A few city streets will be shut off from the public today, Due to continued filming for the movie, The Ice Cream Man, the following closures will be in effect for most of today from 6AM – 8PM.
These are the following streets affected:
7th Street from Franklin Street west to Lafayette Avenue
The northern half of the City/Library parking lot, as well as the entrance/exit off 7th Street
and The North South alleys between Franklin and Lafayette at 7th Street.
A Columbus man was arrested early yesterday morning, accused of driving drunk through a road construction zone at Central Avenue and National Road.
According to Columbus Police reports, workers saw a vehicle driving through the construction zone dragging traffic cones stuck underneath his vehicle at about 12:56 a.m. Thursday morning. Police say that workers were able to stop the vehicle and when police arrived, they found 52-year-old Eric S. Federico driving the vehicle, while wearing only his underclothes.
Federico appeared to be unsteady on his feet and there was a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, police say. He failed several field sobriety tests and was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to have his blood drawn.
He was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and a highway work zone violation.
A Jennings County man is being accused of driving drunk and causing a death after a fatal crash Saturday night on Interstate 65 in Scott County.
Indiana State Police say that 47-year-old Scotty R. Hoosier of Altamont, Tenn. was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash at about 11:55 p.m. Saturday night just south of Austin.
Trooper say that 24-year-old Cooper A. Hensley of Paris Crossing was speeding in the northbound left lane of the highway, and crashed into Hoosier’s vehicle, which was also driving northbound. The crash sent Hoosier’s pickup truck off the highway where it crashed into a tree. Two passengers in Hoosier’s vehicle were taken to University of Louisville Hospital for serious injuries.
Hensley’s vehicle went into the median, where it hit the cable barrier and flipped over. Hensley was uninjured. He was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing a death and was taken to the Scott County Jail.
The northbound lanes of the interstate were closed for about four hours.
Vice President Mike Pence and his wife are testing negative for the coronavirus.
They took tests this morning after President Trump and the First Lady tested positive last night. Pence is last known to have been with the President on Tuesday when they met in the Oval Office before the debate. The two also attended a coronavirus task force briefing together on Monday. If the President becomes incapacitated, Pence would step in until he could return.
Mike and Karen Pence are wishing President Trump and the First Lady well in a Tweet this morning.
President Trump’s adviser Hope Hicks tested negative Wednesday morning, but started experiencing symptoms later that day. She was isolated on a return flight on Air Force One and tested again Thursday. This time it came back positive.
The CDC has released new guidelines on how schools can plan to reopen for the upcoming school year while also being mindful of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The agency is broad in its guidelines separating them into low-risk, moderate-risk, and high-risk recommendations for reopening schools. Within these guidelines they talk about promoting “behaviors that reduce spread” from how to serve food to students, keeping classrooms clean, teachers wearing personal protective equipment, etc. They also give recommendations on what to do in the event a student or teacher contracts Coronavirus during the school year.
Dr. Sarah Stelzner, a pediatrician, told Dan Dakich on 107.5 The Fan she feels schools should be able to open to in-person classes later this year. She recommends starting earlier in the summer than schools normally do.
Stelzner also said that closing at Thanksgiving would make sense due to that being the time when we know, there are lots of flu and that there are fears that COVID could possibly have a second wave.
The CDC is careful to clarify in their recommendations that their guidelines DO NOT replace state and county mandates on reopening schools. They say schools must comply with whatever state education leaders and local governments say.
An iconic Columbus restaurant could be returning to operations as early as next month.
The Lucas Bros. Sandwich Shop, operated by the son of the most recent owner, plans a revival of the diner in Fair Oaks Mall. William Broaddus says that he still has the original grill used for years by his grandmother Donna Cannon, and his mother Cheri Perkins. He is even planning to use the same recipes for community favorite dishes such as the onion hamburgers and chili.
The restaurant operated in Columbus for more than 75 years, opening in the 1930s and closing in 2013 at its final location on State Street. Broaddus said he has a lease at Fair Oaks Mall though the end of the year. The restaurant will open in the space formerly occupied by Special Dogs & More in the mall.
He hopes to have the restaurant open again by early March. You can hear more from Broaddus about his plans tomorrow morning.
An effort to provide clothing for those in need will cap off that project with an event on Saturday at the America and Robie Anderson Community Center on McClure Road.
The Love Campaign clothing drive will hold a “Come Fill a Bag event” from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the eastside center, where those in need can come and pick up clothing for their whole family.
Cristina Villani, organizer of the project, said she started the project after meeting a family in need through her job at a rock climbing gym. She said this is her first time organizing such an event.
After the project began to gain momentum, she said other organizations jumped in to help. Those included the United Way of Bartholomew County, Sans Souci and Ivy Republic at Ivy Tech Community College Columbus.
Ultimately, more than 500 pieces of clothing were donated, she said. Families will be able to take up to 10 items of gently used clothing on Saturday.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department staff are mourning the loss of one of their corrections officers.
Sgt. Grover Crouch has died unexpectedly. Sheriff Matt Myers posted on social media about the officer, calling Crouch one of the department’s best employees who was patient. kind and always had a smile on his face.
Crouch had been with the sheriff’s department for 9 years and was frequently seen at community events including the Ethnic Expo parade, the Community Easter Egg Hunt and the Youth Academy.
Funeral arrangements are not yet available.
(VERSION 1)
CANstruction is coming up this weekend. The annual event is a food gathering effort to help local food pantries. Eight teams will be building elaborate canned food sculptures in Fair Oaks Mall on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Gary Parker with the Starving Artists team, says this will be their 10th year participating.
{02-15 Gary Parker Canstruction-1} :18 Q:the lighthouse
The plans for this year’s construction by the Starving Artists team are still under wraps. You can vote for your favorites by donating cans of food over the next week. After the voting is done, all of the structures will be dismantled and both the donations and the building materials will be donated to local food pantries.
You can hear more from Gary Parker with the Starving artist’s team, later this morning on AM Columbus.
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(VERSION 2)
CANstruction is coming up this weekend. The annual event is a food gathering effort to help local food pantries. Eight teams will be building elaborate canned food sculptures in Fair Oaks Mall on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Gary Parker with the Starving Artists team, says this will be their 10th year participating.
{02-15 Gary Parker Canstruction-2} :28 Q: the banks
You can vote for your favorites by donating cans of food over the next week.
You can hear more from Gary Parker with the Starving artist’s team, later this morning on AM Columbus.
#######
(VERSION 3)
CANstruction is coming up this weekend. The annual event is a food gathering effort to help local food pantries. Eight teams will be building elaborate canned food sculptures in Fair Oaks Mall on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Gary Parker with the Starving Artists team, says this will be their 10th year participating.
You can vote for your favorites by donating cans of food over the next week. The food used in the constructions and the food donated by those voting will all go to area food banks, including the Salvation Army, Love Chapel, the Hope COmmunity Center food pantry and, new this year, food pantries at Columbus North and Columbus East High Schools.
{02-15 Gary Parker Canstruction-3} :13 Q:
#######
(VERSION 4)
CANstruction is coming up this weekend. The annual event is a food gathering effort to help local food pantries. Eight teams will be building elaborate canned food sculptures in Fair Oaks Mall on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Gary Parker with the Starving Artists team, says this will be their 10th year participating.
You can vote for your favorites by donating cans of food over the next week. Parker explains where the food that is donated and the food
{02-15 Gary Parker Canstruction-4} :14 Q: high schools.
CANstruction has donated more than 240,000 cans to local food banks sicne it started 10 years ago.
A community vigil will be held Sunday afternoon in memory of Xavier Scrogham, a teen who died in a motorcycle crash on a country road near Hope after a police chase last year.
Scrogham was driving his motorcycle on U.S. 31 north of Columbus in August of 2016, when he passed a patrol car driven by an off-duty, Nashville reserve officer. After fleeing from the officer, Scrogham crashed and died in eastern Bartholomew County not far from his home.
Scrogham’s mother, Carleen, says that the vigil Sunday is meant to raise questions she has about her son’s death and to bring awareness to problems in our judicial system.
One of her concerns is about the dashboard camera footage from the police cruiser. At first the video was believed to be corrupted, but Bartholomew County deputies had to serve a subpoena to get the video after it was recovered. It has the wrong date and time and is split in half, omitting the actual crash and the recovery of Scrogham’s body.
The driver of the police car pled guilty to false informing in August. As part of the plea deal, charges of reckless driving were dropped. He admitted to lying about the speed Scrogham was driving, when he began the chase. He was given a 180 day suspended sentence and placed on probation for 180 days.
The vigil will be at 2 p.m. Sunday on the steps of Columbus City Hall.
Scrogham said friends and family members will share their memories of her 18-year-old son.
The vigil is being organized by the local chapter of Black Lives Matter.