A Columbus woman is facing drug and gun charges after a traffic stop Monday afternoon.

Columbus police say that the department’s Intelligence Led Policing Unit stopped the vehicle at about 2 Monday afternoon near Second and Brown Streets. Columbus Police Dog Bane alerted to the odor of drugs inside the vehicle.

A search revealed nearly seven grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of Xanax pills, drug paraphernalia, a loaded handgun and more than $5,500 in cash,.

35-year-old Jessica L. Olson was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and of paraphernalia, and carrying a handgun without a license.

The Columbus Police Department’s Intelligence Led Policing Unit is made of up members of the city police and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

There is still time to submit your suggestions for activities and events surrounding the Columbus Bicentennial Celebration. You can fill out a survey with your suggestions until Friday.

The bicentennial steering committee has chosen the theme for next year’s 200th anniversary as “Common Ground.” The committee is looking to endorse and to be involved in a variety of events highlighting the greater Columbus area and its culture, diversity, heritage, people, arts, commerce and agriculture.

You can find a link to the survey at www.columbus.in.gov/bicentennial or go to the Columbus Bicentennial Facebook page.

Tickets are available, starting today, for the Bartholomew County Historical Society’s upcoming Opening Gates tour.

A variation on the Open Door Tour that has been held in previous years, the Opening Gates tour will feature six outdoor sites around the Columbus area including two gardens designed by landscape architect Dan Kiley. Those will be at the Hamilton and Miller houses.

Other sites on the tour will include the Inn at Irwin Gardens, the Henry Breeding Farm Master Gardeners garden, the Columbus City Cemetery and North Christian Church, which also features Kiley-designed landscaping.

The tour will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 19th. Tickets are $25 and they go on sale today at the Historical Society Museum on Third Street, Viewpoint Books, The Columbus Area Visitors Center and through the society website at bartholomewhistory.org. Tickets available through EventBrite.com

A proposed parking lot beside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in downtown Columbus drew some concerns from members of Columbus City Council when its rezoning came before the council last night.

St. Peter’s was asking to rezone four properties along Fourth Street from residential and commercial community uses to public facilities use. The properties, just east of Chestnut Street would be turned into a parking lot with just over 40 parking spaces to support the neighboring church, school and outreach center.

Organizers of the church proposal pointed out that the property is contaminated and is too close to underground storage tanks to allow for residential use, especially if a FHA loan were involved in building a home. Remediation would require major investment and overhaul of the site, including perhaps incinerating the contaminated dirt at the site and bringing in clean soil.

Councilman Tom Dell took exception to the idea of putting a new parking lot so close to the area being developed under Envision Columbus. Dell also disputed the neighborhood support exhibited by letters, saying that few of those actually lived in the neighborhood and instead represented landlords who do not live in the area.

Councilwoman Elaine Hilber said she was concerned about double standards. Two weeks ago the council approved the use of property in Garden City for residential use despite it being an actual Superfund site. Now, the council was asked to assume that no homes could be built on the St. Peters site, making it most useful as parking space. She also said she was concerned that the proposal did not meet the recommendations of Envision Columbus.

Councilman Dave Bush, who serves on the plan commission, pointed out that Envision Columbus does not hold the force of city law and is more of a vision for the future.

With Councilwoman Grace Kestler abstaining from the vote, the council deadlocked on approval of the rezoning and the issue will come before the council again at its next meeting.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is praising a local glass company for helping an elderly woman in need.

According to the sheriff’s department, a 93-year-old woman reported that someone had thrown a brick through her front window. Deputy Robert Cooper went to Kenny Glass to purchase plastic to help the woman secure the window. But instead, Kenny Glass replaced her window free of charge, according to Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department.

A Seymour man is dead after a crash on Interstate 65 last night.

36-year-old Demetrius A. Burnam died from blunt force trauma in the accident according to the Bartholomew County coroner’s office.

Police say that they were called to the single-vehicle crash about three miles south of the Columbus exit at about 9:52 p.m. Sunday night. For unknown reasons, Burnam’s vehicle left the road and rolled over. He was found dead when police arrived.

The accident remains under investigation by the Columbus police department’s crash reconstructionists.

A Columbus woman is accused of pouring gasoline around a home and vehicles Saturday morning in an arson attempt during an argument.

Columbus police were called to the 700 block of California Street at about 10 a.m. Saturday morning and noticed the strong odor of gasoline near the home. They also saw a gas can lying on its side next to the front porch and an oxygen tank propped up against the porch.

29-year-old Paige N. Sneed, of Columbus, was taken into custody on a preliminary felony charge of attempted arson.

A 5-year-old was flown to IU Riley Children’s Hospital Saturday after being found unconscious in a Bartholomew County swimming pool.

Bartholomew County deputies report being called to the 5000 block of Somerset Lane at just after 6 p.m. Saturday evening. When they arrived they found the child’s father performing CPR on the unconscious child. Deputy Sgt. Andrew Whipker assisted with the life-saving efforts until medics arrived.

Deputies report that the child appears to have left the residence unnoticed and had been in the pool for about five minutes. The child was last reported to be in serious but stable condition at the hospital.

Several area communities will receive a share of more than $10.9 million in federal grant funds through the federal COVID-19 Response Program.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch made the announcement last week, saying that there were 42 rural Hoosier communities receiving funds in Phase 2 of the program.

Communities could apply for up to $250,000 for grants or loans that will go to businesses to retain Low-to-Moderate Income jobs.

Shelbyville has been awarded $250,000 to provide $10,000 grants to small businesses with fewer than 100 employees located in the city.

Nashville was awarded $250,000 to provide grants to businesses for retaining low-to-moderate income employees’ jobs.

Jennings County was also awarded $250,000 to provide $5,000 to $10,000 grants to eligible businesses to assist with job retention through employee salaries, rent/mortgage payments, health/ safety materials, or technology services to accommodate remote work or a change in operations.

Columbus Municipal Airport will be receiving nearly $2.8 million dollars in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program to make infrastructure and safety improvements at the facility.

Congressman Greg Pence, a Columbus Republican, announced the award last week. He said $279,350 of the funding was coming as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act, which he supported in March.

Pence said he wrote a letter of support for the Columbus Municipal Airport’s grant request and urged the FAA to prioritize the request.

Pence pointed out that the Columbus airport is one of the top 5 in the state in terms of operations, and not only does it serve local business needs, but also supports military training at Camp Atterbury.

The FAA says that the Airport Improvement Program grant program provides a certain amount of funding each year, based on passenger volume. If their capital project needs exceed their available entitlement funds, then the FAA can supplement their entitlements with discretionary funding.