Next week’s scheduled power outage in and around Hope has been cancelled.
Duke Energy officials had planned two overnight outages for the area in order to rebuild a transmission line. The first outage began on the evening of June 11th and lasted approximately seven hours as crews de-energized the power line. The second outage was set for the evening of July 2nd.
Duke officials say they’ve evaluated the work already done and determined their crews can safely complete construction without de-energizing the line again.
The city of Columbus is hosting a meeting with the residents of the State Street area Monday evening. The Director of the Love Chapel, Kelly Daugherty, will be the guest speaker.
City Councilman Dascal Bunch, who represents the area, notes that this meeting is a follow-up to one held last fall. In that meeting, much of the concern among area residents and business owners was how homelessness was impacting those who live and work there. Addiction and discarded needles were also addressed.
While the meeting will focus on the State Street area, all city residents are welcome. It will begin at 6 p.m. in the Cal Brand Meeting Room at city hall.
Southern Indiana Rotary clubs are accepting applications for a $40,000 Rotary District Global Grant Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to help a southern Indiana student to study in a graduate program at any qualified university outside the U.S.
Rotary officials say the 2020-21 program is open to students who attend a four-year college in southern Indiana (or who maintain a legal residence in the district) and who plan to pursue graduate-level studies at an overseas university.
Officials say the program “supports exceptional scholars dedicated to pursuing a career in an area of great humanitarian need and who demonstrate a long-term commitment to measurable, sustainable change.” Scholars must present a plan of study and a career commitment that align with one of The Rotary Foundation’s six areas of focus.
Contractors in Jackson County are set to begin work to replace a box culvert on U.S. 31, north of Uniontown, next week. Officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation say the road will close one mile north of State Road 250 for approximately 30 days while work is completed. If the weather cooperates, work is slated to begin June 24th.
INDOT says that the official state detour for all U.S. 31 closures in Jackson County will be I-65 NB to U.S. 50.
Classes may be out of session for the summer, but work continues for the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts says that 21 facilities have to be maintained and improved. Part of those improvements include energy efficiency efforts.
Roberts says that money is coming from the 2019 general obligation bond. He noted that this bond will not increase the local tax rate, as other debt has been paid-off and energy savings are expected to save the school district around $500,000 per year.
Roberts notes that regular maintenance issues also need to be addressed.
Brown County State Park and Abe Martin Lodge will remain closed through this weekend.
Officials with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources explain that the sediment level from last weekend’s heavy rainfall still remains too high in Ogle Lake to allow the production of potable water.
Closure beyond the weekend will be evaluated on a day-by-day basis.
This weekend’s American Cancer Society “I Relay, What’s Your Superpower” Relay For Life of Columbus has been moved. Organizers explain that expected poor weather has moved the event to the air-conditioned main and auxiliary gyms at Central Middle School. The relay runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 22nd.
This public event, begins with opening ceremony, followed by the survivor lap. Survivors should arrive on site by 10:30 a.m. for registration. Survivors are also encouraged to stay for a taco lunch in the school cafeteria at noon.
Organizers say that teams should decorate their area with a superhero theme, bring silent and live auction items to the event, and make name tags for team members. Tables are available for teams to use at the school, and participants are encouraged to bring chairs. If weather permits, teams may also walk outside on the track.
Organizers say that Saturday’s agenda is as follows:
7 a.m.: Doors Open for Team Site Set-Up. Drop-Off at gym entrance in Bus Lot on Seventh Street until 10 a.m.;
11 a.m.: Opening Ceremony with Survivor, Survivor & Caregiver, and Sponsor Laps
11 a.m. -1:30 p.m.: Silent Auction
Noon: Survivor Lunch
12-1:30 p.m.: Entertainment–Dre’s Story & Dance
12:30 p.m.: Captain America’s Shield Throw
1:30 p.m.: Real Life Hero Lap
2 p.m.: Black Widow’s Puzzle Code
2:30 p.m.: Survivor Ice Cream Social & Thor’s Chugging Contest
3 p.m.: Fight Back Ceremony with Fight Back Challenge participants and Speaker Brad Davis
3:30 p.m.: Columbus Regional Hospital Sponsor Lap
4-6 p.m.: Live Auction
4:30 p.m.: Iron Man’s Challenge
5:30 p.m.: Hawkeye’s Memory Challenge
6-7:30 p.m.: Entertainment
6:30 p.m.: Hulk Smash
7:30 p.m.: Defeat Thanos!
8 p.m.: Luminaria Ceremony immediately followed by Closing Ceremony
Jeremiah Littrell; Photo courtesy of the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department.
An arrest has been made after a Tuesday night incident in Jennings County.
Authorities say that at approximately 9 p.m. that night, dispatchers received a 911 call from a resident on Derbyshire Court advising a male was causing a disturbance and had a firearm in his pocket. The caller stated the man fled from the home on foot when the 911 call was made.
After speaking with the complainant, a deputy searched the area and found the subject, 19-year-old Jeremiah Littrell, of North Vernon, in the area of Big Pine Drive. As the deputy tried to make contact with Littrell, he allegedly fled on foot into a wooded area near County Road 500 West and escaped.
The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department says that at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Cody Low observed a vehicle leaving a home where deputies had previously received information that Littrell may have been headed to. Sgt. Low conducted a traffic stop on on County Road 300 North. Littrell was found in the back seat and was arrested without incident. No gun was found.
Littrell was arrested on a preliminary charge of Resisting Law Enforcement. Bond is set at $1,155.
The Bartholomew County Jail’s Residents Encounter Christ program received a $3,500 Regional and Local Impact grant from the Indiana Sheriff’s Association. Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers accepted the check from ISA Director Stephen P. Luce while they were attending the National Sheriff’s Association’s annual conference in Louisville earlier this week.
REC is a three-day experience where teams of trained Christian volunteers come into the jail to minister to residents. All supplies and equipment are provided by and set up by the REC community. Men and women’s weekends are held separately. The teams usually consist of around 40 members. If space and numbers allow, a REC weekend typically ministers to about 50 inmates.
Sheriff Myers was attending the national conference following his appointment to the National Sheriff’s Association’s Homeland Security Committee earlier this year. The non-profit organization is dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among those in the law enforcement field.
Chasity Galbraith; Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Dept.
An Edinburgh woman was arrested at the Bartholomew County Library following a dispute over a backpack.
At approximately 9 p.m. Monday, off-duty Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Dougan, who was working security at the library, arrested 22-year-old Chasity Galbraith after a male patron alleged she had stolen his backpack. During the investigation, Galbraith, who police say falsely identified herself twice, told Deputy Dougan that the backpack belonged to her. However, the deputy witnessed the male enter the library wearing the backpack. Property missing from the backpack was located in a trash can and returned to the owner.
While taking Galbraith into custody, she allegedly made a run for the exit. Following a brief struggle, she was arrested on preliminary charges of False Informing and Resisting Law Enforcement. She remains in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $8,500 bond.
