Columbus City Utilities continue its work on getting to the bottom of a recent report about its water supply. Keith Reeves is the director of the utility.

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Reeves says that Dioxane is a very common substance found in a wide variety of household products.

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Reeves notes that the Columbus sample was from four years ago.

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Reeves stresses that Columbus’ water supply is not in violation of any environmental rules, as Dioxane is not a regulated contaminant. He adds that testing on the city’s water supply will commence shortly to see if the issue remains. That testing is expected to take about a week. If an issue is found, Reeves says that the utility will take necessary steps to address the issue.

The White River Broadcasting family of stations raised $3,270 for victims of Hurricane Harvey during our “Help for Harvey Radiothon” on Thursday.

Listeners of 101.5 WKKG, 106.1 The River and WIN 104.9 contributed cash, as well as their song requests, to help make a difference for those in need. Our morning teams worked the entire 12-hour shift in conjunction with this fundraising effort.

White River Broadcasting will be presenting the contribution to representatives of the American Red Cross next week.

All of us here at White River Broadcasting thank you for your help and support.

A North Vernon man has been arrested for attempted murder in connection with an incident in July that left a 40-year-old Seymour man with life-threatening injuries. Our news-gathering partners at “The Republic” are reporting that 32-year-old Gary Eugene Thomas was arrested Tuesday by Seymour police at the Jennings County Jail, where he was being held on a state parole violation.

According to the report, Thomas’ arrest stems from a July 20 stabbing in the 400 block of North Jackson Park Drive. The victim suffered numerous stab wounds and had to be flown to an Indianapolis hospital.

Along with the attempted murder charge, the paper says that Thomas is facing charges of Aggravated Battery Posing a Substantial Risk of Death and Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon.

For more on this story, visit TheRepublic.com.

Columbus City Utilities are investigating why there is an increased level of Dioxane in water distributed to the city, as well as customers of Southwest Bartholomew Water Corp. Keith Reeves, director of city utilities, says that a report from Environmental Working Group, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, illustrated the elevated levels. He explains that this report took its information from reports made by all state utilities to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

In the results for the City of Columbus, Reeves says that it is reported that Dioxane levels measured at 0.483 ppb (parts per billion). This is in comparison to the “healthy level” of 0.35 ppb indicated by EWG. However, he stresses that Dioxane is not a regulated contaminant for drinking water under either EPA or Indiana drinking water regulations, so it is not tested for on a regular basis. Reeves says that Dioxane is a very common chemical that is regularly found in the atmosphere. He went on to say that it is mostly caused from the burning of fossil fuels, and is regularly used in toothpaste, cosmetics and detergents, all of which get recycled back into the water supply during their use. Reeves says that until such guidelines are set by the EPA and IDEM, utilities “have no basis on which to indicate ‘safe’ versus ‘unsafe’ levels.”

Columbus City Utilities officials say that they are in the process of retesting its finished water to confirm these numbers and testing individual wells to try a pinpoint a source for the increased level of Dioxane. Reeves says that Columbus City Utilities and Southwest Bartholomew Water are committed to providing quality water to its residents. He stresses that both utilities are in full compliance with all currently regulated contaminates for drinking water and will take any action necessary in the future to remain fully compliant with current and future regulations.

The Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County has announced that online applications for the 2018 scholarship season are now available. The organization says that students can create user accounts and access HFBC scholarship information and criteria and apply at hfbcscholarships.communityforce.com/Login.aspx. A listing of scholarships, eligibility requirements and the application link are also available at heritagefundbc.org, under the Scholarships heading. Completed applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.

Officials at the Heritage Fund says that several new scholarships are available to students as part of the Combined Application this year, including:

• Steve Antcliff Memorial Scholarship – Established to honor Steve Antcliff, who passed away in 2016. Steve was fun, full of life, a friend to everyone, and someone who had a tremendous work hard/play hard attitude. The scholarship celebrates his passion for helping others and his belief that education transforms lives.

• Developmental Services, Inc. (DSI) William K. Hadar Scholarship – Established in 2016 by DSI to perpetuate the achievements and dreams of future professionals dedicated to making a difference in the lives of others and to honor DSI’s longest serving Chief Executive Officer, Bill Hadar. Bill served 28 with DSI and an additional 12 in leadership roles with other organizations that serve individuals with disabilities. Bill guided DSI through some of its greatest challenges and helped it grow from a seven-county service area in Indiana to 44.

• Abbott Forrester Garn Scholarship – Established in memory of Columbus East High School sophomore Abbott Forrester Garn.

• Sgt. Jonathon Michael Hunter Legacy Scholarship Fund – Established in 2017 to honor the memory and celebrate the life of Sgt. Jonathon Michael Hunter of the United States Army. Jonathon was a natural leader with a passion for giving back. He gave his life in service of others. Through this scholarship Jonathon’s family, friends and supporters preserve his memory by recognizing students who exhibit his leadership, strength of character and selflessness.

• Thomas H. Sayrs Memorial Scholarship – Established in memory of Tom Sayrs, who was passionate about all things engineering, and was a longtime volunteer with Science Olympiad.

• Kenny Smith Memorial Scholarship – Established in 2017 in memory of Kenny Smith.

Heritage Fund awarded more than $700,000 in educational scholarships in 2017 to area students. Scholarships are available for graduating high school seniors, college students, graduate school students and non-traditional students.

A report of a suspicious person looking inside vehicles led to the arrest of a Columbus man after an officer observed a marijuana cigarette behind the suspect’s ear. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at approximately 9 a.m. Tuesday, Officer Angie Owens responded to the 3900 block of 25th Street in regards to a report of a suspicious person. Owens located 23-year-old Dillon J. Lane. While speaking Lane, Owens observed a marijuana cigarette behind the man’s ear. When Lane was taken into custody, officers also allegedly found several syringes and pills in his pants pockets.

Lane was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Legend Drug Injection Device and Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance.

Columbus police stopped a vehicle driving without a license plate on the east side of the city Tuesday night and ended up making an arrest of a man with a loaded handgun.

Officers stopped the vehicle at about 9:35 p.m. at Mapleton and State streets and found that the driver, 22-year-old Bryan M. Avlidrez, of Columbus, had no license and had an active warrant out of Jennings County. Police say that Avlidrez was also was carrying a loaded .357 revolver under the seat of the truck that he had no permit for.

Avlidrez was arrested on preliminary charges of Operating a Vehicle without Ever Receiving a License and Possession of a Handgun without a Permit, along with the outstanding warrant.

The White River Broadcasting family of stations are doing what they can to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey, and we’re inviting our listeners to help.

The “Help for Harvey Radiothon” is Thursday on 101.5 WKKG, 106.1 The River and WIN 104.9. From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., we will have a booth set up in our parking lot to accept song requests and donations. If there’s a particular song you’d like to hear, come by the station and drop off your request and donation of whatever you can afford. All proceeds go to the American Red Cross. We can only accept cash and checks, no debit or credit cards. Please make checks payable to the American Red Cross with “Harvey” in the subject line.

We appreciate your help!

Employees and elected officials in Columbus are on track to receive a two-percent cost of living adjustment for next year. The first reading of a pair of ordinances took place during Tuesday night’s city council meeting. The first ordinance, dealing only with city employees, passed unanimously. The second ordinance, dealing with a proposed increase for the mayor, clerk-treasurer and members of the city council, was a little more animated.

Noting the need to keep parity with communities of similar sizes, Councilman Tim Shuffett agreed that the mayor and clerk-treasurer salaries need to keep pace with city employee increases. However, he was against increasing compensation for members of the city council. Shuffett cited a study currently underway to make sure that city employees’ jobs are properly classified and compensated. Results of that study are expected by December and Shuffett says that he would be more comfortable waiting for that report before approving any raise for that body. Councilwoman Laurie Booher agreed, noting that everyone on the council knew what the pay was before they ran for office. Councilman Frank Jerome questioned Shuffett’s proposed amendment, saying that the increase would only amount to approximately $150 per year, per member.

In the end, both the amendment and the overall proposal were approved on a vote of 5 to 2. Jerome and Councilman Frank Miller were the “no” votes. The second reading of these ordinances are scheduled for Sept. 19th.

Efforts to clean up Columbus are expected to pick up after action taken Tuesday night by the city council gives additional power to the city’s code enforcement officer and police. Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, says that many months of work has gone into amending the city code dealing with unlicensed, inoperable and abandoned vehicles.

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Ferdon says that junk vehicles have been a problem in Columbus for years.

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Ferdon talks about the changes to the ordinance, as well as potential penalties.

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Those fines would go to the owners of the property that the vehicles are parked on, not the owners of the vehicles.

A standing-room only crowd were in attendance for Tuesday night’s meeting. Those who spoke during the public comment portion where largely divided. Landlords expressed concerns that they would be held financially accountable for their tenants vehicles with little say in getting offending vehicles removed. However, Fred Barnett, the city’s code enforcement officer, explained that the intent isn’t to fine people, but rather address eyesores throughout the community. Ferdon agreed, noting that plans are being discussed to unveil a new program aimed at helping owners of non-compliant vehicles to have them removed at no cost to them. It’s called the Inoperable Vehicle Abatement Program.

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The proposal to more aggressively target inoperable, unlicensed and junk vehicles passed on a vote of 6 to 1, with Frank Jerome being the lone “no” vote. He expressed reservations about how the change would affect private property rights.