The deadline is Saturday if you would like a chance to win part of $15,000 in prize money to help launch your business idea.

Catalyst Columbus will be holding its inaugural pitch competition on June 15th where local entrepreneurs can showcase their business ideas. The competition is open to businesses in Bartholomew, Jackson or Jennings counties with an annual revenue of less than $200 thousand dollars.

Each company or entrepreneur will have five minutes to make their pitch, followed by a three minute question and answer session with expert judges.

Dan Nash at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce explains:

Cash prizes are sponsored by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Duke Energy.

Applications are due by Saturday

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 15th at the Columbus Learning Center on Central Avenue. It is free and you are invited to attend.

You can get more information or apply to take part by contacting Dan Nash at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. His email is [email protected].

Time is running out to take a community public health survey that will help determine the needs of the area served by Columbus Regional Health.

Columbus Regional Health says the survey is ongoing by phone and on the Internet through the end of the month. CRH’s Healthy Communities initiative will use the information to improve community health and wellness, as well as address equitable access to health services and discover health disparities. The survey is anonymous and you will not be asked to provide any personally identifying information.

The survey is questioning residents in Bartholomew County and some in Jackson and Jennings counties.

You can find a link and more information here: www.prcsurvey.com/begin/CRH2024CHNA

Gov. Eric Holcomb joined Toyota Material Handling executives and employees celebrating the ground breaking of a new Columbus plant yesterday.

Company executives said that the new plant will focus on electric forklifts and that last year, about 65 percent of the forklift market had turned to electric products. Tony Miller, Senior Vice President of Operations, Engineering & Strategic Planning explained the importance to the company.

Miller explained that the company looked at all of its North American locations to find the best place for an expansion.

Holcomb said that Indiana prides itself on being the Crossroads of America, providing businesses the transportation infrastructure and other tools that companies need to grow.

The company held the ceremony yesterday morning at the 65-acre site across the road from its existing Walesboro location along Deaver Road. The company is planning a nearly $100 million expansion. The company plans to add a 295,000 square foot plant that would start production in June of 2026 adding 85 jobs here initially.

A traffic stop in Bartholomew County led to the arrest of a passenger on drug-dealing charges.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy pulled over a vehicle on U.S. 31 near County Road North 550W Tuesday. A passenger appeared nervous during the stop. A police dog alerted to the smell of narcotics in the vehicle and a search led to a backpack. Inside, police discovered methamphetamine, packaging materials, scales, smoking devices, marijuana, oxycodone pills and nearly $3,000 in cash.

The passenger, John W. Hayes, was arrested on preliminary charges including dealing in methamphetamine and a controlled substance, as well as for possessing the meth, marijuana, controlled substance and paraphernalia.

Photos courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

You could see lane restrictions on Interstate 65 in Jackson County as early as today.

According to INDOT, contractors will be reducing southbound I-65 to a single lane about two and a half miles south of Seymour. That will be for about three days while crews do patching work in the area.

The work schedule is dependent on the weather.

E&B Paving is the contractor for the project.

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

A state highway in Jackson County will see lane restrictions starting next week while crews work on a bridge there.

According to INDOT, State Road 39 will be reduced to one lane starting Monday over Grassy Fork in Tampico while crews rehabilitate the bridge there. The work is expected to take up to four weeks to complete depending on the weather.

The work will be about four miles north of State Road 256. Temporary traffic signals will be in place while the work is going on. Crews will be placing signs in the area soon.

Three Star Painting will be the contractor for the project.

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

An early morning fire yesterday in Edinburgh left six people homeless and eight animals dead.

Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little Jr. said that Edinburgh police and firefighters were called to a garage fire in the 500 block of Sunset Drive at just after midnight. They arrived to find that a large part of the structure was already engulfed in flames.

Officers assisted the residents who had been inside to move to a safe distance from the blaze. One resident, a 48-year-old man, was treated for burns to his legs and then was taken by Bargersville medics to a nearby hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Little said that six residents and several pets escaped the fire but that six cats and two dogs were killed.

The cause of this fire remains under investigation.

Also assisting at the scene were the volunteer fire departments from German Township, Amity and Nineveh. Little also thanked the Bargersville medics and Fire Angels who provided a place to stay and assistance with needed items.

Photo courtesy of Edinburgh Police Department.

Eastern Bartholomew Water customers in the Clifford area are under a boil water advisory after water mains were damaged in the area by contractors causing water outages.

The boil water advisory is in effect until 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Under a boil water advisory, you should bring water to a full boil for three to five minutes before drinking it or using it in food preparation.

If you have any questions you can call the utility at 812-526-9777.

The body of a Greenwood man was found in a Monroe County lake after he went missing yesterday morning.

According to Indiana conservation officers, 23-year-old Nathan Stout had been on the Lake Lemon beach near Riddle Point Park Tuesday morning and was lasdt seen by friends at about 2 a.m. near the edge of the water. He was reported missing at 6:33 a.m. and conservation officers recovered his body about three and a half hours later. Authorities say that the exact cause of death is still awaiting autopsy results.

Conservation Officers were assisted on scene by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.

You could see traffic tie-ups in the Harrison Lakes area starting Thursday.

According to the Bartholomew County Highway Department, crews from Milestone Contractors will be milling the roads in the neighborhood starting tomorrow. The work could last through Friday. The work will then move to overlaying new asphalt.

They suggest that you avoid the area and find alternate routes and there could be long delays while the work is going on.