A Seymour man is being accused of murder after allegedly shooting his brother in law to death in the parking lot of a grocery store yesterday afternoon.

The Seymour Tribune is reporting that 61-year-old William Baker is accused of shooting 33-year-old Dustin Payne in the parking lot on Tipton Street at just before 6 last night. Payne was exchanging his children with his ex-wife when he got into an argument with Baker.

Payne was shot once in the chest with a revolver, according to the newspaper. Payne was taken to Schneck Medical Center before being airlifted to University of Louisville Hospital in critical condition and later died.

A local educator and previous candidate for Statehouse aims to improve awareness about the need for quality public education. Dale Nowlin is chair of the Math Department at Columbus North and Northside Middle Schools…

With that, Nolting is co-hosting a special screening of the documentary “Rise Above the Mark” with Chrystal Walcot of the IUPUC School of Education. He talks about what he hopes viewers will take away from the film…

Monday night’s screening is set for 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Columbus Learning Center. Discussion will follow the 65-minute film.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is hosting public open houses to solicit input regarding the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) – Agency initiatives, programs highlighted during interactive, informal and informative sessions. STIP is a federally mandated four-year funding and scheduling document for surface transportation projects in Indiana.

Project types involving pavement and bridge facilities, projects addressing safety, congestion, mobility and emergency response can be found in the STIP. In addition, this document includes investment in various modes of transportation including transit, pedestrian trails, and bicycle facilities.

INDOT says that 12 public open houses are scheduled this spring to raise awareness of the STIP, its process and to solicit input from residents. During the open houses, INDOT team members will be available to address questions and solicit input related to a variety of topics.

An open house will be held in Columbus on May 15th at Columbus East. That’s scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Fans of comic books, anime, games and other pop culture activities have a chance to celebrate their fandoms tomorrow and to help youth literacy efforts.

Columbus New Tech High School Senior Noah Christian is the event organizer for Geek Mania, being held at Central Middle School. This event is Noah’s senior project.

He said there will be booths dedicated to all those hobbies, plus artists, conventions and people in costume.

In addition to booths from more than a dozen geek-friendly organizations and companies, there will be some hands on activities too.

Christian said that the event is free. Proceeds from concession sales and from donations will go to the Bartholomew County Public Library’s children’s section, he said.

The mini convention is in Central Middle School’s Grey Box Theater from 12 to 3 p.m.

You can go to the event’s Facebook page for more information.

For those who need help quitting smoking, tobacco cessation classes start again in Columbus on March 19th.

Those classes are being held through the Tobacco Awareness Program at Columbus Regional Health’s Healthy Communities initiative. The weekly classes are held in the basement of the Bartholomew County Public Library and they are seven weeks long. Those are on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m.

The course is $35 per person and there are scholarships available. That fee covers the workbook, CD, and medication

To sign up for the classes you can call 812-343-9840 or go through the website at crh.org. You can also email  healthycommunities@crh.org.

A statewide Silver Alert has been issued for a missing New Albany teen.

Authorities are investigating the disappearance of 16 year old Kevin M. Fultz Jr.. He is a white boy, 5 feet 6 inches tall and 130 pounds with sandy blond hair and brown eyes. he was last seen wearing a University of Louisville sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Authorities say he may be traveling in a 2011 Ford Focus 4 door sedan with Indiana plate 956 ZSQ. The vehicle has a red sticker with a white triangle on the trunk lid.

Columbus Police Chief Jon Rohde updated the public on the state of the department at the mayor’s State of the City address last night at Fair Oaks Mall.

He said that an increasingly professional atmosphere in the department is leading to better recruitment and better outcomes for the community.

Rohde cited the department’s accreditation by a national licensing group as a sign of the improving professionalism and outlined other efforts.

Mayor Jim Lienhoop explained the difficulties the police had  recruiting and training new  officers.

Rohde said several changes are helping improve recruitment efforts, including higher pay, a more flexible take-home vehicle program and looser grooming standards that meet more modern expectations.

Columbus police also provided the evening’s entertainment, showing the video the department made last year with JAB Media Group for the nationwide police lip-sync challenge.

More than 250 people turned out for Thursday night’s event.

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop delivered his State of the City address last night from inside the former Carson’s store at the Fair Oaks Mall.

The focus of much of the speech was on the way the city of Columbus uses partnerships to tackle problems in the community.

Lienhoop discussed last year’s purchase of the mall after recognizing the need for an indoor sports complex.

The city will still need to determine the future of Donner Center once park offices are moved to the mall property.

He cited the mall project as a cooperative effort between the city, Columbus Regional Health and Heritage Fund: The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.

The touched on the proposed downtown riverfront project saying that the project is needed, not just to provide recreation downtown, but it is essential to take care of the deadly low-head dam and the ongoing erosion that threatens the former city dump and Superfund site.

He says that, for reasons no one can explain, the dam wasn’t constructed properly, leading to the erosion…

He also updated the crowd on the railroad overpass project on the west side of Columbus, saying that the project is “on track.”

The mayor stressed that the earliest the project can begin is the third quarter of this year with a completion date of fourth quarter of next year.

He cited the railroad overpass as a partnership between the city, Bartholomew County, the Indiana Department of Transportation and Cummins Inc.

The mayor said that the best way to tackle these challenging issues is to always look to the future, and to look for partners.

The mayor’s complete 2018 State of the City speech is available here:

The Columbus Museum of Art and Design is offering a new grant program to promote art and design projects in Columbus. The goal is to continue building the city’s legacy of innovative design.

This represents a change in direction for the museum, which used to have a physical space in the old Commons. CMAD has created a more focused approach to be a funder for art, rather than a direct creator or curator. The group plans to repeat the grant awards twice yearly to ensure new art experiences are regularly available to the residents of Columbus.

The first round of grant funding will offer $7,500 and could be given to one grant recipient or split up between several projects. The winners will be chosen for short-term projects, to be completed in a year or less, and that will benefit a broad range of the Columbus community.

The deadline to apply is April 30th. You can find an application at cmadart.org/grants.

A passenger is facing drug charges after police stopped a truck in Columbus Wednesday night.

Columbus police say that they stopped a vehicle for a minor traffic violation in the 800 block of Chestnut Street shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday night. A Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department police dog alerted to the odor of narcotics inside the vehicle and during a search of the truck, officers found heroin, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. That was in the back seat, where passenger 42-year-old Michael D. Riedeman of Columbus was sitting.

He was arrested on preliminary charges of possessing heroin, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and a syringe.