Crothersville Jr./Sr. High School has been evacuated as the school is the subject of a bomb threat.

Few details are yet avaialable from authorities, but officials say that a person has been taken into custody in the incident that unfolded this morning.

Indiana State Police say that the school buildings have been evacuated as a precaution while the buildings are cleared by law enforcement. Students are being sent home for the remainder of the day.

Parents were told that they could begin to pick up their children starting at 11:30 this morning at First Baptist Church, while bus routes would soon begin taking kids home.

All extra-curricular events for the school have been canceled for tonight.

The Crothersville Police Department is leading the investigation with assistance from Indiana State Police Investigators. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Excise Police have also assisted with the evacuation of the buildings.

Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police

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. 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.

Organizers say the purpose of the pantry is to assist community members in need to 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 animal shelter.

This is National Voter Registration Month and officials say that this is a good time to register or check your registration for the November elections.

The deadline to register to vote for the November election is coming up on October 7th.

In Bartholomew County, voters will be able to cast ballots in several local contested races including for state representative, a seat on the county commissioners, three at-large seats on the county council, as well as school board seats in Bartholomew Consolidated schools.

Contested races in Bartholomew County  include:

• State Representative District 59: Incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Lauer vs Democrat Ross Thomas
• State Representative District 69: Incumbent Republican Rep. Jim Lucas vs Democrat Trish Whitcomb.
• State Representative District 73: Incumbent Republican Rep. Jennifer Meltzer vs Democrat Hollie Payton.
• Bartholomew County Commissioner District 1: Incumbent Republican Larry Kleinhenz vs Democrat Josh Burbrink.
• Bartholomew County Council at-large: Republicans Michael Bell, Kim Bennett and Marcus Speer vs Democrats Michelle Carr, Nancy Merbitz and Zack Patchett
• BCSC District 3: Whittney Loyd vs. David Theile.
• BCSC District 5: Leigh Britt vs Tom Glick
• BCSC District 7: Samantha Ison vs incumbent Nicole Wheeldon.
• Hope Town Council Ward 3: Republican incumbent Ohmer Miller vs Democrat Jerry Bragg.

Uncontested races on the ballot include Judge Jim Worton for Superior Court 1, Tony London for County Commissioner District 3, Tom Barrett for county coroner and Jake Fitzsimmons for county surveyor. All are Republicans. Independent Hope Clerk-Treasurer Diane Burton is also running unopposed.

Early voting will start on Oct. 8th. In Bartholomew County you can vote early and in person at Donner Center off of 22nd Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The county will add Saturday voting on October 26th and November 2nd. Saturday voting will be available at both Donner Center and the Bartholomew County Governmental Office Building on Third street from 8 to 3 on those Saturday.

Early voting wraps up by noon on Monday, Nov. 4th with Election Day on Nov. 5th. In Bartholomew County you will be able to vote at any of 14 vote centers throughout the county from 6 to 6.

To check your registration you can go to indianavoters.com or you can call the Bartholomew County clerk’s office at 812-379-1604.

Toyota Material Handling is making plans to bring about 200 jobs to downtown Columbus and to purchase the historic Irwin Office Building.

The company and the city of Columbus are making a deal to secure parking for those employees, in a measure approved Monday by the Columbus Redevelopment Commission.

Heather Pope, redevelopment director for the city, said that Cummins and Toyota are negotiating for the sale of the historic building, with Cummins working to make sure that there will be a good steward for the historic building it no longer needs.

A Toyota representative at the meeting said that the biggest issue in the negotiations has been ensuring employee parking.

To that end, the city will be renting 75 spaces in the Jackson Street Parking Garage to the company at a discounted rate over the next few years. Pope said that the going market rate for unreserved spaces in the garage is $65 a month, but for the first few years Toyota would have the spaces for free. In 2026, the company would only pay $25 a month for each space and $50 starting in 2027. After that, the company would pay the full market rate.

Al Roszczyk, president of the redevelopment commission said that he believes the company will save about $108,000 over the course of the initial three years of the agreement.

Pope said that the company is committing to being a long-term renter, with the option for four five year renewals of the lease.

The commission approved the agreement Monday. The agreement would go into effect once the deal for the Irwin building is complete.

Earlier this year, Toyota unveiled plans for a major expansion of its footprint in Columbus, with the $100 million dollar factory to be built on Deaver Road.

Photo: Jackson Street Parking Garage photo courtesy of Columbus Redevelopment Department.

A sinkhole has opened up on a Seymour street and you are being urged to avoid the area.

According to city officials, the road has collapsed on South O’Brien Street, just south of the intersection with U.S. 50. That comes after a water main break in the area. Indiana American Water Co. has been on the scene working to fix the problem.

The city expects the street to reopen by 5 this afternoon, with Lawyer Excavating making the repairs to the street.

Photos from the scene show a car having to be towed out of the large hole in the roadway.

Note: This story has been updated

Eastern Bartholomew Water Corporation has announced a planned water outage today in Hartsville.

According to the water company, crews will be performing maintenance on a water main in the area and replacing a damaged fire hydrant starting at about 10 a.m. The work was originally scheduled for yesterday, but had to be postponed due to an emergency, company officials said.

Once the water is restored, the company says a boil water advisory will be issued for customers in the area.

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

Note: This story has been updated

IU Columbus will be offering voting information on campus today as part of its celebration of Constitution Day and Voter Registration Day later this month.

You will be able to check your voter registration and who will be on your ballot, find your voting locations, and view a voting booth used in Bartholomew County elections. There will also be snacks, button making and opportunities to ask questions about the upcoming elections.

The activities will be held in the Landing at the Columbus Learning Center at 4555 Central Avenue from 10 to 2 p.m.

A group dedicated to growing the Columbus area economy and encouraging business development will be holding its annual meeting next week.

The Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation will be holding the meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 25th at The Commons. The featured speaker will be Dr. Jim Bullard, inaugural Dean of the Mitch Daniels, Jr., School of Business at Purdue University. Bullard was the longest-serving Federal Reserve Bank president while at the St. Louis Fed. His talk will be a fireside chat format about the state of the economy.

There will also be presentations on the local economy by Jason Hester, president of the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation and by Tom Dowd, chairman of the corporation’s board.

The event will be from 11 to 1 at The Commons.

Ticket sales for the event have ended. you can get more information at columbusin.org

Seymour Community School routines were disrupted Monday after a rumor spread on social media over the weekend.

According to the Seymour Police Department, a situation raising concerns about school safety was brought to the attention of Seymour High School staff, school resource officers, and the police department over the weekend. Police say the situation was swiftly investigated and investigators concluded that the information spreading was not credible.

And while the situation was resolved, there was an increased police presence Monday at Seymour High School as a precaution.

Schools around the state have recently faced unsubstantiated threats disrupting the education of students. In Bartholomew County, a threat at Parkside Elementary School led to an arrest of a young girl.

Flat Rock-Hawcreek Schools in Hope also said that they were looking into rumors of threats spreading on social media, and determined that there was no credible threats locally.

Authorities have given updates on two shooting incidents in Columbus Sunday night that led to the Columbus and Bartholomew County SWAT team being called out twice and two people arrested.

According to the Columbus Police Department, the first incident started around 9 p.m. when police were called to a shooting on Coles Drive. A 53-year-old man was shot in the abdomen at a home in the 4400 block of Coles Drive, before being driven to a nearby Columbus Fire Department station for treatment.

The SWAT team arrived at the home, along with the crisis negotiation team and other officers. Police worked to talk the suspected shooter, 78-year-old Stephen Funkhauser into surrendering and he eventually left the home and was taken into custody. He is facing a preliminary felony charge of battery with a deadly weapon.

The victim was flown to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment.

The second shooting incident led to an alert for nearby residents to stay safe in their homes on Silver Fox Drive at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night.

Police say that there was a domestic dispute between a man and woman at a home in the 2900 block of Silver Fox drive at about 10:28 p.m. The woman ran from the home and police say that the man fired shots from a handgun. She reached a neighbor’s home and called for authorities.

Police discovered multiple bullets that had hit the neighbor’s home.

The alleged shooter, 59-year-old Brent Clayburn, of Columbus initially barricaded himself inside the home and refused to come out, but eventually surrendered.

Clayburn was arrested on felony charges of domestic battery with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and criminal confinement with a deadly weapon.