The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to restrict U.S. Highway 31 to a single lane near Seymour on Wednesday to allow for the installation of a Weigh In Motion scale. INDOT says that temporary traffic signals have been put in place to permit one-direction-at-a-time traffic at the 324-foot construction site approximately one-half mile north of U.S. 50.

INDOT officials say the work is part of a nearly seven-million dollar project that includes in-pavement sensing locations on Interstate 65 and State Road 7, as well as facilities on I-65 for certified scales and covered examinations just north of the Seymour exit.

The single-lane restriction on U.S. 31 is scheduled to remain in effect for up to 90 days.

Seymour Mayor Craig Luedeman’s office says that the city has received word from the Louisville and Indiana Railroad Company that the St. Louis crossing will be closed permanently on Monday. Drivers who have been traveling north from Tipton Street onto Indianapolis Avenue will have to turn west, effective Monday.

In addition, Second Street at Indianapolis Avenue in Seymour will be closed for repairs next week. The closing is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, but the work is dependent on the weather.

The Columbus City Council has given initial approval to a large subdivision northwest of Columbus, over the objections of neighbors. Arbor Homes submitted a plan to annex approximately 154 acres for the subdivision to be called “Abbey Place,” in the area of Indianapolis Road and Interstate 65 near the Princeton Park subdivision.

The Council voted unanimously on first reading to annex the land. The body later voted 4-3 in favor of an amended ordinance to rezone the property that will require the developer to meet certain commitments. Council members Frank Miller, Frank Jerome and Laurie Booher were the “no” votes.

The proposed development would max out at around 315 homes, but a representative for Arbor Homes says that, if approved, he expects construction to be gradual. He estimated that it would be six to seven years, at approximately 50 homes each year, before the development is complete.

Neighbors, many from the Princeton Park neighborhood, object to the project. They cited traffic in that area that they say is already problematic. With the scheduled increase in train traffic through that area, they say it is only going to get worse, even without a new housing development. Others cited worries of potential flooding and the effect a new development would have on existing property values. Other concerns expressed involved water service, fire department response times, the effect on schools and general safety.

The rezoning, as well as the development, need to be approved by the council for a second time before any work can begin.

The Libertarian Party of Indiana is hosting a protest this weekend the Ricker’s store in Columbus. Party officials say that they will be holding a “drink-in” at the store on 25th Street to protest what they call “over-reaching laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages in Indiana.”

Ricker’s obtained the appropriate license that allowed it to sell cold, carryout beer as well as serve alcohol in their on-site restaurant. Members of the Indiana General Assembly took issue with the company’s business method and changed the requirements to sell cold, carryout beer. Libertarian officials say the state legislature unfairly targeted Ricker’s.

The drink-in is scheduled for Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Bartholomew County is one of 15 new Indiana counties eligible to to participate in “On My Way Pre-K.” The program is designed to make prekindergarten available to four-year-old children from low-income families in approved counties.

Gov. Eric Holcomb made the announcement on Wednesday. Earlier this year, the Indiana General Assembly expanded the program from five pilot counties to 20 counties in House Enrolled Act 1004-2017.

Along with Bartholomew County, the new counties added to the program are DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Floyd, Grant, Harrison, Howard, Kosciusko, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe and Vigo. State officials say that participating local providers in these counties will be expected to enroll children in On My Way Pre-K for the 2018/2019 school year, with the possibility of a limited program beginning in January of 2018.

Bartholomew County joins Jackson County as being the only area counties eligible to take part in On My Way Pre-K. Jackson County was part of the pilot program, along with Allen, Lake, Marion and Vanderburgh counties, launched in 2015 when first authorized by the General Assembly.

“Eligible Hoosier children who start at the back of the line now have an opportunity to move ahead when enrolled in a high-quality pre-kindergarten program,” Gov. Holcomb said. “A strategic investment now to expand state-funded prekindergarten for children from low-income families is an essential investment we must make in Indiana’s workforce and our state’s future.”

“We at FSSA already know from the two years we have spent managing the five-county pilot of On My Way Pre-K that children who begin the program are some of the most educationally needy in our state, yet they make higher gains than their peers in important aspects of school readiness such as language comprehension, early literacy, executive functioning and a reduction in behavior problems in the classroom,” said Indiana Family and Social Services Secretary Dr. Jennifer Walthall. “We hope the expansion of On My Way Pre-K will double the number of Hoosier children receiving these important benefits.”

The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team, a combined unit of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office, with the help of COPS Unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration and K9 Units, arrested several suspected drug-dealers. Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, says the arrest warrants were the result of narcotics investigations that occurred over several weeks in which the suspects sold narcotics to undercover detectives.

Those arrested:

• Cameron Charles Agnew, 22, 3449 Blackstone Sq., Columbus;
  Preliminary charge – Dealing Heroin.  Agnew remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $140,000 bond.

• Kristen Eileen Parris, 25, 2914 N Peach Street, Columbus; Preliminary charges – Two Counts of Dealing Heroin. Parris remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
• Connie Darlene Richey, 52, 2401 Fairington Ct., Columbus; Preliminary charges – Two Counts of Dealing Heroin. Richey remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $100,255 bond.
• Rachel E. Allen, 30, 5875 E 50 N, Columbus; Preliminary charge – Dealing Heroin Allen was released on bond.

• Jeffery Melvin, II – Dealing Methamphetamine. Melvin is currently serving a sentence in another facility.
• Shawn Michael Asher, 37;  Preliminary charges – Two Counts of Dealing Methamphetamine.
  Asher remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $315,500 bond.
• Jonathon K. Villegas, 23, 1691 Wrenwood Dr., Columbus; Preliminary charges – Two Counts of Dealing Heroin
  Villegas remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.
• Chad E. Phillips, 37, 2893 N Talley Rd., Columbus; Preliminary charges – Two Counts of Dealing Methamphetamine. Phillips remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Authorities say that other investigations stemming from these arrests are ongoing.

Sheriff Matt Myers is crediting the department’s partnership with the Drug Enforcement Agency for aiding in these, and other, arrests. For the  first time, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office assigned a deputy to serve as a DEA Task Force Officer. Myers says that this deputy works directly with the DEA office in Indianapolis Office. He says this assignment helps the department’s efforts to keep drugs out of Bartholomew County.

“Our relationship with federal drug enforcement efforts has allowed JNET to investigate crimes they would not previously have had the resources to address, increase funding, manpower and other resources that are necessary for such investigations and increase intelligence information gathering and sharing – all of which result in a more efficient, broader and swifter attack on drug issues plaguing our community”, said Sheriff Myers.

Two Decatur County residents were arrested Tuesday night in Jennings County. One of them was a wanted fugitive. The North Vernon Police Department says that at 9:22 p.m., officers encountered 38-year-old Chadwick Lucas, of Westport, and 38-year-old Nicole Jones, of Greensburg.

Police say that Lucas was wanted on warrants for Escape and Probation Violation. He is facing additional charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of a Syringe and Possession of Paraphernalia.

Jones was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of a Syringe and Possession of Paraphernalia.

The Columbus City Council has approved an increase in the Cumulative Capital Fund Rate. Jamie Brinegar, the city’s director of finance, explained during Tuesday night’s city council meeting that the increase is being recommended by the state’s Department of Local Government Finance. The increase would see the rate increase from .0316 cents per 100-dollars of assessed value to five-cents, beginning next year…

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Brinegar talked about how the increase could affect home owners.

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Brinegar says that additional money brought in from this rate increase would be earmarked for public safety.

The council approved the ordinance on first reading. Frank Miller and Laurie Booher voted against it.

Dorel Juvenile USA celebrated moving production of a product line from China to Columbus. Company officials were joined Tuesday by executives from Walmart at Dorel’s State Street plant to tout the move, which they say is part of Walmart’s efforts to sell more products manufactured in the U.S. Paul Powers, President and CEO of Dorel Juvenile USA, says that his company, and its products, are a perfect candidate for this effort…

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Powers talks about the production line coming to Columbus…

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Powers says that he sees a resurgence of American manufacturing…

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Steve Bratspies, merchandising officer for Walmart U.S., says that the retail giant committed in 2013 to sell 250-billion more American-made products…

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Dorel officials say that the move will create roughly 60 jobs in Columbus, with hiring expected to begin this fall. They add that products from the relocated production line will start shipping from Columbus by the end of this year.

The victims in Sunday’s triple-homicide in Washington County have been identified. Sgt. Jerry Goodin, spokesman for the Indiana State Police Post in Sellersburg, says that autopsies on all three victims were completed Tuesday morning by the Washington County Coroner. They have been identified as 58-year-old Danny G. Newlin, 41-year-old Kelley Kay Newlin and their son, 14-year-old Austin Newlin. Goodin says that the cause of death for each of the victims was gunshot wounds.

State Police say the family was murdered in their home, in the 5500 block of South Beck’s Mill Road near Salem, by Richard Lee Burton, Jr. Police found Burton’s body Monday morning in the Hoosier National Forrest. He is believed to have committed suicide with a gun. It is unknown at this time whether or not it was the same gun used in the Newlin murders. Burton’s autopsy is being performed by the Monroe County Coroner’s Office.

Police say that Burton was living in the Newlin home. There’s been no word on any potential motive for the killings.

Indiana State Police add that these autopsies are preliminary, as it will take up to six weeks to get final toxicology reports.