Ivy Tech Community College will be hosting a nature walk on Saturday, May 3rd to help you learn more about the local natural environment. The school’s biology professors are hosting the series of hikes with the next along the Driftwood River near Edinburgh.

The hike is open to the public, and you are invited to attend. You should dress appropriately for the outdoors and the weather. Hikers will meet at 7:30 a.m. in the morning in the first paved parking area at the Driftwood State Fishing Area. That’s at 8825 S. U.S. 31, near Edinburgh.

If you are planning to take part and have binoculars, you should bring them. The college will have some sets on hand you can use.

For more information you can contact Dr. Tom Sobat at [email protected].

Driftwood Fishing Area map courtesy of Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Students at Ivy Tech Community College Columbus will be holding their annual student design show and awards ceremony this evening.

The school’s Visual Communications Department at Ivy Tech Community College Columbus, in collaboration with the college’s Fine Arts and Design Club, are hosting the event from 5 to 7 p.m. this evening at Moravec Hall on Central Avenue.

The event will feature a gallery of student work, showcasing artistic expression and innovative designs. It is meant to highlight students representing the next generation of artists and designers in the community.

The event is free and you are invited to come to see the students’ vision and celebrate their accomplishments.

A two day music festival starts tomorrow in downtown Columbus to raise money for several non profit groups.

Hutchfest will feature bands performing on Friday at The Commons and in venues across the downtown area on Saturday.

Hutchfest, in its third year, is named in honor of local businessman Hutch Schumaker and celebrates his birthday with the fundraiser. According to Landmark Columbus Foundation, proceeds from the events will be split between the foundation, restoration efforts at The Crump and the Miller House and Garden.

The Friday performance at The Commons will be $10 with the Revelators playing from 6 to 8 p.m. and the Barnstormers from 8:30 to 10:30

There is no cover charge for Saturday night’s performances, but they are being held at 21 and older venues. Those performances will include

4th Street Bar & Grill: The Jackson Way,
The Garage Pub & Grill: Downstairs Mix-up,
The Eagles #741: Fabulous Hickbillys
The Moose Lodge #398: Albino Catfish Band,

You can get more information or buy tickets at hutchfest.org.

Photo courtesy of Landmark Columbus Foundation

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will be updating the public on renovation projects at two schools and unveiling the design of a new elementary at a series of public events next month.

Superintendent Dr. Chad Phillips explains the need for a new elementary school on the west side:

The design of the new elementary school on the west side will be unveiled at the event on Tuesday, May 20th at 5:00 PM at Westside Community Church

Phillips talks about the needs of aging schools in the community.

The renovation kickoff event for L. Frances Smith Elementary School will be at 3 p.m. on Monday May 12th at the school, with the Northside Middle School Renovation event at the school at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday May 13th.

Bills co-authored by local legislators are heading to the governor’s office for his signature.

According to the Indiana House Republican press office, legislation is moving toward becoming a law that was co-authored by State Rep. Ryan Lauer of Columbus and Rep. Jim Lucas of Seymour. Lauer co-authored a bill to create new grant programs for pediatric and breast cancer research and Lucas worked on a bill to increase penalties for drivers who are on the road without ever receiving a driver’s license.

Lauer’s bill would provide funding for innovative research into novel forms of treatment through the Pediatric Cancer Research and Treatment Grant Program and the Breast Cancer Research Fund.

According to the Indiana Department of Health, more than 30 children died in Indiana from cancer each year between 2016 and 2020 and more than 300 new cases of pediatric cancer occur each year in Hoosier children.

Lauer said that Indiana cancer research could help the state and could also lead to treatments used throughout the U.S.

The bill passed the Indiana General Assembly unanimously.

Lucas’ bill will add two new criminal enhancements for those who drive without ever receiving a license, causing bodily or catastrophic injury or deaths. Those incidents would become Level 5 or 6 felonies, where under current law the crashes would only be a Class C misdemeanor or, if the driver has a previous unrelated conviction, it would be a Class A misdemeanor.

The bill came about after 27-year-old Brad Castner of Holton died in a head-on crash last year with an unlicensed driver. The unlicensed driver could only be charged with a misdemeanor.

Lucas said the hope is that enhancing the penalties would keep unlicensed drivers off of the road.

Indiana Statehouse photo courtesy of iga.in.gov

The City of Seymour is warning that milling and paving is going to be starting today on several streets around the community.

Affected streets scheduled to start today include 9th Street at the railroad tracks, Shields Avenue from 9th to 16th Streets and 16th street from Shields Avenue to Ewing Street.

Work is expected to start on Thursday on Arvin Avenue, and Vine, 14th, Pine, Poplar, Brown and Laurel streets.

The work is expected to take up to two weeks, and the work schedule is dependent on the weather.

You should avoid the areas if you can.

Indiana Congressman Jefferson Shreve says that economic uncertainty is a real danger for area manufacturers but he also urges companies to be patient as the administration works to strike trade and immigration deals advantageous to America.

Shreve said that the current trade negotiations are causing uncertainty that global manufacturers face as they look to the costs of materials and sub-parts as well as access to foreign markets due to tariffs. But he said the country has a skilled negotiator leading the way to better deals that will ultimately benefit central Indiana.

Shreve said he would counsel businesses in the Sixth Congressional District he represents to try to stomach the uncertainty with an eye to a brighter future, with more manufacturing returning to the U.S. He used Honda in Greensburg as an example, as the company announced plans recently to bring the Civic Hybrid production here.

Shreve said that many manufacturing companies in our area rely on skilled engineers from overseas, especially India.

You can hear more of our interview with Shreve about manufacturing in the Sixth Congressional District:

Indiana State Police posts will be taking part in a national drug takeback event on Saturday.

Troopers say that between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday you can drop off any unused, unwanted or expired medications at Indiana State Police posts statewide, except for the Toll Road post. In southeastern Indiana you can drop off medications at the Versailles, Bloomington and Sellersburg posts.

The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

This program is for liquid and pill medications. Vaping pens without batteries and vaping cartridges will also be taken. Needles, new or used, will not be accepted for disposal.

State police say that old medications left in medicine cabinets are susceptible to being stolen, misused and abused. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends.

You can find more organizations taking part in the drug takeback day here: https://www.dea.gov/takebackday#collection-locator

The Bartholomew County Soil and Water Conservation District will be giving away 1,300 trees on Friday as a celebration of Arbor Day.

According to the agency, the trees will be available on a first-come first-served basis starting at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds. The event will be a drive-thru event.

Trees to be given away include white oak, white pine, American plum, persimmon and buttonbush. Each person is limited to five trees.

Donations are not required but will be accepted. The district will be accepting donations for Beloved Bags, a non profit that provides bags for children who are separated from unstable or dangerous living conditions, so that they don’t have to carry their belongings in garbage bags. The main donation request is for individual toothbrushes and full-sized toothpaste tubes.

You can get more information by calling the conservation district office at 812-378-1280.

Emergency officials say that area NOAA weather radio channels will be offline for several days next week while the alert system is going through maintenance.

According to the Bartholomew County Emergency Management Department, the outage will affect all the weather radio broadcasts that cover central Indiana. The outage will start on Monday and is expected to last through at least Wednesday, however it could go as long as Thursday or Friday while the channels go through a mandatory system upgrade.

Shannan Cooke, director of emergency management for the county, says that you should make sure you have several ways to receive emergency weather notifications while the radio system is down. She suggested signing up for the Everbridge alert system in Bartholomew County, using the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s or American Red Cross mobile apps, and listening to local news stations.

You can find a link to sign up for the Everbridge alert system here: https://member.everbridge.net/index/453003085611297#/login

Once you sign up and identify which types of alerts you want to receive, in the case of an emergency it will send important alerts by phone call, text message or email.