A Greenwood man has been sentenced for stealing more than $2.7 million dollars from the construction company he worked for.

The U.S. Attorney’s office announced today that 53-year-old Troy L. Sissom was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison on charges of fraud and filing false tax returns. According to U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler, Sissom set up a fake company in 2003 and made up false invoices to his employer F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co. while he was working as a project manager.

He then had Wilhelm pay him for materials that never existed. Authorities say that this defraud Wilhelm out of $2.7 million and also the federal government out of $381,000 in taxes.

The case was investigated by the IRS and U.S. postal inspectors. Sissom must serve two years of supervised release after his prison time and must pay back both Wilhelm and the federal government.

You can expect lots of traffic delays this summer if you are planning to drive State Highway 135.

INDOT contractors will be closing seven different bridges on the highway in Brown, Jackson and Morgan counties this construction season for various work and at different times. The work will cost about $3.3 million dollars and will be spread out over three contractors.

According to the agency, the work will include:

• State Road  135 over Little Beanblossom Creek — 1.7 miles north of State Road 45 in Brown County, will require closing the roadway for up to 75 days. The contract calls for rehabilitation of a double-arch structure including new railings, spandrel walls and bridge deck.
• State Road 135 over Moser Branch — 1.57 miles north of State Road 45 in Brown County near Railroad Road requires closing State Road  135 for up to 60 days. The contract calls for new bridge rails, spandrel walls and bridge deck at the 36-foot single-span arch bridge.
• State Road 135 over Bear Creek — 1.26 miles south of State Road 252 in Morgan County — requires closing State Road 135 for up to 45 days. The 60-foot single-span concrete arch bridge will be rehabilitated with new rails, spandrel walls and deck.
• State Road 135 over a branch of Bear Creek — south of Morgantown at Farm Road in Morgan County — will require closing the roadway for up to 30 days while crews remove the existing drainage structure and install a new 4-sided concrete box culvert. To maintain residential access, Farm Road’s junction with State Road 135 will be relocated just south of the culvert site.
• State Road 135 over a branch of Hamilton Creek — 7.6 miles north of State Road east of Christianburg Road — will require closing State Road 135 for up to 30 days. A new arch culvert with 142-inch X 91-inch pipe measuring 40 feet in width will replace the existing structure. Work is scheduled to begin in early April.
• State Road 135 over a branch of the south fork of Salt Creek in Jackson County— 5.2 miles north of U.S. 50, south of State Road 500N near Freetown—will require closing the roadway for up to 30 days. A 10-foot X 5-foot concrete box culvert measuring 47 feet in width will be put in place. Work is expected to begin in mid-May.
• State Road 135 over Hamilton Creek—9.45 miles north of State Road 58 in Brown County—requires closing State Road 135 for up to 60 days. After repairs, the 3-span 92-foot-long bridge will receive a new deck overlay. A detour will route traffic via State Road 46, Interstate 65 and State Road 58.

In addition to the bridge on State Road 135, replacement of a single-span 62-foot-long steel I-beam bridge on State Road 58 over a branch of Bee Creek—3 miles west of State Road 135 in Jackson County—is included in the contract. This will require closing State Road 58 for up to 150 days. A state highway detour will route traffic via State Road 446, U.S. Highway 50 and State Road 135

The exact timing of the closings has not yet been announced.

The recently renovated restaurant at Columbus Municipal Airport is nearly ready to be unveiled. Brian Payne is the airport director.

Payne explains that upwards of $150,000 was spent to modernize the restaurant to help it better match the rest of the airport after its renovations.

Payne says that the airport believes that the restaurant’s renovation is money well spent. He notes that the restaurant hasn’t been updated since the terminal was opened in 1982.

A “soft” opening of the restaurant, minus some furniture and light-fixtures, is set for Friday. Payne says that a complete grand re-opening, with everything in place, is scheduled to be held sometime after April 1.

The Bartholomew County Health Department will offer screening cholesterol screenings, including triglycerides, LDL and HDL, along with Hemoglobin on the morning of March 28th. Those screenings will be held inside the health department at 2675 Foxpointe Drive, Suite B.

The cost for the Cholesterol screening is $15. The cost for the Hemoglobin test is $2. Participants must fast 12 hours prior to the Cholesterol screening. Fasting is not required for the Hemoglobin screening.

For more details, or to schedule an appointment, call (812) 379-1555, Option 1, Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Columbus City Cemetery is scheduled for a spring clean-up on Monday, April 3. Columbus Parks and Recreation says that those who have family plots in the cemetery, located south of Donner Park, are asked to pick up any items that they wish to save by April 2nd. Parks staff will remove and discard worn and out-of-season decorations that are left behind.

Clean-up at the cemetery happens twice each year. Parks officials say the fall clean-up is scheduled for October 2.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Captain Dave Steinkoenig applied for a grant, through the Indiana Homeland Security Grant Foundation, and has been awarded $3,600 for the purchase of Patrol Pocket Packs. Judy Jackson, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, says that the Patrol Pocket Packs are used to treat severe wounds, such as a gunshot or knife wound. They are contained in a weatherproof, vacuum sealed package that fits into the cargo pocket of a deputy’s uniform.

Jackson says that several deputies recently attended training, organized by Columbus Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Kutsko. Authorities say that training is focused on “self-rescue when severely wounded.”

Captain Steinkoenig says that Bartholomew County EMA Director Shannan Hinton also assisted in the procurement of this grant.

A Salem man is behind bars after an alleged arson and murder. Indiana State Police say that at approximately 7 p.m. on Tuesday, firefighters responded to a mobile home fire at 221 Teresa Street in Salem. After the fire was extinguished, a burned human body was found inside of the mobile home. The Salem City Police Department was at the scene and requested Indiana State Police Crime Scene Investigators and Indiana State Police Detectives to assist. ISP says that the owner of the home, 28-year-old Joshua B. Risinger, was found and interviewed. As a result of that interview, Risinger was arrested on preliminary charges of Murder and Arson.

The victim that was located inside of the mobile home has not yet been identified. An autopsy was performed Wednesday morning by the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville. That autopsy wasn’t conclusive and authorities are awaiting the results of a further testing.

The Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is reporting that officers broke up a methamphetamine distribution center in Elizabethtown.

The investigation grew out of a traffic stop Monday night, where a woman was arrested on warrants and found to be carrying methamphetamine and a smoking pipe.

Authorities say that they believe the meth was sold out of a home on 11th Street in Elizabethtown. Officers obtained a search warrant and raided the home at shortly before midnight last night. They say they discovered drugs, drug paraphernalia and drug-dealing equipment.

That was at the home of 28-year-old Stephanie Cecil, says Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the county sheriff’s department. Cecil is facing preliminary charges of dealing meth, possessing meth and drug paraphernalia, and maintaining a common nuisance.

Police also found 23-year-old Travis Sneed hiding under a bed. He was wanted on a Bartholomew County warrant and is facing new charges of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

The original arrest happened Monday night after Columbus police recognized a wanted woman inside a vehicle.

An officer saw 39-year-old Angela K. Spencer of Columbus inside the vehicle at shortly before midnight Monday night and confirmed that she was wanted on three Bartholomew County warrants. The officer stopped the vehicle and she was arrested without incident, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department.

He said that she also allegedly found to be carrying methamphetamine and a glass drug pipe in her purse. She was arrested on preliminary charges for possessing meth and drug paraphernalia, as well as the warrants.

The county’s Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team includes sheriff’s deputies, Columbus police including the city’s Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving unit and the county prosecutor’s office.

Rock the Park will rock no more. The annual concert put on by the Columbus Area Arts Council in Mill Race Park will not continue after last year’s KC and the Sunshine Band concert was canceled due to torrential rains.

Kathryn Armstrong, executive director of the Columbus Area Arts Council says that last year’s event caused a big hit to the arts council, especially after the agency’s claim on its insurance policy was denied. The arts council has said that the event costs a lot of money to put on and is too risky and too staff intensive.

Armstrong said that the Arts Council still supports outdoor concerts in Columbus, but Mill Race Park with its frequent flooding may not be a suitable site.

Instead of the large  concert with a big headliner, the arts council plans to focus on smaller, family-friendly events.

Past Rock the Park concerts have included Blues Traveller, REO Speedwagon and the Charlie Daniels Band.

North Vernon police arrested three people on drug-related charges after responding to a report of two unconscious people early yesterday morning.

According to police reports, officers were called to the 2000 block of North Hickory Circle at about 2:02 a.m. They arrested 58-year-old David W. Uberin and 37-year-old Sarah B. Thomas, both of North Vernon and 32-year-old Marialena E. Cole of Scottsburg, all on preliminary charges including possessing a controlled substance and either visiting (Thomas and Cole) or maintaining a common nuisance (Uberin.)

Thomas is also facing a charge of trafficking with an inmate.