Bartholomew County officials are urging residents to sign up for the Everbridge alert system for their phone, text messages or e-mail. That’s after county dispatchers were late to sound the tornado sirens during the severe weather a week and a half ago.

Ed Reuter, director of the county emergency operations center, told the County Commissioners this week that the dispatchers on duty were overwhelmed with storm damage calls, along with normal business, the night of April 28th. Dispatchers were so busy that they didn’t hear the National Weather Service alert calling for a tornado warning. The county’s tornado warnings have to be hand triggered by dispatchers.

Reuter suggested several moves to make to ensure that doesn’t happen again. But he also urged you to sign up for the automated Everbridge alert system. Reuter said that the Everbridge alerts for tornado warnings are automatically sent out, independent of what is happening in the dispatch center.

You can sign up for Everbridge alerts online at bartholomew.in.gov or by calling 812-379-1500.

CORRECTION: The road closings were incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

A train broke down on the railroad tracks through Columbus this morning, blocking traffic.

That’s according to Bartholomew County dispatchers. They say the train blocked intersections from at least County Road 200S at Southside Elementary to Jonathan Moore Pike. The train is moving again they report.

You will see other delays along the train tracks for the next few days.

Crews are working on the railroad line running along State Road 11 near Spear Street and County Road 100S this week.

Next week they will be on U.S. 31 north of Columbus The crews have a tentative schedule for Wednesday and Thursday next week that will have them closing crossings at County Road 400N, 450Nh, 500N and possibly 550N.

The crews are closing crossings during daylight hours. The roads will reopen at night.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will be celebrating artwork returning to the school district’s headquarters.

Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts explains that the schools are replacing the stolen statue of a little girl that used to play beside the fountain and pond on Central Avenue. And they will be reinstalling “When I Was Your Age,” a sculpture of a Model A originally made for Arvin.

Roberts said that the Model A, which depicts the use of an air pump — Arvin’s first product — was moved to the Faurecia plant after the company took over the former Arvin property. However the company recently restored the statue and is gifting it back to the school district.

Roberts said that instead of having it in the roundabout at 13th Street, where it was originally installed, it instead will be put into a circular path already in the wooded park area a few yards away. He said that this would help protect the statue.

The new little girl statue, Lilly, was created by Linda Peterson. It will take the spot beside the little boy, known as Frog Pond by Jo Saylors.

Roberts said that the school headquarters building security systems will help protect the statues after they are reinstalled. He gave few details but pointed out that the security cameras will be trained on the display.

Roberts praised those whose work made the restorations possible.

The celebration will be from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 10th.

North Vernon officials say they want to increase efforts to clean up the city. City Councilman Brian Hatfield told the body during its meeting this week that the number of unlicensed vehicles and broken windows on buildings is too high. He added that making the effort and enforcing ordinances already on the books will go a long way towards cleaning up the community.

Larry Greathouse, the city’s attorney, says that there is already a state law that instructs municipalities on how to handle unlicensed vehicles. He explained it comes down to local enforcement. Police Chief James Webster told the council that his officers could increase enforcement efforts as they come across vehicles that are in violation, but added that he would need some guidance from the body on when, and how, to proceed. As for the window problem, Greathouse explained that the council would need to craft an ordinance dealing with penalties, timelines and enforcement measures.

While council members talked about the aesthetics of having broken and boarded-up windows on downtown buildings, Hatfield stressed that there is also a public-safety component. He noted that some buildings have had broken windows for years, allowing rain and other elements inside and potentially damaging their structural integrity. That drew a hearty agreement from Fire Chief Mike Cole, who said that there are some buildings that he will not send firefighters into. Cole argued that the floors in some of these structures are too damaged and the risk of a firefighter death too great to send people inside.

The council agreed to take the matter under advisement.

Congressman Luke Messer, a Republican representing Indiana’s sixth congressional district, was in Columbus Tuesday meeting with area high-school and middle-school students. Messer explained that his day began downtown to talk to students about leadership.

Congressman Messer stopped by Northside Middle School to take part in a presentation centered on keeping kids safe while online.

Tuesday afternoon’s presentation was put together by Google. Messer joined representatives of the tech giant, who talked about the importance of students protecting their identities, as well as making smart decisions while online.

Messer talked to the Northside students about how their phones open them up to a world of information. He added that, while having that information is great, it is important to realize that there are those who use the internet to spread misinformation and harm others.

Columbus police arrested four people after a car chase early this morning. Police say that they discovered drugs inside the vehicle after it was stopped.

The situation unfolded at about 1:45 this morning, when police tried to stop a pickup truck at Ninth and Chestnut streets for a minor traffic violation, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus police. But rather than stop, the driver took off down 10th Street ane ventually stopped in the middle of Werner Avenue.

Police conducted a high-risk traffic stop and put all of the vehicle’s occupants in handcuffs. The driver, 21-year-old Tyler S. Houchens of Taylorsville was wanted on a warrant and admitted that he owned a glass smoking pipe with drug residue that was found inside the vehicle.

Houchens is facing charges of resisting law enforcement in a vehicle, operating a vehicle without a license, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a syringe and visiting a common nuisance.

Three passengers were arrested on preliminary charges including:

• 27-year-old Courtney P. Bullington of Columbus: Two Bartholomew County Warrants, Visiting a Common Nuisance
• 38-year-old Charles R. Barr of Columbus: Maintaining a Common Nuisance, Possession of a Syringe
• 30-year-old Whitney K. Watkins: Possession of Marijuana, Visiting a Common Nuisance

Columbus police say that they arrested a man on meth charges after he was found stumbling in the street, appeared to be hallucinating and then struggled with officers.

The fight started after police were called on a report of suspicious person at about 1:10 a.m. in the 2000 block of 25th Street. After officers found 33-year-old Kevin D. Dulong wandering in the street, he allegedly refused to get out of the roadway and poked an officer in the chest, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus police.

After a struggle, Dulong was arrested and during a search officers allegedly found methamphetamine in his pants pocket.

He is facing preliminary charges of battery on a public safety official, resisting law enforcement, and possession of methamphetamine.

The North Vernon Fire Department is set to see improvements to its fire station after the City Council approved $44,820 for upgrades to the building.

Chief Mike Cole says the updates are needed to accommodate the the increase in firefighters, both paid and volunteer. The improvements to the building, on Madison Avenue, include a new restroom, improvements to an existing restroom, moving the firefighters’ day room upstairs and increasing the size of the space.

Chief Cole says that the low bidder on the project was Harmon Construction.

The council approved the project, with funding to come from the city’s Local Option Income Tax Fund. Cole says the work will begin soon.

Bartholomew Consolidated schools approved almost $2 million in bids for various projects last night.

The largest contract was $829,000 to Dunlap Construction for mechanical and electrical improvements at Columbus North High School’s auditorium.

Other projects include:

• $322,400 in interior renovations at Richards Elementary and Northside Middle schools. The bidder was Poole Group.
• $426,500 and to HRC Roofing and Sheet Metal for new roofs at Northside, Rockcreek Elementary and Southside Elementary schools.
• $395,000 to Globe Asphalt for a new track at Columbus East High School.

In March, the school board approved going out to bid on about $12 million in projects to be completed in $2 million chunks. Most of the money for new bonds for the improvements, about $6.7 million, is coming  from bonds that are being paid off.

The remaining projects would be paid for out of a combination of savings from previous projects and an interest refunding program for special bonds the district issued, according to school officials.

A Columbus woman died in an apartment fire Monday after a cigarette sparked a blaze in her bed.

59-year-old Deborah Volland was found unconscious in the hallway of her apartment in the Canberbury House Apartments on Nicholas Lane at 2:47 p.m. Monday. Firefighters and paramedics attempted to revive her but were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene. County Coroner Clayton Nolting said the cause of death is believed to be smoke inhalation but that will not be finalized until the investigation concludes.

Firefighters were called to the apartment complex, after a resident noticed the smell of smoke and looked out his window to see smoke coming from a nearby apartment, says Fire Inspector Matt Noblitt. Firefighters were told that a person with limited mobility lived in the apartment and quickly found Volland in the hallway, Noblitt said.

The three bedroom apartment suffered substantial smoke damage but the fire was confined to the bedroom. Noblitt said that the fire originated in the bed.