The United Way of Bartholomew County has chosen long-time community leader Sherry Stark for its most prestigious annual honor, the Live United Award.

Stark has served in a variety of leadership roles int he community, ranging from serving as deputy mayor and director of community development for the city of Columbus, to heading the Columbus Area Arts Council and Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

Stark was recognized at the United Way’s annual meeting, held Wednesday at The Commons. The United Way celebrated the agency’s achievements toward lifting 1,000 families out of poverty and into self sufficiency in 2,000 days. United Way President Mark Stewart said that the goal began two years ago and so far, 273 families have become self-sufficient through community efforts.

Stewart also touched on challenges facing United Way its member agencies, caused by federal and state funding cuts he said “threaten the already fragile social safety net.” Further he said that the nature of philanthropic giving is shifting, moving toward contributions to specific causes, rather than more general support that can allow for operating support for member agencies.

Also recognized at the annual meeting were Bill and Ann Jones with the Spirit of Philanthropy award, Lisa Day as Volunteer of the Year and Dallas Grider as Advocate of the Year.

You can find out more at uwbarthco.org

Photo: Sherry Stark and United Way President Mark Stewart. WRB Photo

With the possibility of bad weather in the forecast, organizers of the Friday’s Salute! concert will be moving the event indoors.

Originally scheduled in front of the Columbus Municipal Airport terminal building, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic show will now be held at Columbus North High School’s Erne Auditorium.

The free concert honors those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces with a selection of patriotic music. There will also be Americana, Hoedown, film & video game favorites and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Organizers say that temperatures are supposed to be in the 60s at the scheduled start time, but will drop rapidly into the low to mid 50s. They say that shift could cause damage to the delicate instruments, especially stringed ones. And it would affect the comfort and safety of attendees and musicians.

The doors will open at 6 p.m. at the auditorium and the program will begin at 7 p.m. Seating will be available on a first come first served basis.

The show is free and you are invited to attend.

Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus is announcing Yasmin Vargas as the recipient of the schools Hari Mirchandani Community Service Award.

Mirchandani was Ivy Tech Columbus’s first full-time faculty member, and the award is presented annually to a student who demonstrates a love of community and selfless dedication to the service of others.

Vargas, of Scipio, graduated this year with an associate degree in business administration.

At Ivy Tech, Vargas took on leadership roles including President of Phi Theta Kappa and Secretary of the Student Government Association. She has mentored peers as a Student Success Intern and volunteered at The Hub food pantry.

Vargas volunteers in her church’s children’s ministry, participated in the Disney College Program and regularly helps with local service efforts such as Love Chapel.

Photo courtesy of Ivy Tech Community College

Traffic around Seymour High School will become a little more congested starting today. Crews will be closing the intersection of Community Drive and Second Street today.

This is all part of a street improvement project along Second Street in Seymour. Work started in November, on the process of tearing out the existing roadway and replacing storm drains. The work has been progressing two to four blocks at a time. During the work in each area, the street will be closed along with adjoining side streets.

City officials say that the Community Drive and Second Street intersection will be completely redone while it is closed.

The last day for students at Seymour High School was yesterday. The school says the graduation ceremonies will be on Sunday, June 1st and families and guests should plan accordingly and seek an alternate route

The street is expected to reopen before school starts in August. You are urged to avoid the area if you can.

Graphic courtesy of City of Seymour

The United Way of Bartholomew County will celebrate successes of the agency’s anti-poverty campaign at its annual meeting today.

The United Way has a goal of a future where homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring. The agency is working to lift 1,000 families out of poverty and into self-sufficiency in 2,000 days.

The annual meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. at The Commons.

Centra Credit Union is announcing the winners of this year’s Loretta M. Burd Scholarships.

Centra provides one $2,500 scholarship to a graduating high school senior for each credit union location in the communities it serves. Awards can be used at two- or four-year colleges, universities or technical schools for the fall 2025 semester.

Locally, the credit union recognized

• Adalyn True from Brown County High School
• Ella Powell from Columbus East High School
• Sara Hobbeheydar, Macy Eaton, Nicole Brault., Lucy Wilson and Jonathan Klaus from Columbus North High School
• Caleb Murphy from Edinburgh High School
• Maddix Elston from Jennings County High School
• Brylee Ramsey from Seymour High School
• Sofia Sipes from Shelbyville High School
• and Carlie Cathey from South Decatur High School

The Centra Foundation also awards $2,500 adult scholarships for adult or non-traditional students who have returned to school to pursue a degree or certification.

Among the recipients this year are Kayley Vanderbok, Bridget Burnett and Christina Shaw from Columbus and Michael Roemmich from Greensburg.

The scholarships are named after Burd who retired from Centra Credit Union after 47 years of service,.

Heritage Fund: The Bartholomew County Community Foundation and the Crump Theatre will hold the first of three open houses to discuss progress, plans and possibilities for the downtown theater next week.

In April, Heritage Fund announced the launch of Project Encore, an effort to establish a formal charity for the theatre restoration to raise money to turn the theatre into the Crump Center for the Performing Arts. The goal is to finish revamping the theatre to make it viable for year-round live entertainment. Plans include a fully operational balcony, expanded lobby and outdoor areas, event space, state-of-the-art lighting and sound and programming for regional touring acts.

Last year, the theater celebrated its 135th anniversary and is believed to be the oldest operational theater in the state. For years, the aging theater was closed because it didn’t meet current fire, building and safety standards. It has been brought back to life largely through volunteer efforts. Those culminated in August of 2023 when the building was found to be structurally sound and earned a renewed entertainment permit

Heritage Fund awarded a $50,000 grant, matched by private funders, to establish Project Encore.

The open house will be on Thursday, May 29th. There will be an update on the current status of The Crump, introduction of its new Board of Directors and a discussion of the goals for the future. You will also be able to see three sets of design ideas for the projects.

The program is free and you are invited to attend. Doors will open at the theatre on Third Street at 5 p.m. and the program will start at 5:30 p.m.

You can get more information at thecrump.org.

A Commiskey man died in a crash Tuesday afternoon in Jennings County.

According to the Indiana State Police, 20-year-old Tyler J. Wells died in the single-vehicle crash which happened shortly after 4 p.m. in the afternoon at Jennings County Road 400S near State Road 3. Troopers say that Wells was approaching the intersection when, for unknown reasons, he lost control of the vehicle. The car drove off the road and struck a tree.

Wells was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jennings County Coroner’s Office.

The intersection was closed for about four hours while the crash was cleaned up and investigated.

Indiana State Police say that speed was a factor in the crash, but the crash remains under investigation.

Other agencies assisting at he scene included Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, Vernon and Lovett Township Fire Departments, and Jennings County medics.

Photo courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department

The design of the new Bartholomew Consolidated Schools’ elementary was unveiled last night, along with its new name: Maple Grove Elementary.

The school district and its architects Höweler + Yoon of Boston revealed designs for a two story building laid out like a combination of a flowered petal design and a hand, with entrances and exits at the crux where the fingers or petals meet. Inside it includes a large central open space atrium.

Eric Höweler explains

Classrooms each have large windows with each having expansive views of the surrounding woods.

Höweler explains

The new school will be the district’s 12th elementary and is meant to address the population growth on the west and south side of Columbus. It will hold about 650 students and is to be built along Tipton Lakes Boulevard.

Dr. Chad Phillips, BCSC’s superintendent, said that the new school would free up space to allow the expansion of special classrooms such as STEM labs across the school district.

Assistant Superintendent for finance Brett Bozeman said that the construction will take place without an increase in the district’s tax rate.

The school district plans to open the bidding process in late June and to begin construction in August. The process of redistricting the existing schools and moving families into the new school will be late 2026 and early 2027. The building is expected to open in the summer of 2027.

Forecasters say that there is a chance of severe weather again today.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says that our area is under a slight risk of severe weather, which could include scattered strong to severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Those could include damaging winds, heavy rain and isolated tornadoes.

Flash flooding and large hail are also possible with these storms.