A 53-year-old Edinburgh man was killed in a crash between the SUV he was riding in and a semi on U.S. 31 Sunday evening.

Authorities says that Musa Rahmani was a passenger in the vehicle when the driver, 26-year-old Valon Rahmani of Edinburgh lost control and crossed the center line of the highway into the path of the semi. Musa Rahmani was ejected from the vehicle and died from blunt force trauma to the head and chest in the crash near Indianapolis Road at about 8:55 p.m. Sunday evening, says Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting.

Valon Rahmani was seriously injured in the crash. After being taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, he was flown to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for treatment. The driver of the semi was uninjured.

The crash is being investigated by the Columbus Police Department.

Nolting urged all drivers to be extra cautious in winter weather conditions.

A 10-year-old girl died Sunday afternoon in a Bartholomew County traffic crash.

Kayydence Mings of Columbus was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash at 4:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon on East 25th Street, west of County Road 650E, says County Coroner Clayton Nolting. Her cause of death was massive traumatic injuries.

Nolting says that she was the rear-seat passenger in the crash of a westbound SUV driven by her mother Katelyn Mings.

The single-vehicle crash is being investigated by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Activities in Columbus today will celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The African American Pastors Alliance, the Bartholomew County NAACP, and IUPUC are working together to host a presentation on King’s Life and Legacy starting at 7:30 a.m. this morning by Zoom and Facebook Live. Jon Sims, the athletic director at St. Peter’s Lutheran School will be the keynote speaker.

Homeboyz and the NAACP will sponsor a “grab and go” lunch at 1451 Washington Street from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. To participate you are asked to remain in your vehicle on 15th Street and volunteers will deliver your meal.

Starting at 1 p.m. this afternoon will be award presentations and speakers via Zoom call. That will include IUPUC Vice Chancellor Reinhold Hill giving the IUPUC Excellence in Diversity Awards. Kevin Jones, an IUPUC associate professor of management, will then give a keynote address.

The afternoon session will also feature a presentation on the COVID-19 vaccine in the black community and a panel discussion followed by the NAACP awards.

A silent march from the Bartholomew County Public Library to Columbus City Hall will start at 4 p.m. with a reading of King’s “I have a Dream” speech by Zacaria Scruggs.

For more information, including the full schedule of events, go to https://events.iu.edu/iupucwww/event/158514.

Martin Luther King Jr. photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov

A guitarist from Columbus is in custody in connection to the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6th.

The FBI Indianapolis office announced yesterday that Jon Ryan Schaffer, with the band Iced Earth, had turned himself in. According to the agency, Schaffer is facing six charges including engaging in an act of physical violence in the Capitol Building. They say he allegedly used bear spray against Capitol Police.

Music publications have been reporting that guitarist and songwriter was being looked for by authorities. He reportedly was shown on the FBI Most Wanted page wearing a cap that has the armed militia group Oath Keepers’ logo on it.

Bandmate Luke Appleton posted on Facebook saying that the band does not condone or support the riots and acts of violence. “We are deeply saddened and our hearts go out to the families of the lives lost that day.”

A Columbus man was arrested on drunk driving charges after testing at more than twice the legal alcohol limit early Thursday morning.

Columbus police say that they pulled a vehicle over near 11th and California streets at about 1:10 a.m. that morning after noticing it driving erratically. The driver, 22-year-old Korbin L. Lopotosky appeared to have bloodshot and glassy eyes and was slurring his words, according to police reports. A breath test revealed a blood alcohol level of .167 percent.

He was arrested on preliminary charges of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated-Previous Conviction and Operating a Vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .15% or greater.

Applications are open today for the Allied Health Scholarship and the Amanda M. Dick Honorary Scholarship through the Schneck Foundation.

The Allied Health Scholarship is for students interested in pursuing a course of study in a technical/professional allied health career such as speech, respiratory or physical therapists, pharmacy, lab or radiological technology.

The Amanda M. Dick Honorary Scholarship supports women pursuing a career in the medical field.

Applications must be completed and returned to the Foundation no later than March 15th to be eligible for consideration. You can apply online at www.schneckfoundation.org, www.schneckmed.org, or by contacting the Schneck Foundation at 812-524-4244.

Bartholomew and Decatur counties remain in the orange advisory level on the Indiana State Department of Health’s color-coded map of COVID-19 community spread, indicating serious spread of the disease. But they are surrounded by counties in the red.

Brown, Johnson, Shelby, Jennings and Jackson counties are all in the red, indicating severe spread of the disease.

Once a county crosses over into the red, it must maintain orange-level metrics for two consecutive weeks to be moved back to the less severe category.

In the figures released yesterday by the state, Bartholomew County showed 38 new cases of COVID-19, Shelby 30, Decatur 23, Jennings 15, Jackson 27, Brown 1 and Johnson County had 132 new cases. Johnson and Decatur county each had one new death from the disease, the only area counties to add fatalities.

Statewide there were 4,411 new positive cases of the disease reported yesterday, with 40 new deaths. Indiana has a 7-day positivity rate of 15.3 percent.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will be sticking with a hybrid model of instruction for secondary school students through at least the start of February.

The district announced yesterday that based on the current community spread of COVID-19, the hybrid model will stay in place. The situation will be reevaluated on January 28th for any potential changes on that following Monday, February 1st.

Under the hybrid model, at the middle and high school level, students attend part of the week in class and part in e-learning, depending on the letters of their last name. A to K students are in person Mondays and Tuesdays, while L through Z students are in person Thursdays and Fridays. Should the county drop into the red level on the Indiana State Department of Health rankings, elementary school students would follow the same model.

Bartholomew County remains in the orange advisory level on the Indiana State Department of Health’s color-coded map of community spread, indicating serious spread of the disease.

School officials say that reducing the number of students in the buildings is the only way to maintain social distancing needed to help slow the spread of the disease. After finishing the end of last semester with distance learning, the district started up again almost two weeks ago with the hybrid model in place.

The district will continue daily to evaluate and to discuss the local situation with local medical professionals including the Bartholomew County Health Department and Columbus Regional Health.

Jennings County deputies say that they have solved another home burglary, tied to an arrest made earlier in the month.

On January 5th, deputies began investigating after a homeowner in the 4000 block of North State Road 7 reported about $2 thousand dollars worth of tools stolen from their garage, as well as damage to the garage and a vehicle. Later that night, the homeowner reported to deputies that several of the stolen items had shown up on Facebook Marketplace.

A deputy realized that they had dealt with the suspect before in a previous investigation and scheduled a meeting with 28-year-old Ricky McLaughlin of Greenfield on Saturday. Several of the stolen items were recovered and McLaughlin was arrested on charges of burglary, criminal mischief, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle and possession of marijuana.

Several other vehicles had been broken into during the same time frame and after an interview with McLaughlin in the jail this week, he admitted to a second burglary and items reportedly taken in that burglary in the 9500 block of North State Road 7 were also recovered. He will be facing new charges related to that stolen property.