On Saturday, Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus will be holding its 46th Commencement Ceremony.

Chris Schilling, spokesman for the school says that 584 students will be honored, and more than 800 credentials will be awarded.

Erin Rockwell will give the charge to the class. She is the first student to complete the Cyber Security/Information Services program at Ivy Tech Columbus. Gary Meyer, retired president and CEO of Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, will receive an honorary associate of Science degree.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Columbus North High School Gymnasium.

Bartholomew County officials are moving ahead with a plan that could lead to a public defenders office in Bartholomew County, similar to a prosecutor’s office.

Under an ordinance approved earlier this week, the county commisisoners and county judges will create a public defender board to look into the situation. Each of the county’s three courts now independently contracts with local attorneys to act as public defenders. Magistrate Joe Meek said that the board will look at the system and come back with a recommendation.

“This board would just be charged with going out and gathering some data, looking to determine if a public defender office would be the most effective and affordable way for us to provide public defender services,” Meek said.

Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz asked if Meek knew what the board would suggest. Meek said he did not know.

“I can tell you now that at least in Superior Court 2, our public defenders do three times the work that is recommended by the state guidelines,” Meek said. “So my guess is that they may recommend that we form a public defender office, but again they are going to have to see what the data says. ”

Between the three courts, nearly 2,000 defendants required public defenders last year and the numbers for this year are already trending higher.

If the county decides to go with a public defender’s office, the state will pick up part of the cost, Meek said. But that is only if the county goes through the whole investigation process including forming the board, which will be made up of three people of both parties who are interested in the role of public defenders. But those can’t be judges, prosecutors or police, Meek said.

The commissioners will appoint one person to the committee, and the judges will have two appointments. Meek expected results back by later this summer.

A Monday morning traffic stop in Jennings County led to the arrest of two people on charges related to theft and drugs.

Lt. Mike Mowery, Jennings County Sheriff Department Spokesman, says that 10:50 a.m. Deputy Kevin Hall stopped an SUV pulling a utility trailer

at State Road 7 and County Road 300 North. During the stop, Jennings County Dispatch told the deputy that the Utility Trailer was reported stolen from Bartholomew County. Mowery says that resulted in the arrest of the driver, Matthew R. Nelson, 24, of Edinburgh, and Sarah N. Anderson, 29, of Columbus.

Jennings County authorities say that Nelson faces preliminary charges of Possession of Stolen Property, a Level 6 Felony and Possession of Syringe, a Level 6 Felony. Anderson faces preliminary charges of Possession of Heroin, a Level 6 Felony, Possession of Methamphetamine, a Level 6 Felony and Possession of Syringe.

Mowery says that Nelson’s bond was set at $1,055, while Anderson’s bond was set at $3,155. He adds that the Department is investigating

whether or not this case is related to the theft of a motorcycle out of Bartholomew County that resulted in a police chase and crash about 30-minutes earlier.

A high-speed police chase in Jennings County resulted in a motorcycle wreck, and the arrest of the driver.

Lt. Mike Mowery, Jennings County Sheriff Department Spokesman, says that at 10:20 a.m. on Monday, Reserve Deputy Jason Littrell tried to stop

a motorcycle being driven on Honey Locust Place at County Manor. The deputy says that the motorcycle sped away in an attempt to elude him, with speeds reaching over 80 mph. Mowery says that the motorcycle ultimately ran off the road, crashing near Dongelly Lane and Country Manor. The driver, Chester Flannery, 29, of North Vernon, was arrested soon after being checked out by medics. Authorities say that the motorcycle was stolen from Bartholomew County.

Mowery says that Flannery is facing preliminary charges of Auto Theft, a Level 6 Felony, Resisting Law Enforcement, a Level 6 Felony and Reckless Driving, a Class B Misdemeanor. His bond was set at $1,055.

9 p.m. update

In Bartholomew County, it was a record-setting year for early voting and for total primary voters, with 22,444 total voters casting ballots locally and with 6,345 early ballots cast — both county primary records.

With all 18 county vote center completely tallied and added to early voting, incumbent Republican County Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz has defeated his challenger Susan Thayer-Fye with 41 percent to 39 percent, and County Councilman Jorge Morales came in third with 20 percent of the vote in the District 1 race for County Commissioner.

County Council at-large has five Republicans candidates with the top 3 making it to the fall ballot. Incumbents Bill Lentz with 25 percent and Evelyn Strietelmeier Pence with 21 percent are both in that top 3, but newcomer Matt Miller has come in second in that race with 22 percent. Incumbent Jim Reed fell out of the top 3 with 20 percent of the vote and Mike Lovelace finished at just over 12 percent.

Kelly Benjamin has defeated Scott Andrews in the Bartholomew Circuit Court race on the Republican ticket 54 percent to 46 percent. And Clayton Nolting defeated Ron Shadley for the County Coroner race, 70 to 30 percent.

In the town of Hope, incumbent Town Councilman Greg Sims lost to Nellie Meek in the race for the Ward 2 seat on the Town Council in the Democratic primary.

State Representative Milo Smith has won the Republican nomination for Indiana District 59. In Bartholomew County, Smith won 47 percent of the vote to Ryan Lauer’s 39 percent and Lew Wilson’s 14 percent. On the Democratic side Bob Pittman defeated Dale Nowlin 54-46 percent in the Bartholomew County totals for the District 59 race.

Far southern Bartholomew County has some precincts that are in Statehouse district 69 and incumbent Jim Lucas has defeated challenger Nancy Franke in the race and in the Bartholomew County voting 61-39 percent. We have one state senate race that affects Bartholomew County and Eric Koch has won the Republican nomination in the District 44 race over Josh Anderson.

Donald Trump won the statewide race for the Republican presidential nomination and the Bartholomew County race, and Bernie Sanders carried local Democrats.

Cummins Inc. on Tuesday reported results for the first-quarter of 2016.

The Columbus-based diesel engine manufacturer reported first-quarter revenues of $4.3 billion, down nine-percent from the same quarter in 2015. Company officials say that lower production in the North American heavy-duty truck market and weak global demand for off-highway and power generation equipment contributed to the reduction in sales. Cummins adds that a stronger US dollar negatively impacted revenues by about three-percent compared to last year.

Company officials say that Revenues in North America decreased 10-percent while international sales were down eight-percent. Within international markets, Cummins says that revenue in Latin America and Asia declined the most.

Net income attributable to Cummins in the first-quarter was $321 million, say Cummins executives. That translates to $1.87 per diluted share. That’s down from $387 million, and $2.14 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2015. The company reports that its first-quarter tax-rate was 28.4 percent.

“Our results for the first quarter reflect solid execution of our cost reduction plans in the face of very challenging market conditions,” said Rich Freeland, Cummins’ Chief Operating Officer. “Benefits from restructuring actions, material cost reduction projects and lower warranty costs all helped to mitigate the impact of lower sales.”

Based on the current forecast, Cummins expects full year 2016 revenues to be down five to nine-percent, and EBIT to be in the range of 11.6 to 12.2 percent of sales. Cummins officials say these figures are unchanged from the company’s forecast from three months ago.

A local man wanted by authorities was arrested Monday and is facing additional charges as the result of his arrest.

Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department Spokesman, says that at approximately 12:15 p.m., Officer Zach Wright stopped Michael E. Baxley

Jr., 38, near 14th Street and Union Street. Baxley was wanted on a Barthoomew County warrant, says Harris. The officer reported finding a syringe in Baxley’s pants pocket, as well as two additional syringes and methamphetamine in Baxley’s coat.

Along with the warrant, Baxley is facing preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Legend Drug Injection Device.

An Elizabethtown man was arrested after allegedly shoplifting from a store and then running from police Monday.

Store workers caught 28 year-old Anthony W. Thompson allegedly trying to steal food from a store on Whitfield Drive in Columbus. After store security recovered the items, Thompson then he ran into a nearby woods, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department.

About an hour later, officers responded to a report of a man trying to flag down a vehicle near County Road 50N and U.S. 31. Police say Thompson ran away again, but was caught in some brush.

Thompson was found to have outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court on a charge of operating a vehicle after forfeiting his license for life and a probation violation for driving while suspended.

Police say he is facing further charges of resisting law enforcement.

Bartholomew County Republicans will be choosing today between five candidates running for the three at-large seats on the County Council.

Council incumbents Bill Lentz, Jim Reed and Evelyn Strietelmeier-Pence are running with Mike Lovelace and Matt Miller. The top three candidates will appear on the November ballot.

Lentz, 58, is a farmer and landlord. He has been married to his wife Shari for 33 years and has a son, daughter and grandson. He graduated from Hauser High School and took ag courses at Purdue University. He is in his third term on the County Council and previously served for 16 years on the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. board.

Lovelace, 69, retired after being a police officer for 27 years. He is married to Sandy and has a daughter and grandson. He was appointed to Columbus City Council and later ran for City Council at-large and City Council 4th District. He was the director of the Police Athletic League in Columbus for 30 years.

Miller is a former Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy and current owner of Raft to Rafters, a family business. He and his wife Lisa were married last year. He graduated from Purdue University and the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.. He is a life-long member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. wife Lisa.

Reed, 70, is a farmer, independent business owner and worked part-time at the Bartholomew County assessor’s office. He has been married 46 years and has three grown children and six grandchildren.  He ran for the County Council and lost but filled Eugene Eckrote’s seat after the former council member’s death. He ran again and won four years ago.

Strietelmeier-Pence retired from Cummins in 2011 and is now self-employed. She is married to Dr. Ben Pence and they have a daughter and three grandchildren.  She graduated from high school here and attended IUPUI. She also attended the National School of Aeronautics. The only office she has run for is Bartholomew County Council and she has served for 36 years.

We asked the candidates what qualities they would bring to the County Council.

Lentz said:

05-03 Bill Lentz Question 1

Lovelace said:

05-03 Mike Lovelace Question 1

Miller said:

05-03 Matt Miller Question 1

Reed said:

05-03 Jim Reed Question 1

Strietelmeier-Pence said:

05-03 Evelyn Pence Question 1

The winner of today’s primary will be facing Democrats Pam Clark and Lynne Fleming in the November general election. Democrat Gaby Cheek also appears on the primary ballot, but she has announced she will be dropping out of the race due to family and work commitments.

Clayton Nolting is facing Ron Shadley today in the Republican race for Bartholomew County coroner.

Nolting, 31, is a Columbus police officer, where he serves on the SWAT team and a field training officer, and chief deputy coroner. He is the son of Bruce and Diane Nolting and has two brothers, a fiancee and a dog named Archer. He holds two associates degrees, a bachelors in organizational leadership and supervision from Purdue University and a masters in forensic entomology at Purdue. This is his first time running for office. He attends St. Peters, likes to play golf and fish.

Shadley, 61, is a funeral director with Myers-Reed Dignity Memorial Chapel and deputy coroner in Brown County. He and his wife, Johanna Hand-Shadley, co-own Faithful Friends in Passing pet cremation service. He has four sons. Originally from Shelby County, they moved here in 1998. Shadley graduated Indiana College of Mortuary Science in Indianapolis in 1975 and worked in Muncie for 20 years. He has been an emergency medical technician and has been active in the Red Cross. He organized the restoration of Sand Hill Cemetery after its vandalism, brought the Vietnam Wall memorial to the community and helped organize the Wreaths Across America.

We asked the candidates to talk about the qualities they would bring to the office.

Nolting said:

05-03 Clayton Nolting Question 1 Full

Shadley said:

05-03 Ron Shadley Question 1 Full

The winner of the Republican race between Nolting and Shadley will face Democrat Paula Rothrock in the November election. She is unopposed in today’s primary election.