The Seymour Chamber of Commerce 89th Annual Award Dinner has been announced. It will be held March 5th at Pewter Hall.

Highlights of the evening include a Year-in-Review and a Look-Ahead for the Chamber, and presentation of Community Awards. Community awards include the Rising Star Award, Small Business of the Year Award, Teacher of the Year Awards, Corporate Citizen Award and Citizenship Award.

Award Nominations for the Rising Star, Small Business of the Year, Corporate Citizen and Citizenship Awards are being accepted through Feb. 3. Nomination forms are available at the Seymour Chamber of Commerce office and online at seymourchamber.com. Award winners will be announced prior to the dinner.

Reservations to attend the event may be made by visiting seymourchamber.com, by email at info@seymourchamber.com or by phone at (812) 522-3681. Reservations are $45 per person. The Annual Dinner will begin with social hour at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will begin at 6:15 p.m. with the program and award presentations immediately to follow.

An inmate at the Bartholomew County Jail is in more trouble following a fight Wednesday night.

At about 6:30 p.m., authorities say that inmate Ezequiel J. Gomez became very agitated and aggressive when staff asked him to move to another cell. As officers explained why this was being done, a fight ensued and, at one point, Gomez was able to take possession of a Taser.

The struggle continued for several minutes until other officers arrived and Gomez was taken into custody. Photos show Gomez in possession of the Taser and show that Gomez appears to be grabbing at an empty gun holster.

Gomez was being held locally on a Kentucky warrant for Violation of Probation on original charges of Receiving Stolen Property and Resisting Law Enforcement. He was not injured and has been transferred to another facility.

Correction’s staff are currently completing reports that will be sent to the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office for possible charges.

Jail Commander Major John Martoccia commended his staff for their professionalism during the altercation. One officer received minor injuries. He was checked out by medical professionals and released.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew A. Myers says he is very concerned by the pictures, especially where it appears that Gomez is reaching for an empty holster. “This is one of the reasons that we do not allow firearms in the jail,” said Myers.

Sheriff Myers also commended jail staff for their professionalism during this incident. “These jobs are hard and our CO’s are certainly ‘unsung heroes’ who don’t get the appreciation they deserve,” added Sheriff Myers.

A North Vernon was killed in a single-vehicle crash Wednesday in Jennings County.

Shortly after 3 p.m., a single vehicle crash on State Road 7 near County Road 750 North in northern Jennings County claimed the life of a North Vernon, Indiana man.

The initial investigation by Indiana State Police indicated a pickup truck driven by 58-year-old Mark A. Holt was traveling northbound on State Road 7 near County Road 750 North near Scipio. The truck left the east side of the road before overcorrecting and overturning. After the pickup overturned, it caught fire. Holt sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing.

A Bartholomew Consolidated Schools employee was arrested Wednesday night at Mount Healthy Elementary.

Shortly before 6 p.m., Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the school, at 12150 S. State Rd. 58, in reference to public intoxication.

During the investigation, deputies spoke with the original complainant who stated an i-CARE worker at Mount Healthy had allegedly been verbally aggressive toward her 12-year-old child who attends the school. When the parent confronted the woman, she immediately noticed the school employee was intoxicated. The parent then called 911.

The employee, 35-year-old Tiffany Cooksey of Bartholomew County, was allegedly verbally aggressive towards deputies. As they were preparing to transport Cooksey to Columbus Regional Hospital, Sheriff’s Captain Dave Steinkoenig located a vehicle in the school parking lot that had Cooksey’s two step daughters, ages 7 and 10, inside. It is not clear how long the children had been left inside the vehicle unattended. The vehicle did belong to Cooksey and was not running when deputies noticed the children inside it. The children were picked up by a family member and Child Protective Services will be made aware of the incident. Prior to Cooksey’s arrest, deputies located an empty bottle of vodka with her belongings.

Cooksey was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for jail clearance before she was booked on preliminary charges of Public Intoxication and Child Neglect.

Cooksey remains behind bars on $11,000 bond.

Cummins Inc. has plans to repurchase $2 billion in stock. The Board of Directors on Tuesday authorized the company to repurchase the shares of common stock upon completion of its 2018 $2 billion share repurchase program.

Tom Linebarger, Cummins Chairman and CEO, says the repurchase program reinforces the company’s commitment to delivering strong returns to shareholders and reflects our confidence in Cummins’ long-term performance.

The Smithsonian Institute is coming to North Vernon. The Smithsonian’s “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” exhibit will be on display for six-weeks at the Jennings County Historical Society, located at 50 Short Street, beginning Thursday, Dec. 12.

The display offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths to highlight the changes that affected them over the past century. The exhibition is meant to prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the effects on society that followed. Chris Asher, an organizer, explains that this display will be focused on the changes to rural communities in and around Jennings County over the past 100 years. She stresses that each community is different, noting that what happened to rural communities in other parts of the country can be very different from what happened locally.

Asher says that a ribbon-cutting for the display will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Stellar Building, at 22 N. Madison Street. At 6 p.m., a concert by the Woodshop Boys will take place at the Park Theatre Civic Centre. At 7 p.m., a showing of the 1956 Hollywood movie “Friendly Persuasion,” will begin. Parts of that movie were filmed in Jennings County.

The Smithsonian exhibit will be on display through Jan. 26.

Two Hauser High School seniors have been chosen as this year’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipients, Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County has announced this morning.

The scholarship winners are Elijah Heslop and Shelby Fugate.

Heslop is the son of Brian Heslop and Amy Wiley. He is active in the FFA, Turning Point Dance Marathon, Students Exploring Agricultural Education, Student Council, student ambassadors, the Academic Team, World Food Prize, Science Olympian and a volunteer with Exhibit Columbus. Heslop plans to study political science and psychology.

Fugate is the granddaughter of Merri Fox. She has been a team captain in volleyball, softball and basketball, a member of the National Honor Society and served as school photo editor. She is also active in Feed My Starving Children, FFA, Sunshine Society and the Flat Rock-Hawcreek Area Endowment board as student representative. She plans to pursue a degree in finance and accounting.

The scholarship provides full tuition for four years to an Indiana college and a $900 annual stipend for books and equipment. Students must enroll in an accredited public or private nonprofit college or university in Indiana in a program that leads to a bachelor’s degree.

65 students applied for this year’s scholarships and 10 were chosen for final interviews.

The scholarship program is sponsored by Lilly Endowment, administered statewide by Independent Colleges of Indiana Inc., and locally by Heritage Fund. It is in its 23rd year.

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Team continues to take on drug dealers in Jennings County. Officers made five arrests in two days.

On Monday, Dec. 09, Paul Kirk, a 42-year-old inmate at the Jennings County Jail, was arrested for attempting to traffic drugs into the jail. Chief Deputy David Turner says Kirk was recently returning to jail from working on a work crew when the drugs were discovered by jail staff. Kirk was originally being held on a Jennings County Warrant for non-support of a dependent.

Kirk, a Seymour resident, is facing new charges of Trafficking, Dealing and Possession of a Schedule III Controlled Substance. Kirk remains behind bars on a $4,155 bond.

Also on Monday, members of the Jennings County Narcotics Team was conducting surveillance on South State Street when deputies observed a hand-to-hand drug transaction take place in the parking area of a local business. Deputies arrested 31-year-old Josh Phelps and 26-year-old Christina Ross, both of North Vernon, for Dealing a Controlled Substance. Both are being held on $2,605 bond.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, two other individuals were arrested on drug-related warrants. Both men were in jail on unrelated charges. Turner says the arrest warrants stem from a lengthy investigation where law enforcement oversaw the purchase of illegal drugs from the individuals they later arrested.

Police say that 24-year-old Brayton Eder, of North Vernon was served his arrest warrant for two counts of Dealing Methamphetamine and two counts of Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine. Eder is being held in the Jennings County Jail without bond.

Another North Vernon resident, 23-year-old Larry R Evans, who was being held in the Bartholomew County Jail, was served his arrest warrant on three counts of Dealing Methamphetamine and three counts of Possession of Methamphetamine. Evans is currently being held in the Bartholomew County Jail and will be transported to the Jennings County Jail upon the completion of his sentence in Bartholomew County. Evans’ bond has been set at $200,000.

The Columbus Fire Department is about ready for deliveries to be made from their Cheer Fund toy drive.

Ben Noblitt is an organizer with CFD. If you would like to help make deliveries, he invites you to come to the Fair Oaks Mall early Saturday morning.

Noblitt says the community has been generous with donations of money and time.

Fire department officials say that around 1,100 children will be helped by the Cheer Fund this year.

If you would like to help deliver to a child in need, be at the parking lot of the former JC Penny store at the Fair Oaks Mall before 8 a.m. Saturday.