Aug. 1
Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing sought a tax abatement from Columbus as it adds a 50,600-square-foot addition to its plant on Inwood Drive.
Aug. 2
A three-day race relations gathering planned for mid-August aims to bring unity in the Columbus area — at a time when racial tensions and violence have made headlines around the nation.
Aug. 3
The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority gave Southern Indiana Housing and Community Development Corp. a $351,600 HOME Investment Partnership Program grant to make necessary updates to Town and Garden Apartments, one of the city’s few affordable housing complexes for senior citizens.
Aug. 4
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. students filled their book bags and headed out for the first day of the new school year.
Aug. 5
Unexpected expenses moved Bartholomew County Council members out of their comfort zone, making it unlikely any new expenses would be approved for next year, including salary increases.
Aug. 6
Columbus-based Elwood Staffing purchased York Companies Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based commercial staffing firm, meaning the company was expected grow by about 1,100 employees.
Aug. 7
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. said increased elementary enrollment would result in the hiring of three more teachers and shifting classrooms for some students.
Aug. 8
The family of Kevin Ward Jr., a driver struck and killed by Columbus native Tony Stewart’s car on an upstate New York sprint-racing track, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NASCAR star.
Aug. 9
Forty heroin overdoses were reported last year, which was five times the eight overdose cases reported the previous year, statistics in the Columbus Police Department’s 2014 annual report showed.
10
Two area residents are recovering from tick-borne Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a disease some people might not know can happen in southern Indiana.
11
A fire heavily damaged a mobile home in the Heritage Heights Trailer Park in the Taylorsville area.
12
Northbound commuters from Columbus faced detours off I-65 on their way toward Indianapolis as the interstate was blocked by a semi crashing and catching on fire.
13
Former Hope Town Council member Tim Shoaf was honored for his advocacy of open government with the presentation of the Frank O’Bannon Sunshine Award from the Hoosier State Press Association.
14
A state audit found that $113,914 was unaccounted for in financial accounts overseen during a six-year period by a former Northside Middle School administrative assistant Michelle Rooks.
15
Charlie Daniels opened his Columbus Rock the Park concert with “Southern Boy” for an estimated 5,000 spectators at Mill Race Park.
16
Columbus City Council member Kenny Whipker’s private social-media postings generated a local debate on what content is appropriate for public officials to share on the Internet with friends or constituents.
17
Columbus’ Human Rights Commission planned to discuss at the Aug. 18 city council meeting proposed revisions to the city’s human rights ordinance to add new protected classes, including age, sexual orientation and gender identity.
18
The annual Bark in the Park/End of Summer Doggie Swim — a tradition since 2005 — drew a record turnout of nearly 200 dogs at Donner Aquatic Center.
19
A private group’s yearlong effort to fund the cleanup of a 6.2-mile stretch of Haw Creek through Columbus ended on a technicality when the Bartholomew-Shelby Joint County Drainage Board voted unanimously to reject a petition by Citizens for Haw Creek on the grounds that the board has no jurisdiction over Haw Creek.
20
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. added three elementary teaching positions because of 120 additional elementary students in the district this year.
21
County department heads feared some employees could lose their jobs as Bartholomew County Council members heard 2016 budget proposals.
22
A driver crashed her car into the entrance of Downtown Grocery, located on Washington Street.
23
The Columbus Area Arts Council, which lost its annual funding from the city this year after receiving $148,140 in both 2013 and 2014, had a smaller grant request of $2,350 rejected.
24
Toyota reinvested in its Columbus footprints with plans to build a new national headquarters for its Material Handling division and adding amenities for the company’s expanding workforce — $16 million worth of new construction.
25
Bartholomew County government officials, already facing a $3.9 million deficit in 2016, believed an additional $800,000 would need to be cut from the preliminary budget in order to keep the county on solid fiscal ground for years to come.
26
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Columbus, 550 N. National boarded up its entrance from the parking lot after a 20-year-old Greenwood man drove his 2007 silver Toyota into the church.
27
The Seymour Community School Corp. Board of Trustees approved Josh Speidel’s hiring as a classroom instructional assistant at Brown Elementary, where his mother, Lisa Speidel, is assistant principal.
28
Bartholomew County had its first reported case of West Nile virus, Columbus Regional Hospital officials said. The patient was an employee of a Columbus-based public agency.
29
Columbus East awoke from a slumberous start in a football battle with cross-town rival Columbus North and the host Olympians defeated the Bull Dogs 28-21.
30
Bartholomew County officials said a decision was expected before the Labor Day weekend on whether to postpone groundbreaking indefinitely on a new annex building near State and Mapleton streets or just drop the long-awaited project altogether.
31
City and local arts officials agreed to relocate “Decathexis,” a sculpture on the Columbus City Hall front lawn, to the lawn of the Parks Operations building after the mayor requested its removal.
