A Columbus man was arrested Tuesday night on drug charges after deputies noticed a suspicious vehicle near a fishing area.

Judy Jackson, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, says that at approximately 8:32 p.m., Deputy Andrew Dougan and Reserve Deputy Michael Barnes were patrolling in the area of the Lowell Fishing site when they saw a pickup truck without lights. The deputies spoke with the man in the truck, 55-year-old Raymond John Monteleone, when they reportedly found a clear glass pipe and two corner-cut bags, one containing a white crystal substance. Monteleone allegedly admitted to the deputies that he had been smoking methamphetamine just before they arrived.

Jackson says that Monteleone was first taken to Columbus Regional Health, then on to the jail. She says that Monteleone is facing preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Paraphernalia.

A Columbus North High School student was recognized during Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety for his efforts to purchase trauma kits for Columbus Police officers. Lt. Matt Harris, CPD spokesman, says that 17-year-old Kevin Thompson recognized the need for the kits after speaking with an officer about his senior project. Thompson will attend Olney Central College in Illinois on a baseball scholarship and plans to major in Criminal Justice. Harris says that Thompson raised over $6,000 to purchase the kits by speaking to local businesses in the community.

Harris says that each trauma kit contains latex gloves, a CPR shield, pressure tourniquet and quick clot gauze will be issued to every Columbus police officer. “These kits can be carried by the officer and are designed to stop traumatic bleeding” said CPD Chief Deputy Todd Harry. “We would like to thank Kevin for working hard to raise the funds to purchase the lifesaving kits for our officers” Harry added.

A lawsuit over a bus crash near Greenwood involving a Columbus driver will remain in Chicago-area courts.

That’s according to the Cook County Record. The news web site is reporting that an Illinois court appeals panel sided with plaintiffs who sued the company that owns Megabus.

Authorities said the October 2014 crash happened when Logan Thompson of Columbus was checking his cell phone while driving on I-65. His car left the road, struck the cable barriers and then came back onto the Interstate where he was hit by the doubledecker bus. More than 50 people were taken to area hospitals after the crash.

The Cook County Record reports that the defendants in the case argued that the case should proceed in Johnson County.

Read more on the newspaper’s website here.

One of the options being offered as a way to relieve the traffic tie-ups caused by increasing train traffic in Columbus comes with a hefty $94 million dollar price-tag.

After improvements to the railroad lines through Columbus and the Flatrock River bridge over the next year, train traffic is expected to increase dramatically with as much as one train an hour coming through the city, cutting the downtown area off from the west side. The city recently submitted two proposals to INDOT, one seeking a project to elevate Jonathan Moore Pike/State Road 46 over the train tracks.

That proposal was relatively low cost at about $27 million dollars.

Lienhoop said a second proposal submitted involved moving the railroad tracks to the west, away from the downtown area. Since that would mean moving the tracks into the flood plain, that would require lifting the entire length of the tracks. The ticket price for that change was estimated at $94 million.

Part of that would be a bridge more than 3,500 feet long with a cost of about $50 million dollars alone.

Because of the million expense, Lienhoop said that option is unlikely to be approved. But as the city grows, it would be a step to remove future problems, so it was worth asking for.

The city will be looking at state and federal help for either of these projects.

There are options the city can take that do not require tens of millions of dollars nor do they involve major infrastructure changes or the approval of INDOT.

Lienhoop said that the city is looking into the possibility of “quiet zones.” Conductors have requirements on when and where they must blow their horns at night, but the city can seek waivers to change those requirements. That would help reduce the noise the trains make coming through the city.

Leinhoop said the city would initially be looking at establishing quiet zones at Fifth, Eighth and 11th Streets and possibly at County Road 200S. The mayor said that Bartholomew County officials might also seek quiet zones at some of the rural intersections.

The institution of quiet zones would not be completely free of charge though. Lienhoop said each intersection affected would require improved signage, equipment and train signals along with dividers to keep people from driving around stop arms.

He estimated the cost could be several hundred thousand dollars per intersection.

Columbus City Council will be doing some touch-up work tonight on two of the most contentious issues in recent years.

City officials will consider changes to the city’s zoning ordinances tonight, to make them match both the new city codes dealing with livestock in the city limits, and the new county codes dealing with confined animal feeding operations.

The council is scheduled to consider removing all references to specific animal and livestock types in zoning, instead leaving that to the municipal code. The issue flared up last year as a dispute over how many chickens residents could keep within the city limits.

And it is going to be asked to make the city zoning ordinance conform to the confined feeding ordinance passed by the county. Jeff Bergman, the city-county planning director, said in a letter to the council that the city and county share zoning ordinances, but the newest county changes have yet to be incorporated into the city rules. The existing city rule also don’t conform to state standards, Bergman said.

City Council meets at 6 tonight in Columbus City Hall.

The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation is keeping an eye on the Statehouse this year. Dr. Jim Roberts is the BCSC superintendent. He says that 2017 is a budget year, so school officials are watching school funding, teacher retention, school vouchers and ISTEP…

Dr. Roberts says that one particular area he would like to see improvement on is Pre-K funding. He says that BCSC isn’t the only school corporation hoping to see an increased effort to boost the state’s pre-kindergarten numbers…

Roberts says that if you are unable to attend the rally, you can still share your thoughts with local legislators during the first “Third House” session of the year. He explains that this session will focus on Pre-K. That event is scheduled for Jan. 23 at Columbus City Hall, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Dr. Roberts reminds parents that the local Pre-K registration program is underway for the 2017-2018 school year. He says that Bartholomew County children who turn four-years-old on, or before, Aug. 1 are welcome to enroll. Parents can get the necessary forms online at bcsc.k12.in.us, or at the Early Education Center.

The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to close single lanes of State Road 3 Tuesday and Wednesday as the north-south highway approaches its overpass at Interstate 74 on the north side of Greensburg. INDOT says that crews hope to take advantage of good weather to remove temporary asphalt pavement placed as median crossovers during last year’s construction of the twin bridges.

INDOT says that traffic flow will continue at the State Road 3 bridge site in each direction on single 10-foot lanes. There will be no ramp closures.

INDOT says that Milestone is the state’s contractor for this $3,748,040 project that replaced State Road 3 bridges with two new four-span concrete beam bridges. Some clean-up and landscaping will remain to be done after this week’s temporary pavement removal.

Two local men were arrested after an early morning traffic stop on Saturday. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that just after 3 a.m., Sgt. Josh McCrary stopped the vehicle on Fairlawn Drive after seeing it cross the center line

three times. McCrary noted the strong odor of alcohol on the breath of the driver, 42-year-old Michael T. Olson, of Columbus. Police say that Olson later provided a portable breath sample of .318 percent, nearly four times the legal limit, and refused to submit to a certified chemical breath test. Olson was then arrested and officers got a search warrant for a blood draw. He is facing a preliminary charge of Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence.

Harris says that officers also spoke with Olson’s passenger, 28-year-old Clayton B. Perry, of Columbus, who was being confrontational. Perry was released by officers from the scene, however, he continued to use profanity and refused to calm down as he walked down the street. Harris says that when Perry was ordered to stop walking, he ran away

from officers. He was found in the backyard of a nearby home and arrested on preliminary charges of Disorderly Conduct and Resisting Law Enforcement.

A sweep for fugitives wanted on warrants led to five arrests last week in Jennings County.

Deputies served warrants on two addresses on County Road 525E and arrested the people wanted on warrants, as well as others on drug-related charges and a firearms offense.

According to police reports, they arrested 47-year-old Todd A. Lacey on a warrant for non support of a dependent child and 26-year-old Josie E. Robbins on a warrant for operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a license.

They also arrested 49-year-old James Taulman and 47-year-old Richard Runge on preliminary charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

55-year-old Ronald Carpenter of North Vernon was also arrested and is facing preliminary charges of a firearm violation, trafficking, possession of methamphetamine and possession of paraphernalia.

Jennings County deputies believe they solved several burglaries last week with one arrest.

Earlier in the week, a home on State Road 3 was broken into and items were stolen including hunting equipment, tools, a camera and cash. According to the sheriff’s department, a neighbor had a home video surveillance system  and that video led police to another home on State Road 3.

At that home, deputies saw items that matched the ones reported stolen. After questioning 23-year-old Zachary R. Clark of Commiskey, Clark allegedly admitted to breaking into the first house, a nearby barn and another home. Deputies also allegedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia during the search.

Clark was arrested on preliminary charges of burglary, theft and possession of methamphetamine.