Columbus City Council will be considering a plan tonight that could save the city nearly $2.5 million dollars by paying off bonds for a Cummins improvement project early.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission is making the request of the city to spend about $15 million to pay off the bonds early. The bonds are not due to be paid off until 2031, which would cost the city about $17.5 million. But the early payoff comes with a 4 percent discount.

The city set up a special taxing unit for Cummins Engine Plant in 2009, with the money paid in taxes going to pay off $12 million in bonds issued for improvements to the plant and its facilities. However, the property taxes coming in have exceeded the bond payments over the years, leaving more than $20 million in the unit’s fund.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission approved the plan last month, but because of a $500,000 spending limit on the commission, the spending must be approved by the Columbus City Council.

Council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Columbus City Hall.

A local coalition of education advocates are announcing the hiring of a manager of black and bi-racial youth initiatives for the community.

Felicia Garr from Louisville, Kentucky is filling the new role for the Community Education Coalition in Columbus. Funding for the position comes from a grant provided through Cummins through its Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity or CARE program. CARE was launched in 2020 to work to address systemic discrimination against Blacks and to drive racial equity in the U.S.

Garr comes to Columbus from Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, where she was the internship and job development specialist for the young adult opportunity campus and KentuckianaWorks. Garr has led initiatives at Morehead State University to increase black student enrollment by 15 percent. She holds a bachelors degree in Mass Communication with a focus in Broadcasting from Eastern Kentucky University.

In her new role, Garr will be a champion serving and supporting black and biracial youth and their families including establishing partnerships with education, community and employers to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in service to student success here.

The Schneck Foundation Scholarship Committee is announcing that applications are now being accepted for the Allied Health Scholarship and the Amanda M. Dick Honorary Scholarship.

The Allied Health Scholarship is for students interested in pursuing a course of study in a technical/professional allied health career such as speech therapy, respiratory therapy, lab technology, pharmacy, physical therapy, and radiological technology.

The Amanda M. Dick Honorary Scholarship supports women pursuing a career in the medical field. Candidates must be female and currently accepted into medical school. Primary consideration will be given to Jackson, Jennings, Scott and Washington county residents.

The application deadline is March 15th.

Scholarship applications are available online at schneckfoundation.org, schneckmed.org, or by contacting the Schneck Foundation at 812-524-4244. Applications for the Allied Health Scholarship are also available from counselors at local high schools.

The Bartholomew County Health Department is announcing that the Indiana Immunization Coalition will be holding a community immunization clinic at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Columbus. next month.

You should bring your insurance card as the coalition will accept and bill all insurance carriers. There is no cost for anyone without insurance, except for the Shingles vaccine.

Everyone who takes part will be vaccinated with all of the CDC recommended vaccines. The clinic will consult the state immunization registry to see what vaccines you are missing. If you would like to attend, but want to decline a specific vaccine, you can call 317-628-7116.

You can register online at patients.vaxcare.com/registration and use the enrollment code IN 65942.

The church is at 2651 California Street in Columbus and the clinic will be from 9 to 12 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11th.

The deadline is coming up Friday for nominations for this year’s Edna V. Folger Outstanding Teacher Award.

Full-time elementary or secondary school teachers or educators working in a public, private, or parochial school in Bartholomew County are eligible. That includes classroom, special education, or specials teachers; certified educators; counselors; and administrators. Anyone or a group may nominate an educator to receive the award.

The award is sponsored by the Community Education Coalition and the IUPUC Center for Teaching and Learning. Traditionally, the award is presented at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting.

You can find nomination forms at the IUPUC Center for Teaching and Learning, the Bartholomew Consolidated administrative offices and in the main offices of schools in the county.

A community maker space in Columbus has reached its fundraising goal for a state grant with only a few hours left in its campaign.

The Columbus Propeller initiative has been working toward a $50,000 matching grant as part of the state’s CreatINg Places program through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. The grant will go toward landscaping and exterior improvements to its building at the Columbus airport.

As of this morning, just over $51,000 had been raised toward the efforts, with the campaign ending at noon today.

This funds will be used to revamp the building including adding an airport runway viewing platform, outdoor kitchen, and inviting public plaza. The property will also be enhanced with murals, seating areas, landscaping and a light sculpture that was originally part of Exhibit Columbus.

Although the current campaign has met its goal, fundraising for the space will continue according to Cindy Frey, president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. She estimated that the space needs about $300,000 in improvements to fully meet the vision for the facility.

Propeller is a community maker space at the Columbus Municipal Airport, built inside a 9,000 square foot former Cummins engine test building. Labs are outfitted for metalworking, 3D printing, woodworking, robotics and electronics. The center fosters STEM education and training, career exploration and entrepreneurship.

Membership is $20 a month. You can learn more or sign up to be a member at columbuspropeller.com

Brown County authorities received another bomb threat Friday, a case that may be tied to last month’s hoax that scrambled rescue workers in the county.

According to the Brown County sheriff’s department, deputies were called to the high school Friday morning on a report of a bomb. After the building was evacuated and searched, authorities are confident it was a fake report.

And authorities say the person responsible is also believed to have been involved in last month’s incident where a threat was called in about a fake bomb and sniper at a county restaurant. In that incident, authorities believe the person behind the hoax was watching authorities respond via the feeds from online cameras in the area.

The case remains under investigation.

A Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department police dog is appearing on a fundraising calendar to provide bulletproof and stab protective vests to dogs nationwide.

According to the sheriff’s department, police dog Frizko and his handler Deputy Dylan Prather are appearing on the cover and inside the 2023 Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. calendar. Each year, 12 dogs who have received the donated vests are highlighted in the publication.

Vested Interest in K9s was founded in 2009 in Massachusetts and provides the vests to dogs working in police and other agencies. Vested Interest in K9s has provided over 4,900 vests to K9s in all 50 states.

You can buy the calendar for $18 at the company’s website at vik9s.org. For additional information or mail orders contact 508-824-6978.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Legal Aid will be holding an in-person and phone clinic today in recognition of Martin Luther King Day.

If you take part you will have a brief consultation with a volunteer attorney to answer general questions, to offer legal information or to receive other advice.

The in person clinic will be from 3 to 5 p.m. on Monday at the Legal Aid Offices in the Doug Otto United Way Center on 13th Street in Columbus. The phone clinic will be from 3 to 5:30 p.m.

To take part in the phone clinic, you must first register between noon and 2 p.m. today by calling 812-378-0358.