SPARK Jackson County is looking for your feedback on the creation of a new coworking studio. To be called the SPARK shop, the space can be used for local entrepreneurs, innovators and remote workers to share resources, to collaborate and to form a community.
The SPARK initiative wants to know what should be included in the space. You are asked to complete a coworking survey. For more information or take the survey you can go to www.sparkjacksoncounty.com/place
Petfix, a recently renamed program to spay and neuter cats and dogs, served more than 750 animals in Columbus and Bartholomew County last year.
Friends of Columbus Animal Care Services is announcing that the low-cost service has been renamed the Petfix program. it provides transportation for Bartholomew County cats and dogs to and from area clinics which administer the services to domestic and feral animals. The program provided more than 12,000 miles of transportation last year to clinics including the Bloomington Pets Alive and Brownsburg Low-Cost Spay Neuter Clinic.
The goal of Petfix is to reduce the number of unwanted pets in the community and to promote animal health and welfare.
The transportation is provided several times a month starting and ending at the Columbus Animal Care Services on Arnold Street near the Columbus Municipal Airport.
You can sign up your pet here: https://www.columbus.in.gov/anima…/spay-and-neuter-clinic/
A cold weather advisory continues in our area until 10 this morning.
Columbus and Bartholomew County are extending the hours of warming stations through today. In Columbus you can stop by Donner Center off of 22nd Street from 8 to 5 to warm up. The Bartholomew County Public Library branches are also available to get relief from the cold. The main library on Fifth Street will be open from 9 to 8 p.m. and the Hope Branch Library from 10 to 5.
After 5 p.m., those in need can also get assistance at the Brighter Days shelter on Mapleton Street.
The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department is making plans to remember police dog Axel with ceremonies on Friday.
Axel died earlier this month after a medical emergency. Axel served with the department for seven years, partnered with Chief Deputy Cody Low. He was an 8-year-old Dutch Shepherd and Belgian Malinois. Axel was a Medal of Valor Award recipient through the North American Police Work Dog Association and received a life-saving award for an incident where he save the life of his handler.
A memorial service will be held for Axel on Friday at Dove, Sharp and Rudicel Funeral home. His final ride will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will travel on State Road 3, to North State Street through town to the Sheriff’s office. You are invited to line the route along State Street to pay respects as his procession passes. His final radio call for service will be broadcast from the sheriff’s office at about 4:45 p.m.
After the final call, law enforcement will lead Axel to the funeral Home for a memorial service from 5 to 7 p.m. Attendance at the services will be limited to law enforcement, first responders, dispatchers, county employees and their families.
Low’s police car will be parked at the sheriff’s department in memory of his partner from 8 p.m. Friday night through 4 p.m. Monday afternoon. You will be able to drop off sympathy cards, children’s drawings, or other items to remember Axel’s service
Donations may be made in memory of Axel, through the mail or dropped off at the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office. You should include a note specifying that the donation is intended for the Jennings County K-9 Fund.
A cold weather advisory remains in place for our area through 10 Wednesday morning, with the National Weather Service warning of dangerously cold temperatures over the next few days.
According to the weather service, this mass of frigid air was above the Arctic Circle less than a week ago, and is bringing intense cold and winds that will make it feel like it is up to 20 degrees below zero at times.
Forecasters say temperatures should fall to near zero tonight into Wednesday morning. Afternoon highs today are only expected to get into the low teens. With wind chills today of -6.
With this cold, you could get frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.
If you need to warm up you can stop by Donner Center until 5 p.m. today, or the branches of the Bartholomew County Public Library. After 5 p.m., the Brighter Days shelter will be available as a warming station.
Authorities are urging you to take care of your animals in this extreme cold. The city of Columbus requires that you bring your outside dog indoors into a temperature controlled building, when temperatures drop to 20 degrees or below.
Your dog house should keep your dog dry and help them maintain their body heat. It should only be big enough for the dog to turn around inside and not much bigger. You should place the opening to the south and cover the entrance with heavy plastic or cloth strips. Also, straw provides much better bedding material in the cold than blankets.
A reminder that the Columbus and Bartholomew County branch of the NAACP will be holding its Freedom Fund dinner, gala and dance on Saturday.
NAACP Freedom Fund events are the largest fund-raising event for each local chapter. Funds are used for various projects, such as scholarships and youth-oriented programming.
The gala will be held from 6 to 11 on Saturday at Gather Columbus. That is at 2508 25th St. Tickets are $60 for NAACP members, $65 for non-members and $31 for students under the age of 18. You can also sponsor an entire table for $520.
You can buy tickets here: https://naacp-3071.org/event/naacp-freedom-fund-tickets
Columbus City Utilities has received a state award, recognizing efforts to protect the utility’s wellheads.
According to the city water company, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management recently awarded the city with the Hoosier Water Guardian Award. The award, with distinction, recognized the city’s efforts to develop and plan to protect the public drinking water supply and for the timely implementation of the plan.
This is the first time Columbus City Utilities has received the Hoosier Water Guardian Award with Distinction.
Columbus City Council will be considering an updated noise ordinance for the city, when the council meets tonight.
The ordinance recognizes that some noise levels are unnecessary, excessive and offensive enough to disturb public health and welfare.
The new ordinance outlines several categories of specific noises to be regulated including loud animals, vehicles, construction equipment, loudspeakers and musical instruments. It would also limit yelling, shouting, whistling or similar activity on public streets from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The ordinance outlines three levels of penalties, ranging from a $100 fine for a first offense, to $1,000 for a third offense. Anyone who violates the code more than three times in a 12-month period can be declared a public nuisance.
Under the proposed ordinance anyone who makes unreasonable noise and continues to do so after being asked to stop by police or by a code enforcement officer is committing disorderly conduct.
The council meets at 6 p.m. tonight in the Council Chambers at Columbus City Hall.
A Columbus woman is under arrest after her three-year-old child overdosed on drugs.
According to the Columbus Police Department, a child was brought to Fire Station 1 at Jackson Street at about 11:50 a.m. in the morning on Friday with symptoms of an opioid overdose. Medics took the child to the hospital and police were called to the scene. That’s where they found the mother, 36-year-old Dakota Smith. After serving search warrants at a home on Suburban Court and Smith’s vehicle, police concluded that the child overdosed on heroin or fentanyl that was among Smith’s belongings.
She was arrested on a felony charge of neglect of a dependent. The child was treated at the hospital and later released.
The investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible.
The Indiana National Guard is sending a contingent of troops to the inauguration of President-election Donald Trump.
According to the state headquarters, Indiana troops will join about 8,000 National Guard members from 40 states for Monday’s ceremonies in Washington D.C.. Their duties will include crowd management, managing traffic control points, civil disturbance response and sustainment operations.
Militia members have provided support to inaugurations since the first ceremony in 1789. The Indiana National Guard also supported the inaugurations in 2017 and 2021.
Brig. Gen. Larry Muennich, Indiana National Guard’s adjutant general, said that members “are uniquely qualified to provide support in both state and federal activations,”