An IUPUC professor is being recognized as an outstanding woman leader by the university system.

Aimee Zoeller was chosen for the honor in the veteran faculty category of IUPUI’s National Women’s History Month Leadership Awards.

Among other accomplishments, Zoeller was recognized for providing training to professors across the school’s campuses last year as classes shifted to online courses. The curriculum she helped to create became the standard for universities statewide this past year.

Zoeller has been teaching sociology at IUPUC for 15 years and is the director of the Sociology Program. She is the founding coordinator of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor at IUPUC.

United Way of Bartholomew County is looking for home projects that volunteers can complete during May’s Day of Caring event.

Volunteers are available to go to homes of senior citizens or physically challenged residents to complete projects such as debris clean up, landscaping, painting, power washing and ramp building. Volunteers will follow health protocols to ensure the safety of every person at each site.

This year’s Day of Caring is May 21. The deadline to apply for help is April 15th.

To sign up, you can go here or call the Volunteer Action Center at 812-314-2960.

A woman wanted on four outstanding Bartholomew County warrants is in even more trouble after she allegedly spit on a Columbus officer early yesterday morning.

Officers located 36-year-old Heather D. Combs at a home in the 1200 block of 8th Street at just after 1 Tuesday morning. She was detained and when an officer escorted her to a patrol vehicle, that’s when she allegedly spit on the police.

In addition to the four warrants, she is now facing a new charge of battery by bodily waste on a public safety officer

Doug Leonard, the head of the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County, is announcing his plans to retire this summer.

Leonard took on the role as executive director of the agency in July of 2019, following interim director Jeff Jones. Leonard previously served as president and CEO of Columbus Regional Health and as president of the Indiana Hospital Association.

Leonard said that working with ASAP has been one of the most rewarding experiences of his career. He said ASAP meets people with Substance Use Disorder in their most desperate conditions and it is a privilege to play a part in helping them on the road to recovery.

A search for the next executive director will begin in late April.

There are plots available in the Columbus Community Gardens.

Robin Hilber, with the city office of Community Development, says that registration for previous gardeners has now ended and there are spots available now for new gardeners. A total of 25 large plots are available at $25 each and 6 small plots at $15 each.

To take part, gardeners must live in the city. Water, compost, and mulch are provided free of charge. To rent a plot for vegetables, herbs or flowers, you can contact Community Development at (812) 376-2520.

Contractors will begin work patching, milling and paving along State Road 135 between Bargersville and Nashville.

E&B Paving will begin preliminary work this week according to INDOT. Traffic restrictions will be minimal to start, but once patching gets underway in mid-April you will see lane closures and flaggers in place.

The work will be done in two sections: Between Ridgeway Drive in Nashville and Indian Creek in Morgantown and between State Road 252 in Trafalgar and State Road 144 in Bargersville. The work on the $4.8 million dollar contract is expected to be completed by late August.

INDOT reminds you to slow down, to use extra caution and to drive without distractions in and near all work zones.

The schedule is dependent on the weather.

Columbus police arrested a wanted Jackson County woman on additional drug-related charges after an incident at a local store.

Police say that they were called to the Walmart on Whitfield Drive at about 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon to remove a woman that employees said was trespassing at the store. Police discovered that 28-year-old Natasha L. Owens of Freetown was also wanted on a warrant out of Jennings County.

She was searched as she was taken into custody and officers discovered fentanyl in her purse. She was arrested on the outstanding warrant and on a new charge for possessing the narcotics.

The city of Columbus Department of Public Works will be holding its spring cleanup from Monday April 5th through April 16th.

You will be able to clean your yards, flowerbeds and fence rows by raking loose leaves, grass, and pine needles to the curb for collection on the day of your regular trash collection.

City leaf vacs will only be collecting loose debris April 5th thru April 16th.

The city’s chipper and yard waste program started up again for the season yesterday. Yard waste Toters and stacked brush will be picked up on the same day as your normal trash collection.

Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District will be offering free compost or mulch loading for seniors from 8 to noon tomorrow. Seniors can get a pickup sized scoop loaded at the yard waste site. That is behind the Columbus and Bartholomew County Recycling Center at 720 S. Mapleton St.

Seniors will not need to stop at the district office for a loading ticket.

The regular loading program will start on April 9th and be held on Fridays from 2 to 4:30. Bartholomew County residents will be able to get the pickup sized scoop for $10 per load.

To take part in the regular mulch or compost loading program, you must first stop at the office and pay by check or with exact cash at the black box on the porch of the office. Then take a ticket marked “M” for mulch or “C” for compost to the loading area.

The Friday Loading Program is for Bartholomew County residents only and no businesses are allowed. For more information call 812-376-2614 or visit www.bcswmd.com.

A Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy died yesterday in a crash while responding to the scene of another accident.

Indiana State Police say that 38-year-old Deputy James A. Driver of Spencer was driving his police cruiser with lights and sirens activated at about 4 yesterday afternoon on State Road 45, when an oncoming pickup and trailer tried to pull over, lost control and crossed into Driver’s lane, where the trailer hit the deputy’s car. The cruiser flipped several times, ejecting Driver from the vehicle.

He was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital where he died.