When Dylan Prather was a student at Columbus North High School in 2014, his senior project was to raise money for the purchase of a new police dog for the Columbus Police Department.

Now that he is a college student and a dispatcher for the Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center, he has taken on a new challenge to purchase a second police dog for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Prather approached the County Council at a work session earlier this week, with his plan to raise just over $18,000 to purchase the new dog.

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He said the county needs another dog to perform drug searches in the jail and other tasks that can’t be adequately covered by the county’s one dog.

County Auditor Barb Hackman said the county already has a fund set up to received donations and those incoming money could be earmarked for the police dog project.

Prather said he is still working on a timeline for the fundraising effort.

Prather’s high school efforts led to donations that allowed the city of Columbus to purchase its third police dog, Max. Max was recently assigned to a new handle, Officer Jeremy Jones, after his previous partner left the force for a job in a different community.

Smoke on the Square is adding an extra day of food, music and entertainment to its annual barbecue festival on the Town Square in Hope.

For the first time in the six-year history, the event will kick off at 5 p.m. Friday with music, vendors and food sales. Saturday will feature the barbecue contest with activities starting at 11 a.m. and prizes awarded at about 6 p.m..

The event is a fundraiser for the Hope Community Center. You can find more information at hopebbqcontest.com

The Texas company that recently purchased newspapers in Columbus, Seymour, Franklin and Nashville has made another buy.

AIM Media Indiana announced yesterday that it has purchased “The Jackson County Banner.” Last fall the company bought Columbus-based Home News Enterprises, giving it ownership of The Republic, the Seymour Tribune, The Franklin Daily Journal and the Brown County Democrat.

The company’s newspapers announced the purchase today.

The Jackson County Banner is a twice-weekly newspaper operating out of Brownstown. According to AIM Mediia it bought the paper from Lincoln Trail Publishing Company, including the online publications and “The Budget”, a free newspaper sent to non-subscribers in the Brownstown area.

Chuck Wells, publisher of the area newspapers and AIM Media vice president, has been named publisher of The Banner.

More information from the Seymour Tribune

The project to improve State Street on Columbus’ east side will move forward. The city council met Tuesday night and approved a resolution to fund the first phase of the project.

Dascal Bunch, City Councilman for the first district, has consistently championed this project and encouraged fellow council members to approve it. He noted that while he has personally been a part of the effort for the last four years, he says that residents and business owners of the city’s east side have been waiting on improvements for some 60-years. Bunch says that Tuesday night’s vote should serve as affirmation for those who live and work on the east side that changes are coming. Councilman Tom Dell agreed. He says that the east side has been “a neglected area for years.” He called the project, “the right thing for Columbus to do.”

Phase I of the project includes what is being called a “gateway entrance” for the bridge at State Street and Central Avenue. Stakeholders in the project, including members of the State Street Area Association, agree that the bridge, which spans Hawcreek, is key to the project. Both Julie Bilz and Julie Aton, who serve on the State Street Area Association Board, note that the bridge is “critical,” as it connects downtown to the east side. They say that once the project is complete, residents and visitors will hopefully see the area as an extension of the downtown.

Heather Pope, Columbus’ Redevelopment Director, says the bridge improvements are focused on pedestrian functionality and aesthetics. While a new bridge was considered, it was ultimately decided to refurbish, and widen, the existing bridge. That decision, saved up to $1.2 million dollars, according to documents provided to the city. The bridge work will include four, 12-foot traffic lanes (two in each direction), walking paths on each side of the bridge with aesthetically-pleasing barriers to protect against traffic, path lighting and more.

The city council approved the resolution unanimously. It calls for the spending of no more than $2.185 million on the first phase. That money will come out of the city’s Tax-Increment Financing (TIF) funds. After the vote, a visibly pleased Mayor Jim Lienhoop said of the project, “It’s an exciting time.”

City officials say the plan is to advertise for bids on the project in October and award the contract in November. If all goes to plan, work would begin this winter and be finished by next spring.

An Indianapolis woman was killed in an incident on Interstate 74 in Decatur County early Tuesday morning.

Decatur County Sheriff Greg Allen says that deputies were initially called to the 140 mile marker of eastbound I-74 on a report of a fight. When they arrived at about 1:20 a.m., deputies reported finding the body of 54-year-old Deborah Dillard in the driving lane of the interstate.

The driver of the semi, Gary L. Gregory, 69, of Rensselar, IN, reportedly told investigators that he was traveling east on the interstate when he saw a woman running from the south side of the road, into the path of his semi. According to the report, Gregory said that he tried to drive into the median to avoid hitting the woman, but he was unable to do so. Sheriff Allen says that Dillard was struck by the right-front corner of the semi. He says that she was taken to Decatur County Memorial Hospital, where she died.

Sheriff Allen says that his department’s initial investigation revealed that Dillard was driving a vehicle on westbound I-74 when she pulled over into the emergency lane due to “an altercation with a female passenger.” He says that, at some point, both women ran across the eastbound lanes of the Interstate, leading to the accident, which closed down the eastbound lanes of I-74 for approximately two hours. The passenger’s identity has not been released.

Allen says that the investigation is ongoing.

A Decatur County man was arrested on a number of charges after he allegedly led Jennings County Sheriff’s Deputies on a high-speed chase.

Lt. Mike Mowery, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, says that at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, deputies were serving an arrest warrant in the northeast part of the county. While at the scene, deputies

reported seeing a motorcycle traveling south on County Road 200 East near the Decatur/Jennings County line. Mowery says that as the motorcycle approached the deputies, it slowed down as if it was going to turn into the driveway. He says that when the motorcycle got to the driveway, it sped off, continuing south.

Mowery says that Sgt. Allen Ritchie got in to his patrol car to pursue the motorcycle. As Ritchie attempted to stop the motorcycle, the driver, Robert Ward, Jr., 65, of Westport, allegedly ignored him. Authorities say that Ward attempted to flee, reaching speeds over 100 mph. Mowery says that after traveling about three-miles, Ward turned into a driveway and turned off the motorcycle. He adds that Sgt. Ritchie ultimately found, and arrested, Ward while he was searching the area on foot. Deputies say that once Ward was in custody, they found him carrying approximately 2 grams of methamphetamine.

Ward is facing preliminary charges of Resisting by Fleeing (Level 6 Felony), Reckless Driving (B Misdemeanor) and Possession of Methamphetamine (Level 6 Felony).

The Sheriff’s Department says that Ward was ultimately released on $3,155 bond.

A Jennings County man is facing a slew of drug-related charges after allegedly trying to flee from deputies trying to serve a warrant.

Jennings County deputies first tried to serve a warrant on Steven D. Fletcher of Campbell Township at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning, says Lt. Mike Mowery, spokesman with the sheriff’s department.

Although he wasn’t home, deputies waited in the area and saw a car that Fletcher was believed to be driving. When the car pulled into a driveway, deputies tried to talk to the driver, but instead the driver backed out and then raced away. Fletcher eventually tried to run away, before he was shocked by a Taser. A search of the car allegedly revealed methamphetamine, and drug components along with marijuana.

New preliminary charges include:

• Dealing Methamphetamine Level 2 Felony
• Possession of Methamphetamine Level 3 Felony
• Possession of Two or More Chemical Reagents Level 6 Felony
• Resisting Law Enforcement Level 6 Felony
• Possession of Marijuana A Misdemeanor
• Possession of Paraphernalia A Misdemeanor
• Resisting Law Enforcement A Misdemeanor
• Reckless Driving C Misdemeanor

The arrest warrants were out of Jennings County on charges including:

• Dealing in Methamphetamine Level 5 Felony
• Possession of Chemical Reagents Level 6 Felony
• Possession of Methamphetamine Level 6 Felony
• Resisting Law Enforcement A Misdemeanor

Incoming Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann toured the Columbus campus on Monday. Ellspermann said there are many things going well in Columbus that other campuses could learn from.

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She said the combination of Ivy Tech with IUPUC and Purdue Polytechnic, along with online Trine University programs was exceptional. And she said the joint Columbus Learning Center, where the schools share facilities, labs, a library and other equipment was also worth consider elsewhere.

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Ellspermann said that she is encouraging all Ivy Tech campuses to work more closely with employers in showing students the need and pathway from Ivy Tech classrooms to jobs.

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The incoming president was asked what the school could do to smooth the path for non-conventional students, or those who are working, to fit school into their life schedules.

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Monday was Ellspermann’s first trip to the Ivy Tech campus on Central Avenue, since assuming the new role. She held a listening tour, meeting with campus employees and faculty and with community leaders during her day-long visit to the Columbus campus.

Ellspermann, the former lieutenant governor, will take over the Ivy Tech system on July 1st

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers will be asking the County Council for $40,000 more to pay the sheriff’s department legal bills.

Myers said that the legal fund has already been depleted for the year, but the sheriff’s office is in the midst of several lawsuits including the federal Cary Owsley case. There are also regular, day-to-day legal needs.

The County Council had set a legal budget of $30,000 for the sheriff’s department. Myers said that the county has cut back the budget of all departments so much that he expects a constant stream of elected office holders and department heads coming to the council for necessities that weren’t funded in last year’s budget.

Myers brought his case to the county council at its work session last night and will ask for the aid at next week’s regular council meeting.