Eastern Bartholomew Water customers in the Mineral Springs area are under a boil water advisory after a water main was damaged by contractors for another utility company, causing a water outage yesterday.
The boil water advisory is in effect until 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.
Bartholomew County will be looking to the future growth of its park system, with the choice of a contractor to prepare the new parks master plan.
Bartholomew County Commissioners this week approved a contract for $27 thousand dollars with Zec Eight Insights of Zionsville to guide the master plan project. The county parks system last master plan was five years ago, according to officials.
Commissioner Carl Lienhoop said the completion of the plan will allow the county parks board to apply for state and other grants to help the parks system.
Although the county does not have to seek bidders for professional services contracts, the parks department did reach out to four different companies, but Zec Eight Insights was the only one to respond with a bid, said Commissioners President Larry Kleinhenz.
Half of the funds will be coming from a grant through Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County and the other half through COVID recovery funds.
In a ceremony at the 64th National Sports Media Association Awards in Greensboro, N.C., Sam Simmermaker was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Executive Director of the N-S-M-A Dave Goren.
Simmermaker, a 2-time winner of the Indiana Sportscaster of the Year Award in 1976 and 1997, received a long standing ovation. Surprised by the award, he gave some brief comments and ended with “a million thanks from Sam & Fran”.
The National Weather Service in Indianapolis has issued a tornado watch for southern Indiana. That includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings in our area.
The weather service says that as the remnants of Hurricane Beryl pass through our area, there is a chance of isolated tornadoes. Forecasters say that any tornadoes that form are likely to be EF-0 or EF-1, but a few EF-2 tornadoes are also possible.
The tornado watch is in effect until midnight.
The remnants of Hurricane Beryl are going to be hitting our area soon, according to local emergency officials.
According to the Bartholomew County Emergency Management department, the northern part of our area is under a slight risk of severe weather including northern Bartholomew, Johnson and Shelby counties and most of Brown and Decatur counties. Meanwhile the southern and eastern portions fall under the higher, enhanced risk, including southern Bartholomew, all of Jackson and most of Jennings counties.
Forecasters say the greatest threat will most likely be from 5 to 10 p.m. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to pick up with torrential rain of 1 and a half to two inches, and up to three inches in that enhanced area. The heaviest rain is expected this evening and early Wednesday.
You can expect minor flooding in low-lying areas and along waterways.
There is also a chance for strong winds and isolated tornadoes with this weather. Gusty winds of up to 40 mph are possible through Wednesday morning with up to 50 mph winds by Wednesday afternoon.
An iconic downtown Columbus store will be closing with Tom Dell announcing his retirement and the closing of Dell Brothers men’s clothing store.
Dell is retiring after 55 years operating the 108-year-old family business. Dell said that after the death of his brother, Mike, last year, it has become too hard to operate the store alone.
The store has been at the same location in downtown Columbus since 1916, opened first by Dell’s grandfather, sold to his father and uncle, and then taken over by Dell and his brother.
Dell plans to take vacations with his wife, Kathy, and to continue to be involved in the downtown community. He also will continue to serve on the City Council.
Dell said that no exact closing date has been set, but the store is now holding a 50 percent off clearance sale. Once the current stock is depleted, the remaining items will be given away to area charities and the store will close permanently.
Legal Aid is holding a Free Legal Aid Phone Clinic today.
Legal Aid offers the clinics for low-income residents of its eight-county district to receive legal advice and assistance. The district includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Rush, and Shelby Counties.
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 over the phone. The clinic will be from 3 to 5:30 p.m.
To take part, you must first register between noon and 2 p.m. by calling 812-378-0358.
Seymour Main Street is announcing the choice of a new executive director.
The downtown improvement group announced yesterday that Jaylyn Stam has been chosen for the role and will take over the duties on July 15th. Stam is a native of Seymour and has been working as a strategic account representative for Movable Ink in New York.
She is a graduate of Brownstown Central High School and graduated from Indiana University in 2019. Stam and her husband, Eric, live in Seymour.
Seymour Main Street is a nonprofit group that promotes economic development in the historic downtown. Among it missions, it creates community events, and improves the look of downtown with grants to businesses for projects such as improving façades, signage, building build outs and similar needs.
Stam said she looks forward to working with the community to enhance and preserve the downtown area.
You can get more information about the organization at seymourmainstreet.org.
Forecasters say the remnants of Hurricane Beryl are going to be passing through our area this afternoon and evening, bringing storms with heavy rain and the threat of more severe weather.
According to the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, the storms will bring a threat of short-lived tornadoes with the greatest chances from 6 this evening until 2 a.m. Wednesday morning. All of southern Indiana, south of Interstate 70 is in the threatened area and forecasters say that there is a 5 to 9 percent chance of tornadoes.
There is a 90 percent chance of rain today with an inch and a half to two inches throughout most our area. However a wedge shaped area including most of Brown and western Jackson along with southern Monroe and Washington counties could see up to 3 inches of rain — the heaviest rain expected in the state.
A new book about Columbus and its modern architecture will be unveiled in the community with an event Wednesday at the former North Christian Church.
Landmark Columbus is organizing a launch party for the new book, “American Modern: Community, Architecture, Columbus, Indiana.” The event will feature the book’s author Columbus native, Matt Shaw; along with photographer, Iwan Baan; and designer, Alex Lin. The book is described as the first in-depth history of Columbus focusing on the forces that produced the pre-eminent laboratory of architectural modernism in the USA.
Richard McCoy with Landmark Columbus explains
Richard explains how the book will be different from others, such as the tour guide book produced by the Columbus Area Visitors Center.
There will also be live piano music by Jasmine Yang, who is a recent graduate of Columbus North High School and the winner of the 2024 Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence and a book signing with the creators. You will also have a chance to buy limited edition posters to support the book.
The event at the former North Christian Church will be from 4 to 8:30 Wednesday. A second book launch event will be held Thursday at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis from 4 to 8:30 p.m.
You can register for either event at landmarkcolumbusfoundation.org
A teen boy was rescued from East Fork White River Sunday evening in Mill Race Park after a passerby heard him calling for help and went into the water to save him.
According to Capt. Mike Wilson with the Columbus Fire Department, rescue workers were called to the park at about 6:34 p.m. Sunday evening about two people stuck in the river north of the Mill Race Park boat ramp.
The teen told authorities that he had been swimming alone near where Flat Rock and Driftwood rivers combine to form East Fork White River on the northern end of the park. But he began having difficulties swimming in the fast water and began calling for help.
Wilson said that a 29-year-old man passing by along the People Trail heard the shouts for help and went into the water. Wilson explains:
He reached the struggling swimmer, and kept him afloat while the two continued down the river, eventually reaching the bank. But the bank was too steep to climb up at that spot and they stayed there until rescuers arrived.
Firefighters used an inflatable boat to bring them both back to the ramp where the boy was checked out by Columbus Regional Hospital medics. He was found to be uninjured, Wilson said
Although the swimmers were rescued upstream from the dangerous low head dam on the river, Wilson warns that there are other dangers in the river and encouraged people to find other places to swim.
Also assisting at the scene were the Columbus Police and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Departments.
Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department