A Brownstown man is facing hundreds of charges after allegedly stealing tens of thousand of dollars from his employer, a Seymour convenience store.

According to reports from the Seymour Police Department, officers were alerted in December to internal thefts from a Speedway convenience store totaling more than $16,000. The suspect in the thefts was no longer employed by the company.

An internal company audit indicated more thefts with over $28,000 in cash and merchandise taken from the store. And the company provided video to police investigators. Early in January, police interviewed 25-year-old Quincy T. Browning of Brownstown. Police say Browning admitted to taking cash and refunding money to himself for products that were not sold.

Police arrested Browning on felony charges including 101 counts of theft and 101 counts of fraud.

Area legislators are encouraging local students to apply to serve as House pages during the state legislature’s 2023 session. Republican State Reps Ryan Lauer of Columbus, Jennifer Meltzer of Shelbyville and Jim Lucas of Seymour are announcing the openings for pages.

Pages serve Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the session, which must conclude by the end of April. Students are responsible for their lunch, and transportation to and from the Statehouse.

To sign up, you can visit indianahouserepublicans.com/pageprogram or call 1-800-382-9841.

Indiana Statehouse photo courtesy of iga.in.gov

Cummins is announcing that Amy Boerger, vice president and general manager of On-Highway business for North America will retire at the end of March.

She will be replaced by José Samperio, who is now executive director and general manager for sales for Cummins On-Highway Business in North and South America.

Boergers started with Cummins 39 years ago as the first female engineer in product engineering at the Cummins Engine Plant. She was one of the first saleswomen and account executives within the company. She expanded business with some of Cummins’ largest original equipment customers, before heading up the global retrofit emissions business when Cummins Emissions Solutions launched in 2002. She returned to the on-highway business in 2014.

Samperio has been with Cummins for nearly 20 years, working in engineering, service, strategy and sales. He began his career at the Jamestown Engine Plant as a product engineer, a service engineer and in distribution service shop operations.

For more information, click here.

Bartholomew County deputies arrested an Indianapolis man early Monday morning after he was found to be carrying a gun, while a convicted felon.

According to reports from the sheriff’s department, deputies noticed a vehicle with a broken headlight on Interstate 65 at about just after 3 yesterday morning and pulled the driver over. When officers spoke to the driver, they could smell marijuana in the vehicle and noticed a green leafy substance inside the vehicle. The driver, 24-year-old Kyle Wright, allegedly told deputies that he had a handgun between the driver’s seat and center console.

Deputies searched the vehicle and recovered a small amount of marijuana along with a .40 caliber handgun. Police determined that Wright was still on probation for a prior felony conviction last year in Hendricks County. He allegedly told deputies that he knew he wasn’t supposed to have the gun, but was carrying it because of a recent road rage incident.

He was arrested on a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a misdemeanor charge for possessing the marijuana.

Sheriff Chris Lane said it is becoming more common for deputies to locate firearms being carried by convicted felons or people have narcotics in their possession.

Parts of our area are under a winter storm warning tonight with up to 6 inches of snow forecast.

The National Weather Service says that heavy mixed precipitation is expected overnight with three to six inches of snow accumulation in Bartholomew and Decatur counties. You can expect wind gusts of up to 35 mph.

You should plan on slippery road conditions for your drive to work Wednesday morning. The weather service suggests that if you have to travel tomorrow that you pack a flashlight, food and water and a warm blanket in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

The winter storm warning includes Bartholomew, Brown, Johnson, Shelby and Decatur counties. Jackson and Jennings counties are under a winter weather advisory with 1 to 3 inches of snow expected.

The winter storm warning goes into effect at 1 in the morning and lasts until 7.

The Johnson County Coroner’s office is announcing that Thursday morning’s shooting death on Interstate 65 was not a homicide.

The victim was identified as 23-year-old Derrick Allen Janney of Indianapolis. According to state police reports,  Janney’s body was found in a vehicle on Interstate 65 southbound just north of the Franklin exit.

An autopsy was conducted Friday.

The North Vernon Police Department is announcing that Sgt. Andrew Richmond is retiring after 20 years with the agency.

During his time with the department, Richmond served as a K9 officer, public information officer and defensive tactics instructor.

Richmond will be taking a new position with the Columbus Regional Hospital Police Department.

The Bartholomew County Highway Department says that County Road 400N will be closing today between the Hartsville town limits and County Road 1200E. That’s so crews can remove trees along the road.

The work will be going on from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day and is expected to wrap up on Friday.

Columbus city crews are continuing to pick up Christmas trees during their normal trash and recycling collection routes through the end of this week. You should have your trees curbside on the same day as your normal pickups.

All trees must be removed from bags and they must be free of ornaments, hooks, stands, or nails.

Call-ins will not be accepted for Christmas trees and collections will not be made on private streets or on alleys.

Christmas tree collection will continue through Friday.

The local NAACP branch is announcing that it will be hosting its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance and Awards Gala on Saturday.

The guest speaker for the event is Dennis Bland, executive director of the Indianapolis Center for Leadership Development. The theme for the evening is “I Am the Dream.” It will focus on youth in the community, and the NAACP will invite 25 young people to attend.

IUPUC will be giving its annual Diversity Awards. And the NAACP will be making its community awards.

2022 Award winners:

• NAACP Outstanding Citizen Award: Paulette Roberts and Ron Thompson
• Outstanding Business Award: Trainer Connect and Cabrina’s Safe Haven
• Outstanding Athlete: Jaxson Scruggs
• Outstanding Student: Zacaria Scruggs
• NAACP Distinguished Service: Roxanne Stallsworth
• NAACP Distinguished Service Award: Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County.

The event will be from 7 to 11:30 p.m. the evening of Jan. 28th at Mill Race Center. That’s at 900 Lindsey St. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $55 and are available through Eventbrite.