Columbus and Bartholomew County Bicentennial organizers want your thoughts on the future of the community.

An essay contest for children and adults with the theme of “Bartholomew County: Your Vision Our Future” is offering cash prizes.

Essays must be 450 words or less and will be judged in categories for elementary school students, secondary students and adults 18 and older.

The first place winners will receive $400 in cash, their name on a commemorative plaque on the new 1821 People Trail extension, participation in the ground-breaking ceremony and their essays will be preserved by the Bartholomew County Historical Society. Second place winners will receive $100 cash.

It is free to enter and the deadline is November 12th. You can get more information and find a link to the entry form on the Bicentennial website at columbusarea200.com

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce will be holding a celebration event next month at The Commons.

The chamber is inviting all of its members to help celebrate the past, present and future of the Columbus Area Chamber. Organizers say that will include a light-hearted look at the past and a celebration of this year’s accomplishments.

There will be a presentation from the winner of this year’s Maverick Challenge, high school senior Trey Nebergall, and this year’s Edna Folger Excellence in Teaching Award winner, Peggy Myers, will be recognized. There will also be presentations on the Targeted Investment in Minority Entrepreneurs program, Velocities and the Propeller Innovation Center.

A box lunch will be provided at the conclusion of the event.

The Chamber celebration will be from 11 to 12:30 November 17th at The Commons. Tickets are $40 each. You can get more information at columbusareachamber.com.

The Lincoln Central Neighborhood Homebuyer’s Program is organizing a workshop for first-time homebuyers from 9 to 3 on Saturday at Yes Cinema.

Diane Doup, with Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center, explains the goal is to increase home ownership in the downtown Columbus area.

She explains the importance of home ownership for a neighborhood.

The workshop will be presented by Apprisen, in partnership with First Financial Bank and the Southern Indiana Housing and Community Development Corporation. After finishing the workshop, participants will receive a HUD homebuyer certificate of completion.

The workshop is free. Registration is required. For more information or to register, you can call the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center at 812-379-1630 or email [email protected].

YES Cinema is at 328 Jackson Street in downtown Columbus.

Bartholomew County is moving ahead with new body cameras for corrections officers in the county jail.

Sheriff Matt Myers said that the camera system in the jail itself works well but there are spots it can’t see, such as inside jail cells. The body-worn cameras will allow better view of staff’s interactions with inmates and what is actually going on in those blind spots.

Myers called it an insurance policy and said the money will come through funds raised in the jail commissary.

The contract for nearly $54 thousand dollars with Security Automation Systems was approved Monday by the County Commissioners. The same company also provided the current jail cameras.

Commissioner Carl Lienhoop said the jail would add 26 body cameras and the county IT department would help to integrate the cameras into the jail systems. They are scheduled to begin use early next year.

The city of Columbus will come up with $2 million in cash to help fund a downtown grocery and apartment complex.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission agreed at a special meeting Monday to a plan that would provide the cash from the city’s central Tax Increment Financing District reserves. Plans approved by City Council last week outlined an $11 million bond for the project, with $800,000 in cash. The other $1.2 million in cash would go to cover bond issuance costs and to set up a debt reserve fund for the bond sale, according to the presentation by the city’s financial advisors.

Developer Flaherty & Collins of Indianapolis is proposing a 15,000-square foot grocery store and a more than 55 thousand square foot apartment building with about 200 units at the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and Second Street. The city is partnering with the developers to build the $40 million project, which would open in about three years.

In addition to the bonds and cash, the city is providing the property for the development.

Columbus City Council will be making a final decision on the bond issue on its Nov. 2nd meeting. Any spending above half a million dollars by the redevelopment commission must also be approved by the City Council.

A defendant will face the death penalty in a murder-for-hire case in Columbus.

The Republic newspaper is reporting that 37-year-old Abraham J. Cesareo, of Columbus, allegedly hired a hitman from Chicago to harm a man dating his ex-girlfriend.

The victim, 37-year-old Leobardo R. Flores was shot to death in February of 2020 in a business parking lot on South Marr Road.

The newspaper reports that Cesareo’s attorney told the court on Monday that he was not prepared to accept either of two plea agreements offered to him. Prosecutor Bill Nash then announced that he would seek the death penalty.

The case is scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 9th, but Judge Jim Worton ordered all the parties back to court on Nov. 1st to decide on how to move forward, according to the newspaper.

You care get more information at therepublic.com

INDOT will be holding seasonal hiring events on Thursday for its southeast district, including one in Columbus.

Winter seasonal employment lasts from November through March with a starting pay of $20 per hour. There is also a sign-in bonus and retention pay for those who qualify. To apply you should have a valid driver’s license and commercial driver’s license. A high school diploma or GED is preferred, but not required.

The hiring event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Columbus Sub-District Office, which is at 35 45 Two Mile House Road.

Columbus Congressman Greg Pence, a former Marine, paid tribute over the weekend to those who lost their lives during the 1983 terrorist attack at the Marine barracks in Beirut.

241 people died in the Oct. 23rd attack, including 220 Marines. Saturday marked the 38th anniversary of the bombing.

Pence was in the Marines at the time of the attack, saying that his unit shipped out from Lebanon, just 10 days prior to the bombing.

He said it is his “mission to ensure we all remember the tragedy of this day and the lives we lost. We must always remain faithful, and never forget the ultimate (sacrifice) these fine Marines made on behalf of our freedom. Semper Fi.”

Earlier this year, Pence introduced a resolution before the U.S. House honoring those who lost their lives.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 Edna V. Folger Outstanding Teacher Award.

Any full-time elementary or secondary school teacher or educator working in a public, private, or parochial school in Bartholomew County is eligible to receive the award. That includes certified educators, counselors and administrators.

The deadline for nominations is January 21st. The award will be presented at nest year’s Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting.

Nomination forms are available from the IUPUC Center for Teaching and Learning, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation Administrative Offices, and in the main office of schools throughout Bartholomew County.

Nomination forms may also be downloaded at http://www.iupuc.edu/ctl/folger-award. For more information, contact Marsha VanNahmen at 812-375-7576; mvannahm@iupuc.edu or visit http://www.iupuc.edu/ctl/folger-award.

Columbus Learning Center photo courtesy of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.