Local officials are praising the CSX and Louisville and Indiana Railroads for offering to help pay for an overpass in downtown Columbus. That is after years of sometimes more difficult interactions, they say.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said the railroads are under no obligation to help with the project that will cost an estimated $30 million dollars.

City and county officials say that the railroad has not always been so helpful. The mayor explains that when train traffic begins to pick up later this month, or in early September, there will problems.

Bartholomew County Commissioners Larry Kleinhenz and Rick Flohr talked about a recent interaction with the railroad.

Exhibit Columbus is hosting another of its Drinking About Design get togethers tonight at The Commons.

The weekly events give you a chance to meet with some of the architects and designers taking part in the upcoming Exhibit Columbus displays that are being installed around the city.

Erin Hawkins with the Columbus Area Visitors Center explains the purpose of the Drinking About Design get togethers.

She says the tone is very casual.

This week’s Drinking About Design will feature Chris T. Cornelius with Studio:Indigenous. That firm is one of the winners of the J. Irwin and Xenia Miller Prize and is putting together an installation at First Christian Church called Wikiaami.

Tonight’s Drinking About Design meetup will be from 4 to 6 p.m. A presentation on Wikiaami will be at 5 p.m..

You can get more information at exhibitcolumbus.org

A man is under arrest after a stabbing yesterday at a southern Bartholomew County fishing spot.

32-year-old Taylor Horn of Columbus turned himself in to authorities and is facing preliminary charges of battery with a deadly weapon.

Authorities were called to the Grouse Ridge Public Fishing Area, near Ogilville, at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday after a woman reported that her estranged husband, Horn, had attacked and stabbed a male friend of hers. Horn also allegedly damaged and pushed his wife’s vehicle from the parking area.

Conservation officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources report that the victim was flown to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis with a stab would to his abdomen.

Horn turned himself in to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s department.

Bartholomew County deputies and conservation officers are investigating the case.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is asking for your help locating this week’s most-wanted fugitive. Judy Jackson, department spokeswoman, says that deputies are looking for 45-year-old Kenneth R. Johnson on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Johnson is a white male, standing 5’10” tall and weighing 145 pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes.

If you have any information on his whereabouts, you are asked to contact Capt. Dave Steinkoenig at (812) 565-5940. You may also call the department’s Tip Line at (812) 379-1712 or send an email to sheriff@bartholomew.in.gov.

Columbus police and assessors for a national accrediting organization will be on hand tonight to hear your thoughts on the police department.

The police and assessors from CALEA will be holding a session starting at 7 p.m. tonight in the Council Chambers at Columbus City Hall. If you can’t make it but want to leave a comment you can call between 1 and 3 p.m. this afternoon at 812-376-2625.

CALEA is the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. Agencies must seek reaccreditation every three years.

Columbus Regional Health is promoting Denise Glesing to the new position of vice president of growth and strategic planning. The position will be in charge of directing business development, strategic planning, marketing and communications.

Glesing has been with the hospital since 1997 and has been serving as director of business planning and marketing since 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in radio and television from Butler University and a masters of business administration from Indiana University, Kelley School of Business.

Glesing, her husband, and their two children live in Columbus.

A preview party for the Exhibit Columbus launch is being moved to Mill Race Park after a swell of interest in the event. That will be Friday, August 25th at the park from 6 to 11 p.m.

The event will feature cocktails, food, and entertainment in celebrating the city’s architecture, design, and community. This will be a chance to meet the five J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize winners and other designers whose work is being presented in the 2017 exhibition.

Tickets start at $150 for the event. You can buy tickets online at exhibitcolumbus.org

Volunteer firefighters battled a blaze in a home in the town of Hope Tuesday afternoon. The fire in the 400 block of Market Street was discovered at shortly before noon yesterday.

Assistant Hope Fire Chief Adam Mathis says the resident was outside playing with her own children, and children she was babysitting, when the fire was discovered.

A passerby noticed the flames shooting from a bedroom window.

Volunteer firefighters from Hope, Hartsville, Clifford, Clay Township and as far as Berney and Flat Rock were called to the scene, Mathis said.

Mathis says the fire appears to have started in the master bedroom. The Bartholomew County fire inspector believes the blaze was caused by a cell phone charging cord that had become frayed and was stuck between two pillows, Mathis said.

He estimated the home damage at about $50,000 dollars.

Fundraising efforts are already underway, ahead of the 31st annual concert for Our Hospice of South Central Indiana. That concert  is coming up Sept. 2nd at Mill Race Park and will feature 70s rockers Blue Oyster Cult.

Although the concert itself is free, there are several way to help the local not for profit agency. Julie Davis, a concert organizer for the hospice explains that you can pick up $10 raffle tickets for a chance to win $10,000.

There will also be $10 tickets to win one of two custom grills courtesy of Faurecia.

Tickets are available now at the Columbus Regional Hospital gift shop and at the Columbus-Area Visitors Center.

This year, you can also buy T-shirts ahead of time through Hoosier Sporting Goods at their website www.hoosiersportinggoods.com. Those will not be for sale at the concert itself, Davis said.

Our Hospice of South Central Indiana serves a 16-county region including Bartholomew, Decatur and Jennings counties. For more information, call 812-314-8053.

Bartholomew County is onboard with an effort to help pay for an overpass into downtown Columbus. The county council signed off on a plan last night to give $2 million dollars toward the project.

There was some concerns over who was actually paying what for the estimated $30 million dollar project. Although INDOT has said it will pay for half of the project, County Council member Bill Lentz pointed out that money was really mostly federal funds. And while Cummins has been credited with agreeing to provide part of the funding, that money is actually coming from property taxes the company has paid into a Tax Increment Financing District at the Cummins plant on Central Avenue.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop said that there has been some confusion over CUmmins contribution, as it was announced at the same time the company announced its investment in its downtown headquarters. The mayor also praised the CSX and Louisville and Indiana Railroads for agreeing to make a substantial contribution, because they are under no obligation to do so.

The county will contribute money toward the project from funds set aside by the county commissioners for telecommunications and from income taxes earmarked for economic development.