Indiana American Water will begin flushing its water distribution system in the Seymour area, starting today.

You could see reduced water pressure or discolored water while the work is going on in your area. The company says if your water is discolored, you should run the cold water taps in the lowest level of your house for three to five minutes until the water runs clear. You should not do laundry if you are seeing discolored water.

The flushing work is expected to last through June 1st. You can get more information at Indianaamwater.com or call 800-492-8373

Bartholomew County REMC is announcing a planned power outage Tuesday evening affecting about 1,900 customers east of U.S. 31 and south of State Road 46.

The power company is making repairs to its Elizabethtown substation.

The outage is expected to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday night and to last for about 30 minutes.

For more information, you can call 812-372-2546.

Two Columbus companies will be pitching their projects Tuesday night before startup accelerator gener8tor.

The virtual pitch night will feature 10 companies with each company having five minutes to pitch their initiatives.

This is part of the inaugural gBeta Bloomington-Columbus virtual pitch competition. The companies are all from the region covered by the Velocities program, a partnership between the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, The Mill in Bloomington, and Elevate Ventures.

The Columbus companies taking part are garb2ART founded by Dawn Andrews and Ninebx founded by Manish Goel.

The  pitch program is designed to help startups gain early customer traction on their product or idea, and ultimately become competitive for equity-based accelerators or seed investment.

You are invited to watch the the virtual pitch night from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. You can register here.

Photo courtesy of Dawn Andrews.

Two people were arrested Friday morning on drug-dealing charges after the Jackson County SWAT team served a search warrant in the 700 block of West Brown Street in Seymour.

The team, made up of deputies from the sheriff’s department and officers from the Seymour and Brownstown police departments discovered methamphetamine, mobile devices, drug paraphernalia, money and power tools. The tools had allegedly been traded for drugs.

52-year-old Mark A. Blewett and 47-year-old Cindy Jo Turner, both of Seymour, were arrested on charges of dealing in and possessing methamphetamine, maintaining a common nuisance and possession of paraphernalia according to police.

Evidence photo courtesy of Seymour Police Department.

Bartholomew County has a new county clerk. A caucus of Republican precinct committeemen chose Shari Lentz for the position on Saturday.

She will fill the rest of the term of Jay Phelps, who has accepted a position with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office as director of elections modernization, administration, and special projects.

Lentz is the wife of Bartholomew County Councilman Bill Lentz. She began working on elections 13 years ago recruiting poll workers. She has worked in the clerk’s office for eight years, most recently as elections supervisor under Phelps.

She is serving this year as president of the Indiana Voter Registration Association.

Lentz was the only candidate and she was sworn in Saturday by Superior Court Judge Jon Rohde. She will serve to the end of Phelps’ elected term next year.

Columbus Regional Health is expanding visitor options for people receiving inpatient and outpatient services on the hospital campus starting today.

Each patient will be allowed up to two designated visitors or support people per day. Visitors must be 14 or older, and pass temperature and symptom screening. They must wear a mask and will be provided with a sticker by screening staff that identifies the visitor as someone who has passed the screening criteria. The sticker must be worn at all times.

For Birthing Center patients, the support person must be over the age 18. One person may be allowed while the mother is in labor and delivery only. One support person may be with the mother throughout her stay. After giving birth, the mother may have one visitor per day, between 4 and 8 p.m.

Visitation is not allowed in the Mental Health Unit, or for COVID- patients, with the exception of those in end-of-life care.

Entrances to the hospital remain restricted.

Schneck Medical Center is accepting applications for the Dr. Bud Scholarship to help registered nursing school students.

To be eligible, you must be pursuing a course of study to become a registered nurse and have successfully completed your freshman year. Primary consideration will be given to Jackson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington County residents.

The scholarship was established in honor of Dr. H.P. “Bud” Graessle. Dr. Graessle was a Seymour native and a practicing physician and surgeon for 53 years.

The deadline to apply is May 21st.

You can find an application online at www.schneckmed.org/scholarships.

Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. has issued a boil water advisory for customers in the Northgate addition, Bol-Mar, the north-bound Interstate 65 rest area and West Gate Addition that is in effect until 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

According to the water utility, the advisory follows a water line repair.

You should boil any water for three to five minutes before drinking it or using it for cooking.

For more information, you can call 812-526-9777.

Jennings County Sheriff’s Department is planning its first Sunday Funday at the Jennings County fairgrounds from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

You can take part in scenarios based on real police incidents, where you will be selected to act as deputies to resolve the situation. The sheriff’s department is also planning demonstrations of its police dogs and SWAT team. And there will be a session for questions and answers.

Hotdogs and drinks will be served and the sheriff’s department says you are invited to attend.

Anyone planning to hire off-duty Bartholomew County deputies will now have to go through a third-party company. The county approved a contract in January with Off Duty Management to oversee the scheduling and payment of deputies to be used for security at community functions and businesses.

Sheriff Matt Myers says that the service goes into effect on Monday.

The cost to hire a deputy ranges from $62.70 per hour to $114 for holidays and they must be hired in four hour blocks. The deputies must be scheduled more than 7 days in advance, or an emergency rate of $85.50 per hour will be charged.

Deputies can not be hired to work for any other governmental agency, and the deputies can not take outside employment that conflicts with department policies, regulations, rules, or standard operating procedures or that interferes with their county duties. The deputies are also banned from working at locations where the primary source of income is alcohol sales.

You can get more information at odm.officertrak.com/Bartholomew-Co-IN-SO or by calling 877-636-8300