The Columbus Human Rights Commission has announced the student winners of the 2018 J. Irwin Miller Art and Benjamin M. King Essay Contests. The winners will be honored at the Commission’s Annual Dinner Meeting, set for May 17th at The Commons. The theme for this year’s contests was “Fair Housing for All.” The following students will be recognized at the event:

2018 J. Irwin Miller Art Contest:
Elementary School Division: Beatriz Santana, St. Bartholomew Catholic School
Middle School Division: Grace Riordan, Northside Middle School
High School Division: Parker Scott, Columbus North High School

2018 Benjamin M. King Essay Contest:
Elementary School Division: Izabella Ross, Parkside Elementary School
Middle School Division: Ananya Adur, Central Middle School
High School Division: Riley Coers, Columbus East High School

Tickets for the dinner can be purchased in advance for $30 each. Tickets are available at the Human Rights Commission office in City Hall and online at columbus.in.gov/human-rights/. Tickets for tables of 8 may be purchased. The deadline for purchasing tickets is Friday, May 11th at 5 p.m.

The Columbus Young Professionals organization has opened registration for its annual Amazing Race competition, set for Saturday, June 23rd. Organizers say that, in an effort to bring together local interns and young professionals, the contest showcases Columbus’ historic landmarks, iconic parks, famous structures and public art, and local organizations.

The CYP says that teams will be led on an adventure through Columbus in a race to find clues at 10 challenge locations. Each team will navigate their way through an undisclosed race course with nothing but clues they earn at challenges to guide them. Teams will be competing to win a share of the prize package valued at $1,000.

For more on this event, visit columbusyp.org or call the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce at (812) 379-4457.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop has appointed six civilian community members to serve as voting-eligible members to the newly established civilian oversight committee, the Community Police Review Board. Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, says that these appointees “reflect the diversity of the community, including but not limited to, representatives from different neighborhoods, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, races, ages, gender, experience, and other backgrounds reflected in City ordinances.” She adds that these six individuals will serve staggered terms during the transition from the Audit and Review Committee for Citizen and Police Relations to the CPRB at the discretion of the mayor. Appointed were:

Annette Barnes is a community volunteer and serves as a chaplain to the Columbus Police Department. In addition to serving on the CPRB, Barnes is a member of the Columbus Human Rights Commission. She has served as a Mayoral appointee on Audit & Review since 1992. Barnes’ term will expire in December 2018.

Olisa Humes is a graduate of Columbus North High School and the University of Evansville. She currently works as a division administrator at Diversified Management, and she is actively involved with the Bartholomew County chapter of the NAACP. Humes’ term will expire in December 2020.

Fred King is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He is a graduate of Tuskegee University, former mechanical engineer at Cummins Inc., and a former adjunct professor of math at Ivy Tech. King is an Elder at the Calvary Community Church and is an active member of the African American Pastors Alliance. King’s term will expire in December 2020.

Ric King is a Columbus native. He has worked at Cummins Inc. for almost 49 years and is currently a metrology lab technician. In addition, King is a member of the Emergency Response Team at Cummins. He has served as a Mayoral appointee on Audit & Review since its inception in 1992. King’s term will expire in December 2018.

Joseline Medina is a longtime resident of Columbus and is currently a college student at IUPUC. Medina is bilingual in Spanish and English. She has volunteered her time in organizations such as the Latino-American Organization of Volunteers in Education (“L.O.V.E.”) and the Columbus Youth Development (“CYD”). Medina’s term will expire in December 2019.

Dan Mitchell serves as the senior pastor at The Sanctuary Church, where he has served for more than 38 years. Mitchell served as a Mayoral appointee in Audit & Review for several years and played an integral part in organizing city-wide training on implicit bias in 1991. His term will expire in December 2019.

Ferdon explains that the CPRB was formerly the Audit and Review Committee of Citizen and Police Relations, which was created in 1992 with the goal to foster transparency, gain community trust, and respond to the needs of residents. After bench-marking civilian oversight committees in other cities and examining the effectiveness of Audit & review, the Board of Public Works & Safety voted to reshape the committee to reflect the current needs of the community.

Faced with jail overcrowding and no room for drug treatment of the inmates in the Bartholomew County jail, we asked candidates for County Council districts 3 and 4 whether the county should reopen the unused, old portion of the jail..

In Council District 4 Councilman Jorge Morales will face Tom Owens in the May 8th Republican primary.

Morales says he is waiting to see data from the sheriff on the proposal.

Owens drew a line between punishment and treatment.

In Council District 3 Councilman and former Sheriff Mark Gorbett is being challenged by Dave Jones.

Gorbett said it is a priority to reopen the old section of the jail.

Jones said that reopening the old jail is not a real fix.

Council District 3 covers the central portion of Bartholomew County including the city of Columbus. Council District 4 represents western and southern Bartholomew County. The primary is May 8th.

A local off road driver will be featured in a History Channel show tonight.

Josh Jackson, of Columbus, says that the episode was shot late last summer and he has had to keep quiet about the results of the off-road competition.

The show, called “Truck Night in America,” features off-road competitions leading up to a chance to win $10,000, Jackson said. He talks about the truck he entered in the competition:

He and his father went to film the show in August in Augusta, Georgia, and it was a great time.

Jackson plans to meet with family and friends at Ziggies to watch the show when it airs tonight at 10 p.m.

There is much work ahead, but positive action in the local fight against the opioid epidemic is taking place. That was the message delivered during Wednesday night’s Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County first annual report. Jeff Jones is the executive lead for ASAP.

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Jones says the theme going forward is “We Know. We Can.”

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As for what’s next for ASAP…

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Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop was one of several local officials in attendance. He says the work done since ASAP was established was evident.

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Carl Lienhoop, county commissioner, says that the partnerships established will only aid in the fight. He says the commissioners’ recent agreement to partner with the city and Columbus Regional Health will prove this to be the case.

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Highlights of Wednesday night’s presentation included the announcement of “Project Prevent,” a grant-based program focused on drug prevention. The program is aimed at getting money to not-for-profit groups for programming to prevent drug abuse, particularly among school-age children. Much of that funding is expected to come from the Mark and Wendy Elwood Fund. The husband and wife donated $500,000 to the fight after that amount was matched by the community in less than five months.

Other components discussed include the opening of a “Fresh Start Recovery” center in Bartholomew County. This is aimed at helping addicted mothers and their children. Organizers say the new facility will be able to house and support up to 23 women and two of their children. Another program, “Projects in Progress,” was announced in October and is an addiction medicine specialty clinic within Columbus Regional Health aimed at helping addicts get get clean through the use of approved medicines. Organizers say the goal is for both components to be up and running within one year.

For more on the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County, visit asapbc.org.

With the community focus on the opioid epidemic, we asked candidates for Bartholomew County Council districts 3 and 4 in the Republican primary what they thought the county’s responsibility is to address the epidemic.

In Council District 3 Councilman Mark Gorbett is being challenged by Dave Jones.

Jones said the epidemic can’t just be laid on the sheriff’s department.

Gorbett says that handling the epidemic will require treatment of inmates..

In Council District 4 Councilman Jorge Morales will face Tom Owens in the May 8th primary.

Owens said he sees little county responsiblity in the epidemic

Morales says he supports the efforts of the county, the city and the hospital to address the epidemic.

Authorities in Johnson County are looking for two people involved in a chase and crash. On Wednesday at 8:45 a.m., Marshal Greg Southers with the Princes Lakes Police Department in Johnson County called in a vehicle pursuit on Nineveh Road south bound from Lakeview in Princes Lakes. The vehicle was a gray Chevy Equinox. A short time later the officer reported the vehicle had been involved in a traffic accident in Brown County and the occupants fled on foot from the crash.

The male is described as a white male wearing gray sweat pants and short brown hair. The female is described as a white female with blond hair, thin build, black pants, gray t-shirt with tattoos on her face and neck. The last known location of these two were on Beech Tree Road in Brown County. If anyone was to see these individuals coming out of the woods or attempting to get a ride please call your local law enforcement officials.

Anyone with information on the identity of the two is asked to call the Princes Lakes Police Department or Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Tip-Line at (317) 346-4654.

A Columbus man was arrested Wednesday morning on marijuana charges after a traffic stop. At approximately 2 a.m., Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Kris Weisner initiated a traffic stop at US 31 south of I-65. Authorities say they stopped the northbound car was stopped for traffic and equipment violations.

As Sergeant Weisner spoke with the driver, he detected the odor of marijuana inside the vehicle. The passenger, 21-year-old Jose Alberto Espino-Salas, allegedly admitted to having the marijuana inside the vehicle. Sgt. Weisner reported finding a backpack containing a green leafy substance and drug-related paraphernalia.

Espino-Salas was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Paraphernalia.

A Decatur County man was arrested Tuesday night on numerous charges after he led Indiana State Police on a short pursuit through Greensburg.

Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the Indiana State Police Post in Versailles, says the incident began when Trooper James Herbert attempted to stop a car on Michigan Avenue for being improperly registered. The driver, 56-year-old Dwayne Bradley, of Greensburg, allegedly fled. Authorities say that Bradley traveled down several side streets before coming to a stop on Michigan Avenue near Ireland Street. He was then taken into custody.

Upon searching the area of the traffic stop, Trooper Herbert located a bag containing approximately six grams of methamphetamine and a pipe that had been allegedly thrown from the vehicle just prior to the stop.

Bradley was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Obstruction of Justice, Resisting Law Enforcement and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He is being held pending his initial court appearance in the Decatur County Circuit Court.