Federal officials are considering Camp Atterbury as a temporary holding site for immigrant detainees.

Homeland Security confirmed that it’s “exploring all options” as nationwide deportation efforts increase and detention space becomes more scarce. This potential move comes as Indiana has also ramped up its own state-level immigration enforcement measures.

Camp Atterbury is a federal installation spanning parts of Bartholomew, Brown and Johnson counties. It is operated by the Indiana National Guard.

The base as a history of being involved in significant national operations. In 2021 it was repurposed during Operation Allies Welcome to temporarily shelter over 7,000 Afghan refugees evacuated after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. This large-scale humanitarian mission utilized 82 lodging structures across six distinct, fully-serviced neighborhoods—complete with dining and medical capabilities—offering varied accommodations from family dormitories to individual barracks, all climate-controlled and equipped with plumbing.

Using Camp Atterbury for detentions could offer federal cost savings for immigrant detention, a crucial consideration as recent think tank reports estimate between 11 and 12.2 million unauthorized immigrants nationwide, driving the need for such facilities.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana

Columbus Animal Care Services, the city operated animal shelter, will be holding a special adoption event on Saturday for older dogs.

During the event, adoptions for dogs older than six months will be available for $5. All animals are fully vaccinated, spayed or neutered and microchipped before going home.

If you are a renter, you should bring any rental agreement or contract that shows you are allowed to have pets, or a way to contact your landlord.

The adoption event will be from 10 to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the shelter on Arnold Street, at the Columbus Municipal Airport.

Organizers also say this is a good chance to check out the Forever Home Gardens at the shelter. The garden features primarily native plants, which reduce maintenance, improve soil quality and drainage and support native insects, butterflies and birds. New to the gardens this year raised beds and a dog sensory garden. Potted native plant starts from the garden will also be available. the garden is open from 10 to 1 on Saturday.

You can find more information at columbus.in.gov

River Valley Legal Aid will be holding a free walk-in legal clinic in Jackson County next week.

Legal Aid holds the clinics to provide help to low income residents of its eight county region. The clinic will be open to residents of the entire region.

The clinic will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Montgomery Elsner & Pardieck Law Office in Seymour.

Juneteenth is on the way and local organizers are announcing a slate of events to be held in Columbus and Bartholomew County celebrating black history and culture.

Organizers say that the goal is “to promote community, culture and collaboration,” and to build on the momentum from Black History Month.

Upcoming events include:

An Author Reading and Book Signing at Viewpoint Books, highlighting Black authors and storytelling on June 6th.

Hair Love, an event celebrating natural hair and acceptance of all textures and styles will be on June 7th.

On June 14th will be a 5k Freedom Walk and on June 19th, there will be a ribbon cutting for the the Black Heritage Trail in Columbus, recognizing black owned businesses from the 19th and 20th centuries.

This year’s Juneteenth Calendar is sponsored by the African American Foundation of Bartholomew County, Cummins and Toyota Material Handling.

You can find the entire calendar and all the details at at Blackhistorycolumbus.com on Facebook at Black History Columbus and on Instagram @BlackHistoryColumbus.

Local recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month will wrap up Saturday with a block party at Ninth Street Park in Columbus.

The Bartholomew County Mental Health Matters Coalition organized a slate of activities for the month, with the send-off event being the block party. Vachel Hudson with Mental Health Matters explains:

The block party will be from 11 to 1 p.m. at the park between Wilson and Reed Streets in downtown Columbus.

Columbus police are looking for your help to fill a police cruiser with food to help those in need in the community.

According to the Columbus Police Department, officers are partnering with Kroger and Love Chapel for the Pack-A-Cruiser event. Police, department employees and Love Chapel volunteers will be outside Kroger on North National Road, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, to collect food donations.

The event last year collected more than 3,000 pounds of food and $630 to help feed the community.

Columbus police SUV photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

Authorities are warning about scammers impersonating local police or government employees, saying that your property is subject to a sheriff’s sale due to unpaid debts or warning that you have a warrant for your arrest, or a fine that needs paid.

According to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, these scammers can sound very convincing when they call you. They use the names of real police officers or deputies and can use software to trick your Caller ID into thinking the call is coming from a legitimate police number. They will threaten you with legal action or even arrest to create a sense of urgency and will try to get you to go to a fraudulent website to make payments to the scammers.

Johnson County Sheriff’s Department said recently that people are reporting that scammers are claiming to be a Major Andy Fisher with the department.

Authorities say that law enforcement agencies will never request payments over the phone or online to settle legal matters. And they will never ask you to purchase gift cards or prepaid debit cards to pay a debt or fine. You should never provide personal or financial information to unsolicited callers.

If you receive one of these calls, you should just hang up. If you have questions, you can call local authorities directly at a trusted number.

Seymour Community Schools will be serving free hot meals this summer to any children in the community.

The meals program is going on at Seymour Middle School, Seymour High School and Margaret Brown Elementary and is open to area kids, 18 and younger.

The longest active site will be at the middle school from Monday, June wnd through July 25th, Mondays through Fridays. Breakfast will be served from 8 to 9 a.m. at the school and lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the meal site will be closed on July 4th

The program at the high school will be from Monday through June 27th. Breakfast there will be from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and Lunch from 11 to 12:30.

At Margaret Brown Elementary, meals will be available from Monday through June 20th. Breakfasts will be from 8 to 9 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to noon.

Seymour Community Schools will also have a meal pickup program, where you can get a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches to take home. You must register in advance for the first pickup and the deadline is coming up on Monday. You will need to register each Monday by 9 a.m. for the next pickup. The pickup site will be at Seymour Intermediate School from noon to 2 p.m. on Thursdays.

The goal is to ensure children are well fed and ready to enjoy their summer, according to organizers.

A man is in custody, accused of starting multiple fires at apartment complexes in Greenwood yesterday morning.

The first fire started at 8:01 a.m. at Westminster Apartments, where several people were rescued from balconies. Minutes later, a fire broke out at Polo Run Apartments and was quickly controlled. Shortly after, a larger fire was reported at Auburn Place Apartments, which was also quickly extinguished. The apartment complexes are all within a mile of each other.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said firefighters from Franklin, Amity, and others were called to help Greenwood’s firefighters.

According to authorities, the fires were set intentionally.

No injuries were reported.

Officials say a 50-year-old suspect was taken into custody.

An investigation is underway.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana and TTWN Media Networks

Note: This story has been edited.

A Jennings County crash Thursday morning on U.S. 50 claimed the life of a North Vernon man.

According to Indiana State Police, 54-year-old William L. Rabe Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say that Rabe was driving west on the highway near Road 125E at about 7:30 a.m. in the morning when his car crossed the centerline into the path of a car being driven by 36-year-old Daniel L. Plumm of North Vernon. The two vehicles collided in the eastbound lane of the highway with Rabe’s vehicle coming to a stop in the roadway, while Plumm’s went off the side.

Plumm was first taken to St. Vincent/Jennings Hospital in North Vernon with serious injuries before being transferred to St. Vincent in Indianapolis for further treatment.

Rabe suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jennings County Coroner’s Office.

Troopers say the accident remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police