Columbus firefighters were called out on another animal rescue mission last week.

According to Columbus Fire Department reports, Columbus Animal Care Services asked for firefighters assistance after two goslings fell into a storm drain near the Chili’s Restaurant on North National Road Friday afternoon. The firefighters removed the drain grate and the birds were quickly reunited with their mom and three siblings who were waiting nearby.

On Thursday, firefighters rescued a dog stuck on a sandbar on the Flat Rock River.

Photos courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.

A Columbus woman is being accused of driving drunk and getting into two accidents, all with a small child in the vehicle.

Columbus police report that they were called to the 1000 block of Fifth Street shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon where a vehicle had struck a building and flag pole. Police noticed that the car also had front-end damage and witnesses said that the driver, 22-year-old Rebekah A. McCoy, appeared intoxicated. Officers say that McCoy had a small child in the back of the vehicle.

During the investigation, police discovered that McCoy had been involved in a previous crash, where the driver left the scene.

After field sobriety tests, McCoy was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to have her blood drawn. She was then arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle intoxicated with a minor in the vehicle, neglect of a dependent and two counts of leaving the scene of a property damage crash.

The child was released to a family member.

Columbus firefighters rescued a dog trapped on a sandbar on the Flat Rock River Thursday afternoon.

According to fire department reports, Columbus Animal Care Services had been trying to rescue the dog for 30-45 minutes, including dropping it some food from the bridge. The dog tried several times to swim away, but the water was moving too quickly and it kept returning to the sandbar.

Firefighters were called to the 3400 block of North National Road at about 12:27 p.m. where they came up with a rescue plan.

Three firefighters reached the bank of the river through the woods. One firefighter donned a water rescue dry suit and then walked across the waist high water to reach the dog. It took a few minutes of coaxing, but the dog moved close enough to the firefighter to be secured and then carried to the bank of the river where the other firefighters had been waiting.

A witness recognized the dog and called its owners, who arrived on scene. They said that Kobe, a one-year-old boxer, had jumped a fence Wednesday and had been missing since 10:30 p.m. the night before.

Kobe seemed unharmed after being marooned and seemed excited by the attention, firefighters say.

Photos courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.

Organizers of Ethnic Expo are announcing that the annual Columbus event will be returning to the streets around City Hall this fall.

The organizers posted on social media  saying that the event will be held October 7th and 8th along First and Washington Streets. Columbus redevelopment officials said earlier this week that the work building the 1821 Bicentennial Trail extension along First Street would be finished in August, in plenty of time to hold Ethnic Expo downtown.

Last year’s Ethnic Expo was split up into four smaller events held over the summer including Juneteenth, a Chinese Expo, the Ganesh Festival of India and Fiesta Latina. Those were sponsored by the city of Columbus and the Columbus Area Visitors Center, which took over the event planning last year.

Organizers say that applications for food and bazaar booth vendors are live now on the website at ethnicexpo.org. For more information you can call 812-376-2520.

Cummins is moving forward with plans to split off its filtration business.

The company announced yesterday that its Filtration business has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed underwritten initial public offering of newly issued common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the IPO have not yet been determined.

The IPO is expected to commence after the completion of the SEC review process, subject to market and other conditions.

Cummins announced last summer that it was exploring options for its filtration business, including breaking it off into a separate company. Cummins Filtration was founded in 1958 and the company says splitting it off as a standalone company could allow accelerated growth as the business diversifies into new products and markets. The business had sales of about $1.2 billion in 2020.

A missing elderly Seymour man has been found dead near the Muscatatuck River in Washington County.

According to Indiana Conservation officers, the body of 89-year-old Harold L. Wilson was discovered by fishermen outside of Little York in Washington County Wednesday.

The fishermen saw Wilson’s body along a small tributary adjoining the Muscatatuck River, and Wilson’s car was found a short distance away, near State Road 39.

Indiana State Police divers recovered Wilson’s body shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday evening.

Wilson was the subject of a Silver Alert issued by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department on April 19.

An autopsy is scheduled for later today to determine Wilson’s cause of death. No foul play is suspected at this time.

Other assisting agencies at the scene included the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Washington County EMS, and the Gibson Township Fire Department.

Bartholomew County will be holding an open house and dedication from 10 a.m. to noon today for the new county highway garage.

The previous county garage on State Street was landlocked with little room for expansion and the building was classified as functionally obsolete. County officials built the new structure on 11.25 acres neighboring the Clay Township Fire Department on rural 25th Street on the east side of Columbus. The property was previously owned by the county Solid Waste Management District.

The project was paid for with a $6 million bond and out of county income tax revenues.

The garage is at 10163 E 25th St.

North Vernon police arrested two women last week on drug-dealing charges after a traffic stop.

According to police reports, an officer stopped a vehicle speeding on Hurley Drive near Brookside Drive on April 14th. The driver originally gave a fake name, but the vehicle’s owner, 51-year-old Bonnie Warriner of North Vernon soon arrived on the scene. Warriner gave another fake name for the driver. Police eventually determined the driver was 42-year-old Willowdale Anderson of Columbus.

Anderson was wanted on outstanding warrants from Bartholomew County for failing to appear in court on drug possession charges. Anderson also admitted to police that she has smoked methamphetamine and marijuana hours before the traffic stop. A search revealed 81 grams of marijuana and16 grams of heroin in a purse Anderson was carrying.

Both women were arrested.

Anderson is facing charges of dealing in a controlled substance, possession of Marijuana, driving while with a prior conviction, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, false Informing and visiting a common nuisance.

Warriner is being accused of dealing in a controlled substance, assisting a criminal and maintaining a common nuisance .

The Columbus Area Arts Council is announcing that its executive director, Kathryn Armstrong, will be stepping down after six years with the organization.

Armstrong has accepted a role as director of development with the Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency in Michigan. Armstrong said the move will put her closer to family and allow her to restart her own personal creative practice.

Armstrong joined the Columbus group in 2016 after leaving a faculty instructor position at the Herron School of Art and Design. Erin Hawkins, director of marketing for the Columbus Area Visitors Center, said that Armstrong’s legacy is moving the arts group away from entertainment-style events and toward more arts-related programming.

Arts Council Board President Mike Elwood said Armstrong helped restore the financial health and well-being of the Arts Council to its strongest position in the history of the organization.

Armstrong has served on several boards and committees in the area including the  Columbus Area Visitors Center advisory committee, the Mayor’s Public Arts Committee,  Columbus Arts & Entertainment District guiding team, Heritage Fund community outreach impact committee, as an adult mentor at Turning Point’s Dance Marathon, an advisory board member of Historic New Harmony and a member of the Brown County Art Guild board.

Armstrong’s resignation will be effective May 27th.

Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson will be holding a series of Curbside Chats around the community, starting next week.

The mayor and department heads will be meeting with residents at local parks to foster conversations, to spark ideas and to get to know each other better. The first Curbside Chat will include Chad Dixon, director of the Seymour Department of Public Works. It will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 28th at Burkhart Plaza, beside the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce building.

Upcoming chats will also be held on May 24th, June 13th, July 12th, August 18th and September 14th. You can get more information on locations and who will be attending on the city website at seymourin.org. You can also call 812-216-5644.