INDOT says you will see flaggers in Brown County as crews work on bridges over Bean Blossom Creek, starting on Monday.

Contractors will be completing joint repairs and replacement on the State Road 45 bridges over about a 10-day period. The flagging will be happening during the daytime hours and no overnight restrictions or closures are planned.

INDOT says you should slow down, use extra caution, and drive without distractions in and near all work zones. The schedule is dependent on the weather.

A motorcyclist was injured and a passenger seriously hurt in a crash on U.S. 31 Tuesday afternoon.

Bartholomew County deputies say that a motorcycle driven by 53-year-old Tony G. Michael of North Vernon failed to slow for traffic on U.S. 31 just south of County Road 100S at about 3:56 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

After losing control, the cycle skidded for about 75 feet before finally coming to a stop. Michael and a female passenger were both thrown from the bike and neither was wearing a helmet, deputies say.

Michael was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital by ambulance while the passenger was flown by medical helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital.

A Columbus man was arrested Tuesday night for failing to register as a sex offender and invasion of privacy.

Bartholomew County deputies served an arrest warrant on 39-year-old Jeremiah Burris at about 8:52 p.m. Tuesday night at his home. After initially shutting the door against authorities, Burris surrendered and was taken into custody on four counts of invasion of privacy and failing to register as a sex offender.

Chief Deputy Major Chris Lane said that when sex offenders fail to register, they become a risk to the community and to public safety. He said the department gives offenders every opportunity to register, but if they don’t, “we will search for them, we will find them and they will be arrested.”

Lane said that Sheriff Matt Myers is evaluating the need for additional staff in the department’s Sex Offender Office.

Indiana State Police are looking for your help identifying a man found dead yesterday morning in a rural area of Ripley County. The man appears to be a white male in his 30s or early 40s.

He was about 5 feet 7 inches tall, and 160 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a beard. He had distinct tattoos on his upper right arm.

State police say that they do not yet know the man’s cause of death. An autopsy is scheduled for this afternoon.

If you have any information you can contact Detective Tracy Rohlfing at the Indiana State Police Versailles Post at 812-689-5000.

Bartholomew County property owners will soon start seeing their new assessed value statements from the county assessor’s office.

County Assessor Ginny Whipple says that the Form 11 notices are going out in the mail, starting tomorrow. The annual notices are mailed each year and this week’s mailing will let you know the value of your property going into the 2022 property tax year.

The assessed value is used as a starting point for your property taxes, which will be calculated by factoring in the tax rate set annually by the County Council.

Most property owners will see an increase in their assessed values. Whipple said home sale prices have increased by 21 percent from 2019 to 2020.

If you have questions about your assessment, you can contact the Assessor’s office at 812-379-1505 to set up an appointment.

The Bartholomew County Health Department is planning two days of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine clinics next month at the county 4-H fairgrounds.

The clinics will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  on May 25th and 26th at the fairgrounds Community Building on County Road 200S. The vaccines will be available for those 18 and older.

You must first register at ourshot.in.gov.

You could see multiple military medical convoys and aircraft from the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Jennings County, headed to Johnson Memorial Hospital in Franklin, starting today, as part of a training exercise.

U.S. Army soldiers will be conducting emergency medical evacuation training through Friday. The training is meant to improve coordination between military and community emergency services in the event of a large-scale disaster. The training is part of Guardian Response, an exercise run annually by the Army Reserve’s 78th Training Division.

Civilian emergency vehicles including ambulances and police cars will also be involved.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Department is urging you not to call 911 to report the activities, which will largely be taking place near North Vernon, Edinburgh and Franklin.

Photo courtesy of https://www.army.mil

Local groups are working to get Columbus designated as a safehaven for bees and other pollinators.

The Columbus Pollinator Committee, with support from the Columbus Design Institute, is pursuing the designation as a Bee City USA. A series of free public programs through this summer will encourage planting of native plants and flowers that provide vital food to pollinators such as butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

The Bee City USA designation is awarded by the Xerces Society and Columbus would be the first Bee City USA in Indiana. According to the society, Bee City USA works to sustain pollinators by increasing native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides. Bee cities also encourage pollinator conservation through education and outreach.

The kickoff event will be Friday May 21st at the Fresh Start Recovery Center in downtown Columbus. The center’s lawn is being redesigned by landscape architect Rachel Kavathe and will feature hundreds of plants purchased by the local Sierra Club chapter with funds from the Duke Energy Foundation. The planting work will happen during the Bartholomew County United Way’s service day.

There will be more opportunities to work at pollinator friendly areas this summer including at Fresh Start and at Blackwell Park. Efforts are also underway to create a pollinator friendly meadow at the Columbus Airpark Campus.

Most Columbus city government buildings will open to the public again on Monday, but options will remain in place should you want to conduct your business with the city remotely.

City officials announced yesterday that buildings will reopen including City Hall and the Columbus Police Department, Donner Center, city utilities, the Department of Public Works, and aviation offices at Columbus Municipal Airport. Masks will still be required within the city buildings to protect the public and city employees.

Buildings that will remain closed to the public include Animal Care Services, fire stations, and The Commons.

If you want to contact city workers remotely, you are encouraged to call or to use email. City officials say their goal is to serve you using the methods that make you the most comfortable.

The city also plans to continue to conduct government meetings remotely through at least the end of May, streaming them on the city website and via WebEx. Should the governor rescind his order allowing for remote meetings, the city will go back to in-person meetings and the public will be notified.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop is urging you to continue to take the virus seriously and to follow the guidelines laid out by the CDC and State of Indiana. He said masks, social distancing, good hygiene and avoiding crowds and groups are key to protecting the community’s health and the economy.

The Republic newspaper is reporting that Bartholomew County government offices, will also be reopening to the public on Monday.