Columbus Regional Health plans to begin work on medical facilities at the site of the former Clarion and Holiday Inn hotel property on the west side of Columbus but without a Bloomington developer.

Excavating crews for the hospital will begin redistributing a large pile of debris on the Jonathan Moore Pike site later this week, part of a plan to lift parts of the more than 20 acre property out of the floodplain. But the work will be in preparation for CRH to move forward with medical facility plans, independent of a major mixed-use development at the site.

Last spring, the hospital announced a partnership with Clearpath Services of Bloomington to develop a $90 million project with apartments, a hotel, a grocery and more at the site. Under that project, the hospital would have kept part of the site for medical facilities. But now CRH officials say that the health network is moving forward independent of any developer, in order to meet their timeline.

CRH will be releasing its plans for the site soon and the goal is to have medical services available by the end of next year.

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.

This week excavating crews will commence the break down and redistribution of the large pile of construction materials. The excavating work on the debris pile is expected to take about six weeks.

Image: Design drawings of a mixed-use development on State Road 46 originally proposed in May of 2021, but now scuttled.

A suspected drunk driver is under arrest after almost hitting a Columbus police office on the side of the road early Thursday morning.

According to Columbus police reports, an officer was checking on an abandoned vehicle with its hazard lights flashing on the side of the road at about 3:25 a.m. today, near Central Avenue and Rockyford Road. Police noticed a black car heading down the road which did not change lanes to give police room. The driver swerved, nearly striking the officer and the vehicle.

Police pulled the driver over and noticed him throwing beer bottles onto the passenger side floor of the car. 32-year-old Ismael Sanchez Alvarez of Columbus was taken into custody and he blew a .190 percent blood alcohol content in a breath test at the police department.

He is facing preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated with endangerment, operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .15% or greater and operating a vehicle without ever receiving a license.

The city of Seymour is now taking reservations for the mayor’s annual prayer breakfast.

The event is coming up on Good Friday, April 15th at 7 a.m. in the morning at the Pines Evergreen Room in Seymour.

The cost for the buffet breakfast is $11 per person, and doors open at 6:30 a.m. The program will conclude at about 8 a.m.

Limited tickets will be available due to social distancing. The deadline to register is April 7th. To register you can stop by the mayor’ office at 301-309 Chestnut Street in Seymour.

A Seymour man was arrested on obscenity charges with a minor he met through social media, despite being on house arrest and not being allowed to have a smart phone.

According to Jackson County Sheriff’s Department reports, community corrections officers were searching for 57-year-old Michael Alexander to discuss obscene images allegedly on his phone. Officers caught up to Alexander at a local store and he admitted to having social media accounts across multiple platforms and under different names. He also admitted to having contact with an underage girl, sending her inappropriate videos of himself, and receiving sexual photos from the adolescent. He claimed she reached out to him through a social media app.

Alexander was on house arrest after being charged with solicitation of a minor in Jennings County about three years ago. Part of the house arrest agreement barred him from owning a smart phone.

Alexander was arrested on charges of providing obscene material or pornography to minors and an obscene performance violation.

A Columbus man died in a rollover accident near Hope Thursday morning.

According to reports from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, 50-year-old Kevin Burton of Columbus was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office.

The incident happened at about 7:31 a.m. in the 2000 block of North State Road 46 near the intersection with State Road 9 when an SUV driven by 32-year-old Tracy Toddy of Hope crossed the center line, first striking an SUV driven by 53-year-old Tammy James of Hope, then Burton’s pickup truck. Burton’s vehicle flipped over on his side and he was partially ejected, trapped underneath the truck. He died from his injuries at the scene, according to police reports.

Janes was uninjured. Toddy was flown to IU Methodist Hospital by Stat Flight helicopter with unknown injuries.

The investigation for the accident is still ongoing.

Deputies were also assisted at the scene by the Hope Town Marshall and Hope Town Police, Columbus Regional Hospital paramedics, and fire departments from Columbus, Clay Township and Hartsville.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Indiana State Police are looking for anyone who saw an accident that killed a pedestrian Monday evening on Interstate 70.

28-year-old Brendan Blue Allen of Indianapolis was pronounced dead after the accident at about 9:30 p.m. Monday evening on eastbound I-70 near the Rural Street exit.

An older model white vehicle, possibly a Toyota Corolla, with extensive front-end damage is believed to have been involved.

If you have any information you can call the Indiana State Police Indianapolis Post at 317-899-8577 or call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.

The Indiana Immunization Coalition will be holding a community immunization clinic in Bartholomew County early next month.

The clinic will be from 9 to 11 in the morning on April 2nd at Taylorsville Elementary School in the cafeteria

You should bring your insurance card as the coalition will accept and bill all insurance carriers. There is no cost to those without insurance, except for the Shingles vaccine, for which there is often a required co-pay.

Everyone who takes part will be vaccinated with all of the CDC recommended vaccines. The clinic will consult the state immunization registry to see what vaccines you are missing.

.You can register online at patients.vaxcare.com/registration and use the enrollment code IN 65942.

Hope Heritage Days organizers are announcing celebrity entertainment for this year’s fall festival.

On Friday night, the event will feature Scott Haggard, the son of the country star Merle Haggard. Saturday night’s headliner will be Barry Williams and the Traveliers. Williams is best known as Greg Brady from “The Brady Bunch.”

On Sunday, the special judge for the Hope Heritage Days parade will be “Survivor” and “Amazing Race” star Rupert Boneham.

Hope Heritage Days is Sept. 23rd through the 25th. It is Bartholomew County’s oldest and largest festival, with this being 54th annual event. More than 30,000 people normally visit the northeastern Bartholomew County town during the weekend.

Photo courtesy of Barry Williams and the Traveliers.

The Bartholomew County Council for Youth Development is looking for local high school students to take part in the Youth Ambassador Program.

The program is designed to build leadership skills and to encourage civic engagement among youth. The council says a potential youth ambassador is open to diversity, and is reliable, empathetic, and excited about change. This year’s youth ambassadors have earned over 200 service learning hours, with an average or more than 10 hours per youth ambassador.

Students who are now in 9th, 10th and 11th grades are encouraged to apply. The deadline to apply for the upcoming group cohort is April 1st.

You can learn more about the Youth Ambassador Program and apply on the Council website at www.cydbartholomew.org.

Jackson County authorities are warning about calls and mail from scam artists. Sheriff Rick Meyer says the calls normally intensify in the spring when some residents start to get their income tax returns and have money available.

Meyer said that a common scam technique is callers who claim to be with the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. The scammer will claim you won a prize, but in order to claim it you must first pay taxes or some fees upfront. Or they will mail a fake check, from which you are supposed to pay taxes or legal fees. However the check will bounce and you will be left with money taken from your bank account.

The sheriff said that Publishers Clearing House will never call you to say you are a winner. Instead, you will get an in-person visit from their Prize Patrol. The sweepstakes will never ask you to pay taxes or fees upfront, or to cash a check only to send money back.

If you think you have been targeted by a scammer or been a victim, you should call your local sheriff’s department.