You will see higher dumping fees at the Bartholomew County Landfill, starting after the first of the year.
Jessica Norcross, with the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District explains that the current rate of $27.50 per ton will increase to $30 per ton, an increase of $2.50 per ton.
That will go into effect on January 2nd.
Norcross said that dumping will remain free for loads that are less than 200 pounds. That is up to one load per day.
The Bartholomew County Landfill is on County Road 450S. It only accepts trash and recycling from Bartholomew County. If you have any questions, you can contact the Solid Waste Management District at 812-376-2614.
A pickup truck driver lost control and plowed into a home on Flintwood Drive Tuesday morning.
Columbus police say that 54-year-old Denise L. Bruton was driving east on Chapel Drive at about 11:30 Tuesday morning when she had a brake problem and couldn’t stop, she told police. The vehicle continued across Flintwood Drive into the home. There were residents inside, but no one was hurt.
Bruton was cited for Driving While Suspended with a Prior Conviction and Operating a Vehicle Without Insurance.
James Gholson. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.
A former Jennings County deputy has been arrested by Indiana State Police, accused of repeatedly making fake theft reports to rake in insurance payments.
35-year-old James C. Gholson of Elizabethtown was arrested today after a six-month investigation by the Indiana State Police Special Investigations Section. He served as deputy from February until the start of the investigation in June.
The investigation began after allegations were made against Gholson for allegedly defrauding insurance companies. Troopers say that Gholson owned an oxygen supply business and in February 2018 reported a theft of oxygen equipment from his home. He was reimbursed more than $187,000 by insurance companies for the claim.
In April of 2019, he again reported theft of oxygen equipment from his home and was reimbursed more that $66,000. Troopers say Gholson allegedly forged invoices showing he had purchased the equipment in the first place and created a false police report of the theft. At the time, he was a reserve deputy on the sheriff’s department.
In November of last year, Gholson again filed a false insurance claim, police say, this time claiming that he had a trailer with two mowers stolen from his home. A fake police report was again generated along with a false title for a trailer.
A warrant was issued for Gholson’s arrest Monday on charges of insurance fraud, official misconduct and forgery. He was arrested without incident today.
Entony Rodriguez. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department
Police arrested a bleeding man yesterday after he injured himself while allegedly breaking a window at a vacant Columbus business.
Columbus police report that they were called to the 200 block of North Gladstone Avenue at 7:30 a.m. Monday morning about a man breaking out the window. 24-year-old Entony Rodriguez of Columbus was found in a vehicle nearby. Police say that he was bleeding from a large cut on his back.
Rodriguez was also found to be wanted on three outstanding Bartholomew County warrants. After being treated at Columbus Regional Hospital, he was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail for the warrants.
Indiana health officials are reporting 142 new deaths from COVID-19 in Tuesday’s numbers from the Indiana State Department of Health.
That is a record number for a single day’s report, However those deaths date back from Oct. 27th to Monday. The high number is in part due to reporting delays over Thanksgiving.
The state also reported 5,518 new COVID-19 cases and a 7-day positivity rate of 11 percent.
Johnson County led area counties with four deaths from the disease reported. Jennings and Decatur counties each reported one new death.
Bartholomew County had 69 new cases to report, with a 7-day positivity rate of 10.7 percent. Decatur had 7 new cases, Jennings 17, Jackson 58, Brown 8, Johnson 134 and Shelby 45.
Bartholomew and all of its surrounding counties remain orange on the state’s color coded metric map, meaning serious spread of the disease.
Indiana will stay in a state of emergency until the end of the year. Governor Holcomb’s office announced yesterday that the public health emergency was being extended through at least December 31st. It was first issued on March 6th when the Hoosier state saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19. The order has since been extended nine times, leaving Indiana in a public health emergency for 270 days.
A record number of Hoosiers are in the hospital due to COVID-19. As of noon on Sunday, over 34-hundred patients were in Indiana hospitals with the virus. Of those, 968 were in the ICU. That is 17 more intensive care unit patients than the day before, and more than any other time during the pandemic.
Bartholomew County had 51 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to the Columbus and Bartholomew County COVID-19 Community Task Force. That is down slightly from the high of 55 that was hit on Nov. 22nd.
The Indiana State Department of Health announced 5,713 new cases yesterday and 38 more deaths from the disease. Those deaths happened between November 24th and 29th. The seven-day all-test positivity rate in Indiana is 10.8 percent.
Suzi Bruin, executive director of Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation. Photo courtesy of the foundation
The Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation is hoping to find 65 donors today to pledge $20 a month or $240 annually to help students and teachers, as part of its Giving Tuesday Stars Campaign.
The 65 Star donors are meant to symbolize the foundation’s 65th year, marking it as the longest existing school foundation in the state and one of the oldest in the nation according to Suzi Bruin, executive director of the foundation.
She explains the purpose of the Star donations.
Bruin explains that if you can’t afford $20 a month, or $240 a year, other options are available.
Bruin explains the work of the foundation:
You can make donations or get more information online at bcsfstars.org.
Bartholomew County is one of the most giving counties in the state, according to a recent study.
Financial technology company Smart Asset uses IRS data to look at which communities were the most generous. Specifically, they looked at the percentage of people in a county make charitable donations and at how much of their income they give to charity.
Bartholomew County ranked 10th in Indiana, according to the company. Just over 5 and a half percent of the county’s population had itemized charitable contributions and residents gave 1.21 percent of their income to charity. The study shows that Hamilton County saw more than 14 percent of its population making donations, giving it the top spot on the list. And Boone County gave 2.29 percent of its income to charity, putting it at second on the list.
On this Giving Tuesday, Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County is encouraging you to donate to the ongoing Love Where You Live campaign. Organizers hope to raise $150,000 that will be invested for the long-term benefit of the community.
Tracy Souza, Heritage Fund’s president and CEO, said the campaign not only celebrates the many ways that Bartholomew County is a special place but also helps ensure that those thing that make it special will continue long into the future.
Community members who make a donation to the campaign will receive a decal featuring the 2020 Love Where You Live logo design. It was created by Jenni Kiesler of Keywords Company who specializes in custom typography, and chalk art.
Donations can be made by mail to Heritage Fund at 538 Franklin St. in Columbus or online. You can get more information at heritagefundbc.org.
Bartholomew County is making plans for when the health department eventually receives the COVID-19 vaccine. The County Commissioners yesterday morning approved the purchase of a new, super-cold freezer for vaccine storage.
Amanda Organist with the health department said that the department is trying to prepare for when it receives the community’s COVID-19 vaccines, which are expected early next year. No actual timeline has yet been established on when the vaccines will start being available. As things stand, she said the department does not have a big enough freezer for all the doses needed for the community, nor one that will keep the vaccine cold enough. She said estimates are that the second wave of vaccines will need to be kept at 15 to 30 degrees below zero.
Commissioners approved the purchase of the freezer from Noblesville based Helmer Scientific for just over $14,000, the only bidder for the contract. The cost of the freezer is expected to be reimbursed from CARES Act funding, Organist said.
