Expect slowed traffic or delays on northbound I-65 Wednesday between Columbus and Seymour. The Indiana Department of Transportation are advising drivers to be aware of advancing lane closures between U.S. Highway 50 at Seymour and the Walesboro exit south of Columbus.

Two contracted crews have been scheduled to repair potholes between mile markers 50.0 and 64.0 requiring lane closures at worksites impacting northbound and southbound traffic. At the same time, a pavement striping operation will occur along the same roadway—also requiring restricted lanes. Many identified pothole locations are along center line pavement joints and in I-65 left lanes.

This work is part of the state’s $143 million Next Level construction project between Seymour and Columbus. When completed, I-65 will be completely rebuilt as a six-lane highway between U.S. 50 and State Road 58.

The Columbus Engineering Department says that emergency utility repair will affect traffic on State Road 46 in downtown Columbus.

The left two lanes of westbound Third Street/State Road 46 are slated to close in downtown Columbus from Wednesday morning through Friday evening.

Northbound California Street will also be closed at the Third Street intersection. Westbound State Street (State Road 46 and State Road 7) traffic will be diverted to the right lane approaching California Street.

Columbus City Utilities will have emergency repair crews working on a broken sewer, estimated to be 90 years old. Authorities say the sewer main and brick manhole collapsed due to the heavy rains, creating a large pothole in the pavement. Traffic has been temporarily diverted around the pothole since Friday. City officials say they are working with INDOT and other agencies to expedite the repair.

You are encouraged to take an alternate route and avoid the area, if possible.

Real World Testing, a testing company for engines, donated $4,000 toward the purchase of a second K9 for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department. The company made the donation on Tuesday.

Previously, Real World Testing donated $18,000 to purchase the department’s second police dog, Diesel, and also chose his name. Since K9 Bolt retired last month, BCSO has only one police dog available.

“It is our goal to send a deputy to K9 school next month and to have two dogs back on our streets in May,” said Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers. He says the department’s ultimate goal is to have three K9 units. Sheriff Myers says this donation helps towards that goal. “I can’t thank the folks from Real World Testing enough for stepping up again”, said Myers.

Real World Testing’s donation comes one day after Emmylou and John Wischmeier donated $10,000 toward the purchase of a second K9.

If you would like to donate to this project, send an email to: sheriff@bartholomew.in.gov.

Schneck Medical Center announced it has been named one of the Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals in the United States by The Chartis Center for Rural Health.

Schneck was one of only a few hospitals in southern Indiana to be named. The others are: King’s Daughters’ Health in Madison, Major Hospital in Shelbyville and Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper.

“We are honored to have been recognized as a top performer among rural hospitals in the nation. This recognition reaffirms our commitment to providing excellent healthcare, while maintaining efficient and effective operations,” said Warren Forgey, President & CEO of Schneck. “It is the dedication and compassionate care of all our staff which has made this distinction possible.”

Hospitals recognized as a Top 100 facility scored in the top 100 among all rural and community hospitals nationally. Now in its ninth year, the INDEX leverages 50 rural-relevant indicators across eight pillars of hospital strength to determine an overall score for each hospital.

“In an era of increased complexity and uncertainty, Top 100 hospitals have established themselves as a bellwether for rural provider performance,” said Michael Topchik, National Leader of The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “Top 100 status is a real indicator of how proactive these hospitals are when it comes to pushing for performance improvement in areas such as quality, outcomes, patient safety, market share and finance.”

Legal Aid will be having a free clinic in Columbus Monday Feb. 25th.

You can get up to a 10 minute consultation with a pro bono attorney to answer legal questions, to offer information or to receive other, limited, advice. The sessions are available on a first-come first-serve basis and there is no need to register in advance.

The clinic will be from 3 to 5 p.m. on February 25th at the agency’s offices in the Doug Otto United Way Center, on 13th Street in Columbus.

Firefighters were on the scene of an early morning blaze at the Burger King restaurant in Taylorsville today.

Capt. Mike Wilson with the Columbus Fire Department says German Township firefighters were the first on the scene of the fire on U.S. 31.

Wilson said that worker noticed smoke and called in firefighters at 5:58 a.m. Those that arrived discovered flames inside the building.

The fire was extinguished with the assistance of other area fire departments, Wilson said. Damage was mostly to the kitchen area of the restaurant. No injuries were reported.

A Columbus police officer noticed the smell of burnt marijuana coming from a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation Sunday night, leading to an arrest on seven drug related charges.

The vehicle was pulled over at about 9:35 p.m. Sunday night in the 1500 block of Union Street. Officers reported finding cocaine in the vehicle during a search and a passenger was allegedly carrying narcotics along with a digital scale, several cell phones and a large amount of cash, according to police reports.

The passenger, 37-year-old Matthew G. Ratliff was arrested on preliminary charges of:

• Dealing Methamphetamine
• Dealing Heroin
• Dealing Cocaine
• Possession of Methamphetamine
• Possession of Heroin
• Possession of Cocaine
• Trafficking with an Inmate

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are looking at policy changes, in a variety of different areas. The school board heard a long list of proposals last night for issues ranging from sunscreen, to sex education and the inclusion of computer science classes at all grade levels.

The changes were mostly being made to comply with changes to state law, said Dr. Jim Roberts, the school superintendent. Those included changes such as allowing students to bring and to use sunscreen, which had previously been classified as a medicine requiring involvement of a school nurse. The state is also requiring schools to notify parents of upcoming human sexuality classes giving them a chance to review materials beforehand and also to opt their child out of the class.

The district would also be instituting computer science classes at all grade levels and reclassifying physical education classes as health classes, Roberts said.

The biggest discussion last night was around the security and search policies surrounding metal detectors. Although the district has no plans to install walk-through metal detectors, a policy would be put into place to regulate their use, as well as the hand-held metal detectors issued by the state last year. Those would require training and guidelines on when and how they would be used, and how students would be searched if necessary.

Jennings County deputies made two drug arrests after a traffic stop early this morning.

Deputies report that they pulled a car over on East Buckeye Street after a traffic infraction at about 2:15 a.m. this morning and became suspicious of possible drug activity.

Jennings County police dog Vampir was called in and a search revealed heroin and syringes in the vehicle.

37-year-old Crystal Hayden of North Vernon was arrested on preliminary charges of possession of narcotic and maintaining a common nuisance.

23-year-old Kayla Grim is being accused of possession of a syringe and maintaining a common nuisance.

The Fair Oaks Community Development Corporation Finance and Facilities committees held a joint meeting at the mall earlier this month. Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, explains that a third committee, called a Design Committee, has been formed. It has nine members and is chaired by Mark Levett, Columbus Parks Board president. This new committee is set to meet on Friday.

That body will be charged with coming up with a master plan on how to proceed with the property. City officials have long said that hopes for the site include an indoor sports complex and a CRH-run clinic of some kind.

Ferson says Friday’s meeting will largely be organizational. It is at 3:30 p.m. inside the mall. The meeting is open to the public.