The city of Columbus has announced a partnership with a new clinic in Nexus Park, the former Fair Oaks Mall, that will serve city employees and retirees, as well as their famlies and dependents.

Mayor Mary Ferdon said that the Employer Health Partners clinic partnership is a collaboration with Columbus Regional Health and was possible due to the expanded medical office space in the newly revamped mall space. She said the new clinic will save taxpayers money by providing care to those on the city’s SIHO Healthcare Plan.

The clinic partnership is already in place between CRH and the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation.

Cummins says it is soon releasing its most efficient heavy duty diesel engine. The company says the new 15-liter X-15 engine will comply with upcoming emissions regulations through 2027 when it launches.

The engine is meant for heavy duty highway use and was designed as part of a powertrain featuring Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies and Cummins-Meritor. It features improved greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency but maintains the power ratings of the current generation X15 with 605 horsepower and 2,050 ft-lb of torque.

The Columbus-based engine company also said it is grouping its line of fuel-agnostic X15 engines under the Cummins HELM platform name.

The engines will be produced at the company’s Jamestown, New York plant.

Photo courtesy of Cummins Inc.

The non-profit Park Theatre Civic Centre in North Vernon will be hosting performances of music from Hollywood featuring local talent tonight and Sunday.

A cast of more than 50 performers will showcase movie music including songs from “The Blues Brothers,” “Back to the Future,” “Dirty Dancing,” “The Lion King” and more.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. tonight and 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. They are available in advance at the Park Theatre box office on North Madison Ave., in North Vernon. The box office is open 2 to 5 p.m. today. Tickets will also be available at the show, if any are left.

The Park Theatre opened in 1916 with shows ranging from vaudeville acts to silent films but closed in the 1960s. A not for profit group was formed in the 1990s to renovate the venue and reopened it as a civic center.

For more information, call the Park Theatre at 812-346-0330.

A Shelbyville man was arrested Wednesday for child solicitation after a standoff with the city’ SWAT team.

According to the Shelbyville Police Department, officers went to serve a search warrant at an apartment complex but had information that a suspect had weapons in the home. The SWAT team was called in and neighbors were evacuated for their safety.

After officers secured the area, crisis negotiators tried to reach the suspect by phone, with a loud speaker and finally a text message. The suspect, James C. Griner came to the door and surrendered to officers. After a search, Griner was arrested on a preliminary charge of child solicitation.

Seymour’s John Rust is filing an appeal to the Indiana Election Division’s unanimous vote that took him off the Republican primary ballot in the U.S. Senate race.

Rust believes the state’s two primary law shouldn’t apply to him because of a December ruling from Marion County Superior Court Judge Patrick Dietrick who found it unconstitutional. The law mandates candidates need to vote in the primary for the party they want to represent for the last two primary elections. Rust voted in the Democratic primary in 2012 and the Republican primary in 2016, which were his last two primary votes cast.

Rust is a former executive with Rose Acre Farms.

Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks

Conservation officers say a man was shot dead at the north gate to Clifty Falls State Park Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, state officers along with Jefferson County deputies were called to the scene after several people reported the shooting at 2:48 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Police say that 47-year old Joseph R. Lane of Carrollton, Georgia, was found dead near the parking lot with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest.

Officers, deputies and police with the Madison Police Department arrested 33-year-old John D McElwaney of Tallapoosa, Georgia on a preliminary charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was first taken to the hospital to be checked out before going to jail.

A prisoner in the Bartholomew County Jail is facing new charges after several inmates became ill from drug overdoses in the facility.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the incidents started Monday afternoon after jail staff noticed two inmates in medical distress. The staff began emergency medical procedures and both inmates were found to have overdosed. They were taken to Columbus Regional Health for treatment and later returned to the jail.

Nursing staff began to check on every inmate in the cell block and soon found two more inmates who showed signs of being impaired. They were also taken to the hospital.

The Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team and the corrections department staff began an investigation and after working through the night detectives identified a suspect. During an interview, 27 year old Dai Von Coram of Columbus confessed, police say.

Von Coram is facing new felony charges of dealing in a narcotic drug, trafficking with an inmate and obstruction of justice.

Sheriff Chris Lane said that the safety of the inmates and their well being is the top priority in the jail. He praised the jail staff for their quick actions and using their training, following policies and procedures to respond to the incident.

Lane also said that information could not be released earlier because of the ongoing investigation,

The city of Seymour is planning to plant even more trees this year.

The city says that the Seymour Tree Board is planning for its 2024 plantings. The city’s Tree City USA program is receiving just over $43,000 in funding from the Seymour Redevelopment Commission and the Jackson County Solid Waste Management District to plant and maintain trees in the city.

According to the city, the program has grown from planting 15 trees in the city in 2020, to planting 160 trees last year. That included 73 at the Freeman Field Recreational Complex, 40 trees along the southern Burkart Boulevard Bypass, 25 trees at city property near County Road 340N and 15 trees at Kasting Park. They also planted seven memorial trees last year.

City officials say that they are planting all native trees with no invasive plants.

The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. The award recognizes communities for effective urban forest management.

To get involved with the city’s tree planting program, you can contact Seymour Parks and Recreation at 812-523-5888.

New Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon will be holding her first State of the City address next week.

According to the mayor’s office the event will be taking place Wednesday at Nexus Park, the former Fair Oaks Mall on 25th Street. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the mayor’s remarks will be at 6 p.m.

The speech will be followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Circle K Fieldhouse at Nexus Park.

A quorum of City Council members, along with members of other boards and commissions are expected to attend but the council will not be in session and no council business will be conducted.

The event is free and you are invited to attend. You should park in the southeastern lot off of 25th Street near Dunham’s Sports and signs will direct you to the location inside the former mall.

Hope Utilities will be holding a public hearing next month on a project to improve the water situation in the Goshen Meadows subdivision.

According to town officials, the project will be funded through a loan from the state wastewater revolving loan program. The town is planning to upgrade the existing Goshen Meadows lift station and rehabilitate the lateral connections in the neighborhood. You can view the preliminary engineering report at the Town Hall starting on March 9th.

Estimated costs for the project are not yet available.

There will be a public hearing on the project at the March 19th Town Council meeting at the Town Hall on Jackson Street. That will be at 5:30 p.m. that afternoon. You will have a chance to hear more details on the project and ask questions.

You can also leave written comments about the project through March 25th by mail to Tony Akles at 629 Washington Street, Columbus, IN 47201

For more information on the meeting, contact Jason Eckart at 812-546-0423.