The National Weather Service will be hosting free weather spotter training at several area seminars.

The first seminar in our surrounding area will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 27th at the Jennings County Public Library. Participants will learn how to interpret cloud structures and radar images associated with severe weather.

Other upcoming area trainings include from 9 to 11 a.m. in the morning, on Saturday February 29th at Letts Fire Department in Greensburg, and from 6:30 to 8:30 .m. Thursday March 5th at the Johnson County Sheriff’s training Center in Franklin.

The next Bartholomew County weather spotter training will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday March 18th at the Columbus Learning Center.

The training is free and you do not have to attend the training in the community where you live.

For more information and locations, you can click here

Columbus police arrested a local woman Thursday morning on drug related charges after a traffic stop.

They stopped a vehicle at 12:45 a.m. that morning near 17th Street and Central Avenue because it did not have a working taillight. A sheriff’s department police dog smelled narcotics inside the vehicle and a search revealed methamphetamine, a prescription medication and drug paraphernalia.

Police arrested 49-year-old Shelby E. Mitchner, of Columbus on preliminary charges of possessing a legend drug, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Schneck Medical Center’s chief medical officer has been named one of the best in the country.

The Seymour hospital announced Thursday that Dr. Eric Fish received that recognition from Becker’s Hospital Review, which picked “100 CMOs to Know.”

According to the hospital, the list features leaders dedicated to strengthening their organizations through leadership development, patient safety initiatives and quality improvement.

Fish was recently promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer. prior to that he has served as chief medical officer since 2017. He joined Schneck in 2005 and founded Schneck Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2006. He is a Seymour native and graduated from IU School of Medicine. He completed his residency at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.

Only two other chief medical officers in Indiana made the Top 100 list.

The Indiana National Guard has wrapped up a training exercise that led to operations of a C-130 Hercules at the Columbus Municipal Airport this week.

Guard members from Indiana worked with forces from Ohio, Illinois and Idaho in the exercise that ran Tuesday and Wednesday conducting static line non-tactical airborne operations from the large aircraft.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matt Purdy, the joint exercise primary jumpmaster, called it a humbling experience to be able to push more than 25 soldiers out of an aircraft and have them all make a safe landing.

According to the Indiana National Guard, the joint training is vital because it allows units to maintain their airborne insertion capability — the swift deployment of ground forces by airplane to an area of operations.

The Guard said that the training also promoted interoperability between elements of the Indiana and Idaho National Guards, the U.S. Air Force, and the Army Reserve.

INDOT is reporting that crews are nearly finished removing the deck of the Carr Hill Road bridge over the southbound lanes of Interstate 65 in Columbus.

Crews expect to wrap up that work Friday night and you will continue to see the rolling roadblocks on those lanes. The work will then move to the northbound lanes next week.

Work is starting at 10 p.m. in the evening and stops by 6 a.m. in the morning. The bridge replacement project is expected to continue through July and then move to County Road 200S to replace that bridge.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are continuing their efforts to educate the community on the upcoming school referendum.

The next information session is at 6 p.m. tonight at Columbus North High School.

We talked recently with school superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts and he explained the way the property tax increase would work, if approved by voters in the May primary election

Nearly 87 percent of the new revenue would go to add pay boosts for teachers and support staff, with the remaining 13 percent going to school security measures.

Roberts said the referendum would add 15.6 cents per $100 of assessed value to property tax rates in the school district.

School officials estimate that the proposal would add $7.79 cents a month to the property taxes of the average homeowner in the district.

You can get more information on the referendum by attending one of the information sessions, or by going to the school district website at bcsc.k12.in.us.

Upcoming information sessions are:

• Thursday, February 27, 6 p.m. at Rockcreek Elementary
• Tuesday, March 24, 6 p.m. at Mt. Healthy Elementary
• Tuesday, March 31, 6 p.m. at Central Middle School

Cummins East Asian Employee Resource Group and the Columbus Chinese Association are working together to send more medical supplies to China.

The groups are raising money to purchase protective goggles and other supplies to be shipped to hospitals in the Wuhan area, the center of the coronavirus outbreak and the site of three Cummins facilities

Last week Columbus Regional Health and Cummins worked together to donate 10,000 masks to the communities in China. Members of the Columbus Chinese Association hand-delivered the masks to Chicago O’Hare Airport, catching the last flight to China before the airlines shut down the route. Masks reached the communities of Wuhan and Xiangyang and recipients included some families of Cummins employees, according to the company.

The group has raised $20,000 toward the efforts. If you would like to donate you can send donations by Paypal to [email protected] or through Old National Bank in care of the Columbus Chinese Association.

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Vice President Mike Pence marked the occasion by going to the Marine Corps War Memorial and laying a wreath.

His brother, Columbus Congressman Greg Pence along with Sen. Todd Young will be honoring the anniversary with a ceremony at the Indiana War Memorial on Friday. They will be joined by World War II veteran Jim Baize, who served during the battle. Both Congressman Pence and Senator Young are Marines Corp veterans. Last week, they introduced a resolution tor recognize the 75th anniversary of the battle.

The ceremony at the Indiana War Memorial will be at 3 p.m. Friday in downtown Indianapolis.

The World War Two battle between the U.S. and Japan lasted just over a month. It claimed the lives of almost 7,000 U.S. Marines and around 21,000 Japanese.

Jennings County Schools want to alert parents that sign ups form this fall’s kindergarten classes will start later this spring.

Students must be at least 5 years old on or before August 1st to enroll in fall kindergarten.

A waiver can be requested if students are born after Aug. 1st and will be five years old before Oct. 1st. An immunization record and an original birth certificate must accompany each child that is enrolling in school.

Each school holds a Round Up session. Parents can attend another school’s Round up session if they miss their school’s session, but  parents must enroll their student in the school zoned for where they currently live.

The Round Up session schedule:

Hayden Elementary
Wednesday, March 18, 2020   9:00-11:00 a.m. 12:00-2:00 p.m.

Brush Creek Elementary
Friday, April 3, 2020 9:00-11:00 a.m. 12:00-2:00 p.m.

North Vernon Elementary
Monday, April 6, 2020 12:00-2:00 p.m., 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020, 9:00-11:00 a.m. ,  12:00-2:00 p.m. 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Scipio Elementary
Tuesday, April 14, 2020     9:00-11:00 a.m. 12:00-2:00 p.m.

Graham Creek Elementary
Wednesday, April 15, 2020 9:00-11:00 a.m. 12:00-2:00 p.m.

Sand Creek Elementary
Thursday, April 16, 2020 9:00-11:00 a.m.12:00-2:00 p.m.

St. Mary’s
Friday, April 17, 2020  9:00-11:00 a.m.

Two young children were seriously injured in a Jennings County crash Tuesday morning.

According to deputies, 22 year old Hannah Marksberry of Greensburg was driving her SUV on County Road 200E at about 7:48 a.m. Tuesday, when her passenger side tires dipped off the road. She then overcorrected and the vehicle went off the left side of the road where it snapped a utility pole in half and rolled onto its side.

A 2-year-old and 3-year-old were seriously injured and were taken to an Indianapolis area hospital. Both were in car seats at the time of the crash, deputies report. Marksberry did not see treatment for injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.