A Columbus woman is facing charges after a crash in a stolen vehicle on National Road yesterday morning sheared off utility poles.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were called to the 8900 block of North County Road 1050E at about 8:05 a.m. in the morning after a car had been reported stolen. A deputy enroute to the scene saw a vehicle matching the description heading southbound on State Road 9 near East County Road 300N. The driver also matched the description of the female suspect.

The deputy followed the vehicle into Columbus on 25th Street and was joined by Columbus Police. Officers tried to stop the vehicle near Flintwood Drive but she sped away eventually heading southbound on North National Road. Near the intersection with Central Avenue, the driver began driving southbound in the northbound lanes and lost control, driving across the sidewalk, striking two utility poles before coming to a stop.

The driver, 42-year-old Devony Thompson suffered sustained non-life threatening injuries in the crash. She was first taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, then to an Indianapolis-area hospital due to the extent of those injuries. Deputies say she was not wearing a seatbelt during the incident.

Preliminary charges have been forwarded to the prosecutor including auto theft, resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, reckless driving and driving while suspended with a prior conviction.

You could see Army helicopters operating near downtown Columbus today.

According to the city of Columbus, you will see a marked increase in helicopter traffic, mostly south of the downtown area, today and tonight. Some of the exercises will involve helicopters flying low to the ground. The Army has planned the exercise to minimize disruption to homes in the area.

The Army will be providing security during the exercises and you area asked to follow any directions you are given during the exercise. Columbus rescue workers will be on standby during the exercises in case of an emergency.

If the exercises get rained out, they will be moved to Saturday.

You will see work on an intersection improvement project starting today on State Road 46 on the west side Columbus with work lasting through October.

According to INDOT, the first phase of an intersection improvement project is set to start near the intersection with Two Mile House Road on the west side of the city. The inside lanes of eastbound and westbound Jonathan Moore Pike will be closed, including the left turn lane, to allow the curb to be removed and replaced. The outside lanes will remain open but will be separated by barrels or a barrier wall.

Once that work is complete, the restrictions will shift to the outside lanes.

In early June, crews will begin paving and adding traffic signals.

Milestone Contractors are doing the work on the $1.5 million project.

A Freetown man is under arrest after crashing twice in Seymour Wednesday night.

According to the Seymour Police Department, officers were called to crash with injuries near South Walnut Street and North Park Drive at about 10 p.m. Wednesday. They found that a utility pole had been severed in the crash and the driver was still in the vehicle. As police spoke to the driver, 27-year-old Franklin D. Sessions, they noticed signs that he might be impaired.

Due to low-hanging wires, officers tried to move the driver away from the vehicle for safety. But the man forcibly resisted police and ignored commands, police say. They eventually subdued him with a Taser to get him to safety.

Police also discovered that Sessions had left the scene of another, earlier accident. After determining that he was not injured, he was taken to the hospital to have his blood drawn. The driver,

Sessions was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, criminal recklessness, resisting law enforcement, and leaving the scene of a property damage crash.

Indiana’s U.S. Senators have co-sponsored legislation to turn a national highway into a route honoring Medal of Honor recipients.

Senators Todd Young and Mike Braun say that U.S. 20 which runs through Steuben, LaGrange, Elkhart, St. Joseph, LaPorte, Porter, and Lake counties is now part of the National Medal of Honor Highway. INDOT has placed eight commemorative signs along the route which covers 156 miles through Indiana.

The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award for valor. Since its creation during the Civil War it has been bestowed to 3,516 military heroes.

Photo courtesy of INDOT.

Indiana Medal of Honor recipients: https://imvhof.com/medal-of-honor/

Bartholomew County health officials want you to be aware of the increasing levels of ticks that come with the warmer weather.

According to the Environmental Health Division of the Bartholomew County Health Department, ticks are responsible for about 75 percent of all arboviral disease transmissions including Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

If you are entering an area where ticks might be present, you should wear light colored clothing, long pants and long sleeves. The light colored clothing makes ticks easier to see and you can tuck your pant legs into your socks to keep ticks from crawling up your leg.

You should use a chemical tick repellent. And you should check yourself carefully when you leave the possibly tick-infested area.

If you have any questions you can call the Environmental Health Division at 812-379-1550 and hit option 2.

Photo of American Dog Tick courtesy of Center for Disease Control and Prevention, James Gathany via Purdue University Extension.

For more information: https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publichealth/insects/tick.html

A West Virginia woman has been arrested in Seymour, after she was found to be urinating in a store.

According to the Seymour Police Department, the incident unfolded Tuesday when officers were called to a local business about a woman who had exposed herself and urinated on an item for sale in the business. Police found the woman in the parking lot and she ran away when officers tried to take her into custody. She was soon caught and identified as 21-year-old Mackenzie R. Creel of Parkersburg, West Virginia. A search revealed she was carrying methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

She is facing preliminary felony charges of theft with a prior conviction, depriving a business of the value of the item, and for possession of the methamphetamine as well as misdemeanor charges for public indecency, possession of the drug paraphernalia and for resisting law enforcement.

IUPUC is touting efforts to improve mental health outcomes for area residents.

According to the school, 11 students will be recognized during today’s commencement ceremony for completing their masters degrees in Mental Health Counseling.

The program began in 2012 and has since graduated 64 students with the master of arts degree in mental health counseling. Of those 44 have opted to be licensed as mental health providers in Indiana. In addition to their coursework, in their last year of the programs students complete 700-hours of clinical field work in the community.

Some of the graduates have gone on to work in local agencies such as Centerstone, Columbus Regional Health and Life Works at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

Darrin Carr, director of the program says the federal department of Health and Human Services has designated Bartholomew and surrounding counties as an area with a shortage of mental health professionals.

The commencement ceremony will be at the Columbus Airpark Campus. Guests are asked to be seated by 9:30 a.m. The processional starts at 9:45 a.m. and the program begins at 10 a.m.. No registration or tickets are required for this year’s event.

This weekend’s Tour De Trails bike rides will be celebrated with an afterparty at Donner Park Saturday, and you are invited to the first-ever event to support the Columbus Parks Foundation.

The after party will feature music by Northbound Hounds, food by Big JT’s BBQ, beverages by Hog Molly Brewing Co., yoga by Elemental Yoga, and Zumba with Jana. It will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Donner Park Shelterhouse.

The Tour de Trails Bicycle Challenge includes a 20K, 50K, or 80K ride. You can participate as an individual or as part of a team. Onsite registration starts at 7:30 a.m. Tickets for the challenge are $30 and proceeds benefit the Columbus Park Foundation.

The Columbus Learning Center will be paying off its debts and extending its lease at the Columbus Municipal Airport, thanks to $10 million in funding from the state budget.

State Rep. Ryan Lauer, a Columbus Republican, and other local legislators announced the additional funding yesterday. The Columbus Airpark Campus, owned by the Columbus airport, has a sublease with the state to house IUPUC, Ivy Tech and Purdue Polytechnic and hosts more than 4,000 students.

The learning center building is operated by the Community Education Coalition. Its lease was set to expire in 2025, but under the state budget bill it would be extended for 10 more years.

Lauer originally wrote separate legislation with the additional funding and lease extension for the learning center, but it was ultimately approved after being added to the state budget bill.

Lauer said that the funding will “ensure the campus still has a home here while providing a way to invest in the future.”

State Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, a Shelbyville Republican representing northeastern Bartholomew County, explained the role of the center for the local economy, allowing students to increase their skills close to home, benefiting local employers.

State Rep. Jim Lucas, a Seymour Republican representing southern Bartholomew County, said the center brings educators, businesses, communities and students together, to help fill the need of employers to find and attract workers.