Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing and Toyota Material Handling, USA have announced plans to integrate into a single business unit by January of next year. The new company will be called Toyota Material Handling, Inc..

The announcement was made during a company-wide meeting on Wednesday. The business will remain in Columbus and report directly to Toyota Material Handling North America. Leading TMH will be President/CEO Jeff Rufener, and Senior Vice President Tony Miller.

“Our goal is to have a stronger, more unified, corporate culture around our material handling business,” said Brett Wood, President/CEO of TMHNA. “As one company we will be more efficient and more responsive to our associates, suppliers, dealers and customers.”

Integrating TMHU and TIEM is the next step in a progression of events and actions that started in 2014 when TMHU completed a three-year relocation of its headquarters from California to Indiana.

“We successfully combined our service parts business in 2017, and as we considered other synergy opportunities, it became clear that a complete consolidation of the companies was our best next step,” said Rufener. “Integrating our teams will improve the flow of information to and from our customers, so we can deliver exactly what they need when they need it.”

Six people were arrested and over a pound of meth was confiscated after investigators from the Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team, along with officers the Columbus Police Department, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police, United States Postal Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as well as the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) served a search warrant Wednesday night at a Columbus home in the 100 block of South Mapleton Street.

Columbus Police say the search warrant was a result of an ongoing investigation into illegal narcotic sales in Columbus and Bartholomew County. During a search of the home, officers recovered 1.5 pounds of

methamphetamine with a street value of over $30,000, along with three guns.

Arrested were::

David Oswaldo Cornejo, 41, of Columbus – Dealing in Methamphetamine (Level 2 Felony), Possession of Methamphetamine (Level 3 Felony), Maintaining a Common Nuisance (Level 6 Felony)

Fernando Lopez-Mendez, 37, of Columbus – Dealing in Methamphetamine (Level 2 Felony), Possession of Methamphetamine (Level 3 Felony), Maintaining a Common Nuisance

Mirna Benitez-Paz, 42, of Columbus – Maintaining a Common Nuisance (Level 6 Felony)

Isabel Benitez-Paz, 38, of Columbus – Maintaining a Common Nuisance (Level 6 Felony)

Michell Vasqez Benitez, 19, of Columbus – Visiting a Common Nuisance (Class B Misd.)

Rogelio Moreno Benitez, 19, of Columbus: Visiting a Common Nuisance (Class B Misd.)

The investigation into the sale of illegal drugs in Columbus and Bartholomew County continues.

The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team, a combined unit of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office, is proactively targeting the manufacturing and abuse of dangerous drugs in Columbus and Bartholomew County.

A Columbus man is facing drug charges after he was stopped by members of the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team. On Tuesday evening officers from the Columbus Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department stopped a vehicle on State Street in Columbus. A search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered a quarter-pound of methamphetamine.

Officers arrested 39-year-old Frederico E. Reyes on a preliminary charge of Possession of Methamphetamine, a Level 3 Felony.

A driver creeping down Central Avenue at 2-3 mph was arrested after a 25-minute standoff with Columbus police yesterday afternoon.

34-year-old Marty G. Peek of Shoals is facing charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, resisting law enforcement, obstructing traffic and reckless driving.

Lt. Matt Harris with the Columbus police reports that officers tried to pull over Peek’s vehicle but he yelled at passing cars, refused to pull over and at one point nearly struck a CPD vehicle as it passed him. Eventually Peek stopped in the 500 block of Central Avenue, but refused to get out of the vehicle.

Police used a Taser to subdue Peek and take him into custody. He was checked out at Columbus Regional Hospital before being taken to jail.

Bartholomew County deputies and state police troopers assisted with the incident.

A Saturday morning event at Yes Cinema will allow recovering addicts to explain their path to sobriety through faith.

Whitney Budd, with the Students Fund of Hope, said that through her work with students in need, she has found that many of those households have been affected by drug addiction.

Budd explains the goal of the event is to let people know that they are not alone, that others are struggling with the same issues.

Jacob Kessler, Chuck Fields and Michael Phelps will discuss their recovery. Budd said Jacob is her brother and all have ties to the town of Hope.

There will also be inspirational music, and information presented from the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County, Sheriff Matt Myers and area recovery groups.

The You Are Not Alone Recovery event will start at 10 a.m. Saturday at Yes Cinema on Jackson Street  The program is free but seats are limited. You can reserve a seat online at eventbrite.com.

Two Columbus police officers being investigated by the Indiana State Police were working part-time jobs at Columbus Regional Health. That’s according to our news gathering partners at The Republic. The officers are accused of working at the hospital while also getting paid for the same hours at CPD.

According to the paper, uniformed Columbus police and sheriff’s deputies work as security contractors at the hospital. The special arrangement has been in place since the June 2008 flood.

After allegations were brought last year, 31-year Columbus Police veteran Ron May agreed to retire and Dan Meister, at the time a lieutenant with 22 years at the department, was demoted to the rank of patrolman.

The state police are investigating whether any laws were broken by the officers.

For more information, go to therepublic.com

Wednesday marked the start of the filing period in Columbus for those who want to run for mayor, clerk-treasurer or city Council.

Six Republican candidates, including five incumbents, filed on the first day. They are: Mayor Jim Lienhoop, Clerk-Treasurer Luann Welmer, District 1 Councilman Dascal Bunch, District 4 Councilman Frank Miller and District 5 Councilman Tim Shuffett. Newcomer Josh Burnett has filed to run for Council At-Large.

Candidates have until noon Feb. 8th to file. That is done at the Voter Registration Office in the Bartholomew County Courthouse. Candidates must be a resident for at least one year before November’s general election. They must also be registered to vote and have no felonies.

You can keep up with candidate filings through the county’s website, at bartholomew.in.gov.

A North Vernon man is behind bars on burglary charges. Just after 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jennings County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a reported Burglary of a garage on Townsend Place. While speaking to the property owner, deputies received another dispatch of an alarm coming from another home on Atkinson Circle. Once at that scene, police found 26-year-old Brian W. Hooten inside of a vehicle that was parked in the garage.

Hooten is facing two preliminary counts of Burglary. He is being held on a $2,055 bond.

Brown County High School teacher Emily Lewellen has been selected as one of 18 educators from across America selected to participate in “Memorializing the Fallen,” a teacher professional development program from National History Day.

Sponsored by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, the program is designed to take Lewellen and other educators on a journey to rediscover the history of World War I and invigorate its teaching in classrooms across the nation.

“World War I is oftentimes glossed over as simply a stepping stone to WWII,” said Lewellen. “With that glossing over comes the brushing aside of important stories that would help students connect with the past. Through the Memorializing the Fallen program, I will learn firsthand the stories of the men and women who fought and died in the trenches and battles of WWI, allowing me to humanize this history for my students. I am incredibly excited to learn this impactful history and apply it in my classroom, as well as in my community.”

Throughout the Memorializing the Fallen program, teachers will attend virtual lectures, participate in discussions and research a service member who never returned home. Lewellen’s service member is Private Ray Griffin of Brown County, Indiana. Griffin was a member of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division.

In June 2019, Lewellen and the other educators will venture to Europe, making stops at Somme American Cemetery, St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, where Pvt. Griffin is buried. They will visit battle sites and monuments, and on the final day of the program, teachers will attend the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles at the Palace of Versailles.

The Indiana Historical Society says that each activity will support the development of the final products the teachers will create: a lesson plan and a “Silent Hero” profile. The teachers also will develop in-depth lesson plans to focus on the legacy of the conflict. Both the lesson plan and the fallen hero profile are slated to be released during the 2019-2020 academic year.

The Indiana Sheriff’s Association will be awarding college scholarships to qualified high school seniors or college students who are pursuing a degree in criminal justice studies. There will be approximately 40 scholarships of $750 awarded to qualifying students throughout the state.

The Indiana Sheriff’s Association Scholarship Fund was established for the purpose of receiving, investing and dispensing funds to provide college scholarships to qualified students who are committed to pursuing an education and career in the law enforcement field. “Our hope is that recipients will come back to their communities as the next generation of law enforcement,” said Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers.

To qualify for a scholarship, the applicant must be an Indiana resident, be a current member of the association or a dependent child or grandchild of a current member of the association, attend an Indiana college or university, major in a law enforcement field and enroll as a full-time student.

The scholarship application can be downloaded from the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association website at indianasheriffs.org.

Applications must be completed and received by ISA no later than April 1.