Registration is underway for the Fourth Annual Moonlight Loop Evening Bicycle Ride. The event is a police-led, evening bicycle ride of 19 miles around Columbus to benefit Columbus Animal Care Services. The ride will take place Saturday, August 5th at 9 p.m. Organizers say the ride starts, and ends, at the Bartholomew County Library Plaza.

Organizers say that volunteers are needed. They will receive a t-shirt. If you would like to help, you are asked to call (812) 376-2505.

Ride organizers say that money raised from this event are used to support the agency’s Adoption Medical Fund. The fund covers spaying and neutering costs, pet care services, veterinarian treatment for pets housed at the facility, medical requirements for transports, and pet food, as well as promotion of adoptions and educational programs. Officials say that funds generated from this event have allowed the agency to achieve their highest save rates to date for both dogs and cats.

Entry fees are $25 through July 22, $30 through Thursday, August 3 and $35 the evening of the ride. Riders are required to wear a helmet and have their bicycle equipped with both a headlight and taillight. While the ride is police-led and assisted, organizers stress that the roads are not closed to traffic and all rules of the road are enforced. In addition, riders should be able to ride at a pace of at least 10 mph and be at least 16- years-old.

If you don’t have a bike or simply don’t want to transport it, organizers have teamed up with the Columbus Park Foundation and Columbike, the city’s bike-share program, to offer bicycle rentals for this event. You can reserve a bike by emailing customerservice@columbike.org by August 2nd. Discounted rental rates will apply.

For more information, or to register, visit www.columbus.in.gov. You can also register at the Animal Care Services Center between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Cummins released it’s 2016 Sustainability Progress Report on Tuesday. Company officials say that this marks the 14th year for the annual report.

“I truly believe that a company is only sustainable when it achieves economic success while acting as social and environmental stewards,” Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger says in the introduction of the report.

Highlights of the report include:

• A 13 million gallon reduction in absolute water use compared to 2015 and a 42 percent drop in water use intensity adjusted by labor hours compared to the company’s baseline year of 2010. Cummins increased its goal to a 50 percent drop in water use intensity by 2020.

• An 80 percent participation rate for a second year in a row in the “Every Employee Every Community” program, an initiative to build stronger communities.

• A 20 percent increase in health and safety training hours and a 26 percent improvement in Restricted Work Day cases.

• A third consecutive year of greater than $1 billion in spending with diverse suppliers.

Cummins leadership says that this report, available online at http://bit.ly/2thYnnO, is consistent with the company’s broad approach to sustainability, incorporating the environment, corporate responsibility, safety, diversity and inclusion, financial performance, innovation and more.

Cummins, Inc. has been recognized for its diverse workplaces. On Tuesday, DiversityInc named Cummins one of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity for the eleventh consecutive year. Cummins ranked No. 21 on the 2017 annual list, which company officials say included more than 1,000 participating companies.

“The more we grow and expand globally, the more important it is that we attract and develop employees from around the world who have the knowledge and skills to work effectively in the markets in which we do business,” said Executive Director, Global Diversity and Right Environment, Kelley Bertoux Creveling. “We’re at our best when we fully include those unique perspectives, experiences and languages – truly leveraging the power of diversity and inclusion.”

The DiversityInc Top 50 list, issued yearly since 2001, recognizes the nation’s top companies for diversity and inclusion management. The companies on the list excel in areas such as hiring, retaining and promoting women, minorities, people with disabilities, LGBT and veterans. In addition to making the Top 50 list, Cummins also made DiversityInc’s specialty lists for “Top Companies for Progress,” “Top Companies for Executive Women” and “Top Companies for Global Diversity.”

The Columbus Area Arts Council is inviting you to “National Historic Landmarks of Columbus,” a panel discussion on Thursday, July 20th at 7 p.m. in the Bartholomew County Public Library Gallery and Red Room. Tricia Gilson, archivist and curator at the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives, is set to moderate the discussion between local architect Louis Joyner and Ball State University architectural historian Kristin Barry.

Gilson, Joyner, and Barry will discuss how and why seven modern buildings in Columbus have been designated National Historic Landmarks. This free program has been made possible through a Historic Preservation Education Grant from Indiana Humanities, Indiana Landmarks, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information on this and other Arts Council events, visit www.artsincolumbus.org.

The Jennings County School Corporation has announced the textbook rental and school lunch prices for the 2017-2018 school year. The school corporation says that textbook rental prices include textbook rental amounts, consumable materials, and supplies used by students.

Elementary Student Rates:

Kindergarten Students – $73.33
First Grade Students – $94.35
Second Grade Students – $81.81
Third Grade Students – $87.33
Fourth Grade Students – $79.32
Grade Students – $79.53
Sixth Grade Students – $82.90

JCSC officials say that middle school and high school student rates will vary according to students and their schedules.

School Lunch Prices:

Elementary Students – $2.50
Middle School Students – $2.50
High School Students – $2.50
Breakfast – $1.50
Adult Meal – $3.50
Adult Breakfast – $1.75
Milk – $0.50

The German Township Volunteer Fire Department in Taylorsville was awarded a $104,000 grant for firefighter safety equipment. Deputy Chief Matt Lynch explains that the grant was from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighter Grant program. He says that German Township had to pay a five-percent match, totaling $4,952. That money came from the department’s cumulative fund, says Lynch.

Deputy Chief Lynch says that the grant replaced all of the department’s Self Contained Breathing Apparatus, which were nearing the end of their service life. In addition, the department purchased two firefighter rescue systems, which are designed to assist a firefighter who may be trapped in a building and running out of air in their SCBA. Lynch says that if a firefighter becomes trapped, the rescue firefighters would take one of the rescue systems in and plug it into the downed firefighter’s air bottle. He explains that this will allow the firefighter to continue to be able to breathe fresh air during a rescue attempt. The department also purchased a firefighter tracking device. Lynch says the instrument will alert fire crews if a firefighter stops moving or is in duress as they work inside of a building.

“With this added equipment, our firefighters can better serve our community in a safer, more effective manner. We can minimize the time we are searching for possible victims which decreases the amount of time our firefighters are working in dangerous environments,” says Chief Robert Drake

Deputy Chief Lynch says that, in addition to grant money spent, German Township also bought two thermal imaging cameras by using an additional $8,000 from the cumulative fund. He says that these cameras allow firefighters to see through smoke and darkness.

A Franklin Police Officer was arrested Monday for domestic violence. Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox says that the particulars of the incident, which led to the arrest of Officer Schyuler Z. Brown, likely won’t be made available until sometime on Tuesday. He says that the officer who responded to the incident has been called away to other cases and has yet to fill out an incident report.

Franklin Police Chief Tim O’Sullivan says that city officials were “very disappointed” to learn about of the arrest of Brown. He says that city police were dispatched to the home when they learned about the officer’s involvement. To avoid the appearance of conflict or impropriety, O’Sullivan says that Franklin Police contacted the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office to handle the investigation. He adds that the city has placed Officer Brown on leave, pending an investigation and a merit commission hearing for final action.

Chief O’Sullivan added that he, and other city officials, are appreciative for the Sheriff’s Department’s help in this case.

A Columbus man was arrested on domestic violence related charges over the weekend. Officer Alyson Rech, spokeswoman for the Columbus Police Department, says that at about 2:10 p.m. on Saturday, officers responded to an apartment in the 1100 block of Kevin Drive for a domestic disturbance. Rech says that officers spoke to the victim, who had visible injuries to her face. She reportedly told police that she was choked and had the house phone taken away while she tried to call 911.

Officers arrested 34-year-old Kevin C. Montgomery on preliminary charges of Strangulation, Domestic Battery and Interfering with the Reporting of a Crime.

The elevator at Columbus City Hall remains out of order after storms a few weeks ago knocked it out of service. City officials say that they expect it to be repaired and back in service by Friday, June 30th.

In an effort to make all public meetings are accessible, the following meetings have been moved to Hamilton Center, located at 2501 Lincoln Park Drive, for the week of June 26 – June 30:

Tuesday, June 27 – Board of Works & Safety at 10 a.m.
Tuesday, June 27 – Board of Zoning Appeals at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 28 – Exec. Committee of Columbus Human Rights Commission at 3:45 p.m.
Wednesday, June 28 – Columbus Human Rights Commission at 4:30 p.m.

If you need to take care of business at city hall and you have accessibility needs, call (812) 376-2500.

A Westport man is headed to prison after pleaded guilty to felony drug-related charges this week. “The Greensburg Daily News” is reporting that 65-year-old Robert E. Ward, Jr. was sentenced to 11 years in prison on a charge of Possession of Methamphetamine and two years in prison on a charge of Visiting a Common Nuisance. The paper says that these sentences run concurrently, making Ward eligible for parole in September of 2024.

According to the report, the sentences were handed down after a plea agreement following Ward’s arrest on multiple drug-related charges in November of 2015. Investigators said they found 11 guns, more than $4,100 in cash, methamphetamine and other drugs when they raided Ward’s Westport home.

The paper reports that Ward posted a $200,000 bond and was free ahead of a June 22, 2016 court hearing, which he allegedly skipped. His bond was revoked and an arrest warrant was issued. Days earlier, on June 5, 2016, Ward was arrested on unrelated charges in Jennings County after he allegedly led deputies on a high-speed chase. In that incident, Ward was charged with Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle and Possession of Methamphetamine. He again posted bail and was released. Authorities say that Ward then fled to Kentucky.

The newspaper says that an anonymous tip led authorities to a Louisville VA hospital. There, they found and arrested Ward, ultimately returning him to Decatur County.

For more on this story, visit GreensburgDailyNews.com.