There will be a free legal clinic for Bartholomew County residents from 3 to 5 p.m. today at the Legal Aid offices in the Doug Otto United Way center on 13th Street.
You can get a free 10 minute consultation with a pro bono attorney.
Legal Aid uses local volunteer attorneys to offer free legal consultations to low-income individuals. Consultations are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and no reservations are required.
Famed architect Cesar Pelli has died at the age of 92.
Among his world-famous works were the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the SalesForce Tower in San Francisco. Locally, he designed the original Commons in Columbus in 1973 as well as the Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence at the Columbus Municipal Airport in 2011.
He died Friday at his home in Connecticut.
An Edinburgh man died after he crashed during a police chase on Interstate 65 in Scott County last week.
Indiana State Police have identified the driver as 30-year-old Jesse Murphy.
Scott County deputies tried to stop Murphy’s car at about 8 p.m. Thursday night after the vehicle ran a red light in Scottsburg and continued driving recklessly, according to police reports.
Deputies say Murphy then got onto northbound I-65 where the chase continued.
Authorities say that when the vehicle reached Austin, Murphy tried to exit the interstate. However, the vehicle left the road and flipped several times, throwing him from the vehicle. Murphy was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Scott County Sheriff’s Department believe Murphy was involved in an attempted theft at a Scottsburg business right before the pursuit began. Indiana State Police are investigating.
Jennings County deputies are investigating an incident that injured a 30-year-old inmate at the county jail. According to police reports, the man jumped from the second level of the jail and fell to the ground floor at about 7 p.m. Friday night.
Other inmates provided first aid while jail staff responded to the scene. He was taken first to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital and then to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis to be treated for the self-inflicted injuries.
A review of video surveillance footage, showed the man leaping from the second floor level. Deputies report that the man was suffering from an emotional/ psychological issue.
The inmate’s name has not been released.
Columbus Animal Care Services says there is still time to register to ride in this year’s “Moonlight Loop” bicycle ride around town.
The fundraiser is set for Saturday, August 3 at 9 p.m. at the Bartholomew County Public Library Plaza. Bicycle riders and volunteers are needed for this ride, which will make a loop around the Columbus, highlighting the city’s architecture. Organizers say that over the past six years, the ride has netted over $58,000 for Animal Care Services.
Registration, a course map and additional information about the event are available at columbus.in.gov/animal-care-services/moonlight-loop. Online registration for $30 per person is available through Friday, August 2nd. On-site registration will be available on site for $35 per person beginning at 6:30 p.m.
If you would like to volunteer, call 812-376-2505 or email moonlightloop@columbus.in.gov. Volunteers will receive a free volunteer t-shirt.
A reminder that traffic is set to shift in the I-65 construction area in Bartholomew County this weekend.
The Bartholomew County Emergency Management Agency says that on Sunday night, July 21st, southbound traffic will be shifted from south of the bridge over the East Fork of the White River to the 50 mile marker at the southernmost project limits. Officials say this traffic will be shifted to the newly constructed lanes on the northbound side, similar to a configuration that is in place from the 61.4 mile marker to the 56 mile marker. Southbound traffic will remain in this configuration until the southbound lanes are constructed.
In addition, department officials say that nightly traffic restrictions will be in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. throughout the week. Mowing crews will be mowing the outside shoulder and median throughout the project limits.
A disturbance call led to the arrest of a Columbus man on drug charges. The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department says that deputies responded to a disturbance call in the 3000 block of South US 31 on at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
During the investigation, deputies reportedly found 32-year-old Jeremy D. Morgan in possession of heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, Alprazolam, Lorazepam and Clonazepam.
A short time later, a Columbus Police dog responded to the scene and alerted to the vehicle in which Morgan was a passenger. Officers reportedly found syringes, spoons containing residue and a scale inside. Police say Morgan confessed that the paraphernalia belonged to him.
Morgan is facing preliminary charges of:
Possession of a Controlled Substance
Possession of Heroin
Possession of Marijuana
Possession of Methamphetamine
Possession of Paraphernalia
Legend Drug Injection Devices
Disorderly Conduct
He remains behind bars on $38,500 bond.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department welcomed a new jail chaplain to its ranks. Pastor David R. Burnett, with Waynesburg Christian Church in Westport, was sworn in by Sheriff Myers Wednesday.
“Our chaplains offer guidance and assistance to members of our agency and to BCJ inmates to provide comfort and counseling during tough times,” said Sheriff Myers. “Dave Burnett is a personal friend and an excellent addition to our jail program.”
Pastor Burnett joins fellow department chaplains Pastor Robert Vestor, Pastor David C. Bosley and Chaplain Keith Maddox.
Legislation sponsored by Rep. Greg Pence, a Columbus Republican, to help terrorist victims and their families collect financial judgments from the 1983 Marine Barracks Terrorist Attack in Beirut, has passed in the House of Representatives. That attack killed 241 Americans, including 220 Marines.
The “Our Obligation to Recognize American Heroes (OORAH) Act” was passed by the House 397-31 on Wednesday night. The measure would allow Iran financial assets to be utilized to pay the families of the victims. “The Washington Examiner” is reporting that $1.6 billion in Iranian funds being held by a Luxembourg-based firm is being targeted.
Pence was a Marine at that time. He had just left the area prior to the attack.
“My battalion shipped out 10 days before the bombing,” Pence said on the House floor Tuesday night. “I was able to come home to my wife, who was expecting our first child, and my family in Columbus, Indiana.”
The bill has already passed in the Senate and will need to go through conference committee before it makes it to president Trump’s desk.
A former Monroe County Chief Deputy Auditor has been sentenced on a child porn charge. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana says that 48-year-old James Hans Huffman, of Bloomington, was sentenced to 96 months in prison for Possession of Child Pornography. Huffman served as the Chief Deputy Auditor for Monroe County from 2017-2018 and Chief Deputy Treasurer for the county from 2009-2017.
Authorities say the case began when the Bloomington Police Department uncovered that Huffman and a 16-year-old male were sending nude pictures and videos to each other via social media. A search warrant executed at Huffman’s home a large collection of child pornography. Huffman’s collection included imagery of toddlers, as well as bestiality. In total, investigators say Huffman’s collection included 230,000 individual child pornography pictures and movies.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting children from predators like Huffman,” said U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler. “Anyone who preys upon a child, no matter what public office they hold, will be held fully accountable under the law.”
This case was jointly investigated by the Southern District of Indiana Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indiana State Police and the Bloomington Police Department.
Huffman will be on supervised release for 10 years following his release from prison. In addition, Huffman was fined $5,000 and will have to register as a sex offender.