INDOT is reporting that the Carr Hill Road bridge over Interstate 65 in Columbus is now open to traffic.
The bridge completion was expected to be delayed longer, with a gap of up to two weeks while both the Carr Hill Road bridge and County Road 200S bridge were out of service at the same time, seriously limiting traffic on the west side of Columbus.
However, the Carr Hill Road bridge was reopened yesterday. Work on the County Road 200S bridge is expected to last through November.
Clay Township Volunteer firefighters will be having a drive-in fish fry today and tomorrow at their station on rural 25th Street at Petersville.
The $10 platter will include a fish or BBQ sandwich, potato salad or coleslaw, french fries or onion rings and a drink. There will be no dessert offered.
The fish fry will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Proceeds will to the fire department to purchase, repair and maintain equipment.
The Columbus East Food Pantry will be providing food packages from 4 to 7 today for the community. There will be enough for about 180 families and this distribution is not limited just to BCSC families.
The pickup point will be at Door 31 in the west parking lot, behind the school near the tennis courts. This will be a drive-up distribution with no contact. Columbus Animal Care Services will also be on hand to give out dog food while supplies last.
Today is the deadline for Bartholomew Consolidated School families who want to take part in the online learning Bridge Program or the Columbus Virtual Pathway for the start of the school year.
School officials say that you need to sign up at bcscchools.org/online by 5 p.m. this afternoon to take part in the virtual classrooms when school reopens on Aug. 6th.
The district will be offering three options at the start of the school year, either in-classroom instruction, a short-term virtual option until families feel comfortable sending their children back to the classroom, or the semester long virtual pathway learning.
An online drive is underway to provide protective gear and sanitizer in Columbus classrooms.
City Councilwoman Elaine Hilber said the idea is that if you have extra money in your Venmo account, you can help purchase masks and sanitizer. A $1 donation will provide a disposable surgical mask, a $2 donation will provide a KN-95 mask and $4 will provide isopropyl alcohol sanitizer.
To take part you should Venmo @MasktoSchool including your school and teacher name and what you want to provide. The supplies will be delivered to the classroom and any extra money raised will go to provide additional masks for schools, non-profits, emergency and health care workers.
Columbus police arrested a driver Wednesday morning after he crashed into a fence at Garland Brook Cemetery.
According to police they received a report of a driver leaving the scene of a crash at Central Avenue and State Street at about 9:40 Wednesday morning. The same driver then crashed into the cemetery fence. After finding the vehicle, the driver 33-year-old, Nicholas Marino of Athens, Ohio allegedly tried to kick an officer and was otherwise uncooperative.
He was taken into custody and then to Columbus Regional Hospital to have his blood drawn. He allegedly continued struggling at the hospital and assaulted an officer, who was not injured.
He was arrested on preliminary charges of leaving the scene of a property damage crash, resisting law enforcement, battery on a law enforcement officer and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with endangerment.
With protests over police action still going on nationwide, Columbus has only had two complaints this year about officers’. And the department determined both were unfounded complaints.
The Columbus Police Review Board met Thursday night and Chief Mike Richardson updated the community on the status of police complaints. In the quarter that just ended, there was one police complaint out of more than 12 thousand interactions with the public. Richardson said that stemmed from a domestic dispute on April 27th.
The complaint alleged that police gave the girlfriend a leather case belonging to the complainant and she stole $2,000 dollars from it. The complainant also said police gave the woman access to his residence, despite her being barred for previous trespassing and he felt unsafe, that officers used unnecessary force during his arrest including forcing his hip out of place and failed to provide him medical treatment.
However, Richardson said that the person making the complaint inventoried the leather case, saying that everything was in place, the girlfriend had never been prohibited at the residence and that the complainant OKed the woman having access, there were no injuries found of the complainant during a check at Columbus Regional Hospital and no sign that his hip was injured, including video footage of him walking normally.
Members of the committee talked about finding ways to publicize the police complaint process, so that anyone who feels they have an issue can make the formal complaint. Forms are available at the police department, in City Hall and at the Columbus Human Rights Commission office. The review board meets quarterly to oversee any complaints or concerns about Columbus police.
IUPUC is planning to host a series of online discussion forums, they are calling “Timely Topics” starting in August.
The forums are sponsored by the Division of Business and the Center for Business and Economic Development at IUPUC.
The first forum will be a Mid-year Economic Outlook at noon on August 5th. Dr. Ryan Brewer and Dr. Steven Mohler will provide updated information from the Business Outlook Panel discussion held last November.
Dr. Kevin Jones and Dr. Jon Padfield will hold a discussion on Privacy in the Digital Age at noon on August. 12th.
You are invited to take part, however registration is required . For more information and to register, go to iupuc.edu/events/timely-topics.
Organizers of the Bean Blossom Blues Festival are announcing that they are canceling this year’s event. They said said that restrictions from the Brown County Health Department has made it impossible to hold the gathering.
The event was scheduled for August 27th through the 29th and would have been the 22nd annual festival.
All tickets and cart rentals will be refunded, in the order they were purchased. Organizers said that this could take some time as there are more than 1,000 purchases to refund, and they need to recover deposits made to bands before ticket-buyers can be reimbursed. The charges will be reimbursed to the credit card used to make the purchase.
No date for next year’s festival is being announced, because there is no way to tell what the future of live music looks like, organizers said.
For more information you can to go to beanblossomblues.com
You will be able to get free milk Friday at Sandy Hook United Methodist Church in Columbus. Purdue Extension is partnering with Prairie Farms to distribute 4,000 gallons of free 2 percent milk to those in need
The giveaway will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, at the church, at 1610 Taylor Road. Organizers ask that you enter in the back of Sandy Hook from South Drive or Saddle drive. A refrigerated truck will be in the church parking lot. Anyone may drive in and receive milk while the supply lasts. There is no need to get out of your car.
This is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The department is purchasing fresh produce, dairy and meat products from national, regional, and local suppliers affected by the pandemic.