The Bull Dog Alumni Association will be holding an event next week to honor two new members of the Alumni Hall of Fame.

The 10th Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, September 27th will recognize John M. Burnett, of the Class of 1974 and Maureen Grady, of the Class of 1957.

According to the association the inductees “have made life-long contributions which have had a positive impact on the lives of the people in their various communities and throughout the world.”

Inductees all attended Columbus High School/Columbus North High School and have been graduates for a minimum of 20 years at time of nomination. Alumni Hall of Fame inductees were nominated by peers, community residents, Columbus North faculty and fellow alumni.

There will also be a recognition of the 2023-24 Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Lisa Enneking and Emerging Teacher-of-the-Year, Maria Sanchez Cisneros

The ceremony will be in the Student Commons at Columbus North prior to the Homecoming football game between Columbus North and Terre Haute North on Friday September 27th. A reception will start at 5 and the ceremony at 5:45

A design from a local artist will be featured on products and a new mural promoting the Love Where You Live downtown festival being hosted by Heritage Fund, Bartholomew County’s community foundation.

Each year for the Love Where You Live campaign kickoff, Heritage Fund chooses a local artist to design the event logo for the year. For this year, Annie Shields has created a logo of a hand making the sign of “I love you” in sign language, with the index and little fingers extended. The drawing also features friendship bracelets featuring Heritage Fund.

Amy Laker, spokeswoman for the community foundation, said merchandise sporting the design will include posters, T-shirts and totebags, will be available at the Oct. 5 event. Those will be available with a donation to Heritage Fund’s Community Fund and while supplies last. And there will be plenty of stickers with the design spreading through the community as well.

The 24-year-old Shields is a graphic designer and illustrator who studied at Savannah College of Art and Design. She may be best known locally as Viewpoint Books’ former artist in residence and is a screen-printer for Hiker Trailer and Becker Supply Co. Shields said she took her inspiration for this year’s punk-rock style design as a physical expression of affection for Columbus that is playful and appealing to a wide variety of people.

During the downtown festival, a live mural painting of Shields’ design will be created in the Arts Alley off of Sixth Street.

The Love Where You Live festival will feature two music events as well as activities for kids, food trucks, interactive arts demonstrations and a signature Love Where You Live brew from Hog Molly Brewing Company.

The Love Where You Live festival starts at 2 p.m. with a concert at the library starting at 4 p.m. and a dance party under InterOculus canopy on Fourth Street at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and you are invited to attend.

The Love Where You Live fundraising campaign supports Heritage Fund’s Community Fund, which annually awards more than $800,000 in grants to local nonprofits.

You can get more information and make a donation at heritagefundbc.org.

The city of Columbus is looking at two possible changes to revamp the city transit system. Consultants working on a route study for the ColumBUS system unveiled their recommendations earlier this week including routes to Walesboro and Edinburgh.

The goal is to make the system more efficient, ultimately getting more people where they are going more quickly. The study by RLS & Associates found that the system provides more than 200 thousand rides a year and the buses generally focus on areas of the community with high population density, low incomes and where people do not own their own vehicle. Overall residents find the buses reliable, clean, safe and get them where they need to go.

The system now operates five fixed routes and a Call a Bus service for the elderly and those with disabilities.

Some of the recurring suggestions found during the study are a lack of buses running to the Walesboro area along with Edinburgh and Hope.

The first option being considered would have four fixed routes, but would add new service to Walesboro and Edinburgh and paratransit through the Call a Bus program. The second alternative would also add the service to Walesboro and Edinburgh along with the paratransit, but would reduce the system to three fixed routes and add a new curb to curb paid service, where you could call a city driver to pick you up.

Matt Dudukovich, head of the city transit system, said that planners will likely make a decision next month on either plan and may begin operating a pilot program before the end of the year. Any permanent changes would be put in place in the first quarter of 2025 after being signed off on by the city’s Board of Works and City Council.

You will see streets closing in downtown Columbus starting Saturday morning, as we prepare for the 28th annual Hot Rods & Rock n Roll event.

According to the city engineer’s office, the streets will be closed starting at 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning and will remain closed until 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. Those include Washington Street between 3rd and 8th Streets and the area between Jackson and Franklin streets from Fourth to Seventh Streets.

The show with classic cars and classic rock will start at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon with a concert at 7 p.m. featuring Rick K. & the Allnighters in front of The Commons. The annual event is organized through our White River Broadcasting sister station, 106.1 The River.

You could find it hard to breathe this afternoon and Friday, with high levels of ground level ozone being possible.

According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, an Air Quality Action Day is in effect for parts of our area, including Jennings and Jackson counties until midnight Friday night.

That means that a combination of high temperatures, light winds, and other factors, are expected to produce conditions where high levels of ground-level ozone emissions may exceed federally mandated standards. High ozone near the ground acts a lung irritant. It can cause coughing and breathing difficulties for sensitive populations. Children, the elderly, and anyone with heart or lung conditions should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors today.

IDEM recommends that you take actions to lower ozone levels, including:

• Walking, biking, carpooling or using public transportation.
• Avoid going through drive-throughs.
• If your vehicle is going to be idling for more than 30 seconds, shut it off.
• Combine your errands into one trip.
• Avoid refueling your vehicle or using gas-powered lawn equipment until after 7 p.m. tonight.
• Conserve energy by turning off lights or setting the air conditioner to 75 degrees or higher.ua

Update: The missing child has been found and is safe.

Previously:

The Columbus Police Department is looking for your help to find a missing child.

Police say that 11-year-old Kayden Lunebrink has been missing from the area of Candlelight Village since about 7:45 p.m. Kayden is deaf and may have trouble communicating.

He is a white boy, about five feet tall and was last seen wearing a blue shirt and khaki shorts. He was riding a white and black or blue bicycle.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Kayden Lunebrink, you should call 911.

Local legislators are touting more than a quarter of a million dollars in grants that will improve school safety in Bartholomew County.

According to Indiana House Republican Representatives Ryan Lauer, Jennifer Meltzer and Jim Lucas, Bartholomew County schools are receiving grants for safety upgrades through the state’s Secured School Safety Grant Program.

Local schools receiving the grants include:

• Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. $81,000;
• Columbus Christian School Inc. $22,425;
• Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. $45,586;
• St. Bartholomew School $26,907;
• St. Peter’s Lutheran School $40,459; and
• White Creek Lutheran School $34,725.

The funding is part of the state’s biennial budget passed last year. Legislators announced yesterday that 499 schools across Indiana’s 92 counties received $24 million total in state matching grants. Indiana has allocated $187 million for school safety matching grants since the program started in 2013.

The funds can be used for a wide range of safety needs including school resource officers, equipment and technology, active-event warning systems, threat assessments, and student and parent support services programs.

You can find more information here: in.gov/schoolsafety.

The streets of downtown Columbus will be filled with classic cars and classic rock Saturday as White River Broadcasting brings Hot Rods and Rock & Roll back for its 28th annual event.

The annual car show put on by 106.1 The River will be closing downtown streets from Third Street in front of The Commons through Eighth Street, and from Jackson to Franklin streets starting Saturday morning in preparation for the event.

Bob Morrison, general manager for White River Broadcasting, talks about the hundreds of classic vehicles that will be on display.

Morrison says people come from all around Indiana and even neighboring states to enjoy the car show and downtown Columbus.

Drivers who want to take part in the car show must register, for free, at the parking lot across from the Bartholomew County Jail on Second Street starting at 8 Saturday morning. Registration ends at 1:30 p.m. Vehicles that have not registered will not be allowed into the show.

The show officially opens to the public at 3 p.m. and lasts until 7 p.m. With returning musicians Rick K. & the Allnighters taking the stage at 7 p.m.

Hot Rods and Rock & Roll is free and you are invited to attend,

A Jackson County high school student has been arrested, accused of threats that closed Crothersville Junior/Senior High School yesterday morning.

According to the Indiana State Police, school officials notified Crothersville police at about 9:30 a.m. yesterday morning that a student was threatening to cause harm to other students and to the high school. An officer came to the school and immediately detained the suspect, 18 year old James S. Collman.

Due to the nature of the threats, Crothersville officers requested help from other law enforcement agencies to evacuate the school building. Officers from the State Police, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Excise Police, and Brownstown Police Departments quickly worked together with Crothersville School employees to evacuate the building and to get the students to a safe location.

School administrators decided to cancel school for the day and extra police stayed on scene until the students were safely at home.

Authorities then worked to clear the school of any threats. Along with assistance from the Columbus Police Bomb Squad and a New Albany canine team a sweep was made and no weapons or explosive devices were located. Authorities determined it would be safe for students and staff to return to the school.

Collman was arrested a on a preliminary felony charge of Intimidation and he will be held at the Jackson County Jail until an initial hearing at Jackson Circuit Court. Additional charges are possible.

An iconic downtown Columbus business will only be open for a few more days. Dell Brothers plans to close its doors for good on Saturday after more than 108 years in operation.

The business is owned and operated by Tom Dell with the help of his wife Kathy. They announced plans earlier this summer to close the business that had been operating at the same location by his father and grandfather. Dell is retiring after 55 years operating the family business. He said that after the death of his brother, Mike, last year, it has become too hard to operate the store alone.

The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce is planning a ribbon retirement ceremony for the business this afternoon. That will start at 4:30 p.m. at the store at 416 Washington Street, followed by an open house.