A Columbus woman was saved from a vehicle fire Tuesday night after good-Samaritans stepped in. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that shortly before 7 p.m., an SUV driven by 50-year-old Timberly Sue Trueblood went from a private drive towards Herman Darlage Drive. Witnesses told police that Trueblood’s vehicle failed to stop at stop sign and crossed Herman Darlage Drive, crashing into a tree on the east side of the street.

One of the witnesses reportedly told police that the wheels on the vehicle were still spinning after the crash. Moments later, the SUV caught fire. Harris says that a group of bystanders took a tire-iron to the driver-side window and carried Trueblood to safety before her vehicle was fully engulfed.

Police say that a doctor at the scene told them that Trueblood may have suffered a seizure before the crash. Her condition has not been released.

The investigation is ongoing.

A driver straddling two lanes of traffic ended up under arrest on drug charges, as well as a passenger. Columbus police report that they pulled over a car on 17th Street at about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The driver, 53-year-old Connie J. Fox appeared intoxicated and failed several sobriety tests. Police also found methamphetamine and a glass pipe under her seat.

Fox is facing charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, possession of drug paraphernalila and methamphetamine and maintaining a common nuisance.

A passenger allegedly gave police a fake name, before she was identified as 50-year-old Suzanne M. Tice-Bryant. She was arrested on charges of false informing and visiting a common nuisance, as well as the outstanding warrant.

Two Columbus men are under arrest after they were caught allegedly burglarizing a hotel under construction early this morning..

The Columbus police say that suspicious people were reported at the construction site on Merchants Mile at about 12:40 a.m. this morning. Police dogs located two people hiding in the fourth floor at the new Fairfield Inn.

38-year-old Ross L. Shireman of Columbus is facing a felony burglary charge, while 48-year-old Justin W. Moss is being accused of burglary and possession of marijuana. He was also wanted on an outstanding Bartholomew County warrant.

Bartholomew Consolidated schools say they are ready to accept children whose families were displaced by the recent hurricanes and may have sought refuge here. The school district will accept those students fleeing from Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, even if they don’t have all the normally required paperwork.

The district announced on its Facebook page yesterday that if you know of any refugee families, you should urge them to contact the school district or their nearest neighborhood school for enrollment information. District officials say that he community took in several families after Hurricane Katrina and some of those became permanent residents.

You can find more information online at bcsc.k12.in.us

Sonya’s Dance Zone will be holding a fundraiser for a local family on Saturday. The fundraiser for Rudzinski family will be from 12 to 3 in the Dance Zone parking lot and will include dance performances and the Night Owl Country Band. There will also be a silent auction, magic performances by Easterling Entertainment, a bounce house and face painting.

The family’s mother, Mary Jean Rudzinski, died last month after a bone marrow transplant. The studio is at 3136 N National Road in Columbus and for more information you can call (812) 372-7000

The Bartholomew County Council gave its initial approval to an increase to the local income tax rate as a way to balance the county’s budget and to improve public safety. The measure, which would increase the local income tax from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent, passed by the narrowest of margins on a vote of 4 to 3.

Councilman Mark Gorbett has been championing this, or a similar measure, for the past three years. He says the funding problems extend to his time as sheriff.

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Gorbett added that the council began seriously looking at addressing budget issues in recent years.

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Gorbett says that the community has changed, as has its needs. He also stresses that the council wasn’t considering raising the tax rate as high as it legally could…

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Laura DeDomenic, council president, explains that she originally ran for council because she wanted to find ways to make county government more efficient and make better use of tax dollars. She says that lots of work and study went in to making that a reality. However, she says that times have changed.

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Councilman Matt Miller says he isn’t so sure that a tax increase will have much of an effect on the opioid epidemic.

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The measure would increase the local income tax from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent. Of that, officials say that .25 percent would be dedicated to public safety, .25 percent to economic development and the rest to the general fund. Bill Lentz and Evelyn Pence joined Miller in voting “no.”

The tax increase needs a second vote to pass. That is scheduled for Oct. 10th.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop says he’s upset that a group, which says it is dedicated to the interests of white Americans, met and walked through downtown. The Traditionalist Worker Party held a meeting in Bartholomew County over the weekend and, according to our news-gathering partners at “The Republic,” held a practice march through downtown Columbus.

In a press release, Lienhoop calls the TWP “a small, political, white supremacist group founded outside the state.” The mayor says that it is upsetting that the event took place, but noted that the group is constitutionally protected. Lienhoop’s statement went on to say, “It is equally important to denounce this group,” adding: ” the City of Columbus does not support the racist ideology upon which this group was founded.”

The Republic is reporting that about a dozen people took part in the march. Columbus Police reportedly told the newspaper that no laws were broken.

A downtown bakery suffered minor damage after a fire late Monday night. Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the Columbus Fire Department, says that firefighters were called to the Sogno Della Terra Bakery, at 901 Washington Street, at approximately 11:15 p.m.

Wilson says that a passerby saw flames inside the storefront and called 911. Firefighters from nearby Fire Station 1, just two blocks away, arrived quickly to find a small fire visible on top of a glass display case just inside the entry door of the bakery. Wilson says that the business was closed, so an entry team breached a glass door to enter and put the fire out with a small amount of water.

Investigators reportedly found evidence that a candle had been located on top of the class counter top near combustible materials. They are still working to determine if the candle was the cause of the fire. Wilson says that the fire damage was isolated to the display counter and a fluorescent light directly above the fire.

Damages to the bakery have been estimated at less than $5,000. No injuries were reported.

Columbus police arrested a suspect in a credit card-skimming investigation, but now they have to figure out who they have in custody.

Lt Matt Harris, spokesman for the department, says officers were contacted after a Main Source Bank employee found the device on an ATM on Washington Street Sunday, during a routine maintenance check. The Bluetooth enabled skimming set up also included a video camera to swipe PIN numbers, Harris says.

The suspect was identified from a bank video, as the same suspect from a credit card scam last week. He was arrested at a local hotel, where other items used in skimming were found in two rooms, Harris said. The suspect was arrested on preliminary charges of possession of a card-skimming device and possession of a false government identification card.

But the suspect will not identify himself and had no valid identification on him. Harris said the police are working with national authorities to determine the man’s name. Two other suspects are still at large. Police have released video stills which you can view here.

If you have any information you can call the police at 812-376-2600.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is warning about a rash of ATV thefts.

The sheriff’s department says that the thefts are happening all over the county, mostly overnights. They recommend you secure your recreational vehicles and make sure to take the key out of the ignition when you put it away. They are also suggesting that you keep all of the paperwork and take photos of your ATV so that you can recover it, if it does get stolen.

You should report any suspicious activity to the sheriff’s department. at 812-379-1740 or you can call the dispatch center at 812-379-1689