Good morning Columbus. What you need to know — sickening details in cockfighting documents; Bob Gaddis tweet; Pride Festival; it’s Adi!

Greetings Columbus —

The details contained in court documents outlining what authorities said they discovered during a cockfighting operation investigation are disgusting.

Authorities said birds were bred and trained here and taken to Kentucky to fight. Cockfighting is a misdemeanor in Kentucky, but a felony in Indiana.

Undercover officers estimated 100 to 200 people attended the cockfighting event on March 3 in Morgantown, Kentucky, and that there were at least 75 to 85 cockfights. The admission fee was $20, and there was a concession stand selling T-shirts, chili dogs, tenderloin sandwiches and more.

Here are excerpts from the court documents. The first one outlines what authorities observed at the 9113 Grandview Road residence.

grandview residence

Below is a photograph of the pens with two dubbed roosters at the Grandview Road property.

grandview pen

The following excerpt from court documents says a rooster was placed on the ground and stomped on.

grandview stomp

Authorities document “billing.”

grandview billing

Here’s a description of what officers said they observed at the cockfight location.

kentucky knife

Click here for our story.

Here’s what else you need to know today —

Big attention for city’s first Pride Festival.
Reporter Brian Blair writes:
A Columbus high school student’s senior project to host the first gay pride festival in the hometown of Vice President Mike Pence has turned heads nationally and internationally. Publicity over the April 14 event, heavily linked to the politician’s conservative views, has left 18-year-old Erin Bailey of Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School both excited and stunned. Bailey, who described herself as bisexual, launched the idea in August as a way to show people that a small, conservative Indiana community is open to diverse groups such as the LGBTQ community. Friday’s Republic.

Drew Klacik: Don’t neglect those in need.
Columbus leaders have been doing the regional approach for years, especially when it comes to workforce development and education. The speaker at Wednesday’s Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting said good job and do it more. But he had another message too. Story here.

It’s Adi!
Sports editor Ted Schultz writes: Being able to remain injury-free for an entire gymnastics season was a big enough hurdle to clear for Adi Minor. Winning a pair of state titles and finishing second in the all-around competition was a pleasant bonus. The Columbus East senior put together her biggest postseason this year and caps her career with The Republic Gymnast of the Year honor. Story here on Adi and who made our all-area gymnastics team.

Cool things for you to do.
Indiana poet laureate coming to Columbus ... Easter egg hunts and more events and activitiesUniversity Library of Columbus ComicCon 2018.

One final thing: A Bob Gaddis tweet from this morning —

Have a great day. Send your story ideas to [email protected].