Local government offices will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

In Columbus, trash and recycling collection will be delayed by one day with Thursday collections happening on Friday, and Friday collections on Saturday.

Columbus City Utilities offices will be closed. If you have a problem with your water or sewer service, you can call the offices at 812-372-8861 to report an emergency.

In Seymour, normal Thursday trash routes will be picked up today and normal Friday routes will be picked up next Monday.

If you are planning Christmas shopping this weekend, local officials are urging you to visit locally owned businesses.

Traditionally held the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday encourages small businesses to offer special sales and promotions. The city of Columbus is encouraging you to support local businesses during this holiday season.

According to the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, shopping locally means the money stays in our community increasing local employment and improving the community.

While many of our community’s small stores can be found downtown,  others are spread throughout the community.

You can find more information on the chamber website at columbusareachamber.com

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is looking back at new historic sites approved this year, including two bridges in Jennings County.

DNR’s Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, reports that 10 sites around Indiana were named to the National Registry of Historic Places in August. That included the James Covered Bridge near Lovett and the Scipio Covered Bridge, both in Jennings County.

The bridges are the last remaining wooden truss bridges in the county. The James bridge was constructed in 1877 and the Scipio bridge was built in 1886.

According to the agency, 165 residents near Graham Creek petitioned the County Commissioners to build the James bridge, so that they could reach rail connections so farm products could be shipped to market.

The Scipio bridge over Sand Creek was part of a route connecting North Vernon and its railroads, and the county seat of Vernon. According to the agency, it was part of a state route, until the State Highway Commission changed the route in 1935.

The agency says that the rarity of surviving examples of covered bridges cements the significance of the two Jennings County structures.

You can read more about the new historic sites here.

Photo courtesy of Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County and Centerstone will be holding a community Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon afternoon.

The meal will be prepared by residents of sober living homes and recovery groups in the community including Transformational Living Ministries, ASAP, Oxford House, VOA Fresh Start and Recover out Loud.

Ben Beatty with ASAP explains that this is the second year for the joint festivities

Macy Kootz with Centerstone explains that there will be other activities such as games and raffles. And opportunities to get help or more information.

The meal is open to the community and you are invited to attend. Organizers expect to serve 150 to 200 dinners.

It will run from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the St. Peters Lutheran Church gymnasium on Fifth Street.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department’s Pack-a-Patrol Car efforts raised more than 3 tons of food for area food pantries.

According to a report from the sheriff’s department, employees dropped off 6,000 pounds of food today to Love Chapel and to the Salvation Army. During the food drive, which ended Monday, donation boxes were available throughout the community and at the jail. Deputies, correction officers and civilian staff also personally collected donations at several locations.

Sheriff Matt Myers thanked everyone who donated, the businesses that allowed the donation drives at their facilities and the department employees who collected and delivered the items.

Myers also thanked Lt. Kaleigh Morey of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division, who chaired this year’s food drive.

Myers started the Pack-A-Patrol car efforts in 2015 at the start of his first term and they have been held each year except 2020 due to COVID-19. Myers said that the department’s fundamental duty is to protect people and property and to serve the community. And with the high inflation, food costs are affecting many residents.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

An Indianapolis man is facing a long list of charges after allegedly leaving the scene of a crash in North Vernon and then fleeing from police Sunday.

According to the North Vernon Police Department, its officers along with Jennings County deputies were called to North State Street at about 4:12 p.m. Sunday afternoon about a crash on North State Road 7 and Geneva Road. Police found the vehicle involved on North State Street and saw the driver make several traffic violations, before refusing to pull over. The driver then nearly hit a pedestrian and his dog, and drove through front yards on Bay Street.

The chase continued into Madison, as the driver fled more than 20 miles at speeds of up to 105 mph.

The driver finally lost control on Lanier Drive in Madison, hitting two parked and unoccupied vehicles. The crash pushed one of the vehicles, a full-size van, through the front wall of a business. The driver, Joshua D. Ahern of Indianapolis, was seriously injured in the crash and had to be flown by medical helicopter to a hospital for treatment.

Ahern is facing preliminary charges including

• Driving without a license
• Operating without financial responsibility with prior conviction
• Leaving the scene of an accident
• Criminal recklessness
• Resisting law enforcement with a vehicle
• Reckless driving
• Aggressive driving

The investigation is ongoing.

Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.

The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County and Centerstone will be holding a community Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow afternoon.

The meal will be prepared by residents of sober living homes and recovery groups in the community including Transformational Living Ministries, ASAP, Oxford House, VOA Fresh Start and Recover out Loud.

The meal is open to the community and you are invited to attend. Organizers expect to serve 150 to 200 dinners.

It will run from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the St. Peters Lutheran Church gymnasium on Fifth Street.

A North Vernon man is accused of crashing into a home in Country Squire Lakes while drunk Saturday, injuring a resident who was trapped under the vehicle.

According to reports from the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, they were called to the scene after a car crashed into a vehicle, then plowing into a home, coming to rest in the living room. A man inside the home had his right leg trapped underneath the wreckage.

Geneva Township firefighters and Jennings County paramedics freed the man, who was then flown by medical helicopter to have his injuries treated. The man’s father, who owns the home, was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Deputies say the driver ran from the scene but police tracked the registered owner to a home in the neighborhood. 40-year-old David Sams Jr. was found to have minor injuries from the crash and appeared under the influence of alcohol according to deputies.

He was taken to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital for treatment for minor injuries before he was arrested on on t preliminary charges including operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a previous conviction and leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury.

Columbus firefighters say that a battery caused a fire yesterday at Dorel Juvenile Group.

According to reports from the Columbus Fire Department, a lithium ion battery began to smoke in an office space in the factory on State Street. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 5:08 p.m. Monday afternoon to find people evacauting the building.

A fire crew found a large amount of smoke within the building and that the automatic sprinkler system had activated. There had been a fire in the battery area but it had been extinguished by the sprinklers. The fire caused cosmetic damage to a nearby wall but did not cause any structural damage. However, water damage from the sprinklers was more significant.

Firefighters found two more batteries in the same area and removed them all from the facility.

Firefighters shut off the sprinklers and set up fans to remove the smoke.

No one was injured and damages have not yet been calculated.

A Columbus company has made the final four of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s Coolest Thing Made in Indiana tournament.

The second annual competition started with 54 companies in 43 communities and is now down to the semifinals. Hiker Trailers in Columbus is competing against companies from Gary, Leesburg and Syracuse for this year’s title.

The companies did not have to be headquartered in Indiana to enter but their coolest product had to be made here. Entry to the contest was free.

Fan voting continues in this semifinal round through 10 p.m. on Friday evening in the single-elimination tournament. The entire competition wraps up on November 30th. The champion will be announced December 14 at the Indiana Chamber’s Best IN Manufacturing Luncheon.

You can cast your vote at www.indianachamber.com/coolest-thing-made-in-indiana-tournament/.