The Turning Point Dance Marathon is this weekend at Central Middle School.

Things kick off at 8 p.m. Saturday night and run through 6 a.m. Sunday morning. The theme of this year’s fundraiser is Full House. It is organized by high school students Katherine Richardson, Natalie Ryan and Paige Beales. Richardson talks about the history of the event.

There will be presentations during the event on dating violence prevention, along with music, entertainment, prize drawings and food.

More than 600 students are expected to take part.

The dance is open to all Bartholomew County high school students and you have to have your student ID. You are also required to have helped raise funds for Turning Point. Ryan explains more:

To get tickets, more information or to volunteer as a sponsor or chaperone, you can go turningpointdv.org.

You will soon have a better opportunity to hear News Talk 1010 WCSI at more locations in Bartholomew County.

The Federal Communications Commission has given its approval to allow the station to broadcast on FM Channel 98.1. That’s in addition to the historic home at 1010 AM.

WCSI, WKKG, WWWY and WWIN are all owned by White River Broadcasting Co. WCSI first went on the air in Columbus in 1947, as a Class D AM radio station. Until 1989, the station was required to sign off at sunset each night and back on at sunrise the next morning.  Station Manager Bob Morrison explains

Since then the station has been allowed to broadcast 24 hours a day, but at night it hasto reduce power to only 18 watts. That means the can only be heard in a limited area now.

Morrison explains that this is an endeavor that station officials have been working on for some time in an effort to better serve the community.

The investment in expanding to a second source for WCSi news and talk radio recognizes the importance of radio to the community, Morrison said.

The new FM translator, which will broadcast from the station’s tower at National Road and North Washington Street in Columbus, will allow listeners to hear all of the station’s programs including All News in the Morning, AM Columbus and conservative talk radio hosts, along with updates from Fox News, Hoosier Ag Today and Network Indiana in all parts of the city and all around Bartholomew County, 24 hours a day.

The exact date of the launch is dependent on the weather, but the station is working to have it available this spring.

A call about suspicious behavior led to the arrest of a North Vernon man on drug charges Wednesday afternoon. North Vernon Police say that officers were called to do a welfare check on Main Street at about 4:30 p.m. Police say they pulled over a vehicle that was related to this call. During the stop, K9 Heros was dispatched and was alerted to the odor of drugs. A search allegedly uncovered a marijuana cigarette and a corner cut bag. Police arrested 26-year-old Ryan Brooks on preliminary charges of Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $905.

A report of a suspicious person at an area restaurant led to the arrest of a Columbus man who was wanted on numerous warrants. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 2:50 a.m., officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of West Jonathan Moore Pike in regards to a suspicious person inside the restaurant’s bathroom. Harris says that when police first spoke with the man, he gave them a false name. Officers later determined that the man was 32-year-old Chawn T. Coomer, who was wanted on five Bartholomew County warrants. Harris says that Coomer attempted to pull away from officers as they attempted to take him into custody. After he was placed in handcuffs, police allegedly found two syringes in Coomer’s pants pocket.

In addition to the warrants, Coomer is facing new preliminary charges of Resisting Law Enforcement, Possession of a Legend Drug Injection Device and False Informing.

A statehouse resolution to rename a section of U.S. 50 in Jennings County for fallen officers passed the Indiana House earlier this week.

The resolution calls on INDOT to rename part of U.S. 50 as the “Officer Anthony Burton and Reserve Officer Lonnie Howard Memorial Highway.” State Rep. Jim Lucas was the legislator behind the motion.

Officers Burton and Howard died in March of 1993, when their police cruiser was rammed by a man who was free on bond following an earlier standoff with police. Their car was pushed nearly 100 feet through a ditch, coming to a rest close to U.S. Highway 50.

The section of U.S. 50 and Jennings County Road 150N runs on the west side of North Vernon to just off the old U.S. Highway 50 on the east side as it approaches the Muscatatuck River.

The Indiana House supported the concurrent resolution.

Threats, rumors and outright falsehoods are complicating the work of local police trying to keep students safe at area schools.

Hope Town Marshall Matt Tallent said that he has been trying to tamp down false reports on social media about an incident involving a student at the school. Tallent said that the student made a verbal threat last week that has taken on a life of its own, including false online accusations of assault rifles and bombs being involved.

None of that is true, Tallent said. They did interview a student yesterday about the threats and removed two weapons from the home — a pistol and small caliber rifle. But the student was not arrested and much of the social media posts about the incident are false, Tallent said. Police are now talking to students who heard the original verbal threat.

A second incident in Hope revolved around two students with a beef between them and that threat led to one student being expelled.

Tallent said that three officers are in the Hope schools today as a precaution and a Bartholomew County deputy is patrolling the outside area. But there is no threat at Hauser High School or Hope Elementary.

Lt. Matt Harris with the Columbus police also dismissed false rumors circulating on social media. He said a false rumor was spreading that a threatening note had been found in a Columbus East restroom that promised an attack today. That simply did not happen, Harris said. He said one way that people can help police is to stop spreading rumors on social media and instead reporting information directly to law enforcement.

Seymour authorities said that they investigated what turned out to be a hoax that was spreading through social media. The fake report turned out to have originated in Pennsylvania and had nothing to do with Seymour High School. Police did thank the public for bringing it to their attention.

Perceived threats against area schools continue. David Mann, Edinburgh Police Chief, says that his department received a report on Wednesday from school administrators that a 16-year-old student at the Edinburgh Educational Resource Center had drawn a sketch resembling a classroom. Mann says that, within the drawing, there were sketches of a semi-automatic pistol and of bodies identified by student and teacher names on the sheet showing what appeared to be gunshot wounds. The student then reportedly showed the drawing to other students, who reported it to teachers.

Mann says the student left the school before police arrived. However, he was taken into custody outside of his home and transported to the Bartholomew County Detention Center on a preliminary charge of Intimidation, a class 6 felony.

Authorities stress that no weapon was found on school grounds, however they say the student was in possession of marijuana when taken into custody.

The Town of Hope is changing direction on a decision made last month not to save money toward a new town hall.

Last month, faced with a projected cost of about $1 to $2 million dollars for a new town hall, the Town Council voted to shelve the project altogether because money wasn’t available. Council members said they didn’t want to burden future generations with payments 30 or 40 years down the road.

At last night’s Town Council meeting, the chairman of the Town Hall committee, Tim Shoaf, urged the panel to reconsider a savings plan proposed last month by the clerk-treasurer. Under the plan rejected last month, Clerk-Treasurer Diane Burton, recommended the town try to set aside about $140,000 over the next three years. The idea would be to see if the town could handle the pinch of the estimated payment costs of a $1 million town hall loan, while saving money toward a down payment or other needs. The money saved wouldn’t be tied directly to that project, Burton said. Instead it would allow the town to build up a reserve that could be used for the town hall or other needs.

Shoaf argued that if the town does nothing now, in a few years they will be in the same boat and a future Town Council would be thankful that they had the foresight to set aside money.

The council voted to approve Burton’s proposed savings plan.

Columbus police have made another arrest of a juvenile threatening Columbus East High School.

Lt. Matt Harris says that a fire alarm at the school was accidentally set off at about 8 a.m. this morning while students were moving items. When students evacuated, a former student who is still a juvenile, sent a threatening message on social media.

The school began lockout preparations but the former student was found off of school property and arrested. The juvenile has been taken to the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center and is facing a preliminary charge of intimidation, Harris said.

A driver fleeing from Jennings County deputies crashed through a building early this morning.

32-year-old Alan Marantos of Brownstown is facing charges of resisting law enforcement, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license after the incident at about 3 a.m. this morning.

Deputies report that they tried to pull over Marantos’ vehicle for speeding near U.S. 50 and County Road 580W. But rather than stop, Marantos took off at speeds of up to 90 mph down West Base Road, before losing control in a sharp turn, crashing through the small building and rolling.

Marantos was treated by paramedics for minor injuries before being taken to jail.