Correction: Due to a reporting error, the county was incorrect in previous versions of the story.

A Norman woman was arrested in Jackson County early Sunday morning after she was found inside a resident’s dog kennel.

Jackson County deputies report that they were called to the 1300 block of North County Road 825W at about 2:39 a.m. Sunday morning about the unknown woman in the dog kennel in the home’s back yard.
The woman was allegedly belligerent with the resident and refusing to leave the property.

Deputies ordered the woman, 40-year-old Denise M. Konkle to get out of the kennel, but she refused and one of the deputies had to go in after her. During a struggle, Konkle allegedly tried to grab the deputy’s firearm. The deputy subdued her with a Taser and while she was being removed, she allegedly kicked another deputy.

Konkle was arrested on charges including attempting to disarm a police officer, battery on a police officer, resisting law enforcement, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

A 53-year-old Edinburgh man was killed in a crash between the SUV he was riding in and a semi on U.S. 31 Sunday evening.

Authorities says that Musa Rahmani was a passenger in the vehicle when the driver, 26-year-old Valon Rahmani of Edinburgh lost control and crossed the center line of the highway into the path of the semi. Musa Rahmani was ejected from the vehicle and died from blunt force trauma to the head and chest in the crash near Indianapolis Road at about 8:55 p.m. Sunday evening, says Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting.

Valon Rahmani was seriously injured in the crash. After being taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, he was flown to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for treatment. The driver of the semi was uninjured.

The crash is being investigated by the Columbus Police Department.

Nolting urged all drivers to be extra cautious in winter weather conditions.

A 10-year-old girl died Sunday afternoon in a Bartholomew County traffic crash.

Kayydence Mings of Columbus was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash at 4:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon on East 25th Street, west of County Road 650E, says County Coroner Clayton Nolting. Her cause of death was massive traumatic injuries.

Nolting says that she was the rear-seat passenger in the crash of a westbound SUV driven by her mother Katelyn Mings.

The single-vehicle crash is being investigated by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Activities in Columbus today will celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The African American Pastors Alliance, the Bartholomew County NAACP, and IUPUC are working together to host a presentation on King’s Life and Legacy starting at 7:30 a.m. this morning by Zoom and Facebook Live. Jon Sims, the athletic director at St. Peter’s Lutheran School will be the keynote speaker.

Homeboyz and the NAACP will sponsor a “grab and go” lunch at 1451 Washington Street from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. To participate you are asked to remain in your vehicle on 15th Street and volunteers will deliver your meal.

Starting at 1 p.m. this afternoon will be award presentations and speakers via Zoom call. That will include IUPUC Vice Chancellor Reinhold Hill giving the IUPUC Excellence in Diversity Awards. Kevin Jones, an IUPUC associate professor of management, will then give a keynote address.

The afternoon session will also feature a presentation on the COVID-19 vaccine in the black community and a panel discussion followed by the NAACP awards.

A silent march from the Bartholomew County Public Library to Columbus City Hall will start at 4 p.m. with a reading of King’s “I have a Dream” speech by Zacaria Scruggs.

For more information, including the full schedule of events, go to https://events.iu.edu/iupucwww/event/158514.

Martin Luther King Jr. photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov

A guitarist from Columbus is in custody in connection to the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6th.

The FBI Indianapolis office announced yesterday that Jon Ryan Schaffer, with the band Iced Earth, had turned himself in. According to the agency, Schaffer is facing six charges including engaging in an act of physical violence in the Capitol Building. They say he allegedly used bear spray against Capitol Police.

Music publications have been reporting that guitarist and songwriter was being looked for by authorities. He reportedly was shown on the FBI Most Wanted page wearing a cap that has the armed militia group Oath Keepers’ logo on it.

Bandmate Luke Appleton posted on Facebook saying that the band does not condone or support the riots and acts of violence. “We are deeply saddened and our hearts go out to the families of the lives lost that day.”

A Columbus man was arrested on drunk driving charges after testing at more than twice the legal alcohol limit early Thursday morning.

Columbus police say that they pulled a vehicle over near 11th and California streets at about 1:10 a.m. that morning after noticing it driving erratically. The driver, 22-year-old Korbin L. Lopotosky appeared to have bloodshot and glassy eyes and was slurring his words, according to police reports. A breath test revealed a blood alcohol level of .167 percent.

He was arrested on preliminary charges of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated-Previous Conviction and Operating a Vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .15% or greater.

Applications are open today for the Allied Health Scholarship and the Amanda M. Dick Honorary Scholarship through the Schneck Foundation.

The Allied Health Scholarship is for students interested in pursuing a course of study in a technical/professional allied health career such as speech, respiratory or physical therapists, pharmacy, lab or radiological technology.

The Amanda M. Dick Honorary Scholarship supports women pursuing a career in the medical field.

Applications must be completed and returned to the Foundation no later than March 15th to be eligible for consideration. You can apply online at www.schneckfoundation.org, www.schneckmed.org, or by contacting the Schneck Foundation at 812-524-4244.

Bartholomew and Decatur counties remain in the orange advisory level on the Indiana State Department of Health’s color-coded map of COVID-19 community spread, indicating serious spread of the disease. But they are surrounded by counties in the red.

Brown, Johnson, Shelby, Jennings and Jackson counties are all in the red, indicating severe spread of the disease.

Once a county crosses over into the red, it must maintain orange-level metrics for two consecutive weeks to be moved back to the less severe category.

In the figures released yesterday by the state, Bartholomew County showed 38 new cases of COVID-19, Shelby 30, Decatur 23, Jennings 15, Jackson 27, Brown 1 and Johnson County had 132 new cases. Johnson and Decatur county each had one new death from the disease, the only area counties to add fatalities.

Statewide there were 4,411 new positive cases of the disease reported yesterday, with 40 new deaths. Indiana has a 7-day positivity rate of 15.3 percent.