A Franklin man was arrested after a three-county police chase that started in downtown Columbus Sunday night.

Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department says Sgt. Kris Weisner saw a Jeep pull in front of him near Second and Jackson streets around 11:10 p.m., and then suddenly pull into a parking lot. Weisner checked the plates and found the Jeep had been reported stolen. A chase at up to 80 mph went through Brown County and ended at a Morgan County home.

30-year-old Jeffrey A. Cox is facing numerous charges including:

• Receiving or possessing stolen property
• Illegal possession of syringes
• Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence
• Driving while suspended with a prior
• Resisting law enforcement by fleeing in a vehicle
• Reckless driving

For more information you can go to our website.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew A. Myers will hold his next township meeting in Clay Township. Specifically, Jewell Village on Thursday, at 6 p.m. in the Clay Township Fire Department, located at Della and Base Road.

The Sheriff’s Department says that this will be another in the Sheriff’s series of meetings since taking office in 2015. “The best thing about holding township meetings is the opportunity for face-to-face interaction with people who live in specific areas of Bartholomew County. These meetings allow us to discuss important issues and concerns with the people who are most affected,” said Sheriff Myers.

Sheriff Myers stresses that residents do not need to live in any specific area to attend, as all Bartholomew County residents are welcome.

The Columbus City Council will again be dealing with what to do with the recent influx of over three-million dollars from the state in the form of Local-Option Income-Tax (LOIT) refunds. Jamie Brinegar, the city’s director of finance operation and risk, explains that the city must spend at least 75-percent of that money on local roads…

Brinegar says that Dave Hayward, who heads the city’s Engineering Department, has assembled a list of city streets that will see improvements…

The council meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to open its new roundabout on U.S. Highway 31 at Southern Crossing/County Road 400 South on Tuesday evening. Harry Maginity, INDOT spokesman, says that drivers will have access to the north-south highway, just south to County Road 900 South, where an existing closure for replacement of the three-span bridge at Sand Creek remains in effect until mid-to-late-November.

Maginity says that the single-lane roundabout, located 1.6 miles south of State Road 7, features an 18-foot travel lane and a 10-foot truck apron circling an 85-foot center island. He notes that the outside diameter of the roundabout is 156 feet.

INDOT is urging you to take care and drive defensively once the roundabout has opened. Maginity says that you should approach the new roundabout slowly. When you reach it, look left. If there are vehicles already in the circle, yield, he said. Maginity adds that if there are no vehicles in the circle, proceed without stopping. Otherwise, you should wait for a gap in traffic. INDOT stresses that drivers always enter and exit by making right turns only. You should never stop in the roundabout.

INDOT says that roundabouts have a proven record of reducing accidents, especially serious ones with injuries. Here’s why:

• They virtually eliminate head-on and high-speed right-angle crashes.
• According to insurance industry studies, injury crashes are reduced by 75 percent vs intersections with stop signs or signals.
• Serious injury crashes are reduced by 80 percent.
• Potential vehicle conflict points are reduced from 32 at traditional intersection to eight.
• Traffic flow is more efficient—drivers YIELD but seldom STOP.

Maginity notes that Milestone, the state’s contractor for this $8.4 million project, completed its work 12 days ahead of schedule.

Authorities in Shelby County are investigating the discovery of remains found in the southwest part of the county.

Major Louie Koch, with the Shelby County Sheriff Department, says that deputies received a call on Monday about the discovery. He says that units responded to the location, which has not yet been named, and confirmed that what was found was, indeed, human remains. Maj. Koch adds that members of the department’s Detective Division along with the Indiana State Police and University of Indianapolis Anthropologist were able to remove the remains from the scene. He says that it is too early to make a proper identification.
Koch says that more information will be forthcoming when detectives and ISP are ready.

The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to reopen State Road 46 at its Fishers Fork Creek bridge Tuesday afternoon. Harry Maginity, INDOT spokesman, says that the opening is two-and-a-half weeks ahead of the contract completion date for the work in removing and replacing the three-span structure, two-miles west of State Road, 9 southeast of Columbus.

Milestone is the contractor for the nearly $1.4 million project, which called for a five-month closure. Officials say that a new slab-top superstructure measuring 81 feet in length with 44 feet of clear roadway side-to-side is now in place.

INDOT says that Tuesday’s reopening is dependent on the weather.

There are two “Neighborfest” events left in this season. The next one is Thursday in downtown Columbus. Geri Handley, with the Columbus Area Arts Council, says this event would not be possible without the generous support of JCB…

Thursday’s event, featuring the band “Groove Essential,” takes place in front of the Commons in downtown Columbus. Handley talks about the band…

Handley says this event is a staple of summer-time in Columbus…

Thursday evening’s show is free and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. You are encouraged to bring your own chair.

For more on this event, and all things going on with the Columbus Area Arts Council, visit www.artsincolumbus.org.

A Seymour woman was arrested Sunday after allegedly firing a handgun during a domestic dispute.

A spokesperson with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department says that deputies were called to the 300 block of Mutton Creek Drive at 9:50 p.m. It was reported that a woman inside the home fired a gun at least twice. When deputies arrived, they spoke with a man who was standing outside. The man reportedly told authorities that he had gotten into an argument with 39-year-old Crystal Black. He went on to say that the argument escalated, leading to Black punching him in the face, before retrieving a handgun from a safe and firing it twice in the direction of the bathroom that he was in. Authorities say that a 14-year-old girl was also in the home.

Sheriff’s officials say that deputies tried to make contact with Black, but they got no response. They say that dispatchers were able to make contact with the woman, via telephone, and got her to surrender.

Black was arrested on preliminary charges of Domestic Battery in the Presence of a Minor and Criminal Recklessness with a Deadly Weapon, both Level 6 felonies.

With tensions high in some communities around the country, due to strained relations between police and the public they serve, Columbus officials want the public to be aware of the process for resolving disputes with the police department here.

Aida Ramirez, director of the Columbus Human Rights Commission, explains that you have 14 days to fill out a complaint form, if you have a concern about police activity. The forms are available at the police department, on the city’s website, in the Human Rights Commission office in City Hall and at the local NAACP offices.

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All complaints are reviewed by a police captain or higher and the results reported back to a civilian oversight board. If you don’t like the results, you can file an appeal, which is heard by part of that oversight board.

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The board, called the Audit and Review Committee, has not had an appeal in about four years, Board President Rick King said last Thursday at their quarterly meeting.

Last quarter there were five complaints against police. Only one was substantiated. That was after 12,995 contacts with the public by police in that quarter.  There were also 84 positive comments left for police officers, according to the committee’s records.

In the first quarter of this year there were 143 positive comments and no complaints out of 14,251 contacts with the public.

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Dog owners need to be aware of a threat that could kill your pet — a blue-green algae lurking in stagnant ponds and lakes.

Dr. Dimple Hall with the Hope Veterinary Clinic says you should be on the lookout for algae blooms :

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She explains the symptoms if you dog ingests the algae.

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If you suspect your dog may have encountered the algae, the best thing to do is to wash them immediately with soap and water and keep them from licking their fur.

She says the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is tracking bodies of water that have been affected in the state and she says that luckily there have been no cases yet locally. You can look for more information on Indiana waterways here and more about the effects on the health of your dog here.