Columbus Police Department has a new police dog on duty, named after a long-serving officer who held the department’s first numbered badge.

Police dog Cleon was introduced to the family of former Officer Cleon Sweeney at a ceremony at the police department this afternoon. Sweeney served 36 years with the department, retiring in 1990. He has the honor be being Badge #001 for the department. Sweeney died in July 2015.

Canine Cleon is a year and a half old German Shepherd trained both to find drugs and other items, and to attack if necessary. Cleon recently completed training with Columbus handler Officer John Busack Jr. The pair have already been on duty together, searching dozens of vehicles for drugs and working several pursuits, since they returned to Columbus in late March, Busack said.

Busack and Cleon are assigned to the afternoon patrol shift and are the third canine unit in the department. They join Officer Marcus Clark and his dog Bane and Officer Branch Schrader who is partnered with Argo.

Photo: New police dog Cleon and his handler, Officer John Busack Jr., meet the family of long-time officer Cleon Sweeney Thursday. WRB photo

A Greensburg Community High School student is the winner of this year’s 6th District Congressional Art Competition.

Each spring, a nationwide high school arts competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House as an opportunity to recognize and encourage the artistic talent in the nation and their district.

Congressman Greg Pence is announcing the winner of this year’s area contest as Ivy Wagner of Greensburg. Her artwork will hang in the U.S. Capitol building for one year.

The runner-up is Sam McKinley of Yorktown High School, and that artwork will hang in Pence’s Washington D.C office for one year. The 2nd runner-up is Savannah Keith of Austin High School, who’s artwork will hang in Pence’s District office for a year.

Pence thanked all of those who took part and said the artwork is nothing short of amazing.

Photo: Public Enshroud by Ivy Wagner of Greensburg. Submitted photo

The annual SALUTE! concert on the Bartholomew County Courthouse lawn is being held again this year after a hiatus in 2020 due to COVID-19.

David Bowden, conductor and artistic director for the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, explains the importance of the patriotic event.

There will be some changes, due to the pandemic.

Instead of filling all the lawns and streets surrounding the courthouse in downtown Columbus, this year’s event will be limited to 1,000 participants. And you will not be able to stake out a claim to your own spot early in the morning on Friday. Instead, you can not start setting up until 5 that afternoon. Attendees will be admitted to one of four separate areas with entry controlled by a wristband.

Organizers with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic say that social distancing is highly recommended and masks should be worn when when you are away from your group.

The concert will start at 7 p.m. Friday and will be about 90 minutes.

Three people are under arrest  after thefts from the Edinburgh Premium Outlet Mall, including a woman who led police on a 100-mph police chase almost to the state line.

A theft from the Polo Ralph Lauren store in the mall was reported to authorities at about 12:45 yesterday afternoon, along with a description of the vehicle. Indiana State Police caught up with the vehicle near the Seymour exit on Interstate 65 southbound about 15 minutes later. The trooper stopped the vehicle and began to take 23-year-old Ta’neasha L. Chappell, of Louisville into custody. But Chappell pulled away from the officer, got back into the vehicle and took off, headed south on the interstate at speeds of more than 100 mph.

Chappell’s vehicle eventually hit the rear of a truck near Clarksville, disabling the car in the median. Chappell then allegedly tried to run away. Troopers used a Taser to subdue her. Two troopers suffered injuries during the chase and arrest.

Stolen items worth more than $3,000 were found in the vehicle.

Chappell was taken to Schneck Medical Center to be checked out before being arrested on numerous felony and misdemeanor charges related to resisting law enforcement. Troopers say she will also likely face charges related to the thefts in Bartholomew County.

Troopers report that about an hour earlier, the same store reported two men had stolen items. A trooper found their vehicle near Seymour and pulled it over. 24-year-old Haamiyna T. Kamose, and 23-year-old Da’miya K. Tooley, both of Louisville, were found to have nearly $7,000 dollars worth of stolen merchandise in their vehicle.

Edinburgh Police came to the scene to arrest them on charges of theft.

Columbus Regional Health is selling most of the former Clarion and Holiday Inn hotel property on the west side of Columbus to a Bloomington based developer. Plans are to turn the 20+ acre property, now home to a giant pile of rubble, into an estimated $90 million dollar mixed use development.

Developers are looking at a mix of apartments, a hotel, ground-level retail, a grocery and an interpretative center, plus a publicly accessible water feature that could tie into the city People Trails. The property is on Jonathan Moore Pike at Interstate 65 on the northeast corner.

CRH announced this morning an agreement with Clearpath Services to sell the site. CRH originally bought the property in 2017 and has used the property to store highway debris from the construction projects on Interstate 65. That rubble will be used as fill dirt to raise parts of the property that are subject to frequent flooding. The price of the property sale has not yet been announced.

CRH plans to retain space on the property to build a medical facility that will likely include doctor’s offices, diagnostics services and other related facilities.

Randy Lloyd with Clearpath said that the plan is to build about half a million square feet or improvements on the site. The company is working with architecture and engineering firm Woolpert on designs for the project.

Lloyd said that the goal is to make a development that is fitting for the major entrance to Columbus and that represents the community.

Jennings County deputies arrested three suspects in a string of arsons earlier this week

The latest in three arsons was reported just before midnight on Monday in Lovett Township. Firefighters and deputies found a home fully engulfed in flames. There have been two other arsons in the previous days.

Evidence at the scene led deputies to search for a vehicle which was located a few hours later. The vehicle was stopped for a traffic infraction and during the investigation police discovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside. The driver, 18-year-old Hunter Spicer of Commiskey, and two juveniles were arrested on charges of arson, burglary, criminal mischief and possession charges for the marijuana and paraphernalia.

The Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office continues to investigate the arson locations.

Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.

A Columbus man was arrested after domestic dispute in a Bartholomew County motel room.

Bartholomew County deputies were called to a motel in the 11 thousand 7 hundred block of North U.S. 31 at about 12:14 a.m. this morning on a report of a possible battery.

Deputies allowed a woman to remove her belongings from the hotel room before securing it. Officers found the suspect, 37-year-old Murriel D. Ramey of Columbus, in the parking lot. After being taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out, he was arrested on preliminary charges of confinement, strangulation and domestic battery.

Chief Deputy, Major Chris Lane, says that if you are experiencing unwanted physical or emotional behaviours in your relationship, there is help available.

Turning Point Domestic Violence Services has a hotline that is open around the clock. You can call 800-221-6311 or 812-379-9855 to speak with a trained advocate.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.

There will no longer be a Fair Oaks Mall in Columbus. Instead, city and hospital officials say the facility at 25th Street and Central Avenue will now be known as NexusPark. And work will be moving forward quickly to get the new facilities designed, renovated and built.

Development has been largely stalled for about 15 months due to the pandemic.

The first phases of the revamped city portion of the building will include administration offices for the city parks department, fitness areas and locker rooms and activity spaces, along with a new fieldhouse space. Columbus Regional Hospital is planning to use about 50,000 square feet of the building initially for mostly preventative care or wellness-based services. That will include both existing services and growth-opportunities in the areas of primary care, physical medicine and rehabilitative therapies and programs.

The city announced that plans are for an architect and construction manager to be chosen on Tuesday at the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting. Later that evening, Columbus City Council will consider approving the funds to pay for those positions.

Money for the construction of the fieldhouse will come from bonds repaid through local income tax revenues, while the other parks department functions will be paid for by bonds backed by property taxes for parks. CRH trustees approved $13 million earlier this year for its first phase renovations.

Both the city and hospital first phases are to be completed by summer or fall of 2023.

An Indianapolis man is in custody accused of throwing gasoline on a man in Columbus and then lighting him on fire.

Columbus police were called to the 1500 block of Chestnut Street at about 3:40 a.m. Monday morning and found a man with burns covering a large portion of his body. Witnesses said that two men were arguing, when the gasoline was thrown by a man who was later identified as 39-year-old Ralph Shaw.

Police found him later in the afternoon near Donner Park and he was taken into custody without incident. He is facing preliminary charges of aggravated battery and was also wanted on two outstanding Marion County warrants.

The injured man was flown by Lifeline helicopter to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. There is no word yet on his condition.

The Bartholomew County Republican Ladies League is announcing the winners of this year’s league scholarships.

Kyle Carlson, son of Mark and Jenny Carlson, is graduating from Columbus North and attending Purdue University to study Accounting and Law and Monica Kay Burton, daughter of Kevin and Roxena Burton, is graduating from Columbus East and attending either Purdue University or IUPUC to study Engineering. Each will receive a $1,000 one-time scholarship.

Among the requirements for the scholarships, students must be a Bartholomew County resident, have a 3.0 GPA, be involved in school, community or political activities and pass a five-question political history test.

The scholarship winners will be recognized when the Bartholomew County Republican Ladies League meets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the party headquarters, at 718 Pearl Street. The guest speaker will be Indiana Secretary of State Holli Sullivan.