There will be a gaming-filled fundraiser for the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund held today and Saturday.

The 24-hour Board Game-athon will be from 6 p.m. tonight to 6 p.m. Saturday at Hotel Indigo in downtown Columbus.

The minimum donation amount for an adult to take part will be $30, with children older than 11 $15 and children under 10 for free.

This is the sixth year for event which has raised more than $15,000 to date, according to organizers.

The Cheer Fund is Bartholomew County’s oldest charity in its 93rd year and provides Christmas presents and food to about 1,500 children during the holidays.

You can get more information on the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/24hourboardgameathon

Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson is holding a series of Curbside Chats around the community, with the next coming up later this month.

The mayor and department heads will be meeting with residents at local parks to foster conversations, to spark ideas and to get to know each other better. The next Curbside Chat will include Freeman Municipal Airport Manager Colin Smith. It will be at 7 p.m. on July 27th at Westside Park.

Upcoming chats will also be held on August 31st and September 28th. You can get more information on locations and who will be attending on the city website at seymourin.org.

Prospective students for IUPUC will be able to get hands on assistance with admissions next week during the school’s Express Admissions Week.

Organizers say you will be able to get campus tours, help with quick-turnaround admissions applications, and discuss enrollment, programs and financial aid. You can also sign up for follow-up steps including the math placement exam, orientation, meeting with an academic advisor, filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or learning about scholarship opportunities.

Those attending should bring their Social Security card, information to request their high school transcripts electronically, and their college entrance exam scores if you want to self-report them. A smart phone, laptop or tablet may be helpful but is not required. And you should have a personal email address.

Organizers stress that there is still time to sign up for fall classes.

Walk-in hours will be from 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday at the Admissions Office. There is no fee to apply.

State Sen. Greg Walker, a Columbus Republican, will be heading a legislative interim study committee looking for ways to better protect young Hoosiers.

Legislative study committees look into subjects of concern and based on those studies may recommend legislation. The interim committees meet during the summer and fall between the legislature’s sessions.

The interim child service committee is tasked with reviewing reports of the state and local child fatality review teams and the Department of Child Services concerning child safety. Walker has served on the regular session family and children services committee for several years.

Walker’s office announced that he will also be on a study committee on Pension Management Oversight and the Native American Indian Affairs Commission.

Greenwood police have released what the FBI found on the phone of the shooter at the Greenwood Park Mall last July.

The FBI unlocked the phone last May and found pictures of Adolf Hitler, Nazi propaganda, and guns. Also found were several graphic videos of other mass shootings.

The 20-year-old also took a picture of a handwritten suicide note saying, “My final thoughts on paper.” The shooter went on to write, “I’m a sociopath, I want to hurt people.”

He admitted to once shooting himself with a shotgun, saying it was a result of “mental instability, depression, frustration, and sexual isolation.”

Police believe the shooters homicidal thoughts had been manifesting for years because that note had been written two years prior.

There was another text, left in the drafts, that he was going to send to his brother a month before the shooting. In the text, the shooter said he was going to shoot himself.

Police say they did not find anything related to the Greenwood Park Mall shooting on July 17, 2022.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana. Greenwood Park Mall photo courtesy of RTV

The Community Education Coalition of Columbus is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The organization was formed in 1997 to advance educational opportunities for everyone in Columbus. Originally an experimental project of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the group brought together the business and education sectors along with community partners towards that goal. It has now grown to include efforts at the regional, state and national levels. It works to build a spectrum of educational pathways from early learning through higher education. Focused efforts are also aimed to help students of color, students of all agas and families experiencing economic challenges.

Among the initiatives that have grown from the Community Education Coalition efforts are the expansion of early learning, iGrad and Counseling Counts, TuFuturo and Black and Biracial youth initiatives, EcO regional pathways and supporting IU in creating the J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program. The coalition’s CivicLab also works to focus on civic collaboration across the country, exporting the “Columbus Way” of working together.

Kathy Oren, President and CEO of the coalition said the group is “immensely proud of the progress our education partners have made in service to students, employers and the community.”

Our area is under a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says the biggest danger is from 2 to 8 p.m. The weather could include isolated spots of large hail, damaging winds and flooding. But tornadoes are not expected.

A wanted Columbus man was found hiding in a dryer during an attempt by deputies to serve a search warrant early yesterday morning.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, 29-year-old Devon Burton was wanted on warrants accusing him of domestic battery on a pregnant woman, resisting law enforcement with bodily injury and resisting law enforcement. Deputies tried to serve the arrest warrant at a home in  the 16200 block of East County Road 265N at about 4:05 a.m. yesterday morning.

The homeowner told authorities that Burton was inside, but he refused to come out. After warnings, a police dog was sent inside to locate Burton and he soon surrendered. Burton was taken to the Bartholomew County Jail.

Crews will be closing State Road 58 in Jackson County for three months starting next week to replace the superstructure of a bridge.

According to INDOT, the work will start Monday on the bridge over Runt Run. That is less than a mile east of State Road 258, near Jackson County Road 375W.

The highway is expected to reopen in late September. The work schedule is dependent on the weather.

A detour will traffict from State Road 258 to State Road 11 and Interstate 65.

Milestone will be the contractors for the project.

INDOT says that a project that has already closed State Road 58 at Branch Runt Run is expected to reopen by the end of the week. The bridge replacement project started in April.

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

A new United Way of Bartholomew County fund will help single mothers reach their potential.

The United Way is announcing the creation of the Women United: Funding Tomorrow fund. The initiative is a project of Women United, a philanthropic society of the United Way.

The Funding Tomorrow Fund is designed to help single mothers overcome barriers so that they can reach their full potential by helping with employment or stable housing. The society determined that single mothers may just need a small boost to reach self-sufficiency.

Single mothers who apply for use of the fund must enroll in United Way’s Avenues to Opportunity program or pay the loan back with no interest. Avenues to Opportunity assists individuals with job and life skills, such as budget coaching.

Women United started the initiative after group conversations led society members to decide to focus their impact on helping single mothers.

Donations to the fund can be made by going to uwbarthco.org or  https://www.classy.org/give/473893/#!/donation/checkout.