A Hope man was arrested last week after a theft of ammunition from a Shelbyville store.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the Rural King in Shelby County reported several cases of ammunition had been taken from the store. Bartholomew County deputies found a vehicle matching the suspect’s description on Marr Road at about 8:38 p.m. Friday evening.

After stopping the vehicle, deputies discovered ammunition worth more than $3,500 inside.

39-year-old John Cornett of Hope was taken into custody and then turned over to the Shelbyville Police Department along with the ammo.

No information on charges has been released by Shelby County authorities.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

A Columbus man was arrested and a stolen vehicle recovered after a chase Monday afternoon on 10th Street.

According to Columbus Police Department reports, officers spotted a car speeding near 10th Street and Central Avenue at about 1:30 p.m.Monday afternoon. Police tried to pull the vehicle over but the driver ran the traffic signal at the intersection, eventually losing control and crashing near 10th Street at McClure Road. The driver then tried to run away before being captured in the 900 block of McClure Road.

39-year-old Melvin G. Foree was arrested on preliminary charges of auto theft, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting law enforcement in a vehicle and resisting law enforcement on foot.

Photos courtesy of Columbus Police Department

Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus is announcing a new partnership that will allow students to earn a Professional Flight associates of applied science degree.

The school announced the partnership with Leadership In Flight Training Academy, which is owned by Republic Airways in Indianapolis.

Students in the new program will earn 32 credit hours of classroom time and nearly 260 hours of flight time, leading to an associates degree and the option to complete certification as a flight instructor.

Ivy Tech began the Professional Flight program five years ago and the new partnership will connect students with top notch training and lead to potential employment, said Dr. Steven Combs, chancellor of Ivy Tech Columbus. Students who successfully graduate from the program will receive an interview with Republic Airways and have an opportunity to interview for pilot positions with Cape Air.

The program will offer a limited number of seats and students will need to pass background checks and medical examinations.

LIFT Academy is hosting an open house at their hangar at Indianapolis International Airport on Thursday, August 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. The event will be at at 2753 Cargo Drive.  A fall open house is also scheduled for October 13th.

You can find more information at www.flywithlift.com/admissions and you can apply at  www.ivytech.edu/apply-now/index.html 

Indiana Troopers are warning of a scam that appears to be a text from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

According to Indiana State Police reports, you could receive the scam text, supposedly alerting you that you have unclaimed money from the state. However, clicking on the link in the text will take you to a webpage asking for personal and confidential information. If you enter your information, it can be stolen by the scammers, giving them access to your personal accounts, state police say.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says that it will not send you a text or email asking you to click on a link to receive benefits or a payment.

State police say one of the easiest ways to protect yourself from scammers by text or email is to simply ignore and delete requests from unknown senders. Never provide information such as your name, social security number, bank accounts or credit cards to someone you don’t know.

Streets near the roundabout at Mill Race Park in downtown Columbus are closed as crews continue to work on a sewer replacement project.

According to city officials, the intersection of Eighth and Brown streets remains closed, as well as Brown Street between Fifth Street and the roundabout and Eighth Street between Brown and Lindsey Streets.

You should avoid the area if you can.

The U.S. Postal Service is holding a local job fair on Thursday to fill several positions in Columbus.

According to the service, local positions include city carrier assistants, postal clerks, rural carrier associates and assistant rural carriers. Pay ranges from #18.92 to $19.12 an hour.

The job fair will be from 10 to 2 Thursday at the Columbus Post Office on Jackson Street.

You can find out more about the job postings, duties, responsibilities, requirements and benefits at www.usps.com/careers.

A fire early this morning damaged a rental home on Cherry Street in Columbus.

According to reports from the Columbus Fire Department, a woman was in the living room of the home in the 600 block of Cherry Street with her two children at about 12:17 a.m. this morning when she smelled smoke. She found a small fire near a power strip in the kitchen and attempted to extinguish it, but it continued to grow. She escaped the home with the children and called 911.

Columbus police arrived and extinguished the fire. When firefighters arrived, they found smoke throughout the home and an investigation revealed that the power strip had been plugged into an extension cord, and was powering several kitchen appliances. Investigators believe the overloaded power strip shorted out, causing the fire.

Damages were estimated at about $3,000 including the kitchen wall, window and a freezer.

The American Red Cross is assisting the family with emergency shelter.

Bartholomew County is moving forward with a contract to offer fiber optic internet service to rural areas of the community.

County Commissioners approved a master development agreement yesterday with Hoosier Networks, through Meridiam Infrastructure, to begin the project. The goal is to bring high speed internet into almost 12,000 homes.

In December, county commissioners sought proposals from companies that were willing to provide rural broadband to the county, for a share of $4 million set aside from federal COVID-19 relief funds. Meridiam Infrastructure ad AT&T were the only companies to submit proposals that met specifications.

County Commissioner Tony London has headed up the county’s efforts to improve high-speed internet access. He said the contract would be a game changer for those with poor or no internet access in the county.

The company said it will now be asking for a tax abatement to hold off on paying property taxes on the new infrastructure. The tax break request will go before Bartholomew County Council for consideration. The City of Columbus recently approved a similar request from the company, waiving 95 percent of the property taxes on the new investment for 20 years.

London and County Attorney Grant Tucker said the project can’t move forward financially without the benefits of the tax abatement.

Two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence have testified before a federal grand jury investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol.

The Columbus-native Pence certified the electoral college votes on Jan. 6th, over the insistence by then President Trump that the election was stolen.

The New York Times reports that former chief of staff Marc Short and Greg Jacob, who was Pence’s counsel, testified before the grand jury on Friday. According to The Times, the men’s appearances before the grand jury are the latest indication that the Justice Department is expanding its investigation beyond people who attacked the Capitol and those involved in so-called fake elector schemes. Word of Short and Jacobs’ testimony is the first public revelation that people with first-hand knowledge of what happened in the White House leading up to the attack have cooperated with federal prosecutors.

Story courtesy of our news-gathering partners at TTWN Media Networks Inc.

Columbus police will be celebrating 30 years of the DARE program in the city and Bartholomew County on Friday August 5th with the DARE Charity Golf Tournament at Otter Creek Golf Course.

Among the prizes is $10,000 courtesy of Richard Hawes Insurance, a new vehicle from Country Chevrolet, and free steak dinners for a year from Texas Roadhouse.

Each year, the department spends between $15 and $20,000 dollars from donations and fundraisers for the drug abuse education program, according to police. Earlier this month, police had to cancel the planned Blue Line Ride fundraiser to support the DARE program due to staffing issues.

You can sign up a team, make a donation or arrange a sponsorship by calling Columbus Police Department at 812-376-2600.