Columbus City Council is being asked to rezone the site of the former Joe Willy’s Burger Bar and neighboring properties so the area can become an apartment and retail complex.

The council will consider the first approval for a rezoning request that would turn the area from Commercial:Neighborhood zoning to the Commercial:Downtown district, which will allow for more dense development at that location. Rubicon Investment Group of Bloomington is requesting the rezoning for just over two acres including four properties at the corner of Washington, 11th and Jackson streets and are planning a mixed-use commercial and residential project.

According to the developer, the lots contain a vacant home, the former restaurant which has been built in a renovated home, and a vacant drive thru bank building. The residential buildings are in disrepair after being empty for some time.

The proposal received a positive recommendation from the city plan commission last month, although several residents expressed concerns about increased traffic and the historic nature of the neighborhood. According to county property records, the former Joe Willy’s structure was built in 1889.

The city and county planning department staff is also recommending approval of the zoning change.

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

Map courtesy of Columbus Planning Department.

Columbus Regional Health is planning grand opening celebrations for its side of Nexus Park next week.

The former Fair Oaks Mall on 25th Street is being revamped by the hospital and the City of Columbus as a center for health, wellness and recreation. CRH is putting more than $54 million dollars into its side of the project. The CRH portion makes up 125,000 square-feet and will contain 14 medical practices and support services offices which are being relocated there.

CRH will be holding an open house including a ribbon cutting with the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Jan. 24th. The ceremony will be at 11:30 a.m. After that you can take tours of the hospital portion of the facility until 6 p.m. that evening. You can enter the building from the parking lot on the southwest side of the center.

The event is free and you are invited to attend.

A pet food pantry distribution is set for Thursday afternoon at the Columbus Municipal Airport.

Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services will be holding their Furry Friends Food Bank giveaway from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, or until the food runs out. The pet food will be distributed in the airport parking lot at 4770 Ray Boll Boulevard in front of the Charlie 119 cargo plane.

The purpose of the pantry is to assist community members who are in need to keep their pets in their homes and out of area shelters. If you take part you should stay in your vehicle and the food will be brought to you.

Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services is the non-profit partner of the city-operated animal shelter.

A Columbus man is under arrest after he was found walking in the roadway with a shotgun.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the incident started at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the 8900 block of State Road 58 after reports of a man stumbling in the roadway with the weapon.

A deputy found the man, later identified as 34-year-old Derick Krebbs of Columbus, in the road. Police held him at gunpoint and ordered him to drop the weapon several times, before he finally complied. But then Krebbs refused to obey any other orders and gestured toward the weapon as if he was going to pick the shotgun up. Police say he repeatedly asked officers to shoot him.

After talking Krebbs down, he was taken into custody but became violent, kicking a deputy in the leg. He was then taken to Columbus Regional Health to be checked out and was found to have a blood alcohol level of .15 percent. He was arrested on preliminary charges including public intoxication, disorderly conduct and battery on a law enforcement officer.

Note: This story has been updated

A driver was rescued from freezing and rising waters by an off-duty Jackson County deputy on Saturday.

According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, a driver called for help at about 5:21 p.m. Saturday afternoon saying that she had driven into floodwaters, the water was rising and she was trapped inside.

Deputy Mark Holt was heading home after refereeing a basketball game when he heard dispatchers relay the report and realized he was only a few minutes away from the scene. By the time he reached the scene four minutes later, dispatchers had lost contact with the driver. He found the vehicle in the 9000 block of East County Road 50N, known as the Chestnut Ridge Bottoms, with the water up past the hood and rising.

Holt said that he tried to break the window with a specialized tool, but the device broke rather than the window. He then tried to punch the window out, but couldn’t. Finally he grabbed onto the door and managed to wrestle it open.

Despite being numb from the cold and slipping into the river flow, he pulled the woman to safety.

Holt then drove the woman, later identified as Jennifer Colvin of North Vernon, to Schneck Medical Center for treatment. She was treated and released later that night, deputies say.

Holt did not suffer any injuries from the rescue effort.

Sheriff Rick Meyer said that Holt’s “quick response kept this incident from being a lot worse.”

Holt said that his was his fourth river rescue, but by far the coldest.

Also assisting at the scene were Deputies Kevin Settle and Aaron Wilkins, Reserve Deputy Michael Maxie, Crothersville Assistant Chief Jonathon Tabor and Crothersville Reserve Deputy Derek Minton, along with Vernon Township Fire Department.

Photo courtesy of Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.

Legal Aid is hosting a free walk-in legal clinic for Bartholomew County residents today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a free phone clinic for its entire region.

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 walk-in clinic will be from 3 to 5 pm today at the Bartholomew County Public Library. The phone clinic will also 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. by calling 812-378-0358.

A wind chill advisory is in effect until noon today.

According to the National Weather Service, it will feel like 25 below zero in some areas this morning. With that cold, you could get frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.

The weather service urges you to be safe if you have to be outside today. You should make sure to wear appropriate layered clothes including hat and gloves.

Phi Beta Psi Sorority is announcing the queen candidates and details for their upcoming 51st annual Cancer Dance, Black and White Gala in Brownstown.

The Theta Omega Chapter of Phi Beta Psi sorority conducts a dinner and dance fundraising event each February for its national project of cancer research. Six young women from Jackson County will be competing to be crowned the 2024 Phi Beta Psi Cancer Dance queen.

The queen competition will be determined by fundraising. Each queen candidate will have collection containers at businesses around the community. Those proceeds and other donations raised from family, friends or local businesses will be tallied at a penny per vote. The queen will be crowned the evening of the dance.

The six Jackson County High School seniors competing will be Jenna Bolte, Drew Hubbard, Rylee May, Katie Otte, Madilyn Wirtz and Kiley Zabel.

The dinner and dance will be February 3 at Pewter Hall in Brownstown. The Jackson Way Band will be performing.

Tickets for the event are $80 per couple or $40 for a single ticket. They may be purchased from any sorority member.

Columbus Animal Care Services is warning that with the dangerously low temperatures, pets must be brought indoors.

According to the agency, city ordinances require animals be brought inside if is 20 degrees. Officials say that if it is too cold outside for you, it is too cold for your pets.

The city shelter is also warning of the danger to pets of rock salt that you may be using to melt ice and snow. Once pets walk on rock salt it can become stuck to their paws, or they might try to drink water outside that has been thawed by the deicer. Ingesting the rock salt in any significant amounts can be dangerous or deadly to cats and dogs. The agency suggests that you consider using deicers that are labeled as “pet safe.”

Bartholomew County Commissioners President Larry Kleinhenz is also urging you to take steps to protect your animals in this extreme cold. He says you need to make sure bedding is dry, they are out of the wind and having a tight enclosure is absolutely necessary in this weather.

Note: This story has been updated

A Friday afternoon fire destroyed a warehouse in Edinburgh.

According to the Edinburgh Police Department, rescue workers were called to the Group Metal Recycling business on North Holland Street at about 5:35 p.m. Friday afternoon and found the large warehouse building fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters say that the building’s roof collapsed within minutes of them arriving at the scene.

Edinburgh firefighters called for mutual aid and received assistance from Nineveh, German Township, Amity, Trafalgar, Franklin, and Columbus Township Fire Departments.

The building was full of vehicle parts, oil and propane tanks and the fire was finally under control at just before 7 p.m. A ladder truck was then moved closer to the building to access the remaining fire spots.

Firefighters say Robertson Paving also brought an excavator to move debris and heavy items inside of the building to access remaining fires and hotspots.

Police say it took more than two hours for the fire to fully be extinguished.

No one was inside the business at the time the fire started and no one was injured. Police say the building was a total loss. IDEM was called to the scene to test the water runoff and it was found to be within acceptable limits.

Edinburgh police, firefighters and the Indiana State Fire Marshall’s office are investigating the cause of the fire. If you have any information, you can contact Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little Jr. at 812-526-3500.

Photo by Ricky Rowland courtesy of Edinburgh Police Department.