Police have made four arrests after investigating a string of business burglaries dating back to July in Seymour.

According to reports from the Seymour Police Department, police have arrested four men from Maywood, Illinois in the burglaries.

The investigation began on July 11th, when more than $70,000 of semi-truck tires were taken from Best One Kentuckiana on Commerce Drive in Seymour. The investigation revealed that a rental box truck had been stolen from Austin and was used to remove the tires from the Seymour business.

In August, more than $10,000 in mounted semi truck tires were taken from Pomp’s Tire on Commerce Drive. A rental box truck had also been stolen from Kirk’s National Lease on Commerce Drive the day before.

Police identified the four suspects at the Best One burglary as 54-year-old Christopher Edmond Sr., 56-year-old Willie C. Murphy, 69-year-old Nathaniel Murphy and 72-year-old Randell Murphy, all of Maywood Illinois. Evidence also indicated that Nathaniel Murphy and Willie Murphy were involved in the August incidents.

Arrest warrants were issued and the four were arrested by the the Maywood Police Department, which helped identify the suspects. Edmond Sr. has been extradited back to Indiana and the Murphys are in custody and awaiting extradition.

The four are facing charges of burglary, theft, and criminal mischief.

Seymour Police say the investigation is still active and they are working with police departments in West Chicago and Minooka, Illinois as well as Plymouth, Indiana. Authorities believe the four may be suspects in cases being investigated in those cities as well.

Bartholomew County Commissioners have given their first approval to a new ordinance that would regulate the placement and rules for solar farms in rural parts of the county.

Commissioners voted 2-1 yesterday morning to approve the plan after hearing hours of input from the public and solar farm advocates. Audience members expressed concerns over whether the large arrays should be allowed within 200 feet of property lines or 500 feet, but also to what degree the property owners who want the solar farms should be restricted on what to do with their own property.

Unless and until the ordinance is approved, the county has no real regulations on the locating and requirements for large-scale solar projects. The proposal has been in the works for more than two years with long public hearings at the county plan commission level.

County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop voted against the ordinance, expressing concerns of losing productive farmland to the solar arrays. Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz also expressed concerns, but voted in favor of the proposal to keep it moving along, rather than stalling and reverting to the plan commission’s previous approval.

Commissioners could consider the final approval of the ordinance as soon as next Monday.

Columbus Regional Health wants to remind its patients that its outpatient radiology services department is relocating for up to a year starting on Nov. 4th.

The current building lease expires at the end of the year and while the health system has plans to move to a more permanent location, that site will not be ready by December.

The hospital will relocate Columbus Diagnostic Imaging to a temporary home on the main hospital campus. All CDI and Imaging staff will remain employed throughout this move and temporary relocation.

Patients with appointments already scheduled or who need to to be scheduled after Nov. 4 will be rescheduled to the new temporary location. Those patients will be notified and provided detailed instructions.

Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services will be holding a pet food pantry distribution on Thursday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of The Sanctuary Church.

The pet food will be distributed in the lot behind the church located at 3939 Central Avenue.

The purpose of the pantry is to assist local community members in need keep their pets in their home and out of area shelters. Pet food will be available from the van while supplies last. Mixed brands of cat food will be distributed in 4.5 pound bags and dog food in 14.5 pound bags.

If you take part you should stay in your vehicle and the food will be brought to you.

Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services is the non-profit partner of the city-operated Columbus Animal Care Services.

A Columbus man is being accused of dealing methamphetamine after an investigation by police.

According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, shortly before 1 a.m. in the morning Friday, police found 34-year-old Miguel J. “Yogi” Rivas in the 900 block of 11th Street. He had been the focus of an ongoing investigation into drug sales, police say.

Rivas was taken to jail on preliminary charges of dealing methamphetamine.

Police are asking for any information you might have on narcotics and violent crime in Columbus. You can call 812-376-2600. Tips can be left anonymously.

Bartholomew County Treasurer Barb Hackman is reminding taxpayers that fall property tax payments are due on Thursday, November 10th.

However, the county treasurer’s office will be closed on Nov. 8th due to Election Day. You can still submit your payment several different ways to meet the deadline.

You can mail your payment to the treasurer’s office at PO Box 1986, Columbus IN 47202. It must be postmarked by Nov. 10th to be considered as on time.

There are 24-hour drop boxes at the County Governmental Office building on Third Street, at the front and back of the building.

Local banks will take your property tax payment including Centra Credit Union, First Financial Bank, JCBank, Horizon Bank and German American.

You can also pay your bill online by going to bartholomew.in.gov. A convenience fee will be added to all online payments.

You can get more information by calling 812-379-1530.

Columbus police are looking for your help after three separate incidents of shots being fired in the city in recent days. One person was left wounded after a shooting in downtown Columbus early Sunday morning.

According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers were called to the 900 block of 11th Street at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday after shots were fired.

On Saturday, a man reported to police that a person he didn’t know fired a gun into the ground near him after an argument in the 1100 block of California street at about 3:30 a.m. in the morning.

A woman was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday morning after she was shot in the 900 block of California Street. She was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

If you have any information about these incidents, you can call the Columbus Police Department Investigations Division at 812-376-2600. Tips can be left anonymously.

Loose leaf collection for Columbus residents will begin today with the pickups happening on the same day as your regular trash route.

Loose leaves need to be raked curbside, but not into the gutter. City officials say that loose leaves in the street leads to clogged storm drains and flooding of streets when it rains.

Leaves are not being accepted in bags. However, if you choose to bag your leaves, you can load them up and take them to the compost site at the Columbus/Bartholomew County recycling center on Mapleton Street. You must dump your bags and take them with you, where they can be re-used.

The city has also announced that its street sweeping schedule will start today.

You can get more information on the street-sweeping schedule and on leaf collections on the city website. Go to columbus.in.gov

The Exhibit Columbus symposium is coming to downtown Columbus Friday and Saturday.

Exhibit Columbus, launched in 2016, has two-year cycles with a symposium hosted one year, and the installation of exhibits around the city the next year. This year is a symposium event.

Organizers say the event will feature sessions with the J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Recipients, University Design Research Fellows, High School Design Team, Graphic Designer, and the Curatorial Team.

On Friday, you will be able to go out into the field with the Miller Prize Recipients and there will be sessions with them at The Commons. Friday morning’s session is with Trinity Simons Wagner, executive director of the Mayor’s Institute on City Design. That is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts. That will be at 9 a.m. at The Commons.

At 5:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, there will be a keynote with the Miller Prize recipients at The Commons.

Saturday’s keynote will be at 9 a.m. at Columbus City Hall with Rachel Kaplan-David of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Jenny Gil Schmitz of Desert X and Rasul Mowatt, Department Head of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University, talking about their work with two of the most recognized art and architecture biennials in the world.

You can get more information at exhibitcolumbus.org

Columbus City Council will be considering new district maps when it meets on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the council approved a move up to become a second class city.

Second class cities have nine council members instead of the current seven. Six of those would run for seats by district, while three more would be at-large where voters throughout the city could make the decision.

The ordinance changing the council districts is up for first approval at the council’s Tuesday meeting. The council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers at Columbus City Hall.

You can get more information at columbus.in.gov