The Columbus city engineer’s office says that you will see some work on curbs on Central Avenue starting on Friday.
Dave O’Mara Contractors will begin repairing the curbs between 15th and 18th streets on Central Avenue. Starting Monday you will see the curbside lanes in this area closed while crews remove and replace the curb. The work should last about a week and a half.
After finishing the curb work, they will begin milling and paving operations in the area.
Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected. The date was incorrect in an earlier version.
The Columbus Downtown Merchant’s Association will be offering a wine walk tonight with a chance to win a VISA gift card.
The wine walk will be from 4 to 8 p.m. this evening. You will be be able to enjoy wine and snacks at various locations downtown. Through 5 p.m. Saturday, you can collect punches on a card from participating downtown merchants. With 10 punches, you will be eligible for a chance to win the $50 gift card. The drawing will be held Monday.
Cards can be dropped at any participating location.
The United Way of Bartholomew County is one of the recipients of a grant from the Internal Revenue Service to help lower income residents prepare their tax returns.
The IRS announced grants would go to seven Indiana organizations, including the United Way of Bartholomew County for its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance or VITA program.
Magen Pillar, spokeswoman for the United Way said that the exact grant amount is not yet known but Pillar said that the grant is incredibly important as it underwrites some of the costs of implementing this program.
She said that last tax season, the United Way program prepared about 1,000 returns for families in Bartholomew County, which resulted in nearly $1 million dollars in tax refunds. She said the program is one of the ways the agency work to ensure financial stability for residents.
The VITA program offers free federal tax return preparation and electronic filing to low and middle income individuals and families, those with disabilities and those with limited English skills. Volunteers receive training and technical assistance to provide help to taxpayers.
Other Indiana grant recipients include:
The YES Fest film festival officially kicks off tomorrow in downtown Columbus, but there is a special premiere of a film tonight produced in central Indiana.
Mayberry Man will be premiering at 7 p.m. tonight and will include a question and answer session with the film’s producer afterwards. The film is a story about a movie star who gets a ticket in a small town and is forced to attend Mayberry Fest, which celebrates the Andy Griffith TV show.
Diane Doup with Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center explains:
Those who attend the show tonight will be entered into a drawing for items including an autographed copy of the script and the DVD, T-shirts, baseball caps and an authentic prop from the movie.
Mayberry Man will have two more viewings during the YES Film Fest on Saturday and Sunday.
The film festival runs Friday through Sunday with 20 films, documentaries and shorts to be shown. Tickets for individual films are $7 or $35 for the whole weekend’s slate of movies.
YES Cinema is owned and operated by the non-profit Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center. All proceeds go to support the center in its mission. The cinema is at 328 Jackson Street in downtown Columbus.
You can get more information at yescinema.org or at yesfilmfestival.com.
Image courtesy of YES Cinema
The city of Columbus is moving ahead with a planned bond sale to help fund a downtown grocery and apartment complex next to the Bartholomew County Jail on Second Street.
Developer Flaherty & Collins of Indianapolis is proposing a 15,000-square foot grocery store and a more than 55,150-square foot apartment building with about 200 units at the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and Second Street. The city is partnering with the developers to build the $40 million project, which would open in about three years.
Under the plan given its first approval by City Council this week, the city would issue $11 million in bonds to help fund the project. The bonds would be repaid from property tax revenue generated in a tax increment financing district surrounding the project, essentially repaying the bonds through the development’s own property taxes.
The developers would guarantee a minimum of $500,000 in tax revenue annually to repay the bonds.
Another $800,000 thousand dollars for the project would come from cash in hand through the Columbus Redevelopment Commission. The city is also providing the property for the project.
Bartholomew County deputies are looking for a man who crashed a stolen vehicle yesterday on U.S. 31.
The sheriff’s department reports that the accident happened on the highway between County Roads 600S and 650S yesterday. One of the vehicles had been reported stolen from County Road 500N. The driver ran from the scene.
The driver is described as a white man, between 5-8 and 5-11 wearing a dark hoodie and green pants.
If you have any information you can call the sheriff’s department tip line at 812-379-1712 or you can call 911. Information can be left anonymously.
Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department
A proposed new contract between the Columbus Educators Association and Bartholomew Consolidated Schools would see teachers gaining an average 6 percent pay increase in each of the next two school years.
Under the proposed pay plan, starting teachers would see their pay rise from the current $39,065 to $44,600 in the contract’s second year. The top of the pay scale for teachers would be $83,600, with a $90,000 salary including referendum increases.
Amy London with the CEA said that the top salary would be comparable to other area professions that require a similar level of education.
Teachers would be paid $30 an hour for extra-curricular duties.
The BCSC school board held a special meeting Monday afternoon to hear the proposal. CEA members will vote on the contract Thursday and Friday and the proposal will return to the school board on Monday for its approval.
Photo: Chad Phillips and Amy London present details of the new teachers union contract. WRB screenshot photo
Mail to inmates in the Bartholomew County Jail will be going digital.
The sheriff’s department announced yesterday that it is making the change in December. Inmates will have one month to contact their family and friends explaining the new system, then all mail will be sent digitally by January.
The jail is contracting with a company called Earth Class Mail to make the change. After Dec. 6th, physical mail must be sent to an address in San Antonio, Texas, where it will be scanned in and then sent electronically to the inmate.
The service will not scan books, magazines, catalogs, advertising mailers or junk mail. Those will be considered trash and will not be electronically shipped.
Legal mail from attorneys will remain the same.
The new mail address:
Facility Name (Bartholomew County Jail)
Inmate Name – Inmate System ID Number
PO Box 1042 PMB #39193
San Antonio, TX 78294-1042
*NOTE: Do NOT place preceding zeros in the booking number.
The Indiana State Department of Health COVID-19 Strike Team will be holding a testing and vaccine clinic today through Saturday at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
You can receive either the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines from noon to 8 in the midway area off of County Road 200S.
No appointment is necessary.
Columbus firefighters are being recognized for their efforts to save a girl trapped in a laundry chute last month.
Fire Chief Andy Lay presented the department’s Medal of Courage to five firefighters from Station No. 2, who responded to the call on Sept. 22nd on Forest Drive. They found a girl at the home tightly wedged into a laundry chute that stretched from the second floor to basement. Firefighters had to remove a floor joist to free the girl.
The medals were presented to Capt. Josh Allman, Lt. Leroy Armstrong and firefighters Marcus Gruner, Josh Carney and Norvin Williams.
The Medal of Courage is awarded to firefighters who show an act of bravery or initiative and capability.
Photo courtesy of Columbus Fire Department, from left to right, Deputy Chief Mark Ziegler, Deputy Chief Mike Kutsko, Fire Chief Andy Lay, Capt. Josh Allman, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, Firefighter Marcus Gruner, Firefighter Josh Carney, and Firefighter Norvin Williams and Lt. Leroy Armstrong