A group of local grandmothers will be holding a fundraising concert next month to help prevent HIV and AIDS in Africa.

The Granny Connection will be holding a Celtic music and dance concert on Nov. 10th as its annual fundraiser. The group formed in 2008 and focuses on raising funds to help African grandmothers and their orphaned grandchildren. In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, up to 60 percent of AIDS orphans are living in extreme poverty in grandmother-headed households. Contributions will fund medical supervision, education initiatives, and more for families facing HIV and AIDS in Zambia.

The concert will feature the Laughing Jack musical group and the Indianapolis Irish Dancers. There will also be a raffle with prizes.

Doors open at 6:00pm and the concert starts at 7:00pm at Southside Elementary School. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children younger than 12.

You can get tickets at grannyconnection.org or at Viewpoint Books in downtown Columbus .

Legal Aid is holding a Free Legal Aid Phone Clinic from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Legal Aid offers the clinics for low-income residents of its eight-county district including Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings and Johnson counties..

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 over the phone.

To take part, you must first register between noon and 2 p.m. on Wednesday by calling 812-378-0358.

Two area organizations are receiving grant funds from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to spark innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is announcing $500,000 to 16 organizations around the state through a pilot of its new Community Collaboration Fund. This investment will have a particular focus on underrepresented founders and underserved markets.

The 16 projects were selected based on their abilities to fill gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, work across community boundaries, and support non-traditional markets, such as rural, women, minority and veteran entrepreneurs.

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce is receiving $40,000 for a new Lean Startup Academy & Pitch project. It will enable 45 entrepreneurs in Bartholomew, Jackson and Jennings counties to participate in intensive programming to start their businesses and leverage their learnings to pitch investors for funding.

The Jackson County Chamber is also receiving $40,000. It will be starting SPARK Jackson County. There will be a series of events and initiatives starting during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November meant to kickstart the community’s entrepreneurial ecosystem Those will include a pitch competition and targeted outreach to underserved founders and owners. There will also be a comprehensive assessment of community assets and a development of a first-ever inventory of locally owned businesses.

The Community Collaboration Fund is designed to support the growth of Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by inspiring new programming and new collaborations between entrepreneur support organizations. The IEDC invited entrepreneur support organizations to submit small business-focused services and programming for funding awards between $5,000 and $40,000. The grants require at least a 25 percent match from the local organizations.

In person early voting for the Columbus elections begins today at Nexus Park.

You can vote early from 8 to 5 on weekdays and starting on October 28th you can vote early 8 to 3 on Saturdays at Nexus Park and also at the Governmental office building at Third and Franklin Streets in Columbus.

Early voting wraps up at noon on the Monday before the Nov. 7th election. On Election Day there will be 8 vote centers around Columbus where you can cast your ballot.

Voters in Columbus will see some changes to their ballots this election, because of the switch last year making Columbus a second-class city. For the first time you will also see a race for clerk as second class cities split the duties of teh former clerk-treasurer race between an elected clerk and an appointed comptroller.

You will also see nine council seats on your ballot for the first time. There will be six seats by district and three at large seats on the council after this election. All of those seats are contested races this year.

At the top of the ticket, Republican Mary Ferdon is running against independent Sean Burton to be the next Columbus mayor.

Incumbent clerk-treasurer Luann Welmer, a Republican, is running for the new clerk position against Democrat Quisha Jackson.

Council races include:

Columbus City Council District 1

• Nick Slabaugh (D)
• Christopher Lee Bartels (R)

Columbus City Council District 2

• Elaine Hilber (D)
• Victoria Griffin (R)

Columbus City Council District 3

• Jerone Wood (D)
• Sue Norman-Chapple (R)

Columbus City Council District 4

• Keegan Hill (D)
• Frank Miller (R)

Columbus City Council District 5

• Eric Riddle (D)
• Kent Anderson (R)

Columbus City Council District 6

• Bryan Muñoz (D)
• Jay Foyst (R)

Columbus City Council At-Large (vote for three)

• Tom Dell (D)
• Paul Hoffman (D)
• Grace Kestler (D)
• Josh Burnett (R)
• Alex Engelbert (R)
• Christopher Rutan (R)

The northern part of Camp Atterbury will be home to a proving and testing ground for a variety of civilian and military innovations including autonomous vehicles and other high-tech mobility developments.

Military officials made the announcement Friday morning along with local company PRŪV Mobility Ecosystem, that the base would be home to the new project which officials touted as a ground-breaking cooperation between the military and private sector.

John Fairbanks, CEO of PRŪV explains:

Initially the company has a 10-year, $940,000 lease for 55 acres on the north side of the base in land owned by the state. That will allow the company to build facilities as the project expands. Eventually the company has the option to use the whole 1,000 acres north of Atterbury

The project will also make extensive use of the network of streets in the area that used to be the Wakefield military hospital during World War II.

Indiana National Guard adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Dale Lyles said he sees great opportunities for cooperation between the military and private businesses. He expects the possibility of autonomous military vehicles and weapons to help save lives of soldiers in future conflicts, with the dangers of first contact with an enemy being absorbed by robots and Artificial Intelligence.

Lyles said that he recently returned from a conference, where higher-ups in the Army made that point on private/military collaborations clear:

Photo of John Fairbanks, CEO of PRŪV Mobility Ecosystem. White River Broadcasting

Ivy Tech Community College is planning events later this month at its Columbus and Franklin locations to highlight the school’s programs in its School of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, and Applied Science.

The program is meant to highlight the manufacturing, engineering, agriculture, and aviation programs.

If you attend you will be able to meet with faculty and staff to learn more about the programs and career opportunities. You will also be able to talk about earning Ivy Tech certifications and degrees and transferring to a 4-year university. Staff will be on hand to talk about tuition rates, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities.

The events will be from 3 to 6 on October 24th at the Columbus and Franklin campuses. You can find a link to RSVP here: http://link.ivytech.edu/octoberspotlight

A reminder that Ethnic Expo gets underway this morning in downtown Columbus.

This year’s host country is Japan. Events in the streets around Columbus City Hall start at 11 a.m.  this morning. You will see downtown streets closed during the two-day festival, including Washington Street south of Second Street and First Street between Jackson and Franklin Streets.

Tonight’s headline entertainment is anime cover band Spirit Bomb starting at 8:30 p.m. at the City Hall plaza stage.

Tinkey Road in Bartholomew County will be closing Monday for bridge maintenance.

According to the Bartholomew County Highway Department, the road, also known as County Road 400N, will close between U.S. 31 and River Road starting at 8 Monday morning and lasting through 5 p.m. Tuesday. During the bridge work the gates will be locked.

You should avoid the area if you can.

The U.S. Forest Service will begin seasonal prescribed burns soon in the Hoosier National Forest.

The agency says that fires are used to maintain, restore or improve habitat for wildlife, to maintain wetlands, to restore and maintain unique barren communities, and to restore oak-hickory dominated ecosystems. Areas being considered for burning this fall have signage placed in advance. Determination of whether a fire will be held will be made on the day of the burn after evaluating conditions. You can expect to see smoke from the fires. If smoke is over a roadway, you should reduce you speed and turn on your headlights.

The forest service will notify nearby residents and businesses one to two days beforehand.

Areas designated for burns are closed to all public entry, including hunting, on the day of the burn and until the area is considered safe. For your safety, if you are planning to camp or hunt in an area near a prescribed burn, you should contact the Indiana Interagency Coordination Center Dispatcher (812-547-9262).

A traffic stop in Seymour led to the arrest of a woman on drug dealing charges Tuesday.

According to Seymour Police Department, officers noticed an SUV commit a traffic infraction and pulled it over.

Police say that the driver agreed to a search of the vehicle and officers located more than 8 grams of suspected methamphetamine, more than 40 pills and a variety of drug paraphernalia including scales and baggies.

The driver, 31-year-old Deanna Pennycuff of Seymour was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing in methamphetamine, as well as for possessing narcotics and drug paraphernalia.