A Columbus home suffered serious damages after a Sunday afternoon fire on Pearl Street.

According to the Columbus Fire Department, neighbors reported a house on fire in the 2600 block of Pearl Street at just before noon Sunday. Columbus police were first on the scene and found thick black smoke blowing across the street. Firefighters removed part of a privacy fence to reach the fire at the back of the home. A search crew found no one inside the home and firefighters made their way inside through heavy smoke and high heat. They had to remove sections of the ceiling as the fire had reached into the attic.

It took about 25 minutes to get the fire under control. A family member who lived nearby said that the residents were away from the home and their pet was staying with that family member.

Firefighters say the home was extensively damaged, both by the flames and smoke but also water damage. Damages are estimated at $75,000.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.

Columbus Township Fire and Rescue Department has started the search for its new chief.

Applications are now open for the chief position, left vacant when the previous chief, Dave Thompson, resigned in late February. Thompson had been with the fire department for more than 12 years and has served as chief for seven years. Josh Ferrenburg has serving as acting chief while a search for a replacement is underway.

The department is offering pay of $57,000 a year and requires 10 years of fire service, with seven years as a supervisor.

Applications are open through April 2nd. You can find more information here: https://columbustwpfirerescue.org/chief

Columbus has made a Newsweek magazine Top 10 list of best community arts scenes in the country.

According to the Columbus Area Visitors Center, the list was released yesterday, which places Columbus sixth in the country, just behind St. Augustine Florida.

The Newsweek blurb about the city focuses on the modernist architecture here as well as the three public art installations by Dale Chihuly.

According to the visitors center, nominations were made by an expert panel of travel writers, and the public voted for the honor.

Erin Hawkins, spokeswoman for the visitors center congratulated “all our outstanding arts organizations on this honor; it’s their great work that earned us these bragging rights” She said residents know how fortuntate the city is to enjoy so many opportunities for art in the community.

Bloomington and Nashville also both made the list, coming in at 8th and 10th.

First Christian Church photo courtesy of Landmark Columbus Foundation.

The Bartholomew County Health Department’s Nursing Division will be holding a kids health fair on Saturday.

The event will offer immunizations, lead screenings, dental screenings, face painting, information from community partners and free bike helmets while they last. By visiting all the booths you also have a chance to win a bicycle.

Among the partners will be Columbus Regional Hospital’s Healthy Communities, the Safe Kids Bartholomew County Coalition, the Bike Co-op, Purdue Extension, Well Connect, United Way and the Indiana Department of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Division .

The health fair will be from 10 to 1 on Saturday at the Nursing Division’s offices at 2625 Foxpointe Drive in Columbus.

A Westport man is under arrest, accused of walking away from the scene of an accident after he had been drinking.

According to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were called to the scene of the crash at 6:27 p.m. Thursday evening at the intersection of State Highway 3 and County Road 675 North. Witnesses said that the vehicle’s driver walked north on the highway and then into the woods. When deputies entered the woods they saw the man running away. Despite being ordered to stop, he continued to flee and eventually was subdued with a Taser.

31 year old Bradley Lovingood was taken to a hospital to be checked out, then arrested on preliminary charges including operating a vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and resisting law enforcement.

Deputies were assisted at the scene by North Vernon police and fire departments, Jennings County medics and Lucas Wrecker Service. .

The Atterbury Bakalar Air Museum at the Columbus Municipal Airport has reopened after its winter break and will be open on Saturday with a special event.

During the break volunteers worked to improve the museum by cleaning, repairing old displays and building new ones. During their down time volunteers were able to repair a popular attraction, a cutaway radial engine from an aircraft. That has been out of service for more than a year.

Pat Billey with the museum explains:

The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow you will be able to tour the restored C-119 plane nicknamed the “City Of Columbus.” Skip Taylor explains:

The museum officially reopened Thursday.

Photo courtesy of Atterbury-Bakalar Museum.

The 12th annual fishing tournament named after former Brown County Sheriff Buck Stogsdill is set for April.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Chris Lane is announcing that the Indiana Sheriff’s Association’s Open Bass Tournament will be held April 20th at Lake Monroe’s Cutright Ramp starting between 7 and 7:30 a.m. The registration fee is $125. There will also be a raffle. Proceeds go to benefit the association’s Line of Duty Death Benefit, Youth Leadership Camps and Scholarship Programs.

Stogsdill died in 2011.

The association provides assistance to Sheriff’s Offices statewide, helping them improve the delivery of law enforcement and correctional services.

For more information you can go to indianasheriffs.org.

State Road 135 in southern Brown County will be closing next week for up to 20 days while crews work to replace a drainage structure.

According to INDOT, contractors will be closing the highway near Hamilton Creek Road on Thursday, March 14th. That is just south of Story. Signs will be installed prior to the road closing.

The state-approved detour will follow State Road 58 to State Road 46.

This is part of a $3.7 million contract with five projects awarded to E&B Paving . Two of the projects were finished last year and three are expected to be completed this year.

The work-schedule is dependent on the weather.

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

A new police dog named after two area counties is going through training and is expected to be on duty in May.

According to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana conservation officer Zack Walker started training last month with his new dog Jaycie. The sheriff says the new dog was purchased in part by Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, Jennings County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. And her name represents the counties’ initials.

Jaycie is a flatcoat retriever and she is 1 and a half years old.

The training is taking place at Patoka Lake. Dogs will be certified in man tracking, area searches/evidence recovery and wildlife detection. That will include being able to sniff out deer, turkey, waterfowl and ginseng.

There are four dog teams taking part in this round of training, three from Indiana and one from Arkansas. The dogs have already gone through more than 100 training tracks and are expected to graduate in late May.

Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.