A traffic stop Thursday in North Vernon led to the arrest of two people on a variety of charges.

According to reports from the North Vernon Police Department, a witness saw a vehicle being driven recklessly on State Road 7. Police found the vehicle driving south near State Road 7 and U.S. 50 and saw it make a moving violation. After pulling the vehicle over, the drive originally gave police a fake name and birthdate. While the driver and passenger were detained, a North Vernon police dog alerted to the odor of drugs in the vehicle. A search uncovered a concealed and loaded handgun in the car, along with glass smoking devices with drug residue.

The driver, eventually identified as 32-year-old Joseph Swinehart of Indianapolis was arrested on preliminary charges including being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a handgun without a permit with a prior conviction, identity deception, possession of a controlled substance and of drug paraphernalia, maintaining a common nuisance, operating a vehicle while never licensed and an outstanding Marion County warrant.

The passenger, 36-year-old Carolyn D. Norman of Indianapolis is facing charges for possessing a controlled substance, a handgun without a permit and drug paraphernalia as well as visiting a common nuisance.

Bartholomew County Commissioners grudgingly approved a payment to a new state wetlands fund as part of the process to get bridges replaced.

County Engineer Danny Hollander said that Indiana Department of Natural Resources has been looking into wetlands replacements around the state and is allegedly not happy with some projects in other counties. Because of this dissatisfaction, the state is now requiring counties to pay the state for wetlands replacements, rather than being able to do the work themselves.

For an upcoming project to replace bridges on County Road 400W the state is requiring a payment of more than $75,000 dollars into the wetlands trust fund. The county will be disturbing just over 6 tenths of an acres of wetlands with the bridge work and about 50 feet of stream. Hollander said that the state has already established a “bank” of wetlands replacement in the same watershed and will not actually replace wetlands at the site of new work.

Both of the County Road 400W bridges near Ogilville are in poor condition with one being closed for weeks last year because of load restrictions.

County Commissioners agreed that they were not pleased by the requirement, but they also did not want to delay the bridge work any longer. Commissioners voted 2-1 for the spending, with Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz voting against it.

Commissioners also agreed to pay an emergency claim to repair a crack in the joint on the Indianapolis Road bridge, after it flattened several driver’s tires in November. Hollander said Milestone was tapped to do the work at a cost of about $6 thousand dollars.

Cummins is announcing that it is expanding its powertrain platforms, creating the first unified, fuel agnostic engines. They will share engine blocks and core components that will be optimized for different low-carbon types of fuel.

These new platforms will feature a series of engine versions that are derived from a common base engine. That will mean a high number of common parts. Below the head gasket, there will largely be similar parts, while above the head gasketCum there will be different components depending on the fuel type. Each engine version will operate using a different, single fuel.

This new design approach will be applied across the company’s B, L and X-Series engines, which will be available for diesel, natural gas and hydrogen.

The commonality of parts will offer benefits for manufacturers and end users. Manufactures will be able to have a variety of fuel types using the same chassis and there will be lower costs to train technicians and to re-tool service locations.

Cummins said the new products are an important element of the company strategy to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

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Three Hope residents were arrested last week on drug-related charges after a traffic stop by Bartholomew County deputies.

According to reports from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, a witness reported a possibly impaired driver at about 2:08 p.m. Thursday afternoon in the 8100 block of North County Road 1150E. A deputy found three people, all of whom appeared to be under the influence of narcotics.

A search recovered Xanax and marijuana on 47-year-old Eric Love of Hope. Suboxone and Xanax were being carried by 28-year-old Michael Lonaker of Hope and 30-year-old Geoffrey Jones of Hope was reportedly carrying three grams of fentanyl.

All three were arrested on preliminary charges of possession of a controlled substance. Love is also facing a charge of possession of marijuana and Jones is being accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

The three have since been released from the Bartholomew County jail.

The National Weather Service is warning that heavy rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning could lead to heavy runoff and flooding.

The agency has issued a flood watch for central Indiana including Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson and Shelby counties saying that you could see flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks and low-water crossings could be affected.

1 to 2 inches of rainfall are possible Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Firefighters rescued a family cat from a second floor apartment fire at a home in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon.

According to reports from the Edinburgh Fire and Rescue Department and Edinburgh Police Department, firefighters and police were called to the 400 block of East Thompson Street about a residential fire at about 2:56 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Rescue workers found heavy smoke and fire coming from a second-story apartment of a multifamily home.

Firefighters from Edinburgh, Amity, Franklin, Nineveh and German Township attacked the fire. Police Chief Doyne Little says the firefighters quickly stopped the spread of the fire and pulled the family’s cat from the blaze. Seals Ambulance medics gave the cat oxygen and the family took the cat to the vet to be checked out.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Photo credit: Seal Medics give the cat oxygen to save its life. Photo courtesy of Amity Fire Photographer Heidi Burton. 

The 2022 Brown Music Competition was held virtually over the weekend and winners were chosen for the Betty F. Brown and Anna Newell Brown scholarships.

According to Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County Columbus North Senior Matthew Liu won the Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence for his piano performances. Home-schooled Andrei Minut won the Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence.

Four high school seniors competed in the instrumental contest on Saturday, and five participated in the vocal contest in this year’s competition. The performances were livestreamed to judges.

Both students will receive a $3,500 scholarship award.

Other senior award winners were:

• Saylor Lancaster, piano, $2,000
• Tiffany Fu, violin, $1,000
• Clara Halsey, piano, $500
• Sofia Martinez, mezzo, $1250
• Lillie Tickel, mezzo, $1250
• Anna Jackson, mezzo, $500
• Olivia Pittman, soprano, $500

Underclass award winners were:

• Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri, violin, $2,000
• Aislinn Tian, marimba, $600
• Darren Li, violin, $400
• Molly Hotek, soprano, $2,000

Two people died after a Friday morning crash on U.S. 50 in Jennings County.

According to reports from the Indiana State Police, a car being driven east on the highway by 19-year-old Halle S. Elliott of Louisville Ky. crossed the centerline near County Road 575W at about 8 a.m. in the morning. The car struck the rear of a westbound semi, which turned it sideways into the path of a car in the eastbound lanes. That car crashed into the passenger side of Elliott’s vehicle, and her car rolled over.

Elliott and her passenger, 20-year-old Skyler S. Short of Hanover were both pronounced dead at the scene by the Jennings County Coroner’s office.

The driver of the semi, 28-year-old Jacob E. Hyman of North Vernon, and the second car, 54-year-old Robert A. Kenner of North Vernon, were both uninjured.

The accident remains under investigation by the Indiana State Police-Versailles Post Crash Reconstruction Team. Toxicology results are pending.

U.S. 50 was closed for about four hours for the crash investigation and cleanup.

Troopers were also assisted by the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, Jennings County EMS, Spencer Township Fire Department and 31 Wrecker Service.

Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police

Columbus Fire Department is announcing the retirement of a lieutenant with more than 30 years of experience and the promotion of a firefighter.

This week, the department announced that Lt. Russ Dixon was retiring after 34 years. He joined the department in 1987. He held ranks including sergeant, lieutenant, captain and battalion chief during his time and is a state certified paramedic and hazardous material technician. His last day was Monday.

Firefighter Dan Smith has been promoted to lieutenant. He has served for 12 years with the department.

He is certified as a paramedic, confined space rescue technician, hazardous materials technician, rope rescue technician, swift water rescue technician and vehicle and machinery rescue technician.

Smith is also a state certified fire instructor and fire investigator. Smith has been assigned to Battalion A at Fire Station # 1.

Cummins is announcing that President and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Rumsey has been elected to the company’s Board of Directors.

The Columbus based engine manufacturer says Rumsey began her Cummins career working on the first products where Cummins introduced emissions aftertreatment systems. Since then, she has served in roles including chief technical officer and president of the Components business.

In March 2021, Rumsey was promoted to president and chief operating officer, overseeing Cummins’ global operations. Throughout her career, she has been an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and women in STEM fields.

Rumsey is a member of the Society of Women Engineers, Society of Automotive Engineers, the Purdue Engineering Advisory Committee and Women in Trucking Association. She holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a master of science in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.