The Bartholomew County Highway Department is reporting that construction is happening in the 3400 block of South County Road 150W until about May 15th.

You can expect the road to be blocked periodically. On Thursday, the road will be closed and flaggers will be on site to direct traffic.

You should pay attention or avoid this area if possible, officials say.

The United Way of Bartholomew County is looking for projects volunteers can do during the upcoming residential Day of Caring.

This full-day volunteer event connects local businesses and community members with projects in Bartholomew County to benefit residents in need.

That volunteer help could include things like mowing, landscaping, window washing or painting.

The Day of Caring event is coming up on May 1.

To submit a residential project, go to https://www.uwbarthco.org/home-owner-project-request.

Local drivers are going to have a challenging summer. INDOT is planning major road projects on most of the local highways tying up traffic on State Road 11, Interstate 65 and U.S. 31 simultaneously.

Plus a common shortcut along Carr Hill Road will be out until July for a bridge replacement project.

Natalie Garrett, spokeswoman with INDOT’s southeastern Indiana district explains the work that is going on for the railroad overpass into downtown Columbus.

“It will definitely be a busy summer in terms of roadwork in Bartholomew County and the Columbus area,” Garrett said. “Of course we have the State Roads 46 and 11 overpass project. Through the spring, traffic impact should be pretty minimal.

“However, in June State Road 11 will be closed for the month of June from State Road 46 to about a fourth of a mile south of State Road 46, just north of Garden City.”

The overpass should be taking drivers over the railroad tracks into downtown Columbus by the end of the year with some remaining work going on into next year such as landscaping and environmental work, Garrett said.

The Interstate 65 road widening project should also finish up this year between Seymour and Walesboro. That project will add a third travel lane in each direction of the highway.

Garrett explains that the Interstate 65 project  is coming out of its winter shutdown configuration this week.

“There was a little bit of work happening out there during the winter months,” Garrett said. “We did have a mild winter, which helped. Crews were able to work on some stuff out there.  Traffic impacts were pretty minimal other than the winter shutdown configuration.  Traffic shifts are planned for this week, at night, for work to resume. They will be shifting lanes to the outside of the work zone.”

The next phase of the project on I-65 — between Columbus and Walesboro — is due to go out for bids in October with work starting next year, she said.

While the bypass project into downtown and the Interstate 65 project are more high profile, Garrett said that work will resume soon on a paving and resurfacing project on U.S. 31.

“It is a about a five and a half mile stretch, from Washington Street on the west side of Columbus, up to Taylorsville,” Garrett said. “They did some patching last fall. They are planning to start milling in early April, followed by paving. So, in about a month or so they will get started on that resurface project.

“There will also be a turn lane added, on southbound U.S. 31 at County Road 400N. They could start on that, potentially as early as next week.”

Garrett suggested some ways to make your travel less stressful this summer.

“Plan your route ahead of time, use an alternate route if possible,”she said. “Use extra caution. Slow down, watch for active crews as well as changing work zone configurations. Work can progress very quickly, therefore sometimes the work zone has to be adjusted to accommodate that progress and the work that is being done.”

Garrett also suggest signing up to follow INDOT Southeast on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for updates on traffic and construction via e-mail and text alerts on the INDOT web site.

A relaunched downtown Columbus summer concert series will try to gain new fans with a new day of the week and new starting time.

The JCB Summer Concert Series was started by the Columbus Area Arts Council as Neighborfest on Thursday evenings, but is now being organized by the Fun on Fourth group and the Columbus Area Visitors Center.

Kurt Schwarze with the Fourth Street Bar and Fun on Fourth explains that the series will be held on the first Fridays of the month, May through September (except) for July and will kick off earlier in the afternoon than in years past. That comes on the heels of last year’s experiment with a later start time.

“Last year, we tried to go just a little later than normal,” Schwarze said. “In the past, it had always been 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Last year, if I remember correctly, we tried to go 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. That was due to some feedback that we got that people couldn’t get home and get back there in time.

“So, we tried that and we got more negative feedback than positive feedback on that.”

“We started getting some comments that instead of going later, if we actually went earlier (people) might still be downtown, getting out of work and hang out for a little bit after work,” Schwarze said. “So, that is kind of where we are headed this coming summer to give  that a try to see if that keeps some people to stay downtown and perhaps have some family members meet them down there after work and just hang out there in beautiful downtown Columbus.”

The shows this year will be from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. instead. The location will remain unchanged, in the 300 block of Washington Street in front of The Commons.

Schwarze  explains that JCB wanted to continue supporting the downtown events.

“They have been the sponsor of Neighborfest for a long time,” Schwarze said. “And with some changes to Neighborfest, they wanted to still be involved with events downtown. And they reached out to us and said ‘Hey, can we make this happen in another way? And we started working with the and the Columbus Area Visitors Center to move those to Friday nights and see if we could pump some life back into them.”

There will continue to be a beer garden for the show and there will be food provided by Savory Swine, he said.

Schwarze said the said the summer concert lineup will include some local favorites.

The concert series kicks off on May 1st with The Bigger is Better Band.

“The June one is Jackson Way, which is really a regional favorite that brings out a lot of people,” Schwarze said. “We had them each of the last two years for the Neighborfest and they brought out a lot of people.  We also have Flat Earth which is a regional favorite in August. And the Tiptonians, another regional favorite group which has been around  for a few years, in September.”

The Bartholomew County Council will be weighing tonight whether or not Sheriff Matt Myers should be earning time toward a pension while serving as sheriff.

The sheriff’s department merit board is bringing several suggested changes to the department’s benefit plans tonight including increasing death benefits for a deputy killed in the line of duty, and a lump sum retirement option for retirees.

But more controversial is a plan that would allow a deputy, including the sheriff, to accrue retirement time with only eight years of county service, instead of the eight years and one month now required. The extra month was added to the plan as a way to discourage outsiders from being interested in running for sheriff, as sheriffs can only serve for eight years under the Indiana constitution.

Other county office holders who are term limited, can begin accruing retirement after eight years, although they use a different retirement system than deputies.

The council meets at 6 p.m. Monday night in the Bartholomew County Governmental Office building on Third Street.

Local authorities have set up a website for a centralized spot to find information about the coronavirus and local resources. The page can be reached from the county website at bartholomew.in.gov.

Shannan Hinton, director of Bartholomew County’s emergency management department, said that the information will be updated as needed, should there be an outbreak in the county. The page includes both local and statewide information and is being compiled by the local coalition set up to deal with virus concerns including the county, city of Columbus, Columbus Regional Health, Cummins and Bartholomew Consolidated schools.

There are three confirmed case in Indiana, two in Hendricks County and one in Marion County. The governor has declared a Public Health Emergency.

Vice President Mike Pence is convening another another meeting of the White House coronavirus task force this afternoon. President Trump is expected to meet with his top economic advisers as fears about the growing coronavirus crisis are again roiling financial markets.

North Vernon police are reporting new details for an old scam. According to officers, a scammer tried to get money from a resident by claiming to be from the FBI. The call sounded legitimate including a case number and official phone number.

But according to the fake agent, the resident’s car had turned up at the Mexico-U.S. border covered in blood and containing two kilos of cocaine. Police say that the scammer began aggressively trying to gain the victim’s personal information include access to her bank account. The scammer also said she was not allowed to talk to local police about the issue.

Authorities are warning that scammers can be very convincing, including using internet technology to fake phone numbers or Caller ID so they appear legitimate. Some of the signs of a scam call are that they demand immediate payment over the phone, by store gift card or by pre-paid debit card. And they will frequently threaten to have you arrested.

IF you get such a call, you should hang up and contact authorities.

Columbus police found marijuana and cocaine during a Friday night traffic stop at 17th Street and Cottage Avenue.

Police report stopping a vehicle for a minor traffic violation just before midnight and smelling marijuana inside. The driver, 36-year-old Richard A. Simpson of Columbus, reportedly admitted to carrying marijuana in his pocket.

A search revealed more drugs and paraphernalia inside the vehicle and the passenger, 50-year-old Kellie S. Blann of Columbus, admitted that those were hers.

Simpson received a citation for possession of marijuana and was released. Blann was arrested on preliminary charges of possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Centerstone will be opening up a 12-bed substance abuse recovery home in Columbus this summer.

Jennifer Fillmore, director of grants and specialized services for Centerstone, explained that the not-for-profit mental health care provider has been greatly expanding its substance abuse efforts.

“It will be a 12-bed facility for men and this will be a home where men in recovery, really preferably from this community, can come and live in their community and work through their recovery issues, gain employment and really continue to be a part of the community with proper supports in place,” Fillmore said.

Courtney Pence, manager for residential substance abuse programs for Centerstone  says the facility will open June 1st. She talks about the services available at the new Columbus facility.

“We will be providing wrap-around services, on site,” she said. “So we will have a therapist, on site. We will be providing intensive out-patient services on site. We will have recovery coaches and a live-in monitor. We will have staff there 24 hours a day to ensure that the men living here have the full support they need o succeed in the community.”

She says there will be a screening process to determine who will be able to live at the home. The highest priority will be those coming out of the court recovery programs and the jail treatment program.

“The priorities would be high risk individuals mostly coming out of the problem-solving courts,” Pence said. “We are working very closely with the jail programs to make sure that these men have a shot at life. They have a shot to start over instead of go to prison. So we want to give those individuals an opportunity to really show that they can live a better life.”

The recovery home is opening on Whitney Court near the Columbus Municipal Airport. An open house for the new recovery home will be Friday, April 24th from 11 to 1.

The next Third House session, where you have a chance to talk directly with your legislators, is coming up Monday morning at Donner Center.

This year’s short legislative session is due to wrap up this week.

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the hour-long Third House sessions, which begins at 7:30. You can get more information at columbusareachamber.com.