Juneteenth will be celebrated on Fourth Street Saturday in Columbus, featuring African-American culture and cuisine.

The event is from from 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday and is being organized by the Columbus and Bartholomew County NAACP.

Johnnie Edwards, head of the local chapter, explains that despite the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, news of freedom from slavery didn’t reach the last Texas plantations until two years later.

This year’s event will focus on education, he said.

Juneteenth will feature food and information booths, a DJ and main stage activities including dancing, music, drill team and spoken word performances.

This is the first of four events making up Ethnic Expo in Columbus this year. You can get more information online at ethnic expo dot org

The Seymour Department of Public Works is celebrating National Pollinator Week next Thursday with a workshop on butterflies, the flying flowers.

The seminar will be taught by retired teacher Peggy Stark and will teach you how to tell the difference between male and female butterflies, how to attract butterflies to your property and how to protect butterflies.

The session will be at 6:30 p.m. June 24th at the Seymour Community Center on Chestnut Street.

State Sen. Greg Walker is announcing his study committee appointments heading into the 2022 legislative session.

Walker, a Columbus Republican, said he will serve on study committees for elections, employment and labor, pension management oversight and the Native American Indian Affairs Commission.

Walker said he views study committees as “a great opportunity for lawmakers to hear from the public, stakeholders and industry experts on the leading issues affecting our state.”

Study committees meet over the summer and fall to discuss topics approved by a bipartisan Legislative Council.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is looking for possible links between a suspicious fire and damage at Anderson Falls Park

The more than 130-year-old District 2 schoolhouse at County Roads 500E and 250N burned down early Monday morning. Firefighters said the structure had no utilities turned on, or materials stored inside, leading them to label the fire as suspicious.

The same night vandals damaged the county-owned park in eastern Bartholomew County, overturning the portable restroom facility, defacing buildings and features with profane graffiti and causing other damage to the rural park.

Chief Deputy Maj. Chris Lane said there there is nothing currently connecting the two incidents. “However, the timing and the location certainly make it a possibility,” Lane said.

Overhead Door of South Central Indiana is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism at the park.

If you have any information on the incidents, you can call the sheriff’s department tip line at 812-379-1712. Tips can be left anonymously.

Columbus firefighters fought through extreme heat and heavy smoke to rescue a woman trapped inside a burning home Thursday on the east side of the city.

Firefighters were called to a home in the 200 block of South Hinman Street at about 4:42 p.m. yesterday afternoon on a report of a fire in the front bedroom of a home. But when firefighters arrived they found heavy flames were shooting out of the home. Two men had escaped the fire and explained that a woman was still trapped inside a mechanical lift in a back bedroom.

Despite heavy smoke reducing visibility to blackout conditions, firefighters found the woman and pulled her from the home. She was conscious but suffering from smoke inhalation and was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for treatment.

Additional firefighters arrived on the scene and had the flames under control in about 15 minutes. The fire caused extensive damage to the front of the residence and smoke damage was found throughout the home. Two pet cats died in the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department.

The National Weather Service is warning of extreme heat in central Indiana today with a heat index of 100 to 105 degrees this afternoon.

A warm front is expected to move east across the area this morning, bringing a hot and humid air mass with afternoon temperatures in the 90s and dew points in the low 70s.

The agency says that if you have outdoor activities planned you should drink plenty of water, wear light-colored clothing and take frequent indoor breaks in an air conditioned space if possible.

Our area is also under an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Those storms are possible after about 3 p.m. today, with a threat of damaging winds, isolated tornadoes and large hail. Heavy rain and localized flooding is also possible tonight.

Columbus City Council has approved a $2.6 million dollar spending plan to move ahead with turning parts of the former Fair Oaks Mall into a parks facility for the city, but that’s over the objections of a single councilwoman.

Councilwoman Elaine Hilber said she was opposing the spending because none of the money would go to improvements or plans at the aging and crumbling Donner Center.

Columbus City Council was asked to give its final approval to the spending appropriation this week. It includes architect fees for about $1.5 million and a construction manager for about $685,000, along with just over $442,000 to be used for various expenses including demolishing the former Goodies store space, permits and other necessities to get the project started.

The first phase for the city will include a fieldhouse where the former Goodies store now stands, and administration offices for the city parks department, fitness areas and locker rooms and activity spaces.

Mary Ferdon, director of administration and community development for the city, and parks director Mark Jones addressed Hilber’s concerns, saying that much of the parks department administration and functions would be moved from Donner to the new facility, to be called NexusPark. And until those plans are fleshed out in the NexusPark design, there is no way to judge the future needs for Donner.

City Council gave its final approval to the spending at its meeting Tuesday with Hilber voting against the proposal.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued an Air Quality Action Day alert for an area including Bartholomew, Brown and Shelby counties because of expected high levels of ground ozone.

Ground-level ozone is formed when sunlight and hot weather combine with vehicle exhaust, factory emissions, and gasoline vapors, according to IDEM.

High ozone near the ground acts a lung irritant. It can cause coughing and breathing difficulties for sensitive populations. Children, the elderly, and anyone with heart or lung conditions should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors today.

The alert is in effect until midnight. You can get more information at SmogWatch.IN.gov.

A Columbus company is offering a $1,000 reward to find those responsible for vandalism at the Anderson Falls Park in Bartholomew County.

Overhead Door of South Central Indiana has been working with the county parks system to renovate and reopen the restrooms at the park, before extensive vandalism was discovered, the county parks foundation announced this morning. Volunteers and parks department staff have been working to restore the park for visitors and are heartbroken by the damage, according to the foundation.

The foundation reports that vandals overturned the portable restroom facility, defaced buildings and features with profane graffiti and caused other damage to the rural park in the eastern part of the county.

Overhead Door is offering the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Any information left will be kept confidential. You can call with tips to 812-379-2358 or by leaving a private message on the Bartholomew County Parks Foundation Facebook page.

A motorcyclist was revived with Narcan Tuesday morning after passing out from a fentanyl overdose.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of an unconscious man as a result of a motorcycle crash at 9:51 a.m. Tuesday morning in the 16 thousand block of East County Road 200S. Witnesses said the driver was walking down the road after leaving the motorcycle, when he collapsed.

Deputies found that the motorcycle had not been crashed, but the driver did appear to be suffering from an overdose. 30-year-old Brandon B. Jacobs of Nashville was revived with Narcan. He allegedly told deputies that he had taken fentanyl before losing consciousness. A search revealed he was carrying methamphetamine.

Jacobs was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be checked out before being taken to jail on a preliminary charge of possession of methamphetamine.

Photo of methamphetamine evidence courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department