Monthly Archives: October 2017

Sheriff’s Department continues food drive

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is asking for your help to feed the hungry in our area. Tammy Johnson is the coordinator for the “Pack a Patrol Car” food drive. She says that Sheriff Matt Myers will be at Kroger on Saturday to accept your donation.

Johnson says that donation boxes for canned goods will be at the store Friday through Sunday. There are other ways you can donate.

Johnson says that this food drive includes a “Sheriff for a Day” contest for the person who donates the most.

Donations for this contest must be delivered to the jail during normal business hours, Monday through Friday.

Property tax bills due Nov. 13th

Property tax bills are due in less than two weeks and the Bartholomew County Treasurer’s Office wants you to be aware of your payment options. Pia O’Connor, county treasurer, says that the fall installment of 2017 property tax bills are due Monday, Nov. 13th. She says that the following payment options are available:

• Mail — Send remittance to Bartholomew County Treasurer’s office, PO Box 1986, Columbus, IN 47202. Must be post marked by the due date.
• Banks – must have statement – Centra Credit Union, First Financial Bank, Jackson County Bank, MainSource Bank or Salin Bank.
• 24-hour drop box — Third Street side of Governmental Office Building, 440 Third St. Envelopes provided. Include copy of statement, parcel number or address.
• In person — Treasurer’s office during business hours, 8-5 Monday – Friday. The Treasurer’s office will be closed on November 10th in observance of Veteran’s Day
• Credit card — Instructions on back of statement or bartholomew.in.gov. Credit card companies will assess a fee.

A five-percent penalty will apply for any payments as many as 30 days late, after December 10th, a 10-percent penalty will apply. In addition, O’Connor says that the County Treasurer’s office will be closed on Friday, November 10th in observance of Veteran’s Day.

For more information, visit bartholomew.in.gov or call (812) 379-1530.

Officer pulls driver from flaming wreckage

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Correction: A previous version of this story had the order of the accident incorrect due to an error from the sheriff’s department. We apologize for the error.

An off-duty law enforcement officer pulled a man from the wreckage of a burning vehicle in Bartholomew County last night.

The sheriff’s department is reporting that a car was on fire, with the driver trapped inside, at U.S. 31 and Marketplace Drive at about 9 p.m. last night after a crash. The driver, identified as 40-year-old Jeremy Osborne was flown by Lifeline helicopter to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis in critical condition.

The unidentified officer and a tow truck driver came upon the wreckage and while the tow truck driver extinguished the fire, the officer pulled Osborne from the vehicle, says Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department.

Bruce Beadle of Benton, Ill., was driving southbound on U.S. 31 in an SUV when he was hit from behind by Osborne’s vehicle. Beadle was not injured in the crash.

The accident remains under investigation.

Cummins improves forecast for year-end revenue

Cummins is forecasting that it will  do better than expected this year, based on results from the recently-completed third quarter.

The company reported this morning that it expects full-year revenues to be up 14 to 15 percent over last year. That’s an improvement over earlier revenue forecasts of only 9 to 11 percent growth.

The company had third quarter revenues of $5.3 billion. That is up 26 percent from the third quarter last year. The company reported in its filing with the SEC that North American revenues were up 25 percent due to increased demand in the truck, oil, gas and construction markets. International demand also grew 28 percent with truck and construction demand in China and new products being sold in India.

Income for the third quarter was $453 million, compared to last year’s $289 million in the third quarter. And earnings were $640 million, an increase over last year’s $398 million. That is about 12.1 percent of sales.

In a statement, Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger. said the company has returned $913 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases since the start of the year.

Lucas hails committee move on constitutional carry

The third hearing at the Statehouse to debate making Indiana a “constitutional carry” state was held Monday morning by a study committee. That committee voted to call on legislators to “remove all hurdles” to gun ownership, but did not specifically mention how. State Rep. Jim Lucas, a Seymour Republican who also represents southern Bartholomew County, is championing the move. He says that a number of misconceptions about constitutional carry have been bandied about. Lucas took aim at the media.

We asked if we could expect any legislative action in the upcoming session.

The recommendation passed on a party-line vote, with Democrats voting “no.”

Lucas released the following statement:

“I believe it’s wrong to require a license to exercise a Constitutional right. I plan to introduce Second Amendment legislation known as Constitutional Carry that would eliminate this cumbersome and expensive burden on innocent, law-abiding Hoosiers. The only people who would be affected by this would be those innocent people that currently have to fill out lengthy forms online, take time off work to get fingerprinted and pay a fee of up to $140 to get a card to prove their innocence — all to receive a license. I look forward to this upcoming session where I can bring this piece of legislation to the House of Representatives to consider as I work to give the people of Indiana the ‘right to bear arms for defense of themselves and the state.’”

Operation nabs 18 in Jackson and Jennings counties

Eighteen people were arrested last week as part of a joint operation between North Vernon Police, the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, officers from Jennings Superior and Circuit Probation Offices, agents from Indiana State Parole and officers from Jackson / Jennings Community Corrections. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, spokesman for the North Vernon Police Department, says the operation conducted multiple compliance checks for persons on probation, parole and supervised release.

Authorities say these arrests ranged from outstanding warrants, driving while suspended, possession of controlled substances and/or paraphernalia and cultivating marijuana.

Three arrested after Saturday morning stop for reckless driving

Samantha Wilson. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

Columbus police arrested three people on drug charges after a traffic stop Saturday morning on State Road 11.

Officers were following up on a reported reckless driver at about 9:40 that morning and pulled over the suspect vehicle. The occupants seemed extremely nervous and the officer could see that a backseat passenger, 23-year-old Samantha A. Wilson had two syringes, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus police. She was arrested on prelminary charges of possession of a drug injection device.

Trenton Dilk. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

A search of the vehicle revealed a large amount of drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine, Harris says

The driver, 54-year-old Mark Hadley of Columbus is being accused of possession of methamphetamine while a passenger, 24-year-old Trenton M. Dilk of Nashville is facing preliminary charges of dealing and possession of meth along with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mark Hadley. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

Man accused of shoving, taking meds from pregnant girlfriend

Logan J. Wolfe. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department

An Edinburgh man was arrested over the weekend, accused of stealing medicine from his pregnant girlfriend and pushing her to the ground during an argument.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department was called to the 13500 thousand block of North U.S. 31 and were told by the alleged victim about the incident with her boyfriend, 29 year old Logan Wolfe of Edinburgh. The victim was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for treatment.

Wolfe had also gone to the emergency room for his injuries. He was treated and then arrested on preliminary charges of battery on a pregnant woman and theft of medication.

Seymour driver arrested after flipping vehicle in chase

Photo courtesy of Seymour Police Department.

A driver rolled his vehicle in Seymour early Saturday morning while trying to flee from police.

The Seymour Police Department is reporting that an officer tried to stop a vehicle near East Tipton Street and the interstate at about 4:15 a.m. Saturday morning, but after stopping long enough for the officer to get out of his car, the driver allegedly took off.

Police ended up putting down tire deflation devices, with the vehicle eventually crashing near the 100 block of East Oak Street, where the driver, 20-year-old Cody Hurley, rolled the vehicle near the railroad tracks. Hurley allegedly tried to run away before being arrested the 100 block of West Laurel Street.

Hurley is facing preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement on foot and with a vehicle, never being licensed to drive, reckless driving and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.

Deputies seeking leads in crash with patrol car

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Bartholomew County deputies are looking for a driver who crashed into a patrol car and then fled the scene.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the sheriff’s department, the crash happened early Friday morning seriously damaging a patrol car being driven by Sgt. T.A. Smith. Smith was not injured. The vehicle that hit the patrol car was found a short while later after it had been abandoned.