The Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund is announcing that it has secured funding for a new permanent home at the airport.

They say community grants are making the move possible.

Firefighters have been planning for the facility for several years. It will be built beside the fire department’s new training facility on Verhulst Street.

For the past seven years, the Cheer Fund has operated out of the basement of the United Way building on 13th Street and previously was hosted at several sites around the community. The new permanent headquarters will be the site for collecting, sorting, packing, and distributing of toys for kids at Christmas time.

The Cheer Fund is Bartholomew County’s longest operating charity. Organizers announced the new home on Saturday.

Organizers praised the efforts of the current city administration, the Columbus Fire Department, Columbus Municipal Airport, Columbus City Garage and the city’s  Department of Public Works on making the move possible.

A Bartholomew County Jail inmate is facing charges after allegedly trying to hide contraband. On Friday, the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team and Bartholomew County Jail Officers suspected that 34-year-old Joanna Gearhart, of Columbus, was using a body cavity to conceal illegal narcotics while incarcerated.

A search warrant was obtained for Gearhart’s person. Investigators reported finding multiple narcotic related items including Methamphetamine, Suboxone and Marijuana.

Gearhart is facing new preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Trafficking with an Inmate.

This is the latest in the jail’s efforts to fight drugs and other contraband entering the jail. Officers received a tip days before that another inmate was going to try to smuggle drugs into the jail after she was sentenced. Authorities obtained a search warrant and she was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for a search. That search revealed the inmate had hidden two and a half grams of heroin, Suboxone pills, two other, unidentified pills and two unopened packs of cigarettes.

On Thursday, jail staff searched all of the cells in the county jail. That ended with the discovery of a small amount of methamphetamine. That case remains under investigation.

“We are serious about stopping the flow of drugs comings into the jail,” Chief Deputy Chris Lane said. “The Joint Narcotics Team along with Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office detectives continue to receive intelligence on a daily basis regarding illegal activity in our jail, and we will continue to address this problem until it ends.”

Drivers from the Indiana Department of Transportation pre-treated roads Thursday and Friday in preparation for 2 to 3 inches of snow across the region on Sunday morning.

By 6 a.m.Sunday, INDOT says there will be a full call out with more than 160 drivers treating and plowing routes as needed across southeast Indiana. INDOT crews will remain active until conditions improve and will continue to treat routes after the snow has stopped to prevent refreezing of melted snow as temperatures are expected to drop significantly Sunday night into Monday morning.

You are asked to avoid unnecessary travel. If you must be on the roads during winter weather, remember to slow down, expect delays and be on alert.

Jennings County authorities have located an escaped inmate after nearly 24-hours. Authorities say that 41-year-old Kim Lynn Patton was able to remove his restraints and escape the Jennings County Courthouse in Vernon on Friday. The Sheriff’s Department announced Saturday afternoon that he had been captured by Sgt. Mike Mowery and Deputy Kyle Lee after acting on a tip from a concerned citizen.

Patton will be facing additional charges for the escape. Authorities say they will also charge any accomplices that might have helped Patton. Deputies from the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Jennings County EMA and Indiana Conservation Officers were involved in the search.

Jennings County Dispatch is looking for an escaped inmate. Authorities say that 41-year-old Kimlynn Patton was able to remove his restraints and escape the Jennings County Courthouse in Vernon.

Patton is a white male standing 5’9″ tall and weighing 160 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and was wearing a black and white jail outfit.

Authorities say Patton could be dangerous. If you are in the Vernon area and see anything suspicious, call 911. If you live in Vernon and a stranger knocks on your door, dispatch urges you to not open the door. Call 911 first.

We’ll have more details as they become available.

Correction: Due to a source error, the charges listed in earlier versions of this story were incorrect. 

Hope police arrested four people on drug charges after a traffic stop this week.

Hope Town Marshal Matt Tallent says an officer noticed a car fail to stop for a stop sign at Jackson and Harrison Streets on Tuesday night. When police pulled the car over a few blocks away, the smell of marijuana was allegedly coming from inside the vehicle. The department’s police dog, Duke, was brought to the scene and alerted to the odor of drugs inside the driver’s side door.

A search revealed several bags of marijuana, three burnt marijuana cigarettes, a digital scale and small plastic bags for packaging.

As officers searched the passengers, one of them, 27-year-old Charles A. Freeman, of Columbus, tried to run away and was caught at a Jackson Street home shortly afterwards according to officers. He was wanted on a Bartholomew County warrant.

Freeman, 34-year-old Randall Bland Jr. of Seymour, 20-year-old Daniel A. Lunsford of Columbus, and 18-year-old Jamal L. Marshall of Nashville were all arrested on charges of possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Freeman is facing further charges of resisting law enforcement and false informing.

Cummins is touting the reasons central Indiana is the home for electric powered truck innovation.

The company recently released a video calling Columbus the Silicon Valley of electric trucks. It starts with two workers in a shipping yard.

An accompanying article praises the city’s people, technology, location, service and culture. You can find the article here.

A Columbus woman is being accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the Bartholomew County Jail in a body cavity.

The sheriff’s department says that 34-year-old Kristen Hunter had been sentenced to 30 days in jail for possession of a controlled substance. But she is now facing new charges of possession of a controlled substance and heroin, along with trafficking with an inmate.

Officers received a tip that Hunter was going to try to smuggle drugs into the jail after she was sentenced. Authorities obtained a search warrant and she was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for a search. That search revealed she had hidden two and a half grams of heroin, suboxone pills, two other, unidentified pills and two unopened packs of cigarettes.

Sheriff Matt Myers says that drug smuggling into jails remains a problem across the country. Bartholomew County jail officers search anything coming into the jail, including every scrap of paper. In the case of someone trying to smuggle items in through a body cavity, the only way to find that is from intelligence, tips or a body scanner.

Myers said that he, the Bartholomew County Commissioners and the County Council are working towards purchasing a body scanner for the jail and figuring out how that might be funded.

The sheriff’s department jail staff searched all of the cells in the jail yesterday and found a small amount of methamphetamine. That case remains under investigation.