A Fishers man died and a child was seriously injured in a crash of an off-road vehicle in Brown County Saturday morning

Indiana Conservation officers report that 38-year-old Joseph Fenton was driving the off road vehicle at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning in the 3000 block of Marlett Rd in Nashville. He veered off the gravel road, flipping the vehicle several times before it landed on its side.

Fenton and the child were thrown from the vehicle and found by a family member. Fenton was pronounced dead at the scene. The child was flown by helicopter to Riley Hospital for Children with a head wound.

The investigation shows that no safety equipment was being worn by Fenton or the child, according to conservation officers.

Local trick-or-treaters will be out tomorrow night and authorities are asking you to be careful as you drive on Halloween.

Trick or treating in Columbus, Taylorsville and Elizabethtown will be from 5 to 7:30 pm., in Hope, Seymour, Shelbyville and in Edinburgh from 6 to 8 p.m. and from 5 to 8 p.m. in North Vernon.

Sheriff Matt Myers says that you should only trick-or-treat during the listed hours and only visit homes with porch lights on.

He is also suggesting that you know which houses your children should avoid when trick-or-treating. You can search for the  homes of registered sex offenders at www.icrimewatch.net/indiana.php to research neighborhoods and addresses. Register to receive e-mail notifications on registered sex offenders within proximity of these addresses.

Should you see any inaccurate information on the registry, you can contact contact Tammy Johnson, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Sex Offender Coordinator at 812-565-5934 or [email protected]

Hours for other area communities include:

• Bedford 6-9 p.m.
• Bloomington 5:30-8:30 p.m.
• Franklin 5:30-8:30 p.m.
• Greensburg: 5–8 p.m.
• Greenwood 6-8:30 p.m.
• Martinsville 6-8 p.m.
• Nashville 6-9 p.m.
• New Whiteland 6-8 p.m.

A water leak in the 4300 block of State Road 46 West has resulted in a Boil Order for a number of customers of Nashville Utilities. This includes:

3272 State Road 46 West to 4440 State Road 46 West;

3484 Hickory Hill Drive to 3772 Hickory Hill Drive;

4023 Yellowwood Road to 4995 Yellowwood Road;

3465 Somerset Lake Road to 4292 Somerset Lake Road;

3599 Cardinal Drive to 3749 Cardinal Drive;

3505 Mockingbird Lane to 3609 Mockingbird Lane;

2095 Bambi Lane to 3463 Bambi Lane;

86 & 772 Yellowwood Lake Road

1399 Jackson Creek Road

Residents and businesses in these areas should boil all cooking and drinking water through 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Customers with questions should call Nashville Utilities at (812) 988-5526.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that 111 Indiana law-enforcement agencies will be awarded a total of $377,409 to help purchase ballistic or stab-resistant body armor.

“According to the National Institute of Justice, ballistic body armor has saved more than 3,000 police officers’ lives during the past three decades,” said Dave Murtaugh, executive director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. “The ICJI recognizes local agencies that met the requirements for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership matching grants and applied directly with the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.”

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership gave funding priority to cities, towns and counties with less than 100,000 residents. The 50-50 matching funds reimburse the purchase of NIJ-compliant vests that are made in the United States and ordered after April 1, 2017. The local agencies must request reimbursement before Aug. 31, 2019.

Area agencies receiving grants are:

City of Columbus – $2,445.83
Town of Edinburgh  – $4,360.50
City of Franklin  – $15,315.84
City of Seymour  – $8,331.77
Town of New Whiteland  – $3,517.20
City of Greenwood  – $3,108.66
Shelby County  – $1,916.73
Scott County  – $1,274.61
Town of Brownstown  – $1,201.94
City of North Vernon  – $788.26
City of Greensburg  – $688.83

Columbus Firefighters responded to a building fire Friday morning in the 1300 Block of Pearl Street shortly after 6:30 a.m. Capt. Mike Wilson, CFD spokesman, says that a resident in the area told investigators that she heard a loud “boom” outside the residence.

Wilson says that firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes to find flames coming through the roof of the unoccupied structure. Flames damaged an overhead power line that supplied electrical service to home in the 1300 block of Pearl Street. Wilson say the intense heat from the fire melted vinyl siding at 722 13th Street, located across the alley. A wooden privacy fence at 1311 Pearl Street was also damaged. The fire was marked under control at 6:48 a.m. Damage to the building was estimated at $22,000.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Puccini’s restaurant in the Commons will continue operating under a new name after action taken by the Columbus Redevelopment Commission to reassign the lease to a different company.

Our news-gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that the commission amended Puccini’s lease Thursday to allow it be assigned to Paul Heilbrunn, who operates two Bucceto’s Smiling Teeth restaurants in Bloomington.

The commission also approved six months free rent for the new restaurant and decreased Bucceto’s rental payments from $16 per square foot that Puccini’s is paying to $11 per square foot.

The paper says that the $11 rate is the same as what was offered to Luciana’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, which opened in the largest restaurant space in the Commons in September.

No time-frame was set for the official takeover of the restaurant, pending finalizing the lease terms.

For more on this story, visit therepublic.com.

A Thursday night police chase ended with one man behind bars. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 7:15 p.m., Officer Wesley Dodge responded to the area of 17th Street and Midway Street in regards to a report of a possible intoxicated driver. Dodge spotted the vehicle a short time later, however, the driver, 37-year-old Matthew D. Richardson, of Columbus, allegedly refused to pull over. Police say that Richardson sped across the parking lot at Columbus Regional Hospital at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, crashed into a chain length gate and eventually fled on foot after ditching his vehicle in the backyard of a home in the 2600 block of 22nd Street.

Harris says that three Columbus police department canines and their handlers were training nearby and joined in the search for Richardson. A short time later, Officer Branch Schrader and his canine partner, Argo, located Richardson lying down in a wooded area near Lincoln Park. Harris says that Argo assisted with the apprehension of Richardson after he refused to show his hands and come out to the officers. Suspecting that Richardson was under the influence, officers transported him to CRH for a blood draw and for treatment for a dog bite. While searching Richardson’s vehicle, officers reported finding drug paraphernalia and a scale.

After being discharged from the hospital, Richardson was booked in the Bartholomew County Jail on the following preliminary charges:

Operating as a Habitual Traffic Violator
Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle
Possession of a Legend Drug Injection Device
Possession of a Legend Drug Smoking Device
Possession of a Legend Drug
Leaving the Scene of an Accident
Resisting Law Enforcement on Foot
Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence (Endangerment)
Criminal Recklessness

Columbus officials are set to make a presentation for a proposal to further develop the city’s downtown riverfront in a few weeks. Heather Pope, the city’s director of redevelopment, says that presentation will be made November 8th.

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She says that the plan will also address the dam near Second Street.

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On the opposite side of the river, Pope says that the proposal tackles overgrown foliage, among other things…

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The November 8th presentation will be held at Hamilton Center from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The town of Hope will be having a spooky Saturday afternoon on the Town Square, with Goodies, Goblins  and Ghost Stories from 5 to 8. The event is organized by the Hope Branch of the Bartholomew County Public Library.

Dave Miller, Hope branch manager, explains the activities will include fun for kids in costume.

If you want to provide treats for the little goblins and ghoulies during the trunk and treat, you can show up before five with candy and back your vehicle into a spot on the Town Square.

There will be other events to take part in:

The hayride will tour the town and include spooky stories from Hope history.

The library will be bringing in professional storytellers from Bloomington, Miller said.

The event will also feature a Night at The Museum themed tour of the Yellow Trail Museum across the street.

For more information you can call the library at 812-546-5310.

A Columbus man was arrested Wednesday night after he was allegedly caught driving a stolen car. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that officers were able to recover a stolen classic car after observing it traveling on US 31 near Taylorsville. Shortly before 6 p.m., officers were checking the area after receiving tips from the public when they spotted the stolen 1968 Chevy Chevelle, which was stolen Monday from a garage in Columbus. Harris says that a high-risk traffic stop was conducted by the officers, resulting in the arrest of 33-year-old Dustin M. Freese. Harris adds that deputies from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office as well as detectives from the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team assisted with the recovery of the stolen vehicle.

Freese was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of a Stolen Vehicle and Operating a Vehicle without ever Receiving a License. He remains behind bars on a 48 hold as the investigation continues.