We could be in for some nasty weather today.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says most of our area is under a slight risk of severe weather today. That could include damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes, or even flooding. Forecasters say the chances for the bad weather will be the worst starting at 6 p.m. tonight through 2 a.m. Friday morning.’

A Medora man is facing nine child pornography charges after a search by Indiana State Police Tuesday.

Indiana State Police say that the investigation by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began in December after a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That investigation led to a search warrant being serfved at a home in the 9000 block of West U.S. 50 near Medora.

The search uncovered child pornography on electronic devices and on social media belonging to 19-year-old Paxston A. Allman. He was arrested and taken to the Jackson County Jail on nine charges of child pornography.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in the investigation.

The task force encourages you to report online exploitation, solicitation, and enticement crimes against children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Cummins says its Accelera brand has achieved a significant milestone with its first first hydrogen fuel-cell powered locomotive for use in freight rail in Austria.

The Columbus based engine manufacturer combined its various zero-emissions solutions offerings last year under the new Accelera brand. According to the company the fuel cells are powering a vehicle designed for the HY2Rail project, in partnership with the Austrian railway authority. The project is meant to demonstrate how fuel cells can meet the power needs of heavy-duty locomotives.

An Austrian engineering consultancy, m.ZERO, integrated Accelera fuel cell power modules into a customized system that meets strict rail vehicle standards. The system has a hybrid propulsion system that includes cutting-edge electronics, on-board hydrogen storage, a vehicle control unit, and software.

The transformed locomotive was previously a construction and maintenance railcar, which relied on a diesel-electric propulsion system. With the new fuel cell electric system, it now runs emissions free.

Photo provided by Cummins Inc.

A Sheriff’s Department intern on a ride-along with a deputy was able to call for help when the officer was attacked by a suspect.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the incident started at about 6:28 p.m. Tuesday evening when Hope Police and deputies were called to the 12000 block of County Road 425E about a domestic battery . According to witnesses, a suspect battered a male at the residence, injuring the victim’s face. The suspect then fled the scene in a car.

Deputy Tyler Cooper found the suspect’s vehicle near Poshard Drive and pulled it over. The suspect, identified as Bradley Bates refused to cooperate or to get out of the vehicle. As the deputy worked to remove Bates from the vehicle, a fight broke out with Bates striking the deputy repeated in the head. Cooper was able to get back from Bates and use his Taser.

Police say that during the fight Cooper was unable to use his radio, but an intern was in the vehicle who used the car radio to call for help. More deputies arrived and helped subdue Bates.

He was taken to Columbus Regional Health to be checked out and then to jail on preliminary charges including battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting law enforcement and domestic battery.

Cooper was also taken to Columbus Regional Health for treatment and was found to have suffered a concussion.

Sheriff Chris Lane praised Cooper for relying on his training and experience in the situation and the intern for calling for backup.

The Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District is offering free mulch at its site at the Columbus and Bartholomew County Recycling Center on Mapleton Street. And there will be several opportunities for seniors and others to get help loading the mulch.

The mulch is available to load yourself for free at the center. There will also be free loading for seniors on the last two Wednesdays of the month. Those will be March 20th and March 27th from 8 a.m. to noon.

There is also loading assistance available on Fridays, April through October for $10 per pick up truck load. That will start on April 5th and will be from 2 to 4:30 p.m. except for Friday holidays.

You can get more information at bcswmd.com.

Our area’s hopes for state grant funds for economic development focus on projects improving innovation, education, housing and attracting population.

State officials have released the vision statements from the 15 regions around the state competing for up to $500 million in grant funding through the second round of the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI grants.

In our area, the Southern Indiana Housing and Community Development Corporation represents Bartholomew, Jackson, Jennings counites and the town of Edinburgh in the South Central region. In the first round of READI grants in 2021 the region received $30 million in funding for projects.

In the executive summary prepared by the group, the region outlined its goals to advance innovation and entrepreneurship, to build and retain a workforce through expanded degree and certificate programs and to stimulate and sustain housing in the region.

The group says that Bartholomew and Jackson counties are already growing, and it would like to see Jennings County stabilize its population and then grow from 2027 to 2032. They hope to achieve that by investment in quality of place initiatives.

Brown County is part of the Indiana Uplands region being led by Regional Opportunity Initiatives Inc. Shelby and Decatur counties are part of the Accelerate Rural Indiana region being led by the Accelerate Rural Indiana Regional Development Authority.

The annual Memorial Day weekend Salute! concert will be happening again in May, but it will move to a new location.

According to the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, due to the construction going on at the Bartholomew County Courthouse the decision has been made to move the event away from the downtown veterans memorial this year. Instead, it will be held this year at the Columbus Municipal Airport.

Brian Payne, director of the city airport said the city would be working with the orchestra “to host the thousands of attendees who would normally attend at the Courthouse.”

The free concert honors those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces with a selection of patriotic music.

The concert will be Friday May 24th at 7 p.m. in the evening.

The county estimates that the $3.3 million dollar courthouse renovation project will take more than a year. The project will include replacing the pipes in the building along with the heating and cooling system, installing all new lighting, carpet and ceilings, and upgrading the computer cabling throughout the building.

Cummins stock swap to finish spinning off its former filtration business is set to expire tonight.

According to the Columbus based engine manufacturer, for every share of Cummins stock traded in, investors will receive just over 12 shares of stock in Atmus Filtration Technologies. Cummins shareholders have the option to exchange all, some or none of their shares of Cummins common stock for shares of Atmus common stock.

The filtration business was started by Cummins in 1958, but the companies separated last year with an initial stock offering for the new Atmus Filtration Technologies. Heading into the exchange, Cummins owns about 80 percent of the new company’s stock or 67 million shares. The company plans to exchange almost 5.6 million shares of its stock  for 33.5 million shares of Atmus stocks.

The exchange offer is scheduled to expire at midnight tonight unless terminated or extended.

A Columbus man was arrested for refusing to return equipment from his former employer in Seymour, police say.

According to the Seymour Police Department, Valeo North America reached out to police in January, saying that a former employee had used a company credit card for personal reasons and still had a company laptop, cell phone and adjustable computer desk, which he was would not return. Police say that the former employee was seen taking the items from the company.

During the investigation, police discovered that the former employee, 38-year-old James Persinger of Columbus, had spent more than $9,000 dollars on the company credit card, and police determined that the items taken were worth more than $2,300.

On Friday, a search warrant was served at Persinger’s home on Henry Drive in Columbus. Police found the missing items along with other computer equipment belonging to the company.

Persinger was arrested on preliminary charges of theft.