The owner of a sports bar in North Vernon is asking city officials to revisit its noise ordinance. Mike Barnes, with Phat Guys Sports Bar & Grill, says that his business is constantly being visited by police on complaints of excessive noise…

Barnes says that he can’t follow an ordinance that doesn’t include measurables to let him know when his business is in violation. He approached the North Vernon City Council on Monday night, stressing his willingness to work with the city and his neighbors to come to a fair resolution. Barnes talks about his recent efforts to reduce the noise coming from his business, located at 312 Hoosier Street…

Barnes notes that, as a taxpayer, he is being hit with fines based on someone’s opinion and not the letter of the law. He says that his business has been hit with nearly $1,500 in fines from noise complaints, but added that the vagueness of the ordinance resulted in him settling them for $175. Barnes also told the council that 95 percent of the complaints lodged against his business are coming from one home in the area.

Council members asked Police Chief James Webster if the department had any equipment to measure noise levels. He answered “no,” noting that the city would need to buy one, ranging in price from several hundreds of dollars to several thousands of dollars, if the body decided to include a set decibel level in the ordinance.

The city council agreed to consider the issue. Councilwoman Connie Rayburn also wanted to give neighbors and other interested parties a chance to weigh-in on the issue. It is expected to be discussed again at the council’s next meeting, set for Jan. 23.

The Columbus Police Department has welcomed its newest officer. Lt. Matt Harris, department spokesman, says that 31-year-old Casey

Kendrick, of Versailles, KY was sworn in by Mayor Jim Lienhoop during the Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety.

Harris says that Kendrick is a graduate of Woodford County High School in Versailles. After high school Kendrick joined the US Navy where he served for four years. While in the Navy, Kendrick earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Eastern Kentucky University in Criminal Justice. Kendrick is scheduled to attend the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in March and currently serves as a Reserve in US Navy.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are considering having fewer school board meetings. Dr. Jim Roberts, the school district’s superintendent, presented a plan at last night’s school board meeting to reduce the number of meetings to one a month.

The school district had two meetings a month for only seven months of the year last year — January, February, April, May, June, August and  September. During summer vacations and months with spring and winter breaks, the district already holds only one meeting a month. In October of last year there were two board meetings, but one was a strategic planning mission.

Roberts said the change would be about finding efficiencies wherever they might exist. The district moves its meetings to different schools during the course of the year and uses a sound and recording system at the meetings. Which means setup and moving costs each time.

School board members had concerns about the possible change, including whether the reduced number of meetings would make each meeting even longer. And members questioned whether the change would make it harder for the district to pay its bills, while waiting for school board approval of claims. The board also discussed whether they should move the meeting starting time to 6 p.m. in the evening instead of the current 7 p.m. start time.

No decision was required last night. The change, if approved at the next school board meeting on Jan. 23rd, would go into effect in July.

The school board also made its annual appointments to boards and commissions and selected its leaders. Rich Stenner will serve as president of the school board.

Columbus East High School’s football team was recognized for their second-place tournament finish this fall.

The city of Columbus has been awarded a grant to demolish unsafe and abandoned buildings throughout the city. Robin Hilber is the city’s Community Development Programs Coordinator…

Hilber says that Columbus had to put up some matching funds to receive the grant, which brings the total to $760,000 to spend towards blight elimination efforts. She explains that the properties have been condemned by the city…

In addition, Hilber says that the bids to demolish three more buildings are being opened during Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety…

Those bids are expected to be awarded next week.

Hilber says that city staff has worked with property owners over the past nine months to get this program going, noting that an additional nine houses have been identified to be demolished by late spring. All owners have consented to being included in this program, which Hilber explains pays the owners a small amount of money, minus any outstanding property taxes. Once the property is cleared, Hilber says it may be given to a non-profit group or neighboring property owner.

Hilber adds that any property owners who may be interested in this program are encouraged to contact her or Fred Barnett, Code Enforcement Officer, at the city’s Department of Community Development.

Bartholomew County’s “Text to 911” system was used over the weekend to help arrest a Columbus man on domestic violence charges.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at about 9:40 p.m. on Friday, a woman texted for help from a home in the 1200 block of Lafayette Avenue. He says that officers eventually made contact with the alleged victim and noted that her neck was red and her left arm was bruised. The woman reportedly told police that she had been choked and her head slammed into a wall.

Harris says that officers found 31-year-old Richard D. Trulock in an upstairs bedroom. He was arrested on preliminary charges of Strangulation and Domestic Battery with a Child Present.

Harris says that this incident illustrates the importance of the Text to 911 system, as it allows victims to ask for help without alerting their attacker. This system has been utilized in Columbus and all of Bartholomew County since 2014.

Columbus police arrested the former employee of a car lot after he was seen driving a muscle car around the lot early Sunday morning.

An officer was making an extra patrol shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday at a lot in the 2800 block of Merchant’s Mile, when he saw a red Chevy Camaro driving recklessly without headlights. The driver then backed into an open parking space and left the vehicle. The officer stopped the man and identified him as 22-year-old Justin Dampier of Columbus.

A manager at the car lot  said that Dampier was a former employee who did not have permission to be driving the car. He is facing a preliminary charge of auto theft.

A Columbus police officer saw a woman hiding from him early Sunday morning and ended up arresting her for an outstanding warrant.

Officer Travis Harbaugh was walking past a vehicle in a parking lot in the 1600 block of Central Avenue at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department. The woman was crouching in the front seat of a truck and was found to be 25-year-old Katelynn R. Williams of Columbus. She was wanted on a warrant out of Marion County.

During a search of her purse, Harris says authorities discovered a small amount of heroin, three digital scales, several syringes and other drug paraphernalia. She is facing new preliminary possession charges.

An accident sent a car up a pole at Washington Street and National Road yesterday morning.

The crash happened just after 8:30 a.m. Sunday according to Columbus firefighters. A pickup hit the side of a car, which knocked the car off course where it hit the utility pole and the front end climbed about 10 feet off the ground.

Columbus firefighters shored up the vehicle to keep it stable before they could rescue the driver who was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. There’s no word on the driver’s identity or condition.

Columbus Regional Health will spend much of 2017 celebrating its centennial anniversary with “100 Years of Caring.” Kelsey DeClue, CRH spokeswoman, explains…

DeClue says that local doctors and government officials led the charge to build the hospital…

From there, DeClue says the real work began…

For more information on 100 Years of Caring and the history of Columbus Regional Health, visit www.crh.org/100.

A special event is set for Wednesday evening at the Upland Pump House in Columbus. Jake Fehrenbach is the general manager of the restaurant and pub. He says that a 27-foot model of the new USS Indiana, a Virginia-Class Fast Attack nuclear submarine, will be on display on the pump house…

Fehrenbach says that you’ll be able to get up close to the model…

The sub is the fourth USS Indiana in naval history. The most recent was a battleship commissioned in 1942 that saw action in World War II.

Wednesday evening’s event will also feature the commanding officer and the command master chief petty officer for the new boat. The event is sponsored by the USS Indiana Commissioning Committee, is free and you are invited to attend. It will run from 5:30 to 7 at the restaurant on Lindsay Street.