The city of Columbus is moving money around to pay for final plans for the revamped Fair Oaks Mall project.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission approved shifting $450 thousand dollars for the project, when the commission met earlier this week.

The city’s director of administration and community development Mary Ferdon and parks director Mark Jones made a presentation to the commission at its meeting this week, outlining the need to pay for the final master plans for the NexusPark project. They stressed the long-standing need to move the city’s parks and recreation department offices to a newer facility than the more than 80-year old Donner Center, as well as community interest in providing more public spaces for health and wellness activities, and a fieldhouse for indoor sports.

The commission agreed to move $450,000 as a grant from the city’s central tax increment financing district to the newly established mid-town TIF district. The funds would go to hire the MKSK engineering firm to complete the exterior master planning, design and construction documents for the revamped mall site. The contract will cost about $427,000.

Ferdon said the work on the fieldhouse should start late this year, and renovation on the new parks and recreation facilities in the former mall by this summer.

Applications are now available for Bartholomew County high school students interested in taking part in the Youth Empowerment Summit being organized for next month by the Council for Youth Development.

The day-long event is designed to build leadership skills, to inspire personal action and to expand the vision of a welcoming, safe, and supportive community, according to organizers.

The event will be April 29th at the Columbus Learning Center and will be limited to 100 students.

The keynote speaker will be Tyshaun Allen, with Taylor Bros. Construction Company, Inc. and President of Columbus Area Multi-Ethnic Organization who will be talking about “Finding Your Own Path to Success”.

The event is free and the deadline to register is Friday, April 1st. You can sign up and get more information at www.cydbartholomew.org

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for East Fork White River at Seymour from this afternoon through Sunday.

The river is only a few inches below the 12-foot minor flood stage this morning and is expected to rise to flood levels by this afternoon. The river gauge estimates show an expected crest of 15.1 feet by Friday afternoon.

The river should drop back below flood stage by early Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service cautions that you should never drive into water over roadways. Turn around and don’t drown.

A Hope man died in a house fire yesterday morning, according to a report from The Republic newspaper.

61-year-old Thomas Clark died in the fire in the Goshen Meadows subdivision, Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting told the newspaper.

According to the newspaper reports, the blaze was first reported at about 10:23 Tuesday morning and arriving rescue workers were told that Clark was still inside. Police officers who first tried to enter the home to save him were overcome by heavy smoke. One person was treated for smoke inhalation as a precaution, the newspaper reports.

You can find more information here.

Columbus police are warning about a purported charity that claims to be affiliated with local law enforcement.

Police were contacted Tuesday morning by a resident who received a call from a group calling itself the Police and State Troopers Foundation that was soliciting donations. But police say that an Internet search revealed the group does not exist.

Police say that you should not make donations to people you don’t know who are asking for unsolicited donations over the phone. That is regardless of who they say they are with and even if they claim to be raising money for law enforcement.

Officers say that if a business or community member is interested in making a donation to a police department program, such as DARE, they can contact the police department directly.

Work on railroad tracks in downtown Columbus is being put off because of the bad weather.

The Louisville & Indiana railroad will now be closing lanes in downtown Columbus Thursday night for several hours while crews repair the railroad crossing.

INDOT says that the railroad will be doing the work on westbound Third Street or State Road 46 near Lindsey Street.

The railroad will be closing two lanes at a time, leaving one lane open at all times while the work is in progress. You can expect restrictions to go into effect at about 8 p.m. Thursday evening.

The work should last two to three hours. The schedule is dependent on the weather and will be rescheduled if there is inclement weather. The work was originally scheduled for last night.

Thrive Alliance will be holding a virtual information session today for those interested in being volunteer advocates for seniors and incapacitated adults.

According to the agency, the VASIA program helps make decisions on the seniors’ or incapacitated adults’ behalf which reflect, as much as possible, the individual’s own choices and preferences.

To be a VASIA volunteer, you must complete a screening process which includes providing three references, the release of your criminal, driving and social services histories and be able to complete the required training.

There will be a virtual information session via Zoom at 11 this morning where you can get more information about the program and being a volunteer. You can reserve a spot by emailing [email protected] or by calling 812-372-6918.

You will see lane closures for about a week on Interstate 65 in Jackson County as crews work to patch the deck of a bridge south of the Seymour exit.

INDOT says that its contractor E&B Paving Inc. will be closing single lanes on the bridge over Mutton Creek starting this Friday and lasting through Thursday, March 31st.

After the work is done, closures will remain in place while the patched areas are allowed to cure.

INDOT asks you to to use extra caution, to drive without distractions, and to be alert to worker safety when traveling through active work zones. The schedule is dependent on the weather.

Bartholomew County is moving forward with a plan to update the heating and air conditioning system at the county jail.

Josh Apling with DLZ Engineering said at yesterday morning’s county commissioners meeting that the project would involve replacing the aging system that serves the old portion of the jail. It would also include a an alternate bid to replace the boilers in the more recent jail addition. He said the project would provide a much more reliable system for the jail.

Commissioners said this would be a major project for the county.

Commissioners agreed to put the project out to bid starting on Thursday with bids due on April 18th. Once a bid is awarded, the project would take 9 to 10 months to complete.

Money for the project would come from federal COVID-19 relief funds instead of the county general funds.

Seymour Police are asking you to be on the alert for fake $10 bills that are circulating in the community.

The police department reports that the low-quality counterfeits appear to have been printed on a laser printer. Among the defects, the paper will rip and tear easily, the bills are missing the internal strip as well as the watermark. They are made with non-reflective ink and the ink will run if it gets wet. The borders and edges of the bills are fuzzy and the microprinting is not readable.

But the bills also have edge wrinkles and tears that were copied onto the fake bill.

The bills fail the counterfeit pen tests and have a serial number of MC 06192948B.

Police say that it is unusual to see fake bills in the $10 denomination, with most fakes being $20 bills or larger, but few people scrutinize lower denominations. They believe that a large number of the fake bills have been made and if you see one, you should contact the Seymour Police Department.

Photo courtesy of Seymour Police Department