The Orange Leaf yogurt shop in The Commons is terminating its lease with the city of Columbus. The Columbus Redevelopment Commission approved a request from the restaurant owners to end the lease at its meeting yesterday.
The shop, operated by Devour LLC, was first closed by the pandemic, but remains closed while renovations are underway in the neighboring city playground area. Because of parts and labor shortages the playground remains closed and the city can’t yet set a date on when it will reopen, officials said.
Although all The Commons tenants have been under a rent abatement since last year, the owners still must pay utilities on their space. Redevelopment commission staff will work with the owners to make sure the utilities are paid until the lease is set to expire at the end of the year.
The Orange Leaf lease, signed in 2019, was originally set to expire in 2023.
Photo courtesy Carol M. Highsmith, from the Library of Congress collection.
The Columbus Redevelopment Commission is cleaning out an old fund that was used to pay for the downtown Cummins parking garage.
In 2011, the city created two Certified Technology Parks to pay for $11 million dollars in bonds to fund the downtown parking garage. Each technology park was limited by the state at only raising $5 million dollars over its life.
The increase in payroll and sales taxes over the previous baseline in the park areas were scooped up by the technology parks and used to repay the bonds that paid for the garage. But the increase in Cummins and other employment in the technology parks meant that the bonds were fully repaid within four years, says Stan Gamso, attorney for the redevelopment commission. The fund that was created to store the incoming money has been dormant since 2014 and still had almost $1.2 million dollars left in it.
After some consultation with state officials, the redevelopment commission agreed at a special meeting Thursday to take those funds and put them in the redevelopment commission accounts.
The city of Columbus is announcing that some loose-leaf collection routes will be on a delay next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Normal Thursday routes will be collected on Monday Nov. 29th, while normal Friday routes will be collected Tuesday, Nov. 30th.
For the rest of that week, routes will be on a two-day delay. The city says that Monday Nov. 29th routes will be collected the following Wednesday, Dec. 1st, Tuesday Nov. 30th routes will be collected on Thursday Dec. 2nd and normal Wednesday Dec. 1st routes will be collected on Friday Dec. 3rd.
The city asks for your patience as crews work to get back on schedule following the holiday break.
Columbus city offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday next week for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Trash and recycling collection will be running one day behind with normal Thursday routes running on Friday, and normal Friday routes running on Saturday.
You call the Public Works department with any questions at 812-376-2509.
The Columbus East Food Pantry will have a community food distribution on Friday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
You can drive-up for pre-bagged collections of food, with enough for approximately 220 families. Several items in this month’s distribution can be incorporated into a Thanksgiving meal.
Columbus Animal Care Services will also be distributing limited amounts of pet food. Columbus East senior Taylor Deaton will be distributing winter coats, up to one per car, for her Senior Project.
The Columbus East Food Pantry is available to the entire community and is not limited to BCSC families.
The pickup point is at door 31 in the west parking lot behind the school near the tennis courts. Vehicles should not enter the west parking lot until after 4 p.m. to ensure student safety during pickups.
The Columbus East Food Pantry is a Gleaners school-based food pantry.
Sgt. Don Gregor. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.
An Indiana State Police trooper is being recognized for his heroism after an incident 19 years ago in Jackson County.
The Indiana State Police recently held their annual awards ceremony, and recognized Sgt. Don Gregory with a Combat Action Award for the October 2002 incident. Gregory was a trooper with the Seymour state police post at the time and was called to a rural Jackson County road early in the morning of Oct. 18, 2002 to assist a Jackson County deputy. The deputy was searching the area for several suspects who were believed to be wanted on warrants who abandoned a vehicle and fled.
Gregory found one of the suspects walking along the road nearby. When Gregory questioned the man about whether he was carrying a gun, the man reached for a weapon and threatened the trooper. Gregory drew his own weapon and shot the man, who ran into the woods, where he died.
Gregory is now with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division. He received the award after a review of older incidents.
Senior Trooper Randel Miller. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.
Other awards given at the ceremony, went to Senior Trooper Randel Miller as the Versailles post Trooper of the Year. Miller was chosen for the work that he and his police dog Jinx do through criminal investigations that remove illegal drugs and guns from area roadways according to state police.
Five troopers were recognized for their efforts during a November 2019 incident in rural Jefferson County. Master Trooper Joseph Livers, an Indiana State Police-South Zone SWAT Team member, was shot and wounded during an incident with a man barricaded in a home. Livers was awarded a Purple Heart and Combat Action Award.
Four other troopers received Combat Action Awards for getting Livers to safety — Lt. Paul Adams, and Master Troopers Rick Stockdale, Mark True, and Brent Lykins.
The Columbus Parks and Recreation Department is announcing that park restrooms are now closed for the winter. Employees have winterized the drinking fountains and outdoor restrooms at all the parks. They will reopen in April.
Catherine Anne Swinney. Photo courtesy of Ivy Tech.
A Greensburg educator was recognized recently by Ivy Tech Community College with a statewide award.
Catherine Anne Swinney of Greensburg received the Gerald I. Lamkin Award for Excellence in Instruction. The annual award recognizes one Ivy Tech faculty member who exemplifies excellence in instruction and epitomizes the mission of the school.
Swinney was nominated for the award by Danielle Robinson, dean of the Ivy Tech Columbus School of Nursing. She cited Swinney’s professional experience, positive interaction with students, encouragement, and how she prepares students to succeed in their education and careers.
The award is named for Lamkin, who served as Ivy Tech president from 1983-2007. He oversaw the growth of Ivy Tech from just a vocational school to the state’s community college.
Gavin C. Haight. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.
A Bartholomew County man is facing child pornography charges after authorities were tipped off through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
According to Indiana State Police reports, the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received four reports from the national center that someone was using four separate social media applications was in possession of video and images of child pornography. All were tied to a specific user account.
The investigation led to a Spring Valley Drive home and a search warrant was issued. On Wednesday, officers from the State Police Task Force, the Cyber Crimes Unit and Indianapolis police served the warrant. Based on evidence from that search they arrested 21-year-old Gavin Christopher Denton Haight of Columbus. He is facing four felony charges of possession of child pornography.
The Bull Dog Pantry will be distributing prepared Thanksgiving dinners to families in need next week.
The bagged and ready-to-cook dinners will be distributed from 3:30 to 4:30 on Monday in the Columbus North High School cafeteria. You must wear a mask and show an ID to pick up a dinner.
They are available for BCSC families and individuals in need.
You must register online to reserve a dinner and they are limited to one per family. Any unclaimed bags will be distributed to families on the waiting list.
Robert S. Rayborn. Photo courtesy of Jackson County Jail.
Seymour police have arrested a Louisville man who allegedly stole thousands of dollars in merchandise from Home Depot.
According to Seymour police reports, an asset protection manager at Home Depot called officers last week after spotting a man in the store who they believed had previously stolen items. When the man tried to leave the store with unpaid for items in a shopping cart, he was stopped by investigators.
Police say that he originally claimed to be his dead twin brother, but was identified as 54-year-old Robert S. Rayborn. During an interview with investigators, Rayborn admitted to several recent thefts from the store, that, along with the items he had just taken, totaled more than $4,000. A search of his vehicle revealed more than $700 in merchandise from a previous Home Depot theft, and items taken from other stores in Madison and Seymour.
Rayborn told police that he had stolen from Home Depot more than 30 times this year, and used the proceeds from his thefts to support a drug habit.
He was arrested on preliminary charges of theft, possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and for trespassing. He also had outstanding warrants from Clark County, Kentucky and Ohio.
