The top 10 local stories for 2017 were selected by a panel of editors at The Republic.
1. Death of U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathon Hunter, 23, of Columbus, Aug. 2 while serving in Afghanistan
2. Columbus native Mike Pence, 57, the former Indiana governor, sworn in Jan. 20 as vice president of the United States.
3. Exhibit Columbus, a three-month temporary exhibition of 18 installations, draws an estimated 50,000 people to downtown Columbus from Aug. 26 to Nov. 26.
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4. City of Columbus officials revealed a funding plan to pay for an estimated $30 million overpass on the city’s west side during a July 5 news conference, through a partnership with the Indiana Department of Transportation, Bartholomew County government, Cummins Inc. and the CSX and Louisville & Indiana railroads, with construction beginning in late 2019.
5. Communitywide effort to fight opioid addiction launches with April 29 public meeting by the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County, with three primary stakeholders — the city of Columbus, Bartholomew County government and Columbus Regional Health — planning a multifaceted initiative to be rolled out over the next two years.
6. The “Columbus” movie on the city’s storied architecture opens in New York and Los Angeles on Aug. 4 and stages its red-carpet opening Sept. 1 at the YES Cinema, which sells record-setting 8,953 tickets in a six-week run to see the debut feature film by director Kogonada featuring stars John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson.
7. Bartholomew County passes its first new tax in eight years Oct. 10 on a 4-3 vote by the Bartholomew County Council, representing a 40-percent increase in local income taxes taken out of wages starting Jan. 1.
8. Harry McCawley, 77, who championed many community causes, some through his work at The Republic for more than 50 years, died Sept. 28 after going through treatment for cancer.
9. Justin White, 38, former senior pastor at First Christian Church in Columbus, was sentenced Oct. 20 in Bartholomew Circuit Court to three years in prison on one of two Class C felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, admitting that he illegally purchased painkiller drugs from a minor.
10. Cummins Inc. demonstrates its commitment to global headquarters city of Columbus on July 5 with $50 million upgrade of the company’s Corporate Office Building downtown in preparation for its 100th anniversary in 2019.
