A dispute between neighbors that led to a shooting last month in Johnson County, is flaring back up again.

Sheriff Doug Cox says that the victim in the shooting, Jeff Weigle, is still recovering in the hospital. But he was recently threatening to leave the hospital and do harm to the man who shot him, Indianapolis Paramedic Dean Keller.

Keller shot Weigle four times, at the property near Greenwood, including a hit to the chest that caused a sucking chest wound, authorities say. Prosecutors found that Keller was acting in self defense and declined to press charges. According to police reports, Keller shot back at Weigle, after Weigle displayed a handgun and shot at him while mowing the grass. Authorities say this has been a long-running dispute between the men.

Cox says that a warrant was served on Weigle in the hospital for criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and now they are working on a protective order. Jail staff are observing Weigle at an undisclosed rehab facility, the sheriff says.

The Indianapolis Star reports that the two men have clashed more than a dozen times since 2009. In 2011, both men were arrested on battery charges ges after a fight. Keller was stabbed in the arm in that fight, and Weigle suffered cuts, scratches and bite wounds, according to a police report.

The Yellow Trail Museum in Hope will be having the grand opening of its new Visitors Information Center tonight, July 20th.

The new center is a project with the Columbus Area Visitors Center. The new center and the part-time staff person it brings ais allowing the Yellow Trail Museum to stay open more days of the week. They have also expanded their website and are offering new services such as a walking tour.

The grand opening will be held 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight. The Yellow Trail Museum is on the northwest side of the Hope Town Square.

Congressman Luke Messer, a Republican representing Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District, had a proposal to help veterans impacted by the closure of ITT Technical Institute. It passed the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Wednesday, as part of a larger GI Bill reform package.

The Congressman’s office explains that Messer’s proposal retroactively restores GI Bill benefits to veterans who were attending Indiana-based ITT Tech, which closed its doors in September 2016. The closure impacting 40,000 students nationwide, including more than 7,000 veterans.

Messer’s provision provides full restoration of GI Bill benefits within 90 days to students who attended ITT Tech, if they were not able to transfer their credits to a new institution. It also helps veterans who may be impacted by a school closure in the future.

Rep. Messer says this was a bipartisan effort, noting that he worked with Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers says he needs more money to operate the jail. During Tuesday night’s county council meeting, Myers explained that he needed an additional appropriation of $50,000 to cover overtime costs at the jail.

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Myers talks about some of the accounting measures his department has taken to cover costs.

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As for how the department plans to handle overtime at the jail for the rest of the year…

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The Sheriff explained that an increase in inmates has been a factor in the overtime expenses at the jail.

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A state statute, which took effect this year, requires counties to house Level 6 felons in their jails instead of sending them to the Indiana Department of Corrections. While the state reimburses the counties some money for every Level 6 inmate, Myers says that the county, on average, has to spend much more than is received.

The county council approved Myers’ request for the additional $50,000 appropriation in the hopes that it will be enough to cover overtime costs at the jail for the remainder of the year. The Sheriff is expected to ask for a substantial increase in staffing when preparing this year’s budget.

Cummins is announcing that company vice president Carole Casto will be taking over marketing communications along with her corporate communications responsibilities.

In that role, she has been overseeing global communication strategy, executive speech writing, crisis communications, digital, visual and internal communications and external communications.

The new responsibilities will include marketing plans, product launches workign with the sales and account teams and representing the company at global trade shows and industry events.

She has been with the company for 14 years and lives in Indianapolis with her husband and their son.

Hope police and Bartholomew County sheriff’s deputies chased a pickup truck in the northern part of the county, eventually arresting the fleeing fugitive.

The chase happened last night, starting at about 11:30 p.m. when Hope police tried to stop the pickup The driver fled at speeds between 30 and 60 mph. Around County Roads 700E and 700N , deputies assisted by deploying tire deflating devices. The truck’s tires blew out and eventually stopped in a yard on Jackson Street in Hope.

The driver, 33-year-old, Carl R. McNicholas of Jackson Street, was arrested on new charges of resisting law enforcement and driving while suspended. He was also wanted on 11 outstanding warrants.

Columbus police arrested two people last night allegedly breaking into storage units on 15th Street.

Police were alerted that a suspicious person carrying a bag was inside the fence of Storage Express. An officer noticed that the fence had been cut, a security camera had been moved and an unattended vehicle was nearby at about 2:30 this morning. Inside the facility, a flashlight could be seen and voices could be heard.

When 31-year-old Jeremiah W. Clark of Franklin and 30-year-old Cheryl L. Bailey of Edinburgh left one of the storage buildings they were arrested, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police.

They are facing preliminary charges of burglary and theft.

A kitchen fire threatened a Columbus home last night on Coovert Street.

Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the city fire department, says that cooking oil ignited on the stove and the fire quickly spread to the range top and nearby cabinets. The resident tried to fight the fire with a fire extinguisher, but when that didn’t work, fled the home and called firefighters at about 8:10 p.m. last night.

Wilson says firefighters used extinguishers to put the fire out and were able to contain the flames to the kitchen area. Firefighters used large ventilation fans to air out the space.

He estimated damages at about $15,000.

No one was injured in the fire and working smoke alarms were found in the home.

The town of Hope has adopted a revitalization plan for the area round the Town Square.

The Town Council approved the non-binding plan at its meeting last night. Susan Thayer-Fye, the director of the Hope Main Street organization said that that adopting the plan means that the town can now apply for more funding from state and federal grants to actually put the ideas into action.

Thayer-Fye said the Town Council paid for the plan and the associated study because they see the need.

The plan includes many suggested projects around the square. Those range from simple fixes like standardizing the benches, flower beds and trash receptacles around the town square, to more ambitious projects like revamping and re-roofing the shelterhouse and the bandstand in the park.

Thayer-Fye said that the plan is just a suggestion and those suggestions are non-binding on the council. If any additional funding were approved, the council could decide which projects to tackle.

But ultimately the direction will depend on the volunteers who wish to take the lead.

Note: This story has been  updated throughout with new information.

A North Vernon man is under arrest, accused of an armed robbery yesterday morning where a victim was held at gunpoint.

Authorities say that 35-year-old Travis J. Groce was booked into the Jennings County Jail at about 10:30 last night. Police in Jennings and Jackson counties had been looking for Groce after yesterday morning’s incident.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department says that Groce allegedly held a gun to to the back of a man’s head yesterday morning, took the victim’s wallet and then fled. Local police were searching for Groce after the incident.

The jail staff reports that Groce was arrested by Indiana State Police last night on a parole violation and on preliminary charges of possession of methamphetamine, auto theft and resisting law enforcement.