Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. has issued a boil water advisory for customers on Clifty Drive in the Wehmeier Addition. The advisory is due to maintenance on a water main in the area.
Under a boil water advisory, you should bring water to a full boil for 5 minutes before drinking it or using it in food preparation.
The boil water advisory is in effect until 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
If you have any questions you can call Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. at 812-526-9777.
Bartholomew County’s Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team arrested a Columbus man this week on a variety of drug charges after an investigation into several overdoses in the past month.
According to reports from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, police stopped a vehicle leaving the northern part of Bartholomew County and the sheriff’s department police dog Jari alerted to drugs in the vehicle. Police recovered 23 grams of fentanyl.
That to a search of a home where officers found more fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and various drug-related items. Police also found three firearms, one of which had been reported stolen.
25-year-old Rondall “Austin” Kimbler, was arrested Tuesday on charges including dealing a narcotic drug and methamphetamine, possession of the drugs and paraphernalia, and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is a combined unit of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office.
A Columbus man is under arrest after a more than two-hour long standoff with police Thursday afternoon.
According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers were called to the 700 block of California Street at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon to check on the wellness of a person making threats at a home. Police spoke to the man in the home, 50-year-old Michael Downs, who allegedly told police he was armed and threatened the officers.
Officers stepped away from the home, blocked off nearby streets and called in the city/county SWAT team and Columbus police negotiators. Despite attempts to talk Downs into leaving the home, he refused. Eventually, SWAT officers deployed tear gas in the home and at about 5:50 p.m. in the evening, Downs surrendered.
He was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out and then to jail on a preliminary felony charge of intimidation.
The Columbus Bluegrass Jamboree is returning to Donner Center on Saturday, March 12th.
The bluegrass and gospel music show begins with an open jam at 4 and you are encouraged to bring your instrument. Group performances will begin at 5 and will include bands such as Straight Line, Dan Branaman, Eagle Ridge, Bluegrass Express, and Rocky Branch.
The Jamboree is free but donations are accepted and concessions will be available for sale.
The show is sponsored by the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department and the Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center. To get more information you can call 812-614-0955 or go online to columbusbluegrassjamboree.com.
Legal Aid is holding a Free Legal Aid Phone Clinic from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Legal Aid offers the clinics for low-income residents of its eight-county district. That includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Rush, and Shelby Counties.
If you take part you will have a brief consultation with a volunteer attorney to answer general questions, to offer legal information or to receive other advice over the phone.
To take part, you must first register between noon and 2 p.m. Tuesday by calling 812-378-0358.
The North Vernon Police Department has joined in a traffic enforcement blitz aimed at cracking down on speeding, impaired driving or anyone driving aggressively.
The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement campaign includes more than 200 state and local law enforcement agencies around Indiana. It is specifically meant to focus on the weeks around St. Patrick’s Day and the NCAA Basketball Tournament and will last through Monday, March 21st.
Officers are conducting high-visibility, overtime patrols, with the extra enforcement funded through National Highway Traffic Safety Administration grants administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
Police will be encouraging motorists to focus on safe driving and to follow the rules of the road. That includes wearing a seat belt, driving sober, watching for pedestrians, driving without distractions and obeying the speed limit.
Police say that if you are going to an event involving drinking, you should designate a sober driver, use public transportation or take a ride service to get home safely.
If you are driving and encounter a possible impaired or unsafe driver on the road, you should call 911.
A wanted Columbus woman was arrested on drug-related charges after a traffic stop Wednesday night.
According to Columbus Police reports, officers stopped a car for a minor traffic violation at about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday night in the 3100 block of North National Road. The driver, 51-year-old Shelby E. Mitchner of Columbus was found to have two outstanding Bartholomew County warrants and was arrested.
She was found to be carrying methamphetamine and marijuana and a search of the vehicle recovered more methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
In addition to the two warrants, she is facing new charges for possessing the drugs, a legend drug injection device and paraphernalia.
The Columbus Area Visitors Center is announcing that its executive director, Karen Niverson, will be stepping down effective May 13th.
Niverson has been with the Bartholomew County tourism agency for seven years, coming from Grant County where she served for 10 years at the executive director of that community’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. She also served as president of the Indiana Tourism Association trade group.
Niverson said that she is making the move to have more family time. She plans to stay in Columbus and continue to contribute to the community. During her time here, Niverson has served on boards and committees including the Columbus Area Economic Growth Council, Landmark Columbus Foundation, and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.
She praised the spirit of community collaboration here and what she called the community champions.
A search for a new executive director will begin soon, said Jenny Kim, president of the Visitors Center’s board of directors.
The city of Columbus is taking the next steps to build a new fieldhouse and revamp the former Fair Oaks Mall, with Columbus City Council giving its approval this week to financing the construction.
A lease with the Columbus Municipal Facilities Building Corporation would obligate the city to pay about $1.8 million annually from the city’s economic development income tax to repay about $29 million in bonds issued by the corporation for the fieldhouse portion. That would take about half of the city’s annual economic development income tax revenue for the 25-year length of the lease.
The city envisions a roughly 150,000 square foot fieldhouse on the north side of the former mall. The project itself would cost about $25 million.
The fieldhouse costs would be in addition to the cost for the parks and recreation department administrative and community spaces in the mall, which would be repaid through a $11.5 million bond through the parks department. That was given its first approval this week and will be repaid out of property taxes.
The approvals passed 6-1 with Councilwoman Elaine Hilber voting against both. She has previously expressed concerns about the existing Donner Center facility and tying up so much of the income tax revenue for so long for the fieldhouse.
The former mall has been renamed NexusPark. The city and Columbus Regional Health purchased the 35-acre mall site at 25th Street and Central Avenue in 2018 with an eye to making the property into a health, wellness, sports and recreation center for the city.
The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County is announcing a new partnership with the city of Seymour and the Jennings County Drug and Alcohol Task Force.
The alliance will use grant funding through the Family and Social Services Administration of Indiana to fund a community needs assessment and action plan for the two communities. The grant funding lasts through June of next year.
Sherri Jewett, ASAP’s Executive Director said the group is excited to begin formally working with Jackson and Jennings counties to fight the substance use disorder epidemic.
Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson said ASAP will act in an advisory role, providing technical assistance in the community collaboration process, the needs assessment, and the action plan.