Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have chosen a designer for a new westside elementary school — Howeler+Yoon, a Boston-based architectural firm.

According to the school district, the decision was made this week by the school board after a selection process by a 16-member committee that reviewed proposals from four firms nominated by the Cummins Architecture Program.. The committee was made up of school administrators, teachers, a student, and community members. The school says Howeler+Yoon was chosen because of its “innovative and child-centric approach to design.”

The decision includes the appointment of Taylor Bros Construction and Pepper Construction as construction managers for the project.

The proposed school would be located beside Westside Community Church on Tipton Lakes Boulevard. It is expected to cost about $60 million dollars and will serve around 650 students. It is being planned to accommodate the city’s expansion on the west and southsides. t will be the district’s 12th elementary school and its first new school since 1982.

Several area state troopers were recognized at the Indiana State Police annual awards ceremony.

Trooper Payton Utterback was selected as the Versailles District’s Trooper of the District for this year. He was cited for his work in criminal investigations and traffic enforcement. Utterback graduated from Franklin Community High School and Indiana State University. He also has served in the Air National Guard. He and his wife live in Bartholomew County. Utterback is a two year veteran of the Indiana State Police. He is a two year veteran of the police force.

Trooper Clayton Saltzman received he “DUI Award” for the district Saltzman is a two and a half year veteran of the Indiana State Police.

Master Motor Carrier Inspector Mary Eglen was chosen as the recipient of the Ralph R. “Ray” Reed Motor Carrier Inspector of the Year. She is primarily assigned to the I-65 Northbound Scales near Seymour. The award recognizes motor carriers for their dedication to keeping roadways safe by enforcing the commercial motor vehicle safety regulations. She is a 34 year veteran of the Indiana State Police.

Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County has received a $1.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to help grow the local group’s Community Fund through matching donations.

The grant is coming from the Lilly Foundation’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative which is designed to help community foundations strengthen the communities they serve.

The Community Fund allows allows the foundation to respond to the changing needs of the community. It currently supports programs int he areas of Youth Development; Arts, Culture & Architecture; and Downtown Vitality. The foundation has a goal of raising $525,000 for the Community Fund by the end of the year. The Lilly grant will match donations to the Community Fund at $2 for every $1 gifted, for a total impact of more than $1.5 million.

In addition to a matching grant for Heritage Fund’s Community Fund, the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative also has provided matches for community projects and programs, including the local African American Foundation, Crump Theatre, First Presbyterian Bicentennial Legacy Fund, kidscommons and Experimental Aircraft Association.

You can find out more information or make a donation at at heritagefundbc.org.

Toyota Material Handling North America is announcing the promotion of Mark Taggart to the role of chief financial officer.

According to the Columbus-based company, Taggart previously has served as president and CEO of Toyota Industries Commercial Finance and will continue as chairman of Toyota Industries Global Commercial Finance

In the new role, Taggart will be responsible for the financial strategy of Toyota Material Handling North America’s major companies — Toyota Material Handling and The Raymond Corporation. The company says Taggart plans to introduce efficient solutions to propel the company’s fiscal responsibility and success. Those will align with Toyota’s culture of kaizen – or continuous improvement.

Taggart joined the Toyota group of companies in 1996. Prior to his role with Toyota Industries Commercial Finance, he served as President and CEO of Toyota Financial Savings Bank.

John Crews, Toyota Industries Commercial Finance General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer, will succeed Taggart as President.

The sign-up deadline is today for those interested in taking part in a Saturday workshop for first-time homebuyers.

The Lincoln Central Neighborhood Homebuyer’s Program is organizing the workshop from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Yes Cinema.

The workshop will be presented by Apprisen, in partnership with Union Savings Bank, the Southern Indiana Housing and Community Development Corporation and Lincoln Central.

Workshop topics will include preparing for homeownership, working with a real estate agent and understanding budgets and credit history. After finishing the workshop, participants will receive a HUD homebuyer certificate of completion.

The workshop is free. Registration is required. For more information or to register, you can call the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center at 812-379-1630 or email [email protected].

YES Cinema is at 328 Jackson Street in downtown Columbus.

The Bartholomew County Historical Society will be hosting its annual Free Family Fun on the Farm event Saturday at the Historic Henry Breeding Farm. The event allows participants to experience life on a farm of the early 1900’s

The event will include steam engines, historic games, spinning and weaving, Beekeeping, Blacksmithing, Historic Music, Candle making and Crafts.

The event will be from 9 to 1 on Saturday at the farm on County Road North 100W near Edinburgh. For more information you can go to bartholomewhistory.org.

Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Historical Society.

The city of Columbus is providing $450 thousand dollars toward the design and construction costs in a project to redo the plaza at the entrance to the downtown area.

The plaza includes the POW/MIA and law enforcement memorials as well as the Robert D. Garton Veterans Plaza just off of the Second Street bridge. The plaza is about an acre and a half in size and is two half circle pieces of property just off the bridge and flanking either side of the road.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission and Landmark Columbus through the Columbus Design Institute had issued a request for qualifications to choose a designer for the property in February. That drew 18 designers interested in working in Columbus. The committee interviewed five designers earlier this month and and have selected their final candidate. Announcement of the final decision is scheduled later this month.

The property was last redesigned in 2000 by Michael VanValkenburgh and Associates. The goal is to transform the gateway to be safer, more attractive and accessible, to maintain greenspace and to allow more activity and interaction.

The Redevelopment Commission approved the request for funds from the Columbus Design Institute at its meeting this week.

Columbus emergency officials say that a search for a missing child ended with the child being found safe overnight.

The Columbus Police Department issued an alert yesterday evening at about 6 p.m. that a 12-year-old autistic boy, Rider Newman, was missing and police were looking for any information to help find him. While he was first reported missing from the East Columbus area, a later update at about 8:30 p.m. said he was last seen on 25th Street near Nexus Park.

The search expanded with Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police joining in the search and continuing the search overnight, focused on an area south of 17th Street in Columbus.

An alert was sent out through the Bartholomew County Everbridge phone, text and email alert system at 2:25 a.m. this morning saying that Rider had been found safe.

The United Way of Bartholomew County is kicking off a community wide food drive later this month to help ensure children have enough to eat this summer.

According to the agency the food drive is being organized by the United Way and the Bartholomew County Food Insecurity Coalition and will be going on from April 29th through May 31st. The goal is to give local food pantries enough donations to stock their shelves for the summer break, without having to dip into their regular budgets to meet the need.

All the food and donations collected will be split between Love Chapel, Salvation Army, and Community Center of Hope.

This is the second year for the community-wide food drive and last year’s efforts were the largest single fundraiser/donation ever to Love Chapel.

Churches and businesses throughout the community are holding their own food collection efforts but you can also drop off food donations at United Way’s firehouse building at 13th Street and Hutchins Avenue in Columbus.

Organizers request that food donations be non-perishable, nutritious foods that are low-sodium and low-sugar, when possible.

An opportunity yesterday for the public to give their thoughts on the proposed contract for the next Bartholomew Consolidated Schools superintendent led to no being concerns raised.

The school board held a required meeting yesterday afternoon to get public input on the proposed contract with their choice for superintendent, Dr. Chad Phillips.

Current Superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts is stepping down at the end of June to take on a new role with the Community Education Coalition. Phillips has been serving as the school district’s assistant superintendent of financial services for the past 7 years and has been with the school district for 20 years.

The contract with Phillips would give him a base salary of $204,671  with an initial contract lasting until the end of June of 2027. It also would provide a $30,000 annual contribution to the retirement plan, 20 paid vacation days, 14 days for sick time and four personal leave days. And there would be a car allowance of $12,000 annually.

The school board was required to hold the public comment session yesterday, but no one signed up to comment or offered thoughts when the opportunity was given. The meeting was over in a matter of minutes.

Next up will be a consideration for approval of the contract at the school board’s April 29th meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Columbus North High School.