Columbus firefighters say a balcony blaze at a Marr Road apartment building caused $5,000 in damages Sunday morning.

According to reports from Columbus Fire Department, a fire alarm was activated by the flow of water through sprinklers at the Enclave Apartments in the 200 block of North Marr Road at about 9:56 a.m. Sunday morning.

No one answered the door when firefighters arrived at the third floor apartment and they had to break in. The sprinkler on the balcony was still spraying water but had extinguished a fire that had damaged the building’s siding and the wooden balcony’s structure. Firefighters removed more siding and drywall to check for hidden pockets of flame and concluded that the fire had been contained to the balcony.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No one was injured.

Muscatatuck Urban Training Center hosted more than 500 military and civilian emergency response personnel in a major disaster preparedness exercise over the weekend.

The Indiana National Guard says that the guard partnered with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Indiana Task Force One, Indiana Office of Technology and other agencies in the Homeland Defender exercise simulating a catastrophic earthquake and its aftermath Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The exercise also threw in complications such as ransomware attacks hitting the systems controlling local infrastructure, such as shutting down a water system.

Photo of Sgt. Tackora Farrington,. Indiana National Guard Headquarters.
Indiana’s Adjutant General Brig. Gen. Dale Lyles walks through medical tent with staff members during exercise Homeland Defender exercise at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Saturday, Aug. 14th.

Opponents of puppy mills in Bartholomew County scored a victory yesterday, as the Bartholomew County Commissioners took steps to limit the facilities in the community.

The Commissioners gave their first approvals to revisions to the county animal control ordinances yesterday. The new ordinance would repeal the previous law, that has been in place since 1978. The changes included bureaucratic reduction efforts such as removing the requirement for licenses and deleting references to an animal control commission that hasn’t existed for more than 25 years.

The major changes limited breeders of dogs, cats and other non-agricultural animals to having a maximum of 10 unaltered females more than a year old in their facility. That was for owners breeding the animals for future sales of their offspring.

The ordinance also made it illegal for pet owners to abandon their animals in the county. However, shelters and other organizations are allowed to collect feral cats, neuter them and return them to the location where they were found, as a way to limit the spread of feral cats.

The ordinance also increased animal control fines to $100 as a way to make owners more responsible

The commissioners will consider the second and final approval of the ordinance at their August 30th meeting.

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce will be honoring three women at its upcoming Women In Leadership luncheon.

Cindy Frey, president of the chamber, is announcing that the honorees will be Beth Morris, Hanna Omar and Lori Thompson.

Morris retired last year as director of community health partnerships at Columbus Regional Health and currently serves as president of the Columbus Park Foundation.

Omar works at JP Morgan Chase Bank in the government banking group. She has been an advocate for the local Muslim community and serves on the United Way governance committee and the Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals.

Thompson retired from Cummins, is one of the founders of the Bartholomew County African American Fund, serves on the board of Heritage Fund and the Community Education Coalition and is spearheading the Targeted Investment in Minority Entrepreneurs program.

The luncheon will be at 11 a.m. on Sept 15th at The Commons. Tickets are $35 and you can get get more information at columbusareachamber.com.

A Columbus police officer shot a dog after it attacked a landlady at her rental property Friday afternoon.

According to police reports, the landlady opened the gate into a yard at her property in the 2500 block of Pearl Street, not realizing that the tenant had two dogs there. The dogs pushed their way out and attacked the woman, including biting her twice on the neck. She was able to get into her vehicle to avoid the dogs.

When police arrived at about 12:45 p.m., they saw two people who had climbed into the back of a truck to avoid the dogs that were still running loose in the area. Officers tried to reach the woman in her car, but the dogs wouldn’t let them. Police talked the woman into backing her vehicle up to a nearby ambulance, so she could be treated and transported to Columbus Regional Hospital.

Animal control officers found one of the dogs in the back yard and captured it. The second dog was still roaming the area and began to lunge at the animal care workers. That’s when police shot the dog. It was taken to a local veterinarian for treatment.

Seymour drivers will see State Road 11 or Broadway Street closing for several days later this week, for work on the CSX Railroad tracks.

INDOT says that CSX will be closing the street between East Second Street and East or Circle Street starting Wednesday. The railroad will be making crossing repairs and the work is expected to take about four days.

INDOT says you should avoid the area. The official detour will take U.S. 50 to Interstate 65.

An Indiana State Police trooper is being credited with likely saving a woman’s life while he was off duty on Saturday.

According to police reports, Trooper Matt Hatchett was driving home in his state police vehicle after completing his National Guard training when he was flagged down by a group of motorcycle riders on Sunset Drive near Sweetwater Lake in Brown County at about 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

One of the bikers had crashed, was bleeding heavily from a wound to her leg and losing consciousness. Police say Hatchett used medical gear to apply a tourniquet to the woman’s leg to stop the bleeding, likely saving her life. She was flown by medical helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital.

State Police say that all troopers are issued tourniquets as part of their duty gear and train annually on their use and benefits.

Hatchett has served as a trooper for nearly four years and lives in Brown County with his family.

This crash is being investigated by the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

Scammers pretending to be with local law enforcement are trying to trick you into making a fake donation, or into paying them to get you out of a warrant.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that the phone calls appear to be coming from the agency, as the scammers are able to fool your Caller ID.

The sheriff’s department warns that they will never solicit or collect money over the phone. The only charities directly endorsed by the department are the Johnson County Sheriff’s Charity Ride and those put on by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Any issues related to warrants, sheriff’s sales, body attachments, tax warrants, or other matters will be conducted either by mail or in person at the Sheriff’s Office.

These scammers are frequently suggesting that you pay by pre-paid credit card, by purchasing gift cards or Green Dot cards. Experts say that any time you are being asked to pay in these ways, it is a scam.

Columbus Regional Health is putting limits in place on visitation, in the face of rising admissions for COVID-19.

Non-critical-care patients in the inpatient units who are COVID-19 positive or being ruled out for COVID now may have only one visitor per day. Similarly, COVID-positive and COVID rule-out patients in the Emergency Department may each have one visitor per day. That visitor will only be able to travel directly to the patient’s room.

Visiting hours are now between 4 and 6 p.m. only.

There will be no visitors allowed for COVID-positive patients in the ICU. The hospital says that exceptions will be allowed for end-of-life situations or other circumstances deemed therapeutic by the healthcare team.

The new rules went into effect Saturday.

Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies arrested a local man on drug-related charges after a traffic stop early Thursday morning in the 13000 block of North U.S. 31.

A Sheriff’s deputy made the traffic stop, and during the stop, a K-9 unit alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from inside the vehicle.

The driver, Darrin Bryant of Columbus, exited the vehicle and told the deputy that illegal drugs and a syringe were inside the vehicle.

Bryant was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail and held on multiple drug charges.