Columbus police say a drunk driver tried to pass a semi on the shoulder yesterday morning, and instead ended up wrecking both vehicles.

Brandon E. Miller was arrested after the incident yesterday morning on Indianapolis Road near Lowell Road on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle under the influence wtih endangerment and driving under the influence with a previous conviction.

Sgt. Matt Harris says that Miller tried to pass the semi on the shoulder, as it was turning onto Lowell Road, crashing into the truck and disabling both vehicles. As officers talked to Miller, they allegedly noticed the strong smell of alcohol. He tested at .141 percent.

Seymour police are looking for any leads into a purse snatching that left a woman who recently escaped from an abusive relationship without any money.

The police report that the woman had all of her savings in the purse, when it was snatched from her vehicle. They say she had recently relocated to Seymour and was taking her son into her home when the purse was snatched.

Police say the theft happened in the 600 block of Oak Street at about 6:30 p.m. yesterday evening.

If you have any information on the suspect involved, the location of the purse, or wish to help this family with their new start you can contact the Seymour Police Department at (812)-522-1234. You should ask for Cpl. Devin Cornwell.

A driver was seriously injured in a crash near Uniontown in Jackson County when his pickup went off the road and flipped over.

Indiana State Police say that the accident happened at about 2:15 p.m. yesterday afternoon, when the pickup driven by 67-year-old Tommy Keith of Crothersville, veered off of County Road 1300E near State Road 250. The truck struck a pole and flipped over.

Keith was trapped in the wreckage and had to be cut from his truck by the Seymour Fire Department. He was flown by medical helicopter to University of Louisville Hospital.

Assisting state police at the scene were Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, Jackson County deputies and ambulances and Stat Flight.

Indiana State police say that a Columbus home was full of thousands of dollars worth of stolen items when they served a search warrant Monday. The Keller Avenue search also yielded methamphetamine, counterfeit money and two people were arrested.

Police were looking for a fugitive when they went to the home in the 1900 block of Keller Avenue Monday afternoon, according to Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the state police. Police say a search revealed more than two ounces of what they believe was methamphetamine, counterfeit money and hundreds of stolen items. They say the search and cataloging the items took more than a day.  State police say that the stolen items were taken both from area stores and from thefts from individual victims.

And many victims have been contacted so they can retrieve their items.

Homeowner Jason D. Warren and his girlfriend Rhonda A. Oliphant, who are both 44 years old, were arrested on numerous charges.

Warren is facing preliminary charges of dealing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine. a syringe and stolen property, maintaining a common nuisance, and and counterfeiting.

Oliphant was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, a syringe and stolen property and visiting a common nuisance.

State Police was assisted by the Columbus Police Department, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Decatur County Sheriff’s Department and Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.

A proposal to start town-wide trash service in Hope would cost residents between $8 and $16 a month, depending on the company and options chosen. But town officials are not making any decision yet.

The Town Council formally accepted bids from three companies interested in providing the town trash service. The lowest bid, CGS, would charge residents $7.55 a month in the first year, with the town adding a dollar to a dollar and a half for a processing fee. The trash fees, if approved, would be collected with the town water bills.

The Town Council took no action on the proposals last night and had no discussion. Town officials have said that they want to wait to see the results of a proposed water rate hike by Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp. that would also affect town residents before deciding on whether to institute the new program.

The Columbus City Council gave final approval to an increase in the Cumulative Capital Fund Rate. Jamie Brinegar, the city’s director of finance, explained that the increase is being recommended by the state’s Department of Local Government Finance. The increase would see the rate increase from .0316 cents per 100-dollars of assessed value to five-cents, beginning next year.

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Brinegar talked about how the increase could affect home owners.

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Brinegar says that additional money brought in from this rate increase would be earmarked for public safety.

A few residents spoke out against the increase, citing concerns that it would result in a tax increase for those who could least afford it. Brinegar again stressed that this fund rate is only one of seven factors that figure into the city’s overall tax rate. As during the first reading of the ordinance, he pledged to try to make adjustments to the other six to negate any potential increase. Brinegar pointed to the fact that the city’s tax-rate fell in the first year of the current administration.

Brinegar went on to say that this adjustment is being made simply to have a steady, adequate stream for finances dedicated to public safety. Councilman Dascal Bunch echoed Brinegar’s sentiment, saying that not enough has been done in previous years to “shore-up” the city’s police and fire departments. Bunch says the council now has to “play catch-up” to get both departments to where they need to be to adequately provide service for city residents.

The council approved the ordinance on final reading on a vote of 5-2. Frank Miller and Laurie Booher voted against it.

Columbus will be the focus of a PBS program Thursday night. Sarah Curtiss is the producer of “The Weekly Special.” She talks about the aim of the program.

Curtiss says that they will have six stories about locations in Columbus, including a piece on Zwanzigz Pizza & Brewing…

Another piece will focus on Musillami’s Drive-In. Curtiss and her crew visited the drive-in on Jonesville Road last Friday afternoon to talk to Mike Musillami, the son of the original owners. Musillami talked about his family and the business, which is celebrating 60 years.

Thursday night’s program airs locally on WTIU at 8 p.m.

Columbus City officials say that they acted quickly to get the word out during last week’s E. coli situation with the city water system, moving within minutes of test results that confirmed E. coli in a city well.

Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, said that they believe the public was never in any danger. She laid out the timeline in detail explaining that the city’s first test result indicating e-coli in the well and in the city distribution system came back Thursday from tests performed Wednesday.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management required second samples be done on Thursday to ensure that it was not a false positive. Those results came back Friday afternoon showing the contamination in the well, but not in the city distribution system. After receiving the confirmation, the city had 24 hours to alert the public to boil its water, but instead sent out that warning to media outlets within minutes. That went out about 4:15 p.m. Friday afternoon. The city also alerted the hospital and public health department of the results at that time.

During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Keith Reeves, director of Columbus City Utilities, gave a report on what happened. He echoed Ferdon’s statement that utility customers were never in danger of getting sick from contaminated water. Reeves noted a report from Columbus Regional Health and state health department officials that showed their were no reported cases of patients with E. coli.

Reeves went on to tell council members that the reason no action was initially taken to inform the public about the positive test result was the frequencies of “false-positives” in water tests such as these. He says that the utility usually gets two or three false positives each year and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management discourages the possibility for alarming communities until accurate information is known.

With that, Reeves stressed that the well in question was taken out of service immediately after the discovery of the first positive test. At no time, he says, did the city’s water distribution system test positive for E. coli. Reeves noted that the utility doesn’t yet know what led to the contamination, but an investigation is ongoing. Until that is resolved, he says the well in question will remain off-line.

Ferdon said that one thing they would do differently going ahead, would be to ask the county emergency operations center sooner to send out alerts over its Everbridge system. She said that city officials did not consider alerting the public in that way until too late in the process, and those alerts, which are sent by phone, text and e-mail, did not go out until about 8 p.m. Friday.

There may be some good news for the city of Columbus as officials continue to work on how to deal with a massive increase in train traffic. Improvements to the railroad lines through the city are currently underway with an increase in traffic expected to begin in 2018. Once fully implemented, the number of trains running through Columbus on a daily basis are expected to increase more than six-fold. In addition to the increase in traffic, the weight and length of trains will increase as well, with train-lengths expected to go up by nearly 50 percent. All of these factors are expected to drastically increase waiting times for vehicles at railroad crossings, ultimately damaging Columbus’ economy.

During Monday’s meeting of the Columbus Redevelopment Commission, John Dorenbush, a member of the Railroad Community Committee, offered a glimpse of good news. Dorenbush says that, for the first time, the committee is “optimistic” that a proposed project to construct an overpass that would take vehicle traffic over the tracks at State Road 11 and State Road 46 will be approved by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Dorenbush says that on June 8, representatives from the city, county, INDOT, Cummins, CSX and the Louisville & Indiana Railroad met to discuss the issue. He says that everyone involved is optimistic that the project will be included in INDOT’s five-year plan. The issue, says Dorenbush, is funding. In addition, he says that if the project were approved, it would likely be on the tail-end of the five-year plan, meaning that work wouldn’t begin until approximately 2022. However, Dorenbush opined that the city could help move the project up on the timeline by contributing more that 20-percent of the cost. He noted that most projects like this have a requirement that local municipalities pay 20-percent. Dorenbush suggested that the work could begin earlier if the city were to contribute more than the usual minimum. However, he stressed that he was merely speculating.

Dorenbush says that the same group will be meeting again in a few weeks. If all goes well, he says that he is hopeful that a positive announcement will be made before Independence Day.

Ivy Tech Community College is holding a special enrollment event this weekend.

Express Enrollment Day will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Ivy Tech Columbus. Event organizers say that Ivy Tech employees will be on hand to help those interested in enrolling at the college. They add that the entire enrollment process can be completed there on this day. School officials say that those attending will be able to:

• Complete the first steps to enroll as a student;
• Get financial aid questions answered;
• Learn about and meet assessment requirements;
• Meet with an advisor;
• Register for the semester;
• And find out about orientation.

You are encouraged to RSVP for Express Enrollment Day online at https://www.ivytech.edu/EEStatewide/index.html or by calling Ivy Tech Columbus at (812) 372-9925.

You should bring an unofficial high school or college transcript and SAT/ACT/PSAT scores to assist with assessment and course placement. If you have already completed some college courses, you are encouraged to bring an official college transcript to have your credits evaluated.