The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is warning about a scam that tries to get you to pay money to a fake deputy to avoid going to jail for missing jury duty.

The fake deputy calls saying that you have a warrant because you did not show up for jury duty and threatens that you will be arrested if you don’t pay a fine immediately. They then try to make the victim go to a store to buy gift cards to cover the fine.

Authorities caution that no legitimate agency will demand you pay in gift cards, phone apps, crypto currency or a money card system.

Johnson County authorities warned of a similar scam earlier this week.

Four suspects are being charged with kidnapping and other crimes after a victim was lured to a barn and beaten earlier this month.

According to Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay, three teens are still being held in the jail after their weekend arrests, while authorities are still searching for a fourth suspect, 19-year-old Zablin Jai Woodruff.

The prosecutor’s office filed formal charges against the suspects today.

According to court documents, the attack happened late in the evening on June 2nd, into early morning on June 3rd. The 19-year-old victim said that a female acquaintance, 18-year-old Emily Franklin offered to give him a ride to pick up food. But instead took him to an abandoned barn on Bonnell Road in the rural part of the county.

The victim was then taken into the barn by masked men and attacked, while Franklin left the scene. The attackers cut him with a knife, cut his hair with scissors, tried to cut his neck with the same scissors, beat him with a stick, threatened and whipped him with a pistol and threw a caustic liquid into his eyes and face. The attackers then stripped off the victim’s sweatshirt and shoes and stole his phone, according to the charging documents

Deputies searched the abandoned barn and found evidence including blood and hair. A search of the county’s Flock camera system identified Franklin’s car in the vicinity. Deputies conducted surveillance of the Clifty Lane apartment Franklin shares with 18-year-old Ashton Fields.

Last Saturday, authorities saw Fields and another suspect, 18-year-old Charles Breedlove leave the apartment in Franklin’s car. They were taken into custody, as well as Franklin who was still at the apartment. A search of the car Monday revealed blood, a pistol and ammunition and a knife, along with a wallet containing human hair and other evidence.

Breedlove, Fields and Woodruff are facing charges of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, kidnapping, criminal confinement, and aggravated battery. Franklin is being accused of kidnapping, as well as aiding in robbery, aggravated battery and criminal confinement.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Woodruff, you should call the Bartholomew County dispatch center at 812-379-1689.

An Ivy Tech Community College Columbus team of Surgical Technology program students recently finished fifth in the nation in a national competition.

The team of Chloe Chambers of Columbus, Beth Torres of Seymour and Maggie Smith of Bargersville competed in the “Scrub Bowl” at the Association of Surgical Technologists national conference held recently in Chicago. Organizers say the bowl is a competition of wits and surgical knowledge.

The surgical technology program prepares students to become technical healthcare professionals through extensive hands-on training.

Photo courtesy of Ivy Tech. From left, Kieya Vann of Bloomington, Maggie Smith of Bargersville, Holly Nienaber of Elizabethtown, Chloe Chambers of Columbus, and Beth Torres of Seymour.

A Columbus organization will receive a share of $115 thousand dollars being donated by the Duke Energy and the Indiana Economic Development Association Foundations to assess and address child care gaps in Indiana.

Duke Energy is announcing today that the Community Education Coalition in Columbus will receive a $39,500 grant. The funds will be used for a six-month coaching and business accelerator pilot program to support the growth and development of high-quality child care programs with an emphasis on the Latino community.

The program will be a partnership including Su Casa, Learn by Heart and the Indiana University Serve Design Center. The organizations will provide about 250 hours of direct coaching, to each prospective child care provider to guide them through the licensing process. The Serve Design Center will connect the faculty and students of the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design with child care providers who want to design or redesign their spaces for optimal learning and to meet licensing standards.

The foundations are providing the innovation grants to five organizations around the state working in new and innovative ways to address child care issues in the state which include rising costs and a shrinking number of providers.

The Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team has arrested two people after an investigation into the sale of counterfeit and potentially lethal prescription medications and other drugs.

According to the Columbus Police Department, the investigation led police to serve a search warrant at a home in the 1500 block of Union Street on Monday. Inside, police discovered methamphetamine, fentanyl, marijuana, K2/Spice, drug paraphernalia, and digital scales. They also found 188 counterfeit Oxycodone pills. They were small, round blue pills with the letter M on one side and the number 30 on the other. According to field tests, the pills were positive for fentanyl. Further testing at a federal DEA lab, revealed that six of 10 sampled contained potentially fatal doses of fentanyl.

Police arrested 51-year-old Dawnya Ward and 56-year-old Larry Ward Jr., both of Columbus. Dawyna Ward allegedly admitted to police that she had sold hundreds of the counterfeit pills.

The Wards are both facing felony charges of dealing in methamphetamine and narcotics.

Former Vice President and Columbus native Mike Pence isn’t sure whether he would pardon his former boss if Donald Trump were to be convicted on federal charges.

Speaking on the “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” Wednesday, the former vice president said it’s too early to tell what he would do if he was elected president.

Pence argued that no one yet knows what Trump’s defense will be.  Pence said he read the indictment, calling the charges “very serious.”

He added that Trump is entitled to “his day in court,” while also suggesting politics played a role in the indictment decision.

The indictment against Trump alleges he stored classified information at his Mar-a-Lago residence that included U.S. nuclear programs and defense and weapons capabilities.

Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks.

A pet food pantry distribution is set for this afternoon at the Columbus Municipal Airport.

Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services will be holding their Furry Friends Food Bank giveaway from 4 to 5:30 p.m. or until the food runs out. The pet food will be distributed in the airport parking lot at 4770 Ray Boll Boulevard in front of the Charlie 119 cargo plane display.

The purpose of the pantry is to assist local community members in need to keep their pets in their homes and out of area shelters.

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

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

An effort to bring affordable high-speed fiber internet to Columbus homes has reached its first milestone with service available to the first 450 residences.

According to the city of Columbus, the first homes able to receive the service are in the big block of the city, encompassing 25th Street to Second Street and Central Avenue to Washington Street. According to Hoosier Fiber Networks, the company has already installed almost 175 thousand feet of fiber optic conduit in the city.

The internet service, available through GigabitNow, can provide speeds of up to 10 gigs up and down per second. There is also an option for free internet service of up to 250 megs per second for those who meet low income requirements through the federal Affordable Connectivity Plan. The city of Columbus is partnering with Hoosier Fiber Networks to provide the funds to drop the lines to homes that meet the income requirements.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop touted the high speed internet as an important component of making the city a place where people will want to choose to live, and said high speed internet is a requirement for many services and activities today, ranging from doctor’s appointments and schoolwork, to virtual work meetings and entertainment.

The services are expected to be rolled out to another 1200 homes by the end of the summer. You can get more information on the low-cost options, schedules and availability at https://www.gigabitnow.com/columbus.

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a missing 14-year-old in the area of Country Squire Lakes.

According to authorities, searchers are trying to find 14-year-old Kayden Shaver. Shaver was last seen at about 11 a.m. this morning in the subdivision wearing a green tank top. Kayden is about 4 feet tall and weighs about 136 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes and wears glasses.

There a large number of rescue workers in the Country Squire Lakes area searching for Kayden Thursday evening.

If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Kayden Shaver, you should contact Jennings County dispatchers at 812-346-4911.

Camp Atterbury will be celebrating its anniversary with a Community Day later this month.

The base was formed out of parts of Bartholomew, Brown and Johnson counties in 1942, just after the start of World War II.

According to the Indiana National Guard, the celebration will be Saturday, June 24th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the afternoon. It will include tours, live-fire exercises, demonstrations of weapons and rapelling, along with food vendors, displays and children’s activities.

The Camp Atterbury Museum will be open all day for visitors. It is at the Welcome Center just before you get to the Main Gate

There will also be a 5K Run/Walk/Ruck starting at 8 a.m. You can sign up for the 5k through the base’s Facebook page.

You can enter the base for the Community Day through the Schoolhouse Road Gate on Old Hospital Road.