Two teenagers were arrested after allegedly communicating a threat against a school in Jennings County. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, spokesman for the North Vernon Police Department, says that the incident began on Wednesday evening when Detective Ivory Sandefur was made aware of a phone message left on a student’s phone reporting a threat to St Mary’s Elementary School. The investigation revealed two juveniles, one of them a former St. Mary’s student, was involved with the threat to blow the school up.

Richmond says that extra officers were assigned to the school during the investigation in order to provide additional security. On Friday afternoon, Sandefur was able to obtain a detention order for both suspects, a 15-year-old male and a 14-year-old male. Both were arrested and are being held at Bartholomew County Juvenile detention center, each on a preliminary charge of Intimidation, a level 6 felony.

Two North Vernon residents were arrested on drug charges after a Thursday traffic stop. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, spokesman for the North Vernon Police Department, says the incident began when officers responded to a report of a possibly intoxicated driver headed towards North Vernon from the Butlerville area. Richmond says the caller was able to give central dispatch a description of the car, as well as the license plate number. Officer Wes Thayer reported seeing the car speed in a construction zone after turning onto State Road 750 from Highway 50.

Officer Thayer initiated a traffic and suspected the occupants were involved with drug activity. Sgt. Allen Ritchie of the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department respond with his K9, Vampir. The K9 was reportedly alerted to the odor of drugs inside the vehicle. Officers at the scene searched the vehicle and detained the driver, 37-year-old Storme Schachel and the passenger, 42-year-old Richard Simone. Information had been shared that the occupants might be hiding drugs on their persons, so they were both detained and a search warrant was obtained. The search warrant allowed for officer to both strip search and search body cavities. During the service of the warrant at a medical facility, police say that approximately 12 grams of suspected heroin was recovered and seized from Schachel.

Schachel was arrested on preliminary charges of Dealing in a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Controlled Substance and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. Simone is facing preliminary charges of Maintaining a Common Nuisance and Possession of a Controlled Substance.

A Columbus teen was arrested after a Thursday night incident where the pickup truck he was driving crashed into four vehicles. Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, says that at approximately 8 p.m., Deputy Corey Lehman was dispatched to a crash at the intersection of North Marr Road and East County Road 550 North. Opon arrival, Deputy Lehman reported finding 19-year-old Hayden Zapfe sitting behind the wheel of a pickup truck. Jackson says the investigation indicated that Zapfe was driving southbound on North Marr Road when he ran off the roadway and collided with four other vehicles that were parked at a business near the intersection.

Authorities say that Zapfe was found to be in possession of marijuana and displayed signs of impairment. He was also allegedly driving without a license. Zapfe was arrested on preliminary charges of Operating a Motor Vehicle while Intoxicated and Possession of Marijuana.

He has since been released on bond.

Teams of students from area high schools will converge on Purdue Polytechnic Columbus on Friday, April 6, 2018 as they complete engineering challenges to win the 2018 Boiler Tech Challenge. This annual event is sponsored by Purdue Polytechnic Columbus in an effort to encourage STEM education and an interest in engineering technology study among area high school students.

School officials say the theme for the 2018 Boiler Tech Challenge is “Purdue Polytechnic ENGINEERS Infinity War.” High school teams will be tasked with completing challenges under the following categories:

• Traverse It
• Save It
• Shield It
• Balance It
• Free It

Details of the challenges will not be released until the day of the challenge, allowing a level playing field for all teams.

High school teams confirmed for participation in the 2018 Boiler Tech Challenge are:

• Brown County High School
• Columbus East High School
• Columbus North High School
• Columbus Signature Academy
• Jennings County High School
• North Decatur High School
• South Dearborn High School
• South Decatur High School

The team earning the most combined points over the course of the day will win the Purdue Polytechnic Columbus Boilermaker Train Trophy.

For more information on the Boiler Tech Challenge, visit Purdue Polytechnic Columbus, visit purdue.edu/columbus.

An 86-year-old Columbus woman died after being hit by a car on Flintwood Drive. Our news gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that June E. Markham was in the road when she was struck Monday night by a vehicle driven by 70-year-old Martha A. Powell, of Columbus.

Police said Powell was driving northbound on Flintwood when the accident occurred. The paper says that Powell did not see Markham in the road prior to the collision. Markham was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting said the cause has been ruled accidental and that Markham died of blunt force trauma to the chest.

For more on this story, visit therepublic.com.

Columbus police arrested a local man on trespassing and drug charges after he was seen inside a store early Thursday morning.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 3:45 a.m., officers responded to the east side Walmart in regards to a person trespassing inside the store. When police arrived, they found 40-year-old Travis L. Salsman, of Columbus, who police say had previously been cited for trespassing there. After Salsman was taken into custody, officers allegedly found methamphetamine and hash oil in his clothing.

Salsman was booked in the Bartholomew County Jail on preliminary charges of Trespassing, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Hash Oil.

Drivers in Bartholomew County can expect better conditions on county roads by the end of the year, especially when compared to 2017.

Danny Hollander, county highway engineer, told county council earlier this week that he expects bids for repaving to go out in about six weeks. The plan, he says, is to take care of 40 miles of county roads. Hollander says that is nearly double the amount done last year. He says that 10 of those miles were scheduled to be done in 2017, while the rest is being paid for out of funds already appropriated for 2018.

Currently, Hollander says that highway garage staff are driving and rating county roads to determine which ones are most in need of work. He says that is expected to take another couple of weeks.

An area man who was caught on video throwing chairs in a courtroom last year will likely face new charges after a Wednesday afternoon tantrum involving courthouse furniture.

Our news-gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that 21-year-old Jordan Rhodes was being sentenced by Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge Jim Worton on three felony counts of Battery with Bodily Injury to a Public Safety Officer. The paper reports that Rhoades had agreed to a plea bargain that limited the sentence for the three felonies to not exceed six years. After hearing the sentence, Rhodes reportedly flipped over the defense table before being subdued by officers.

The sentence stems from an incident last September inside the jail last year when Rhoades was accused of taking metal rods from a cell door and throwing them at three county jail deputies. Authorities say the attacks happened after other inmates flooded parts of the jail.

Rhodes was already serving time in prison for a February 2017 incident where he was caught on video hurling chairs in the direction of Judge Kathleen Tighe Coriden and Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Fisk during a hearing in Bartholomew Superior Court 2.

For more on this story, go to therepublic.com.

Artwork by three Brown County artists will soon be on display at the Statehouse.

State Rep. Chris May, a Bedford Republican, says that Patricia Rhoden Bartels, Jessica Bussert and Sharon Bussert, all of Nashville, were selected to have their artwork decorate the Statehouse as part of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s Hoosier Women Artists 2018 initiative. The initiative is an annual contest recognizing the importance of the arts by showcasing drawings, paintings and photography.

“We have some of the most talented Indiana artists living in our community,” May said. “I would like to congratulate Sharon, Patricia and Jessica on being recognized by the lieutenant governor. These are amazing pieces of art that will be shared with those visiting the Statehouse for the next year.”

May says that Bartels’ work, titled “Grandma’s Garden,” will be displayed in the office of Treasurer of State Kelly Mitchell. Jessica Bussert’s work, titled “Fog House,” will be displayed in Lt. Governor Crouch’s office, as will Sharon Bussert’s piece, titled “Waterfall at Strahl Lake.”

Rep. May says that these artists, and others, were honored at a Statehouse ceremony on Wednesday, which recognized the talents of women throughout Indiana.

Authorities have finally released details on a pair of crashes related to a Monday afternoon funeral procession.

Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, says that at approximately 2:44 p.m., Sgt. T.A. Smith responded to a crash at US 31 north of County Road 100 South. Deputy Andrew Densford, who was escorting a funeral procession of about 35 vehicles, reported seeing a car fail to observe a semi that was slowing for the procession. That vehicle struck the semitrailer and crossed the southbound lane of US 31. Authorities say the driver of the car sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Columbus Regional Health. The driver of the semi was not injured.

Jackson says that Densford stayed to investigate the accident while Sgt. Smith took the lead in the funeral escort. After stopping traffic at US 31 and State Road 46, Smith continued to the intersection of US 31 and State Road 7. When traffic was stopped in all directions, the procession continued. Just prior to approaching the roundabout at US 31 and County Road 400 South, Sergeant Smith heard the dispatch of another crash – at the intersection of US 31 and State Road 7.

Witnesses stated that while the funeral procession was going through the intersection, a pickup truck failed to stop. A family member says that the pickup struck the driver’s side of a vehicle carrying two women, one of them the sister of the deceased. The driver was flown to an Indianapolis hospital via Lifeline. The sister of the deceased was taken to an Indianapolis hospital by ambulance. The family member says that both women suffered serious injuries, but are expected to survive.