A local man who had a suspended driver’s license for life was arrested Thursday night after he was observed driving through downtown Columbus.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 11:35 p.m., Sgt. Josh McCrary observed a truck with an expired license plate near 11th Street and Lafayette Avenue. McCrary stopped the truck and spoke with the driver, 34-year-old Robert A. Hutt, of Columbus. McCrary determined that Hutt was a habitual traffic violator and his license was suspended for life. When McCrary returned to the Hutt’s vehicle, he noted that Hutt appeared to be concealing something in his hand. McCrary recovered the item and determined that it was methamphetamine.

Hutt was arrested on preliminary charges of Driving as a Habitual Traffic Violator and Possession of Methamphetamine.

Memorial Day services in Columbus will be held at the memorial for veterans on the courthouse lawn starting at 11 a.m. Monday.

The ceremony will include music, the laying of wreaths, a 21-gun salute by the Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard, and the playing of Taps. Columbus North High School sophomore Claire Baker will be singing the National Anthem.

The featured speaker is Eli Edwards, a CSA New Tech graduating senior who will be attending the Air Force Academy.

If you cannot attend, the ceremony will be broadcast live on News Talk 1010 WCSI and 98-1 FM.

Work on a $2.2 million bridge project in Jackson County has been scheduled. The Indiana Department of Transportation conducted a pre-construction conference this week to discuss operational schedules for a bridge rehabilitation and small structure replacement project that will impact area traffic at four locations in Jackson County that will last through this construction season.

INDOT says that bridges on State Road 135 and S.R. 235 will each receive new bridge deck overlays, expansion joints and approach slabs after necessary repairs have been made.

• S.R. 135 3-span 132-foot-long bridge over Hough Creek at Brownstown, 0.96 miles south of U.S. Highway 50. Single-lane traffic will be controlled by temporary signals while work takes place on one-half of the structure at a time. Operations are scheduled June 18 through mid-October.

• S.R. 235 5-span 524-foot-long bridge over East Fork of White River located east of Medora, 2.43 miles north of S.R. 135. A 60-day closure is scheduled to begin August 8. Motorists may detour via S.R. 135 and U.S. 50.

Small structures on State Road 235 and S.R. 250 will be replaced.

• S.R. 235 small structure at a tributary of White River located north of Medora, 5.8 miles north of S.R. 135. This structure will be replaced by a 16- X 8-foot precast concrete box culvert measuring 70 feet in width. Work is scheduled to begin July 5. Motorists will encounter temporary signals controlling single-lane one-direction-at-a-time access during 45 days of construction activity.

• S.R. 250 small structure at Hough Creek at Brownstown. This structure will be replaced by a 16- X 5-foot reinforced box culvert measuring 26-feet in width.

INDOT says that work is tentatively scheduled to begin August 13. The contractor will begin placing construction signage on June 11 at the State Road 135 bridge site.

Columbus residents looking to cool off this weekend at the Donner Aquatic Center will have to make other plans.

Jim Lemke, Columbus Parks and Recreation Aquatics Director Jim Lemke, says that the leisure pool and slide needed repairs. He explained that cracks had formed in the sealant of the pool and slide. He added that the initial plan was to make the repairs weeks ago, but the weather simply has not cooperated. Along with the heavy rainfall, Lemke said, “we went straight from winter to summer with no spring.” The extremes in recent temperature differences only exacerbated the delay in getting repairs underway.

We spoke with Lemke Thursday afternoon after he spoke with contractors. At this time, he says the goal is to open the aquatic center to the public on Monday, June 4th. Lemke explained that the sealant repairs have been made, but will take five days or so to cure. Once that is done, the hope is to fill the pool with water May 29th or 30th. Lemke says this will give staff just enough time to treat the water for a three-day swim meet scheduled for June 1-3.

A huge hole opened in the street alongside the Hope Town Square last week and is leaving an even bigger hole in the town’s finances.

Hope Utilities Manager David Clouse said that a passerby first noticed the hole in the parking space pavement when it was about two and a half feet across. Underneath the crumbling layer of asphalt, the hole was actually about 13 feet wide and four feet deep, left when an underground storm water tunnel collapsed.

Clouse estimated that the tunnel, made of hand-laid limestone, was originally built in the 1920s or ’30s and was never meant to carry the weight of modern vehicles, instead being designed for Model Ts and horse drawn buggies.

Although his crews have reconstructed the limestone tunnel and filled in the hole, the problem runs deeper. Engineering estimates are that it will cost more than $608,000 to replace the entire aging tunnel that runs several blocks to the east from State Road 9. Clouse said that the work would require replacing the line all the way to Walnut Street.

Clouse said a similar hole opened up about six years ago.

The town is planning to seek a state grant this fall to replace the storm sewer, putting off other projects that town leaders were considering around the Town Square. The town share of the matching grant would be about $60,000 according to initial estimates.

Town officials say that they are hoping to be able to complete the storm sewer work, then pave the entire Town Square so as not to need to tear up new pavement to do the work.

The annual Columbus Indiana Philharmonic SALUTE! Concert is Friday evening in downtown Columbus. David Bowden, director of the philharmonic, explains that this is one of the most important concerts the philharmonic puts on.

Bowden says that the flag-folding ceremony will honor the late Sgt. Jonathan Hunter and community leader Harry McCawley.

Bowden talks about what else you can expect Friday night.

This free concert begins at 7 p.m. Friday.

For more on the concert and the philharmonic, visit thecip.org.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued an Air Quality Action Day and is forecasting high ozone levels throughout the state for Thursday.

Bartholomew County is among the counties listed in the advisory, along with Jackson, Johnson, Brown, Monroe, Morgan, Scott and Shelby counties.

IDEM says that those sensitive to changes in air quality may be affected when ozone levels are high. Officials say that children, the elderly and anyone with heart or lung conditions are at risk and should try to remain indoors.

Our Hospice of South Central Indiana is announcing that the headliner of the annual Labor Day weekend concert at Mill Race Park will be Randy Bachman, founder of Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who.

The free show will be Saturday, Sept. 1.

Bachman has earned more than 120 platinum, gold and silver records in his career and is now the host of CBC and Sirius XM radio show “Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap.”

The Guess Who were most famous for their single “American Woman” and BTO is best known for “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.”

“We are very pleased to have Randy Bachman perform at Our Hospice’s 32nd Free Summer Concert.” said Laura Leonard, president of Our Hospice. “The announcement of the headliner for the Summer Concert is one of the special things I get to do each spring and we anticipate another exciting performance to share with our community members and fans.”

The Why Store from Indianapolis will be the opening act.

According to the Hospice, the annual free summer concert is the largest fundraiser for the agency. Proceeds from sponsors and raffle tickets go to provide end-of-life care for patients and families in a 16 count service area.

The concert’s title sponsor is Faurecia and Columbus Regional Health is the partner sponsor. as Partner Sponsor.

For more information on sponsorships contact Julie Davis at 812- 314-8085.

Columbus Police say they have 358 packages of liquid THC with a street value of over $14,000. On the department’s Facebook page, it explains that a local man found the unexpected package in his mailbox on Monday. When he saw the contents, he called police. A similar incident happened last year when police say that five pounds of marijuana was delivered to an incorrect address in Columbus.

Officers are inviting the rightful owner of the liquid THC to visit the department.

The Columbus North Counseling Department will host a short informational meeting for high-school juniors and their parents to discuss the start of their senior year. The meeting is at 6 p.m. Wednesday inside the cafeteria.

Items to be discussed include college applications, scholarship applications, SAT and ACT tests and senior projects. The counseling department will host a similar meeting in August.