A Jackson County man was arrested last week, accused of abducting his ex-girlfriend from her workplace and attacking her in the vehicle.

According to reports from the Seymour Police Department, a workplace requested a welfare check on a worker who did not return from a break on Thursday. Police checked the area where she was last seen and other nearby areas, but couldn’t find a trace of her.

On Friday, police received a tip that the missing woman reached out to someone and gave a possible location where she was being held. Using technological tools, police found that the woman was in the Columbus area and with the aid of Columbus police, the woman was located along with a man.

The woman told police that her ex-boyfriend, pulled her into a vehicle and then drove off. He battered her several times while in the vehicle, she said.

Police tried to interview the man, identified as 53-year-old James A. Hampton Jr. of Seymour, but he refused and became combative with Columbus officers. He was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail Friday on preliminary charges of criminal confinement, intimidation, and domestic battery.

Local law enforcement officers will be holding a memorial service Friday morning in Columbus to recognize officers who have fallen in the line of duty in the last year.

The ceremony comes during National Police Week.

During the 30-minute long ceremony, the 617 police officers and 21 police dogs who died in the line of duty in 2021 will be recognized. Local honor guards and bagpipers will take part. There will also be a 21 gun salute and the playing of Taps.

The ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. Friday morning at the Public Safety Plaza at Second and Jackson Streets in Columbus.

The event is free and you are invited to attend.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security is warning about more scams involving peer-to-peer payment services.

According to the agency, the scams start with a phone call, text or email purportedly coming from the victim’s bank. The scammer will warn you about a non-existent problem with your bank account and try to get your personal bank account information, or lead you to pay them through a service such as Venmo, Paypal or Google Pay.

The state warns that signs you are dealing with a scammer include their insistence that immediate payment using their instructions is the only way to fix the problem. They can be pushy or aggressive and if the scam attempt is in a written form, it could include grammatical or spelling errors.

If you are contacted concerning a bank error, do not respond directly to the message or phone call. Do not give out account information over the phone or online. Instead look up your bank’s contact information yourself, and contact the bank directly.

Some city of Columbus offices will be switching to summer hours starting next Monday.

Summer hours will run from May 23rd to Friday, August 5th, with normal staffing returning on August 8th.

During summer hours, City Engineering and Columbus City Utilities will be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Columbus City Garage will be open from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., their normal hours.

Other offices will retain their normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours including other city hall offices, Columbus police and fire administration offices, Columbus Municipal Airport, Animal Care Services, Parks and Recreation and the Columbus Housing Authority.

The deadline is coming up this week to sign up for a new workshop aimed at job market skills for recent high school graduates.

Bartholomew County Works is launching the program for soon-to-be high school graduates interested in immediately entering the workforce. Topics of the weeklong workshop will include applications, resumes, interviews, professionalism, attitude and more.

The deadline to apply for the High School Graduate Job Readiness Training Workshop is 4 p.m. in the afternoon on Thursday. Class size is limited.

The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily starting next week, at YES Cinema.

For more information, call Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center at 812-379-1630.

Landmark Columbus Foundation will be releasing its annual report and making a special announcement at a event tomorrow evening in downtown Columbus.

The organization will be hosting High Five Day at the Upland Brewing Pump House from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

There will be music by DJ Master Mix, snacks and drinks. It is meant as a time to reflect on the start of the first Exhibit Columbus, six years ago.

There will also be commemorative items for sale to help maintain the organization, including a “People, Place, Progress” lapel pin, matching the theme of the annual report. Proceeds from the sales will go to support the Landmark Columbus Foundation Endowment.

Richard McCoy, executive director of the organization, says that the special announcement will be about a way to sustain the organization for years to come. Landmark Columbus Foundation is a group that cares for, celebrates, and advances the cultural heritage of Columbus.

Tuesday’s event is free and you are invited to attend.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is breaking with ex-President Trump when it comes to the Republican primary for Georgia governor.

The Columbus native will headline a rally for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp sometime on May 23rd, one day before the primary election. Trump has been going after Kemp ever since he lost Georgia to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. State pundits say the governor faces several challenges in the race, chief among them former U.S. Senator David Perdue, who enjoys the backing of Trump.

Officials with the Kemp campaign say that the Pence event’s time and venue have yet to be confirmed.

Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks Inc.

An Elizabethtown man died last week, while trying to avoid a crash with a stopped school bus, police say.

63-year-old Daniel L. Sallee of Jennings County was pronounced dead by the Jackson County Coroner’s office at the scene of the crash on Jackson County Road 1000E near County Road 250N Friday morning.

Indiana State Police are reporting that the crash happened at about 8 a.m. in the morning Friday several miles south of Seymour. Sallee was speeding southbound when he encountered a Seymour Community School’s bus stopped in the southbound lane to pick up a student. The bus warning lights were activated and the stop arm was extended.

Troopers say that Sallee applied his brakes and took evasive action to avoid hitting the bus. His car left the road and flipped over. He was not wearing a seat belt, contributing to his fatal injuries, state police say.

The school bus was not involved in the crash and neither the driver nor students were injured.

The investigation is ongoing.

State Police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles was also assisted at the scene by the Indiana State Police-Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Jackson County EMS, Jackson County Fire Departments and Hampton’s Towing.

The 11th annual Smoke on the Square barbecue competition is being held today and tomorrow on the Hope Town Square.

The event is a fundraiser for the Community Center of Hope to benefit the center’s food bank and child care center. The event features a BBQ cook-off competition between teams and public BBQ dining.

The public dining portion of this year’s event will be meals served under the shelterhouse at the square. Those will range from $10 for a brisket meal to $5 for a hot dog meal. You can also get individual sandwiches and sides or a $5 funnel cake from the local Kappa Kappa Sigma Sorority.

Activities started at 4 this afternoon and will pick up again at 11 on Saturday. In addition to food, there will also be live music, crafts and children’s entertainment.

Students, their families and friends are celebrating after commencement ceremonies Thursday for IUPUC.

This was the second year for the ceremonies to be held on the IUPUC campus, taking place in the north parking lot of the Columbus Air Park campus. These were also the first commencement ceremonies since 2019 to be open to visitors to the campus, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

There were 280 students receiving their bachelor’s and master’s degrees Thursday.

Speakers included Heather L. Adams, President of the Student Government Activities Board, Nettie Elizabeth Miller, who gave an address as the Chancellor’s Scholar and Bishop Johnnie Edwards, the keynote speaker.