The City of Columbus is adding more restaurants and outdoor vendor locations to its downtown outdoor refreshment area, or DORA.

The city district was approved last summer and allows for outdoor dining and drinking at restaurants and other locales within the district. Food and beverages are allowed to be carried from place to place within the approved businesses and locales within the district, but not brought in from outside.

Businesses and vendors have to apply to take part in the social area and have to follow state and local laws. Eric Frey, executive director of administration for the city, presented three new applicants, which had been approved by the city Board of Works. Those restaurants include Luciana’s Mexican Restaurant in the Commons, Hotel Indigo on Brown Street and the Butcher Shop on Washington Street. That brings the total number of approved restaurants to 14.

The ordinance also outlines locations where food and beverage vendors can operate in the downtown area. Frey asked the council to modify the ordinance to add the Library Plaza, Washington Street behind City Hall, Sixth Street and part of Jackson Street. It also included parts of Fourth Street that had not previously been included in the vendor spots.

Council President Frank Miller pointed out that the individual vendors at those outdoor locations would not automatically be able to serve alcohol at events. Frey said that the Board of Works would have to approve individual event applications.

The DORA stretches from 11th to 1st Streets and the river east to include Franklin Street, the public library and the area around the Taylor apartments off of Second Street.

The council approved a rules change to allow the ordinance to take effect without a second reading, and approved the change itself.

State Road 11 will be closing in southern Bartholomew County for about a month and a half.

According to INDOT, the highway also known as Jonesville Road, will be closing on Friday, July 11th so crews can replace a drainage structure under the roadway. That structure is on an unnamed tributary to East Fork White River and the closing will be between East Main Cross Street in Waynesville and County Road East 550 South.

The official detour will take Interstate 65 to State Road 46.

The work is expected to finish in mid August, depending on the weather.

INDOT reminds you to slow down, to drive without distractions and to be alert to worker safety in all work zones.

An attempt to wipe out bugs in a home, ended up with a fire yesterday after an occupant used a propane heater inside.

According to the Columbus Fire Department, the incident happened at about 3:36 p.m. in the 2900 block of Streamside Drive. The homeowner told firefighters that he was attempting to remove bugs from a bedroom, and was using the liquid propane heater to heat the room. After starting the process, the homeowner left and when he came back, he could smell smoke inside.

When firefighters arrived the occupants of the home had already evacuated and light smoke was showing from inside. Firefighters found heavier smoke inside and cut a hole in the roof for ventilation. They found a propane tank with a hose going into a closed bedroom and turned off the valve. When they entered the room the found burning clothes and papers that had been near the portable heater. Other items inside also suffered from exposure to the extreme heat.

The fire is being ruled as accidental and the home is uninhabitable. The American Red Cross is assisting the family with emergency housing.

Firefighters say that high heat can be an effective pest control technique, but they urge anyone considering it to use a trained professional with proper equipment.

Also assisting at the scene were Columbus police, CRH medics, Columbus Township firefighters, Columbus City Utilities and Duke Energy.

Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department

Columbus Regional Health is cutting its sports medicine and CRH Orthopedics programs. That will also mean ending partnerships providing athletic trainers at IU Columbus, Bartholomew Consolidated and Flat Rock-Hawcreek schools.

The hospital is announcing the cost-cutting measures will also include closing its in-patient rehabilitation unit.

Hospital officials say that CRH is making the “these difficult decisions in order to continue as a viable organization long-term.” CRH is a non-profit, county-owned and independent hospital.

According to the announcement, CRH is facing unprecedented challenges and financial hardships. Those include rising costs in supplies, legislative scrutiny, and federal and state funding cuts. Health insurance companies also are increasingly delaying or denying reimbursements, making it hard to get payments for hospital services.

The sports medicine program closing means that as of Aug. 31st, CRH will no longer provide the athletic trainer program at IU and will be ending the programs at BCSC and Flat Rock-Hawcreek as of Sept. 30th.

CRH says it will be supporting workers at the affected programs find alternative employment in the hospital where possible.

An annual golf tournament to benefit the Columbus and Bartholomew County DARE program is coming up in August.

According to the Columbus Police Department, the tournament will be August 1st at Otter Creek Golf Course and registration is now open. Among the prizes is $10,000 courtesy of Richard Hawes Insurance, a new vehicle from Country Chevrolet, and free steak dinners for a year from Texas Roadhouse.

Each year, the department spends between $15 and $20,000 dollars from donations and fundraisers for the drug abuse education program, according to police.

You can sign up a team, make a donation or arrange a sponsorship by calling Lt. Skylar Berry with the Columbus Police Department at 812-376-2605.

There is still time for local artists to help refresh an iconic piece of Columbus artwork that is being relocated to Nexus Park.

The Columbus Area Arts Council and Columbus Parks and Recreation Department are relocating the former Carousel for Columbus that was downtown as part of the 2023 Exhibit Columbus installations. Now, the artwork will be at the former Fair Oaks Mall as the Carousel for Companionship.

The Carousel features a rotating center stage that will be surrounded by a mural graphic designed by Columbus-based artist Jenni Kiesler, who is collaborating with Could Be Design group from Chicago. Kiesler is leading a team of local community volunteers to paint the mural.

Artists 16 or older are invited to help paint the piece from 5:30 to 8 p.m. tonight for a community painting day, as part of a collaborative art project to update the work.

The project was funded in part by the Columbus Area Arts Council’s Public Art Longevity Fund. The initiative is meant to preserve and sustain public artworks in Columbus.

The installation is expected to be completed and open to the public by mid-July.

You can find out more information or sign up to take part in the volunteer painting event at https://www.artsincolumbus.org/carousel

Carousel for Companionship rendering courtesy of Columbus Area Arts Council

The recent Dr. “Bud” Golf Scramble in Seymour hosted 54 teams to raise money for nursing scholarships.

Held June 25th at Shadowood Golf Course, the team of Luke Warren, Daulton Anderson, Colin Woods, and Meghan Warren combined to score a 55 placing first in the 44th annual event.

The scholarship program was established in honor of Dr. H.P. “Bud” Graessle. Graessle was a practicing physician and surgeon for 53 years until his retirement in 1971. All proceeds from the golf scramble provide scholarships for nursing students in Jackson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington counties.

Awards also went out to the top finisher in men’s and women’s categories including the longest drive, closest to pin and longest putt.

Those winners:

• Longest Drive Women: Cara Stuckey
• Longest Drive Men: James Fee Sr.
• Closest to Pin Women: Cara Stuckey
• Closest to Pin Men: Johnnie Spivey
• Longest Putt Women: Carol Brock
• Longest Putt Men: Brian Mitchell

The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County is hoping to help residents make healthy choices when it comes to alcohol with a community-wide Dry July challenge.

Organizers say the goal is to enhance community wellness by helping participants explore how shifting their relationship with alcohol can positively impact overall mental and physical wellbeing.

ASAP is partnering with life coach Skye Nicholson to offer free coaching to participants during the challenge. The coaching will be based on the book “The Alcohol Experiment” by Annie Grace.

If you sign up you will receive emails, videos, social media posts and links to Facebook live events. The month’s activities are designed to help identify triggers, manage cravings, and examine beliefs around alcohol’s role in life and relationships.

The challenge is being offered under ASAP’s Rethinking Wellness initiative which aims to prevent substance misuse in Bartholomew County

You can  register for the Dry January Challenge at https://asapbc.org/dryjuly

Bartholomew County Road 400W will be closing today for a pipe replacement.

According to the county highway department, the work will be going on between Roads 250S and 300S. The work starts this morning and is expected to be finished by mid-afternoon.

You are asked to avoid the area until the work is complete.

A Bartholomew County church is receiving a grant to support care of school age children.

According to the Indiana Family and Social Service Administration, First Church of the Nazarene in Bartholomew County will receive a $33,800 grant to help fund its program. The Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning today announced nearly $772 thousand in grants from the State School-Age Child Care Project Fund.

The fund supports public schools and non-profit groups that provide care to children before and after the school day, when school is not in session during the school year, and for children enrolled in half day kindergarten. The children must be between 5 and 15 years old.

The state announced 20 grants that will go to 41 separate child care sites in 11 Indiana counties. The single Bartholomew County grant was the only one in our area or in surrounding communities.