The annual summer sewer allowance program offered by Columbus City Utilities is set to begin in June for most residential customers.  After reading the June water meter, the resident’s July bill will begin reflecting the allowance on their sewer charges.  The promotion runs from June through September.

Irrigation meters are available for purchase through the Columbus City Utilities office.  The meters enable customers to water flowers, irrigate lawns, and use water for other activities without paying sewer charges.

For more information on the summer sewer allowance program, call 812-372-8861.

The Bartholomew County Highway Department says that County Road 450N, between Marr Road and State Road 9, will be closed for maintenance for the remainder of  the week from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., on weekdays.  Milestone Contractors will be milling, wedging, and paving the entire road.

C.R. 450N will remain closed through Friday, April 16th.  Bartholomew County Highway Department officials advise drivers to avoid the area and take an alternate route.

A man wanted out of Kentucky was found in Bartholomew County under a fake name.

The sheriff’s department received a tip that 31-year-old Brandon Jenkins of Louisville was using was not his own. A photo from the BMV also confirmed that the name and birth date he gave to law enforcement was not correct.

The investigation tied into an abandoned car found on April 1st that had been towed from the scene. It was registered to an Ohio woman.

Deputies served the Kentucky Parole Board warrant on Jenkins in the 3400 block of West Jonathan Moore Pike at about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday morning. He is also being held on a new charge of false informing.

North Vernon police have arrested a suspect in a domestic disturbance from the end of last month.

Police are reporting that a team of officers served an arrest warrant on 37-year-old Steven D. Singer of North Vernon at 8:48 Thursday morning. He is being accused of strangulation and domestic battery in the March 30th incident.

Police say that there are no new charges stemming from his arrest. Singer was already on monitored home detention through the Madison Probation Department.

If you are driving on I-65 in southern Jackson County next week, you could see the shoulders of the highway closed as crews work on a pipe-lining project in the area.

The project is expected to begin Wednesday about five miles north of State Road 256 near Austin. INDOT says the majority of the work will be happening off of the roadway, however the outside shoulders will be closed while work is in progress. Later in April and in early May there will be some closing of single lanes, and that work will be happening over one to two nights.

The work schedule is dependent on the weather.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department will be holding a fish fry today to benefit the department’s 2021 Youth Academy.

The lunch and dinner will from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at the American Legion Post on 25th Street in Columbus.

Sheriff’s department personnel will be on hand to serve customers. Proceeds will benefit the youth academy through scholarships, activities and for other uses.

Schneck Medical Center is announcing a COVID-19 vaccine clinic with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be held Monday.

600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available for the clinic from 1 to 7 Monday at the Schneck Professional Building. That will be on level 3 of the building on West Tipton Street in Seymour.

You have to be 18 or older to take part. You also need a reservation.

To schedule an appointment, visit ourshot.in.gov or call 211.

United Way of Bartholomew County is announcing its annual award winners as part of its virtual annual meeting.

The agency announced this week that information about this year’s activities and achievements would be released through social media and e-mail instead of the traditional in-person meeting.

Among the annual awards announced this week was the LIVE UNITED award to Columbus Regional Health, Volunteer of the Year to Mary Beth Wert and Advocate of the Year to Jenni Carr. The individual GIVE award is going to Pat and Diane Ward and the corporate GIVE award is going to Enkei America.

According to the agency, more than 3,800 people received basic needs including food, clothing and shelter through the United Way of Bartholomew County. A community COVID-19 relief fund raised more than $600 thousand dollars, which helped more than 4,500 people with basic needs during the pandemic.

Three people were arrested near Country Squire Lakes on drug related charges this week after being found with more than 80 grams of methamphetamine.

A Jennings County deputy driving near the neighborhood at about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday night saw 27-year-old Robert Summers III of North Vernon driving in the area. Recognizing that Summers did not have a valid driver’s license, the deputy pulled the vehicle over and the officer’s police dog alerted to the smell of drugs inside, according to police reports.

A search revealed the methamphetamine packaged for sale, digital scales, baggies, syringes and other drug paraphernalia.

A passenger, 42-year-old Rea Grider of North Vernon was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing and possessing more than 28 grams of methamphetamine, along with possession of a syringe and drug paraphernalia.

Summers is being accused of possession of meth and another passenger, 28-year-old Brittany Erwin of North Vernon was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of maintaining a common nuisance.

A Columbus man is being accused of battering a woman over the course of a whole day, while her children were present.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that they were called to the Elkland Hills Mobile Home Park at about 11:30 Wednesday morning on a report of a domestic disturbance.

They found a woman with several injuries. She said that she had been attacked for the past 24 hours, including having her head pushed into the concrete outside until she passed out. She was checked out by Columbus Regional Hospital paramedics.

The suspect, 41-year-old Phillip M. Ramsey ran into nearby woods and was found walking nearby. Deputies say that he then ran behind a mobile home and tried to hide in a shed.

He was arrested on preliminary charges of intimidation, strangulation, domestic batter causing bodily injury and domestic battery in the presence of a minor.