ColumBUS riders will need to check their schedules today.

Three of the city’s bus routes are making significant changes starting this morning. Pam Wilcoxon is a bus driver who designed and timed the new routes. She says that they are the largest changes in the more than 25 years she has been a bus driver.

Routes 1, 2 and 3 have changed, while routes 4 and 5 remain the same. Wilcoxon explains the goal of the changes.

The goal is to make several areas more accessible including the new Kroger store and the Family Services and Social Security offices. The routes will also hit the IUPUC and Ivy Tech college campuses twice each hour and have a safer bus stop near Candlelight Village. The route will now stop on the Candlelight Village side of Middle Road and the bus shelter will be moved to that side also, she said.

Another goal was to make sure that the buses run on time. Route 3 was consistently late to the mid-way transfer point at Target, Wilcoxon said. That held up all the other buses who had to wait for passenger transfers, she said.

Two Corydon men were arrested by Indiana State troopers after a traffic stop on Interstate 65 on New Year’s Day.

Police report that Trooper Randel Miller pulled over a vehicle on the Interstate just north of Seymour at about 1 on Sunday. The trooper’s police dog, Jinx, alerted to the odor of drugs inside the vehicle, says Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the state police.

A search allegedly revealed 15 grams of methamphetamine, 90 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

The driver, 23-year-old Joshua A. Dewitt, and a passenger 28-year-old Tod D. Mertz Jr were both arrested on preliminary charges including dealing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, dealing marijuana, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hope police are reporting a drug-dealing arrest over the weekend. Marshall Matt Tallent says that an officer made a traffic stop at about 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

The department’s police dog, Duke, alerted to the smell of drugs in the vehicle and a search revealed a large amount of money, scales and various drugs, Tallent says.

The driver, 23-year old Victoria Copeland of Hope, is facing preliminary charges of dealing methamphetamine, dealing marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.

10 p.m. update: The Amber Alert has been canceled. The children have been found and returned home, according to officials.

Earlier story:

The Prince’s Lakes Police Department has declared an Amber Alert. The department is investigating the abduction of two children from Prince’s Lakes and the children are believed to be in extreme danger.

Avery Rader is a 10 year old white boy, 4 feet tall, 60 pounds with brown hair, and brown eyes. Zek Rader is a 6 year old white boy, 3 feet tall weighing 40 pounds with short brown hair, and brown eyes.

Police believe the children were likely abducted by their non-custodial father, John Rader, a 40-year-old white man, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

The suspect vehicle is a White 2007 Ford 500, black tinted windows, two breast cancer stickers and Indiana plate number 727MIO.

The children were last seen at 4:40 p.m. in Prince’s Lakes and are believed to be in extreme danger. Prince’s Lakes is in Johnson County.

If you have any information on these children, you should contact the Prince’s Lakes Police Department at 1-888-582-6237 or call 911.

A Franklin man suffered injuries to his face and eyes in an ATV accident Friday.

According to reports from Indiana DNR conservation officers, 57-year-old Christopher Sawyers was driving on his property 1200 block of East King Street when a snow blade on the ATV caught on a ditch, throwing Sawyers off the vehicle and onto the blade.

He was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. He was not wearing any protective gear.

In November, Bartholomew County Republicans swept all of the contested local races. On Saturday they held a swearing in ceremony at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.

Among those taking office for the first time were Judge Kelly Benjamin, Coroner Clayton Nolting and County Councilman Matt Miller.

Re-elected officials included county commissioners Larry Kleinhenz and Rick Flohr, Surveyor E.R. Gray, and County Council members Evelyn Pence and Bill Lentz. State Rep. Milo Smith was also sworn in.

Several local government bodies will be meeting Tuesday to take care of their start of the year business.

Columbus City Council will meet at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers Columbus City Hall. The only new business items to be discussed are the election of a new City Council president and appointments to boards and committees.

Columbus Redevelopment Commission will meet directly after the City Council meeting, at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night to elect the president, vice-president and secretary for 2017.

Similarly, the Bartholomew County Redevelopment Commission will hold a special meeting at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the County Council Chambers at the Governmental Office building on Third Street. They will be electing officers and considering $4,000 in expenditures.

A Columbus teen was arrested early Saturday morning after allegedly fleeing from State Police in a stolen car.

According to police reports, a car was reported stolen from the Taco Bell on 25th Street, when a trooper spotted a car with no working tail lights matching the description at State Road 46 and County Road 500W at about 3 a.m. in the morning. When the trooper tried to stop the vehicle, the driver instead fled.

The vehicle began having mechanical problems in the Harrison Lakes area and finally stopped at Raintree Drive. The driver, 18-year-old Nathaniel L. Jones-Knight, then allegedly ran away before being found hiding a short time later.

He is facing preliminary charges of Auto Theft, Possession of Methamphetamine, Resisting Law Enforcement in a Vehicle, Possession of a Hypodermic Syringe, Criminal Recklessness with a Vehicle, and Operating While Intoxicated (Controlled Substance).