Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus will be launching a new school of entrepreneurship this fall at the local campus.

The school was launched in 2021 to provide an Entrepreneur Certificate in as little as two semesters.

Dr. Ronda Taylor, dean of the Garatoni School of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Ivy Tech, said that small businesses sometimes struggle, because owners might be able to develop a great product or service, but lack the tools needed to run the business effectively.

She says the ” program is set up to provide practical skills they can put into action immediately around topics such as marketing, financials, human resources and legal considerations.”

The program is already available at Ivy Tech campuses in Indianapolis, Bloomington, South Bend and Fort Wayne. Currently, 75 students are part of the first four cohorts that began in fall of last year. The Columbus program will be limited to 20 students per cohort, on a first come first served basis.

To learn more about the program, click here.

IUPUC says that two of the local students who took top honors at the local Indiana State Math Contest last month, also earned honors at the state level competition.

IUPUC hosted the local contest on April 23rd with 78 students taking part in the competition. The annual competition is open to elementary school, middle school, and high school students across the state. They compete in one of five exam categories. The contest is sponsored by the Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Matthew Liu of Columbus North High School earned 3rd place at the state level in the Comprehensive category as well as Top 5% Scholar award after taking first place at the IUPUC site. Zoey Pan from Southside Elementary School earned a Top 5% Scholar award at the State Level in Pre-Algebra after winning first place at the IUPUC site.

Students who advanced to the state level are invited to the State Awards Ceremony to be held in the Atrium at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on Friday, June 3rd.

All the local winners from the competition:

Pre-Algebra:

• Zoey Pan, Southside Elementary School, Columbus, IN – 1st place and Top 25% Scholar
• Niranjan Pillai, Southside Elementary School, Columbus, IN – 2nd place and Top 25% Scholar
• Arjun Vajapeyazula, Parkside Elementary School, Columbus, IN – 3rd place and Top 25% Scholar
• Kevin Chen, Parkside Elementary School, Columbus, IN – 3rd place and Top 25% Scholar

Algebra First Course/Integrated Math I:

• Maximo Lopez-Wong, Central Middle School, Columbus, IN – 1st place and Top 25% Scholar
• Gabrielle Revell, St. Bartholomew Catholic School, Columbus, IN – 2nd place and Top 25% Scholar
• Aryan Manavattira Nixon, Central Middle School, Columbus, IN – 3rd place
• Aditya Sahu, Columbus North High School, Columbus, IN – 3rd place

Geometry/Integrated Math II:

• Anubhav Majumdar, Center Grove High School, Greenwood, IN – 1st place and Top 25% Scholar
• Saisri Harshith Devaguptapu, Central Middle School, Greenwood, IN – 2nd place and Top 25% Scholar
• Vincia Li, Northside Middle School, Columbus, IN – 3rd place

Algebra Second Course/Integrated Math III:

• Jonathan Lenhart, Jennings County High School, North Vernon, IN – 1st place and Top 25% scholar

Comprehensive:

• Matthew Liu, Columbus North High School, Columbus, IN – 1st place (local), 3rd place (state), and Top 25% Scholar
• Sam Song, Columbus North High School, Columbus, IN – 2nd place and Top 25% Scholar
• Alexander Wilds, Jennings County High School, North Vernon, IN – 3rd place

INDOT says that crews will be closing Farmington Road over Interstate 65 for about a month either late this month or early June.

Contractors with RAM Construction Services will be resurfacing the bridge deck. The road will close just west of U.S. 31. Traffic will be routed to the official detour of U.S. 31, U.S. 50 and County Road 1040E.

RAM Construction is also resurfacing three bridges this month on State Road 7 in Jennings County and the Jackson County project schedule depends on the completion of that work. This is all part of a $300,000 contract with a completion date of July 31st.

INDOT reminds you to slow down, to drive without distractions, and to be alert to worker safety when traveling through active construction zones.

Bartholomew County’s voter turnout was exceptionally low for Tuesday’s primary election, with 8,802 voters casting ballots, or 16.69 percent of the registered voters.

Of those, 2,532 voted absentee at the in-person early vote centers, 831 cast paper absentee ballots and 5,439 voted in person on Tuesday at the county’s 13 voting centers.

That compares to almost 25 percent turnout in the 2018 primary election, where 12,304 voters cast ballots. That was the highest election turnout total in an off-year primary in recent memory.

In area Congressional races, Columbus native and incumbent Congressman Greg Pence won the Republican nomination for the District 6 race, defeating James Alspach, 77 percent to 23 percent in unofficial totals as of this morning.

He will face Cinde Wirth of Columbus, who defeated George Holland with 73 percent of the vote as of this morning’s unofficial totals.

In the Congressional District 9 Republican race for the seat being vacated by Congressman Trey Hollingsworth, former state Senator Erin Houchin won the 9-way party primary. She will face Democrat Matthew Fyfe who won his three-way primary Tuesday.

Incumbent Bartholomew County Assessor Ginny Whipple has won the Republican party’s nomination again for her office, defeating Laura DeDomenic 56 to 44 in unofficial vote totals.

No Democrat has filed to run against Whipple for the assessor’s office in November.

Bartholomew County Republicans have chosen Lindsey Holden-Kay to serve as the next county prosecutor, replacing the long-time outgoing prosecutor Bill Nash who is stepping down.

Holden-Kay defeated Joshua K. Scherschel 62 percent to 38 percent in unofficial vote totals from Tuesday’s primary.

No Democrat has filed to run against Holden-Kay for the November election.

State Rep. Ryan Lauer of Columbus won his race to continue to represent Indiana House District 59 in Tuesday’s primary election.

He defeated outgoing Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash 63 to 37 percent for the Republican Party nomination in unofficial vote totals.

Lauer will face Democrat Ross Thomas in the November general election.

In the State Representative District 73 race, covering northeastern Bartholomew County, Republican Jennifer Meltzer was leading her opponents with 57 percent, ahead of Bob Carmony with 33 percent and Edward Comstock II with 9.9 percent. There is no opponent on the Democratic ticket for November.

In very southern Bartholomew County, Seymour Republican State Rep. Jim Lucas ran unopposed for the party nomination in District 69. He will face Democrat Chad Harmon in the fall.

The Bartholomew County Council will have new faces come November, as Republicans opted to nominate two new candidates for the November election, over two incumbents.

In Council District 1, Republican Greg Patterson defeated incumbent Scott Bonnell and Dave London with 56 percent of the vote, compared to 28 percent for Bonnell and 16 percent for London.

In November, Patterson will face Democrat Shua Cobb for the seat.

In County Council District 2, Leah Beyer defeated incumbent Greg Duke, 51 to 49 percent in the tightest race of the night.

No Democrat has filed to run for District 2 in November.

Republican Councilman Mark Gorbett won the party’s nomination again with a 72 percent to 28 percent win over Derick Olson.

Blake Wesley Fields has filed to run as a Democrat in the November election for that seat.

Republican Jorge Morales ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary for the District 4 seat on the council. He will face Democrat Josh Burbrink in the fall.

Updated 9 p.m.

In Bartholomew County, with all of the voting centers, absentee and early votes tallied.

Republican primary race unofficial totals:

In Indiana House District 59 —
Incumbent Ryan Lauer 68%
Bill Nash 32

In Indiana House District 73 —
Jennifer Meltzer 61%
Bob Carmony 24
Edward K. Comstock II 16

For Bartholomew County Prosecuting Attorney
Lindsey Holden-Kay 62%
Joshua K. Scherschel 38

For Bartholomew County Assessor
Incumbent Ginny Whipple 55%
Laura DeDomenic 45

County Council District 1
Greg Patterson 54%
Incumbent Scott Bonnell 28
Dave London 19

County Council District 2
Leah Beyer 51%
Incumbent Greg Duke 49

County Council District 3
Incumbent Mark Gorbett 70%
Derick Olson 30

Hope Town Council
Shanon Pittman 37
Stephanie Long 35
Incumbent Clyde Compton 29%

Elizabethtown Town Council
Rick Mullins 28%
Mike Phillips 25
Levi Brown 19
Marsha A. Mcbee 17
Henry C. Hoover 10