This year’s primary and general elections in Columbus will see some changes. Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps says there will only be one satellite absentee voting center.

You’ll also be able to cast an early ballot at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.

Phelps says there will be eight vote centers open on Election Day.

As far as candidates, only six Republicans and zero Democrats have filed to run as of the close of business on Tuesday. They all filed on the first day.

Candidates have until noon on Feb. 8th to file. You can keep up to date on candidate filings at bartholomew.in.gov.

The Town of Hope continues on without a town manager or a decision on how or even if the town leaders want to fill that position.

Last month, the Town Council voted 3-2 not to renew the contract for former town manager J.T. Doane, saying that they might want to open the contract to bidding.

At last night’s Town Council meeting, the council members were slated to talk about the town manager position, but Council President Ohmer Miller said that some council members had suggested changing the town manager position into more of an administrative assistant in the Town Hall, or a clerk. Without a clear direction, the council agreed to have a future executive session to hash out what they wanted to have going forward.

Town Council members also discussed disbanding an economic development committee that used to be headed up by Doane, saying that they felt it was more appropriate for the council to be making overtures to new businesses, rather than unelected community members. No decision was made on that issue, with Councilman Ed Johnson agreeing to look into the committee and its work.

Grubby the Groundhog is coming back to the town of Hope to help predict the weather.

Main Street of Hope is announcing that they will again hold Groundhog Day festivities, this year on Saturday, February 2nd, starting at 8:30 a.m. in the morning on the Hope Town Square.

Grubby is a rescue groundhog who lives at Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators and he has taken part in the Hope Town Square festivities for the past few years.

A local automotive fastener company is looking to expand after the Columbus City Council gave approval for 10-year tax abatements.

OSR, Inc. currently has a facility at 7715 S. International Drive in the Walesboro industrial park. Company officials say they have plans to construct a new 82,000 square-foot facility near the existing campus. The new facility would see an investment of over $6.5 million. The expansion is slated to retain 29 jobs and add 12 more with an expected average wage of $20.17 per hour by the beginning of next year. The building site, expected to be in the 6800 block of S. International Drive, is in an Economic Revitalization Area.

Council approved the ten-year abatements unanimously. That move is expected to save OSR more than $600,000 in local taxes over the next decade.

It’s been one week since candidates could start filing to run for elected office in Columbus. The Bartholomew County Voter Registration Office says that there have been no filings since that first day.

Six Republican candidates, including five incumbents, filed on the first day. They are: Mayor Jim Lienhoop, Clerk-Treasurer Luann Welmer, District 1 Councilman Dascal Bunch, District 4 Councilman Frank Miller and District 5 Councilman Tim Shuffett. Newcomer Josh Burnett has filed to run for Council At-Large. There have been no candidate filings for seats on the council for District2 and District 3.

Candidates have until noon Feb. 8th to file. That is done at the Voter Registration Office in the Bartholomew County Courthouse. Candidates must be a resident for at least one year before November’s general election. They must also be registered to vote and have no felonies.

You can keep up with candidate filings through the county’s website, at bartholomew.in.gov.

North Vernon’s Director of Golf is on paid leave. The City Council voted Monday night to suspend Robin Brown immediately. Council President Brian Hatfield wouldn’t elaborate beyond saying it is for an undisclosed “violation of the employee handbook.” The vote was 4-1 with Jack Kelley voting “no.”

City Attorney Larry Greathouse explained that Brown’s suspension will last until the council is able to investigate and determine a finding of facts. In the meantime, operations at St. Anne’s Golf Course will be maintained by course staff.

A Columbus man was arrested for allegedly violating a protective order. At about 7:18 p.m. Sunday, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the 10000 block of Alvin Drive. There, they found 22-year-old Ricky Reed. While being taken into custody, Reed allegedly pulled away from deputies and refused to comply. Deputies regained control of Reed a short time later. He is facing preliminary charges of Invasion of Privacy and Resisting Law Enforcement.

Reed remains in jail on $10,000 bond.

Former Congressman Luke Messer has found a new role with Washington D.C.  firm, Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting.

The firm announced this morning that Messer, a Republican, will co-lead the firm’s bipartisan federal advocacy team. As part of his new role, Messer will advise clients on federal regulatory and policy developments.

“I am excited to join a major firm with a strong presence in Washington, D.C. and nationwide,” said Messer. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to help clients navigate the complex maze of federal policy decisions in Washington.”

Messer, originally from Greensburg, served three terms in Congress representing the Sixth District.  During his time there, he served as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and served on the House committees on Financial Services; Education and the Workforce; Budget; and Foreign Affairs.

He left Congress this month, replaced by Rep. Greg Pence.  Messer chose not to see re-election, instead running for the U.S. Senate and losing in last year’s primary to new Sen. Mike Braun.

Messer holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and a bachelor’s degree in speech from Wabash College where he graduated summa cum laude.

The Yellow Trail Museum in Hope had its annual meeting last night at Willow Leaves of Hope.

The museum recognized three volunteers of the year, Kim Ray, Kathie Clouse and Caitlin Downhour. They are working on a major project to digitize and catalog the museum’s artifacts and documents in the museum’s research center, as well as those of the Rural Mail Carrier’s Museum that the Yellow Trail currently holds in its collection.

Museum board President Erin Anderson explains the scope of their work.

This weekend will see the unveiling of designs for the Exhibit Columbus installations going up around the city in August.

Teams of professional architects and designers from around the world are taking part in the Miller Prize installations. They will be putting up the installations at the AT&T Facility, Columbus City Hall, the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library Plaza, Central Middle School and the Bartholomew County Courthouse Lawn.

But there will also be college teams and local students participating. Anne Surak, director of exhibitions for Exhibit Columbus explains that there will be six regional university teams, representing eight schools.

The university installations will be at North Christian Church, St Peters Lutheran Church, First Christian Church and an alley on Washington Street downtown.

There will also be local students taking part.  Surak explains that she has been working with a local student design team since the start of the school year, including giving them a tour of the city and the students taking part in last fall’s symposium.

She said that participating students will be building their installations through the C4 program.

The design presentations will start at 10 a.m. Saturday at The Commons with the University Design Research Fellowship participants. The Miller Prize presentations will be from 2 to 4:30 p.m.