Columbus city officials will be addressing the city’s sign ordinance on Monday. The Bartholomew County Plan Commission is meeting at 8:30 to discuss it. The city plan commission meets at 1 p.m. and the city council meets at 2 p.m. All three meetings will be held at City Hall.

Jeff Bergman, City-County Planning Director, says the bodies are meeting to address changes needed after a recent Supreme Court decision. He explains that Reed vs. Town of Gilbert, which was decided in 2015, had significant implications for sign regulation nationwide. The suit specifically dealt with temporary direction signs for a church and the fact that the town treated treated non-commercial differently, depending on what they were for.

Bergman says the proposed changes focus only on the language and methods used to regulate signs. He says that there are no changes to the allowed number, height or area of signs for businesses.

The police search for a Madison man is over. Jennings County Sheriff Gary Driver says that officers found the body of 26-year-old Joseph Guadagnoli inside a home in the Paris Crossing area. He died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Sheriff Driver says that Guadagnoli eluded deputies since the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 17th when deputies attempted to serve an arrest warrant for him. He notes that Guadagnoli was wanted on a Parole Violation Warrant through Madison Parole District.

Jennings County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Lee was patrolling the area when he observed an open door to a home which had previously been noted as closed. Upon further investigation, deputies located a back door that had been forced open. Deputies conducted a safety sweep off the home, which led to the discovery of Guadagnoli’s body. Authorities say that no one else was in the home.

Indiana Department of Transportation’s contractor for its $4.3 million resurfacing project on the 15-mile section of State Road 46 between Columbus and Nashville will have crews operational at three different locations by the end of next week.

INDOT says that workers are replacing a 1200-foot full-depth section of pavement at Tipton Lakes Boulevard west of Columbus, while a second crew is milling surface asphalt in State Road 46’s westbound lane. The milling operation began yesterday Thursday at County Road 350 West in Bartholomew County.

On Thursday, July 26, paving crews are scheduled to start placing the asphalt surface on State Road 46’s westbound lane, lagging several days behind milling operations. Just short of State Road 135 at Nashville, State Road 46 milling and paving operations will turn to the eastbound lane.

Motorists will be direct around moving worksites by flaggers.

A Scottsburg woman was arrested Thursday after she turned herself in to the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg after probable cause was presented by the Scott County Prosecutor’s Office in Scott County Circuit Court. Authorities say that 28-year-old Courtney Brewer is facing preliminary charges of Corrupt Business Influence, Fraud on a Financial Institution, two counts of Forgery, five counts of Theft, 12 counts of Prescription Forgery and six counts of Theft. State Police say that Brewer is behind bars awaiting her first court appearance.

Sgt. Jerry Goodin, spokesman for the Indiana State Police Post in Sellersburg, says the arrest was the result of a nearly ten month long investigation that was initiated when a local Scottsburg medical doctor noticed possible prescription fraud within his practice. After noticing the possible prescription fraud he then noticed what appeared to be fraudulent transactions in his bank statements and other funds. Sgt. Tracy Spencer from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg was assigned to investigate the possible wrong doings and discovered Courtney Brewer, an employee at the doctor’s office, allegedly stole money and controlled substance prescriptions.

Investigators say that the stolen monies totaled approximately $80,000. In addition, there were over ten controlled substance prescriptions stolen and fraudulently written to Brewer.

This investigation is ongoing.

There is a decent chance for severe weather on Friday. The Storm Prediction Center has placed southern Indiana in an Enhanced Risk for severe weather, with portions of central Indiana in a Slight Risk, and northern Indiana in a Marginal Risk for Friday.

The Bartholomew County Emergency Management says the severe weather is expected to begin in northern Indiana around 2 p.m. Friday. Storms are expected to push to the south and east through Indiana, before exiting the state around midnight.

The town of Nashville/Nashville Utilities has issued a Boil Order after an East Monroe Water services water main break. The following areas should boil their cooking and drinking water through 4 p.m. on Monday:

Somerset Lake Road;
Mockingbird Lane;
Cardinal Lane;
Yellowwood Road;
Bambi Lane;
Cowboy Way;
Hickory Hill Drive;
2099 State Road 46 West to 4370 State Road 46 West

Nashville Utilities says that all customers affected by the boil order has been contacted. Customers with questions should call Nashville Utilities at (812) 988-5526.

A Columbus man is accused of leading police on a chase early this morning, on a stolen motorcycle.

43-year-old Richard L. Gahwiller is facing preliminary charges of auto theft, theft and resisting law enforcement after this morning’s incident.

Columbus police report that an officer noticed a motorcycle without a license plate driving on Gladstone Avenue at about 12:35 a.m. this morning. But when officers tried to pull the cycle over, the driver, Gahwiller, allegedly sped away from officers.

After a chase through the east side of Columbus, the driver stopped on Clifty Street and was taken into custody. The vehicle identification number revealed that it had been reported stolen in Columbus in 2016.

The Columbus Area Visitors Center is making it easier to find some whimsical street art painted around the city last fall.

Erin Hawkins, the center’s marketing director explains that children’s book artist David Zinn was brought to Columbus by the Mill Race Center and created six of his drawings around the downtown area.

Hawkins talks about the appeal of Zinn’s work.

The visitors center is now offering free maps to those who want to take part in a scavenger hunt to find Zinn’s drawings.

You can pick the map up at the Visitors Center on Fifth and Franklin streets downtown.

Columbus Area Visitors Center page on Zinn’s work in Columbus

Update: The Amber Alert has been canceled as of 9:15 a.m.

Previously:

St. Joseph County Police have declared an Amber Alert for an abducted child in South Bend.

They say the victim, John D. Gyuriak, is a 9 year old white boy, 4 feet 1 inches tall, 70 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes. He has a scar above his right eye. He was last at 11 p.m.  yesterday in South Bend and he is believed to be in extreme danger. He was last seen wearing a red Chicago Bulls jersey with “Rose #1” on the back and black Under Armor athletic shorts with a white stripe.

The suspected abductor is Areca N. Gyuriak, a 29 year old white woman,  5 feet tall, 90 pounds, with brown hair, and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue tank top and black yoga pants.

The suspect’s vehicle is a tan 2008 Dodge Charger.

If you have any information on this incident, contact the St. Joseph County Police Department at 574-235-9611 or 911.

Lane closures on Interstate 65 in Bartholomew and Jackson counties are slated to begin on Monday. The Indiana Department of Transportation says that crews will begin restricting travel lanes in both direction between mile markers 64 and 68. INDOT says that a number of lane closures are being scheduled in conjunction with several different construction operations over the next eight weeks. They include:

July 23-26:

– Overnight closures of an inside or outside I-65 lane for shoulder strengthening and partial-depth patching between mile markers 64 and 68. Sections of one lane in either direction will be closed at a time from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

July 27/weekends:

– INDOT says that single-lane closures impacting both northbound and southbound I-65 traffic will be required for six weekends to allow crews to prep and overlay the bridge deck on the structure over Denois Creek at mile marker 65.5. Restrictions are set to begin at 6 p.m. Fridays and continue through noon on Sundays. In addition, INDOT’s contractor will pour new 20-foot approach slabs and make full-depth concrete patches near the bridge.

– Starting July 27, the inside or outside lane of northbound or southbound I-65 will close either Friday night or Saturday night for six weekends between 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. as crews will saw-cut deteriorating pavement and form full-depth concrete patches from mile maker 64 to 68.

After Labor Day:

– I-65 north of State Road 58/Walesboro to the ramps at State Road 46 at Columbus will be milled and resurfaced. INDOT officials say this work requires single-lane closures at moving worksites. Paving activities will continue for approximately two weeks.

August 4:

– A major change in the I-65 traffic pattern is tentatively scheduled to be implemented on Saturday, August 4. At that time, all southbound traffic will be routed to the northbound side of I-65 at a median crossover north of State Road 58 near mile marker 64. INDOT says that southbound drivers will be routed back to the southbound side at a median crossover near mile marker 61.5.

INDOT says this work is part of the three-year, $143 million, Next Level Roads project on I-65 between Seymour and Columbus. The project calls for full-depth construction of a six-lane roadway between U.S. Highway 50 and State Road 58, then repairing and resurfacing the existing four-lane pavement section between State Road 58 and State Road 46. This includes bridge work at 27 difference structure sites along the 17-mile route.