Columbus-based diesel engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. is announcing the promotion of two of its top executives.

The company announced today that Tony Satterthwaite is being named vice chairman and Jennifer Rumsey will become president and chief operating officer.

Satterthwaite joined Cummins in 1988 and among his leadership positions he has been president of Power Generation, president of the Distribution Business and most recently president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining Cummins, Satterthwaite was an engineer with Schlumberger. Satterthwaite lives in Indianapolis with his wife.

Effective March 1st, Rumsey will succeed Satterthwaite as president and chief operating officer.

Rumsey joined Cummins in 2000 and has held a variety of leadership roles including serving as the vice president of engineering for the Engine Business, chief technical officer for Cummins, and most recently as the company’s president of the Components Cusiness.

Prior to joining Cummins, Rumsey worked on fuel cell development with Nuvera Fuel Cells. She lives with her family in Columbus.

The American Red Cross is looking for more donors to sign up for a blood drive this weekend at The Commons.

The drive will be between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday in the Xenia Miller Conference room in the upper lobby of the The Commons. The goal is to have at least 60 donors scheduled for the drive.

You can schedule an appointment by going online to RedCrossBlood.org

Graphic courtesy of American Red Cross

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools officials will be re-evaluating current COVID-19 conditions today to decide whether to return middle school and high school students to a regular schedule or to continue on with the hybrid learning. Under hybrid learning, students attend part of the week in class and part in e-learning, with the days depending on the letters of their last name. If any changes are made, they would go into effect on Monday.

Under yesterday’s updates form the Indiana State Department of Health, Bartholomew County remains in orange on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 map, indicating serious spread of the disease. There were 22 new cases reported yesterday in the county and 1 new death, with a 7-day positivity rate of 8.5 percent. Statewide, Indiana had 1,452 new cases of the disease, with a 7-day positivity rate of 6.2 percent, with 52 new deaths reported.

INDOT is planning to demolish and replace the Deaver Road overpass on Interstate 65 in Bartholomew County starting next week.

Crews will be closing the lanes of Interstate 65 overnight to place concrete barrier walls starting on Tuesday, February 16th from 9 to 6. Demolition work is scheduled to start on Thursday, February 18th, which will close the bridge through mid-June.

The official detour will take traffic from County Roads 175W to 450S and to 300W.

Starting the following week, Interstate 65 will close for one direction at a time for up to 20 minutes at a time while the bridge is demolished. That work will also take place overnights from 9 to 6 and the work could take up to seven days.

Traffic will be restricted to 55 mph through the entire work zone during the entire project.

The bridge replacement is part of the $65 million dollar project to widen Interstate 65 to three lanes in each direction between Walesboro and Columbus. The entire project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023.

INDOT had previously scheduled restrictions at Denois Creek and Opossum Creek earlier this month, but those have now been moved to later in the project.

Seymour police arrested two people Wednesday morning on drug-related charges after finding a gun, drugs, packaging materials and portable safes in a vehicle.

According to police reports, officers stopped a vehicle at the intersection of Brown Street and Marley Lane for an equipment violation at about 2 this morning. Seymour police dog Edi sniffed around the vehicle and alerted to the odor of drugs inside.

A search revealed several portable safes in the vehicle which contained scales, glass smoking pipes, small baggies and methamphetamine packaged for sale. Police also found a handgun in the locked glove compartment, spare ammunition in a safe and more bullets in the pocket of a passenger. A baggie with marijuana was also found on the floorboards.

Police arrested the driver, 22-year-old Hayden Gray of Brownstown and passenger 25-year-old Matthew Norman, both of Brownstown. They refused to answer any questions, police say.

Gray was arrested on preliminary charges for possessing meth, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a handgun without a license, along with maintaining a common nuisance.

Norman is facing charges of dealing in methamphetamine, as well as possessing meth, drug paraphernalia and visiting a common nuisance.

Democratic House impeachment managers showed video footage yesterday of rioters chanting “hang Mike Pence” by a make-shift gallows outside of the Capitol.

According to our news-gathering  partner at TTWN Media Networks, during the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, Texas Democrat Joaquin Castro said yesterday that the former Vice President and Columbus native is a patriot who didn’t deserve a president “unleashing a mob” on him.

Videos depicted gallows on Capitol grounds with a noose hanging from the structure.

Castro said the images harken back to our nation’s worst history of lynching. He argued that Trump did nothing to stop the crowd, adding that he “fueled the fire” when he tweeted about Pence. The tweet said, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”

Most area counties are under travel advisories this morning due to the cold temperatures overnight refreezing slush on the roads and making for some slippery conditions out there.

Bartholomew and Brown counties are under an orange, or watch travel condition. Under a travel watch, only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended, and emergency action plans should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies, and other organizations.

Jackson, Jennings and Johnson counties are all under a yellow travel advisory condition. That means you should use caution or avoid those areas if you can.

If you have to drive, Bartholomew County Emergency Management is urging you to use caution, to allow extra time for any trips this morning and to keep the distance between you and other vehicles.

Columbus Republican Congressman Greg Pence met yesterday with Brigadier General Dale Lyles, adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard, about bringing a national Cybersecurity Training Center to Camp Atterbury and the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center.

The congressman said the National Defense Authorization Act enacted into law earlier this year included Pence’s proposal to build on the National Guard’s efforts with a cyber security training center pilot program here. Pence pointed out that the local bases are the Department of Defense’s only live, full-scale cyber range.

Pence said he will be urging the appropriations sub committee to fully fund the pilot program.

Photo courtesy of Pence’s staff.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are evaluating how to implement changes and mandates from the state on COVID-19 prevention measures.

Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts told the school board earlier this week that the changes announced last week by Governor Eric Holcomb include distributing 10 KN-95 masks to every staff member and starting rapid testing at schools this week including the shipping of 120 test kits to each school. Roberts said the schools are not comfortable with and don’t have procedures in place to do testing in the schools. The district could look at transferring all those tests kits to the county health department to conduct tests of school staff and students through that agency, he said.

Other changes include redefining close contact in classrooms as being less than three feet apart for 15 minutes or more and new requirements for quarantine periods, depending on if a person who tested positive ever developed symptoms and if they can wear a mask at all times.

Roberts said that the district is not yet ready to implement the governor’s announced changes and are still figuring out how they will be brought to the schools.

BCSC officials will be re-evaluating current conditions tomorrow to decide whether to return middle school and high school students to a regular schedule or to continue on with the hybrid learning. Under hybrid learning, students attend part of the week in class and part in e-learning, depending on the letters of their last name. If any changes are made, they would go into effect on Monday.

A fire overnight left a two-apartment Pearl Street home in Columbus with severe damage.

Columbus firefighters were called to the 1300 block of Pearl Street at about 10:46 last night after several people called 911 about the home fire. Firefighters arrived to find flames showing from the ground floor apartment and the second floor unit and heavy smoke coming from under the eaves. More fire trucks were called to the scene.

Firefighters knocked down the outside flames so they could search the apartments for occupants and both were empty. After gaining access to the attic, firefighters were able to get the fire under control.

Firefighters say a neighbor rescued a dog from the fire but a cat was still unaccounted for.

Damages to the home were estimated at $60,000 and the home is uninhabitable. The Salvation Army is providing assistance to the occupants.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.