Update: The Indiana State Police are reporting that the Silver Alert has been canceled for Bryier Clark Fauquher as of 3:07 p.m. Friday. He was reportedly found safe.

Earlier version:

A Statewide Silver Alert has been declared  for a missing 6-year-old boy from Clinton, Indiana.

The Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the disappearance of Bryier Clark Fauquher. He is a 6 year old white male, 3 feet 6 inches tall, 67 pounds, blonde hair, and blue eyes.  He was last seen Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 at  6 p.m. in Clinton and is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance.

If you have any information on Bryier Clark Fauquher, contact the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department at 765-492-3838 or 911.

Clinton, Indiana is 95 miles west of Indianapolis.

A former Hope Volunteer Fire Department treasurer is facing federal wire fraud charges after allegedly taking more than $48,000 from the department.

Our news-gathering partners at RTV 6 TV are reporting that 47-year-old Mathew Mathis was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on six counts of wire fraud.

An audit by the State Board of Accounts looked back at fire department transactions from 2015 to 2016 and determined that Mathis did not deposit money from a fish fry, wrote checks to himself and withdrew money from the department savings account.

Mathis was also also announced yesterday as one of 15 former public officials being targeted by a coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. “Operation Public Accountability.” seeks to recover more than $1 million dollars in public funds taken by former public officials.

Also targeted in that task force were:

• 51 year old Clint Madden, who served as the Wayne Township trustee and treasurer of the Jonesville Volunteer Fire Department. He is accused of misappropriating more than $100,000 dollars from those groups.
• Former Rock Creek Township Trustee, 50-year-old David Buzzard  s facing state charges for allegedly overpaying himself and his wife $27,000

U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said that public officials work for the people, not the other way around.

Two people were arrested on drug charges after a deputy saw a vehicle cross the centerline several times early Thursday morning.

A Bartholomew County deputy pulled the vehicle over at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning on County Road 50W near 550N. Drug-related paraphernalia was in plain view as the deputy approached the vehicle, according to police reports.

A search of the vehicle allegedly revealed cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, other controlled substances and more drug paraphernalia.

The driver, 23-year-old Damian Brown of Edinburgh is facing charges of operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs along with possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

23-year-old Lawrence Turnbloom of Edinburgh is being accused of possession of cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and a controlled substance.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources announced this week that several area counties would be receiving payments from timber sales in state forests. The money will go to the county general funds and to rural fire departments.

Brown County is set to see $64,427 for county use and $6,000 for fire departments. Jackson County will receive $23,736 with $9,000 going to fire departments, while Jennings will receive $6,621with half,  $3,310 going to rural fire departments.

The state is allocating $210,517 this year to counties where timber sales took place. That is 15 percent of timber sales revenues, and counties have the option of allocating up to half of that money to their rural fire departments.

A Columbus man allegedly pulled a gun on deputies after they were called to a family fight Wednesday afternoon.

43-year-old Brian Hoover is facing charges of domestic battery, strangulation, battery by bodily waste to law enforcement, resisting law enforcement, intimidation and criminal confinement.

The incident started about about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday when Bartholomew County deputies were called to a home in the 5000 block of County Road 330W on a report of a domestic disturbance. A woman reported that Hoover battered her and then barricaded himself inside of a bedroom, according to police reports.

Deputies entered the room through a window and struggled with Hoover to take him into custody. He allegedly threatened the deputies with a firearm and attempted to spit on them.

Hoover was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail. The woman was treated for minor injuries.

Loose leaf pickup is set to start Monday in the city of Columbus.

Leaves raked to curbside will be collected on the same day as your regular trash collection. Officials are asking that you rake the leaves to the curb but not into the street. Leaves in the street can clog storm drains, leading to flooding when it rains.

The city also is stressing that leaves left out for pickup must be loose and cannot be in bags. If you choose to bag your leaves you must take them to the city compost site on South Mapleton Street and dump them out into the pile.

Several former public officials in Bartholomew County were among those targeted in a public corruption prosecution campaign unveiled this morning in Indianapolis.

Officials from the State Board of Accounts, the FBI, Indiana State Police, county sheriffs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and state and local prosecutors touted their cooperation in bringing charges against 15 people accused of taking money from public coffers. The goal is recoup the lost money by civilly charging the 15 former officials.

The announcement said that two Bartholomew County residents are facing federal prosecution for the ethics violations. That included:

51 year old Clint Madden, who served as the Wayne Township trustee and treasurer of the Jonesville Volunteer Fire Department. He is accused of misappropriating more than $100,000 dollars from those groups.

And 47 year old Mathew Mathis who is accused of taking $48,000 from the Hope Volunteer Fire Department.

The exact federal charges were not announced at the Indianapolis press conference.

Former Rock Creek Township Trustee, 50-year-old David Buzzard was also mentioned. He is facing state charges for allegedly overpaying himself and his wife $27,000

They are calling the joint efforts “Operation Public Accountability.” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said that public officials work for the people, not the other way around.

“When the trust we give them is shattered and public officials line their pockets with taxpayer dollars, they should expect the scrutiny of state and federal law enforcement,” Minkler said. “All citizens deserve better from their public officials and this office intends to hold them accountable.”

The Columbus City Hall plaza will be filled with music this weekend as the 35th Ethnic Expo takes the stage.

Katherine Dunn, organizer of the festival for the city, said that most of the live music will concentrate on the plaza this year, without the second stage down the block. She talks about Friday’s entertainment:

The Friday night headliner will be Bilingual Nation with DJ GueroLoco.

Saturday’s entertainment will feature the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and local band, Flat Earth.

Music acts performing earlier on Saturday include the Columbus Pipes and Drums bagpipers.

There are no fireworks scheduled this year.

Singer Cathy Morris is also scheduled to perform both nights in the Biergarten.

Ethnic Expo events are going on from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. You can get more information at ethnicexpo.org.

Early voting got underway yesterday with a hot start, quadrupling the first day numbers from four years ago.

Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps said 160 people turned up at the courthouse voter registration office to cast ballots yesterday. Four years ago, there were only 40 voters on opening day.

The county has also already received 220 mail in ballots.

You can vote from 8 to 5 weekdays at the voter registration office in the Bartholomew County courthouse. That ends at noon on Nov. 5th, the day before the election.

Saturday hours will be added at the courthouse on Oct. 27th and Nov. 3rd from 8 to 3.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers says that an alert resident avoided a phone scam aimed at grandparents. The sheriff says that a local woman reported earlier in the week that she had been contacted from someone pretending to be from the Bartholomew County Jail.

The scammer claimed that the woman’s grandchild was in jail and needed money immediately.

But while she took information from the caller, she then hung up and called the jail herself. That confirmed that the call was a hoax.

The sheriff says that whenever you get a call like this, you should just hang up. He says that scammers will say or do anything to get your hard-earned money.