The City of Columbus will be holding a spring cleanup for community yards starting next week.
The cleanup will run from April 4th through April 15th. You can clean up your yards, flower beds and fence rows, by raking loose leaves, grass, pine needles and other yard debris to the curb. City crews will use leaf vacs to collect the loose debris on the same day as your normal trash collection.
You do not have to participate in the city’s regular yard waste program to take part in the spring yard cleanup.
You will have a chance to weigh in and to ask questions about proposed intersection improvements on U.S. 31 in northern Bartholomew County tomorrow afternoon.
INDOT will be holding an open house to discuss the planned project starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Taylorsville Elementary School.
This is a planned $3.1 million dollar project that will close the current intersections at Tannehill Road and at Bear Lane on U.S. 31, replacing them with two reduced conflict intersections. According to INDOT, instead of vehicles crossing fast-moving lanes of traffic to go straight or turn left, reduced conflict intersections turn right in the same direction of travel as the traffic, merge into the left lane of traffic and then make a U-turn to head the direction they want to travel.
INDOT says the new intersections enhance safety, improve traffic flow, and reduce crash frequency.
The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a wind advisory from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday in our area.
The weather service says the advisory affects all of central Indiana, including Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson and Shelby counties.
You can expect south winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph.
Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects and tree limbs could be blown down. Power outages may result. You should secure any outside furniture other objects.
You should use extra caution if you are driving, especially if you are operating a high-profile vehicle.
The Columbus City Cemetery is set for a spring cleanup on Friday.
The cemetery is just south of Donner Park. If you have a family plot in the cemetery you are asked to pick up any items you wish to save by Thursday.
The city parks department workers will remove and discard any worn or out-of-season decorations that remain on the ground during the April 1st cleanup.
Jennifer L. Goldman. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
Two people were arrested Monday night after the Columbus Police SWAT team was called to a home on Reed Street.
According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers called in the team to serve a warrant as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation at about 8:40 p.m. Monday night in the 700 block of Reed Street.
36-year-old Jennifer L. Goldman and 39-year-old Michael E. Ames, both of Columbus, were taken into custody without further incident. Police say that they recovered methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia at the home.
Goldman was arrested on two counts of dealing methamphetamine along with possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and a syringe, as well as maintaining a common nuisance.
Michael E. Ames. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
Ames is being accused of dealing in methamphetamine.
The Columbus SWAT team is made up of officers from the police department and deputies from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
The Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team assisted with this ongoing investigation.
Applications are now being accepted for the Dr. Bud Scholarship through Schneck Medical Center in Seymour.
The scholarship benefits students working toward becoming a registered nurse. Candidates must have completed their first year of a registered nursing program. It is primarily for residents of Jackson, Jennings, Scott and Washington counties.
The scholarship is awarded in honor of Dr. H.P. Bud Graessle who was a physician and surgeon in Seymour for 53 years.
Applications for the scholarship are available at SchneckMed.org/careers. The deadline to apply is May 22nd.
The Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation is looking for nominees for the Ross Wallace and Chuck Grimes Out of the Box Award.
This award is intended for an individual employee, or team of employees, that has implemented an innovative practice that helps students demonstrate a sense of humor or kindness, improves communication or helps them achieve their best as a result of the innovation.
Larry M. Nantz. Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.
Four people were arrested last week in an investigation into the sheltering of fugitives in Jennings County.
According to Jennings County Sheriff’s Department reports, deputies discovered that two people wanted in an ongoing investigation had left a Country Squire Lakes home in a vehicle on Thursday. With the assistance of undercover surveillance units, detectives from the Scott County Sheriff’s Department stopped the vehicle in the 2500 block of Jennings County Road 300N.
The wanted suspects, 48-year-old Larry M. Nantz and 47-year-old Tamara L. Watkins were taken into custody, along with the driver of the vehicle 51-year-old Melissa M. Needler, who is accused of driving a vehicle while suspended with a prior conviction.
A search of the vehicle also discovered drugs and paraphernalia.
Tamara L. Watkins. Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.
Nantz was already wanted on two outstanding Jennings County warrants for absconding from a treatment facility and escape. He and Watkins are facing new charges for possessing marijuana, a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. Watkins is also being accused of possession of methamphetamine while Nantz is being accused of possessing a syringe.
Deputies also arrested 53-year-old Farmer J. Mullins who is being accused of a felony charge of assisting a criminal for allegedly sheltering Nantz.
The Hanover Police Department, Indiana State Police, Columbus Police Department and Jennings County Prosecutors Office also assisted in the investigation.
Sheriff Kenny Freeman said that assisting or concealing a wanted person is a felony.
Photo of Nantz arrest courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.
You will see temporary traffic signals at a bridge construction project in Brown County, starting next week.
INDOT says that work is scheduled to start in April replacing the superstructure of the State Road 135 bridge over Pleasant Valley Creek. That is south of State Road 46, near Van Buren Elementary School.
On Monday, the road will be reduced to one lane with temporary traffic signals in place. Those measures should stay in place through early July.
Milestone Contractors will be the crews working on the $2 million project.
INDOT asks you to use extra caution, to drive without distractions and to be alert to worker safety in construction zones. The schedule is dependent on the weather.
