Police officers in the Town of Hope will now be tied into Bartholomew County’s emergency information software system.

The town had been left out of the system which provides more detail to officers out on calls.

The Bartholomew County Commissioners reached an agreement with the town yesterday that would allow the small police force to receive the information for its dispatchers and officers from the county’s OSSI/CAD software system. Officers would receive more information, by computer or through their radios, about the location they are being called to such as prior incidents at that address, as well as information about suspects and other details.

J.T. Doane, the town manager, explains the impact

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The town had originally been left out of the network over a disagreement about what constitutes a third party having access to the data.

The city of North Vernon is receiving over $263,000 in grants for local roads.

Kathy Eaton-McKalip, director of local programs for the Indiana Department of Transportation, informed the North Vernon City Council about the news during it’s meeting Monday night. The money comes as an INDOT Community Crossings Grant and is 100-percent of what the city applied for, said Eaton-McKalip.

She says the money will be used for improvement to Old State Road 3, Madison Avenue, Norris Street and Veterans Drive.

Eaton-McKalip noted that the funds being delivered to the city are matching local dollars for the projects.

INDOT will announce the Community Crossing Grant awards for Columbus at a meeting at 9 a.m. tomorrow in Columbus City Hall.

A former Bartholomew County veterans services officer chastised the county commissioners for the lack of medical trips the county provides to the Indianapolis VA hospital.

Thom Jester, a Marines Corps veteran, berated the commissioners at their Monday morning meeting, saying that the county did not have a van running to Indianapolis, requiring veterans to find their own transportation for medical appointments. Jester pointed out one veteran who had spent more than $100 for a taxi ride to Indy.

But the commissioners said the county does in fact use a van from a veterans organization to run those trips. But the problem is a lack of volunteer drivers who meet the requirements of the Veterans Affairs Administration.

Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said the van makes 15 to 18 trips a month to transport veterans for their medical needs, but it used to do more.

The Columbus Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is looking for members. CAMPO is the transportation planning agency for Columbus and Bartholomew County. Laura Thayer, CAMPO director, says the group is currently reorganizing its Citizens Advisory Committee and would like to hear from residents interested in serving as members. She explains that this committee represents the formal means for providing CAMPO’s Policy Board, the agency’s decision-making body, with input on transportation planning matters.

Thayer says that the Policy Board’s goal is to insure that a diverse group of transportation users and interests are represented on the committee. These include: bicyclists, bus riders, walkers, motorists, freight shippers, people with disabilities, businesses, community organizations, neighborhood organizations and others. She adds that a committee of Board members and Planning Department staff will select CAC members from those who express an interest.

Bartholomew County residents who would like to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee are invited to fill out an application, which can be found on the city’s website at www.columbus.in.gov/planning/campo. For those needing an application mailed to them, you are asked to contact the Planning Department at (812) 376-2550. Completed applications must be submitted by September 2.

Two people were arrested on drug charges Sunday evening after Columbus police received a report of suspicious behavior inside of a vehicle in the 200 block of North Gladstone Avenue.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that when officers responded at 6:35 p.m., they found the driver, Kurt A. Whitchurch, 36, of Columbus, trying to hide an item between his seat and the vehicle’s center console. Harris says that police ordered Whitchurch to exit the vehicle. When they searched the vehicle, officiers reported finding a bag containing methamphetamine. When a passenger, Cori L. Fortner, 30, of North Vernon, exited the vehicle, officers allegedly found a syringe where she had been sitting.

Both Whitchurch and Fortner were arrested. Whitchurch is facing preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of a

Legend Drug Injection Device, Visiting a Common Nuisance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Fortner is facing preliminary charges of Possession of a Legend Drug Injection Device and Visiting a Common Nuisance.

A North Vernon man has been found guilty of shooting at a deputy in an incident earlier this year.

The North Vernon Plain Dealer is reporting that Rodney Meek was found guilty last week in the case, where Meek was accused of shooting through the wall of his home when a deputy came to the door during an argument Meek was having with his wife. According to police reports, Meek fired a shotgun beside the door that was stopped by the outside brick wall without injuring the officer in the April incident.

The newspaper reports that Meek claimed in court that he saw someone crawling outside his window and he was scared, which made him fire the weapon as a warning shot.

Meek was found guilty of intimidation with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness and pointing a firearm. He is set to be sentenced in 30 days, the Plain Dealer reports.

A Columbus woman was arrested on child neglect charges last weekend after she was allegedly found to be barring two children into a room while she wasn’t home.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman with the Columbus Police Department says that police were called to the 1100 block of Grand Avenue just after 10 p.m. Saturday night by a person who had been working on a maintenance problem at the home. While inside the residence, the witness heard children yelling behind a door held closed by a bar on the outside of the door. A 5-year-old and a one year old were found to be barred in the room and there was evidence it had happened before. There was also very little food in the home and poor living conditions, and the children’s mother was not at the home, Harris said.

The mother, 25-year-old Kylei E. Thompson was arrested on two preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent. The children were taken into the care of Child Protective Services.

An increase in train traffic between Seymour and Louisville will not directly affect Columbus, but other railroad changes are coming that will have an impact on the city.

The Louisville and Indiana is expected to be increasing train traffic on the southern stretch of its rail line with about 10 trains a day, moving at almost 50 mph and some stretching more than two and a half miles long. CSX had an agreement with the Louisville and Indiana to use the tracks. However, those trains will turn east toward Cincinnati rather than continuing north to Columbus said Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop.

A bigger impact on the city of Columbus will be next year’s planned replacement of the Louisville and Indiana railroad bridge over the Flat Rock River, north of Noblitt Park.

Lienhoop said that the current bridge doesn’t have the height or weight limits to handle the larger loads, but that will change when the bridge is replaced:

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He said there could be 10 trains a day with delays at crossings or more than 20 minutes. The city is now working with consultants to quantify how many people would be affected and for how long. Those figures will help the city make the case for lost economic impact, which could help raise federal money to put solutions in place.

Lienhoop said that the bridge is set for replacement in the second quarter of next year. The new bridge will be constructed beside the existing bridge and the replacement will happen over one weekend, the mayor said.

Lienhoop said that the bridge is set for replacement in the second quarter of next year. The new bridge will be constructed beside the existing bridge and the replacement will happen over one weekend, the mayor said.

A Brownstown man died in a crash on Interstate 65 Saturday afternoon, when his SUV flipped over into a drainage ditch.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department says that 53-year-old Thomas F. Pickett was headed northbound about two miles south of Columbus when his SUV hydroplaned and left the roadway, flipping over.

Bystanders flipped Pickett’s vehicle back onto its wheels, but he died at the scene, Harris said.

Seymour Police saved the life of an overdose victim on Saturday.

According to police reports, officers were called to the 400 block of South O’Brien Street at about 4 a.m. on a report of a woman who was not breathing.

Police say that they used two doses of Narcan to get the victim breathing normally. She was taken to Schneck Medical Center and the incident remains under investigation.