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
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.
An attempt to buy drugs by three Greenwood juveniles led to them being robbed at gunpoint and one juvenile to be attacked.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, officers were called to the 400 block of San Marcos Drive in Greenwood at about 2:13 a.m. Sunday morning. The three juveniles had arranged to meet a man to buy illegal narcotics, just around the corner from one of the kids homes. But when the juveniles got into a vehicle to make the purchase, there were two men inside who brandished firearms and proceeded to allegedly rob the juvenile. During the robbery, one of the juveniles was punched in the face.
Deputies and detectives began searching for the suspects and that led them to a home on the west side of Indianapolis. Working with the Indianapolis police, a search warrant was served on the home where authorities found both suspects along with the weapons.
20 year old Joseph A. Goodwin of Indianapolis was arrested on preliminary charges of robbery, battery and theft. 20 year old Cooper Nelson also of Indianapolis is being accused of robbery and theft.
Sheriff Duane Burgess said the juveniles are lucky the situation didn’t end in tragedy. He said this kind of behavior is unacceptable in the community and noted the rising number of homicides and gun-related incidents occurring just north of Johnson County.
The annual Memorial Day weekend Salute! concert is coming up on Friday and again this year it will be held at the Columbus Municipal Airport.
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 with live cannons.
You will also be able to take pre-concert tours of the Atterbury-Bakalar Museum and the C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane on display. There will be food trucks available to purchase food & drinks
The concert will be Friday at 7 p.m. in the evening at the Columbus Municipal Airport terminal building parking lot, beside the cargo plane.
Duke Energy has awarded grants to two local economic development organizations as part of its 2025 Partnership Program.
According to the power company, the grants are meant to boost growth and job creation in south-central Indiana.
The Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation has received a $5,000 grant to support the organizations attendance at several site consultant events this year. The Brown County Redevelopment Commission received $5,000 to support the commission’s regional efforts by funding an application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration for an Economic Development District designation.
Also receiving grants were Owen and Lawrence counties as well as Bloomington.
The Partnership Program funds marketing and strategic efforts to attract new jobs and investment to Indiana. The funds can be used to support a wide array of marketing initiatives, including trade show attendance, website redesign, promotional materials, and presentations or tours to introduce prospective companies and site selectors to a community.
A reminder that Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will be holding a design unveiling for its newest elementary school on the west side of Columbus this afternoon.
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.
Höweler + Yoon of Boston are the architects for the new school, along with Indianapolis based CSO as the architects of record.
The unveiling event will be at 5 p.m. at Westside Community Church.