The Columbus primary elections on Tuesday includes a contested mayoral race on the Republican ballot.

Columbus voters have a choice former State Rep. Milo Smith and Mary Ferdon, the city’s current executive director of administration and community development.

We asked the candidates about the current direction of the city government.

Smith said that he feels the city is overall doing a decent job.

Ferdon said that the city has mostly recovered from the pandemic.

On the Democratic side there is a contested race between three candidates vying for the recently redrawn 3rd District seat on the City Council, incumbent Jerone Wood, Michael Kinder and Tony Hayden.

Early voting is available in Columbus at Nexus Park, the former Fair Oaks Mall. You can vote from 8 to 5 on weekdays leading up to the primary. On Saturday, you can vote from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Nexus Park and at the Governmental Office Building on Third Street downtown.

Early voting ends on Monday at noon. Election Day is Tuesday and polls at Bartholomew County voting centers will be open from 6 to 6.

You can check your voting status at indianavoters.in.gov.

Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, is unveiling a new direction and new branding.

The not-for-profit organization is adopting a new mission to inspire generosity, to gather and grow community leaders and to act with impact. That comes after the first Community Leadership Convening  held earlier this month, which gathered 80 community leaders to discuss the direction of the organization.

Heritage Fund says that the “Act with Impact” mission will focus on three areas: downtown vibrancy, encouraging and protecting art, culture and architecture and youth development.

Under the downtown and art/culture/architecture impact areas, the organization will focus on the stewardship of architectural treasures, increase downtown programming, encourage festivals and other programs and seek to bring in more art and music to enhance the downtown area.

Toward the youth impact area, Heritage fund will seek to bring affordable, high quality childcare options, to support children with mental health challenges, to increase space and activity for children and families and to enhance support for diverse children, including making sure they are represented by teachers, mentors, books and curriculum.

Heritage Fund was formed in 1976 to create a legacy of giving by providing an organization where residents could make donations to establish charitable funds to benefit the local community.

A new logo was designed by Anna Mort, a Chicago graphic designer, and incorporates a stylized view of the Bartholomew County Courthouse.

State Road 256 in southern Jackson County will be closing for about a month, starting next week while contractors replace a bridge.

According to INDOT, the work will be about two and a half miles east of State Road 39, between State Road 39 and Austin. While the highway is closed, the official detour will follow Interstate-65, to State Road 56, and to State Road 39.

The $4.7 million dollar project was awarded to Force Construction. It also includes two other bridge replacements on State Road 256, with the second project west of Interstate 65 over the Muscatatuck River set to start in June.

INDOT asks that you slow down, drive without distractions and be alert to worker safety in all work zones.

A semi driver was seriously injured in Decatur County Sunday morning after a rock was thrown through the windshield of the vehicle.

According to the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department, the incident happened at about 2:54 a.m. Sunday morning on Interstate 74 near the 127 mile marker. When deputies arrived on the scene, the driver was semi-conscious and had serious head injuries. A child of the driver was also in the vehicle but was not injured.

The driver was flown by Stat Flight helicopter to St. Vincent’s Hospital.

The sheriff’s department says that video evidence from the scene has been recovered and is being examined.

If you have any information, you are asked to call the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department at 812-663-8125.

Two men were arrested over the weekend in Jennings County, accused of traveling to the community intending to have sexual relations with what they believed to be 13-year-old children.

According to Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, deputies along with North Vernon police officers made the arrests in a sting operation Saturday.

52-year-old James Warner of Columbus, was arrested when he arrived at a pre-determined meeting location to have sexual relations with what he believed to be a 13 year old girl. Warner was arrested on felony charges of child solicitation and dissemination of harmful material to a minor.

Later Saturday evening, 68-year-old Stephen Stonecipher was also arrested when he arrived at a location to have sexual relations with what he thought was a 13 year old boy. He is facing a felony charge of child solicitation.

Both were arrested without incident. Authorities say that the investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible.

Two Indiana State Troopers from the Versailles District were recognized last week for their achievements over the past year.

Last week, Indiana State Police held their annual awards and recognition ceremony in Indianapolis, where troopers were honored for their service, dedication, and bravery to the department and to the citizens of Indiana.

According to the state police, Trooper Austin Straub was honored as the 2022 Trooper of the Year for the Versailles District. Straub is a three-year veteran and primarily patrols Jackson and Bartholomew Counties. Last year, he had over 1,300 traffic contacts including both tickets and warnings, 155 criminal arrests, 14 DUI arrests, and investigated 25 crashes. The State Police say that Straub also works closely with officers from nearby police departments, assisting them with calls.

Trooper Clayton Saltzman was honored at the recent state awards ceremony with a Life Saving Award. That happened after an August motorcycle crash on southbound I-65 in Jackson County north of the Seymour exit. A victim had suffered traumatic injuries to both arms and was bleeding profusely. Saltzman applied tourniquets to both arms to stop the bleeding. The man was flown to the University of Louisville Trauma Center where doctors said Saltzman’s quick actions saved the man’s life.

Indiana State Police Troopers, from left, Sgt. Zachariah Ruble, Trp. Clayton Saltzman, Trp. Austin Straub and Lt. Paul Adams at the recent annual awards ceremony. Photo courtesy of Indiana State Police.

IUPUC’s Staff Council is helping local teachers and students with a donation of pencils to area classrooms. The “Staying Sharp Pencil Campaign” donated 300 boxes, or 3,600 pre-sharpened pencils on Friday..

Jayne Morris, IUPUC Staff Council Community Outreach chair, said they know teachers are running low on school supplies this time of year. And the majority of educators spend their own money on classroom supplies. She said the council is “hoping to ease that burden just a little.”

Each BCSC elementary classroom will receive a box of 12 pencils and a Crimson Pride flag representing IUPUC athletic teams. .

Morris delivered the pencils to the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation, which will distribute them throughout the school district.

A bill from Bartholomew County’s newest legislator has been signed into law

State Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, a Shelbyville Republican, created legislation to begin screening for an animal tranquilizer in overdose deaths. Meltzer said xylazine, also known as the street drug “tranq,” is used as a veterinary sedative for livestock. But it has also been linked to a growing number of overdose deaths.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, xylazine is a central nervous system depressant that can cause drowsiness and amnesia, and slow breathing, heart rate and blood pressure to dangerously low levels. Meltzer says the substance is being mixed with drugs like fentanyl and other opiates. But xylazine is not an opioid, so lifesaving medications such as Narcan are less effective.

Under her legislation, signed last week by Gov. Eric Holcomb, coroners will test for any trace of xylazine in drug overdose deaths. She said this extra step would provide the state with data that could be used to form an action plan.

This is Meltzer’s first bill. The freshman legislator’s district includes northeastern Bartholomew County.

Indiana Statehouse photo courtesy of iga.in.gov

An electrical malfunction caused a fire Friday night that seriously damaged a Columbus home.

According to the Columbus Fire Department, firefighters were called to North Hughes Street at 10:24 p.m. Friday night and found fire and smoke coming from the front window of a single-story house. Firefighters encountered heavy flames in the living room. It took about 10 minutes for firefighters to extinguish the blaze with water.

The owner said he had been watching TV in a bedroom when he heard a strange noise from the front of the home and saw the glow of flames in the living room. He fled to a neighboring home, where a neighbor called 9-1-1.

The homeowner said that earlier in the day he had moved an electric fireplace to the living room and plugged it directly into a floor outlet. Investigators found signs of electrical arcing at the outlet. They suspect that the heavy electrical draw of the fireplace may have caused a short, contributing to the fire.

No working smoke alarms were located in the home, investigators say. Firefighters stress the importance of having working smoke alarms in your home and offer a program to install them.

Damages are estimated at $50,000 and the home is not livable. No one was injured. The homeowner is staying with neighbors temporarily.

Ignite Columbus, a pitch competition organized by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, is returning this week.

Participants will present their most innovative or enlightening ideas is five minute pitches. Each pitch will have 20 slides, each shown for 15 seconds. Winners of the most innovative and most enlightening presentations will receive cash prizes.

The innovation category features presentations with competitors pitching their business ideas for funding, while the enlightening presentations are not tied to a particular project but must be fun, entertaining and educational. Both categories must offer improvements to the Columbus community.

The event is sponsored by German American Bank and Velocities. The emcee will be Skye Nicholson. Judges are Scott Ballard, Roger Lee and a representative from Airpark Columbus College Campus.

Scheduled presenters for the innovation category include:

• Lena Blackstock: Stories in/about place
• Nathan Donnelly: Public Art Events Featuring Glassblowing
• Alison Grimes: Columbus Recovery Cafe
• Brandon Green: Mobile Lockers and Wagons
• Parker Harwood: Multi-Material 3D Printing

Enlightening presenters include:

• Kaytlin Lock: Sensory Play Space
• Monica Salazar: Exotic Gems
• Siddhant Jain: The Snowball Effect
• Natalia A. Martinez: The Effects of Parental Divorce on Emotional Development

Ignite Columbus is Thursday from 5:30pm – 7:30pm at Helen Haddad Hall, 315 Franklin St, Columbus.