A Bartholomew County deputy’s check of a suspicious vehicle early Saturday morning led to the arrest of two people allegedly stealing catalytic converters from vehicles.

The sheriff’s department reports that the deputy noticed an SUV pull to a stop at South U.S. 31 and East County Road 120S at about 3:30 Saturday morning and turn off its headlights. The Jeep did not have a license plate and the deputy investigated. The driver and passenger appeared nervous while talking with the officer and Deputy Dylan Prather reportedly noticed several catalytic converters in the vehicle, as well as tools used to remove the emissions control devices from vehicles.

A sheriff’s department police dog alerted to the smell of narcotics inside the vehicle. A search by authorities uncovered a syringe and a firearm. Further investigation revealed that the catalytic converters had recently been stolen from a local business.

The driver, 33-year-old Justin Poole of Scipio and the passenger, 38-year-old Martin Cox of Elizabethtown were arrested on preliminary charges of theft and possession of a syringe. Poole is also facing a charge of carrying a handgun without a license.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop says that the statewide reopening efforts require two major things from residents, patience and caution.

The mayor said that the governor did not waive a green flag and declare everything open. Instead there will be a phasing in of activities with an eye to safety

Lienhoop said the next major phase will start on May 24th, if Indiana continues to make progress. Locally, that will mean checking with Columbus Regional Health to make sure there are enough beds available and other measures to ensure the health care system is not overwhelmed.

The mayor spoke to the community last week on a video from the Bartholomew County COVID-19 Task Force.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health, there are 24,126 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 402 cases since Saturday’s report.

There have been 1,379 deaths in Indiana as of yesterday afternoon’s update, an increase of 17 deaths from the previous day’s numbers.

Bartholomew County has 346 confirmed cases, an increase of 13 since Friday. There have been 26 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County, an increase of four since Friday. There have been 2,931 tests of Bartholomew County residents, with 2,157 negative results and 449 tests with results still pending.

In other area counties, Decatur has 212 cases and has had 28 deaths, Jennings 96 cases and 3 deaths; Jackson 278 cases and 1 death; Brown 26 cases and 1 death; Johnson 807 cases and 85 deaths; and Shelby 261 cases and 16 deaths.

Updated May 10th

Columbus police say a local business woman was the victim in a Friday night shooting.

45-year-old Cassondra M. Wilson of Columbus was found dead in in the Spruce Ridge Apartments complex on the west side of Columbus Friday night.

Lt. Matt Harris with the Columbus Police Department says officers were called to the 3700 block of Picea Place at about 9 p.m. Friday on a report of person being shot. Officers found Wilson dead inside the apartment.

Her former husband, 44-year-old Troy A. Wilson, was a person of interest in the death investigation. But local authorities were told by Indianapolis police that Troy Wilson was found dead in Indianapolis Saturday afternoon.

Cassondra Wilson was the CEO of TrainerConnect.

No further information is available. The incident is being investigated by the Bartholomew County Death Investigation Team which consists of officers and detectives from the Columbus Police Department, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, and Indiana State Police as well as representatives from the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office.

Bartholomew County has had two more deaths from COVID-19.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health., there are 22,503 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 650 cases since Wednesday’s report.

There have been 1,295 deaths in Indiana as of yesterday afternoon’s update, an increase of 31 deaths from the previous day’s numbers.

Bartholomew County has 316 confirmed cases, an increase of 2 since Wednesday. There have been 21 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County.

In other area counties, Decatur has 208 cases and has had 28 deaths, Jennings 89 cases and 3 deaths; Jackson 219 cases and 1 death; Brown 25 cases and 1 death; Johnson 754 cases and 77 deaths; and Shelby 243 cases and 15 deaths, an increase of one.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a freeze watch for our area Friday night into Saturday morning.

Temperatures as low as 29 are possible. Frost and freezing conditions could kill crops and other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.

The weather service recommends taking steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.

To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes you should wrap, drain or allow them to drip slowly. If you have in-ground sprinkler systems, you should drain them and cover above- ground pipes to protect them from freezing.

A Hope man is being accused of murder after a shooting incident yesterday morning on the east side of Jackson County.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department says the case is still under investigation and few details are being released. Deputies were called to the scene at 5:37 a.m. Wednesday morning and discovered a dead male. They say a subject and a witness were interviewed and 30-year-old Tobias E. Au was arrested. He was booked into the Jackson County Jail at 11:43 a.m. yesterday morning on a charge of murder and is being held without bond.

The Seymour Tribune is reporting that deputies were dispatched at 5:39 a.m. after a man called dispatchers and said he had shot another man who was violating a protective order at a Seymour address.

Further details will be released at a later time, according to Sheriff Rick Meyer. A press conference is scheduled for later today in Brownstown.

According to the most recent update from the Indiana State Department of Health., there are 21, 870 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indiana, an increase of 862 cases since Tuesday’s report.

There have been 1,264 deaths in Indiana as of this afternoon’s update, an increase of 51 deaths from the previous day’s numbers.

Bartholomew County has 314 confirmed cases, an increase of 17 since Tuesday. There have been 19 deaths so far from the coronavirus in Bartholomew County, two more since Tuesday’s update.

In other area counties, Decatur has 206 cases and has had 28 deaths, Jennings 87 cases and 3 deaths; Jackson 188 cases and 1 death; Brown 21 cases and 1 death; Johnson 746 cases and 77 deaths; and Shelby 241 cases and 14 deaths.

Centra Credit Union is making a second major donation to local efforts to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Way of Bartholomew County is announcing that Centra has given a $20 thousand dollar donation to the United Way’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.

The gift is in the form of a matching grant, so each donation from others will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Centra.

The United Way says that the grant is in addition to a $5,000 donation that Centra Credit Union made when the Relief Fund was started in March.

The money from the fund is going to local agencies working directly with those most in need in our community. More than $160,000 from the fund has already been distributed to nine local agencies, helping more than 2,500 people in need.