Cummins and the Jackson County United Way are partnering for the 6th Annual Seymour Community Work Day on Friday.

Organizers say this day will see 140 volunteers out in force participating in 21 teams. The focus throughout Jackson County will be on seniors who might need some light landscaping, painting and other tasks that they themselves are not able to do. Approximately 50 projects are slated to be completed with 32 from county seniors and a couple projects were carried over from the United Way’s Day of Caring.

United Way officials are celebrating their partnership with Cummins. Tonja Couch, JCUW Executive Director, says, “We are blessed with the partnership of Cummins. They’ve been an important partner in the opportunity to grow our volunteerism so rapidly.”

If you want to volunteer with Jackson County United Way, call (812) 522-5450.

Some bad luck led to the arrest of a Columbus man. Early Wednesday morning, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department invested a burglary at QC Communications on Jonesville Road. Several power tools, valued at around $3,000, were taken.

While deputies were on the scene, a Columbus Police Officer pulled over a vehicle driven by 21-year-old James Dylan Carmer. While taking inventory of the stopped vehicle, officers found a reciprocating saw that had been reported stolen from QC Communications.

Carmer was arrested on preliminary charges of Theft, Receiving Stolen Property, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Paraphernalia and Driving While Suspended. He remains behind bars $16,000 bond.

The Indiana Sheriffs’ Association has announced the 7th Annual Indiana Sheriffs’ Association Sheriff Robert “Buck “Stogsdill Open Bass Tournament to be held September 22nd. The Open Bass Tournament is named after Sheriff “Buck“ Stogsdill former Brown County Sheriff who passed away in 2011.

This year’s event will take place at Lake Monroe – Cutright Ramp with takeoff at 7:30am. The registration fee per team is $125. There will be a raffle that includes food and drinks for all participants at the weigh in.

All proceeds benefit the ISA’s Line of Duty Death Benefit, Youth Leadership Camps and Scholarship Programs. For tournament information contact Tournament Director Keith Kelly at 812-392-2889 or 812-592-2069. Also, go to indiansheriffs.org or look at the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association Facebook site.

Thefts from vehicles throughout Columbus have police reminding you to remove valuables from your vehicles and to keep them locked. Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that between August 1st and September 11th of this year, the department received 64 reports of thefts from vehicles. In 59 of those cases, the vehicle was left unlocked.

“We are asking for the public’s assistance in helping CPD reduce property crime,” says Harris. “By removing and securing valuable items, locking your vehicle’s doors, and reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement, you can help us reduce the number of thefts in Columbus,” Harris added.

The Robie and America Anderson Community Center will be holding a block party this weekend to celebrate the East Columbus neighborhood.

Julie Bilz, president of the State Street Area Association, talks about the event.

There will be live music by Ragtop Deluxe, the drum circle from Mill Race Center, food, door prizes and informational booths. And there will also be a “splatter paint” project.

This the third annual block party organized by the State Street Area Association, which has taken over operations at the former Eastside Community Center.

The event will run from 3 to 6 Saturday at the center on 421 McClure Road.

The Hamilton Ice Arena had to be evacuated yesterday afternoon after what first appeared to be smoke from a fire in the basement.

Employees noticed the smoke at about 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon and evacuated the building of staff and customers, which included 10 skaters and four employees. Columbus firefighters were called in and saw white smoke coming from the roof.

Firefighters found the smoke was coming from an electrical and mechanical room in the basement and was accompanied by a loud hissing sound, as if sprinklers were spraying says Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the fire department. But there was no fire.

Instead, firefighters were told that the six compressors running in the basement each had hydraulic fluid and 70 pounds of freon in them. A gas test discovered that a freon leak was the cause of the smoke. Firefighters ventilated the smoke and gas from the basement before turning the building back over to the city parks department after about four hours.

A site development plan for a pollinator park in the Pleasant Grove neighborhood has been approved by the Columbus Plan Commission. The nearly two-and-a-half acre site is on the east side of Pleasant Grove between McKinley Avenue and Fifth Street.

The Columbus Parks and Recreation Department made the request in the hopes that this project will serve as the first of many pollinator parks throughout the city. The project will also make use of city-owned property that had been decimated by the flood of 2008.

Members of the plan commission had expressed concerns about parking in the area. There are concerns that the planned parking for the space will not be adequate. Planning Department staff determined that there would be seven parking spaces on the street, well within city guidelines for such a space. In addition, commission members asked for a painted “buffer” to discourage parking in front of nearby homes, as well as to improve safety in the area.

Parks officials say the pollinator park will be home to native vegetation that will attract bees, birds and butterflies. They add that the purpose of the park is to “provide a natural outdoor experience” for the neighborhood, as well as provide improved connectivity to the city’s People Trail system. In addition, the space is expected to include a marker noting the 2008 flood and the resilience of the community. The park will not have a playground, playing fields or outdoor lighting.

Columbus police and firefighters will be competing against each other in a rib eating contest in an effort to raise money for charity. The event, sponsored by the Columbus Texas Roadhouse, will take place at the restaurant on Monday at 6:45 p.m.

Organizers say this fundraiser will raise money for Shop with a Cop and the Firemen’s Cheer Fund. Ten percent of the restaurant’s sales on this day will be donated to these charities.

You are invited to come out for a meal and watch the competition.

The Hope Squad, a suicide intervention and prevention program coordinated by Ivy Tech Community College and IUPUC, will host a free event Thursday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Columbus Learning Center as part of National Suicide Prevention Week.

Trisha Palencer, Director of Clinical Services at Life Recover Center, will be the featured speaker during the event. The presentation is free and you are invited.

Organizers say the Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer program designed to train students how to provide outreach to fellow students in distress with a direct connection to the local mental health system.

The city of North Vernon is seeing benefits from its project to convert all city-owned facilities to solar power. Kurt Schneider, partner at Johnson-Melloh Solutions, is crediting city leaders for their vision in recognizing that the reward for such a project outweighed the risk.

Schneider gave an update on the project during this week’s city council meeting. He brought along tangible evidence of the project’s benefit. That included recent Duke Energy bills for both the wastewater treatment plant and street lights. Schneider says that both accounts were being billed thousands of dollars each month prior to the switch-over. Now, each have a credit from the utility company: $7,787 for the wastewater treatment plant and $22,102 for street lights.

Schneider told council that the outlook is only brighter. North Vernon financed the project so that it wouldn’t have to make bond payments until next year. According to Johnson-Melloh, by the time the first payment of $31,864 is due, the city will have a projected reserve of more than $625,000.

Schneider says the project is nearly complete. He explained that there have been some delays due to problems on Duke’s end, but he expects the installation work will be finished within a few months.