Cummins, the Columbus based engine manufacturer, is announcing two milestones of engine production at its plants.

The company is announcing that its Rocky Mount Engine Plant in North Carolina has produced its 5 millionth engine and the Jamestown Engine plant in New York has made 2.5 million engines.

The Rocky Mount plant’s 5 millionth engine was received by Daimler Truck North America and will be provided to Penske. It is the first Cummins plant to reach 5 million engines produced, with over one million more engines produced than any other Cummins engine facility.

Jamestown Engine Plant’s 2 and half millionth engine is an X15, the newest 15-liter natural gas product. Kenworth is receiving the engine and will install it into a Legacy W900 truck for Palmer Kenworth. Kenworth is also celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

Cummins recently announced plans to invest $452 million dollars into the Jamestown plant, to produce the industry’s first fuel-agnostic internal combustion engine platform.

Photo courtesy of Cummins.

A Brownstown man died in a crash while riding an off-road vehicle Sunday in Jackson County.

According to Indiana DNR Conservation officers, 78-year-old Robert Carr was operating the side-by-side off-road vehicle with two passengers when he disregarded a stop sign. His vehicle was struck by a car at about 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon near the intersection of Jackson County Roads 225 West and 450 North.

All of the off-road vehicle occupants were thrown from the vehicle. Carr and one of his passengers were transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis where Carr was later pronounced dead.

No seat belts, helmets, or safety equipment were being used on the off-road vehicle officers say. The incident remains under investigation.

Columbus Police say a suspect is in custody after a shooting last night at the Lincoln Park basketball court injured four people.

Lt Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department explains that officers were called to the park at about 7:35 p.m. Tuesday evening on a report of shots being fired. They found four victims who had been hit by gunfire.

According to Columbus Regional Hospital, three of the victims have been flown to Indianapolis hospitals with critical injuries. One is in stable condition at Columbus but had not been admitted as of last night.

Police announced overnight that a suspect was in custody but no details have yet been released on the arrest.

Nearby Hamilton Ice Arena was closed due to the shooting and all events were canceled at the park. Police praised park workers for keeping the public safe.

If you have any information on the shootings, you are asked to call the Columbus Police Department at 812-376-2600.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

Updated at 9:15 p.m. with new information from Columbus Police Department.

Four people were injured in a shooting this evening at Lincoln Park in Columbus.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, said one victim was flown by Lifeline helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital and three were taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. Harris says the shooting happened at the basketball court area of Lincoln Park at about 7:35 p.m. this evening.

No information is available on the identities or ages of the victims or their medical conditions.

Hamilton Ice Arena has been closed due to the shooting and all events are canceled at the park this evening.

Harris said that no one has been arrested in the incident. No information on a suspect is yet available.

You are asked to avoid the area of the park while the investigation continues.

If you have any information on the shootings, you are asked to call the Columbus Police Department at 812-376-2600.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

A teen is accused of stealing a pickup truck, getting into an accident, fleeing from police and then crashing into a pizza restaurant last week in Greensburg.

According to the Greensburg Police Department, the incident started Thursday night when a crash happened on Montgomery Road at about 8:24 p.m. and one of the drivers fled the scene in a blue pickup. City officers and Decatur County deputies searched for the vehicle and a deputy found it leaving a store parking lot.

The deputy tried to pull the vehicle over, but rather than stop the driver took off southbound before crashing into the restaurant building. Police discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen from Franklin Street.

Greensburg Fire Department assessed the damage to the building and its stability.

The driver, a 16-year-old, suffered a leg injury in the crash and was treated by Decatur County medics.  After being treated for the injury, the teen was arrested and taken to the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center on preliminary charges of theft of a motor vehicle, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, resisting law enforcement with a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a license and reckless driving.

Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson is holding a series of Curbside Chats around the community, with the next coming up Thursday.

Once a month, the mayor and department heads will meet informally with the public at city parks facilities.

The Curbside Chat this month will include the city’s water pollution control department to talk about sewers. It will be at 7 p.m. at Burkhart Plaza.

Upcoming Curbside Chats include:

• June 29, Thursday, 7 p.m. Shields Park — Mayor Matt Nicholson, SPD and Planning and Zoning
• July 27, Thursday, 7 p.m. Westside Park — Mayor Matt Nicholson and Freeman Municipal Airport Manager
• Aug. 31, Thursday, 7 p.m. Gaiser Park — Mayor Matt Nicholson, Parks and Rec. and Clerk-Treasurer
• Sept. 28, Thursday, 7 p.m. Community Center — Mayor Matt Nicholson, Fire

Bartholomew County will be holding its annual Memorial Day services Monday at the Veterans Memorial on the courthouse lawn starting at 11 a.m. in the morning.

Representatives of the Gold Star Mothers, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the auxiliaries of the VFW and American Legion will lay wreaths at the memorial. Local funeral directors will read the names of each local military veteran who has died in the past year, followed by a bell toll for each name.

The Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums will perform. The Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard will provide an armed salute and there will be a performance of “Taps”.

Seating is limited and you are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket.

In case of bad weather, the event will be held in the Cal Brand meeting room inside Columbus City Hall .

If you can’t attend, you can listen to the event live  on News Talk 1010 WCSI and 98-1 FM.

Photograph from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Authorities say that a long-term investigation by the Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team has led to the arrest of a Columbus man on drug dealing charges.

According to police, the investigation led a search warrant being served at a home in the 900 block of 13th Street, by the team, Columbus police and Bartholomew County deputies. The search revealed methamphetamine, digital scales and packaging material.

43-year-old Christopher M. Hubbert of Columbus was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing in methamphetamine with enhancing circumstances, possession of methamphetamine with enhancing circumstances and maintaining a common nuisance. Police say Hubbert has a previous conviction for dealing methamphetamine.

The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is a combined unit of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department, and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office. It targets the manufacturing and abuse of dangerous drugs in Columbus and Bartholomew County.

Three people were injured in a crash on U.S. 31 on Saturday in Bartholomew County.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the crash happened near the intersection with West County Road 800N at about 9:03 p.m. in the evening. Two vehicles were involved with three occupants, all of whom were injured. Two were taken to Columbus Regional Hospital while a third was flown by Lifeline helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital.

Deputies believe that alcohol may have been a factor in the crash. No arrests have been made and the accident remains under investigation. The names of the victims have not yet been released.

U.S. 31 was closed for about four hours while the accident reconstruction team documented the collision.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Cummins, the Columbus based engine manufacturer, has finalized an agreement to buy the Columbus Faurecia plant as part of an estimated $153 million dollar deal with the Forvia Group.

Faurecia and Cummins announced this morning the final agreement to sell part of Faurecia’s commercial vehicle exhaust aftertreatment business in Europe and the U.S. for 142 million Euros. That will include the Columbus plant as well as one in the Netherlands.

Faurecia and Cummins have been partners since 2010. The plants remain separate entities and will continue to operate independently of each other until the acquisition closes. Cary Chenanda, Vice President of Cummins Emission Solutions says the new owners will preserve business operations and employment for “talented employees within the two plants and related tech centers.”

Cummins says it is committed to honoring Faurecia’s existing supplier and customer contracts in both facilities and will make the necessary investments to deliver on the contracts.

Cummins plans to pay for the transaction with cash. The transaction still must receive regulatory approval in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands but is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

You can find more information here: https://investor.cummins.com/news/detail/612/cummins-to-acquire-parts-of-faurecias-commercial-vehicle