The Bartholomew Consolidated School Board will continue with is current school board schedule.

The board had considered going to only one meeting a month, but the majority of board members said they wanted to continue with more frequent, but shorter meetings.

Board member Kathy Dayhoff-Dwyer said that she had heard from parents whose children had to attend a government meeting as part of class requirements and the more frequent meetings were invaluable, she said. She also said that she was concerned that meetings could run extremely long especially if there were a lot of sports teams the required recognition.

The schedule would continue to see two monthly meetings during most months when school is in session, but only one meeting on months with school breaks.

School officials had suggested the change as a way to save work and cost of setting up for the meetings. BCSC meetings are held on a rotating schedule at all of the district’s schools.

The City of Columbus will apply for a federal grant that could mean up to $200,000 to work on the failing dam on East Fork White River between the Second and Third street bridges.

The Redevelopment Commission agreed last night to apply for the grant, which has an application deadline tomorrow. The city had to agree to provide a dollar for dollar match for the grant, but there were some strings attached. Heather Pope, the city’s redevelopment director, said that the grant was through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and would only come into play if the eventual solution for the more than 100 year old dam improved the ability of fish to travel up and down the river.

As of yet, the city has no approved plan for what it wants to do with the river, but the informal consensus is that the dam must be removed or repaired because it is causing erosion on the city’s former dump site on the south west bank of the river. That area is a federal EPA Superfund site.

Commission member George Dutro said he had reservations about the grant application because of concerns that it could obligate the city to take actions it normally might not. He said, for example, since the city has not decided on its course of action with the dam he did not want to commit to removing the dam. He also said the city had not concluded that improving the passage for fish is a priority for the project.

Ultimately, the commission agreed to apply for the grant but not to accept the money if it didn’t meet the city’s needs.

Purdue Polytechnic Columbus will host the FIRST LEGO League Southern State Championship this weekend. It will be held on Saturday at Foundation for Youth.

School officials say that 31 teams from around the state will come to Columbus to compete for a spot in the World FIRST LEGO League Competition in St. Louis later this year. Teams will represent the top placing teams from eight qualifying tournaments across the state.

“Our sponsorship of FIRST LEGO League is a natural fit to our mission to educate the next generation of problem solvers,” said Dr. Joe Fuehne, Director of Purdue Polytechnic Columbus. “By involving our campus faculty and students with FIRST LEGO League, we allow young students to see that the skills they are learning while having fun are the same skills they can cultivate as part of their career, and that we have the experts in our area who can help with that objective.”

Organizers say that teams consist of children in grades 4-8 and are typically organized at local elementary schools. These teams usually consist of 6-10 students and volunteer mentors. For more information about FIRST LEGO League in Indiana, visit www.indianafirst.org/first-lego-league.

You are encouraged to come watch the event in-person. Organizers say that the event will be streamed live, via a link on the Purdue Polytechnic Columbus Facebook page.

A count of the local homeless population will take place this week.

Officials with the Region 11 Planning Council to address homelessness will conduct the annual Point in Time homeless count on Thursday. The count is required by the state. Organizers say this one-day event gives a “snapshot” of the number of homeless in our area. They say the count is done to capture where individuals slept the night of Wednesday, January 25. This count helps to determine the amount of funding our region obtains for shelter and permanent housing programs.

Region 11 includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson and Shelby Counties.

Organizers say that sites have been set up in each county for homeless to conduct the survey and receive care packages. Those who are homeless, or anyone who knows someone who is homeless, are urged to call United Way 2-1-1 at (812) 376-6666 or 2-1-1 Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for more information on locations.

Purdue Extension and others are teaming up to host the Columbus Area Local Food Summit next month.

Kris Medic, with the Purdue Cooperative Extension Office in Bartholomew County, cites a report from the U.S. Congress that states that sales of local food in 2012 were an estimated $6.1 billion in the U.S. alone. From 2007 to 2012, over 3,600 Indiana farmers reported a 20-percent increase in direct sales to consumers.

The Extension Office says that in addition to economic benefits, a well-developed local food economy helps to conserve agricultural land, keeps farmers farming, brings new farmers into an aging workforce, and creates jobs.

Organizers say that this is the second Columbus Area Food Summit. Its goal is to continue to foster networks of growers and buyers, as well as pursue local food action steps that seek these and other benefits.

This event is scheduled for Feb. 22 at Donner Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Organizers say that a locally-sourced lunch will be provided by Cummins Corporate Hospitality. If you would like to attend, you can register here.

The iGrad program will host a volunteer appreciation lunch at Ivy Tech Community College on Feb. 8 at the Columbus Learning Center. The program begins at 11:30 a.m.

School officials say the lunch will bring together iGrad volunteer mentors and tutors to thank the volunteers for their time and compassion. iGrad is also encouraging volunteers to bring a others who might be interested in volunteering with the program.

iGrad was started as an initiative four years ago through a partnership of Bartholomew County School Corp., Flatrock-Hawcreek School Corp., the Community Education Coalition and Ivy Tech. The initiative is supported by Cummins and the Heritage Fund – the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County with the goal of increasing high school graduation rates in Bartholomew County. The program expanded to serve Brownstown Central High School and Jennings County High School in Fall 2016.

Organizers explain that iGrad serves all students in grades 8 through 12 who are dealing with academic barriers. Graduation coaches are available to help these students navigate any barriers they experience as they advance through their academic career. Ivy Tech says that there are currently over 650 students participating in the iGrad program in Bartholomew County.

If you would like to attend the iGrad volunteer lunch, you are asked to RSVP at [email protected] or call (812) 374-5265. For more information on the iGrad program, visit www.igradcolumbus.com.

Troopers from the Indiana State Police say that road-rage may have played a role in a Friday crash on Indianapolis’ south side that claimed the life of a Greenwood woman. Indiana State Police say that just after 8:30 a.m., emergency crews were dispatched to the ramp from I-65 northbound to I-465 eastbound where they found the aftermath of a two vehicle crash. Authorities believe that an SUV, driven by 51 year old Tamara Hacker, rear ended a semi tractor trailer. ISP says that Hacker was taken to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition, where she succumbed to her injuries three days later. The driver of the semi, Gregory Anderson, was not injured.

ISP says that they learned of a possible road rage incident just before the crash. A passenger in the vehicle, along with another eye witness, reportedly told police that Hacker had sped up to elude a black passenger car that was tailgating her. As she sped up, she struck the back of the semi on the ramp. The only description of the other vehicle involved was a black passenger car.

ISP says that is an ongoing investigation and there is no further information available at this time.

Three people were arrested Friday after a motorist reported an angry driver trying to get her to pull over.

Dispatchers got the call from a frantic driver at about 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon who said that a vehicle was following her. Columbus police, with the assistance of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies located the suspect vehicle in the 6000 block of East State Street and pulled it over. While speaking to the driver, police allegedly noticed a syringe in the center console.

The people in the car were taken into custody and a search of the vehicle allegedly turned up more than 25 syringes, other drug paraphernalia and a replica pistol.

Those arrested and their preliminary charges were:

• 27-year-old Brent J. Baker  of Austin: Possession of a legend drug injection device.
• 28-year-old Johnathan D. Clark of Austin Indiana: Possession of a legend drug injection device.
• 25-year-old Kayla L. Gambrel of Brownstown Indiana: Possession of a legend drug injection device and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A Columbus grandmother was arrested on child neglect charges after her grandchild was found wandering on The Commons playground covered in his own waste.

Columbus police were called to the indoor playground at about 4:40 p.m. Sunday afternoon after a two-year-old boy was found on the indoor playground covered in feces. Other parents cleaned the boy up and changed his diaper but could not find an adult responsible for him. The child was taken to police headquarters and Child Protective Services were contacted, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the police department.

At about 5:30 p.m., 51-year-old Brenda J. Fox came to the police station and said she was the child’s grandmother. She claimed that she never saw police looking for the child’s guardian, Harris says.

She was arrested on a preliminary charge of child neglect and the boy was released to the custody of his parents.

A Hope resident was arrested over the weekend in Columbus after a scuffle with a police officer.

Officers were called to Creekview Drive at about 1:15 a.m. Saturday morning on a report of a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a business. The driver, 33-year-old Carl McNicholas, was wanted on a warrant, according to police reports. But when the officer attempted to arrest McNicholas, he allegedly tried to run away.

After a struggle, the officer handcuffed McNicholas. A search before taking him to jail allegedly revealed a glass pipe in the man’s pants pocket. In addition to the outstanding Bartholomew County warrant, he is also facing new preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement and possession of drug paraphernalia.