The city of Columbus is announcing a new app to help you with your trash collection and recycling.

The app, called Columbus Collects, provides the pickup schedule for trash, recycling, yard waste and brush collections at your home address. Reminders can be set to alert you to your upcoming collections.

There is also a section of the app called the Waste Wizard that will let you find out if a particular item can be reused, recycled or composted, or if it must be disposed of in the trash.

Bryan Burton, director of the city Public Works Department, said residents already do a great job diverting waste away from the landfill, but the app makes the process even easier.

The app is available for both Android and Apple devices.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department says a new security scanner at the county courthouse is already finding contraband items, even after only a few days of operation.

The new scanner, which features a touchless system to protect deputies and the public, was installed while the courthouse was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In October, Bartholomew County Commissioners approved the purchase of a new scanner for bags, purses, backpacks and similar items at a cost of just over $30,000. It was built by LAURUS Systems from Ellicot City, Maryland

Since going operational on Tuesday, the scanner has located a loaded magazine for a firearm, a knife, a razor blade and a credit card knife.

Sheriff Matt Myers says that all patrons of the courthouse are required to go through the new scanner. And no weapons of any kind are allowed in the building.

Further, Myers says the deputies will not provide a place to store contraband items while you are in the courthouse. They need to be secured in a vehicle or left at home.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department

A crash between a school bus and another vehicle Thursday morning in Bartholomew County, led to no injuries and only minor damages to the vehicles.

Bartholomew County sheriff’s deputies were called to the 3600 block of North County Road 250W at about 7 a.m. Thursday morning for the accident. Eight children were onboard the bus at the time of the crash and there were no signs of injuries.

Columbus Regional Health paramedics checked on the condition of all the students as a precaution.

A memorial service for police officers and police dogs who have fallen in the line of duty last year will be held Friday morning at the Public Safety Plaza near 2nd and Jackson streets in downtown Columbus.

Columbus police officers will read the names of 362 police officers and 22 police canines who died in the line of duty in 2020. Among those to be remembered will be Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department police dog Diesel, who died in November after being hit be a vehicle while chasing a suspect near Interstate 65.

This year’s event will feature area law enforcement Honor Guards, bagpipers, a 21-gun salute, and the playing of Taps.

It will start at 9 a.m. Friday morning. The event is free and you are invited.

Photo: Columbus Police Department honor guard presents the colors at the 2019 memorial service. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.

Drivers in Jennings County will see lane closures starting next week as crews work to install rumble strips on the North Vernon bypass.

INDOT says that contractors will begin work on Monday installing the rumble strips on a section of U.S. 50. You will see daytime lane closures with flaggers between State Road 3 and Buckeye Street while the work is in progress.

INDOT says that corrugations will first be installed and their sealant must cure for five days. Crews are scheduled to return on Monday May 24th to install center pavement markings, weather permitting.

INDOT asks you to slow down, to use extra caution and to drive without distractions in all work zones. The schedule is dependent on the weather.

The town of Hope has a new leader for its Town Square revitalization efforts. Main Street of Hope is announcing that Matt Lee has been chosen to take over as executive director of the organization.

He will be taking over from Susan Thayer Fye who has held that position just over four years and is retiring.

Lee leads the Night Owl Country Band, including performing and promoting the band. He graduated from Hauser Jr.-Senior High School and is also a programmer for Christopher Stephens Corp.

Main Street of Hope is a not-for-profit group under the umbrella of Heritage of Hope. It is dedicated to the revitalization of the Hope Town Square through historic preservation and beautification.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are looking for your thoughts on the goals the district should set over the upcoming years.

The district is undergoing the strategic planning process it faces every five to 10 years of setting plans and goals for the future. District officials say that they are looking to the community for your thoughts and ideas on how to best serve the students in the years ahead.

There is a brief, three-question survey online. You can find the link on our website or go to bit.ly/bcscstrategicsurvey.

Seymour police are reporting an arrest in a series of catalytic converter thefts from vehicles earlier this year.

The investigation started in January, when catalytic converters were stolen from a delivery vehicle at the Autozone store on Tipton Street and from a van at Seymour Christ Temple on Euclid Avenue. A crime scene technician found evidence at the scene which was sent to the Indiana State Police lab for processing. Based on that evidence, police say that they identified 22-year-old Jordan Ackeret of Seymour as a suspect in the thefts.

On Tuesday, police arrested Ackeret and he allegedly admitted he had been involved in the thefts.

He was arrested on preliminary charges of theft.

Police say that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected.

A long-running dispute between Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers and the County Council led to the sheriff forgoing a contract last year, instead taking a higher income with part of his pay coming from the money collected from tax warrants in the county.

For several years, Myers has asked the council to revise the county pension rules to allow him to collect a pension. The rules require the sheriff to serve in the department for 8 years and a month to qualify for a pension, despite paying into the county’s pension system. Because Myers came from the Columbus Police Department and because his elected terms are only an even eight years, he does not qualify for a pension.

The sheriff has argued that the rule unfairly penalizes anyone who runs for office from outside the sheriff’s department.

The Council has repeatedly turned down the sheriff’s request for a rule change. After last year’s denial, Myers opted not to sign a contract, according to sheriff’s department attorney Jeff Beck. Beck said that under Indiana law, sheriffs must make a minimum of 80 percent of the salary of county prosecutors under a contract. But they can make the maximum of the same salary as the prosecutor makes if they forgo a contract and draw money from the collected tax warrants, or about $159 thousand dollars. That is the option Myers took, Beck said.

County Attorney Chris Monroe had a different take on the law. In his view, without a contract in place the county is not required to set the sheriff’s salary at the minimum and can in fact go even lower.

The sheriff’s annual contract discussion came up at this week’s council meeting. Some council members expressed frustration and concerns that the sheriff received a pay raise last year without a contract.

Myers did not appear before the council for the discussion. Beck said that he would likely no longer represent the sheriff in the salary discussions, because it is a personal matter with the sheriff and not a larger sheriff’s department issue.

The council put off discussion of the sheriff’s salary to a later meeting.

A victim in a North Vernon murder was stabbed to death, according to The Republic newspaper. Police told the newspaper that the victim in Tuesday’s attack knew his alleged attacker, 45-year-old William “Billy” Smith.

The victim’s body was found in a home in the 100 block of West Walnut Street. Smith was identified as a suspect and a search for him ended at about 6 Tuesday night after he fled from police through backyards near O&M Avenue.

Smith is being held in the Jennings County Jail on charges of murder, robbery, theft and possession of methamphetamine.

The name of the victim has not yet been released.

You can read more at therepublic.com