Brown County authorities plan to file charges against a man who was shot by a deputy while allegedly trying to commit “suicide by cop.”

Brown County Prosecutor Ted Adams released the results yesterday of an Indiana State Police investigation into the April 20th shooting on Mount Liberty Road. According to the report, Brown County dispatchers received a call that night about a suicidal man at the home and a deputy responded. After talking to family members, the deputy entered the back yard where he found a man with a holstered revolver. During discussions between the man and his family members, the man pulled the weapon and the deputy responded by pulling his own gun.

The man then pointed his .357 Magnum revolver at the deputy while also striking the officer’s hand and weapon. The man also pointed the weapon at his own head, at bystanders, at the deputy again and waved it in the air, asking to be shot by the deputy. When the man pointed the weapon at the deputy for a third time, the officer fired three times, hitting the man twice and disarming him.

The deputy then began providing medical aid to the man. The suicidal man was taken to IU Methodist Hospital for treatment and he survived.

The man’s weapon turned out to be unloaded.

Adams said that the deputy showed remarkable restraint and stressed that the officer had only 14 seconds to make the decision on firing his weapon from the time the man first drew the gun from his holster. Overall, the officer issued 14 commands to the man, telling him to drop his weapon repeatedly and to get back.

Adams said that his office plans to file criminal charges against the suicidal man. Neither the man’s nor the deputy’s names have been released.

The Westport Volunteer Fire Department will be getting trained in grain bin rescues and receive a piece of life-saving equipment, as part of a program from Nationwide Insurance.

Nationwide announced yesterday that 58 fire departments will receive the awards this year. The Grain Bin Safety Campaign has provided 265 grain bin rescue tubes since the start of the program of 2014.

In March, volunteer firefighters from Westport were first on scene to a farmer trapped in a grain silo but called for assistance to Jennings County departments with the equipment – a grain bin rescue tube — before the man could be freed.

Nationwide, in partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety provides fire departments with the grain rescue tubes and hands-on training. That will include state-of-the-art grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. The simulators are loaded onto 20-foot trailers and able to hold about 100 bushels of grain each.

There were more than 1,800 fire departments nominated in 45 states to receive the equipment and training this year. The resources are being brought to the Westport thanks to donations from the Indiana Corn Marketing Council.

Photos courtesy of Nationwide Insurance.

Duke Energy is offering electricity saving tips for its Indiana customers.

The power company says that with higher temperatures, customers will see higher electric bills, but there are some easy ways to save energy and money.

• The company says that you should frequently change the air filter in your heating and cooling system. Dirty filters make your HVAC work harder to cool the house.
• You should set your thermostat at the highest comfortable setting.
• During the hottest part of the day, Duke suggests that you close your blinds, drapes or curtains to keep the sun from heating your house.
• Ceiling fans can help cool your house. They should be set to spin in a counterclockwise direction, pushing cool air down into the room. However you should only use a ceiling fan in occupied rooms, as they only help cool people, not furnishings.
• If you need to cook, consider grilling outdoors. Your stove creates a lot of indoor heat.
• And you should turn off unnecessary lights when you leave a room. Hot lights make your air conditioning work harder.

You can find more suggestions at duke-energy.com/Summer.

The Bartholomew County Highway Department says you can expect delays on several roads during upcoming paving projects.

According to the highway department, County Road 300 South between 400W and 550W will be paved on Friday. Stafford Road between 1025E and 1075E will be paved on Monday.

The work schedule is dependent on the weather. County officials say that you should avoid these areas on the scheduled paving days.

Three area companies are receiving a share of nearly $4 million in grants from the state for technology-enabled capital investments.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation announced the Manufacturing Readiness Grants this week in partnership with Conexus Indiana. Across the state, 43 companies received grants from this round of funding.

Locally, grants went to Dorel Juvenile Group and Precise Tooling Solutions in Bartholomew County and Green Sign Company in Decatur County.

Dorel will use a $68,600 grant to invest in robotics to automate the packaging and handling of its finished goods.

Precise Tooling Solutions received a grant of $167,500 for an automated work cell.

Green Sign Company received a $50,000 grant to invest in two ultraviolet, LED flatbed digital printers.

Launched in 2020, the Manufacturing Readiness Grant program was created to stimulate private sector investments to modernize Indiana’s manufacturing industry.

A drug investigation by Jennings County deputies led to the arrest of two people in Country Squire Lakes on Monday.

According to Jennings County Sheriff’s Department reports, deputies began the investigation Monday afternoon, leading to a search warrant being served at a home in Country Squire Lakes. The search revealed more than 12 grams of methamphetamine, firearms, drug paraphernalia, syringes and other controlled substances.

40-year-old Jason Bensheimer from North Vernon was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing 10 grams or more of methamphetamine as well as for possessing the drugs, a syringe and paraphernalia.

38-year-old Natasha Brewer of North Vernon is facing preliminary charges of possessing drugs and paraphernalia as well as maintaining a common nuisance.

Columbus City Council is moving ahead with plans to make Columbus a second-class city.

The council gave its first approval last night for the measure which would change some of the ways the city is governed. Under the second class designation, the city would add two members to the City Council, the elected clerk-treasurer would become an elected clerk, while the city would appoint a comptroller to assume oversight of the city finances.

Columbus has been eligible for the higher classification for more than 20 years, but remains the largest third class city in the state. As of July 1st, to qualify a city must have more than 34,000 residents. Columbus had just over 39,000 people as of the 2000 census and 50,474 as of 2020. The state is decreasing the size requirement from the long-standing 35,000.

If given its second and final approval, the change wouldn’t go into effect until January of 2024.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has declared an Ozone Action Day for counties in our area including Bartholomew, Brown and Shelby counties.

An Ozone Action Day means that a combination of high temperatures, light winds, and other factors, produce conditions where high levels of ozone emissions may exceed federally mandated standards.

High ozone near the ground acts a lung irritant. It can cause coughing and breathing difficulties for sensitive populations. Children, the elderly, and anyone with heart or lung conditions should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors today.

IDEM recommends that you take actions to lower ozone levels, including walking, biking, carpooling or using public transportation; avoid going through drive-throughs; if your vehicle is going to be idling for more than 30 seconds, shut it off; combine your errands into one trip; avoid refueling your vehicle or using gas-powered lawn equipment until after 7 p.m. tonight.

The alert is in effect until midnight.

You can get more information at SmogWatch.IN.gov.

Columbus City Council will be considering tonight whether to make major changes to the way the city is governed.

At issue will be moving the city from a third class city under the state classification system, or moving up to second class status. Columbus is the largest third-class city in the state. Mayor Jim Lienhoop recently explained some of the changes:

Under the second class designation, the city would add two members to the City Council, the elected clerk-treasurer would become an elected clerk, while the city would appoint a comptroller to assume oversight of the city finances.

The city has been eligible for the change for more than 20 years. Qualifications are set by city size, with a benchmark of 35,000 set for many years. Columbus had just over 39,000 people as of the 2000 census, over 44,000 in 2010 and 50,474 as of 2020. The state recently decreased the size requirement to 34,000 and that will go into effect in July.

If approved, the change wouldn’t go into effect until January of 2024.

City Council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Columbus City Hall. You can also watch a stream of the meeting on the city website at columbus.in.gov

State Road 46 will be closing in eastern Bartholomew County next week while contractors replace a pipe.

According to INDOT, the work will start on or after Monday between U.S. 31 and County Road 450E and it will last through Friday, July 1st. The schedule is dependent on the weather.

The detour will take traffic to U.S. 31, State Road 7, U.S. 50 and State Road 3. Access will be maintained for local residents.

INDOT says that Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc. will be the workers on the $3.7 million dollar contract that includes patching, milling and paving State Road 46 between State Roads 7 and 9.

INDOT reminds you to slow down, to drive without distractions and to be alert for worker safety when you are traveling through construction zones.