The deadline is today if you would like to help Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus choose its new mascot style.

The school is sticking with its long-time Eagles nickname, but is choosing a costumed mascot to take part in community and campus events. The school is offering three choices for the bird costume: Fierce, Friendly or Proud.

You can view the mascot styles and vote for your favorite at link.ivytech.edu/mascot.

Seymour police will no longer be posting about marijuana busts on social media.

The department announced yesterday on Facebook that it was going to stop the practice after a rising number of heated comments from readers about enforcing laws against marijuana.

According to the department, reactions to a post about a recent arrest for marijuana dealing included hateful speech, sarcasm, name calling, curse words, accusations and lewd memes.

The department stressed that police don’t create laws, they just enforce them.

According to the announcement, “We try our best every day to do a job that the city of Seymour is proud of and will continue to seek ways to make positive connections and remain as transparent as possible with regard to minimizing our contact with inflammatory issues.”

Columbus police arrested a local man on drunk driving charges after a crash Friday morning on the east side of the city.

Police say they were called to the area of State and Pence Calla street at about 10:10 Friday morning for a report of a two-vehicle crash. One driver, 43-year-old Jonathan E. Beene, appeared unsteady on his feet and had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

Police also discovered that Beene had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear for a prior charge of driving under the influence.

Police say he refused field sobriety tests, so he was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to have his blood drawn after officers received a warrant.

He was then arrested on a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated as well as the outstanding warrant.

A small group of Bartholomew County deputies and Columbus police officers recently completed a course in resolving situations involving people having a mental health crisis.

Five officers completed training as a Crisis Intervention Team last week in Boone County. The officers received specialized training to help those with mental disorders  or addictions access medical treatment rather than placing them in the criminal justice system due to illness related behaviors. Organizers for the training say it also promotes officer safety and the safety of the individual in crisis.

Chief Deputy Major Chris Lane said the training gives law enforcement tools to do their job safely and effectively. He said the training has also shown to improve officers’ attitudes and knowledge about mental illness.

The agencies are coordinating to host a local Crisis Intervention Team training in the future to expand the number of trained law enforcement officers serving the Bartholomew County area.

Photo: Local law enforcement officers recently completed Crisis Intervention Training including CPD Officer Cody Wooten, CPD Sgt. Alyson Eichel, BCSO Sgt. Andrew Whipker, CPD Chaplain John Bundick, and BCSO Detective Dane Duke. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Bartholomew County will be hiring an outside advisor to help it spend the local share of federal funds from the most recent COVID relief bill.

The County Commissioners on Monday approved a contract not to exceed $25 thousand dollars with Baker Tilly, a Chicago based accounting and consulting company with Indianapolis offices. The money would be spent on an hourly basis over the course of the two years the funds are being made available.

County Attorney Grant Tucker said the county will be getting more than $16 million dollars through the American Recovery Plan. But the funds come with requirements and restrictions, limiting their use to specified purposes and banning them from being used for other purposes. The danger is that the county could misinterpret the rules, and have to pay back a large chunk of money.

Auditor Pia O’Connor said that she was able to handle the previous CARES act funds within her office. But this is a much larger pool of money and much more specific on its uses.

Commissioner Tony London said the consultants would also use their expertise to help the county find more money.

Indiana American Water will begin flushing its water distribution system in the Seymour area, starting today.

You could see reduced water pressure or discolored water while the work is going on in your area. The company says if your water is discolored, you should run the cold water taps in the lowest level of your house for three to five minutes until the water runs clear. You should not do laundry if you are seeing discolored water.

The flushing work is expected to last through June 1st. You can get more information at Indianaamwater.com or call 800-492-8373

Bartholomew County REMC is announcing a planned power outage Tuesday evening affecting about 1,900 customers east of U.S. 31 and south of State Road 46.

The power company is making repairs to its Elizabethtown substation.

The outage is expected to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday night and to last for about 30 minutes.

For more information, you can call 812-372-2546.

Two Columbus companies will be pitching their projects Tuesday night before startup accelerator gener8tor.

The virtual pitch night will feature 10 companies with each company having five minutes to pitch their initiatives.

This is part of the inaugural gBeta Bloomington-Columbus virtual pitch competition. The companies are all from the region covered by the Velocities program, a partnership between the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, The Mill in Bloomington, and Elevate Ventures.

The Columbus companies taking part are garb2ART founded by Dawn Andrews and Ninebx founded by Manish Goel.

The  pitch program is designed to help startups gain early customer traction on their product or idea, and ultimately become competitive for equity-based accelerators or seed investment.

You are invited to watch the the virtual pitch night from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. You can register here.

Photo courtesy of Dawn Andrews.

Two people were arrested Friday morning on drug-dealing charges after the Jackson County SWAT team served a search warrant in the 700 block of West Brown Street in Seymour.

The team, made up of deputies from the sheriff’s department and officers from the Seymour and Brownstown police departments discovered methamphetamine, mobile devices, drug paraphernalia, money and power tools. The tools had allegedly been traded for drugs.

52-year-old Mark A. Blewett and 47-year-old Cindy Jo Turner, both of Seymour, were arrested on charges of dealing in and possessing methamphetamine, maintaining a common nuisance and possession of paraphernalia according to police.

Evidence photo courtesy of Seymour Police Department.

Bartholomew County has a new county clerk. A caucus of Republican precinct committeemen chose Shari Lentz for the position on Saturday.

She will fill the rest of the term of Jay Phelps, who has accepted a position with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office as director of elections modernization, administration, and special projects.

Lentz is the wife of Bartholomew County Councilman Bill Lentz. She began working on elections 13 years ago recruiting poll workers. She has worked in the clerk’s office for eight years, most recently as elections supervisor under Phelps.

She is serving this year as president of the Indiana Voter Registration Association.

Lentz was the only candidate and she was sworn in Saturday by Superior Court Judge Jon Rohde. She will serve to the end of Phelps’ elected term next year.