Ivy Tech Community College is announcing an expansion at its location in Shelbyville, with a new Advanced Manufacturing Lab planned for the site.

The college announced yesterday that the state-of-the-art lab will be built in 4,000 square feet of unused space at the Shelbyville location. Organizers envision an immersive education and training space. The lab will focus on preparing Ivy Tech students for manufacturing careers, including advanced automation and robotics. Students will be able to learn through hands-on experience with real advanced manufacturing equipment.

Blue River Career Programs is providing Ivy Tech with equipment for the lab, which will include robotic arms found in manufacturing plants in Shelby County and worldwide.

The lab will also be used to introduce advanced manufacturing careers to students from Shelby County high schools in early college programs through Ivy Tech.

A ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the facility are planned for April 18th.

Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County is announcing more than $45 thousand dollars in grants to local organizations from its Community Fund this quarter.

Each year, Heritage Fund distributes between $600 and $700 thousand dollars in grants from the Community Fund. The unrestricted funds are meant to meet needs in the areas of Youth Development, Downtown Vibrancy, Arts/Culture/Architecture/Design and
Responsive Community Needs

Among the grants this quarter were $16,700 to Love Chapel to support website development, $12,150 to Indiana University Columbus to support its iEngage civics camp and $2,500 to Game Changer, Inc to support a documentary on The Republic.

Other grants this quarter included:

• Leadership Bartholomew County – $995 for program scholarships
• Indiana University Foundation – $200 to support IU Columbus Pride Pantry
• International Community Development Inc. of Columbus – $750 for
  sponsorship MLK Day 2024
• kidscommons – $1,000 sponsorship for Carnivale

The next quarterly grant application deadline is March 1st. For more information you can call Heritage Fund at 812-376-7772.

The Schneck Guild in Seymour says that applications are now open for the annual Kim Quilleon Varnell Memorial Scholarships.

The Guild awards three $1,000 scholarships each year to past Junior Volunteers at Schneck Medical Center who are graduating high school seniors. They students must have completed the minimum 28-hour requirement for the summer, be a graduating high school senior, and enrolled in college planning a career in a healthcare field.

Applications must submitted online before March 31st to be eligible for consideration.

Applications for the scholarship are available at www.schneckmed.org/volunteers.

Two Columbus North High School graduates are serving as interns at the Indiana Statehouse during this legislative session.

State Sen. Greg Walker said Annabel Freeman and Miguel Salas-Prieto are serving as interns for the Indiana Senate Majority Caucus.

Freeman is the daughter of Anne and Andrew Freeman. She is a sophomore at Purdue University studying natural resources and environmental science.

Freeman tracks and analyzes bill data, provides constituent services, staffs Senate committee hearings and meetings and conducts legislative policy research.

Salas-Prieto is the son of Miguel Salas and Ramona Prieto. After high school he graduated from IUPUI with a degree in Cybersecurity.

Salas-Prieto is an IT intern, helping senators and staff troubleshoot technology issues and running equipment during committee meetings so hearings can be livestreamed.

Senate Majority interns work through the duration of the legislative session, which is scheduled to end by March 14.

Photos: Sen. Greg Walker and intern Annabel Freeman (top), Sen. Greg Walker and intern Miguel Salas-Prieto (bottom). Photos courtesy of Indiana Senate Republican Caucus.

Local tourism officials are looking for your help to compile a complete calendar of events happening leading up to the April total solar eclipse.

Our area will be in the path of totality for the April 8th event, meaning the sun will be completely blocked out by the moon during the solar phenomena. Officials expects thousands of tourists to flock to communities along the path, more than doubling the normal population in the weekend leading up to the big event. Organizers of events are putting together many activities for both visitors and locals to take part in.

The Columbus Area Visitors Center is acting as the central clearinghouse for eclipse activities in Bartholomew County and the city. Erin Hawkins, spokeswoman for the visitors center, explains:

You can also get more safety information and other eclipse highlights on the visitors center page.

You can get more information on events or add your event at https://columbus.in.us/eclipse/ 

Other area community eclipse information pages:

https://www.seymoureclipse.com/

https://www.visitgreensburg.com/solar-eclipse/

https://www.eclipseinshelbycountyin.com/

https://www.eclipsejenningscounty.com/

A routine traffic stop turned into a police chase Sunday morning in Jennings County.

According to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy tried to pull over an SUV near the Jefferson and Jennings county line on State Road 7 early Sunday morning. But instead of stopping, the driver took off, leading police on a high speed chase onto State Road 3 and eventually State Road 250.

During the chase, dispatchers received a call from the driver, 33-year-old Corey Lane of Butlerville. The operator urged Lane to stop and after several minutes of conversation he pulled over where he was taken into custody. A search of the vehicle recovered a handgun.

Lane is facing charges including  possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, resisting law enforcement  with a vehicle, possession of marijuana,  operating a vehicle without ever receiving a license and a parole violation.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in the arrest.

Many area roads are treacherous this morning due to icy conditions following yesterday’s snow and slush freezing overnight.

Bartholomew, Brown and Johnson counties have all declared travel watches. A travel watch means that conditions are threatening to public safety. During a watch, only essential travel is recommended. Emergency actions plans should be activated for schools, businesses, government agencies and others.

Shelby, Decatur and Jennings counties have all issued travel advisories, warning that travel may be restricted in some areas and you should use caution or avoid those areas.

Jackson County has no travel advisories in effect as of 6:30 a.m. today.

The National Weather Service warns that today will be cold and breezy with wind chills below five degrees in most of our area, dipping to below zero in some spots.

We could see two to four inches of snow today according to forecasters.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for our area, that goes into effect at 10 a.m. this morning lasting through 9 p.m. tonight. Heavy snow is expected at times with up to five inches in some isolated locations in central Indiana.

You can expect slippery road conditions this afternoon and evening. The weather service suggests that you slow down if you are on the road, give yourself extra time to reach your destination and leave plenty of space between your vehicle and those in front of you.

Bartholomew County authorities are looking for your help finding suspects in a carjacking near Taylorsville this week.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, a woman reported at about 10:41 p.m. Wednesday night that she was leaving the Taylorsville area on East County Road 650N when a vehicle pulled up behind her with flashing blue lights and blinking its headlights. Thinking that the pursuers were law enforcement, she pulled over.

That’s when two men wearing black clothing approached her vehicle and displayed a handgun. They pulled her out of the vehicle, pointed the weapon at her and threatened her life. Then they took off in her vehicle. They left her to walk back to Taylorsville which took about 30 minutes, before she could call for police.

Deputies say that authorities were also called to a vehicle fire about six miles away from the carjacking site, and discovered that the car appeared to be the victims.

The witness reports that the two men were in their mid 20s with stocky builds and they spoke English. She said they drove a blue passenger car, but did not get a make or model.

If you have any information on the incident, deputies ask you to call the department at 812-565-5926.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled against Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Rust of Seymour in his bid to stay on the primary ballot.

Thursday, the court removed its injunction that originally allowed John Rust to run on the GOP ballot.

The Indiana Election Commission had originally ruled that Rust was prevented from running as a Republican due to a rule that a candidate must have voted in his particular party’s primary for the last two elections. Rust had voted in Democratic Party primaries before 2016, when he voted Republican, and he did not vote in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, he says.

Rust then sued Secretary of State Diego Morales over his primary access, which led to the injunction.

The election commission, Morales, and Jackson County Republican Party chairwoman Amanda Lowery challenged the injunction that allowed Rust to run

Rust set out to challenge Congressman Jim Banks for the Senate seat now held by Sen. Mike Braun seat. Banks has long argued Rust’s argument against the state’s party voting rule was not grounded in reality.

For Rust to actually be removed from the ballot, the Indiana Election Commission must now vote him off.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana and TTWN Media Networks