The Yellow Trail Museum volunteers will be holding the next of their Saturday Sampler series of events for kids this weekend at the museum in Hope.

This weekend’s program will be about rural mail delivery, as the town of Hope was one of the first in the country to offer mail delivery to homes outside of town limits, back in 1896. The program will feature a short lesson, crafts and snacks.

The Saturday Samplers are designed for children four years old and older. It will be from 10 to 11 Saturday at the museum on State Road 9, across from the Town Square in Hope.

For more information you can call 812-371-7969.

Two North Vernon residents were arrested after a crash turned into a police chase.

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department says that the incident began at around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday when deputies responded to a report of a crash on State Road 7 South near the Jefferson/Jennings County line. Authorities say that one of the vehicles involved fled north, with the other vehicle in pursuit and its occupants giving updated locations to Jennings County Dispatch.

Deputy Doug Brown was able to locate the minivan and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. He says that the driver refused to stop and the vehicle continued northbound on State Road 7 before turning east onto County Road 150 South at speeds reaching 65 mph. Authorities say the vehicle then turned north onto County Road 600 East and then back East onto County Road 50 South with several deputies in pursuit. The vehicle then pulled into a long driveway, where Deputy Brown tried to get in front of the vehicle and the driver responded by allegedly trying to ram into the officer’s vehicle.

Authorities say the driver, 21-year-old Demitrus L. Ewing, eventually surrendered to deputies. A search of the vehicle allegedly uncovered approximately three grams of methamphetamine, digital scales, baggies and syringes. While questioning Ewing about why he fled, Ewing reportedly told deputies “Because I don’t have a license, and I figured I would make your job worth it.”

Ewing is facing the following preliminary charges:
Dealing Methamphetamine – Level 4 Felony;
Resisting Law Enforcement – Level 6 Felony;
Possession of Controlled Substance – Level 6 Felony;
Driving While Suspended Prior – Class A Misdemeanor;
Leaving the Scene of the Property Damage Accident – Class B Misdemeanor

A passenger in the minivan, 20-year-old Tara L. Sluder was also arrested. Authorities say that she is facing the following preliminary charges:
Possession of Control Substance – Level 6 Felony;
Possession of Syringe – Level 6 Felony

The investigation is ongoing.

Employees of a Greensburg-based bank will see a raise as a result of tax reform. MainSource Financial Group announced Wednesday that it will raise the starting pay and minimum hourly rate to $15 an hour effective, immediately. This company says that this new rate is for all of its non-exempt, non-commissioned employees. In a press release, MainSource directly attributed this change to the recently passed tax bill, which sharply lowers corporate tax rates. The release states that this pay increase will affect over 200 of the company’s approximately 1,000 associates in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

Archie M. Brown, Jr., President and CEO, stated, “The recently passed tax legislation is anticipated to create significant savings for our company. We are pleased to direct a portion of this savings back to many of our employees with a meaningful increase in pay.”

MainSource Financial Group operates 94 full-service offices through its banking subsidiary, MainSource Bank in Greensburg.

The Columbus Area Arts Council is presenting the next in its First Fridays for Families series at 6 this Friday at The Commons.

The program will be Dr Seuss’ The Cat in The Hat. Eleanor Rust, with the Arts Council, says that the show is being presented by The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, and it’s ideal for kids from pre-kindergarten to 6th grade and their families.

The Columbus Area Arts Council says that First Fridays for Families shows introduce young audiences to a variety of performing arts in a fun, informal setting. They highlight local, regional and national talent with live performances that are free for everyone to attend.

First Fridays For Families is free to the community thanks to the support of Old National Bank & the City of Columbus. The monthly shows run through April.

For more information on the Columbus Area Arts Council and its programs, you can to to artsincolumbus.org

For more information on the Cat in the Hat performance, you can to to childrenstheatre.com

Updated at 10:25 a.m.

A 20-year-old Columbus woman died in the crash of an SUV last night at State Roads 46 and 7.

Cheyenne M. Wray was driving into Columbus from Elizabethtown at about 9:50 last night when her vehicle went off the road and rolled several times, says County Coroner Clayton Nolting. She was ejected from the vehicle and died from major blunt force trauma, Nolting said. Wray would have turned 21 next week.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department reports that 28-year-old Vincent Eddelman of Columbus was a passenger in the vehicle and also thrown from the crash. He was flown by Lifeline Helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital, but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Eddelman told deputies that Wray had a problem with a tire that caused her to lose control of the vehicle. The accident remains under investigation.

Columbus Township Fire Dept, along with Columbus Regional Health Ambulance assisted at the crash site.

The Bartholomew County Council is moving forward with a plan to spend about $1.9 million of the money from a new income tax to shore up public safety programs and lighten the strain on the county’s general fund.

That will be just under half of the money from the new income tax that went into effect at the start of the year.

The council agreed last month to move the entire youth services department off of the property-tax supported county general fund and pay for it out of the income tax revenues. Half of the new tax increase must be spent on public safety needs and the only department small enough to move to the new fund was the youth services, says Laura DeDomenic, last year’s council president.

Last night at a council work session, County Auditor Barb Hackman presented figures on the plan, that would leave about $307,000 in the public safety income tax money, by moving the youth services and part of the 911 system costs to the new tax, Hackman said.

The other half of the income tax increase has not formally been budgeted, but county officials plan to use it for maintenance to county buildings and for needs related to the opioid epidemic. Cost estimates for those projects are being developed.

During a wider discussion of county budgeting issues, DeDomenic expressed her frustration at the lack of clarity in the figures given to the council to work with. She said she has been asking the auditor’s office for three years for the equivalent of a simple profit and loss statement, that shows how much money the county takes in each year, how much it spends, and how much is left at the end of each year.

The council will consider the spending plan changes when it meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at the Governmental Office Building on Third Street in Columbus.

The Columbus City Council gave its final approval of a $10 million dollar payment to INDOT for the downtown overpass project during it’s meeting Tuesday night. The project will take traffic into downtown over the railroad tracks at State Road 11 and Jonathan Moore Pike. The city initially approved the payment last month, but a re-vote was required as the second vote wasn’t properly advertised. Mayor Jim Lienhoop adds that there’s been a change in the payment deadline as well, as the city had nothing in writing from INDOT approving the timeline for the project…

01-03 JIM LIENHOOP-1

Lienhoop says that deadline for payment has since been extended to February 15. Despite the change, the mayor says that the construction project won’t be delayed. The overpass is estimated to cost $30 million with the city and its partners picking up half of the cost.

City Council approved the measure on a vote of 5-0.

Legislative leaders say they will fix a law passed last year which attempted to legalize limited legal use of cannabis oil. However, the fight over marijuana continues at the Statehouse.

Network Indiana is reporting that Seymour Representative Jim Lucas, a Republican, is authoring a bill to make Indiana the 30th state to allow marijuana use for medical purposes. The report states that Lucas’ bill would legalize marijuana for people with serious medical conditions and put the Indiana State Department of Health in charge of overseeing the plant’s growing and distribution.

Republican legislative leaders, including Governor Eric Holcomb and Attorney General Curtis Hill say they are against legalizing marijuana. According to the report, Hill has taken the most forceful stand, arguing that legalization would lead to marijuana use among minors.

Two people are injured, one of them seriously and a Hope man is behind bars after he allegedly carjacked a vehicle at Columbus Regional Health on Monday night. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 7:40 p.m., officers were dispatched to the hospital in regards to a reported vehicle crash with injuries. The suspect, later identified as 27-year-old Kenneth W. Wentworth, allegedly fled on foot after the crash. When officers arrived, they reported seeing Wentworth and a family member of the carjacking victim in a physical struggle on 17th Street, just off the hospital grounds. Wentworth was taken into custody a short time later.

Harris says that investigators later determined that Wentworth allegedly entered the unoccupied driver’s seat of a minivan and attempted to flee the hospital parking lot. The vehicle’s owner, 56-year-old Lorrie A. Crouch, of Hope, partially entered the passenger side of her vehicle and struggle with the suspect. Police say that Wentworth put the vehicle in reverse and the passenger door struck Crouch’s mother, Sarah Smith, who was seated near the minivan in a wheelchair. Moments later, Wentworth allegedly accelerated the vehicle forward and struck a parked car. This caused Crouch to fall out of the minivan and strike her head on the parking lot. Harris says that Wentworth crashed the minivan into two additional vehicles before fleeing on foot.

Authorities say that Crouch sustained a head injury and was flown to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Smith suffered lacerations to her left leg and hand and was treated at CRH.

Wentworth was arrested on preliminary charges of Robbery, Leaving the Scene of Crash Involving Injury, Auto Theft, and Battery. He remains in the Bartholomew County Jail on a 48 hour hold.

The investigation is ongoing.