In recognition of National Disabilities Awareness month, Columbus City Councilwoman Grace Kestler and the Bartholomew County Public LIbrary are hosting a virtual town hall tonight.
Kestler explains.
The town hall will be about an hour long and will be held through Zoom starting at 6 p.m. tonight. You can get the Zoom link through a sign up form on the library website at mybcpl.org.
The list of people who can get the coronavirus vaccine in Indiana is growing again.
Gov. Eric Holcomb announced yesterday that the state will expand eligibility to include people who are 50 and older.
People who are 50-plus make up just 35 percent of Indiana’s population, but they account for 80 percent of coronavirus hospitalizations and 98 percent of all coronavirus deaths. The state, however, is once again reminding people that being eligible doesn’t guarantee anyone a shot, doses in Indiana remain in short supply.
Hoosiers can now see which vaccine is available at each COVID-19 vaccination site. The registration website now specifies if each location has the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
You can sign up for your own appointment at ourshot.in.gov.
Story courtesy of our news-gathering partners at TTWN Media Networks Inc.
Former President Trump’s potential 2024 bid for the White House could happen without Columbus native and former Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket.
Bloomberg reports Trump has been considering running without Pence. Instead, he is instead thinking about picking a woman or a person of color.
his comes weeks after Trump publicly pressured Pence to play a role in overturning the 2020 election results. Pence was also in the building when Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill in January, as Trump expressed his displeasure with Pence’s decision not to toss out the election results.
On Twitter, Trump advisor Jason Miller called the report “fake news” and said those discussions never happened.
Story courtesy of our news-gathering partners at TTWN Media Networks Inc.
Indiana State Police are warning about scammers claiming to be affiliated with the agency to gather personal information and to gain access to your home.
According to troopers, scammers are touting a Child Safety Kit available through Facebook ads. When you click on the link, you are asked to provide personal information including your contact details. The scammers have then been reaching out repeatedly by phone, trying to set up a home visit and claiming that they are offering services in cooperation with the state police.
In the most recent version, a Fort Wayne resident had two unidentified but well-dressed men show up at their home and attempt to sell what the scammers called an insurance policy in conjunction with the Child Safety Kit.
Troopers stress that you should never let these people into your home. You should always be wary of online solicitations seeking your personal information. If you have been a victim of this scam, especially if you have allowed them access into your home, you should contact your local law enforcement agency or your nearest Indiana State Police Post.
A Columbus man had his Cadillac stolen after offering to give a woman a ride Tuesday afternoon.
Columbus police are reporting that they were called to the 1200 block of Washington Street at about 4:25 Tuesday about the stolen vehicle. The victim said he noticed a distraught woman at a gas station and he offered to give her a ride. But when he left her inside his vehicle, so he could go inside a store to make a purchase, the woman and his vehicle disappeared.
Police soon found the stolen Cadillac and tried to pull it over but the driver refused to stop. Police finally stopped the vehicle in the 1900 block of Union Street and the only occupant, 35-year-old Whitney D. Mitchell of Columbus, was taken into custody.
She is being accused of theft of a motor vehicle and resisting law enforcement.
Seymour police are looking for the owner of a camera-equipped drone that banged into a girl’s window in the middle of the night.
Police say that the drone was recovered by the property owner after it hit the window at about 11 at night recently near Redding School. According to police, the uninvited video recording of people in some situations can be considered voyeurism.
Police are asking if you have any information on who could have been using the drone, you should contact the Seymour police anonymous tip line at 812-523-7629.
They also would love for the owner of the drone to stop by the police department to pick up the still-functional device.
More car dealerships in Columbus are coming under the umbrella of the P-4 Automotive Group owned by Leo Portaluppi.
The Republic newspaper is reporting this morning that Bob Poynter has sold its Columbus Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and Hyundai dealerships.
Portaluppi already owns the Chevrolet, Nissan and Ford dealerships here and a Nissan dealership in Lafayette.
According to the newspaper report, Bob Poynter, Jr. sold the dealerships to focus his time on his other businesses.
Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have added Columbus North assistant principal Susan Finke-Scott to the district’s Education Hall of Fame.
At this week’s school board meeting, board member Kathy Dayhoff-Dwyer recalled Scott’s influence on her when she was a student in Scott’s English class and had to memorize Hamlet’s soliloquy.
Selection committee member Larry Perkinson praised Scott’s dedication to the students and the teaching profession.
North Principal David Clark said that Scott began her teaching career at Hauser High School before coming to BCSC in 1979 to teach English. She went on to become a dean and then assistant principal.
Scott looked back on her career, remembering the times before computers, email and other modern changes:
Scott recalled other changes in her time — a time before standardized testing.
Scott was the 47th educator added to the hall of fame.
Photos courtesy of Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
Columbus City Council gave its first approval last night to a proposal to legalize the use of fireworks in the city during the Hindu festival of Diwali.
City Attorney Alex Whitted said that the revision would also bring the city fireworks ordinance into line with current state law.
Whitted said that last year, the City Council allowed exceptions to the law so that traditional fireworks could be set off during the Hindu festival. This change would incorporate that permanently into the city’s code.
The ordinance change would allow fireworks between 6 and 10 in the evenings on the day before, the day of and the day after Diwali. Diwali falls in October or November each year.
Representatives of the local Hindu community and local fireworks stores have asked for the ordinance change.
The ordinance change would also clarify that fireworks can not be set off after midnight on July 4th or Dec. 31st, in line with state law. It would allow fireworks from 10 in the morning until midnight on the Fourth of July and New Years Eve. In the five days leading up to the Fourth of July and the five days after, fireworks would be allowed from 5 in the evening until 11, or until two hours after sunset, whichever comes first.
The change passed unanimously and will come back to the Council for its final approval.
A Jennings County man is facing murder and arson charges after a two year investigation.
The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department reports that deputies served an arrest warrant on 37-year-old Michael Hubbard at about 11:21 p.m. last night during a planned traffic stop. He is accused in the May 2019 death of Robert Head in Country Squire Lakes. Head was set on fire in a vehicle and later died.
The sheriff’s department reports that deputies spent almost two years gathering evidence and holding interviews to gather probable cause that led to Hubbard’s arrest.
Hubbard is being held in the Jennings County Jail without bond.
Photos courtesy of Jennings County Sheriff’s Department
