Overdue fines at the Bartholomew County Public Library will become a thing of the past, starting on June 15th. At their May 14 meeting, the Bartholomew County Public Library Board adopted a new circulation policy that states in part, “BCPL recognizes that overdue fines are a barrier to users in our community. In an effort to reduce that barrier, we do not assess overdue fines for items that are late.”

”While overdue fines were always meant to be an incentive to encourage patrons to bring their books back, the research indicates that they simply do not. Instead, fines just serve to deter people from returning items for fear of retribution or they lack the ability to pay,” explains Jason Hatton, Library Director.

Library officials say that overdue notices will still be sent via email or US Mail. Lost and damaged items remain the responsibility of the library user. Patrons will not be able to checkout new items if they have any lost items on their account. Items will automatically get set to lost 21 days after they are due. The library will still use the service of a collection agency when an item is 45 days overdue. When an account is submitted to collections, the library will add a $10 fee.

Columbus Regional Health has announced that VIMCare Clinic received an award from Anthem, Inc. for making the most patient referrals to the Indiana Tobacco Quitline in the first quarter of 2018.

The Indiana Tobacco Quitline is a free phone-based counseling service that helps Indiana smokers quit and provides support and resources for family and friends who want to help others quit smoking. Quitline can be reached at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669).

Anthem, Inc. recognizes provider partners who work to actively help their patient population locate the resources to help them quit tobacco dependence and remain successful. In the first quarter of 2018, VIMCare Clinic made nearly 70 referrals to the Quitline.

The Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corporation has extended a boil water advisory for a number of there customers. These areas include:

County Road 550 West – from CR 300S to CR 450S, including Deaver Roadand Baldwin Addition;
County Road 275 South;
Arian Trail;
Crossing Lane;
Sommerset Meadows;
State Road 58 to CR 525S
County Road 400 West – from CR 250S to CR 550S.

This advisory is now in effect through 4 p.m. Friday.

A Brown County man is facing child pornography charges after a Tuesday arrest. Sgt. Curt Durnil with the Indiana State Police say that members of the ISP Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, Cyber Crimes Unit and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at a home in rural Brown County. He explains that the search warrant was executed following the initiation of an investigation into possession of child pornography video files.

Authorities arrested 28-year-old Patrick J. Becraft, of 5722 West State Road 46, on 10 counts of Child Exploitation (Level 5 Felony) and 10 counts of Possession of Child Pornography (Level 6 felony).

Columbus police officers made an arrest Wednesday morning of a suspect they believe is tied to a rash of fraudulent ATM withdraws. Lt. Matt Harris, department spokesman, says that shortly before 7 a.m., officers responded to an ATM in the 3500 block of West Jonathan Moore Pike. A witness reported seeing a man at the ATM for several minutes and contacted police dispatch after becoming suspicious.

When officers arrived, the suspect, 23-year-old Claudiu C. Mihai, of Yonkers, NY, allegedly fled on foot. Police gave chase and caught Mihai a short time later. The officers reported recovering over $1,100 in cash from Mihai, along with several gift cards that appeared to have been reprogrammed into debit cards utilizing the victims’ bank account information.

This arrest comes after CPD received numerous complaints about fraudulent withdraws from their bank accounts. Authorities suspect that a card skimming device was used to replicate their cards. Detectives are urging you to check your bank accounts for fraudulent activity. If you suspect fraudulent charges or withdraws, contact your financial institution immediately.

Mihai was arrested on a preliminary charge of Resisting Law Enforcement. He remains behind bars on a 48-hour hold as detectives continue their investigation. Harris says that additional charges are likely.

A pair of area high school students were among those announced as the winners of the 2018 Governor’s STEM Team awards. STEM covers: science, technology, engineering and math. Four students, one from each of the four STEM subject areas, were honored in a ceremony Tuesday in the Governor Eric Holcomb’s office.

Abraham Oliver, a senior at Brown County High School, was named the Technology winner. The Governor’s Office says that Oliver has plans to attend Stanford University in the fall to study computer science and math.

Trevor Vogel, a senior at Jennings County High School, was named the Math winner. Trevor plans to attend Indiana State University to study Mathematics.

The Science winner was John Dalloul of Terre Haute South Vigo High School. Megan Singer of Carmel High School was named the Engineering winner.

Each winner received a $1,000 college scholarship through Indiana’s CollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan and letterman jackets identifying them as members of the Governor’s STEM Team.

The Envision Columbus group will be holding a public session Wednesday night. Tracy Souza is with the Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. She explains that Envision Columbus is a public-private partnership aimed at improving and developing downtown Columbus.

Souza says that this will be the second of three public meetings. The first was about gathering input on all sorts of proposals. Thus far, she says that community involvement has been excellent.

As for Wednesday night…

Those projects are expected to include an urban grocer, retail reinvigorization strategies, hotel and conference center, housing and the Crump theater.

Wednesday night’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at city hall and you are invited. You can get more information online at envisioncolumbus.org.

A Disaster Recovery Center is open through Thursday in Madison to help Indiana flood survivors. The DRC hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during these days.

Disaster Recovery Centers offer in-person support to individuals and business owners. Recovery specialists from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the State of Indiana are available to provide assistance to anyone filling out their applications or updating their status. Voluntary organizations are available and offer a variety of services to help survivors recover.

The DRC is inside the Brown Memorial Gymnasium at 100 Broadway Street in Madison. For more information on Indiana’s recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4363.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office and Developmental Services, Inc. have partnered to offer Disability Friendly Day at the 2018 Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Youth Academy. “We want all Bartholomew County kids to be able to experience our Sheriff’s Youth Academy,” said Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew A. Myers.

Myers says that Monday, June 4th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is “Disability Friendly” Day at the Sheriff’s Youth Academy. Special needs youth, ages 7-14, are invited to attend.

You can register online at: http://bit.ly/2smKLFG.

Two people were arrested on several charges during a traffic stop Monday afternoon. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 1 p.m., Officer Ivan Shultz stopped a vehicle in the 1800 block of Hawcreek Avenue for a minor violation. Shultz spoke with the driver, 51-year-old William K. Long, of Columbus, and determined that he had a warrant for his arrest. Officers also spoke Long’s passenger, 40-year-old Christina S. Greathouse, of Columbus, and determined that she had two local warrants for her arrest.

While searching Greathouse, officers allegedly located drug paraphernalia containing methamphetamine in one of her pants pockets. Police say that a search of Greathouse’s purse yielded additional narcotics and drug paraphernalia. The officers also reported finding a pack of cigarettes containing marijuana where Greathouse was seated in the car.

Along with the outstanding warrants, Greathouse is facing additional preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.