A home being remodeled was saved from a fire early Friday morning after a passerby noticed flames.

The Columbus firefighters report being called to the home in the 700 block of Reed Street at 3:37 a.m. Friday morning. Flames were burning on the south side of the home above a boarded-up window when emergency workers arrived.

Firefighters used water to quickly put out the fire and a search inside revealed that the fire was limited to the window area. There was some smoke and water damage inside the home also. Flames charred the plywood window cover, and an area of the soffit and roof. A nearby home’s vinyl siding was also slightly damaged.

Investigators credit the passerby for reporting the fire early, and said such early reporting greatly limits the damage done by fires.

Damages are estimated at $500.

Kidscommons in downtown Columbus is closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the children’s museum, the employee last worked on Aug. 15th. The employee who tested positive did not have close contact with children and families who visited the museum within the past two weeks.  All employees who were in contact with this individual are following CDC guidance for community-related exposure.

During the temporary closure, kidscommons will be sanitized & deep cleaned.

Since re-opening, employees have implemented social distancing, staff and guests have been required to wear PPE, and there have been extensive modifications to the facility and exhibits.

According to the museum’s announcement, “The health and safety of our staff and guests is our number one priority. We have been in communication with the Bartholomew County Health Department and physician, Dr. Amy Hale, who serves on the museum’s COVID-19 safety taskforce and will continue to follow all recommended steps and health requirements. ”

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have released data on COVID-19 cases among the staff and students.

Dr. Jim Roberts, BCSC superintendent, said this morning on our AM Columbus show that there have been eight positive tests of staff and students since the schools opened on Aug. 10th. Only two of those were actually in school, leading to nine people being identified as close contacts of those infected through the contact tracing process.

Close contacts are those who have been within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 15 minutes, looking back up to 48 hours before the positive test result.

BCSC has said that those with close contact must also quarantine for two weeks from that contact.

Editor’s Note: This story was first reported on by The Republic newspaper. 

The annual Labor Day weekend concert organized by Our Hospice of South Central Indiana is going virtual this year, but there is a very real need to raise money for the cause.

Julie Davis with Our Hospice explains that the goal remains to generate $120 thousand dollars for the hospice through the free concert. She says you can still make a donation to support the hospice work directly and the annual raffle ticket sales are going on.

Raffle tickets are $10 and you have a chance to win $10,000 in the grand prize, along with with a first through fourth prize winners of $500 down to $100. Tickets are available for purchase online, through hospice employees or you can call Davis directly at 812-371-7973

There is also an art auction going on featuring a piece by artist Donna Rosenberg called Hot Fun in Summer Time. It is on display at the Columbus Area Visitors Center until Aug. 28th and will then move to Mill Race Center.

And you can purchase T-shirts. Orders are available through this Sunday through Tony London’s webs site. Prices range from $17 to $20 depending on size.

The actual show will feature Yacht Rock Revue, a band playing smooth songs from the 70s and 80s, formed by Columbus natives Nicholas Niespodziani and Peter Olson. The concert will start at 7 p.m. in the evening on Saturday Sept. 5th and will stream live on the hospice Facebook page.

You can get more information about the event on the web at ourhospice.org.

Taylor Road in Columbus will be shutting down to through traffic on Monday for a road improvement project expected to last into early next year.

The city engineer’s office says that crews will be starting on the first phase of the project, from 31st Street to Rocky Ford Road. The road will become single 11-foot wide lanes in each direction, with an 8-foot wide concrete side path on the west side and a 5-foot concrete sidewalk on the other side. There will be new curb and gutter, pavement markings and signage.

And there will be two mini roundabouts created — at 31st Street and Taylor Road and at Fairlawn Drive and Taylor.

The second phase, from 25th to 31st streets will begin next year.

The goal is to make the road safer for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

You can find more information here.

A Columbus native and University of Louisville design student has been chosen as the winner of the Columbus Area bicentennial logo competition.

Ava Becker was chosen from about two dozen submissions to the contest that started late last year.

Becker, who is a junior at the University of Louisville, said that she drew her inspiration from the community’s iconic art and architectural history. She also sought to honor famous graphic designer Paul Rand.

The bicentennial steering committee is announcing that the theme for next year’s 200th anniversary will be “Common Ground.” The theme is meant to celebrate the past, present and future of the community by building on the things that residents have in common. The committee is looking to endorse and to be involved in a variety of events highlighting the greater Columbus area and its culture, diversity, heritage, people, arts, commerce and agriculture.

Through the end of this month, the committee has set up an online survey and is looking for community suggestions on events that the bicentennial committee can back. You can find a link to the survey at columbus.in.gov/ bicentennial 

A man with two loaded handguns was arrested in Central Middle School’s parking lot Wednesday morning.

According to police, School Resource Officer Greg Ross noticed a suspicious looking man moving through the vehicles in the parking lot at about 11:15 a.m. in the morning. After confronting the man, the officer recognized that he was carrying concealed firearms and took him into custody.

38-year-old Michael K. Jones of Columbus was arrested on a preliminary charge of possessing a firearm on school property.

Columbus Police Chief Mike Richardson praised Ross for his actions, saying that by being proactive, Ross was able to defuse the potential threat to student safety, arresting Jones without incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

A Fort Wayne murder suspect was arrested near the Indiana Premium Outlet Mall in Edinburgh Friday night.

Fort Wayne police say that their homicide detectives worked with Indiana State Police and the Columbus Police Department’s Intelligence Led Policing unit to locate and arrest 27-year-old Markquiel Derrick after stopping his vehicle in Bartholomew County at about 7 Friday evening.

Derrick is accused of a shooting death of Antonyo Stephens just after midnight early Friday morning. Fort Wayne news reports that the 42-year-old Stephens was shot multiple times at a home. After his arrest, Derrick was transported back to Fort Wayne and booked into the Allen County Jail.

Bartholomew County voters will be choosing members of local school boards when they go to the polls in November. But with a filing deadline of noon on Friday, Aug. 21st there are few names to go on the ballot.

County Clerk Jay Phelps said that there are three seats on the Bartholomew Consolidated School board up for election this fall, and two seats on the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School board.

The only candidate to file so far is Todd Grimes, who is running for the BCSC district 3 seat. The incumbent for District 3 is James Persinger who was first elected four years ago.

Also up for BCSC are the District 5 seat now held by Pat Bryant and the District 7 seat held by Jeff Caldwell.

The Flat Rock and Haw Creek district seats are up for election in the northeastern part of the county. Those are held by Brian Rose and by Steve Wilson.

Phelps said that the deadline to register to vote in the November election is coming up on Oct. 5th. You can check your registration at Indiana Voters dot org or in Bartholomew County, call the voter registration and elections office at 812-379-1604.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the council members’ vote on the issue. Jerone Wood, Elaine Hilber and Frank Miller voted against the measure.

A tied vote by Columbus City Council last night means an expansion of a Garden City mobile home park will move forward, despite city planning staff recommending the rezoning be turned down.

The proposal would allow property next to the Garden City Mobile Home Community to be added to the park and changed from single-family use to mobile homes.

The planning department staff urged city officials not to approve the development because of the lack of sidewalks, transit, utilities and green space at the site. The planners cited concerns about the noise from trains and the danger of cutting off the community when State Road 11 floods.

However, the plan commission forwarded the request to the City Council with a favorable recommendation. And because of time constraints the council had to either approve or turn down the request at last night’s meeting, or it would move forward with the plan commission’s positive recommendation under state law deadlines.

With Councilman Dave Bush absent, the council tied on a 3-3 vote with council members Jerone Wood, Elaine Hilber and Frank Miller voting against the proposal.