A Jennings County woman is being accused of stealing and wearing another woman’s dentures.

Deputies received a report from a victim in Country Squire Lakes Monday who said that Joann Childers had taken her dentures. Deputies talked to a probation officer who confirmed that when Childers came in for an appointment, she was wearing dentures that were clearly not her own.

A deputy interviewed Childers on Wednesday and the false teeth were out in plain view in her home, and even had the victims’ name on them. The stolen teeth were recovered and Childers is facing preliminary charges of theft, according to police reports.

Columbus Parks and Rec will have additional storage space under a purchase agreement approved Wednesday afternoon by the Columbus Parks Board.

The board voted unanimously to approve an agreement to purchase the vacant former Machinery Moving Inc. site at 1360 Jackson Street for $205,000. The site is currently owned by Norma Lienhoop, aunt of Mayor Jim Lienhoop. The mayor has recused himself from all business related to the proposed purchase.

The previous agreed-upon price for the site was $300,000, but environmental contamination found in subsequent inspections resulted in lower appraisals, resulting in the updated purchase price. Under the agreement, the city would pay Ms. Lienhoop annual installments of $34,166.67. The first installment would be paid at closing, while subsequent annual payments would be made before on, or before, March 1st.

Parks Director Mark Jones has indicated that the property would be used as a storage facility for the department. He noted the property’s proximity to other parks properties.

Pam Harrell, director of business services for parks and rec, explains that there is a solution related to the issue of cleanup…

Harrell explained that until the property is owned by the city, discussions with Indiana Brownfield are at a standstill.

The measure now goes to the Board of Public Works and Safety for consideration.

You can find out if you have correctly installed a child’s car seat in your vehicle at an event Friday with with the Columbus Police Department and Dorel Juvenile Group. The car seat safety checks will be going on Friday, July 26 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the police department parking lot behind City Hall at 123 Washington Street.

Lt. Matt Harris, CPD spokesman, encourages you to stop by and have your car safety seats checked by certified car seat technicians from Dorel.

There is no cost for this service, which should take less than 15 minutes.

Southwest Volunteer Fire Department in Bartholomew County is among the rural and volunteer fire departments from 46 counties across the state that have been awarded more than $297,000 in Volunteer Fire Assistance grants. Southwest is receiving $3,910 for safety equipment.

The grants, announced by DNR director Cameron Clark, are administered by the DNR Division of Forestry and made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Grants may be used for training, installation of dry hydrants or to purchase necessary firefighting equipment and gear to combat wildland fires. DNR says that a total of 71 departments received grants, ranging from $1,500 to $5,000.

Other local fire departments receiving grants are:

– Letts Community Volunteer Fire; Decatur; $2,588 for water handling
– Campbell Township VFD; Jennings; $4,935 for radios
– Spencer Township VFD; Jennings; $5,000 for radios
– Scottsburg Fire Dept.; Scott; $4,071 for radios
– Fountaintown Community VFD; Shelby; $5,000 for safety

North Vernon Police arrested a Kentucky man Tuesday afternoon after a traffic stop. At about 1:45 p.m., a vehicle driven by 45-year-old Anthony Menendez was pulled over for speeding on West Walnut Street.

The vehicle Menendez was driving was reported stolen out of Louisville last week. The vehicle also had a false registration plate. Menendez was arrested on a preliminary charge of Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle. He was being held on $1,555 bond.

State Road 7 is scheduled to close next week about three miles north of the Jefferson/Jennings County line. The Indiana Department of Transportation says that crews will be doing box culvert repair and maintenance. This is the first of four scheduled closures along State Road, south of Vernon.

INDOT says the road will close for approximately 30 days at each of the following locations, moving south to north. Crews will move to the next location following completion of work at each culvert. State Road 7 will be closed at one location at a time.

• 3.16 miles north of Jefferson/Jennings County line, south of Turkey Run (maintenance/repair)
• 3.51 miles north of Jefferson/Jennings County line at Turkey Run (replacement)
• 11.67 miles north of S.R. 250, just south of Crosley Fish and Wildlife Area (replacement)
• 5.71 miles north of Jefferson/Jennings County line, approximately one mile south of S.R. 3/S.R. 7 split (maintenance/repair)

The official state detour for each closure is State Road 3 to State Road 256. This $1.4 million project is expected to be complete by October 31st. All work is weather dependent.

City bus routes in Columbus will see some changes under a proposal put forth by a consulting group. ColumBUS Transit officials held a second public open house to discuss the ongoing Transit Route Study Tuesday night at city hall.

Officials with the Lochmueller Group, a consulting firm hired by the city to look over current routes and find ways to better serve the community, issued its final draft report and recommendations for proposed route changes. The current five routes will be adjusted with the move to a new transit station at 13th Street and Hutchins Avenue. The current station is located in Mill Race Park. The move is meant to make better use of city resources, while better serving those who utilize public transportation.

Officials say that Route 1 has low ridership due to “extensive one way loops.” Under the proposal, this route would be altered the most. However, some segments of the existing route will be consolidated into other routes. The current placeholder calls for the route to end at Fair Oaks Mall, but future work at the mall site may necessitate adjustments in the future.

Route 2 is considered the most productive route due to running along the 25th Street corridor. The route averages 179 weekday riders on the nearly 12 mile trek.

The proposal for Route 3 is largely unchanged and will continue to take passengers from Mill Race Park to Target on National Road.

Lochmueller staff say that Route 4 is consistently productive, as Columbus East High School is on the route. Officials add that there are looking to add additional designated stops along the route.

Route 5, which takes riders to the west side of town, is also largely unchanged, with an extension to the east to include the new transit station. Lochmueller’s report indicated that this is the least productive route for the city.

Lochmueller’s report also suggested increasing the fixed route fair from 25 cents, which has remained unchanged for decades. The document also calls for looking into the possibility of extending service to the northeast side of the city along U.S. 31 and Indianapolis Road.

City officials will take Lochmueller’s report under advisement.

You can learn more about the transit study, as well as offer your thoughts and input, by visiting columbus.in.gov/columbus-transit.

An area teenager is in trouble after allegedly making a a false report.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department says that at approximately 3:17 a.m. on Tuesday, deputies were dispatched to the 20000 block of East State Road 46 after dispatch received a call about three armed subjects trying a break in. Multiple units arrived only to find the building secure and no one around.

During their investigation, deputies were able to obtain the suspect’s address. When they arrived, the 14-year-old juvenile’s mother advised that her son was staying with a friend in Hartsville. Deputies retrieved the boy and returned him to his home where he allegedly confessed to making the call because he was bored.

The juvenile was arrested on preliminary charges of False Reporting of a Crime and Placement of a 911 Call for Prohibited Purposes. Both are misdemeanors.

“Making false 911 calls is a criminal offense. This young man knowingly made a false call that took our deputies out of other areas where someone might have truly needed their help,” said Sheriff Matt Myers. He added, “This is not only against the law, it is extremely dangerous.”

Upon arrival at the detention center, deputies say the boy was also found to be concealing tobacco products in his clothing for which he was also charged.

A North Vernon man was arrested after an alleged hit-and-run Monday afternoon.

North Vernon Police were called to Walmart at about 4:40 p.m. for a property damage accident in the parking lot. While en route, officers were told one driver fled the scene. Police found 23-year-old Dillon Steinert at a nearby gas station. He was arrested on a preliminary charge of Leaving the Scene of a Property Damage Accident.

You will have a chance this week to learn more about the architects and designers taking part in the Exhibit Columbus Miller Prize installations.

The Columbus Area Visitors Center will be hosting five short documentaries about the projects starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday evening.

Anne Surak, creative director for Exhibit Columbus explains.

The films are a partnership between Exhibit Columbus and filmmaking collaborative Spirit of Space.  Following the screening of the documentaries, director Adam Goss and executive producer Samantha Snodgrass will have a Q&A session.

The public screening is free and open to the public. You can get tickets by registering through Eventbrite online.

The 18 Exhibit Columbus installations, including the five Miller Prize winners work, will official open with ceremonies and events August 23 and 24th around downtown Columbus.