Columbus Police Chief Mike Richardson will take on a new role this summer, moving jobs to be the city’s first director of security and risk.

Mayor Mary Ferdon is announcing that Richardson will take on the new duties on June 3rd, following his retirement later this spring from the police department.

Ferdon said that the Security and Risk director will oversee employee, visitor and building security. The department will evaluate buildings and security process and train employees. She said that the position means the city will be more proactive in protecting not just employees but residents and visitors in city buildings.

She said Richardson brings experience, new ideas and passion to the role. Prior to being appointed police chief by former Mayor Jim Lienhoop in 2020, he served in roles ranging from patrolman to deputy chief. Richardson was reappointed as chief by Mayor Ferdon in January.

Richardson, a Bartholomew County native, is a 29-year-veteran of the Columbus Police Department. He holds an associates degree in law enforcement from Vincennes University and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Indiana State University.

An Edinburgh man is facing drug and gun-related charges and is being accused of being a gang member after a weekend traffic stop in the Taylorsville area.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy noticed a vehicle leave a gas station onto northbound U.S. 31 at about 11:50 p.m. Sunday evening. The driver failed to use a turn signal and headed onto Interstate 65, while the deputy followed. Deputies say the driver crossed the fog line and failed to maintain his lane.

Deputies stopped the vehicle and a department police dog was brought to the scene. The driver, 39-year-old David Riddle of Edinburgh admitted that he had methamphetamine and heroin in the vehicle. A search found four baggies and two loaded magazines from a pistol, but no guns.

Riddle was a convicted serious violent felon due to a previous domestic violence conviction and admitted to having weapons at his home, deputies say. He also admitted to being a member of the Hell Raisers gang.

After a search warrant was served at his home on Walnut Street in Edinburgh, deputies recovered narcotics, along with baggies, digital scales and a cutting agent used to increase the volume of the drugs. And the found two handguns, one reported stolen out of Shelby County.

Riddle was arrested on a long list of charges including possession of a handgun by a serious violent felon, unlawfully carrying a handgun, possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer, participation in a criminal organization, as well as for possessing stolen property, drugs, syringes, and drug paraphernalia.

Evidence photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

The Bartholomew County Historical Society will be highlighting the history of the small town of Azalia next week during the year’s first talk from the Evelyn Seward Speaker Series.

Larry Perkinson will be discussing the community in the talk “Arise, Azalia, Arise” on Thursday, February 29th.

Perkinson says the town plat was filed on April 1st in 1831. The talk will explore myths and truths about the settlement including history on Levi Coffin, the Reno Gang, the Underground Railroad, a Quaker settlement, Indian mounds, Chuck Taylor and Joseph Anderson.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. on February 29th in the Helen Haddad Hall at the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic offices on Franklin Street. Admission is free. Funding for the event comes from the Evelyn Seward Speaker Series endowment.

The United Way of Bartholomew County will be helping residents learn about the stress of poverty through a simulation exercise next week.

According to organizers, over the course of three hours participants will be placed into the shoes of a family in poverty and asked to make the decisions the family must face each month. The simulation will show the tough choices those families have to face just to keep their households running and the struggle to meet even basic needs.

The United Way says that more than one in three people in Bartholomew County work but can’t meet their needs without assistance. And one in five children live in poverty here, according to Census data.

The simulation will be from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday, February 27th at the at the Toyota T REX Center.

You can register here:  https://www.uwbarthco.org/get-involved/events.html/event/2024/02/27/poverty-simulation/472267

Toyota Material Handling is planning a major expansion along Deaver Road in Columbus, with estimates of a $100 million dollar investment.

The company says it is planning to expand at the 65-acre site across the road from its existing Walesboro location because there is not enough space there. The expansion will allow the company to meet growing demand for its products, especially electrical forklifts.

Company executive Tony Miller told the Columbus Redevelopment Commission yesterday that the company has four manufacturing sites in North America, and evaluated all of them for the project, but would prefer to grow here. Miller said he could not release exact cost estimates on the project but it is approaching $100 million dollars for a 260,000 square foot facility. The goal is to start production in June of 2026.

Toyota has nearly 2,100 workers in Columbus and produced its first forklift here in 1989. The new factory would start with 85 employees, Miller said.

Funding to study road improvements for the project were approved Monday by city officials and last week the Columbus Plan Commission signed off on a proposal to rezone the three properties from agricultural to industrial use and to annex it into the city limits.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission yesterday approved up to $50,000 to fund a study of road improvements needed along Deaver Road, and County Roads 225W, 150W and at the Southern Crossing intersection.

Graphic courtesy of Columbus Planning Department.

Ivy Tech Community College Columbus biology professors are continuing their series of nature hikes to educate residents about their natural environment.

The next hike will be Saturday, March 2nd at the Touch the Earth Natural Area west of Columbus. That is on North Country Club Road just south of State Road 46.

Ivy Tech Columbus faculty member Dr. Tom Sobat will lead the hike, focusing on exploring the network of trails within the Sycamore Land Trust property. All trails on the property are listed as “easy.”

Hikers will meet at 10 a.m. in the morning.

If you are planning to take part and have binoculars, you should bring them. The college will have some sets on hand you can use.

The hike is open to the public, and you are invited to attend. You should dress appropriately for the outdoors and the weather.

For more information, contact Dr. Tom Sobat at [email protected].

Local historians and architectural experts are working on a project to celebrate important sites in Columbus and Bartholomew County Black History.

According to organizers, Paulette Roberts, Tami Iorio, and Jim Nickoll will be presenting their research on Columbus Black heritage sites in a discussion next week. Roberts has been organizing a Black Heritage Trail of downtown sites and leading tours during Black History Month. The trail highlights what Columbus was like for Black residents from 1870 to 1940. Ten sites are being proposed for the trail and are being documented as significant locations for local Black heritage.

At next week’s event there will be a discussion and organizers are seeking your thoughts and opinions on the project. And they are looking for stories of Black history here. A mockup design of historic trail markers and a proposed project budget will also be presented.

This event is being organized by Roberts, Bartholomew County Historical Society, Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives, and Landmark Columbus Foundation. Light refreshments will be served.

The discussion will be held Wednesday, February 28th from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Helen Haddad Hall at the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic offices at Franklin Street. Registration is required. You can sign up here: https://secure.givelively.org/event/landmark-columbus-foundation-inc/the-black-heritage-trail-project

You can find out more about all of the community’s Black History Month activities at https://www.blackhistorycolumbus.com

The Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge will be hosting an Indiana “Master Naturalist” class for adults starting next month.

Course topics will cover a different natural history topic each week. Subjects will include animals, wetlands, botany, tree identification, invasive plants, geology, fossils, and more.

Participants who attend six of the eight course sessions and complete volunteer work will receive a Master Naturalist certificate and a pin.

Classes will be on Wednesdays in March and April from 6 to 9:30 p.m. in the evenings. The classes are being organized by the Muscatatuck Wildlife Society, a not for profit group that supports the refuge.

The cost to take part is $35 to cover course materials. Registration is required. For more information or to register, you can contact Park Ranger Donna Stanley at 812-522-4352 or e-mail [email protected].

Photo courtesy of Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge Facebook page

Bartholomew County Works is now accepting applications for its upcoming job readiness workshop.

Bartholomew County Works is committed to helping members improve their lives, gain full-time employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency. It provides resources in areas including transportation, finances and budget setting.

The day-long workshop series will start on Monday March 18 and run through March 22nd at YES Cinema.

An orientation session will be held March 14th from 10 to 11:30 in the morning.

To get more information or to sign up, you can call Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center at 812-378-2638.

SPARK Jackson County is announcing a new initiative that will be a social club for entrepreneurs and innovators in the community.

Organizers say the goal is to allow entrepreneuers to build their networks and their community by getting to know other “big thinkers” through the SPARK Club.

In October, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation announced a $40,000 grant to the Jackson County Chamber to start SPARK Jackson County. Among its goals is to kickstart the community’s entreprenueral ecosystem with targeted outreach to underserved founders and owners.

The first meeting of the SPARK Club will be from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the evening of March 7th upstairs at Reeds Place in Seymour. The come and go event is free and dress will be casual.