The Bartholomew County Soil and Water Conservation District is inviting you to take advantage of an Arbor Day program meant to help plant trees throughout the community. Organizers say that the sixth-annual tree giveaway will be Friday, April 28 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Community Building at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds. Approximately 1,300 trees will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those who take part can take up to five trees. Among the tree species offered will be Redbud, Silky Dogwood, Norway Spruce, Bald Cypress and Black Oak.

During the tree giveaway, there will be a fish fry put on by the Conservation Club. In addition, rain barrels will be for sale. Organizers say that the barrels normally cost $65, but will only be $25 for county residents thanks to a cost-share program. Children who attend will also have the opportunity to make their own pine cone bird-feeders.

Columbus police rescued a 12-year-old autistic child who waded into a retention pond Sunday afternoon.

Officers were called to the area of Lockerbie Drive and 25th Street on reports of a child running near traffic at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, says Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police. Capt. Brian Wilder was off duty but in the area, when he saw the child run toward a nearby neighborhood and enter a retention pond in the 5000 block of Victory Drive.

Wilder and Officer Tony Kummer took flotation bags into the water to rescue the child, who is reportedly autistic.  The child was unharmed.

Harris sad that officers take training each year on how to interact with people who have autism.  He praised the quick actions of the officers who kept the child safe.

Community leaders in Bartholomew County will be kicking off a new effort to stem the heroin and opiate epidemic in the community with an event Wednesday night at The Commons.

The Move the Needle community forum will feature author Sam Quinones, who wrote the book “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic,” seen by many as the definitive history of how we got to the point we now find ourselves.

Nicki Vreeland, the mental health and substance abuse action coordinator for Healthy Communities at Columbus Regional Health talks about Quinones and the effect his book has had.

The event will also feature Dr. Kendall Stewart from southern Ohio.

Vreeland talks about the scope of the problem facing the community.

She also stressed that the community isn’t ignoring the many other drugs wreaking havoc in our area. But those don’t have the lethal side that heroin is exhibiting.

The event will be from 6:39 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday evening at The Commons. It is free and you are encouraged to attend.

Hope’s Yellow Trail Museum will memorialize long-time community leader Merrill Clouse with an interactive display of a scale model of the Town Square.

The scale model was built by Ike Wasson, who died in January. Clouse died last week. But about six years ago, the two men recorded an oral history of the Town Square and all the locations shown in Wasson’s model.

Barb Johnson, director of the museum, said that in many ways, Clouse gave the community the Yellow Trail Museum. He was instrumental in creating the first Hope Heritage Days, which featured antiques displayed in store windows around the square.

Clouse donated a second floor of a building to give those antiques a permanent home, which was the start of the museum.

Wasson’s model recently found a home in that new portion of the museum.

A funding request for the interactive display will go to the Hope Town Council tomorrow night. The $3.500 would come from the town’s economic development income tax revenues.

Clouse’s funeral is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Hope Moravian Church

The Brown County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the disappearance of an elderly man from Trafalgar.

Robert Gasper was last seen Friday, April 14th at 8:23 pm in Trafalgar, and is believed to be in danger. Gasper is a 79 year old white man, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 180 pounds, with gray hair and brown eyes. Gasper has illegible tattoos on both arms.

He may be disoriented and require medical assistance.  He is believed to be driving a black 2005 Cadillac Escalade, with Indiana plate D790CJ.

If you have any information on Robert Gasper, contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Department by calling 812-988-6655 ext. 0 or 911.

Purdue Polytechnic Columbus will be holding an open house for those interested in learning more about applying for admission in the fall. The “All Aboard Open House” will be held on April 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

High school and transfer students, parents, and community members are invited to attend to learn more about the school. School officials say there will be demonstrations of 3D printing, virtual reality, robotics, and facility tours. Free food will be provided by the Purdue Columbus Booster Club. Faculty and staff will be available to meet guests and share about the degree programs offered.

In addition, school officials say the Annex Student Housing will be hosting a companion event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Annex is located across the street from Purdue Polytechnic Columbus. You are invited to stop in and view the accommodations offered to students wishing to live near school. You can RSVP online at polytechnic.purdue.edu/columbus/open-house.

For more information about degrees and programs at Purdue Polytechnic Columbus, visit purdue.edu/Columbus.

A teacher who retired to Nashville, left a surprising inheritance to the Brown County Public Library — more than $2.3 million dollars. The library board announced this week that the gift from the estate of Tesh Wickard is the largest in the library’s history. Wickard taught business courses at Hauser High School.

Officials at the library say that Wickard would stop by the library every morning, reading newspapers and magazines by the fireplace. “Tesh valued the importance a library plays in the community. This kind gesture is a gift to all of Brown County, not just the library,” said Stori Snyder, director of the library.

The donation is set up as an endowment, with the interest going each year to the library. The spending of the gift will be overseen by both the library board and an endowment board. The money can only be used for maintenance and building expenses such as carpeting, roof replacement, heating and air-conditioning or reserve emergency funds. Officials say that one of the first projects planned is to modernize and revamp the checkout area at the front of the library.

Wickard died in October 2014 and the endowment was set up last summer. A celebration event will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 23rd with a presentation at 2 p.m.

A long-time community leader in the town of Hope has died.

Merrill Clouse, along with his wife Norma, operated the town grocery store for many years and were involved in many of the town’s community events and institutions including the founding of Hope Heritage Days, the Yellow Trail Museum, the town’s volunteer fire department and other initiatives.

Town Councilman Ed Johnson and Clouse were part of the Breakfast Crew that gathered at the diner every morning to swap jokes and stories.

Johnson said that Hope has a tendency to be a laid back community and Clouse helped push the town to succeed.

Merrill Clouse was 96. He passed away a year and three days after his wife Norma.

Shirley Robertson, former long-time clerk-treasurer in the town, said that Clouse had a way of getting people involved.

She especially appreciated his involvement with the town’s volunteer fire department, which he helped found and where he served as chief for 26 years.

The Education and Training Center in North Vernon is about to lose another tenant. City officials announced this week that they had received a letter from the Indiana Region 9 Workforce Board that it is terminating its lease at the building, located at 1200 West O&M Ave., effective the end of May.

Officials with the Workforce Board say that their funding, provided largely by the state, has been diminished over the past two years. According to the letter, the organization remains “committed to serving the workforce needs” of the area. The Workforce Board says that it would like to remain in the facility, but unless better terms can be offered by the city, they would need to relocate.

This is the latest in a run of bad news at the ETC. Ivy Tech pulled its offices out last year, leaving the campus largely empty. The city council briefly discussed options for the facility, which Councilman Jerry Lamb says is quickly becoming a “money-pit.”

Council took no action on the matter, but they are expected to discuss it further at the next meeting on April 24th.

Nearly $50,000 was raised for an organization dedicated to protecting children in the legal system. Organizers for “Crooners for CASA” say the event entertained approximately 250 guests at The Commons in downtown Columbus, in support of Advocates for Children. Officials say this event, now in its fourth year, has raised approximately $200,000 since its inception.

Crooners for CASA, a karaoke-styled event, is held each year at the beginning of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Money raised support work on behalf of area children who have been the victims of abuse and neglect.

“Between 2012 and 2015, the annual number of abuse and neglect cases in the State of Indiana rose by 40,000,” said Rick Scalf, Advocates for Children’s Community Outreach Coordinator. “Seventy children in our state enter the child protection system every single day. Every one of these children deserves a steady adult by their side, helping to guarantee that the child’s best interest is always front and center.”

Advocates for Children provides this assistance through the work of volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and staff Guardians Ad Litem (GAL). Last year, the agency served 841 children in Bartholomew, Decatur, and Jennings counties. Scalf says that the money raised at these events assist with the work on behalf of these children, along with the 305 children remaining on the waiting list.

Advocates for Children is currently accepting application for its next training session for CASA volunteers, which is scheduled to begin in May. If you are interested in learning more, visit apowerfulvoice.org or call the office at (877) 604-9402.