A Columbus man was arrested Saturday night after the vehicle he was riding in was stopped for having non-working taillights.

A Columbus police officer stopped the vehicle at about 7:30 p.m., says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the police department. The passenger, 22-year-old Jesse S. Woolsey, was found to have a warrant for his arrest. As he was searched during the arrest, officers discovered a digital scale in his pocket with a white powdery substance. At the Bartholomew County Jail, he was also found to have heroin and methamphetamine hidden in his clothing, according to police reports.

Harris said Woolsey is facing preliminary charges of

• Bartholomew County Warrant
• Possession of Heroin
• Trafficking with an Inmate

A Columbus police officer saw a swerving vehicle near 17th Street and National Road Saturday morning, leading to the arrest of the driver on drunk-driving charges.

The officer, Lt. Jeff Williams, saw the vehicle at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the police department. When he talked to the driver, the officer allegedly smelled alcohol on the man’s breath. A check of the license revealed that 44-year-old Jonathon E. Williams of Columbus had a lifetime driving suspension for being a habitual traffic violator, Harris said.

Although Williams allegedly refused to take a field sobriety test, a search warrant was obtained and he was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to have his blood drawn involuntarily.

He is facing preliminary charges of operating a vehicle intoxicated and driving while a habitual traffic violator.

Bartholomew County Commissioners will be holding the first of two public debates amongst themselves over what should be done about large confined feeding operation farms in the county before they make their final decision on the issue.

That discussion will end up helping decide where the in the county that farms, which can pack thousands of animals into small spaces, can be located.

The commissioners have a set of recommendations from the county plan commission after more than 18 months of debate and public hearing. Now it is up to the commissioners to make a decision. Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said that the commissioners can do anything from making the rules stricter, relaxing the rules or even doing nothing, which would allow the recommendation to go into effect unchanged.

But, Kleinhenz said the commissioners want the public to hear their internal discussions and how they reach a decision on the issue.

04-18 Larry Kleinhenz CAFO-1

Commissioners will start their discussion after their normal meeting which starts at 10 a.m. today at the Governmental Office building on Third Street. The discussion is expected to last until 11:30 a.m..

A Jennings County man was arrested Friday after allegedly firing a shotgun into the wall beside the front door, narrowly missing a deputy, after authorities arrived to break up a domestic dispute at a home.

Lt. Mike Mowery, spokesman for the sheriff’s department, says that dispatchers received a call about the fight from the wife of the suspect at about 8:45 a.m. Friday on County Road 200E.

After knocking on the front door, a deputy heard a gunshot from inside and the deputy ducked for cover and called for assistance. Deputies were able to talk the suspect, 57-year-old Rodney W. Meek, into surrendering. Afterwards, officers found a 12-gauge shotgun and a hole in the wall next to the front door. They say that the brick on the outside of the home is all that prevented the blast from hitting the deputy.

Meek is facing preliminary charges of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and intimidation.

Jennings County deputies and Indiana State Police are looking for more information after a body was found Saturday in a lake.

The body of 49-year-old Jama D. Brown of North Vernon was found at about 4 p.m. Saturday in a lake in the 1900 block of East County Road 100S, which is just south of Vernon. Jennings County deputies were called to the scene after a witness discovered the body.

State troopers and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, with their police dogs, assisted at the scene.

If you have any information, you are asked to contact Sgt. Jim Blevins with the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department at (812) 346-5111 or Detective Brent Miller with the Indiana State Police at (812) 689-5000.

Restrictions on I-65 in Johnson County are expected to begin soon.

Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Spokesman Harry Maginity says that the contractor plans to set concrete barrier wall sections, during overnight hours, between mile markers 94.1 and 88.7. He says that the work requires single lane closures at work sites beginning at 9 p.m. and ending at 7 a.m.

Maginity says that the tentative schedule calls for southbound I-65 left lanes to close Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights (APRIL 18, 19, 20) between Whiteland Road and State Road 44 at Franklin. He says that northbound I-65 left lanes should close to traffic Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights (APRIL 20, 21, 22).

Maginity says that Milestone is the state’s prime contractor for the $84 million Major Moves 2020 Project that is rebuilding existing roadway and adding median travel lanes on I-65 between Greenwood and Franklin. He explains that, in addition to mainline construction, bridge work continues next week at State Road 44, Hurricane Creek and Main Street at Greenwood.

Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) engineers recently met with Greensburg officials and the city’s contractor for a $282,029 project aimed at replacing over one-thousand street signs across Greensburg.

INDOT Spokesman Harry Maginity says that Shambaugh & Son, of Fort Wayne, plans to begin installing regulatory, warning and informational sheet signs, including more than 500 STOP signs, in mid-August. He says that installations should take approximately three months to complete.

Maginity says that the Federal Highway Administration will fund 90-percent of this project, as it qualifies as a Highway Safety Improvement Plan. He adds that the city of Greensburg is paying the remaining 10-percent of the project’s costs.

This year’s Sheriff’s Youth Academy will include a unique competition aimed at leadership. Sheriff’s Department Spokesperson Judy Jackson says that attendees will be divided into two groups. They will then be asked to bring at least one non-perishable food item to the Academy each day. At the end of the Academy, individual Leadership awards, as well as group awards, will be given to those bringing in the most items.

Individual winners attending the two-day academy for children ages six to nine will receive a TV for overall first place, while the overall second place winner will receive an iPod, says Jackson. She adds that group winners will receive medals and certificates.

The overall winner for the four-day academy being attended by 10 to 14 year-olds will receive a tablet, while the overall second-place winner will receive an iPod, says Jackson. Again, she says that group winners will receive medals and certificates.

Jackson says that at the end of each academy, all donated non-perishable food items will be delivered to Love Chapel’s Food Pantry to help feed less fortunate families in Bartholomew County. “This will let these young people know that they can make a difference and they can have a really good time doing it”, said Sheriff Matt Myers. “This is an opportunity to teach children that there are many children and families’, maybe in their own neighborhood, who might be struggling. It also lets children know that giving back to their community doesn’t have to be a big endeavor, it can be as small as bringing a can of food to camp”, added Major Chris lane.

Jackson notes that this is the second time that the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office has helped feed county families in need. She explains that last November, the department “packed a patrol car” and delivered more than 8,000 non-perishable food items to Love Chapel’s Food Pantry.

The Columbus Park Foundation has announced its support The Columbus Tree Canopy Partners. April Williams, foundation spokesperson, says the group is a local coalition formed to “develop a strategy for creating a healthy, expanded, maintained and sustainable urban forest for the good and future of Columbus.”

As their first activity to bring awareness to the benefits of trees, The Columbus Tree Canopy Partners have organized an Arbor Day Event on Friday, April 29th from noon to 4 p.m. Williams says that the generosity of donors to the James K. Baker Tree Fund, as well as a generous contribution from TCC Rocks, will result in 50 new trees being planted along the Jonathan Moore Pike People Trail. She says that volunteers from Tree Canopy Partners, Cummins, TCC Rocks and CSA Fodrea School students and parents will plant the trees immediately following a Proclamation signed by Mayor Jim Lienhoop and delivered by City Engineer Dave Hayward at noon. You are encouraged to attend.

Two Columbus residents were arrested on marijuana charges after a traffic stop on Friday morning.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department Spokesperson Judy Jackson says that at 12:22 a.m., Sgt. Kris Weisner was stopped at a traffic light

while heading east on County Road 650 N at US 31. As the light turned green, Weisner reported seeing a westbound vehicle turn southbound into the northbound lanes of US 31, make a “U-turn” back northbound on US 31, then turn eastbound onto County Road 650 N.

Sgt. Weisner stopped the vehicle on 650 N just east of US 31. When he made contact with the driver, 18-year-old Jared Newman, and his passenger, 18-year-old Sarah Ball, Weisner reported noticing the odor of marijuana. He also reported seeing a green leafy particles on Ball’s lap, as well as a cellophane wrapper containing a green leafy substance in Newman’s possession. Newman allegedly told Weisner that he had been smoking marijuana just before the traffic stop.

Newman was arrested for Operating a Motor Vehicle while Under the Influence/Endangerment and Possession of Marijuana. Ball was arrested on a preliminary charge of Possession of Marijuana and Paraphernalia.

Both were booked in the Bartholomew County Jail. Jackson says that Newman remains behind bars on $8,500 bond, while Ball has been released on $6,000 bond.