Some customers of Eastern Bartholomew Water Corporation in the Taylorsville area are under a boil water advisory.

According to the water utility, another company broke a water main in the area. Customers are under a boil water advisory for 48 hours from the time water service was restored

Under a boil water advisory, you should bring water to a full boil for three to five minutes before drinking it or using it in food preparation.

If you have any questions you can call the utility at 812-526-9777.

A pet food pantry distribution is set for Thursday 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. Thursday afternoon, or until the food runs out. The pet food will be distributed in the airport parking lot at 4770 Ray Boll Boulevard.

The purpose of the pantry is to assist community members who are in need keep their pets in their homes and out of area shelters. If you take part you should stay in your vehicle and the food will be brought to you.

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

The Trafalgar Fire Department battled a large fire in a barn Sunday evening.

According to the fire department, they were called to the 6000 block of Spearsville Road at about 6:38 p.m. Sunday and found the large barn engulfed in flames. The barn contained about 300 bales of hay along with farm equipment and implements. With assistance from other area firefighters, it took about six hours to get the fire out but the hay bales continued to smolder for hours.

One firefighter was slightly injured and the barn and its contents are a total loss. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Trafalgar Fire Department Facebook page

A Columbus man was arrested after a standoff with police Saturday night into Sunday morning.

According to Columbus police, officer were called to the Ashford Park Place apartments at about 11:35 p.m. Saturday evening about a disturbance. They found that a suspect had allegedly battered a woman and then used a couch to barricade himself in a bedroom. The woman escaped the apartment and a second disturbance took place in the parking lot.

Officers attempted to contact the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Joseph L. McCarty but he refused to answer the door. After getting a search warrant, officers entered the apartment and found McCarty hiding in the bedroom. He was arrested on preliminary charges of criminal confinement, domestic battery, theft, violation of the sex offender registry and resisting law enforcement.

Authorities say that an early morning incident involving a gun turned into an arrest Friday morning on weapon and drug charges in Elizabethtown.

According to Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the incident started at about 3:41 a.m. in the morning when 46-year-old Joshua Woodruff approached a neighbor in the driveway of the victim’s home, brandished a handgun and demanded that the victim open the trunk of their vehicle. Authorities say that Woodruff believes that the neighbor had stolen from him and that the stolen items would be found in the trunk. Woodruff then left and went home.

When deputies arrived, Woodruff left his home and began yelling at the deputies. He was taken into custody and after a search warrant was issued, deputies found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia inside the home.

Woodruff was arrested on preliminary charges of Intimidation with a Deadly Weapon, Possession of Meth and Possession of Paraphernalia.

38-year-old Nicole Woodruff was also taken into custody at the home and is being charged for possessing the methamphetamine and paraphernalia.

Photos courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Federal authorities have released more information about the case that led to the arrest and corruption investigation of a former Bartholomew County legislator.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, 57-year-old Sean Eberhart of Shelbyville, pled guilty to charges over conspiring to seek and receive the promise of future employment with a gaming company in exchange for his support of legislation that benefited the company.

Eberhart’s legislative district included northeastern Bartholomew County, as well as Shelby and parts of Hancock counties. After taking office in 2007, he decided last year not to seek re-election. Previously he served on the Shelby County Council.

Authorities say that Spectacle Entertainment wanted to purchase the state licenses for two casinos on the Lake Michigan waterfront and to relocate those casinos to other areas. The federal charges accuse Eberhart of accepting a promise of a $350 thousand a year job with Spectacle in exchange for supporting the license change and casino moves. The legislation reduced the license change fees from $100 million to $20 million and also provided tax incentives benefiting the company.

Eberhart faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

A special joint meeting of the Columbus City Council and Redevelopment Commission is coming up tomorrow for an update on the status of the downtown riverfront development project, as well as analysis of its costs and benefits.

Back in September, Heather Pope, the city’s redevelopment director, announced that the city has just received the permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the work in the river. But Pope also urged the city to take a fresh look at the benefits and costs from the project, since it has been more than 6 years since the project was conceived.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission approved a $44 thousand contract with James Lima Planning & Design out of New York City to determine the economic impact of the proposed riverfront improvement efforts. The work includes an economic benefits analysis report and the production of a policy report outlining the return on public investment.

On Tuesday, those consultants along with Hitchcock Design Group and JS Held will give reports and updates on the design, safety considerations, timeline, and finances of the project.

The meeting will be at 4 p.m. in the Cal Brand meeting room at Columbus City Hall and you are invited to attend.

North Vernon police say that two weekend fires are being investigated as arsons.

The first fire, at about 4:45 a.m. Saturday morning was on Noon Drive in an unoccupied home. After firefighters extinguished the blaze and began investigating the source of the blaze they discovered evidence and vandalism of the home indicating the fire was intentionally set.

About a block away at about 4:11 p.m. that afternoon, another fire was reported in an unoccupied ground floor apartment in the 500 block of Brownstown Road. Black smoke was moving through the building from fire and all the residents were evacuated without any injuries. Witnesses and evidence at the scene led authorities to suspect arson at that fire also.

Despite the close locations and similarities between the two fires, authorities say they have also received information that the two arsons may not be related.

The North Vernon Fire Department and Indiana State Fire Marshall’s Office are investigation. If you have any information, you asked to contact either agency or the North Vernon Police Department. Tips and information can be left anonymously.

A Friday incident involving a gun in Seymour led to a school lockdown and arrest of suspect on drug and weapons charges.

According to the Seymour Police Department, officers were called to the 500 block of North Elm Street, near Emerson Elementary School, on a report of a person pointing a firearm at another person.

Police communicated the situation to school officials and the school was locked down. Police blockaded the area and negotiators established communications with the suspect, 46-year-old Michael Vogel of Seymour. After about an hour, they convinced Vogel to surrender and he left the home.

During the incident, school officials and school resource officers safely dismissed the students from the school.

Investigators served search warrants at the home and recovered firearms, ammunition, drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Vogel is facing charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, possession of methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia as well as maintaining a common nuisance.

Bartholomew County’s annual Veterans Day services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday morning at the veteran’s memorial on the courthouse lawn.

The event will feature a keynote speech by Robin Hilber, in the city’s community development department.

Zack Ellison, an organizer of the event, explains that Hilber recently accompanied her uncle Jack Foyst, a veteran, on a trip to Washington D.C. on an Honor Flight.

The event will include the traditional laying of wreaths in memory of local veterans, a performance by the Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums and the playing of Taps. The ceremonies are expected to last about 45 minutes.

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