Courtesy of Columbus Area Bicentennial Steering Committee
There is still time to submit your suggestions for activities and events surrounding the Columbus Bicentennial Celebration. You can fill out a survey with your suggestions until Friday.
The bicentennial steering committee has chosen the theme for next year’s 200th anniversary as “Common Ground.” 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.
Several area Main Street groups will be receiving a share of $200,000 dollar grants from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs to help with operational support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch announced the grants recently. 40 grants were issued for $5,000. Among the area recipients:
Main Street Greensburg will use the funding to fund the salary of a new part-time assistant.
Seymour Main Street Program will use the funding towards the Executive Director’s salary.
Discover Downtown Franklin will use the funding for a five-year strategic plan and associated planner.
Main Street Shelbyville will use their funding to bridge a gap left by the loss of sponsorships, memberships and event income.
Bartholomew County Historical building on Third Street. Photo courtesy of Historical Society.
Tickets are available, starting today, for the Bartholomew County Historical Society’s upcoming Opening Gates tour.
A variation on the Open Door Tour that has been held in previous years, the Opening Gates tour will feature six outdoor sites around the Columbus area including two gardens designed by landscape architect Dan Kiley. Those will be at the Hamilton and Miller houses.
Other sites on the tour will include the Inn at Irwin Gardens, the Henry Breeding Farm Master Gardeners garden, the Columbus City Cemetery and North Christian Church, which also features Kiley-designed landscaping.
The tour will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 19th. Tickets are $25 and they go on sale today at the Historical Society Museum on Third Street, Viewpoint Books, The Columbus Area Visitors Center and through the society website at bartholomewhistory.org. Tickets available through EventBrite.com
Our Hospice of South Central Indiana is reporting that it raised just over $8,600 last Friday with a fish fry held at the American Legion Post on 25th Street.
Laura Leonard, president of Our Hospice, said that the agency served more than 800 pounds of fish, 18 pans of coleslaw, 38 cans of baked beans and 950 beverages.
The agency’s next fundraiser is a cookie and raffle ticket sale going on today, Thursday and Friday in the Fair Oaks Mall parking lot from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 4 to 6 p.m. each day.
The annual Our Hospice Labor Day weekend concert will be going virtual this year, with the band Yacht Rock Review performing through the Hospice Facebook page starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening.
St. Peters Lutheran parking lot rezoning request. Image courtesy of Columbus Planning Department.
A proposed parking lot beside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in downtown Columbus drew some concerns from members of Columbus City Council when its rezoning came before the council last night.
St. Peter’s was asking to rezone four properties along Fourth Street from residential and commercial community uses to public facilities use. The properties, just east of Chestnut Street would be turned into a parking lot with just over 40 parking spaces to support the neighboring church, school and outreach center.
Organizers of the church proposal pointed out that the property is contaminated and is too close to underground storage tanks to allow for residential use, especially if a FHA loan were involved in building a home. Remediation would require major investment and overhaul of the site, including perhaps incinerating the contaminated dirt at the site and bringing in clean soil.
Councilman Tom Dell took exception to the idea of putting a new parking lot so close to the area being developed under Envision Columbus. Dell also disputed the neighborhood support exhibited by letters, saying that few of those actually lived in the neighborhood and instead represented landlords who do not live in the area.
Councilwoman Elaine Hilber said she was concerned about double standards. Two weeks ago the council approved the use of property in Garden City for residential use despite it being an actual Superfund site. Now, the council was asked to assume that no homes could be built on the St. Peters site, making it most useful as parking space. She also said she was concerned that the proposal did not meet the recommendations of Envision Columbus.
Councilman Dave Bush, who serves on the plan commission, pointed out that Envision Columbus does not hold the force of city law and is more of a vision for the future.
With Councilwoman Grace Kestler abstaining from the vote, the council deadlocked on approval of the rezoning and the issue will come before the council again at its next meeting.
BCSO Chief Deputy Major Chris Lane presents Kenny Glass with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office: From left, Lane, Dave Bush, Jerry Bragg, Deputy Robert Cooper. Photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is praising a local glass company for helping an elderly woman in need.
According to the sheriff’s department, a 93-year-old woman reported that someone had thrown a brick through her front window. Deputy Robert Cooper went to Kenny Glass to purchase plastic to help the woman secure the window. But instead, Kenny Glass replaced her window free of charge, according to Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department.
Jamie R. Lane. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department
A Monday night traffic stop turned into a drug arrest for a Columbus woman.
Columbus police say that they pulled over a vehicle for a minor traffic violation at about 11 p.m. Monday night near 11th and Chestnut streets. A police dog alerted to the smell of drugs inside the vehicle and a search revealed methamphetamine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia inside the driver’s purse.
43-year-old Jamie R. Lane was arrested on preliminary drug possession charges as well as for driving while suspended with a prior conviction.
Bartholomew County CourthouseEric M. Winship. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
A driver involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist in downtown Columbus last fall is pleading guilty to lesser charges.
The Republic newspaper is reporting this morning that 28-year-old Eric Winship has reached a plea agreement on felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident and possession of a syringe. The state will dismiss other charges including causing death while driving intoxicated.
Winship is accused of driving a pickup truck that struck and killed 21-year-old Kyla Ortlieb, of Columbus, on Oct. 20 near 11th and Chestnut streets. The heavily damaged GMC Jimmy was found abandoned about a block away.
A developer is planning a $11.2 million dollar investment in senior apartments off of 14th Street and Michigan Avenue in Columbus.
Gateway Senior Village L.P. is planning to build affordable apartments for seniors that will include 54 two bedroom, one bath units. Construction is estimated to start in August of next year, and the development would open in September of 2022.
The developers are asking the Columbus City Council for a tax break on the development. Under the proposed tax abatement, property taxes would be phased in over 10 years. If approved by the the council, the developer would save about $1.4 million over the life of the abatement, but would also pay about $1.4 million in property taxes.
The Council was originally set to hear the request two weeks ago, but it was delayed.
City Council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at Columbus City Hall.
Charles W. Wininger. Photo courtesy of Columbus Police Department.
A Columbus man was arrested on drunk driving charges after crashing into a fire hydrant and then fleeing the scene, according to police reports.
The incident happened at about 1 a.m. on Sunday near 29th Street and Fairlawn Drive. Officers found a damaged truck nearby. The driver, 32-year-old Charles W. Wininger had slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, according to police reports. A portable breath test showed he had a BAC of .109 percent.
He was arrested on the preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.
