The downtown Columbus riverfront could become a center for whitewater rafting and swimming.

That’s according to one proposal to improve the riverfront suggested last night at a public workshop on ways to make the river more appealing and to activate it as a tool for economic development.

Scott Shipley is a former Olympian, professional kayaker and now president of S2O Design, a Colorado company that turns rivers into whitewater rapids.

He said people in Columbus are looking for active and healthy outdoor recreation and the river can become a centerpiece.

He said there are about 70 whitewater parks around the country, and they are providing economic boosts for communities. He provided figures for whitewater parks in Golden, Vail and Breckenridge, Colo., Reno, Nev. and Charlotte, S.C. that showed big gains from tourism and the associated spending.

The parks can be designed to be used by beginners or experts, and are environmentally friendly, he said.

Shipley said that because the feature would be in the public waterway, it would be open to anyone who wanted to use it.

To create a whitewater park, the existing low-head dam would be replaced with a series of smaller breaks to allow the water to tumble.

Shipley’s suggestion was just a proposal and has not been adopted, endorsed or advanced by city officials.

The University Library of Columbus is hosting a comics and gaming convention at the Columbus Learning Center on Central Avenue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

Bethany Messersmith, director of the Ivy Tech library, says she took part in a similar event at a library in Missouri last year. She said she thought it would be a great way to engage more people in the library and its resources.

Messersmith said she sees a lot of interest among students on the campus in the hobby of tabletop board games, such as Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and Dominion. She says there will be a chance for people to learn various hobby games and to play casually, but there will also be board game tournaments for those who are more competitive.

The event will feature panel discussions with graphics artists and a graphic novelist. The panels will be led by Lloyd Brooks the head of the schools’ visual communications program. Messersmith said she sees this as an opportunity for students to learn more about how the programs at the school can lead to work in the comics medium.

Mikinna Jo, a Batesville tattoo artist, will be designing free temporary tattoos.

The event is free and will take place in and around the library in the Columbus Learning Center. You can buy a $5 lunch from Dancing Goat Coffee from 12 to 2.

You can learn more at the school’s Facebook page.

Bartholomew County judges say that their staffing needs must be addressed. Judges Jim Worton, Kathleen Coriden and Kelly Benjamin says the problem is the state’s new Odyssey system. Odyssey is designed to connect courts across the state, making it easier for judges and court staff to search court cases easier. Judge Worton elaborated on the problem during a county council work session last month.

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Coriden, judge for Circuit Court II, told the council then that the courts’ staffing levels are simply inadequate.

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Judge Coriden appeared before the county council during a work session this week, repeating her call for an increase in staffing. Laura De DeDomenic, president of the council, opined that court staff have not had adequate time to get fully acquainted with Odyssey and that the body should wait a few more moths to determine if increased staffing is truly needed. Judge Coriden says that she “respectfully disagrees.” DeDomenic, and a few other council members, expressed concerns that the county could even afford to hire new people even if they are needed.

Councilman Mark Gorbett vigorously disagreed. He said that the judges have shown a clear need for increased staffing, noting that department heads throughout county government have given the body adequate notice that staffing needs would have to be addressed. Gorbett again chided his fellow council members for not taking steps to bring in additional revenue to county government. “We’ve been kicking this can around for years and we can’t kick it anymore,” said the former Sheriff. Gorbett says the council is in for a rude awakening come budget time, noting that many needed actions, like increased manpower, building maintenance and public-safety items like cars for the Sheriff’s Department, are going to have to be addressed. He urged the council to take steps now to address them.

DeDomenic disagreed, saying that she wanted to wait for a detailed report of the county’s financials, which she says is expected in the coming several weeks. Councilman Jorge Morales also disagreed with Gorbett, saying that he does not want to increase any taxes until he knows how much additional money would be generated for the county.

Between Superior Court 1, Superior Court 2 and the Circuit Court, judges want to increase head-count by a minimum of two. They want that extra staffing as soon as possible. Council members are expected to discuss the request further during next week’s regular session.

A Columbus fugitive was arrested Tuesday night in Johnson County. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that 21-year-old Michael W. Nida, II was arrested just after 10 p.m. after authorities learned he was inside of a Greenwood apartment. CPD, with help from detectives from the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Greenwood Police Department, took Nida into custody without incident.

Lt. Harris says that Nida was transported back to Columbus and booked in the Bartholomew County Jail on the following charges:

Bartholomew County Probation Warrant on original charge of Intimidation (Level 5 Felony)
Domestic Battery with Bodily Injury (Level 5 Felony)
Strangulation (Level 6 Felony)
Interfering with the Reporting of a Crime (Class A Misdemeanor)

Nida is being held on $200,000 bond.

The riverfront through Columbus is an underused resource and city officials want to see if there is a way to make that more appealing.

The city is considering a project to improve the stretch of East Fork White River between the Second and Third Street bridges and wants to get your thoughts at a workshop tonight.

Mayor Jim LIenhoop explains that downtown Columbus is not taking advantage of the river’s possibilities.

“I think we have got a significant unused resource in the terms of the river that we have,” Lienhoop says.

The mayor said that similar communities are putting their riverfronts to better uses, including cultural, recreational and commercial opportunities.

Lienhoop says that the city officials would like to extend Mill Race Park to incorporate the area behind the historic pumphouse and eventually extend the People Trails to link up with those heading east and north.

Last month, an Indianapolis woman drowned while trying to rescue a dog from the river. Lienhoop said that points out the danger of the failing low-head dam in the river between the two bridges.

Lienhoop said there will likely need to be some structure in the river to allow water to pool for recreational opportunities.

The workshop is from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at Columbus City Hall.

Two people were killed in a crash Tuesday morning on I-65 in Jackson County. Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the Indiana State Police, says events unfolded shortly after 6:30 a.m. after a crash in the southbound lanes near mile marker 47 involving two tractor trailers. About a half-hour later, a second crash near mile marker 48 occurred. Investigators say that a car ran into the back of of a stopped semi, killing two Indianapolis residents.

ISP says the first crash happened when a semi driven by Donald W. Pickens, of Manchester, TN, rear-ended a flat-bed trailer, driven by Gordon A. Gorr, Jr., of Indianapolis. That crash led to partial blockage of the southbound lanes of I-65 for nearly four hours.

Investigators say the second crash occurred when a van, driven by 62-year-old Thomas L. Harding, was unable to stop for the slowed traffic. The van struck the rear of a box-trailer driven by 47-year-old Jacek Kamienski, of Burbank, IL.

Sgt. Wheeles says that the second crash resulted in the deaths of Harding and his front seat passenger, 59-year-old Joyce M. Harding. They were both pronounced dead at the scene by Jackson County Coroner Michael Bobb. A backseat passenger, 19-year-old Francisco J. Rodriguez, also of Indianapolis, was injured. He was transported to Schneck Medical Center, then flown to University of Louisville Hospital for serious injuries. His condition has not been released.

ISP says the investigation into the crash is ongoing.

The City of Columbus will fund the next phase of the State Street Revitalization effort. The city council voted Tuesday night to approved Phase 2A, not to exceed $2.6 million. The project would stretch south from the Haw Creek bridge to about Mapleton Street and will include green spaces and trails for pedestrians and bicycles. Heather Pope, the city’s redevelopment director, talks about the timeline for this phase of the project…

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The current timeline calls for this phase of the project to be completed by November 1st.

Councilman Frank Miller expressed concerns about the fact that the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety agreed to put the project out to bid last week, prior to receiving approval from the council. While Miller emphasized that nothing illegal took place, he was concerned about how residents would perceive the action. He noted that he heard from residents that the funding approval was “a done deal” and that the approval was already granted. Councilman Dascal Bunch, along with members of the State Street Area Association, explained that the action was taken to help ensure the work on Phase 2A could be finished by the end of this construction season.

Councilman Bunch, who represents the area on the council, has been an ardent supporter of the project…

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The council’s vote to approve the funding was unanimous.

An Indianapolis judge has ruled in favor of three former Irwin Union Bank & Trust Co. executives, closing the book on a civil suit that the bank’s bankruptcy trustee originally filed in 2011.

“The Indiana Lawyer” is reporting that, on Friday, federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker granted a motion for summary judgement on two remaining claims against former CEO William Miller, former Chief Financial Officer Gregory Ehlinger and former Executive Vice President Thomas Washburn. With Barker’s ruling, the suit against the three is now closed.

Federal regulators seized and shut down the Columbus-based bank in September 2009. At the same time, the bank also filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The report states that the civil suit dates back to 2011, when the bankruptcy trustee for Irwin sued the three bank officers for breach of fiduciary duty, seeking more than $500 million in damages.

Barker dismissed the suit in 2012, but the bankruptcy trustee appealed the decision and an appeals court reinstated two of the original seven charges. One count alleged that the defendants failed to provide accurate and reliable information to the bank’s board of directors, leading the board to approve dividends and stock repurchases and other distributions when the bank should have been preserving capital. The second count alleged that the defendants capitulated to bank regulators and made millions of dollars’ worth of capital contributions to the bank even as it was headed for failure.

For more on this story, visit theindianalawyer.com.

The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and Chevrolet of Columbus are collaborating to organize a second Corvette Raffle fundraiser. Organizers say that the grand prize is a 2017 Chevrolet Stingray Corvette. The fundraiser kicked off on April 1st and will run until July 29th, the day of the drawing, or when all 999 tickets are sold.

The winner of the raffle will receive the car, valued at $55,000. Organizers add that the winner will have an option to order a custom vehicle through the dealer with upgrade options.

Tickets are $150 each and are not tax-deductible. The Philharmonic says it will pay the required state and federal taxes on the vehicle.

Due to the campaign’s national reach, the winner does not need to be present at the drawing to win but must be 18 years old to enter. To purchase a ticket, submit an entry form to the Philharmonic along with payment. Entrants can submit an entry form three ways:

1.) Mail to or drop off at 315 Franklin Street Columbus, IN 47201;

2.) Fax the completed form to 812-669-2336;

3.) Call (812) 376-2638, extension 1, with required information. Due to Indiana Charitable Gaming Commission Regulations, raffle tickets cannot be purchased online or with a credit card. Acceptable forms of payment include cash, check payable to Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, or debit card.

The deadline to purchase tickets is July 28, at 5 p.m. The drawing will take place at the Chevrolet of Columbus dealership, located at 2825 Merchant Mile in Columbus, on Saturday, July 29.

Organizers say that all proceeds netted from the fundraiser will be used to support the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s youth music education programming, to help provide student scholarship funding and continue to enhance concert season events.

For more information, visit thecip.org.

Ivy Tech is offering select students an opportunity to earn an associate degree in Business Administration in less than one year.

Officials at the school say the Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP) at Ivy Tech Columbus provides select students with an opportunity to complete an Associate of Science in Business Administration, traditionally a two-year program, in 11 months. The accelerated style of the program encourages students to think of college as a job, attending school full time for almost 40 hours per week.

Upon completion, students are eligible to transfer to any public four-year institution in Indiana with junior status once they are admitted to that college or university.

Ivy Tech says that guidelines for admittance into the ASAP program include a referral or nomination by a high school guidance counselor, a minimum 2.5 high school GPA, a strong high school attendance record, must be under 22-years-old and a parent or guardian agreement to provide room and board while the student is enrolled in the program.

Ivy Tech Columbus is accepting applications for next year’s ASAP class, which begins in June.