The Community Education Coalition will be hosting an event later this month in Columbus aimed at helping the parents and caregivers of black and black bi-racial children navigate the upcoming school year.

According to Felicia Garr, with the coalition’s black and black bi-racial youth initiatives program, the meeting will present new information including details on new Indiana Department of Education regulations affecting third grade literacy requirements, efforts to address chronic absenteeism, work-based learning and cell phone restrictions. There will also be information on the newest high school diploma changes, academic standards and information on BCSC back to school guidelines.

There will be two sessions of the August 22nd meeting — a morning session from 10 a.m. to noon and evening session from 6 to 8 p.m. The meeting will be at Nexus Park, the former Fair Oaks Mall on 25th Street.

If you have any questions you can contact Garr at 812-371-5255.

The Bartholomew Consolidated School Board will be honoring the district’s teacher of the year at a ceremony on Aug. 19th.

Columbus East High School Science Teacher Derek Chastain has been chosen for the honor. According to the school district, Chastain is committed to hands-on teaching, Erin Stalbaum, the assistance superintendent for human resources said that Chastain “molds his students as scientists with captivating lessons, projects and labs about real problems and everyday realities.”

Aaron Lynott, the Columbus East High School Science Chair, praised Chastain saying he fosters
“a positive and encouraging learning environment where students feel empowered to learn and explore.”

The school board meets at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 19th at the administrative offices on Central Avenue.

Seymour police say that a new piece of equipment helped save a baby from choking over the weekend.

According to the Seymour Police Department, officers were called to the 100 block of East Ninth Street on Saturday about a one month old who was choking and not breathing. When they arrived the found the baby was gurgling and their face was changing colors. Officer Dakota Burke used the new device called LifeVac to clear the child’s airway and after breathing was restored, police took the baby to Schneck Medical Center where the child is expected to recover.

Police say that LifeVaC is an airway clearing device that can be used in a choking emergency to remove obstructions. Unlike the widely known Heimlich maneuver which uses air pressure from underneath an obstruction to dislodge the blockage, LifeVac provides negative pressure through non-invasive suction to help remove a blockage.

The Seymour Police Department began issuing the LifeVac system on July 26th, after a suggestion from Corporal Jeremy Soliday. The department says training has been ongoing and each officer will receive the tool after they have completed their training.

The police department says that the officers who responded to the Saturday call and used the new device helped save the life of the child. Officer Burke was assisted at the scene by Cpl. Stuart Bryan and officers Austin Peelman, Devin Hill, and Levi Peacock.

You can get more information on the system at www.lifevac.net.

Eastern Bartholomew Water Corporation has issued a boil water advisory for some customers in the area of Rock Creek School.

According to the water company, the advisory comes after an outage yesterday on East County Road 200S. The affected area is from County Road 650 E on State Road 46 to Rock Creek School, including County Road 200S to County Road 900 E in Burnsville.

The boil water advisory is in effect until Thursday at 4 p.m.

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.

Columbus Firefighters and the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department’s park operations staff teamed-up at Mill Race Park on Tuesday afternoon to train with a potentially lifesaving tool, water rescue throw bags. The Columbus Fire Department (CFD) contributed to the training by providing a rescue throw bag presentation to approximately 30 members of the parks operations staff who commonly work along rivers that border community parks located within the city. Following the educational session on throw bag use, park operations staff members participated in hands-on skills scenarios commonly practiced by first responders. At the conclusion of the practice session, several Columbus Firefighters entered the Flatrock River and posed as distressed swimmers in need of assistance. Parks staff members utilized their training to deploy rescue throw bags to successfully rescue Firefighters from the river.

In 2017, the Columbus Parks Department placed water rescue throw bags in all park operations vehicles to serve as a first response tool for park staff working at city park properties near rivers. Since 2017, the Columbus Fire Department and Columbus Parks Department have worked together to conduct several training exercises to keep skill levels high.

The Donner Aquatics Center, located at Donner Park, provides firefighters with pool access for CFD water-rescue training needs each year. Recently, firefighters utilized the Donner pool for non-motorized boat operations training for all three shifts of firefighters and use the pool for annual swim test qualifications for CFD water rescue technician. The Columbus Fire Department is thankful for the collaboration between their agency and the Columbus Parks Department.

(Photos Courtesy of the Parks Department.)

The Bartholomew County Waste Management has announced starting on Monday,
August 5th, 2024 that they have a limited number of no-charge tire take backs. This is applicable for residential tires (up to 4 passenger size tires per household) from Bartholomew County residents at the Bartholomew County Landfill  located at 811 E CR 450 S) during their normal hours of operation. They are open Monday- Friday 7:30am- 4:30pm and Saturday they are open 7:30am-4pm.
Address verification is required. Over 4 tires are accepted at the Landfill, disposal costs  $3 or more per the fee schedule at https://www.bcswmd.com/landfill.php. BCWMD Thanks IDEM for awarding Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District a Waste Tire Grant. The opportunity is limited based on the funds awarded.

For more information visit the BCSWMD website www.bcswmd.com.

There is a current water outage at E 200 S.  Eastern Bartholomew County Water are currently on site to access the situation.  They will give an update as soon as possible.

The City of Columbus, Indiana is currently experiencing a disruption
affecting all phone lines across its municipal buildings. Earlier today Smithville reported
that one of their fiber lines had been cut that provides service to the city and several
other businesses in the area. This unforeseen technical issue has resulted in the
temporary inability to make or receive calls to the public.
City officials are actively working with telecommunications providers to resolve the
disruption. methods.

In the meantime Email correspondence and the city’s official website will remain fully
operational. For non-emergency inquiries to the Columbus Fire Department or the
Columbus Police Department, please call 812.379.1689. If you are experiencing an
emergency, please call 911.

Further updates will be provided as they become available on the city of Columbus
website. For more information or to report any
concerns, please visit http://www.columbus.in.gov or follow their social media channels.

Indiana Department of Transportation contractor Dave O’Mara Contractors is scheduled to close State Road 250 approximately one mile east of State Road 11 on or after Monday, August 12th, to complete a small structure replacement project in Jackson County.

The closure will take place just east of Dudleytown between S.R. 11 and South County Road 825 East and is expected to be complete by mid-September, weather permitting. Crews will begin to place signage in the area prior to the start of construction. During the closure, motorists should use the official detour route which follows S.R 11 to U.S. 50 to I-65.

This project is part of a contract awarded to Dave O’Mara in January 2023. INDOT reminds drivers to slow down, use extra caution and avoid distractions when traveling in and near work zones. All work is weather-dependent and schedules are subject to change.