The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that a woman died from a drug overdose Friday evening in Taylorsville.
Few details have been released, but Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, says that Deputy Nate Nichols was called to the 10000 block of Jolene Drive at about 6:36 p.m. Friday and found a woman who had died inside of a vehicle. Drug-related items were in the area and the coroner’s office has confirmed she died from a heroin overdose.
Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are closing in on hiriing a new superintendent. Dr. Jill Shedd, president of the school baord, says that first they must hold a public hearing on the contract they are planning to offer a candidate.
Shedd said that the search has been narrowed down to a few finalists, but said confidentiality wouldn’t allow her to specify how many remain. But state law requires the public hearing before a contract can be offered. The three-year contract would Include:
A public meeting seeking comments on the contract will be held at 7 p.m. March 28th, in the BCSC administration building on Central Avenue. Shedd said that after the hearing is held, the new superintendent will likely be announced and the board will vote to approve the contract at its first meeting in April.
Current Superintendent, Dr. John Quick, is retiring at the end of this school year.
School officials say that a full copy of the draft contract is available at the BCSC website at www.bcsc.k12.in.us
The next couple of weeks are going to be important to area veterans. VA Public Affairs Officer Pete Scoville is urging all veterans in, and around, Bartholomew County to attend a town hall meeting on Wednesday evening in Columbus.
Scoville says that the meeting, set for Wednesday night at Columbus City Hall, will be to discuss the opening of the new Wakeman VA Clinic at Camp Atterbury. He says that the while the Atterbury facility isn’t a “full-service” VA medical center, it is still a valuable resource for area veterans. Scoville added that he thinks that this clinic will help to ease the minds of a number of veterans be reducing their driving times. He says that many vets from this area have to drive to Indianapolis, Bloomington, Louisville or Cincinnati to receive medical care. As for the clinic at Atterbury, Scoville says that a formal dedication ceremony is scheduled for March 30th at Camp Atterbury.
Scoville is urging all area veterans, as well as their families, to attend Wednesday night’s meeting at Columbus City Hall. It will be held at 6:30 p.m. inside of council chambers.
The Stellar Community Project to improve Fifth Street in North Vernon will soon be underway.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) says that reconstruction of Fifth Street, between U.S. Highway 50/Walnut Street and the CSX railroad tracks at O & M Avenue, is scheduled to begin the first week of May. INDOT Spokesman Harry Maginity says that officials met with contractor representatives at Seymour District offices Friday morning to discuss launching, what he called, the final Stellar Community project in North Vernon.
Maginity says that MAC Construction of New Albany is the prime contractor for this $798,594 project. He says that work will include full-depth pavement replacement, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant sidewalks, a new water main and irrigation system, decorative lighting and landscaping.
INDOT says this .057-mile section of Fifth Street will close in early May for up to 120 days while old pavement is torn out and new asphalt lifts are laid. Officials note that, even though the road will be closed, pedestrian access will be maintained on both sides of the street.
Maginity says that when vehicular traffic is restored, construction will shift to the east side of Fifth Street. There, he says that sidewalks, curbs and lighting will be put in place. After that, Maginity says that the west side of the street will get new sidewalks, curbs and decorative lighting. Then, he says that landscape crews take over before contractors finish the project by resurfacing the Fifth Street dogleg intersection at U.S. 50.
North Vernon was named a Stellar Community in 2011. Work to attain that designation was a a major undertaking for the city and a source of pride for former Mayor Harold “Soup” Campbell. In an interview that took place in late December, just a few weeks before he stepped away from office, Campbell said that being recognized as a “Stellar Community” helped to “turn the city around” and allowed it to get some much-needed infrastructure work done at a fraction of what it would cost had the city taken on the expense itself. Mayor Campbell said on Friday night that Stellar Communities has helped to improve the quality of life for all North Vernon residents. He added that his job as Mayor was to do what he could to improve the city for the benefit of all residents and that Stellar has helped push things in that direction.
INDOT says that other Stellar projects in North Vernon include: The Muscatatuck Trail, which provided a 10-foot-wide asphalt path to link U.S. 50/Buckeye Street and S.R. 7/State Street with a parking lot at the county park; Construction for downtown facade improvements; Streetscaping; Short Street Plaza revitalization; and Irish Hill revitalization.
Officials say that funding for these projects have been provided by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Office of Community and Rural Affairs and INDOT.
Indiana National Guard has announced leadership changes throughout the state, including at Camp Atterbury.
The Guard’s Public Affairs Office says that Col. Richard Shatto will leave his position as the Camp Atterbury Post Commander to serve in a newly created position as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Director of the Joint Staff, at Joint Force Headquarters-Indiana.
Col. John Silva will leave the position of Deputy United States Property and Fiscal Officer, headquartered in Indianapolis, and replace Col. Shatto. Officials say that Silva will be responsible for all installation support activities at the Edinburgh facility.
Indiana’s Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Courtney P. Carr says that these changes go in to effect on June 1.
The Columbus Salvation Army has officially joined with the Bartholomew County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) as one of the support agencies working to provide disaster relief services. EMA Deputy Director Susan Armstrong says that services include: support to first responders on the scene, assistance to residents displaced due to fire, as well as responding to county-wide incidents, among others.
Armstrong says that in order to help the local Salvation Army in its new role, the organization will soon receive a Salvation Army Disaster Service vehicle, also known as a “Canteen.” She says that this vehicle can transport food, water and personnel to disaster locations, as well as serve up to two-thousand meals per day.
Armstrong says that the Salvation Army’s new role, as well as the new vehicle, will be introduced at special disaster training classes that will run Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Salvation Army site, located at 2525 Illinois Street. She explains that the first class is called “Introduction to Emergency Disaster Services,” while the second is “Mass Sheltering.” Armstrong says that approximately 25 volunteers will be attending the classes. She adds that the Canteen will be officially turned over to the Columbus Salvation Army during a ceremony at noon that includes Indiana Disaster Service Director Jerry Larsen.
“Having a canteen here will speed up the process so that we can better serve the needs of the Columbus and Bartholomew County community, as well as first responders,” says Captain Alan Sladek, Commanding Officer of the Columbus Salvation Army. Armstrong says that Captain Sladek, who is in his second year as Chaplain for the East Columbus Independent Fire Department, has over a decade of Emergency Disaster experience.
To learn out more about the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services, visit disaster.salvationarmyusa.org.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is still searching for an alleged child molester.
Sheriff’s Department Spokesperson Judy Jackson says that 29-year-old Santos Marquez is wanted on a felony warrant charging him with two counts of Child Molesting. Marquez is described as a Hispanic man, five-feet, nine-inches tall and weighing 250 pounds. He also goes by the alias, “Johann Perez.”
If you have any information regarding Santos Marquez, or his whereabouts, you are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at (812) 379-1712. Tips can be left 
anonymously.
A Columbus man was arrested on drunk driving charges after wrecking his car on the way to work early this morning, according to police reports.
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies say that they were called to a report of a vehicle stuck in a ditch at about 2:14 a.m. near County Roads 300W and 500S. The deputy said that the the driver, 24-year-old Zachary Perry of County Road 650S, smelled of alcohol and his eyes appeared glassy.
He allegedly told officers that he had been drinking earlier, but thought he was sober enough to drive to work.
Bartholomew County deputies broke up what they are calling a battery in a moving vehicle Wednesday afternoon.
Deputies were called to a report of the driver battering a passenger in the vehicle as it drove on Deaver Road at about 4:04 p.m. Wednesday. Three deputies stopped the vehicle in the 800 block of Jonesville Road.
The driver, 18-year-old Kyle Beckemeyer of Sprague Road was arrested on preliminary charges of criminal confinement and domestic battery on a minor says Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department.
Chief Deputy Chris Lane wants to remind possible victims of domestic violence that if you are being hurt physically or emotionally, you can call the county emergency operations center for help at 812-379-1689 or call
Turning Point at 800-221-6311.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Fire Control Headquarters will be conducting a prescribed fire in Brown County State Park between March 21-25. DNR officials say that firing operations are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and end around 4 p.m.
Officials say that Nashville, and the surrounding communities, may experience the presence of smoke. They say that the burn will address the lack of oak regeneration in the 10 O’Clock Line Nature Preserve within the state park. The DNR says it conducts the burning in order to preserve the area’s high-quality oak woodland habitat, which requires more sunny, open conditions. Without the fires, officials say that competing vegetation would replace the oaks, eventually eliminating the plants and animals typical of the oak forests.