IUPUC will be holding a new civics-related program this summer for local youth as a way to encourage youth to spark change and better the community.

According to the school, the new iEngage program will be a free weeklong program for students in 4th through 8th grade. It is a civics education program offered through the IU Center on Representative Government, a non-partisan, educational institution founded by former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton. The center’s goal is to to improve the public’s understanding of the role of representative government, strengthen civic engagement, and teach the skills that are essential to sustaining representative democracy.

The iEngage program is modeled after a successful program started at Baylor University a decade ago.

Each day, campers will work on tackling an issue that’s important to them, while also learning from local leaders and organizations who work to solve community issues.

There will be no cost to the students, lunch will be provided along with transportation to Foundation for Youth.

The program will be from June 26 to 30, with registration opening on March 15.

To learn more about iEngage, including how to get involved, visit go.iu.edu/iengage.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is making changes to its structure, as well as announcing several promotions.

According to Sheriff Chris Lane, an existing major position will be converted from the Jail Commander to Major of Operations. The Jail Commander position will be filled with an existing Captain. The uniform division will have a new Division Commander, and Shift Lieutenants. He said those position swill provide more front line supervision

Among the promotions:

• Brandon Slate was promoted to Major of Operations.
• Dave Steinkoenig, who was previously the Uniform Captain, will be transferred to Jail Commander
• TA Smith was promoted to Captain of the Uniform Division.
• Justin Arnholt, Andrew Dougan and Gary Knoef are being promoted to lieutenants in the uniform division.

Lane says the promotions did not increase the overall number of supervisors or staff. The new lieutenant positions were created from existing sergeant positions.

Bios, provided by the sheriff’s department.

Slate began his law enforcement career 20 years ago as a corrections officer for 4 years. Slate was then promoted to Merit Deputy and graduated the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy as an honor graduate in 2007. Slate is a graduate of Columbus North High School and has previously held the positions of Detective, Narcotics Detective, Patrol Sergeant, Lieutenant and most recently a Captain for 7 years.

Steinkoenig began his career at the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office in 2003 as a corrections officer. He then became a Merit Deputy in 2004, and graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy the same year. Steinkoenig has previously served as a Narcotics Detective, Detective, Training Captain and most recently Uniform Captain for 8 years. Steinkoenig is a graduate of Columbus North High School, and is an Air Force veteran.

Smith was hired at the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office in 1982. He graduated the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1983, and was then promoted to Sergeant in 1988. Smith was promoted to Narcotics Investigator in 1992, after which he was promoted to Captain in 2004. Smith graduated from the FBI National Academy in 2004, of which less than 1% of law enforcement nationwide complete. Smith was then promoted to Chief Deputy from 2005 to 2007. Smith has held every rank within the Sheriff’s Office most recently being Lieutenant within the uniform division.

Arnholt was hired at the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office in 1997 as a corrections officer after graduating from Columbus North High School. He was promoted to Merit Deputy in 2003, and graduated the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy shortly thereafter. Arnholt held the positions of Merit Deputy and Field Training Officer until 2017, when he was promoted to Patrol Sergeant.

Dougan was hired by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office after graduating from Indiana University in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree. Dougan served as a Patrol Deputy/Field Training Officer will 2019, when he was promoted to Patrol Sergeant. Dougan also completed Leadership Bartholomew County in 2019.

Knoef started his career in law enforcement at the Youth Services Center in 2001. In 2004, he was hired by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department as a Merit Deputy. Knoef graduated the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 2005. Knoef has 18 years of law enforcement experience within the uniform division. For the last 8 years, he has been highly involved in the training of new deputies. Knoef has been a Uniform Supervisor for 8 years, and completed Leadership Bartholomew County in 2019. Knoef is a graduate of Columbus East High School.

You will see lane closures this week on Interstate 65 between Columbus and Walesboro as crews work to install a new overhead sign on the highway.

INDOT says that the northbound right lane and shoulder on I-65 will be closed just north of the Walesboro exit on Tuesday. Work is expected to begin at 9 and last until 6 in the morning Wednesday. Rolling slowdowns are scheduled to take place during the work and will each last about 15 minutes.

The work schedule is dependent on the weather.

INDOT asks to slow down, to use use extra caution and to drive without distractions in all work zones. .

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A North Vernon man accused of murder was sentenced to 45 years Thursday in Jennings County Circuit Court after entering a guilty plea.

William Smith,  47, was arrested on May 11th, 2021 in connection with the killing of Robert Boyd, 56, of North Vernon. Smith was charged with murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, arson, resisting law enforcement, possession of methamphetamine, and obstruction of justice.

According to court documents, Smith had been staying in Boyd’s house when the incident occurred. During the investigation, local police were allegedly told that someone close to Smith had revealed that he had a “hit list” of people he wanted to kill, including Robert Boyd. Names of some of Smith’s family members and other members of law enforcement were also included on the list.

Jennings County Prosecutor Brian Belding revealed that, while awaiting trial, Smith was declared to not be competent to be tried after examinations by two court appointed doctors. He was transferred to Logansport State Hospital for several months until the psychiatrists at the state hospital deemed the defendant fit to stand trial.

Smith was scheduled to stand trial on February 27th but instead he pleaded guilty to the felony charge of murder on February 23rd.

The other charges were dismissed.

Smith acknowledged during the hearing that he committed the murder, according to Prosecutor Belding.

The hearing was attended by members of Mr. Boyd’s family.

Indiana American Water is making plans to remove the low-head dam on East Fork White River near its Seymour facility and wants your thoughts on the project.

The company announced that it will be holding a public hearing on the proposal to remove the dam on North County Road 760E and Reddington Road just north of the company’s water treatment plant. The dam spans the entire width of the river. The dam used to provide the water treatment plant with stable amounts of surface water for its Seymour system, but the plant now uses only groundwater.

The company says that removing the dam will improve safety in the river by getting rid of the recirculating currents that make low head dams dangerous. It will also also enhance habitat and biodiversity in the area.

The work is expected to begin this fall and to be completed late this year.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Jackson County Learning Center at 323 Dupont Drive in Seymour. Representatives from Indiana American Water and the design contractor, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, will be on hand to provide details on the project and to answer questions.

IUPUC will be hosting a soccer camp this weekend, aimed at high school and college students interested in playing for the school.

The camp will be held Saturday at the BCSC Soccer Complex on Poshard Drive, for high school juniors and seniors and college students.

The camp will include footwork drills, skills practice, strategy and teamwork exercises. There will also be a tour and question and answer session. Activities will start at 8:30 a.m. and wrap up around 1 p.m.

If you are interested in playing soccer for IUPUC but can’t attend the camp Saturday, you can reach out directly to the coaches. The men’s soccer coach is Tyler Joy-Brandon and women’s soccer coach is Jason Gough

The cost for the soccer camp is $40 per athlete.

To register, go to go.iupuc.edu/feb-soccer-camp or find a link on our website.

You can get more information about IUPUC athletics, visit iupucathletics.com.

A reminder that Exhibit Columbus will be holding its design presentations on Saturday — a chance for you to see the exhibits that will be installed at city landmarks this fall, hear from the designers and give your own thoughts on the projects.

Exhibit Columbus, launched in 2016, has two-year cycles with a symposium hosted one year, and the installation of exhibits at landmarks around the city the next year. This year is an installation event. The theme for this year’s installations is Public by Design.

Activities will kick off with coffee and pastries at 8 a.m. followed by four sessions with the first starting at 8:30 a.m. and a second morning session starting at 11:15 a.m.. Afternoon sessions will be at 1:45 and at 3:45 p.m., with the event ending at 5:30 p.m.

You will be able to preview the design concepts for the 13 installations that will open on August 26th.

The design presentations event will be held at The Commons in downtown Columbus.

You can get more information at exhibitcolumbus.org.

A Columbus North student is the winner of the Maverick Challenge Regional Finals held last weekend.

According to the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, Siddhant Jain, a Junior at Columbus North, took first place with Sid’s Studios. Sid’s Studios is a social media marketing agency that creates media content for businesses and individuals as a subscription service.

The Maverick Challenge is a youth entrepreneurship initiative organized by the local chamber. The region includes Bartholomew, Dearborn, Franklin/Ripley, Jackson, and Scott counties and this year more than 330 students took part in the program. The competition includes mentorship requirements, digital curriculum on foundational business concepts, and rounds of pitches. Seven students competed in last weekend’s regional finals.

All three of the top finishers have already launched real businesses based on their proposals, a first for the competition.

Jain was awarded $1,500 for his business. Benjamin Stoops of Lawrenceburg High School received $750 for his second place finish with his business BS Baseball Gloves. And the judges awarded the Judges’ Choice Award to Luke Imlay of Brownstown Central High School for his business, Lucky’s Farrier Equipment. That award came with a $500 prize.

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to try to get former Vice President Mike Pence, a Columbus native, to comply with a grand jury subpoena in the criminal probe into former President Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

CBS News reports that came after Trump’s attorneys used executive privilege claims over Pence’s subpoena in court. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported earlier this week that the special counsel overseeing the investigation got subpoenas for testimony from Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.

Pence is visiting the University of Texas at Austin today. Pence will speak at an event hosted by the Clements Center for National Security, and is expected to discuss the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is Pence’s first visit to Austin since 2019.

Story courtesy of TTWN Media Networks Inc.

The Columbus Air Park Campus on Central Avenue will be holding events on Sunday aimed at students interested in attending school three.

At 3 p.m. on Sunday, there’s an event aimed at Latino families called “Ven Y Conoce.” It is meant for students in 7th through 12th grades and their families who want to learn more about higher education and post-high school opportunities in Columbus. It will include opportunities to tour the facilities at the campus and meet with representatives of the schools. There will also be information about scholarships, degrees and technical careers.

All presentations and materials for this event are in Spanish. The event is being held in partnership with Tu Futuro, IUPUC, Ivy Tech, and Purdue Polytechnic.

Also on Sunday, IUPUC will be taking part in College Goal Sunday. Financial aid professionals will be on hand to walk participants through the filing process for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA.

College Goal Sunday will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at IUPUC.

Students who attend College Goal Sunday and submit a completed evaluation form will be entered in a drawing for one of five $1,000 scholarships.

You can get more information or find other sites at CollegeGoalSunday.org

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