The Bartholomew County 4-H Fair continues today with Bartholomew County Farm Bureau Day.

The midway opens at 5 p.m. with Dollar Day today and $2 tickets per ride.

Entertainment tonight includes Green Timbe Music featuring Louis and Teresa Green at the Farm Bureau Building, Fishers of Men Christian contemporary music at the David Boll Theatre and Three Bar J Rodeo at the Grandstands, all starting at 7 p.m. this evening.

You can get more information at https://bartholomewcountyfair.com/

Susan Zabor , Vice President of Clinical and Provider Management and Chief Quality Officer at Schneck Medical Center, has been elected to the Indiana Rural Health Association Board of Directors.

According to the hospital, Zabor began her career as a staff nurse at Schneck Medical Center in 1996. After working at a different hospital, she returned to Schneck as a staff nurse in 2005, rising through positions as Quality Outcomes Coordinator, director of Lean Six Sigma & Organizational Projects before taking on her current role.

She holds a bachelors degree from Purdue University, and two master’s degrees from the University of Southern Indiana.

Zabor said that the association is “essential for ensuring that rural communities have access to quality healthcare,” saying the association works to address health care disparities and advocates for rural communities.

Organizers of the recent Catalyst Columbus pitch competition are announcing the three winners of the inaugural event.

According to the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, the event was designed to foster regional entrepreneurship and featured pitches from 20 startup businesses. The competition awarded $20,000 to Bartholomew and Jackson County entrepreneurs.

First place prizes of $7,500 were awarded to CayPops Bakery, founded by recent Columbus North High School graduate Caylyn Pruitt, and Tiny Kindness, led by Rachel Hunt.

A third place award of $3,000 went to Pendulum started by Eric Silver and a $2,000 award went to fourth place award winner Sitka Nursery and Tyler Short. Stephanie Strothmann earned $1,000 for Purple Shamrock Farm.

Judges were Brian Riley, CEO at Guardian Bikes; Maria Wilkins, Technical Advisor at Cummins; and Lena Blackstock, Partner at Process/Practice Studio.

The Catalyst Pitch Competition was made possible through the support of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Duke Energy, the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, and Catalyst Columbus.

A police chase of a stolen pickup starting near the Kentucky border tore through our area on Interstate 65 at speeds of more than 100 mph before ending north of Edinburgh on Friday afternoon.

According to Indiana State Police the chase started at about 5:30 p.m. Friday afternoon when a trooper clocked the truck speeding at 87 mph near Sellersburg. The trooper pulled the vehicle over briefly before the driver took off, heading north through Scott and Jackson Counties. The driver evaded tire deflation devices and police say it appeared that the driver and passenger were throwing items out the windows.

In Bartholomew County, the driver crossed into the southbound lanes near Walesboro heading the wrong way on the interstate, before getting off the highway at the Columbus exit, striking a car on the on-ramp. The driver then got back on the interstate heading north. Police finally were able to deflate the tires with stop sticks and the pickup stopped near the State Road 252 exit.

The truck had been reported stolen out of Westfield in May and had stolen dealer plates, troopers say.

The driver, 35-year-old James T. Vinson of Indianapolis is facing charges of resisting law enforcement, vehicle theft, being a habitual traffic violator, criminal recklessness with a vehicle, false informing and for possessing marijuana, along with several outstanding Marion County warrants.

Two passengers, also from Indianapolis, were found to be carrying marijuana.

Photos courtesy of Indiana State Police.

The Bartholomew County 4-H Fair gets officially underway at 5 p.m. this afternoon with MDM Trucking & Mensendiek Real Estate and Auction Professionals Day at the Fair.

The midway will have $30 wristbands starting at 5 p.m.

Tonight’s entertainment includes Kingly T reggae music at the David Boll Theatre, Columbus Cloggers at the Farm Bureau Building and the Woomblies Rock Orchestra at the grandstands, all at 7 p.m. The 4-H Watermelon relay will be at 8 p.m. at the Horse Arena.

Saturday is Bartholomew County Young Farmers and Ag Professionals Day. It is also military appreciation day and anyone with a military ID can park for free.

The midway opens at 2 p.m. with regular tickets and Midnight Madness after 8 with $25 wristbands. Evening entertainment Saturday includes Kingly T reggae music at the David Boll Theatre and the Demolition Derby at the Grandstand, both starting a 7 p.m.

Sunday is Bartholomew County FFA Day.

Sunday night’s entertainment will include the Indiana Pulling League at the grandstand and the 4-H Fashion Revue at the David Boll Theatre, both at 7 p.m.

The midway opens Sunday at 3 p.m. with $35 wristbands.

You can get more information at https://bartholomewcountyfair.com/

You will see streets closing in downtown Columbus tomorrow, as the Bartholomew County and Columbus branch of the NAACP holds a Juneteenth Jubilee on Saturday.

Activities for the event themed “Healing Our Soul” will be from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Fourth Street Entertainment District in downtown Columbus.

Setup for the event will start at 9 a.m. and the teardown is expected to go until 8 p.m.

The city will be closing Fourth Street from Jackson to Washington and from Washington to Franklin streets with the gates during the event. The intersection will remain open with officers stationed nearby. However, the intersection will close from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. during closing ceremonies for the celebration.

Fifth Street will be closed from Franklin to Lafayette until 4 p.m.

Activities will include talks by culinary historian and cookbook author Michael Twitty, panels on mental health and why history matters and two walking tours of black history locations in downtown Columbus by Paulette Roberts.

There will also be a kid zone, health corner, food vendors, merchandise booths, music and more.

A former legislator from our area and Jackson County school superintendent has been picked to be the state Democrats’ candidate for lieutenant governor.

Terry Goodin, who was born in Seymour and lives in Austin, was chosen yesterday by Democratic Governor candidate Jennifer McCormick as her running mate. He spoke at a press conference yesterday.

Goodin served as superintendent of the Crothersville schools for 24 years and raises beef cattle on his Scott County farm. He was elected to the state legislature in 2000 representing Indiana’s House District 66, a position he held for 20 years. In 2017, he was briefly chosen to be House Minority Leader after a resignation.

Goodin graduated from Eastern Kentucky University, receiving a bachelors in 1989 and masters in history and secondary education in 1990. He earned a doctorate from Indiana University in Bloomington.

In 2022, Goodin was selected by President Biden to serve as state director of USDA Department of Rural Development for Indiana.

McCormick cited Goodin’s legislative and educational experience as well as his passion for rural Indiana in her announcement. She said Goodin “understands that to govern effectively for all Hoosiers, we must restore civility, common sense, and bipartisanship to the Statehouse.”

Indiana Democrats will formally choose their candidate at the state party convention on July 13th.

Last weekend, Indiana Republicans chose pastor Micah Beckwith as their lieutenant governor candidate, overriding the hand-picked choice of Governor candidate and U.S. Sen. Mike Braun for his running mate.

Audio courtesy of Network Indiana.

Columbus police say officers were called out to a false report of a shooting Wednesday night and a bomb threat on Thursday morning, in what they are calling a “swatting” attempt.

According to the Columbus Police Department, dispatchers received a call at 11:26 p.m. on Wednesday night, from someone pretending to be at a home in the 1700 block of South Drive, saying that he had just shot it family and was going to kill himself. Police arrived, cordoned off the area and then tried to make contact with people in the home. They determined that the caller, not anyone at the home, had made the fake call.

Early Thursday morning, dispatchers received a report of a bomb at Columbus Regional Hospital, and that call also mentioned the home on South Drive. Police responded and determined that report was also false and believe the two may be related.

Police say that the calls may have been made in retaliation against a juvenile at the home who was communicating with someone online. Investigators believe the calls came from outside of Indiana and the incidents are still under investigation.

“Swatting” refers to prank calls to authorities under the false pretense that a violent crime is happening in order to provoke a potentially dangerous situation between unknowing residents and armed officers, usually a SWAT team.

Forecasters are warning of more hot and humid weather that could make it feel like it is close to 100 degrees outside today and tomorrow.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says we can expect high temperatures in the low to mid 90s both afternoons, with heat indexes in the upper 90s. That could be hazardous, for those who are sensitive to the conditions or vulnerable.

There are several places available in Bartholomew County if you need to get out of the heat.

The city of Columbus has a cooling station open from 8 to 5 today through Sunday at Donner Center on 22nd Street.

The Bartholomew County Public Library branches can also be used to cool off. The main branch on Fifth Street is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday. The Hope branch is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tonight, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

You should take extra precautions including drinking lots of non-alcoholic beverages and
limiting your exposure to the heat outdoors in the afternoons and early evenings.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management says today will be another Air Quality Action day in our area.

The agency says that levels of ground level ozone are expected to be in the orange range, meaning conditions are unhealthy for sensitive groups.

High temperatures are expected to reach the 90-degree mark again today and combining that with high humidity and light winds, allows the ozone to accumulate. Forecasters say that Indiana and much of the eastern United States remain under a high pressure atmospheric heat dome which is locking the hot and humid air into place.

You can get more information at SmogWatch.IN.gov

Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center is giving away fans to Bartholomew County families without air conditioning.

You can get one per household, there must be no air conditioning in your home and you need to show proof that you are Bartholomew County resident. The fans will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis.

The distribution will be at the Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center at 1039 Sycamore Street. You can call for more information at 812-379-1630