The Town of Edinburgh will receive a $20,000 grant and be mentored by a partnership between the City of Rushville and the City of Wabash. Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs made the announcement Thursday. The program’s goal is for local leadership to gather best practices and the necessary tools to advance an innovative vision through in-person assessments, stakeholder conversations and peer advisement.

“We want to continue encouraging collaboration and reward communities that not only work together, but also mentor and help lift each other to even greater heights,” said Crouch. “Hoosiers joining together can take our rural communities to the Next Level.”

Crouch said these mentors can each provide a different perspective that will ultimately help Edinburgh grow. Through a guided process, each community will meet with Edinburgh to discuss unique community attributes as well as goals, expectations and steps of the mentorship process.

“Rushville’s strong community engagement, public-private partnership and the ability to achieve success through planning and dedication make them an ideal mentor,” said Jodi Golden, Executive Director of OCRA. “We are excited Wabash has also agreed to help provide insight into downtown redevelopment, economic vitality and riverfront development.”

Edinburgh will host groups from Wabash and Rushville to showcase their town’s community assets, as well as highlight the community’s strengths and areas of opportunities.

“Our downtown revitalization efforts will be enhanced by establishing a collaboration with a mentor community. Such collaboration efforts foster an insightful vision from a community that has already addressed their downtown revitalization,” JT Doane, Edinburgh Town Manager. “A mentor group will offer a unique perspective to create a vision that is unique and special to our community!”

State officials say that Edinburgh will receive a $20,000 cash matched grant to implement a quality of place project based on recommendations from the process.

The Indiana Department of Transportation says that contractors will switch traffic on southbound I-65 SB the evening of Saturday, Sept. 14, as part of the I-65 reconstruction and added travel lanes project in Jackson and Bartholomew Counties.

Officials say the southbound lanes will be shifted toward the median from mile-marker 64.5 to mile-marker 61.2. This will give southbound traffic a 12-foot shoulder and two 12-foot driving lanes. INDOT says that lane closures will be necessary during the switch to apply new pavement markings.

In the new configuration, southbound lanes will mirror northbound lanes.

Drivers should continue to adhere to the 55 mph speed restriction and use extra caution in the ongoing construction zone between Columbus and Seymour. All trucks should use the left lane for travel.

The project is expected to be complete in August 2020.

Work on a $5.2 million asphalt resurface project on U.S. 31 in Bartholomew County is set to begin next week. The Indiana Department of Transportation says that Milestone Contractors crews are expected to begin work on Monday, Sept. 16, weather permitting.

Work will take place from Washington Street in Columbus to just south of I-65 in Taylorsville. Patching is scheduled to begin on Monday, September 23, and will be followed by milling and paving next year. Crews will work north from Washington Street to I-65, then work back south in each lane of the highway.

A turn lane will be added on southbound U.S. 31 at County Road 400 N. during this project.

Drivers should plan ahead and expect delays due to daytime lane closures.

Patching is expected to be complete by Halloween. INDOT says work will resume on U.S. 31 next spring.

A tip led to the arrest of two Jennings County residents on drug charges.

The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department says that on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019 at approximately 7:30 p.m., deputies received information that 43-year-old Charles Plumm, of Elizabethtown, was at his home on County Road 800 North. Plumm had an active warrant. While Deputies were getting into position to serve the warrant, dispatchers notified deputies that Plumm had left his house and was traveling East on County Road 800 North.

Deputies located the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop in the area of County Road 950 North and State Road 7. Plumm was taken into custody. During the investigation, authorities say that illegal drugs and paraphernalia were found in the vehicle, leading to the arrest of a passenger, 30-year-old Kelly Williams, of Elizabtethtown.

Plumm and Williams are facing preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Paraphernalia, Possession of Legend Drug and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. Plumm remains behind bars on his parole warrant.

Two North Vernon residents were arrested Wednesday night on drug charges. The North Vernon Police Department says that at 6:11 p.m., officers responded to a reported overdose in the 600 block of Pierce Street.

Police arrested 22-year-old William Barlow for Dealing Methamphetamine, Dealing in a Narcotic Drug and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. Twenty-four year-old Dugan Carter is facing preliminary charges of Maintaining a Common Nuisance and Resisting Law Enforcement.

The Indiana Department of Transportation says that State Road 58 will close on or after Monday, Sept. 16, for approximately 30 days over South Fork White Creek, south of Waymansville, for scour protection work. The bridge is located approximately 9.5 miles west of I-65, between County Road 1100 S. and County Road 950 S. in Bartholomew County.

The official detour for the closure is State Road 135 to U.S. 50 to State Road 11 to I-65.

INDOT says this $360,000 project and is part of a larger bridge contract involving multiple bridges on I-65, U.S. 31 and State Road 58.

Scour protection treatments help maintain the structural integrity of bridges and eliminates risks associated with erosion at or near bridge structures.

The work is dependent on the weather.

The Alzheimer’s Association invites you to join the fight to end Alzheimer’s by participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s Sunday, Sept. 29 at Mill Race Center in Columbus. Organizers say that funds raised will support critically needed research, as well as local education and support programs. Onsite registration for the event begins at 12:30 p.m.

On Walk day, participants will learn about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, volunteer opportunities, public policy initiatives and local programs and services provided by the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Indiana Chapter.

Participants will also honor those affected by Alzheimer’s disease with Promise Flowers during the Promise Garden Ceremony. The ceremony is meant to be a display of hope to represent the personal reasons participants join the fight against Alzheimer’s.

“It is one thing to hear the sobering statistics on this disease, but the Promise Garden Ceremony is a powerful way to witness the impact in our local community firsthand,” said Kyle Davern, Manager, Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Columbus. “Many participants will even write a tribute to a loved one on the petals. It’s a meaningful way for friends and family to come together in the fight against Alzheimer’s.”

Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only one in the top 10 that cannot be prevented, slowed or cured. The Alzheimer’s Association says that more than five million Americans are living with the disease, including 110,000 in Indiana. Approximately 1,300 are living with the disease in Bartholomew County alone. Another 4,000 are serving as unpaid caregivers.

Organizers say that last year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Columbus raised nearly $87,000. This year, the Greater Indiana Chapter aims to raise $98,000.

Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Columbus is supported by Nationwide Presenting Sponsor Edward Jones and Chapter-wide sponsor Trilogy Health Services, with additional support from Columbus Transitional Care and Rehabilitation and Four Seasons.

You are encouraged to pre-register online for free at alz.org/indiana/walk.

Four vehicles, including a school bus, were involved in a Tuesday afternoon crash in southern Bartholomew County that resulted in three injuries.

Indiana State Police say that at about 2:40 p.m., a car driven by 27-year-old Shanaya N. Brown, of Columbus, was traveling southbound in the 11000 Block of South State Road 11. Brown’s vehicle was being followed by an SUV driven by 71-year-old Jack A. Cooper, of Seymour. ISP says that Brown slowed down for traffic ahead of her. That’s when Cooper’s vehicle swerved into the northbound lane of State Road 11 to avoid Brown’s vehicle.

Investigators say that Cooper’s vehicle collided nearly head on with a northbound Jeep driven by 56-year-old Maria G. Hernandez-Zarate, of Seymour. Cooper’s vehicle also collided with Brown’s car after making contact with Hernandez-Zarate’s vehicle.

Hernandez-Zarate’s vehicle then struck a school bus being driven by 68-year-old Daniel R. Ginger, of Seymour. ISP explains that the bus that was traveling southbound on State Road 11 behind Cooper’s vehicle. The Seymour Community School Corporation bus had approximately 33 students on the bus at the time of the crash.

Jack Cooper and Maria Hernandez-Zarate were both transported to Columbus Regional Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. A 17-year-old female student who was on the bus was also transported to CRH for non-life threatening injuries.

State Road 11 was closed for nearly two hours for crash investigation and cleanup.

The investigation is ongoing.

A sponsored research program created to drive and advance the next generation of material handling industry technology is accepting proposals. The submission form for Toyota Material Handling North America’s University Research Program is now open and will be accepting proposals via its website through Dec. 1, 2019.

The TMHNA University Research Program was created to encourage and support professors and student researchers to apply their engineering and technical research to discover innovative solutions for the material handling industry. Applicants from North American universities will be evaluated on several criteria, including their possible impact on the future of the manufacturing industry, timeline and feasibility of budget. Applicants with selected proposals will be announced at MODEX 2020, March 9-12, 2020, in Atlanta.

“This program reflects our mission to provide customers – and the material handling industry as a whole – with creative solutions and new innovations,” said Brett Wood, President and CEO, Toyota Material Handling North America. “We believe university engineering programs are already working on smart solutions that can be applied to the material handling industry. Send us your proposals, and let’s build the future of this industry together.”

Proposal themes for the 2019-2020 research submissions in the following areas are encouraged. However, alternative themes are welcome.

• Material handling for last-mile delivery, urban environments, piece-picking, reverse logistics and automation
• Remote operation of material handling equipment
• Warehousing energy infrastructure
• VR/AR for material handling applications
• Machine learning in material handling
• Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) for material handling equipment
• Industry 4.0

For more information about the TMHNA University Research Program, visit UniversityResearchProgram.com.

The North Vernon Parks and Rec Department, as well as city police, would like to know who is responsible for vandalism at the city park.

Parks Director Chad Speer says that sometime early Sunday, someone went into the men’s restroom at the old concession stand area near Shelterhouse #3. A large rock was used to destroy three urinals and two toilets. During Monday evening’s meeting of the North Vernon City Council, Speer opined that the damage could have been greater, but the rock used in the destruction ultimately got

stuck in one of the toilets.

Speer expects estimates to repair the damage will be ready within the next few days. There’s been no word yet on expected costs.