The Bartholomew County Health Department will be offering A1C and cholesterol screenings at their offices at 2675 Fox Pointe Drive on the morning of March 24th.
Participants must fast for 12 hours prior to the cholesterol screening although no fasting is needed for the A1C test.
The tests will be offered by appointment only although you may schedule both for the same time. The tests are $10 for the A1C and $15 for the cholesterol. Cash, credit or debit is accepted although there will be a transaction fee for a card payment.
You can schedule an appointment or get more information by calling 812-379-1555 and hitting option 1. That number is available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
A digitally manipulated photo showed black high school students and a person with KKK robes at Columbus North this week. The faces of the students have been obscured.
Photos that appeared to show two black Columbus North High School students running from a white student and a person in a KKK robe were digitally faked images and the school district reports that the person who created them was suspended and will face expulsion.
The unaltered photo appears to have been taken during an athletic practice with the addition of the KKK figure made at a later time, with none of the students knowledge, according to school officials.
In a statement on social media BCSC Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts says that the offending photos were brought to school officials attention on Monday and an investigation completed Tuesday that led to the suspension.
Roberts said that BCSC is “committed to the provision of a safe and secure environment, celebration of the diversity of our student body, and the development of each student as accepting individuals of all cultures and customs.”
Deputy Leah Burton. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
The Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team confiscated six guns about two pounds of methamphetamine, and arrested four people in an investigation centered around a Maize Drive home Tuesday.
According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department a deputy stopped a vehicle and her police dog alerted to the smell of narcotics inside. A search revealed 145 grams of meth and a handgun. 36-year-old Rodney Varela of Columbus was arrested on charges including dealing in methamphetamine, possession of meth and drug paraphernalia, possessing a handgun without a license, maintaining a common nuisance and operating a vehicle without ever receiving a driver’s license.
The SWAT team executed the search warrant in the 2700 block of Maize Drive. There officers found 764 grams of meth, two rifles, two handguns, a shotgun and several glass smoking devices. 18-year-old Jessica Bernardino and 19 year old Miguel Claiborne, both of Columbus were arrested on charges of maintaining a common nuisance and possession of paraphernalia.
A woman was also stopped as she left the residence and information against her has been forwarded to the county prosecutor’s office for possible charges.
Other agencies involved included: U.S. Postal Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Columbus Police Department Intelligence Lead Policing.
A Brownstown father is under arrest, after shooting himself and his son in the leg.
The incident happened a week ago in a home on Oak Street in Brownstown. 40-year-old Avis Wingler Jr. and his 5-year-old son came to Schneck Medical Center shortly before midnight on March 4th with the gunshot wounds. Wingler was treated and released, while his son was taken to IU Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis and later released.
Indiana State Police say that their investigation revealed the incident was captured on home surveillance video. Wingler had been handling the gun in the living room when it went off, shooting both of them. However, state police say that rather than immediately take himself and his son to the hospital, instead Wingler spent time rearranging the scene and then called a relative to provide medical assistance, before transporting them to the hospital.
He is facing a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury and neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury.
Bartholomew Consolidated Schools are putting restrictions on students and staff who travel overseas during spring break because of coronavirus concerns. The school district issued guidance Tuesday for those planning overseas trips, and strongly suggested that they forego those trips altogether.
For those who are traveling abroad, the district is outlining various levels of quarantine based on where and how you traveled. Those going to one of the countries the CDC has designated as COVID-19 level 3 will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks before returning to school. That includes, at this time, China, Iran, South Korea and Italy. The same restrictions will apply to anyone who took a trip on a cruise ship during the break.
Those going to a COVID-19 level 2 location, such as Japan or Hong Kong, MAY be required to self-quarantine for two weeks.
Further, the school is asking anyone with a fever of 100.4 degrees to stay at home and contact their health provider.
School returns to session on March 23rd.
You can get more information on the restrictions at the new school district website at bcscschools.org.
Bartholomew County Council approved one request by the sheriff’s department merit board on pension benefits for merit deputies but is putting off decisions on two other requests until at least next month.
The council agreed last night to approve an option that allows deputies to take a lump sum payout when they retire. An option that supporters say is a useful recruiting tool and a benefit offered by many competing departments.
Decisions were delayed while getting more information on a proposal that would allow the sheriff or merit deputies to be vested in the department pension plan after eight years at work, or to continue with the current eight years and one month arrangement.
Council member and former sheriff Mark Gorbett said that after eight years, a deputy would be eligible to receive retirement pay of roughly 20 percent of their average of their five highest years of pay as a retirement benefit.
They also are looking for more details on a proposal that would increase the pay to family members of a deputy killed in the line of duty. Council members expressed interest in continuing support for children of a slain deputy through college.
Image courtesy of Columbus/Bartholomew County Planning Department
Owners of a northern Columbus shopping center want to add more businesses.
The Northern Village Shopping Center off of National Road already hosts Rural King, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Long John Silver’s restaurant.
The owners have submitted a plan to the city of Columbus to add four more buildable lots to the property. The change, if approved would allow for seven lots total, with two being added to the southwestern portion of the property beside the existing Fazoli’s, another carved out of the existing parking lot between the auto parts store and the fast food restaurant and another on the eastern edge of the property.
The change would require moving the entrances to the shopping center, according to the city/county planning department. A new entrance would be added by Fazoli’s, across the highway from the southernmost Krogers entrance and another would be added on Middle Road across from Indiana Smokehouse. The current entrance to the shopping center off of National Road would be removed.
The Columbus Plan Commission will hear the proposed changes to the center’s subdivision plat at its meeting Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Fair Oaks Mall.
The Bartholomew County Highway Department is reporting that construction is happening in the 3400 block of South County Road 150W until about May 15th.
You can expect the road to be blocked periodically. On Thursday, the road will be closed and flaggers will be on site to direct traffic.
You should pay attention or avoid this area if possible, officials say.
