an identity for the suspect.

After another interview with McGinnis, she allegedly admitted the story was false, deputies report. She is being charged with false informing, a Class A misdemeanor.