Four people were arrested after an investigation by the Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team into drug dealing at a house on Vine Street.

The investigation began Thursday when a sheriff’s deputy with a police dog searched a vehicle driven by 30-year-old Jami Hupp of Columbus. The dog alerted to the smell of narcotics inside the vehicle and Hupp was arrested on drug possession charges and a charge of neglect of a dependent for a child she had in the vehicle.

Those drugs were linked to the Vine Street home and a search warrant was issued.

59-year-old Michael K. Thompson of Columbus, 36-year-old Ashley Snyder of Taylorsville and 47-year-old Aaron Allman were arrested on a variety of charges.

Thompson is facing charges of theft – receiving stolen property , possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, maintaining a common nuisance and an outstanding Bartholomew County warrant.

Snyder is being accused of possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, and maintaining a common nuisance.

Allman faces a charge of visiting a common nuisance.

Some residents on Grandview Drive will be without water Wednesday as Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corp. works to repair a leak.

The water will be turned off from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Wednesday. Customers between the lot owner’s association building and 11251 West Grandview Drive will be affected.

After the water comes back on, customers will be under a boil water advisory. You should bring water to a boil for five minutes before consuming it. That will be in effect until 4 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Columbus police say they recovered a stolen handgun and arrested a Seymour man after a disturbance early Sunday morning.

44-year-old Kevin A. Hackman of Seymour is facing a charge of possession of stolen property/theft after the incident.

Police report that they were called to the 2300 block of Merchant’s Mile at 3:45 Sunday morning about a disturbance. They encountered Hackman and during a pat-down discovered a .380 caliber pistol in his back pocket. A search for the gun’s serial number revealed that it had been reported stolen from Jackson County.

Hackman was arrested and taken to the Bartholomew County Jail.

INDOT is urging you to keep any campaign signs out of the public right-of-way.

That means keeping campaign signs out of intersections, interchanges and the right of way strips that run parallel to highways. If you don’t know where the right-of-way is, you should assume it is the same as the fence line, the back of any drainage ditch, behind utility poles or at the edge of the sidewalk.

Those signs can block visibility, causing traffic hazards for drivers and pedestrians.

Signs found to be in the right-of way will be collected and taken to the nearest INDOT office where you can claim them. You can pick up your signs between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday

To report signs placed in the right-of-way, contact INDOT customer service at 855-463-6848.

United Way 2-1-1’s holiday helpline starts today and organizers are looking for volunteers to help produce the list of requests.

They are seeking volunteers willing to work for one and a half to two hour shifts through Dec. 7th. You would be taking requests for holiday help including registering children and families for assistance through Toys for Tots, The Columbus Fireman’s Cheer Fund, Shop with a Cop and Love Chapel’s holiday pantry.

If you are interested in helping, you can contact Dede Parker by email at dparker@uwbarthco.org or call 812-376-0011.

The city of Columbus will be holding a meeting for east side residents, tonight at City Hall.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop, Columbus Police Chief Jon Rohde, members of City Council and city staff will be on hand to answer questions and discuss issues.

One of the major topics will be resident’s concerns over the Brighter Days homeless shelter. The shelter, operated by Love Chapel and the Columbus Township Trustee’s office, has drawn some concerns over increased crime and drug use in the neighborhood.

That meeting will start at 6 in the Cal Brand meeting room at City Hall.

It is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the local shelter is introducing a new event aimed at getting men to take a stand against violence. That will include a marathon sit-in on the roof of Amazing Joe’s on Central Avenue.

Bartholomew Consolidated Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts, brought the idea for 100 Men Move to End Domestic Violence to Columbus and will be the featured speaker today.

The goal is to get 100 men to donate $100 each.

Roberts says that Nick Grams, managing partner of Amazing Joe’s, will be leading the way as he sits on the roof of his building through tomorrow.

The roof-sitting event will benefit Turning Point Domestic Violence Services.

For more information you can go to turningpointDV.org.

A statewide Silver Alert has been declared for a missing Muncie man.

The Muncie Police Department is investigating the disappearance of 69-year-old Carl M. Gravitt. Gravitt is 6 feet tall and a 140 pounds with brown-gray hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen at about 10:30 a.m. this morning and was wearing a tan jacket, gray sweatshirt and blue jeans.

He is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance.

If you have any information on Gravitt you can contact the Muncie Police Department at 765-747-4838 or call 911.

There will be new things for kids to do at Ethnic Expo this year including activities at a new children’s area and a performance of Peter and the Wolf.

Katherine Dunn, organizer of the festival for the city, says there will be a new kids booth at the fair. That will be near the entrance to Ethnic Expo. She talks about some of the children’s activities going on there.

At 4 p.m. this afternoon there will be a performance of “Peter and the Wolf.” That will be held in the outdoor French cafe area set up at the corner of First and Washington streets.

Ethnic Expo is from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. both today and Saturday. You can get more information at ethnicexpo.org

A driver had to be flown by Lifeline helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital this morning. That is after a crash of two SUVs in northern Bartholomew County that left drivers of both vehicles trapped inside, says Chief Matt Lynch with the German Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Lynch says the call came in at about 6:25 this morning near the intersection of County Roads 800N and 100W. Both vehicles rolled after the crash and were on their sides in a corn field when firefighters arrived. German Township called in Columbus Fire Department Squad 2 to help rescue the victims.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, 40-year-old Wesley Mourey of Edinburgh was able to escape after firefighter removed the windshield of his vehicle. He was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for his injuries. 38-year-old Ariel Dawn Gutana of Edinburgh had to be cut from the wreckage of her vehicle before she could be flown to IU Methodist Hospital.

Lynch says both drivers were wearing their seatbelts which likely kept this from being a fatal crash.