A Monday afternoon police chase in Jennings County led to the arrest of a Scipio man. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, spokesman for the North Vernon Police Department, says that just before 4:30 p.m., officers responded to Harms Street after getting a report that a man was riding a dirt bike at a high rate of speed.

Sgt. Richmond says that he and Officer Shane Trepanier located the rider, 31-year-old Brett E. Matern. He says that Matern, who was wanted on three warrants, then fled after officers attempted to pull him over. Richmond says that the pursuit lasted almost half a mile and reached speeds of 60 mph in a residential neighborhood.

Matern reportedly abandoned the dirt bike in the back yard of an apartment in the 200 block of Harms Street and fled into an apartment. Richmond and Trepanier secured the apartment and, after other officers arrived, were able to direct Matern out of hiding. Authorities say that Matern resisted the officers and made several threats of physical violence against them.

Matern was booked in the Jennings County Jail on the following preliminary charges:

1. Resisting Law Enforcement by Fleeing in a Vehicle – Level 6 felony
2. Intimidation of a police officer – Level 6 felony
3. Resisting Law Enforcement by Fleeing or Fighting – Class A misdemeanor
4. Disorderly Conduct – Class B misdemeanor

Richmond notes that Matern was wanted on three outstanding warrants:

1. Risk of flight on an original charge Intimidation – Level 6 felony
2. Failure to Appear on an original charge Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Paraphernalia – Level 6 felony
3. Intimidation – Level 6 felony.

Sgt. Richmond adds that Matern is currently being held without bond. Additional charges could be forthcoming.

The City of Columbus will be hosting a second public input session to update the community on proposed changes to the structure of the Audit and Review Committee for Citizens and Police Relations. Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, says the meeting will be held on Monday at Donner Center from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Ferdon explains that the committee was created in 1992 to foster transparency, gain community trust and respond to the needs of residents. Building on these original goals, she explains that city officials, along with current committee members, the African American Pastor’s Alliance and interested community members, have worked with the city over the last 18 months to examine the committee’s effectiveness at fulfilling the original goals and discussing new challenges to be addressed by the committee.

Ferdon says that the city will recommend renaming the committee the “Community Police Review Board” in an effort to better connect the committee name with its function. She adds that the Columbus Human Rights Commission will continue to provide technical assistance and the Board of Public Works and Safety will continue to administer appeals.

Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, is launching a new program to plan for the future of downtown Columbus.

The foundation announced recently that it and city officials will be working with David Rubin Land Collective, a landscape architecture and urban design firm based in Philadelphia. on the new downtown plan.

Heritage Fund officials say this will be a similar process as those used to develop Mill Race Park and the new Commons, said Tracy Souza, president and CEO of the foundation, in a press release.

“This is the same process the community has followed in selecting architects for many of our treasured public facilities such as Mill Race Park, several fire stations and schools, as well as The Commons,” Souza said.

“We are so grateful for Cummins’ interest in keeping our downtown a place people want to be.”

The project will include a significant process for gathering public input.

“We know that we can make great things happen when we work together to develop a vision and an implementation plan,” said Mayor Jim Lienhoop in a press release about the new project.

“It has happened time and time again with successful results.  Focus 2000 and Vision 2020 are great examples of public-private partnerships that bring together citizens and city to enable investment, resulting in a downtown of which we can be proud.”

The end product of the process will be a an updated strategic development plan for the downtown. The last plan for downtown was completed in 2004 by Development Concepts Inc.

Money for the project is coming from the Cummins Foundation. Since 1954, the foundation has been providing funds to pay for world-renowned architects for Columbus projects.

“Our ability to attract and retain the best and brightest employees to our headquarters location is directly linked to the continued success of this journey,” said Norbert Nusterer, Vice President Cummins Inc. and President, Power Systems Business, in a press release.

“We are excited and honored to contribute yet again as the community updates its roadmap towards an even more vibrant and economically viable downtown that serves an increasingly diverse set of city residents and visitors.”

A Heritage Fund pilot program to make people love where they live is shutting down after its three-year run.

Engage Columbus started with the idea of weaving people new to the community into the fabric of Columbus. Program manager Lara Hodson explains that the program started in March of 2015 with the mission to make people feel welcome here.

She said that the program will officially shut down on Feb. 16th. She said that the hope would be to bring Engage Columbus back to continue the programs and events that worked, possibly with other local groups as organizers.

Hodson said that more than 3,000 people have been helped by the program, connecting them with more than 140 local organizations and resources.

She said that several Engage Program projects have been succesful including a Discover Columbus program that just wrapped up Saturday with a tour of the Bartholomew County Courthouse with Judge Kelly Benjamin.

Many who participated in Engage Columbus programs came with their spouse to Columbus but couldn’t work themselves because of the lack of a work visa.

The final event for Engage Columbus will be a farewell Tea Party at 11:30 a.m.Wednesday, Feb. 14th, at the Bartholomew County Public LIbrary on 5th Street.

A local woman was arrested on drug charges after she was seen acting suspiciously inside a Columbus store on Saturday afternoon. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that Officer Wesley Dodge stopped a vehicle that the suspect was traveling in near 17th Street and Gladstone Avenue at approximately 3:30 p.m. While speaking with the vehicle’s occupants, Dodge noted that they appeared to be extremely nervous. He later determined that the front seat passenger, 27-year-old Aimee L. Davis, of Columbus, had syringes in her possession.

Davis was taken into custody and transported to the Bartholomew County Jail. A short time later, jail staff reported recovering several needles that Davis had concealed in her clothing. While searching Davis’ purse, Officer Dodge allegedly found another needle, drug paraphernalia and a small amount of methamphetamine.

Davis is facing preliminary charges of Possession of a Legend Drug Injection Device, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of Methamphetamine.

Four people were arrested at a county park after the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a suspicious person. Judy Jackson, department spokeswoman, says that at about 5 p.m. Friday, Deputy Matt Bush and K9 Diesel responded to the area of Owens Bend County Park after receiving a call about several people possibly breaking into a vehicle.

Upon arrival, Deputy Bush observed four people. After identifying them, he learned that there were eight warrants between them. Deputy Bush then walked Diesel around the vehicle, where he was reportedly alerted to the presence of narcotics. Authorities say that a search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of four syringes belonging to 28-year-old Troy Cowan, of Columbus. Cowan also was also allegedly in possession of a methamphetamine pipe.

Jackson says that 35-year-old Michael Ames, of Columbus, swallowed methamphetamine and was transported to Columbus Regional Health. Once cleared, he was booked on preliminary charges of False Informing and Obstruction of Justice. Authorities say that Ames was also wanted on four outstanding warrants.

Deputies arrested 23-year-old Carrie England, of Columbus, after she was allegedly found to be in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. Authorities also arrested 26-year-old Kaleigh Stogdill, of Columbus.

A Michigan man was killed early Sunday morning after a two-vehicle crash on I-65 in Jackson County. Authorities say the lack of working tail lights on one of the vehicles may have played a role in the crash.

Indiana State Police say that at about 1:30 a.m., troopers responded to the crash on southbound I-65 near the 53 mile marker. The initial investigation indicated that a semi trailer, being driven by Abdulahi A. Afrah, of Louisville, was traveling southbound in the right lane when a semi driven by John A. Gaskin, of Sainte Marie, MI, collided with the back of Afrah’s trailer. Troopers say that Afrah’s vehicle may not have had working tail lights.

As a result of the collision, Gaskin’s vehicle caught fire and burned in the southbound lanes of I-65. Gaskin was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Jackson County Coroner’s Office. Afrah was not injured.

As a result of the crash, the northbound lanes of I-65 were closed for approximately two hours while crews battled the vehicle fire. The southbound lanes of I-65 were closed for approximately six-and-a-half hours for crash investigation and cleanup.

Part of the load of bagged charcoal in Afrah’s vehicle was released from the trailer during the crash. The load in Gaskin’s trailer was a total loss.

Toxicology results on Afrah are pending and the investigation is ongoing.

Two inmates are facing further charges in the overdose death of a woman in the Bartholomew County Jail back in October.

Indiana State Police say that 27-year-old Debin P. Gabbard of Columbus is facing new felony charges of dealing methamphetamine, trafficking with an Inmate, possession of a narcotic drug and of methamphetamine. 19-year-old Mary Snyder of Columbus is facing a new charge of possession of methamphetamine.

The new charges stem from the overdose death of 42-year-old Angela Blair of Elizabethtown on Oct. 7th, who was a jail inmate at the time. According to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office, Blair died of a methamphetamine overdose.

State police are accusing Gabbard of smuggling the methamphetamine into the jail when she was arrested. She then allegedly passed the drugs to Snyder, who then gave them to Blair while they were housed together in the jail.

Blair collapsed and died after taking the drugs, police say.

Investigators served warrants on Friday to Gabbard, who is still in the county jail, and to Snyder who has since been transferred to Rockville Correctional Facility.

State Police were assisted by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office, and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryland Fluhr has graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. Judy Jackson, department spokeswoman, says that Deputy Fluhr, a 2014 graduate of Indiana State University, spent the past 16-weeks undergoing law enforcement training in Plainfield.

During these 16 weeks, Deputy Fluhr received more than 600 hours of training in the areas of: criminal and traffic law, firearms, emergency vehicle operations, physical tactics, EMS awareness and human behavior.

Jackson says that new deputies are also required to study other law enforcement related subjects such as: accident investigation, criminal investigation, domestic violence and sexual assault, water rescue training, standardized field sobriety tests, crime prevention and drug and narcotics.

Deputy Fluhr now has an additional 14-weeks of on-the-job training with a BCSO Field Training deputy.

Congressman Luke Messer, a Republican representing Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District, spoke to Southside Elementary students Friday morning. The Congressman was working on little sleep after an early-morning vote to end a short government shutdown.

The Congressman spoke with fourth graders for about 45 minutes, answering questions and talking about how Congress works. Messer says this is one particular part of his job that he truly enjoys.

Messer’s visit capped off a morning with local constituents. From there, it was time to campaign for the U.S. Senate…

Messer says the dysfunction in the Senate goes beyond some members.

Messer is in a primary battle with fellow Republican Congressman Toff Rokita and businessman Mike Braun for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. The winner of the primary will face Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly in what is expected to be a very tight race.