(Richmond, IN)--On Friday afternoon, the Richmond Police Department announced the resignation of Major Adam Blanton.  Blanton has been at the center of three different local law enforcement issues, including the disposal of a police canine’s remains, the issuance of false information in a Richmond murder case, and, most recently, the as-yet uncompleted purchase of police vehicles from a local dealer.  A prepared statement from RPD Chief Kyle Weatherly said that Blanton has been a committed member of the agency and has served with dedication through his tenure.

(Preble County, OH)--Two people were seriously hurt when a semi ran an SUV off of I-70 Sunday night.  It happened at around 8:15 in the westbound lanes in Preble County.  The semi driver forced the SUV off the road.  The SUV then rolled over multiple times and ended up in a ditch.  The semi driver kept going and was eventually stopped in Wayne County.  The injuries were described as serious, but non-life-threatening.  Westbound 70 was backed up for more than an hour Sunday night.

(Richmond, IN)--A wanted Richmond woman was taken into custody after an officer spotted her at the local Walmart Sunday night.  That officer knew that 25-year-old Faith Holbert had warrants for burglary and breaking and entering.  Holbert allegedly ran and was caught after a short chase.  Three years ago, Holbert was arrested for attacking another woman with a piece of broken glass because she wasn’t invited to go horseback riding.  (Note:  mugshot not posted because Holbert was combative during the book-in process and could not be photographed.)

(West College Corner, IN)--There’s been another drug bust in the West College Corner area.  Details were released Sunday of the arrest of Dana Buttery.  A Union County deputy initiated a traffic stop on Brookville Pike.  A canine was brought to the scene and gave a positive indication.   Inside Buttery’s vehicle, deputies found an unspecified amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.  It’s the second time in two weeks that a routine traffic stop led to a meth arrest in West College Corner.

(Union County, IN)--Indiana continues to catch up on its county-by-county unemployment reports.  Thursday, it released numbers for March.  And, for the Whitewater Valley, unemployment rates have dropped.  Wayne County is down to 3.6% unemployment after being at 3.9% the month before with 80 more people now working.  Other area counties saw similar drops.  Once again, Union County has Indiana’s lowest unemployment rate at 2.6%.

(Eaton, OH)--A former Preble County township trustee accused of making video recordings of a juvenile in a bathroom has pled guilty to some of the charges he originally faced.  Wade Guthrie, who was a Gasper Township Trustee, pled guilty to voyeurism and tampering with evidence.  Other charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.  Guthrie now faces up ten years in prison when he’s sentenced next month.  He’ll also have to register as a sex offender for the next 15 years.

(Richmond, IN)--The Richmond Avenue Bridge project has hit an expensive snag that was discussed Wednesday when Wayne County Council met.  Crews have run into unexpected difficulty removing an overlay, and now it will have to be chipped away by hand.  The work won’t come cheap.  "There is going to be a change order of about $200,000 coming for this project," said Brandon Sanders.  The extra work is not expected to push back the reopening of the bridge, which should happen sometime in late August.

(Richmond, IN)--Changes are coming to a Richmond financial institution.  First Bank Richmond and The Farmers Bank announced this week that the combined organization will operate under the name First Bank Midwest.  The new brand also will encompass Mutual Federal, including its six offices in Ohio.  The organizations also unveiled a new logo and brand identity that will begin on the first of July.  First Bank has operated in Richmond for 140 years.

(New Westville, OH)--A 30-year-old Preble County man is facing multiple drug-related charges after deputies searched his home.  That search took place in the 5000 block of State Route 320.  That’s just outside of New Westville.  Investigators say they found 38 grams of suspected cocaine, over 600 vapes and cigars, and 25 pounds of marijuana.  Elisha McCracken now faces numerous trafficking and possession charges.  McCracken has already bonded out of jail.

(Whitewater Valley)--Following are transcripts from Wednesday morning's election-results-only newscasts:

 

WAYNE SHERIFF:  About 18% of Wayne County voters cast ballots in this year’s primary election, and the mostly hotly contested race was that for Wayne County sheriff.  Alan Moore defeated Kyle Weatherly by a 60-40% margin.  Absentee voting in that race was essentially a tie.  But Moore pulled well ahead when four vote centers opened last week, and voters casting ballots on yesterday’s traditional Election Day also clearly favored Moore.  For all Wayne County races, 42% of voters cast ballots yesterday, while the remainder voted before that.

 

 

DISTRICT 56:  Current Wayne County Sheriff Randy Retter will soon change titles and be State Representative of District 56.  Retter defeated challenger Pete Zaleski yesterday by a 53-42% margin.  Inexplicably, 281 people voted for RPD’s Adam Blanton even though he dropped out of the race a month and a half ago.

 

 

WAYNE OTHER:  In some other results of contested races in Wayne County, incumbent Brad Dwenger easily won back his seat as County Commissioner of District 1.  Dwenger got 47% of the vote, while Mark Hoelscher and Howard Price split the remaining 53%.  Barry Ritter beat Bradley Wood for 54-46% for County Council District 2.  And, for State Senate District 27, three-term incumbent Jeff Raatz easily beat challenger Anthony Jones.  Raatz won by more than a 2-1 margin.

 

 

UNION, FRANKLIN, FAYETTE:  In Union County, Barry Boggs beat Jennifer Byrd in the race for County Auditor.  There were lots of contested county-wide races in Franklin County.  Winners include Austin Joliff for Auditor, Larry Wiwi and Tom Linkel for two commissioners seats, Joe Sizemore, Dean McQueen, and Jerry Hunt for county council, and Adam Henson for sheriff.  And, in Fayette County, Dawn Hughes won for clerk.  Jabin Collins and Jerry May won for seats on county council.

 

 

RANDOLPH:  Here’s how voting went in Randolph County yesterday.  Chad Puterbaugh easily won in the race for sheriff, garnering more votes than his two challengers combined.  It was the same for Jane Grove, who got 56% of the vote for a county commissioner seat.  Democrat Christen Smith will face Republican Olivia Faddis for Superior Court Judge.  And, in what was our area’s closest race yesterday, Tammy Pegg beat Laura Martin for county recorder.  Nearly 2900 ballots were cast in that race.  Pegg beat Martin by just six votes.

PREBLE:  24% of registered voters cast ballots in Preble County races.  There were a few issues on the ballot.  Voters turned down a four-mill police levy for Gratis by a 3-1 margin.  That votes comes with Gratis’ police chief coming under fire for trying to perform ICE duties at public schools in Cincinnati.  Lewisburg voters turned down a quarter-percent municipal income tax rally by a 2-1 margin.  In a race for county commissioner, Harold Niehaus beat David Haber 56-44%.

(Richmond, IN)--During its meeting Monday night, Richmond Common Council discussed the city’s failure to date to complete a purchase of eight police vehicles, which has left a local auto dealer holding $400,000 in inventory.  Council President Justin Burkhardt read from an email sent by RPD’s Adam Blanton, who wrote the letter of intent to the dealer last September.  Just before the issue became public a couple of weeks ago, Blanton wrote an email to the dealer which both expressed concern and placed blame on Council.  Here is Burkhardt reading part of Blanton's email Monday night.  "I'd be remiss if I did not tell you that I have little faith in our city council," Blanton wrote.  It brought this response from Mayor Ron Oler.  "The comment that was sent in the middle of April was very unprofessional and was dealt with," Oler explained Monday night.  Oler was pressed on Blanton’s status, but declined to disclose whether or not Blanton is still employed by RPD.  Oler added that the city is continuing to seek either funding for the police vehicles or to facilitate sales of the vehicles to other police agencies.

(Richmond, IN)--Zoning for residential development near Backmeyer Road went before Richmond Common Council Monday night.  The land covers 24 acres currently owned by Christ United Church.  Here is the city’s planning director:  "They're requesting to rezone 19.25 acres of that property to multi-family residential for a residential develpment."  And this is what is being proposed..."what they are proposing is a subdivision consisting of nine four-unit condominiums and 21 duplex condominiums.  They will all be privately owned," the director said.  The issue will go to the Plan Commission for a public hearing on May 27.

(Richmond, IN)--A man accused of committing a series of thefts in the Richmond area has been apprehended.  Jesse Maiden was taken into custody near Holsapple Road.  Maiden’s arrest is the result of an investigation that began in February with a report of a theft from a local hotel.  Maiden also had a burglary case pending. He’s had five different felony criminal cases in the last six years.

(Richmond, IN)--Richmond Common Council meets Monday night for what should be an eventful meeting.  Council will hear an ordinance on first reading involving the proposed Smith Hill development.  The ordinance would rezone 19 acres of land with a Backmeyer Road address for multi-family residential purposes.  The ordinance will likely be referred to the city’s plan commission with no action being taken Monday night.  There is also still a spot on Monday night’s agenda for council to address the issues with the purchase of eight police vehicles from Wetzel Auto.  RPD Chief Kyle Weatherly and Adam Blanton appear on the agenda, but indicated last week they would not attend.  Monday night’s meeting begins at 7.  As always, you can catch it live on WCTV.

(Richmond, IN)--An alleged drug dealer was arrested near Fountain City in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning.  35-year-old Kyle Brengman was taken into custody on Pleasant Plain Road.  Brengman is charged with dealing cocaine and OWI – Endangerment.  Details of what led to Brengman’s arrest have not been released.  That arrest was part of a busy weekend at the Wayne County Jail.  Between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday, 27 people were jailed.

(Boston, IN)--A teenager has been arrested in connection with a series of vehicle break-ins in the Boston area.  18-year-old Zachary McKinney was questioned early Sunday morning at RPD headquarters, charged, and taken to jail.  McKinney now faces 11 total counts involving thefts from vehicles.  One Boston resident said that she had $500 and a wallet stolen from her car.  The case remains under investigation.

(Richmond, IN)--Representatives of Wetzel Auto said Thursday that they will take no legal action against the city of Richmond.  The city and Wetzel continue to seek a solution to Wetzel having been left holding $400,000 in police vehicles for which the city cannot pay, but Wetzel said that will not include any type of lawsuit.  Wetzel added that the company’s only goal is to continue to be a good corporate citizen.  Wetzel is actively involved in the community through numerous sponsorship initiatives.

(Wayne County, IN)--Shots were fired into a Centerville-area home Thursday, and now a Cambridge City man is facing numerous felony charges.  Wayne County deputies were called to the home on Rice Road at 11 Thursday morning.  Joshua Rodgers was inside the home, but was not injured.  Witnesses in the area described the vehicle that fled the scene.  That vehicle was located in the Cambridge City area and a chase began.  22-year-old Brennen Jones was eventually taken into custody.  A firearm allegedly used in the shooting was also recovered.

(Connersville, IN)--A Fayette County man has been sentenced to ten years in prison a little more than a year after he made a bomb threat at the courthouse there.  46-John Sheets, Junior pled guilty to numerous felony charges.  Other charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.  Sheets called in the bomb threat in March of last year in an effort to force a delay of a hearing for his girlfriend in an unrelated drug case.  Sheets then admitted to making the threat when he was arrested on drug charges a year ago.

(Liberty, IN)--An initial hearing has been set for the 11^th for a man accused of stalking in Union County.  Mark Cordell was taken into custody in the parking lot of a Liberty restaurant after a warrant was issued for his arrest a week ago today.  Details of what led to the stalking charge have not yet become available.  The arrest was the result of an investigation by the Liberty Police Department.

(Richmond, IN)--When the agenda for this coming Monday night’s meeting of the Richmond Common Council was distributed Wednesday, it included a report from Richmond Police Chief Kyle Weatherly and Major Adam Blanton.  The report was to address a written promise by Blanton last September to purchase eight police vehicles from Wetzel Ford.  Budgetary constraints prevented the purchase from being finalized, but Wetzel was not notified.  Those vehicles, totaling around $400,000, are still sitting on the lot today.  And, even if they were to sell today at Wetzel’s cost, Wetzel would still be out more than $7000 in interest.  32 minutes after the agenda went out Wednesday, Weatherly indicated that neither he nor Blanton would be able to attend.  22 minutes after that, Council President Justin Burkhart said that he would keep the issue on the agenda anyway due to transparency purposes.  Weatherly’s response did not mention why they could not attend.

(Wayne County, IN)--A man who was walking on U.S. 40 in Wayne County on a path from Philadelphia to California to raise money for underprivileged children is continuing to recover after being struck on Tuesday just west of Centerville.  Isaiah Thomas was struck near Hildebrand Road.  Thomas posted an update from his hospital bed Wednesday.  "I'm gonna make sure we finish this marathon that God put me on.  God is the greatest.  I'm alive and that's all that matters," Thomas said.  The crash happened because an 82-year-old Centerville man rear-ended a support vehicle, which then struck Walker.

(West College Corner, IN)--Details of a Union County drug bust that occurred on Tuesday night were released Wednesday.  According to the sheriff’s department, Angela Benge showed signs of drug impairment when she was stopped on Liberty Avenue in West College Corner.  An investigation turned up an unspecified quantity of meth and drug paraphernalia.  Benge was taken to the Union County Jail.

(Connersville, IN)--Fayette County leaders have issued a one-year moratorium for applications for data centers.  Even though there are no specific plans for any data center anywhere in the county, the Area Plan Commission decided that the one-year period would allow the county to address zoning issues and other concerns when and if a proposed data center comes before them.  Next year, Fayette County can either extend the moratorium or let it expire.

(Wayne County, IN)--Voting continues at four vote centers across Wayne County and at the Wayne County Courthouse this week.  Meanwhile, some final numbers are in reflecting an incredibly low number of people who voted by mail or in person at the courthouse before the vote centers opened on Monday.  Less than two percent of registered Wayne County voters had cast ballots before the vote centers opened on Monday.  Four more vote centers will open for the traditional Election Day on Tuesday of next week.