Columbus police say that they arrested an Edinburgh man after they saw him in a domestic fight in a vehicle.

The incident happened around 12:10 p.m. Wednesday near 10th Street and Central Avenue. After pulling over the car, the driver 39-year-old Angelito Mercado, allegedly refused to follow officer’s orders, including getting out to the car and acting belligerent toward police, says Lt. Matt Harris, with the police department.

Officers found out that Mercado was wanted on a warrant on contempt of court charges. He said he was having a medical problem and after being taken to be checked out at Columbus Regional Hospital, he was arrested on preliminary charges of domestic battery, criminal confinement, disorderly conduct, resisting law enforcement and driving while suspended.

The Columbus Township Fire Department is holding a community event Saturday at Station 1. Chief Dave Thompson explains…

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The chief says this is their first event since staffing changes were forced upon them by the township board…

Chief Thompson says that the department is making due with the staffing reduction. He added that the real test is covering duties when one of the remaining full-time firefighters are out sick or on vacation. Thompson says that, in a perfect world, his department would be allowed to return to last year’s staffing levels.

Saturday’s chili cook-off and open house begins at noon and is expected to last until approximately 4 p.m. You are invited.

A North Vernon man was arrested for dealing heroin after a Wednesday evening traffic stop. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, spokesman for the North

Vernon Police Department, says that Sgt. Todd Beam pulled a vehicle over in the area of Park Avenue and South Elm Street at 7:14 p.m. Beam discovered that the driver, 23-year-old William C. Heilman, had a suspended driver’s license. Heilman was cited and released from the scene. The vehicle was seized to be impounded because there was no other driver to release it to. During an inventory search of the vehicle, Officer Isaac Barkes reportedly found several small bags of heroin in a storage compartment of a door. Police say that Heilman was quickly found and taken into custody.

Heilman is facing charges of Dealing in Heroin (Level 4 felony) and Possession of a Heroin (Level 6 felony). Police say they seized 3.4 grams of heroin.

A North Vernon man is facing drug charges after a traffic stop on Wednesday morning. Sgt. Andrew Richmond, North Vernon Police

Department spokesman, says that he stopped a car at 10:17 a.m. and had his K9, “Heros,” sniff around the car. Richmond says that Heros was alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the vehicle. A search allegedly revealed items related to the packaging and sales of drugs. The driver, 23-year-old Jerod C. Palmer, was also searched and was allegedly found to be in possession of one-tenth of a gram of heroin, two syringes, digital scales and other paraphernalia.

Palmer is facing preliminary charges of Dealing in a Controlled Substance (Level 6 felony ), Possession of a Controlled Substance (Level 6 felony ), Illegal Possession of a Syringe (Level 6 felony) and Possession of Paraphernalia (Level A misdemeanor). He is being held in the Jennings County Jail on $1,055 bond.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is slated to begin removing contaminants at a waste site near the U.S. Highway 50 bypass adjacent to Buckeye Street. Officials say that personnel and equipment will mobilize on Friday. Clean-up is scheduled to begin Monday.

INDOT says this “source reduction operation” will focus on two areas of concentration where discarded drums of lead paint, chromium, trichloroethylene, glass and debris pose an environmental concern. Officials say that materials from these two areas, inside of one acre, of concentration will be removed from depths to 15 feet by contracted hazardous materials professionals. Hazmat transports will then carry the waste to a specialty landfill in eastern Michigan. INDOT officials anticipate trucking activities to continue for 16 days. Once the removal is complete, officials say the site will be capped with clay and rimmed with monitoring wells.

INDOT says this work is part of Phase II of North Vernon’s U.S. 50 bypass project.

The annual Turning Point Dance Marathon begins Saturday night at Central Middle School in Columbus. Cameryn Morris is encouraging area high-school students to take part in dancing the night away for a good cause…

Morris talks about the purpose of this yearly event…

Morris says the money raised will stay local…

The dance marathon runs from 6 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Sunday. For more on this event and Turning Point, visit turningpointdv.org.

The city of North Vernon is looking into a move to make its facilities solar-powered. Kurt Schneider, vice-president and partner of Johnson-Melloh Solutions, says he has driven well over six-thousand miles back-and-forth from Indianapolis to North Vernon to come up with a proposal and meet with stake-holders in the city…

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Schneider says his company led the switch to solar at the Jennings County Public Library. He then worked with city officials to determine how all of the city-properties might benefit from a similar change…

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Schneider says that the total cost of the project, including interest, is just over nine-million dollars. The good news, is that he says the city won’t have to pay a lot of money up front…

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Schneider says the saving would be substantial…

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Schneider says that the city is poised to reap a net savings of over $5.8 million in utility costs over the next 20 years if his company’s proposal is carried out. The North Vernon City Council is expected to discuss the issue further during its meeting Monday night.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office says that it assisted the United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Secret Service and the Louisville Metro Police Department in the service of a search warrant.

Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, says that Detective Sgt. Chad Swank has been conducting an investigation into an identity theft/deception case involving a local victim. Sgt. Swank’s investigation grew to include several other victims in other states.

Jackson says that Sgt. Swank and US Postal Inspection Service Agents have been working together tracking the suspects. They have been identified as 36-year-pld Patrick M. Smith, of Lexington, KY and 26-year-old Shelby K. Morgan, of Louisville. Authorities say the pair were found at a Louisville-area hotel. A search the suspects’ hotel room allegedly uncovered several forged driver’s licenses and identification cards from multiple states, equipment to make the cards, as well as narcotics. Authorities also seized several electronic devices for further forensic examination.

Smith and Morgan were arrested and are being held in a Louisville-area facility pending possible federal charges.

Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corporation says that a cut water main on County Road 550 West line has led to some customers being without service.  Affected customers are on County Road 550 West, south of Youth Camp Road to County Road 300 South. Officials say that other customers impacted are on County Road 225 South, County Road 250 South and County Road 275 South.

A boil water advisory is in effect until noon on Saturday. Customers should bring water to a full boil for five minutes before consumption or use in cooking and food preparation.

A former Columbus mayor is suing the city’s police department and its chief.

Kristen Brown filed the lawsuit on Friday in Bartholomew Superior Court 2. The suit alleges that CPD and Chief Jonathan Rhode denied Brown access to public records. According to the filing, Brown made a public information request on Sept. 8 to Chief Rohde for an incident that took place on Aug. 23. The incident involved criminal mischief or vandalism and a domestic disturbance where two vehicles were damaged.

Brown alleges that Rhode responded with a publicly available “incident report” on Sept. 26, 11-days later than what the Indiana Access to Public Records Act requires. The former mayor also alleges that Rohde did not include all of the information that she requested. This led to Brown filing a formal complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor on Sept. 30.

The public access counselor issued an advisory opinion that sided with Brown. You can read the advisory opinion here (PDF) .

The court filing states that Brown again pressed CPD for additional information from the Aug. 23rd incident. She says that her request was met with a response from City Attorney Allan Whitted, informing her that the department has turned over all of the information they had on the matter. Brown’s suit alleges that the city is not being truthful and is hiding the information she has been asking for.

Brown’s suit is asking for the court to force the Columbus Police Department to provide the information that she is requesting, declare that the department and Chief Rohde violated the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, impose a $100 civil penalty against CPD and for reimbursement to cover her attorney’s fees and other expenses. She is also asking the court for a change of venue. Superior Court Judge Kathleen Coriden has not yet made a ruling on the venue change request.

Brown’s action is the latest against the city after being ousted in the 2015 Republican Primary by current mayor, Jim Lienhoop. City officials say that Brown and a small group of her supporters have filed numerous public information requests, as well as made official complaints to the Indiana Public Access Counselor, against the city. Prior to the end of 2016, city officials say that nearly two-dozen requests were made during that year alone. Late last year, Mayor Lienhoop publicly asked Brown and her supporters to stop, citing the time and expense the requests were costing the city and its employees. Lienhoop said he made the public comment to let residents know about the requests, several of which he called, “silly.”

Our request for comment from Brown went unanswered. Chief Rohde referred us to Allan Whitted, who said that he has a professional policy of not commenting on pending litigation.