You will have a chance to take part in upcoming workshops on “Interrupting Racism” organized by Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

The workshops will focus on local efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion. The online workshops will be September 22 and 23rd, and again on November 17th and 18th.

Nearly 200 community leaders have participated in the anti-racism training hosted by Heritage Fund and facilitated by Child Advocates. The two-day workshops will have facilitated exercises designed to understand systemic racism and its outcomes.

For more information or to register, contact Kyle Hendricks at 812-376-7772 or [email protected].

Columbus Fire Department is announcing the promotion of two firefighters.

Capt. Eric Darlage is being promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief. Darlage is a 22-year member of the department and previously served as the Battalion-A Captain at Fire Station #1. Darlage will serve as the commanding officer of Battalion-A.

Lt. Michael Nida is being promoted to the rank of Captain. Nida is a 22-year member of the department and previously served as the Battalion-C Lieutenant at Fire Station #2. Nida has been assigned to serve as the Battalion-A Captain at Fire Station #1.

Last week, the department announced the retirement of Battalion Chief Terry Whitis, a 33-year veteran of the department.

Columbus police are welcoming four new officers, sworn in yesterday by Mayor Jim Lienhoop.

Officer Kareem Ash was born in Trinidad and is a graduate of Columbus East High School and Ivy Tech. Ash has already graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and was a patrol officer with the Bloomington Police Department.

Officer Daniel Craig is from Batesville and served as a reserve officer for the Lawrenceburg  Police Department.

Officer Chelcie Ragsdale is a Marines Corp veteran and attended Ivy Tech Community College.

Officer Drew Yeley is the son of retired Columbus Police Officer Craig Yeley and the grandson of retired CPD officer Ed Yeley. He is a graduate of Columbus East High School and served as a military police officer with the Indiana National Guard. He has worked as a corrections officer with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Ash will be starting the department’s field training program, while Craig, Ragsdale and Yeley begin their training this month at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department. From left, New officers, Chelcie Ragsdale,  Drew Yeley, Kareem Ash and Daniel Craig were sworn in Tuesday.

Former Vice President and Columbus native Mike Pence is condemning the FBI raid of ex-President Trump’s resort home in Florida.

Pence called the raid unprecedented. He tweeted, “No former President of the United States has ever been subject to a raid of their personal residence.” Pence argued it “undermines public confidence” in the nation’s justice system.

Congressman Greg Pence also questioned the raid, comparing it to the Mueller Investigation and the January 6th Commission, saying on Twitter that “partisan Democrats will exploit the levers of government to go after its political opponents in order to achieve political gain.”

The congressman urged the FBI director and Attorney General to come forward immediately and explain their actions.

Portions of this story courtesy of our news-gathering partners at TTWN Media Networks Inc.

The Jennings County prosecutor says there was no crime on the part of jail staff in the death of an inmate in May, but a state police report also concluded that the jail did not follow all of its procedures for ensuring the inmate’s safety.

Prosecutor Brian Belding has released his department’s report on the investigation into the death of 35-year-old Sandra I. Ray of North Vernon, who was found unresponsive in her cell in May. According to the report, an autopsy concluded Ray died as a result of complications from alcoholism and alcohol withdrawals.

Belding and Indiana State Police investigators concluded that there was no evidence of a crime in Ray’s death and no criminal charges are warranted.

The report did conclude that some procedures were not followed. The jail has a protocol for an inmate possibly going through alcohol withdrawals to be checked on every hour for the first four hours of their incarceration, then every two hours. And a physician is to be called on the first signs of tremors or altered consciousness.

However, between May 24th and 26th, only three check-ins were recorded. No doctor was called despite evidence of tremors and it is unclear whether the jail nurse was notified of Ray’s condition.

Bartholomew County Council is moving ahead with a change that could eventually allow a tax break to bring high-speed internet to rural parts of the county, but would also make it easier for other businesses to seek tax abatements.

Last night the council agreed to begin the process of turning unincorporated areas of the entire county into a Economic Revitalization Area. While that would remove a step required for any companies seeking tax abatements going forward, it would also allow Hoosier Networks to seek a tax break for a project to bring high speed internet to almost 12,000 rural homes throughout the county.

Currently each individual property owner has to ask the County Council to approve an Economic Revitalization Area designation for a property before returning to seek a tax abatement.

The council’s decision starts a process that will include a public hearing on the Economic Revitalization Area proposal next month.

Commissioner Tony London said that if the designation is approved, eventually Hoosier Networks would like to request a tax abatement for the project. The city of Columbus adopted a similar tax break for the company earlier this summer, suspending 95 percent of its property taxes for 20 years.

Scott Rudd, a Brown County councilman and Bartholomew County consultant, mentioned that other counties have completely eliminated property taxes for similar projects, with no limit on the duration of the tax break.

An 11-year-old child has been found after going missing near Edinburgh Dam on Sunday.

The Edinburgh Police Department, water rescue teams, and Edinburgh Fire and Rescue were dispatched to the Edinburgh Dam on State Road 252 after a report of a missing child. The pre-teen was last  seen next to the water by his mother.

Deputy Chief Mercado located him after a concerned citizen reported a child walking alone on U.S. 31.

The child walked away from the water and was unable to locate his mother, so he began walking home, officials say.

A Columbus man is being accused of firing shots outside a bar after being thrown out Saturday night.

According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers were called to the bar in the 3800 block of 25th Street at about 11:10 p.m. Saturday night after a report of a shots being fired in the parking lot.

Witnesses said that 27-year-old Chase McNealy had been kicked out of the bar and fired several shots in the parking lot. Police soon found McNealy running away while carrying a handgun. He was captured in the backyard of a residence near 22nd Street and Beam Road.

His weapon was recovered and casings were found in the parking lot of the bar.

McNealy is facing preliminary charges of criminal recklessness with a firearm, resisting law enforcement with a deadly weapon, intimidation with a firearm, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct.

A Columbus man is being accused of driving under the influence after a crash Saturday night.

According to Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, reports, deputies were called to the crash scene at Sprague Road and West County Road 525S at about 10:15 p.m. Saturday night

The driver and a juvenile received minor injuries in the crash.  35-year-old Nicolas Bokich was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with endangerment, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a crash, resisting law enforcement, and neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury.

The Columbus/Bartholomew County COVID-19 Community Task Force recently released its latest coronavirus numbers, showing continued increases in cases while hospitalizations remain steady.

Based on weekly data last collected on August 2nd, there was an average of 30 new positive cases per day, up from 26 cases the previous week.

Columbus Regional Health’s COVID hospitalizations were at a daily average of 13 patients, the same as the previous week.

For more information about the impact of COVID-19 locally, visit covid19communitytaskforce.org.