Landlords in Columbus will have to provide emergency contact information, such as phone numbers, for their rental properties under an ordinance that received final approval during Tuesday night’s city council meeting. City officials say the measure is meant to enhance public safety and make it easier for the city to reach property owners. For the second consecutive meeting, a spill-over crowd packed council chambers. Several landlords spoke out against the proposal, while others were in favor.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop says the measure is being taken in the name of public safety and being able to ensure that issues are resolved in a timely manner.

Lienhoop agreed with city police, firefighters and the Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center that data needs to be readily available in an emergency situation.

The council’s second vote mirrored the first, as the body approved the ordinance on a vote of 6-1. Laurie Booher was the “no” vote. She expressed concern that the ordinance was overreaching and confusing as to what it is trying to accomplish. Booher said that she has heard concerns from community members that the information gathered would be used to go after the owners of so-called “problem properties” instead of for contacting owners for emergency situations. As a landlord, Booher added that she understood some landlords’ concerns about personal safety.

City officials say that the information will be kept by the city’s Office of Community Development, though no database will be maintained. During Tuesday night’s public input session, Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, conceded that ownership information on individual parcels would be subject to public information requests, just as they are now. However, she stressed that those seeking the information would have to know exactly what they are looking for.

The ordinance includes a one-time five-dollar registration fee per property, as well as fines of up to $850 for non-compliance. A registration fee would need to be paid to the city each time the property changes ownership.

Cummins Inc. reported increased revenue for the fourth-quarter of 2017 over the same quarter in 2016. In fact, company officials say that 2017 full-year revenue was up over 2016.

Company officials say that fourth quarter revenues of $5.5 billion were 22 percent higher the fourth quarter of 2016. Cummins adds that revenue for all of 2017 was $20.4 billion, an increase on approximately 17 percent over 2016 figures. Company officials say that strong demand for for trucks, construction and mining equipment drove the majority of the revenue increase, adding that sales in both the North American and international markets were each up 22 percent.

“The Company delivered strong growth, solid profitability and record operating cash flow in 2017,” said Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger. “We expect demand to remain strong in many of our core markets in 2018 and profitability to improve as a result of higher sales and continued execution of our cost reduction initiatives. The Company again plans to return at least 50 percent of Operating Cash Flow to shareholders in 2018.”

Based on the current forecast, Cummins says that it expects full year 2018 revenues to be up four to eight-percent.

Indiana Department of Transportation plow/salt truck drivers are on full call-out tonight across the entire Southeast District. Overnight weather is forecast to include freezing rain and icy conditions and the potential for several inches of snow in our area.

INDOT officials say that most of INDOT Southeast District’s 170 plow trucks will be dispatched to designated snow routes by 9 p.m. and patrolling state highways and interstates by midnight. All subdistrict garages will be staffed with mechanics until the snow/ice event subsides. This includes 34 trucks for the Columbus Subdistrict.

INDOT says that all state highways in the area have been pre-treated with brine or have residual salt in place. But officials note that wet conditions are forecast at the front edge of tonight’s storm could wash that away.

INDOT officials ask that you give their trucks plenty of room to maneuver, follow at safe distances and stay out of operator blind spots.

With time running out to file as a candidate in May’s primary election, local races continue to fill up.

Democrat Lynne Fleming filed yesterday to run for the District 4 on the Bartholomew County Council, That seat is currently held by Republican Jorge Morales, who is seeking re-election.

The race for the District 6 seat in Congress continues to fill up on the Republican side. The Vice President’s brother, Greg Pence, filed yesterday at the statehouse according to an announcement from his campaign. The seat was held by Mike Pence before he was elected governor.

Greg Pence joins Mike Campbell, Thomas G Ferkinhoff and Jonathan M. Lamb on the Republican side. Democrats have Jeannine Lee Lake, K. (Jasen) Lave, Jim Pruett and Lane Siekman running in the May primary.

Congressman Luke Messer, a Republican, is leaving the House to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.

Prospective candidates have until noon Friday to file.

Columbus City Council will be considering the final approval tonight of a new ordinance requiring landlords to register with the city.

Community rental property owners turned out in droves last month to protest the plan. City officials say that the registry is needed so that they have emergency contact information for landlords. Opponents say it is an invasion of privacy.

The council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Columbus City Hall.

Jennings County deputies arrested a man accused of firing a gun in his own home last night to intimidate a domestic violence victim.

35-year-old Ryan W. Gootee of North Vernon is facing charges including criminal confinement with a deadly weapon, intimidation with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness and domestic battery.

Lt. Mike Mowery with the sheriff’s department says authorities received a call at 11:13 p.m. last night from a woman saying that her fiance hit her and then fired a gun. The woman took her two children from the home and then called 911 as she drove to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies saw Gootee leave the home on County Road 250E and pulled his vehicle over. He was arrested without incident, Mowery says.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department presented a preliminary plan Monday night to address overcrowding and other issues at the jail. The proposal was unveiled during a work session of the Bartholomew County Council.

Sheriff Matt Myers says the plan has three components and three goals. He says those include “getting the building right,” resolving overcrowding and making it easier to treat drug-addicted inmates. As for implementing these improvements, the Sheriff says that improvements such as updated video surveillance and body scanning are needed. He went on to say that flexibility, leveraging both sections of the jail and proper inmate classification are needed as well. As for treating inmates, Sheriff Myers says that the jail will need dedicated space, staff and resources to help treat inmates who want help detoxing. The treatment portion would include funding support from the city of Columbus gained from the recently enacted increase in the county’s local income-tax, which Columbus was a major beneficiary.

Myers stressed that his department is still compiling figures and quotes, so he isn’t comfortable attaching a dollar figure at this time. BCSD staff making the presentation say they tried to provide “conservative estimates,” but council members urged them to also compile figures for a more aggressive approach.

Councilman Jorge Morales thanked Myers and his staff for their work in compiling the presentation and agreed that steps need to be taken to address jail overcrowding and the opiate epidemic. He also expressed concern that the funding for such an endeavor would be inadequate. Morales was initially against the LIT increase, arguing that the city of Columbus’ finances would benefit while the county continues to struggle. During Monday night’s work session, he again echoed that complaint and strongly suggested that the city would need to play a large part in funding a treatment facility at the jail. Morales was quickly reminded by councilwoman Laura DeDomenic that the county cannot control what the city does with its money. However, council members, Sheriff Myers and county commissioners in attendance all agreed that city officials are acting in good faith to help come up with, and fund, drug treatment options.

No action was taken during Monday night’s work session. The County Council is scheduled to meet in full session next Tuesday, Feb. 13th.

A bill that would set redistricting standards recently passed the Indiana Senate by a vote of comfortable margin.

Senate Bill 326, authored by State Sen. Greg Walker, a Columbus Republican, would set certain standards for drawing congressional and state districts following the results of the 2020 census. Some of the standards would include making districts as compact as possible, being composed of contiguous territory and minimizing the division of cities, neighborhoods or counties. The bill passed on a vote of 42 to 6.

“This bill is an effective first step in our redistricting efforts,” Walker said. “Redistricting is a complex issue, and this bill would get the ball rolling on how we draw our maps in the future. Just like students have to show their work in order to get credit on an assignment, this bill would require lawmakers to ‘show their work’ when drawing legislative maps, providing more transparency and clear standards for how districts should be drawn.”

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

A North Vernon woman was arrested Saturday on drug charges after police were called about a suspicious vehicle. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, spokesman for the North Vernon Police Department, says that at 9:15 a.m., officers responded to a report of a suspicious person sitting in a vehicle behind a business on Walnut Street.

When police arrived, they spoke with 51-year-old Tammy M. Fair. Richmond says that during the conversation, he became suspicious that drugs may be involved. He deployed his K9, Heros, to sniff around the outside of Fair’s car. That resulted in the K9 being alerted to the presence of drugs, says Richmond. He adds that a search of the vehicle and Fair’s coat resulted in the discovery of two syringes and six grams of a substance suspected to be heroin.

Fair was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of a Narcotic Drug and Possession of a Syringe.

A Friday morning traffic stop led to the arrest of two people on drug charges. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 5:10 a.m., Officer Lukas Nibarger stopped a vehicle near State Street and Central Avenue for a minor traffic violation. According to Nibarger’s report, the people in the vehicle appeared nervous. A short time later, police learned that the driver, 34-year-old Tyler W. Ogle, of Columbus, had a suspended license and his passenger, 27-year-old Terrence R. Wade, of Columbus, did not have a valid driver’s license.

Harris says that Officer Branch Schrader arrived a short time later with his K9 partner, Argo. He says that Argo was alerted to the scent of narcotics in Ogle’s vehicle. A short time later, police allegedly found methamphetamine in Ogle’s wallet, along with a plastic bag containing narcotics and drug paraphernalia on the passenger floorboard of the vehicle.

Ogle was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Legend Drug, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Driving While Suspended. Wade is facing preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of a Legend Drug Injection Device and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.