INDOT is making plans to shut down State Road 11 at State Road 46 for a month this summer.

Columbus City Engineer Dave Hayward presented INDOT’s plan at this morning’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting. The agency says that it will shut down State Road 11 or Jonesville Road from June 1st through July 1st as they work on intersection improvements for the railroad overpass project.

The dates were set to work around the start of the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair and for when school is not in session, Hayward said.

The agency says that the official detour will take traffic out of town, via State Road 46 and Interstate 65. However, an unofficial detour will use County Road 200S, Terrace Lake Road and West Goeller Boulevard. While the state will install signs for the official detour, it leaves signage decisions on the unofficial detour up to the city, Hayward said.

INDOT also agrees to reimburse the city for damages caused during the unofficial detour. The board approved the unofficial detour arrangements with INDOT this morning.

A Sunday police chase that started in Decatur County ended up with an arrest in Columbus.

The Decatur County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that they were searching for a stolen vehicle in the western side of the county Sunday afternoon, when  a deputy spotted the vehicle near State Road 3 and County Road 500S. The driver, later identified as 28-year-old Clay Mason of Indianapolis, refused to pull over for police, instead crashing into the deputy’s vehicle.

Deputies and Greensburg police chased him into Columbus and stopped him with the assistance of Columbus police and Bartholomew County deputies. Mason is facing preliminary charges of aggravated battery according to the Decatur County Jail, but he is also potentially facing multiple felony charges in both Decatur and Bartholomew counties.

IUPUC is looking for some local homeowners who need help with yardwork and will provide volunteers free of charge.

IUPUC has scheduled its annual service project, The Big Event, for Saturday April 11th and is looking for residents who need the student’s help. Yard work could include projects such as raking, weeding or mulching.

The annual event is being organized by the Office of Student Involvement and the Student Government Activities board at IUPUC. The Big Event originated at Texas A&M University in 1982. This is the sixth year for the community project in Columbus.

The deadline to apply for assistance is March 23rd. You can apply online at www.iupuc.edu/events/thebigevent, or call (812) 375-7504 for more information.

Several local students qualified for the National History Day in Indiana state contest after their success at the south regional competition Saturday at Franklin College.

Mackenzie Jacks of Columbus East High School was selected for the senior category for her individual exhibit, The Famous Life of Mary Cassatt. Brown County High School students Chloee Robison and Mattie Satter were also selected in the senior category for their individual exhibits. Robison’s project was on the The Thalidomide Tragedy: Breaking Barriers in Politics and the Placenta, while Satter’s project was about Breaking Barriers for Women in Agriculture.

In the group exhibit category, Brown County Junior High School students Wesley Arndt and Kai Koester were chosen for their project on the Chinese Exclusion Act. And Brown County intermediate school student Kendra Earnshaw was chosen in the individual performance category for her work on Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed.

About 65 students took part in Saturday’s regional competition according to the Indiana Historical Society. The state competition will be April 25th in Indianapolis.

National History Day in Indiana is presented by the Rooker Family Foundation with support from the Vigran Family Foundation and TCU Foundation. State Contest support is provided by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.

A Columbus woman is facing drug related charges after a traffic stop early this morning by Bartholomew County deputies.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department deputies pulled over the vehicle at 12:53 a.m. this morning at 10th Street and Marr Road in Columbus. The driver, 38-year-old Allision Teipen, was found to have a suspended driver’s license and was wanted on outstanding warrants from Bartholomew and Johnson counties.

A police dog alerted to the smell of narcotics in the vehicle and a search revealed methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. She was arrested for possession of the drugs and paraphernalia as well as driving while suspended with a prior conviction and the outstanding warrants.

A Seymour theft was foiled after the suspects got their stolen rental truck stuck in the mud Friday.

Seymour police say that they were called to a truck sales business in the 1200 block of South Commerce Drive at about 11:47 a.m. Friday morning after suspects reportedly took more than 60 used vehicle batteries, but their U-Haul truck got stuck in the mud at the business. The two men then ran from the area, with one fleeing across both lanes of the Interstate.

Police arrested 39-year-old Jeremy Brooks of Indianapolis, and 35-year-old Glen R. Etheridge of Boggstown. A search of the truck revealed that the ignition was seriously damaged and the truck had been reported stolen out of Jacksonville, Florida.

They are facing two counts of theft each.

Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police assisted in the investigation.

One of the Columbus police officers arrested last month on charges including ghost employment, has now retired.

The Columbus Police Department reports that Dan Meister retired effective Sunday. Columbus Police Chief Michael Richardson was planning to ask the Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety this week to suspend Meister without pay.

Meister and officer Ron May were arrested in February on charges of official misconduct, ghost employment and theft. They are accused of working hours at Columbus Regional Hospital at the same time they were on duty at the Columbus Police Department.

The police department reports that Meister has been working in a non law-enforcement capacity in the police department since the start of the investigation in 2018.

Employers will have a chance to learn more about hiring workers who are recovering from substance abuse disorders at a session Tuesday at the Columbus Learning Center.

Doug Leonard, executive director for the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County,  explains the the Indiana Workforce Recovery session is aimed at employers and human resources staff interested in hiring those in recovery

Leonard said that the seminar will offer several views of programs that are working.

The seminar will include legal guidance from an employer’s perspective and discussion with local leaders on the treatment and recovery efforts An optional segment on administering Naloxone in an overdose emergency is also included.

Indiana Workforce Recovery was created two years ago by the state to prepare Hoosier employers to deal with public health crises that impact the Indiana workforce. The local visit is being organized by ASAP and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.

Tuesday’s session will be from 8:30 to 2:30 at the Columbus Learning Center. The event is free, but you are asked to register. You can find a registration link on the chamber’s website at columbusareachamber.com.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department merit board will be bringing three proposals to the County Council tonight, meant to aid retention of deputies.

Susan Thayer-Fye, president of the merit board explains that one of the proposals would raise payouts to family members, should there be a deputy’s death in the line of duty. They are currently set at $200 per month for a deputy’s spouse, and $30 a month for each dependent, underage child.

Thayer-Fye said the proposed change would raise the spouse benefit to $1,000 a month and the minor child benefit to $200 a month. The council will also be asked to approve a DROP program, which allows retirees to take a lump sum payment from their benefits.

More controversial will be a request to reduce the time needed for a deputy to qualify for partial retirement benefits. The current situation effectively penalizes a sheriff, like current Sheriff Matt Myers, who comes to the sheriff’s department from outside and will only have 8 years of service at the end of his second term. The county currently only pays out benefits to deputies who work at least eight years and a month.

Council members have been reluctant during previous discussions to make the change which would allow the sheriff to have earned retirement pay while serving as sheriff.

Thayer-Fye said that the change are all recruiting tools, meant to make the department look more attractive to new deputies or in retaining existing deputies.

The Council will hear and discuss the proposals during its work session tonight at the Governmental Office Building on Third Street in Columbus starting at 6 p.m. Any vote would have to come on Tuesday next week during the regular council meeting.

A driver who crashed into the speaker box in the drive through at a Columbus fast food restaurant last week is facing drunk driving and other charges.

Columbus police report that the incident happened at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday night at the restaurant in the 2000 block of National Road. 38-year-old Robert A. Wisely of Columbus allegedly crashed his SUV into the box and appeared to be under the influence when police arrived.

He failed several field sobriety tests and after having blood drawn at Columbus Regional Hospital he was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and possession of a syringe. He was also wanted on an outstanding Jennings County warrant.