A 24-year old driver died and his passenger was seriously injured in a crash on State Road 7 Friday morning.

Justin T. Spears was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by the Jennings County Coroner’s office.  His passenger, 18-year-old Kaitlyn M. Lord, suffered serious injuries and was flown by medical helicopter to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis.

According to the Indiana State Police, Spears was driving south on County Road 700W at about 8 a.m. and pulled onto State Road 7 into the path of a dump truck being driven by 24-year-old  Levi G. Horton of Seymour. Despite Horton’s attempt to avoid the crash, the dump truck hit the driver’s side of Spears vehicle, says Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the state police.

France will make its debut as the Host Country of the 35th annual Ethnic Expo in downtown Columbus. Ethnic Expo will take place October 12-13 and is presented by First Financial Bank. Organizers say festival, which fosters understanding and an appreciation of Columbus’s diverse population, will take place outside City Hall from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on both days. The festival is family-friendly and features live performances of international music and dancing, ethnic art, craft demonstrations, and authentic cuisine and goods.

Organizers say that Columbus Indiana Accueil will be the leading group to represent France, along with Faurecia. As Host Country, the cultures and foods of France will be featured in the main booth of the festival village and will be celebrated in the Ethnic Expo Parade.

“We are proud to be a French based company and look forward to being a special part of Ethnic Expo this year,” said Tobi Herron, Community and Employee Involvement Director for Faurecia Clean Mobility in North America. “In particular, our French employees are thrilled to work alongside other local French residents to share their culture with the community.”

Ethnic Expo was founded in 1984 by a committee spearheaded by then-Mayor Bob Stewart’s wife, Barbara, to feature the city’s diverse ethnic heritage and to make the celebration a tool for understanding different cultures and customs. City officials say the festival draws approximately 35,000 people every year.

First Financial Bank is serving as the presenting sponsor for the ninth consecutive year. Other sponsors include Coca-Cola, Vectren Foundation, ERMCO Electric and Milestone Contractors. Organizers say that Ethnic Expo is also made possible, in part, with support from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Columbus Area Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information about Ethnic Expo, visit ethnicexpo.org.

Local police are warning about phone calls trying to raise money for a Police Action League.

Despite the sales pitch, if you make a donation, none of that money goes to local efforts such as Shop with a Cop, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Youth Academy, or the Police Athletic Activities League.

The Local Fraternal Order of Police suggests that if you want to help local police community outreach efforts you can donate to the FOP Earl Brown Lodge No. 89,  PO Box 204, Columbus, IN 47202.

The Columbus and Bartholomew County Recycling Center will be celebrating Earth Day Saturday, April 21st, with a slate of activities to promote conservation.

Kari Spurgeon, education coordinator for the center, explains that the recycling center will be offering an amnesty day where you can dispose of up to two refrigerated appliances, two propane tanks and up to four vehicle tires without the rims.

There will also be the annual plant swap and master gardeners on hand to discuss planting and watering.

Weather permitting, there will be compost and mulch loading in the morning.

Educational outreach efforts will include a senior project on bees.

Other activities include a hot dog roast, document shredding and children’s activities with kidscommons..

The Recycling Center is on Mapleton Street on the east side of Columbus. Activities are going on from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Among proposals being floated to help with the opioid epidemic in Bartholomew County is to reopen the old section of the county jail and to use part of it as a treatment center for willing inmates.

We asked Republican candidates in Bartholomew County Council districts 1 and 2 what they thought of the plan to reopen the old section of the jail.

Council District 1 covers northeastern Bartholomew County. It has been represented by Republican Chris Ogle, who is not seeking re-election. Hoping to replace Ogle are Republicans Scott Bonnell, and Marcus Speer.

Bonnell said he would like to hear other proposals.

Speer said the costs are high.

Bonnell is a farmer and Columbus Fire Department fire inspector. Speer is now the Rock Creek Township Trustee, and is also a farmer, school bus driver and minister.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Hanna Omar in the November general election. She is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The Second Council district covers northwestern Bartholomew County. Republican Laura DeDemonic is running for re-election and is being challenged by Glenn Petri.

DeDomenic said we are lucky to have the space to address overcrowding.

Petri is troubled by what has previously happened with the jail.

DeDemonic is resource and philanthropy director at Mill Race Center. Petri now works part-time at Salt Creek Trading Company

The primary is May 8th.

Two people are under arrest and Columbus police are looking for a third after a victim was dragged inside a home, beaten and robbed last night.

Lt. Matt Harris with the Columbus police said that the incident was not a random attack but the exact circumstances are not yet clear.

Police were searching for the suspects after the attack when they found a vehicle associated with the robbery on Marr Road at about 10 p.m. last night. As police tried to pull over the vehicle, a suspect jumped from a rear door and ran away. Police dogs were called in from the city police and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department to search for the suspect, but he got away.

The other two people in the vehicle were arrested.

22 year old Perry K. Davis, and 38-year-old Willowdale A. Bennett, both of Columbus, are facing charges of robbery, criminal confinement, battery with bodily injury and theft.

Governor Eric Holcomb has selected census tract 108, which includes the State Street Industrial Area, as an Opportunity Zone. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowed governors to nominate certain census tracts as Opportunity Zones. Opportunity Zones provide federal capital gains tax advantages for investments made in these areas. This designation is intended to attract capital investment into areas that are economically distressed.

The Governor will be submitting his list of 156 Opportunity Zones throughout the state to the US Secretary of the Treasury for final approval. Only 58 of the 77 potential counties in Indiana received a nomination of at least one low income census tract.

Robin Hilber, with the Columbus Office of Redevelopment, says that the poverty rate in this census tract is 25 percent and the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent. She says that this area of the city could accommodate cost-effective industrial redevelopment and revitalization with added financial incentives to locate businesses in the area. To aid in these efforts, the Columbus City Council unanimously passed a resolution last year naming a large industrial area in this census tract as an Economic Revitalization Area. That action was taken to prepare future industry for local tax abatement application. Hilber says that the city submitted an application to the Gov. Holcomb in March, adding that several community partners submitted letters of support asking that this area be included for favorable federal capital gains tax consideration. She says that city officials feel this support was vital in bringing this census tract to the Governor’s attention.

The Governor’s Office says that other areas being considered are in Jennings, Jackson, Johnson and Shelby counties. No word on when federal officials will make a final decision.

Indiana State Police have been asked to investigate a possible battery involving a Columbus City Councilman.

Councilman Frank Jerome was working as a substitute teacher at Columbus North High School  on Friday April 13th, when there was an altercation involving a student and a cell phone, according to a Columbus police report. School officials say that the substitute, Jerome,  was trying to retrieve a cell phone, when he grabbed a student’s arm and the student fell from the chair. No one was injured.

Bartholomew Consolidated School say that Jerome was sent home and will no longer be used as a substitute. A school resource officer documented the incident and the city police have forwarded their information on to the state police for an investigation to avoid any conflict of interest.

Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, spokesman for the state police said he does not have any information yet about the incident.

Columbus Police Department report

As the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress gets ready for its one year anniversary meeting next week, we asked the candidates for Bartholomew County Council district 1 and 2 in the Republican primaries about their thoughts on the county’s role in tackling the epidemic and how they will consider funding requests from ASAP.

In the District 1 race, Scott Bonnell is running against Marcus Speer.

Bonnell explains that this is a public health crisis

Speer says that as a minister he has performed funeral services for an overdose victim.

In the District 2 race, incumbent Laura DeDomenic is running againt Glenn Petri.

Petri sees only a limited role for government in the epidemic

DeDomenic said the county has multiple layers of responsibility

The ASAP one-year progress update is coming up at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening at The Commons.

The Town of Hope is backing away from a proposal that would ease economic development for property owners in the area around the Town Square.

Susan Thayer-Fye, head of the Hope Main Street organization, asked the Town Council this week to take the first steps toward creating an economic revitalization area in the blocks surrounding the Town Square. Thayer-Fye explained that the zone would allow developers to apply for incentives such as tax abatements. She asked the council to set up a future public hearing to consider the proposal — a first step toward approval.

However, tax abatements are not available for shops and restaurants, which make up a majority of the businesses around the square. Town Council members balked at the idea of giving preferences to offices or manufacturing facilities in the area.

Instead, Town Council members turned down the Main Street request for a future public hearing. Council members said they would prefer to take such requests for revitalization area status on a property-by-property basis. Each individual property owner could ask for the status, and if that were approved, then come back to ask for tax abatements.