A Columbus man is facing drug and firearms related charges after being arrested for outstanding warrants yesterday afternoon.

28-year-old Ivan C. Chavez-Lozaya is facing charges of resisting law enforcement and for possessing methamphetamine, marijuana and a handgun he did not have a license to carry.

Columbus police report that Chavez-Lozaya was seen in a vehicle in the 1500 block of Sycamore Street at about 5:15 yesterday afternoon. After confirming that he was wanted on two Bartholomew County warrants, they moved to arrest him but he allegedly pulled away from officers.

As police struggled with the suspect, people came out of a nearby home and began yelling obscenities at officers and advancing toward the scene. Additional officers were called in to stabilize the situation.

Officers discovered the marijuana, methamphetamine and a .40 caliber handgun hidden in Chavez-Lozaya’s clothing.

Teams of students from area high schools will converge on Purdue Polytechnic Columbus on Friday, April 6, 2018 as they complete engineering challenges to win the 2018 Boiler Tech Challenge. This annual event is sponsored by Purdue Polytechnic Columbus in an effort to encourage STEM education and an interest in engineering technology study among area high school students.

School officials say the theme for the 2018 Boiler Tech Challenge is “Purdue Polytechnic ENGINEERS Infinity War.” High school teams will be tasked with completing challenges under the following categories:

• Traverse It
• Save It
• Shield It
• Balance It
• Free It

Details of the challenges will not be released until the day of the challenge, allowing a level playing field for all teams.

High school teams confirmed for participation in the 2018 Boiler Tech Challenge are:

• Brown County High School
• Columbus East High School
• Columbus North High School
• Columbus Signature Academy
• Jennings County High School
• North Decatur High School
• South Dearborn High School
• South Decatur High School

The team earning the most combined points over the course of the day will win the Purdue Polytechnic Columbus Boilermaker Train Trophy.

For more information on the Boiler Tech Challenge, visit Purdue Polytechnic Columbus, visit purdue.edu/columbus.

An 86-year-old Columbus woman died after being hit by a car on Flintwood Drive. Our news gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that June E. Markham was in the road when she was struck Monday night by a vehicle driven by 70-year-old Martha A. Powell, of Columbus.

Police said Powell was driving northbound on Flintwood when the accident occurred. The paper says that Powell did not see Markham in the road prior to the collision. Markham was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting said the cause has been ruled accidental and that Markham died of blunt force trauma to the chest.

For more on this story, visit therepublic.com.

Columbus police arrested a local man on trespassing and drug charges after he was seen inside a store early Thursday morning.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 3:45 a.m., officers responded to the east side Walmart in regards to a person trespassing inside the store. When police arrived, they found 40-year-old Travis L. Salsman, of Columbus, who police say had previously been cited for trespassing there. After Salsman was taken into custody, officers allegedly found methamphetamine and hash oil in his clothing.

Salsman was booked in the Bartholomew County Jail on preliminary charges of Trespassing, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Hash Oil.

A recently released study is ranking Indiana counties for public health factors.

The study by the Population Health Institute found that Indiana’s rate for children in poverty is slightly lower than the rest of the nation, but there’s a large range per county, from five percent to 29 percent. Bartholomew County showed 15 percent of its children in poverty, below the state average of 19 percent.

The study says residents of Hamilton County are healthiest and the unhealthiest county is Fayette County. In area counties, Brown County came in fifth and Johnson County eighth. Bartholomew, Decatur and Shelby counties were all in the 40s. Jackson County came in 57th and Jennings County came in 82nd of Indiana’s 92 counties.

The study looks at about 30 public health factors such as employment, education, substance abuse, environment quality, and sexual activity. Researchers say the rate of teen births in Indiana counties is slightly higher than the nation. Bartholomew County had a teen birth rate of 41, well above the state rate of 30.

The rate of residents without health insurance in Indiana ranged between six and 26 percent. Bartholomew County had an uninsured rate of 10 percent.

For more information, you can check the complete Bartholomew County report here. 

TTWN Media Networks contributed to this report

The town of Hope has up to $100,000 in work to do on its town hall public restrooms, to bring them up to modern standards and to make them accessible for those with disabilities.

The Town Council heard a report from Susan Thayer-Fye, the head of Main Street of HOpe, on renovations needed at the restrooms earlier this week. The facilities on the back side of the Town Hall, are the only public restrooms off of the Hope Town Square.

Thayer-Fye said she and the Town Utilities Manager David Clouse went through the two restrooms and found multiple obstacles to bring them up to modern codes. Improvements needed would include heating and cooling so they could be used year-round, repair of sinking floors and replacement of all of the current facilities. There is also not enough room for a wheelchair user to navigate the spaces. The lack of space is further complicated as the property line is close to the wall of the town hall, limiting expansion space.

Thayer-Fye said the six figure estimate was a rough approximation of the cost, with about $30,000 in repairs to each restroom. Door opening mechanisms would cost about $5,000 each, she estimated, plus about $23,000 in engineering, architectural, permitting and other fees. Her estimate came to $93,000, she said but other costs could bring it up to almost $100,000.

The town’s grant advisor, Trena Carter, said she was skeptical that there would be grant funding available to pay for such a project. The Town Council has no immediate plan on how to address the issues.

Drivers in Bartholomew County can expect better conditions on county roads by the end of the year, especially when compared to 2017.

Danny Hollander, county highway engineer, told county council earlier this week that he expects bids for repaving to go out in about six weeks. The plan, he says, is to take care of 40 miles of county roads. Hollander says that is nearly double the amount done last year. He says that 10 of those miles were scheduled to be done in 2017, while the rest is being paid for out of funds already appropriated for 2018.

Currently, Hollander says that highway garage staff are driving and rating county roads to determine which ones are most in need of work. He says that is expected to take another couple of weeks.

An area man who was caught on video throwing chairs in a courtroom last year will likely face new charges after a Wednesday afternoon tantrum involving courthouse furniture.

Our news-gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that 21-year-old Jordan Rhodes was being sentenced by Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge Jim Worton on three felony counts of Battery with Bodily Injury to a Public Safety Officer. The paper reports that Rhoades had agreed to a plea bargain that limited the sentence for the three felonies to not exceed six years. After hearing the sentence, Rhodes reportedly flipped over the defense table before being subdued by officers.

The sentence stems from an incident last September inside the jail last year when Rhoades was accused of taking metal rods from a cell door and throwing them at three county jail deputies. Authorities say the attacks happened after other inmates flooded parts of the jail.

Rhodes was already serving time in prison for a February 2017 incident where he was caught on video hurling chairs in the direction of Judge Kathleen Tighe Coriden and Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Fisk during a hearing in Bartholomew Superior Court 2.

For more on this story, go to therepublic.com.

Artwork by three Brown County artists will soon be on display at the Statehouse.

State Rep. Chris May, a Bedford Republican, says that Patricia Rhoden Bartels, Jessica Bussert and Sharon Bussert, all of Nashville, were selected to have their artwork decorate the Statehouse as part of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s Hoosier Women Artists 2018 initiative. The initiative is an annual contest recognizing the importance of the arts by showcasing drawings, paintings and photography.

“We have some of the most talented Indiana artists living in our community,” May said. “I would like to congratulate Sharon, Patricia and Jessica on being recognized by the lieutenant governor. These are amazing pieces of art that will be shared with those visiting the Statehouse for the next year.”

May says that Bartels’ work, titled “Grandma’s Garden,” will be displayed in the office of Treasurer of State Kelly Mitchell. Jessica Bussert’s work, titled “Fog House,” will be displayed in Lt. Governor Crouch’s office, as will Sharon Bussert’s piece, titled “Waterfall at Strahl Lake.”

Rep. May says that these artists, and others, were honored at a Statehouse ceremony on Wednesday, which recognized the talents of women throughout Indiana.

Authorities have finally released details on a pair of crashes related to a Monday afternoon funeral procession.

Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, says that at approximately 2:44 p.m., Sgt. T.A. Smith responded to a crash at US 31 north of County Road 100 South. Deputy Andrew Densford, who was escorting a funeral procession of about 35 vehicles, reported seeing a car fail to observe a semi that was slowing for the procession. That vehicle struck the semitrailer and crossed the southbound lane of US 31. Authorities say the driver of the car sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Columbus Regional Health. The driver of the semi was not injured.

Jackson says that Densford stayed to investigate the accident while Sgt. Smith took the lead in the funeral escort. After stopping traffic at US 31 and State Road 46, Smith continued to the intersection of US 31 and State Road 7. When traffic was stopped in all directions, the procession continued. Just prior to approaching the roundabout at US 31 and County Road 400 South, Sergeant Smith heard the dispatch of another crash – at the intersection of US 31 and State Road 7.

Witnesses stated that while the funeral procession was going through the intersection, a pickup truck failed to stop. A family member says that the pickup struck the driver’s side of a vehicle carrying two women, one of them the sister of the deceased. The driver was flown to an Indianapolis hospital via Lifeline. The sister of the deceased was taken to an Indianapolis hospital by ambulance. The family member says that both women suffered serious injuries, but are expected to survive.