A woman and two children were sent to the hospital after a crash on Monday.
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 9000 block of Georgetown Road at about 5:20 p.m. The driver of a truck, 27-year-old Charles Demott, of Columbus, told deputies he believed he fell asleep and crossed the centerline causing a head-on collision. Demott was ejected from his vehicle and suffered only minor injuries. He refused treatment at the scene.
The driver of the other vehicle, 36-year-old Crystal Breeden, of Columbus, and two children complained of pain and were transported to Columbus Regional Hospital. One of the children suffered a broken arm.
Teagan J. Gray. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department
A toddler with a serious cut to his ankle was found playing in the street Tuesday evening, and his mother is under arrest for child neglect.
Columbus police say that they were called to Smith Street and McKinley Avenue at about 5:50 p.m. yesterday evening and found the toddler, who had a soiled diaper and was bleeding heavily. A witness reported seeing another child playing in front of a home and that child answered the door holding a large pair of scissors.
Police couldn’t get an adult to come to the door or answer and eventually entered the home, where they found 29-year-old Teagan J. Gray unconscious on the couch. After being woken up, she admitted to being the children’s mother and said she had taken meth earlier in the day. Police say they found a broken beer mug and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire inside the home.
Gray was arrested on a charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury and the children were taken into the custody of the Department of Child Protective Services.
Teachers and administrators in the Hope-area schools have agreed on the details of a new contract.
According to negotiators between Flat Rock-Hawcreek Schools and the teacher’s association, starting teachers will see an increase of $3,250 and the top of the pay scale for long-time teachers with a masters degree will also go up $3,250.
Superintendent Shawn Price explains that the pay increases all will be in the first year of the two year contract.
Collectively, teachers will see a pay increase of just under 7 percent.
And there will be lower health care costs. Price said premiums have fallen for the past two years. In the new contract, the corporation will be increasing its contribution to the insurance, going from $843 a month to $1,000 per month for family plans and from $396 to $400 per month for single plan members.
The district will also be providing one-time contributions to the educators’ Health Savings Accounts, with $1,000 for a family and $500 for a single.
Price said the negotiations went quickly and they were cordial.
Teacher Stacy Kirk represented the association and said that negotiations went smoothly.
Price says that Flat Rock-Hawcreek schools added almost 40 students this year. With that rising enrollment, comes more money from the state which allows for higher pay. The district is also benefiting from a $6 million dollar increase in the assessed value of property in the community.
The Bartholomew County Substance Abuse Council is inviting you to stop by the Commons at 6 p.m. tonight to take part in the annual Desperate Households conference.
Rachel Flohr David, an organizer for the event, explains the Desperate Households concept.
The featured speaker tonight will be Matt Bellace, a comedian, PhD and author of “A Better High. ” He will be talking about the way the brain works and how you can find a better way to get the same high that drugs bring.
There will also be information available from about 20 local organizations that are working on aspects of the drug problem. Flohr-David said that there will also be an update from the Substance Abuse Council on its efforts to fight the drug epidemic.
A live baby was found in a plastic bag on the side of the road in Seymour yesterday afternoon.
Our news-gathering partners at Network Indiana are reporting that a person walking their dog called the police just before 4 p.m. Tuesday and said they found the infant on South Jackson Park Drive, according to Detective Sgt. C.J. Foster.
The infant was found alive along a fence row about 20 yards from the road, police said. The child was taken for an examination at Schneck Medical Center and determined to be healthy.
Foster says that the department wants to remind residents that the city has a Safe Haven Baby Box at Seymour Fire Station 3. It became available to residents in June.
No arrests have been made and police are investigating
Work continues on the overpass project in downtown Columbus. City Council approved a resolution Tuesday night to authorize the Redevelopment Commission to transfer $4,662,005 into the Railroad Overpass Fund to pay towards the project. This should cover city’s final payment to INDOT, which is due December 1st.
The Redevelopment Commission approved making the payment out of funds from the Central Tax Increment Financing area on Sept. 16. However this expenditure exceeds the commission’s spending authority, so the City Council needed to sign off on the proposal.
City Engineer Dave Hayward explained that bids for the project came in last week.
Hayward adds that these bids are lower than the overall projected cost of the project.
Council approved the measure unanimously.
The overpass project is expected to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2020.
Turning Point Domestic Violence Services is once again calling upon the men and others in the community to take a stand against domestic violence. The seventh annual “Men Take A Stand” event will be held Oct. 24th from 5 to 6 p.m. at the “Thank You, Next Exhibit Columbus” downtown on Washington Street between Sixth and Seventh streets in Columbus.
All are welcome as the program opens with remarks and the presentation of the annual Stand Up Award. The gathering is meant to promote and model healthy relationships to colleagues, peers, and local youth.
Immediately following the program, all are invited to join the “100 Men + Friends Move to End Violence” campaign and tailgate party at the Coca Cola Bottling Co. at 1334 Washington Street.
The IUPUC Office for Women invites you to unite on the steps of the Bartholomew County Courthouse for an event Thursday evening called “Take Back the Night.” Lesley Bradley is the coordinator for the Office for Women at IUPUC.
Organizers say that events began in the 1960’s in Belgium and England with protests about how women were not able to be safe walking down the street alone. The mission of the international organization is to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence.
Bradley explains that while Take Back the Night is an international organization, the mission is local.
Bradley says the event begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on the steps of the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
For more information about the event, contact Lesley Bradley in the IUPUC Office for Women, lbradle@iu.edu.
Larry Lowe. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
A man was arrested yesterday on drunk driving charges in Bartholomew County after he toppled off his motorcycle at a stop sign.
Bartholomew County deputies including Sheriff Matt Myers were called to the accident scene at West Deaver Road and West Nasby Trail at 7:06 p.m. in the evening and found 61-year-old Larry Lowe of Columbus lying on the ground.
He was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
Holly A. Caldwell. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
Columbus police are reporting that a passenger was arrested on drug-related charges after a traffic stop early this morning.
Police pulled over a vehicle at 16th Street and Home Avenue at about 12:15 a.m. this morning. A police dog was brought to the scene and alerted to the odor of narcotics inside the vehicle.
Officers searched the vehicle and allegedly found drug paraphernalia, syringes and a small amount of methamphetamine near where 32-year-old Holly A. Caldwell of Columbus was sitting.
She was arrested on preliminary charges for possessing those items.
