A wanted man was arrested early this morning in Columbus after trying to run away from officers.
According to Columbus Police Department, officers attempted to stop a man riding a bicycle near Eighth and Union streets at about 2:50 a.m. this morning, but instead the man jumped off the bike and ran away. Police say he wouldn’t follow their orders to stop and after reaching into his waistband of his shorts, officers used a Taser to stun him.
They found that 32-year-old Manuel Torres of Columbus was wanted on two outstanding Bartholomew County warrants. After being treated at Columbus Regional Health for minor injuries he was arrested on a new charge of resisting arrest and on the outstanding warrants.
According to Indiana Senate Republicans, Randy Maxwell of Guilford was sworn in yesterday by Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush to fill the vacant seat in District 43. The district includes portions of Jennings County as well as Dearborn, Jefferson, Ohio, Scott and Switzerland counties.
Previous State Sen. Chip Perfect of Lawrenceburg resigned from the seat as of earlier this week. Maxwell will finish the remainder of Perfect’s term through November of 2026.
Maxwell grew up in Logan and graduated from Indiana University where he played football from in the early 1990s and earned degrees in finance-real estate and entrepreneurship from the IU Kelley School of Business.
Maxwell is the CEO of Maxwell Construction, a family-owned Indiana general contractor and development company. Maxwell is active in organizations, including the Dearborn County Homebuilders Association, Ripley County Chamber of Commerce, Batesville Chamber of Commerce, Indiana Unemployment Insurance Board, Southeast Indiana YMCA Board of Directors, 1Dearborn Economic Development Organization and All Saints Catholic Parish in Dearborn County. He has also served as a coach for youth organizations and is a supporter of YoungLife in Dearborn County.
Constituents can contact Maxwell by phone at 800-382-9467, by email at [email protected] or by mail at 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Photo: State Sen. Randy Maxwell, R-Guilford, is sworn in by Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush (right) at the Statehouse on Thursday. Photo courtesy of Indiana Senate Republicans.
Tony Allen. Photo courtesy of Edinburgh Police Department.
A man was arrested early this morning after a chase through Johnson and Bartholomew counties.
According to the Edinburgh Police Department, at about 12:30 a.m. early Friday morning, Deputy Chief Hector Mercado noticed a pickup that had been reported stolen earlier that shift. He attempted to pull the vehicle over near the Bartholomew and Johnson County line, but the driver took off, fleeing north on U.S. 31 into Franklin, before driving into a field near Young’s Creek.
Police say that is where the driver struck a Johnson County deputy’s vehicle, before driving back down U.S. 31 to Edinburgh, where he again drove across a field. Eventually the driver, identified as 56-year-old Tony Allen, abandoned the vehicle and ran away through the field.
Using drones, deputies located the stolen vehicle and several police dogs began tracking the driver. About an hour into the search, Bartholomew County Deputy Dylan Prather and his police dog Frizko located Allen in a field near County Road 950N and U.S. 31. During the arrest, he was bitten by the dog. He was taken to Johnson County Memorial Hospital for treatment before being arrested.
Allen is facing charges including:
Auto Theft
Resisting Law Enforcement with vehicle and by fleeing
Criminal Reckless with a vehicle
Leaving the scene of a property damage accident.
Operating a vehicle while never receiving a license
Criminal Mischief and
and
Reckless Driving
The deputy whose vehicle was struck was not injured.
Edinburgh Police were assisted by agencies including the Johnson and Bartholomew County sheriff’s departments, Indiana State Police, Franklin Police, Columbus Regional Hospital and Nineveh medics along with dispatchers from Bartholomew and Johnson counties.
The owner of a Trafalgar company is being recognized for its pollution prevention efforts.
According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Lauren Nielsen, owner of Terra Vitae Environmental Solutions, received the Partners Ambassador Award at the recent annual Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. The award from the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention Executive Committee recognizes a person for their leadership. innovation, education, and dedication to pollution prevention.
Terra Vitae is a two-person consulting firm and the company was recognized for energy improvement efforts at the company’s facility including installing solar array panels, converting the main vehicle fleet to all electric and encouraging her gas station clients to install electric vehicle charging stations at their locations.
The company also worked with the local REMC to install a solar panel array for a community member and educating them on the monitoring software.
Photo: Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention Executive Director Teresa A. Colson and Assistant Director Ron Rothgerber present Lauren Nielsen, owner of Terra Vitae Environmental Solutions with the Partners for Pollution Prevention Ambassador Award at the organization’s recent annual conference and tradeshow in Indianapolis. Photo courtesy of IDEM
State Road 135 will be closing in Jackson County starting Monday as crews replace a culvert.
According to the Indiana Department of Transportation, the work will be happening about a mile north of the intersection with State Road 58 in Freetown. The work is set to begin next week and take up to 30 days to complete. The work schedule is dependent on the weather.
A detour will take traffic State Road 258 to State Road 258 to State Road 11, then onto Interstate 65 and State Road 46.
INDOT says this project is part of a $4.5 million contract awarded to Force Construction.
INDOT reminds you to slow down, to drive without distractions and to be alert to worker safety in all work zones.
Toyota Material Handling in Columbus is announcing a new line of electric forklifts.
According to the company, they will be building 48 volt and 80 volt versions of the pneumatic forklift with six different lifting capacities between 3,000 and 17,5000 thousand pounds. The line is being built to work outdoors including on various terrains and weather conditions. The company expects the forklifts to be used in lumberyards, home centers, landscaping and in store support roles.
Safety features in the new lines will include an active stability system, and systems that detect a driver is onboard and properly seated. A regenerative braking system and load-sensing power-steering system will work to increase battery life. The units will also have a slope-detecting system that adjusts power use to keep a constant speed.
The electric forklifts will be significantly quieter and have lower vibration along with greater energy efficiency.
Tony Miller, Toyota’s senior vice president of engineering, operations and strategic planning said that the new forklifts integrate “cutting-edge technologies and versatility across a wide range of tasks and terrains.”
Cummins is touting testing of its new X15N natural gas engine with Knight Transportation.
According to the Columbus-based engine manufacturer, the trucking company has been testing the engines in southern California using renewable natural gas sourced from Clean Energy’s station in Carson, California.
Knight company officials said that they have been pleased with what they have seen from the Cummins 15-liter engine so far.
Dave Williams, Knight-Swift Transportation’s senior vice president of equipment and government relations said the company is ensuring that it will be using “the most reliable and efficient technologies possible…” to help reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Knight’s company goal is to reduce its CO2 emissions from its transportation fleet by 50 percent by 2035.
Cummins says the X15N natural gas engine is coming out next year and the company expects diesel-like ratings, durability and reliability to help companies lower their carbon emissions without sacrificing capability. The field testing with Knight-Swift will continue through full production of the powertrain in 2024.
The Bartholomew County Health Department is offering a drive-thru flu clinic next week at the Nursing Division offices on Foxpointe Drive.
Most insurances can be billed for flu vaccines. If you are uninsured or your insurance does not pay for flu vaccines, you are eligible to receive a free dose. The clinic will also accept cash, credit and debit cards. The quadrivalent vaccine will be $20 and the high dose for those 65 or older, or flublok for those are immunocompromised will be $60.
Children under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian present.
The flu clinic will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday October 3rd at the offices at 2625 Fox Pointe Drive.
Heading into Wednesday night’s Republican debate, Columbus native, former Indiana governor and former Vice President Mike Pence has been slipping in the polls. He was hoping to make a difference last night.
Pence was among the seven GOP candidates for president to debate for a second time in the last few months on Wednesday. The debate took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and saw Pence go in hard to try and convince voters that he is the right person for the job to lead the country in the next presidential term.
“I’m the most experienced, most qualified, and most consistent conservative in this field,” he exclaimed at one point during the debate. “I’m ready to lead America home!”
The debate covered topics including healthcare, terrorism, energy, the economy, and transgender Americans.
Pence said he would oppose most transgender surgeries and would give parents more power in what is going on in terms of gender identity with their kids at school.
For Pence, he said that would include passing a ban on transgender surgeries and hormone therapy anywhere in the country.
Pence said he’ll tackle Obamacare by giving more power to the states.
“My former running mate, Donald Trump, has a plan to consolidate power in Washington,” Pence said. “If I’m president of the United States it’s my intention to make the federal government smaller by returning to the states those resources and programs that are rightfully theirs. That means all Obamacare funding.”
Pence added that would also include shutting down the federal Department of Education.
Finally, he touted plans to open up America’s energy sector.
“If I’m president of the United States we are going to open up federal lands,” he said. “We are going to unleash American energy. We are going to have an all of the above energy strategy.”
The latest Economist/You Gov poll posted by RealClearPolitics has former President Trump, who was not at the debate, with a healthy lead over the other candidates for the GOP nomination. He hold a 42-point lead over Ron DeSantis. Pence is polling fifth.
