The federal Small Business Administration and State Disaster Relief Fund will be closing a temporary office in Columbus on Saturday, set up to help businesses and residents suffering damage from the March 19th tornado.

The Disaster Loan Outreach Center opened last week at the Doug Otto United Way Center on 13th Street in Columbus in Suite G900. The office will close permanently on Saturday May 10th.

The Small Business Administration offers business physical disaster loans, economic injury disaster loans and home disaster loans. The outreach center has staff on hand to answer questions about the loan programs, explain the application process and help you complete your application.

Businesses have until June 23rd to file for help with physical damage caused by the storm, or until January 22nd to file for Economic Injury.

Hours are from 8 to 5 on weekdays and 10 to 2 on Saturday. Walk-ins are welcome or you can schedule an appointment online at appointment.sba.gov.

Schneck Medical Center in Seymour has earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from a national watchdog group focused on patient safety.

According to the Seymour hospital, Schneck has earned the grade from the Leapfrog Group, the highest grade the group gives. The group is a watchdog organization that ranks hospitals based on more than 30 performance measures. Those measures look at a hospital’s errors, accidents, injuries and infections and what the hospital does to prevent them.

Leapfrog says preventable medical errors, infections and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day in the United States. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

Schneck is one of two southern Indiana hospitals to achieve the grade , along with Monroe Hospital in Bloomington.

Bartholomew County deputies arrested an Indianapolis man on drunk driving related charges after a short police chase early Friday morning.

According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, deputies received a report about a possibly intoxicated driver headed southbound on Interstate 65 near the Edinburgh exit at about 3:35 a.m. Friday. A deputy found the vehicle on the highway and tried to pull the driver over, but instead he took off.

The chase lasted until just north of the Walesboro exit, when the driver pulled over and stopped.

Police say 37-year-old Jeffery Lewis II of Indianapolis showed signs of intoxication and alcohol containers were found in his vehicle. He was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to have his blood tested and then to jail on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus is announcing a new interim chancellor as Dr. Steven Combs moves to a new role.

According to the school, Combs has been named Interim Provost of Ivy Tech Community College. The community college has named Stephanie Amos as the Interim Chancellor for the College’s Columbus Service Area.

Amos most recently served as Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration for Ivy Tech Columbus and previously Vice Chancellor of Strategic Partnerships for Ivy Tech Columbus, Executive Director of Finance and Interim Executive Director of Workforce Alignment across multiple Ivy Tech campuses.

Amos is a Shelbyville resident. She holds a Masters of Business Administration from Ashford University and a bachelors in accounting from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

The Ivy Tech Columbus Service Area includes Bartholomew, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, and Shelby counties with campuses in Columbus, Franklin, and Shelbyville.

Photo courtesy of Ivy Tech Community College Columbus

A Columbus man is facing child molesting and other charges after an arrest last week by authorities.

According to the Indiana State Police, troopers received information that a suspect possibly possessed child pornography. The investigation led to 38-year-old Andrew Case of Columbus.

On Tuesday, Indiana State Police investigators with the assistance of other Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force members served a search warrant at Case’s residence. Authorities found evidence that Case was allegedly involved in child molesting and producing child pornography.

He was arrested on preliminary charges of Child Molesting, Production of Child Pornography, Possession of Child Pornography, and Sexual Misconduct with a Minor.

The Columbus and Bloomington Police Departments, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department and Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service, Columbus Police Department, assisted troopers in the investigation.

Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County is announcing that Elaina Robinson has been chosen as the winner of this year’s Bill and Sally Hanley Excellence in Teaching Award.

Robinson is a special education teacher at CSA Lincoln Elementary School.

Recipients are nominated by their principals and must demonstrate dedication to their job, exemplary initiative, and contributions to improve the school and its environment

The award was established in 2000 and administered by Heritage Fund. It comes with a $1,000 stipend.

You will see streets and lanes in downtown Columbus blocked off Saturday night as local high schoolers from Columbus North, Columbus East and CSA New Tech High Schools take part in their prom at The Commons and the traditional prom parade to make their grand entrance.

According to the Columbus City Engineer’s office, participants will be entering the parade route in the far right lane of Third Street between Lafayette and Franklin. The parking lot across from the Bartholomew County Jail will be used for staging parade entrants that are not street legal.

The parade will turn north on Washington Street past The Commons then up to Seventh Street, where entrants will turn left before heading ack down Jackson Street. The non street legal rides will head to a de-staging lot beside Hotel Indigo. Other entrants will leave the parade route via Third Street.

Drivers who want to parade through more than once are welcome to do so, but organizers ask everyone to be respectful to other drivers.

The festivities are set from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday night. Others driving in downtown will still be able to use the left two lanes of Third Street while the parade is going on.

Columbus Police and volunteers will be providing safety along the route.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the Bartholomew County community’s Mental Health Matters coalition is organizing a full slate of activities,

This afternoon, Friday May 2nd, there will be a Pathways to Wellness seminar from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Recovery Cafe on Sycamore Street in Columbus. The free event is a chance to talk about mental health and substance abuse. It is being led by Janae Garner-Kelley and Vachel Hudson and is meant to offer connection, understanding, and support for individuals and families.

You can find a full schedule at the Bartholomew County Mental Health Matters website here: https://www.mhmbc.org/mentalhealthmonth

Area Republican Congressman Jefferson Shreve say that farmers are used to dealing with economic uncertainty but the current state of flux in international trade needs to be nailed down.

Shreve, just over four months into his first term, spoke recently about the challenges farmers in Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District face.

Shreve said his role is to listen to his constituents and take their concerns to the national level.

Shreve said he holds an agri-business degrees from Purdue University and is former farm owner himself. And that uncertainty is why he is no longer a farmer.

You can hear more from our interview with the congressman and his thoughts on farming here:

The city of Columbus says the first phase of major sewer line work on Deaver Road has begun.

The project will install sanitary sewer that will run along Deaver Road providing services to the new Toyota Material Handling plant being built near I-65 and Deaver Road, across from the existing Toyota plant.

The total sewer line work is between County Roads 225W and 150W adn will involve laying more than 3/4 of a mile of sanitary sewers and supporting structures between four feet and 12 feet beneath the surface of Deaver Road. After the sewer is laid, Deaver Road will have to be reconstructed with patching and a complte milling and new overlay.

Work began this week closing Deaver Road between County Road 175W and 150W.

The sewer work is expected to be completed by the end of July, and the road repaired and reopened by mid August.

If you have to drive in the area, you should use extra caution to worker safety and officials advise you to find alternative routes during the closure.