The National Archives will release former Vice President Mike Pence’s White House records to the House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot.

That’s according to a letter from the National Archives to former President Trump that came a few weeks after the archives released his White House records to that committee. Those were documents Trump sued the Archives to keep hidden.

Documents from the Columbus native and former Indiana governor will be sent to the panel on March 3rd.

Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks Inc. 

Bartholomew County has joined other area communities in moving to a red travel warning, the highest level of local travel restrictions.

Under a red travel warning, you should refrain from all travel, comply with emergency measures, cooperate with officials executing emergency operations plans and obey directions from officers.

Sheriff Matt Myers says that local roads are in terrible condition and completely iced over. Highway crews should be out soon treating the roads soon, but they could not pre-treat due to the heavy rain ahead of this storm.

INDOT’s Southeast District issued a full call out yesterday of its plow trucks. That includes 29 trucks each from the Columbus, Aurora and Bloomington sub districts. Plus 32 from Madison and 27 from Falls City.

Crews will be working 12 hour shifts through at least tomorrow morning to try to clear the state highways. State highway officials say that you should avoid any unnecessary travel. Highways are snow and ice covered.

The National Guard will help stranded drivers during this winter storm. Officials say 240 soldiers will be organized into 60 teams. They will be positioned at armories around the state. Emergency responses may still take time because of the large amount of snow falling on the Hoosier state.

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for our area until 1 a.m. Friday morning. The winter storm warning extends south to Seymour, south of that an ice storm warning is in place until 7 a.m. Friday morning.

INDOT snow plow working in Columbus in Feb. 2021. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Emergency Management

A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for our area until 1 a.m. Friday morning.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says you can expect heavy snow in the northern part of our area, with a wintry mix of sleet, freezing rain, and some snow to the south. Additional accumulations of 4 to 7 inches with a light icy glaze are likely. Winds will be gusting as high as 35 mph.

The winter storm warning extends south to Seymour, south of that an ice storm warning is in place until 7 a.m. Friday morning.

Travel will be difficult. Roads will be slick, and visibility will be reduced with patchy, blowing snow. If you have to be out driving, you should use extra caution and allow for more time to reach your destination.

In our area, as of 6:30 a.m., Bartholomew, Jackson and Brown counties have red travel warnings in place this morning. Under a red travel warning, you should refrain from all travel, comply with emergency measures, cooperate with officials executing emergency operations plans and obey directions from officers. A red advisory is the highest level of advisory.

Johnson and Decatur counties are under an orange travel watch, which means that conditions are threatening and you should only travel if it is essential such as to work or for emergencies.

Shelby and Jennings counties are under a yellow travel advisory this morning, the lowest level of advisory, meaning you should use caution or avoid areas that are restricted.

The weather service says that if you have to travel, you should make sure you have an emergency kit with an extra flashlight, food, water and a blanket in your vehicle.

Many schools and businesses are announcing closings and delays. You can check out the most up to date list here.

Schools

Businesses and events

The Columbus Fire Department is welcoming its newest firefighter, the third generation of his family to work for the city.

26-year-old Ethan Yeley was sworn in yesterday by Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop.

Yeley is a Columbus native and a graduate of Columbus North High School. He is a certified basic emergency technician.

Yeley is the son of Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Yeley and the grandson of retired Columbus Police Officer Ed Yeley.

Yeley now begins a fire department orientation and training program. After that he will be assigned a station and shift.

YES Cinema is announcing that comedian Drew Hastings will be having a special show and book signing event on February 17th.

The one-hour show will feature Hastings sharing stories and reading excerpts from his newly-released book, “Chasing Drew Hastings.”

Admission is $5 and will go to benefit the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center’s Angels of Love gift program.

You can purchase Hastings’ book at Viewpoint Books on Washington Street, or the night of the event.

The show will be at 6 p.m. in the evening on Feb. 17th. You can get more information at www.yescinema.org.

Two Columbus men are under arrest after a disturbance where one man illegally had a gun another man allegedly stabbed a bicycle tire and threatened him with a knife.

According to Columbus Police Department reports, officers were called to a disturbance involving a gun near 9th and Chestnut streets at about 10:15 Monday night. Officers soon found a man matching the description. After he was stopped, a gun was found in the pocket of the man, identified as 64 year old Barry S. Lamborn. After running a background check, he was found to be a convicted violent felon.

Lamborn said he was threatened by another man with a knife, and the man went on to stab the tire of his bicycle. Police found 28-year-old Darvoniae K. Walker of Columbus. Police discovered that he was carrying the knife and drug paraphernalia.

Lamborn is being charged with possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and carrying a firearm without a valid license by a serious violent felon. Walker is being accused of intimidation with a deadly weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Canstruction will be going on without its structures built of cans, according to the United Way of Bartholomew County.

The 13th annual event previously featured build teams creating elaborate structures out of canned food in Fair Oaks Mall, eventually donating the cans to local food pantries. You could vote for your favorites by further donating cans of food which also went to the food pantries.

Over the years, the event has provided more than 300,000 cans of food to Love Chapel, Community Center of Hope and Salvation Army food pantries.

However supply chain problems are making it impossible for the signed-up build teams to acquire the many cans they need for the competition. The same problem is also affecting local food pantries, which are already struggling with increased need across the community. Holiday donations that typically carry the pantries through March are already gone, with Love Chapel alone serving 40 to 45 families daily.

So, instead the Canstruction teams will donate any cans they have already collected and move their fundraising efforts online. You can donate to your favorite team by going to the uwbarthco.org website and clicking on Canstruction 2022. You can also make a donation directly to the event on the website, or mail your donation:

United Way of Bartholomew County
Mark “CANstruction” in the memo line.
1531 13th St.
Suite 1100,
Columbus, IN 47201

INDOT says its crews are out preparing for the winter storm across the state and urging you to stay off the roads if you can.

Nearly 1,000 trucks started treating highways across the state overnight, but the rain means that in many cases INDOT will not be able to pretreat roads. Without pretreatment, highways are more likely to develop slick spots and snow to stick to pavement and bridges.

INDOT is urging you to stay off the roads and avoid unnecessary travel. That will allow plow truck drivers the room to work safely and allow them to complete their routes as quickly as possible.

If you have to travel, you should expect snow and ice covered roads, blowing and drifting snow, and whiteout conditions. The agency says you should slow down and give yourself extra time to reach your destination.

The agency says the trucks will remain out in full force for the duration of the storm and afterwards to continue cleanup efforts.

A winter storm warning is now in effect from 7 p.m. tonight through 1 a.m. Friday morning for our area.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says affected area counties includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, and Johnson. Heavy mixed precipitation is expected. Total sleet and snow accumulations in excess of 3 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch are likely in our area. You can expect wind gusts of 30-40 mph starting Thursday morning.

Depending on the area, rain should be switching over to freezing rain and sleet this morning and turning to snow this evening. The agency says that travel could be very difficult, with patchy, blowing snow significantly reducing visibility. You could see bad conditions during your morning or evening commute today and Thursday.

The rain is also expected to cause some flooding along rivers and streams later this week and into the weekend.

An ice storm warning is in effect for far southern Indiana. You can expect power outages and tree damage due to the ice. The weather service says travel could become impossible in those locations.

Updated with new estimates.

A winter storm warning is now in effect from 7 p.m. Wednesday night through 1 a.m. Friday morning for our area.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says affected area counties includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, and Johnson. Heavy mixed precipitation is expected. Sleet and snow accumulations in excess of 6 to 8 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch are likely in our area.

A prolonged period of sleet is possible in our area Wednesday night. Far southern locations could also see some freezing rain accumulations. The agency says snow, sleet and freezing rain will have the potential to damage trees, utility lines and roofs.

The agency warns it will all make travel difficult to near impossible, beginning Wednesday and especially Thursday.

Winter precipitation will begin to taper off Thursday night, with most areas dry by Friday morning.

In the Indy area up to a foot of snow is possible. North of Indianapolis, residents can expect up to a foot and a half of snow.