An expired license plate led to the arrest of a Columbus man who was allegedly carrying a stolen handgun.

Columbus police stopped the vehicle at about 1 a.m. this morning near 17th Street and Central Avenue. The driver, 31-year-old Barrett B. Finke of Columbus, told police he had a handgun in the car and a check on the gun revealed it had been reported stolen almost four years ago, according to police reports..

Finke said he bought the handgun from an online ad and did not realize it was stolen. He is facing preliminary charges of possession of a handgun without a license and receiving stolen property.

The arrest comes on the heels of Columbus police asking gunowners to make sure their firearms are securely stored. Since 2016, there have been 183 firearms stolen in the city, most from unsecured homes or vehicles.

An Elizabethtown man was arrested on rape charges after a Monday morning incident. Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a mobile home park in Elizabethtown at 8:12 a.m.

When deputies arrived, a woman told them that a man had broken into her home, raped and battered her. About an hour later, authorities found the suspect, 46-year-old Teddy Albert Allman. He is facing preliminary charges of:

Rape – Armed with a Deadly Weapon
Domestic Battery – Serious Injury
Intimidation/Deadly Weapon
Criminal Confinement – Armed with a Deadly Weapon
Invasion of Privacy

Allman remains behind bars on $260,000 bond. The investigation is ongoing.

An inmate who died last month in the Bartholomew County Jail was killed by acute methamphetamine intoxication, according to a coroner’s report..

61-year-old Cathy Hull died on August 9th. Jail staff found Hull unconscious in a cell at the jail at about 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon and called paramedics.

A forensic autopsy was ordered by Senior Deputy Coroner Charlie Deweese and was performed two days later. County Coroner Clayton Nolting says the autopsy found no anatomical cause of death, but toxicology results later came back showing a lethal amount of methamphetamine.

Those reports were turned over to Indiana State Police, which is investigating the incident.

Hull was being held after being arrested by Columbus Police on a warrant for a probation violation.

Bartholomew County corrections officials believe there is still time to start a drug treatment program for men this year, if the funding gets approved.

Last week, City Council gave its first approval to pay half of the just over $241 thousand dollars cost of the REALM treatment program. Tonight the Bartholomew County Council will consider funding the other half of the program.

Rob Gaskill, director of residential services for the county community corrections department, says that cost would fund the program for all of next year and the remainder of this year.

If funding is approved, the county would house the program on the first floor of the Bartholomew County Jail building. Community corrections already operates three work-release programs and the WRAP drug treatment program for women in that space.

Gaskill says room for REALM will be made by reducing the number of local male work-release participants.

County officials feel the best use of funds would be a drug treatment program for men, as many of the men in the work-release program would benefit more from drug treatment.

If everything goes according to plan, the first REALM class could be running by early December.

The County Council meets at 6 tonight at the Governmental Office Building on Third Street.

Community emergency workers will be gathering in front of Columbus City Hall this morning, to remember those who lost their lives in the 9-11 attacks 17 years ago today.

Columbus Fire Chief Mike Compton says that the ceremony is an important one for firefighters.

It will include flags planted on the City Hall lawn by Central Middle School students.

Nearly 3,000 people died that day including 343 New York City firefighters and 71 police officers in and around the World Trade Center.

The ceremony starts at City Hall at 8:40 a.m. and will include an emergency dispatch call at 8:46 a.m., the moment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

According to our newsgathering partners at TTWN Media Networks,  Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will speak at a 9-11 memorial at the Pentagon. The annual observance commemorates the 184 lives lost in the Pentagon and on American Airlines Flight 77 during the terrorist attacks in 2001.

President Trump will observe the 9-11 anniversary at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Columbus police are asking you to make sure your guns are securely locked up. Four more guns were stolen over the last week, bringing the total to 47 weapons stolen so far this year in the city. Of those, 11 were shotguns and rifles, while the rest were hand guns.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that since 2016, 183 firearms have been stolen in the city, most from unsecured vehicles or homes.

He said the Columbus police are urging gun owners to be responsible and to take safety measures to ensure that their firearms are always secure. Harris said police are concerned that the stolen guns are ending up in the hands of people who legally can’t own a firearm and will likely be used in more crimes in the future.

There were 82 firearms stolen last year in the city, Harris said.

A Jennings County woman was sent to an Indianapolis hospital after a Friday morning crash. The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department says that deputies responded to the area of East 100 South/South 525 East at 8:11 a.m.

Upon arrival, deputies located two vehicles in a cornfield, both with serious damage. They say the driver of a pickup truck, 32-year-old Eric Elliott, of Columbus, was traveling northbound on 525 E when he approached the intersection, did not stop, and hit the driver’s side of a second vehicle driven by 26-year-old Jessica Rudd, of North Vernon. Elliott was transported to Columbus Regional Health. Rudd was taken to IU Methodist Hospital. A passenger in Rudd’s vehicle, 78-year-old Leila Carnahan, of Westport, was also transported to Columbus Regional Health.

Local retired journalist Bud Herron has been chosen to be the grand marshal of the Hope Heritage Days parade later this month.

At a ceremony Friday night in Hope, Herron was surprised with the honor.

Michael Dean, CEO of Heritage of Hope which organizes the annual festival, read a proclamation.

Herron was the long time editor and publisher of The Daily Journal in Franklin, as well as publisher of The Republic, The Brown County Democrat, and South magazine. He has served the community of Hope in a number of ways, including at one time heading up the Heritage of Hope not-profit group. Most recently he worked with Advocates for Children as a guardian ad litem, before retiring earlier this year..

Hope Heritage Days runs Sept. 28th, 29th and 30th. The parade is teh afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 30th.

The National Weather Service is reporting that a flood warning continues for rivers and streams in our area, in some places through the middle of the week.

Affected area rivers and streams includes the Big Blue River, Driftwood River, East Fork White and Muscatatuck River. Rainfall of 2 to nearly 8 inches occurred in central and southern Indiana since Thursday evening.

Flood warnings continue for:

• Driftwood River until late Tuesday night with minor flooding forecast.
• East Fork White River at Seymour until Thursday morning with minor flooding forecast.
• Big Blue River at Shelbyville until late tonight. River levels are expected to fall to below flood stage by this afternoon.
• Muscatatuck River at Wheeler Hollow flood warning runs from Tuesday afternoon to Friday afternoon and minor flooding is forecast.

For the most up to date weather and flood information, check out our weather page here. 

A flood warning from the National Weather Service continues for rivers and streams throughout south-central Indiana, with most of the flooding coming this evening and going through mid-week in many areas.

According to the agency, four to six inches of rain fell through central Indiana, with another inch or more was expected last night. The remnants of Hurricane Gordon are tracking northeast along the Ohio River through tonight.

Among the rivers affected in our area are the East Fork White, Driftwood, Flatrock, Muscatatuck and Big Blue.

For other area river forecasts:

• The Driftwood River at Hendricks Ford Bridge was at 5.18 feet as of about7:30 p.m. Saturday night, the last observed level. It is expected to hit 13.5 feet by tonight. That  would be minor flooding and half a foot below moderate flooding.
•  The Flat Rock River at the U.S. 31 bridge in Columbus was at 5.82 feet at 5:30 a.m today, and is expected to hit 10.7 feet by early Monday morning. That is a few inches below the minor flooding level.
• East Fork White River at Columbus is at 3.59 feet as of 6 a.m. today and is expected to crest at about 9.3 feet by Monday afternoon. That is minor flooding and just a few inches above the minor flooding level.
• In Seymour, East Fork White River is at 10.76 feet at 5:45 a.m. today and is expected to crest at about 15.9 feet by Tuesday afternoon. That is moderate flooding and just over a foot below major flooding.
• In Shelbyville, the Big Blue River was at 13.93 feet at 5:45 a.m., with a crest of 14.7 feet expected later this afternoon. That would be minor flooding and significantly lower than anticipated, even last night.
• In Vernon, the Muscatatuck River is expected to crest at 21 feet later this morning, which would be minor flooding. It was at 19.55 feet as of 5:30 a.m. this morning.

The National Weather Service warns that you should never drive into flood water. If you come across water over the roadway they say “Turn around and don’t drown.”