Share love with a song — and help the needy

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February 13, 2020

Are you dedicated to your partner? Share that with the entire area on Valentine’s Day and let your love show compassionate love to the needy.

That’s the idea behind Love Songs For Love Chapel, the annual fundraiser for the outreach of Love Chapel Ministries via WRZO 107.3 FM radio station.

The event stretches from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday on the local station.

For $10, you can pick out a song, and even schedule it for an approximate time frame.

Just go to lovechapel-bartholomew.org and click on the donate button. Select Love Songs and provide the information. You also can make dedications at qmix.com/love-songs-for-love-chapel.

Another of the Dukes in concert

By

Brian Blair

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February 13, 2020

Last March, singer John Schneider, a former star in the 1970s TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard," performed his original country music after local group Night Owl Country Band opened for him at Night Owl’s annual Wounded Warriors benefit concert. This year, Tom Wopat, Schneider’s brotherly sidekick in that classic show, will headline and sing at the 7 p.m. March 27 show at The Commons at 300 Washington St. Tickets: nightowlcb.com

All in the family: Parents, daughters works show that their art is all relative

By

Brian Blair

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February 13, 2020

One of Lydia Burris' more popular mixed-media works is "Carousing With Destiny" included in the exhibit "A Look at Relative Art." Submitted photo

Nearly every year, dad Robert and daughter Lydia Burris still get together and paint alongside each other at the T.C. Steele Great Outdoor Art Contest near Nashville in Brown County. Call it a brush with artistic familiarity.

“That’s still kind of a bonding thing for us,” Lydia said, speaking of the landscape work by phone from her home in Indianapolis.

The Burrises know all about framing the topic of bonding. And a new, free exhibit, “A Look at Relative Art,” at the Columbus Learning Center through May 7 highlights the Burris bonds and brushstrokes perhaps as well as anything.

“I grew up with both of my parents being artists,” said Lydia, a full-time mixed-media artist and art teacher, referring to Robert and her late mother Catherine, who was Robert’s wife. “When I was little, I just thought every family was creative like this.”

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The late Catherine Burris, whose artwork hangs in homes, museums, and other structures nationwide, was a well-known, professional fine artist who painted and also created three-dimensional works throughout her life, including a period of cancer that finally took her life at age 61 in February 2011.

“In my life,” Catherine once said, “I have a passion for the unreal as well as the familiar and comfortable. Sense and nonsense. My assemblance work gives me broader freedom as an artist to explore and expand upon these opposites.”

In her pieces in the exhibition, her extensive versatility and disarming vulnerability speak as loudly as anything. Her versatility includes a series of three-dimensional heads she created late in her career, and her vulnerability includes somewhat haunting paintings of looming, threatening figures she depicted during her cancer treatment. Both elements are included in the exhibit.

How can one summarize some of her work? Well, her husband and daughter understandably used the term “unexpected imagery,” which seems as accurate as any description.

As the customarily understated Robert recently walked through the display at the learning center, he talked of keeping alive his wife’s work, and his early graphics work as art director at the local firm of Dorel that was then Cosco Inc. He began painting the landscapes that he is now known for, including at local paintouts, later in life.

He politely declined to label the small, short strokes that characterize his watercolor works of today, especially sunny, small-town Florida scenes that are among his favorites. But he described his approach simply.

“I paint what my eyes see and not what my brain thinks,” he said. “I think more about the composition and not so much the mood I am trying to convey. I do try to create a memory.”

Daughter Lydia and mom Catherine each have works hanging in Columbus City Hall. Catherine’s Ethnic Expo quilt graces one office and Lydia’s portrait of longtime community volunteer Carl Miske hangs in a meeting room.

Robert was clearly proud as he browsed the exhibit. He talked about the works as if he were a random student or visitor stopping along the hallway to decipher some of the oversized images. He looked at one of his wife’s efforts titled “The Voyeur,” and, as the name suggested, he stared at a figure seemingly peering through a slit of a door screen.

“You can’t quite tell if he’s on the inside looking out or on the outside looking in,” he said, seemingly amused by the open-ended possibilities. “With her work, the closer you look, there’s always more that you’ll see.”

Lydia mentioned that she hopes anyone looking closely enough at the work of any of them will see a rich link with one another — and with the city that has long embraced their work and spirit.

“That connection we have as a family is still strong,” Lydia said. “And of course, our connection to Columbus is still strong.”

The exhibit demonstrates that — and much more — as much as anything.

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What: "A Look at Relative Art," a free exhibit highlighting the wide-ranging work of a family of artists — the late Catherine Burris, whose professional fine art works are featured all over Columbus; husband Bob Burris, who specializes in landscapes; and daughter and Indianapolis resident Lydia Burris, a full-time artist and art teacher

When: Through May 7

Where: Located throughout the Columbus Learning Center, 4555 Central Ave.

Information: moonwood@sbcglobal.net

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Performer bringing tunes of John Denver here Feb. 21

By

Brian Blair

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February 13, 2020

Singer Chris Wilson is show crooning John Denver's Tune "Annie's Song" at an earlier show. Submitted photo

Chris Wilson was born in 1976, when folk-pop singer John Denver was filling arenas and stadiums with feel-good tunes about nature’s glory and love’s beauty. Wilson’s folk singer mother filled the family home with many of Denver’s songs well into the 1980s.

And then a young Chris Wilson noticed something.

“By then, I felt kind of sad that it seemed like a lot of (radio) people weren’t playing those songs so much anymore,” Wilson said, speaking by phone from his home in Rochester, New York. “And it seemed as if those songs were fading away.”

No more.

Wilson, now 43, will bring his interpretation of a set of the late Denver’s more popular hits to a 90-minute fundraising concert at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at North Christian Church to benefit the Columbus-based Granny Connection. The nonprofit organization cares for children orphaned by the AIDS crisis in Lusaka, Zambia.

A pre-concert barbecue dinner is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the meal and concert are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

Denver died at age 53 in 1997 when the experimental plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, California.

The musician’s concerts honoring Denver began in 2014 when he released a disc titled “A Lovely Space To Be: The Music Of John Denver.” The first concert at a 400-seat venue in Rochester sold out in two days. He intersperses a few of his own folk-oriented tunes into the performances.

As much as he always loved Denver’s music, he felt some trepidation.

“Initially, there was some concern that I would be typecast in the role as the John Denver guy,” Wilson said. “So I was little nervous about that. But I love to celebrate great material. And I know that John Denver is an interesting character for a lot of people.

“And I know there are a whole lot of people who dearly love John Denver (and his songs), but don’t necessarily readily admit it. So we describe these shows sort of as a guilty pleasure.”

Denver boasted more than 30 Billboard hits, including “Leaving On a Jet Plane,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Rocky Mountain High” (an official state song of Colorado), “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” “Back Home Again,” “Thank God I’m A Country Boy,” “Annie’s Song,” “Calypso,” and many others.

“His songs are a part of the Americana DNA,” Wilson said. “When most people hear the opening to ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads,’ they just automatically know that.”

The format for his tribute-oriented shows is to mix some of Denver’s life and lyrics with his own life in order to make a more heartfelt connection with the audience.

“I present his songs as something of a soundtrack to my personal story,” Wilson said. “I certainly don’t pretend to be him in concert or even especially sound like him.”

Yet, when some audience members get lost in the sentiment of the past, their emotional exuberance has led them afterward to say to the artist, “You sound just like John Denver.” Granted, Wilson accepts such as a compliment, though he agrees that the artistic quality and tone of his voice and Denver’s are significantly different.

Yet, on such well-known, softer number’s such as “Annie’s Song,” he does sound like a more technically polished version of Denver.

Ann Jones of The Granny Connection would like nothing better than to see the local 400-seat venue filled for the performance. She pointed out that the event is the organization’s main fundraiser of the year “and it really counts for those kids and grandmothers in Zambia.”

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What: Fundraising dinner and concert featuring internationally touring folk-pop artist Chris Wilson presenting John Denver classic songs interspersed with a bit of his own material

When: A barbecue dinner is scheduled at 5:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 7 p.m. Feb. 21

Where: North Christian Church, 850 Tipton Lane in Columbus

Why: To raise money for the local nonprofit Granny Connection’s work caring for children orphaned by the AIDS crisis in Lusaka, Zambia

Tickets: For the meal and concert are $35 in advance at Viewpoint Books in Columbus or online at grannyconnection.org or $40 at the door

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Consultants, FairOaks board members give glimpse into future of mall, Donner Center

By

Andy East

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February 12, 2020

Consultants and members of the FairOaks Community Development Corp. have unveiled a vision for what the future could hold for the FairOaks Mall and Donner Center, capping off nearly seven months of analysis and public input.

A glimpse — including conceptual diagrams and recommendations that could serve to inform future design and planning for what types of facilities may eventually be built on the two properties, phasing recommendations for facilities and the next steps in the project — was presented Tuesday evening.

About 80 people were at the session at the mall, which was the fourth and final public information session for the FairOaks project.

The project seeks to transform FairOaks Mall into a community wellness, recreation and sports center, and determine new potential uses for the Donner Center and connectivity with the surrounding areas. The city partnered with Columbus Regional Health and the Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County to purchase the 35.36-acre mall property at 25th Street and Central Avenue for $5.9 million in December 2018.

During the meeting, officials from MKSK and one of their consultants, Perkins+Will, gave a roughly one-hour presentation on some of their recommendations to the city, which include:

Tearing down and rebuilding Donner Center near the building’s footprint.
Expanding aquatics at Donner Center.
For the mall property, potential adaptive recreation spaces, retail and food and beverage facilities, group fitness rooms, Columbus Parks and Recreation office spaces and a multipurpose sports fieldhouse on the mall property.

For more on this story, including more information and more photos, see Thursday’s Republic.

City takes control of Hinman Street property

By

Andy East

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February 12, 2020

Columbus firefighters work at the scene of a house fire on the east side of Columbus on Hinman Street in October. Submitted photo

The Columbus Board of Public Works has approved taking ownership of a vacant home at 22 S. Hinman St., which was severely damaged in a fire in October.

On Tuesday, the board approved taking ownership of the property through a quit claim deed from the property’s owner in order to demolish the house, said Fred Barnett, Columbus’ code enforcement officer.

City officials said squatters had been trespassing on the property and the owner agreed to give the city the property if they would demolish the vacant, damaged home.

“The police have run people out of that house three or four times even though it’s a disaster,” Barnett told the board on Tuesday. “There have been people who have been sleeping upstairs. It’s very dangerous.

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Barnett estimates that it could cost up to $12,000 to demolish the house. City officials expect to recoup the demolition costs by selling the ground or through other means.

“The quit claim deed puts (the property) in the city’s name and once it’s in the city’s name, we will then go ahead tear it down and incur that expense,” Barnett said.

City issues $1,000 fine on local home

By

Andy East

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February 12, 2020

Columbus Code Enforcement is issuing a $1,000 fine to a Columbus homeowner after repeated attempts seeking to have garbage and rubbish removed from the property’s exterior.

City officials have alleged that the property, located at 720 Maple St., is a public nuisance, citing trash, garbage and rubbish along the outside area of the house and in the porch area.

Columbus police were dispatched to the house nearly 50 times from Feb. 10, 2018 to Jan. 23, 2020, regarding alleged incidences involving trespassing, unconscious people, fights, battery, theft and vandalism, according to public records.

The Columbus Board of Public Works approved the fine on Tuesday. The purpose of the fine would be to compel the homeowner to clean the property up, said Fred Barnett, Columbus’ code enforcement officer.

“I’ve tried to get them to comply and they just haven’t done it and I’ve given them chance after chance after chance,” Barnett said.

Barnett said he would mail the property’s owner a letter on Tuesday stating the fine. He said he also will hand-deliver another copy of the letter to the owner.

Michaela Burton is listed as the owner of the property, according to public records.

“Once they get the letter, they have five days to respond back if they want to appeal it,” Barnett said. “If they appeal it, they have to appear in front of the Board of Works to have that fine waived. My goal is compliance, to get it cleaned up, not the fine. But at the same time, sometimes that’s what it takes.”

If the owner does not appeal the fine and refuses to pay, the city will put a lien on the property for the amount of the fine and possibly could take the owner to court to encourage compliance, Barnett said.

“What happens is they will comply and then six months later it’s back to where it was, and then they’ll comply and six months later it’s back to the way it was. It’s an ongoing cycle,” Barnett said. “And you take that in conjunction with all the police calls and stuff, there’s an issue there. It becomes a public nuisance.”

Barnett told board of works members on Tuesday that he has “been dealing with the property since 2015.” Barnett said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was a drug overdose that reportedly occurred on the property this past week.

Barnett said most property owners typically comply with code enforcement before being forced to pay a fine.

“I have issued $1,000 fines before, but people tend to always comply before that fine hits,” Barnett said. “…I haven’t collected a fine, but I’ve issued a lot of them.”

Piece by piece: Flying Boxcar inching closer to Columbus AirPark

By

Andy East

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February 12, 2020

A diagram of a C-119 purchased by the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum is shown, detailing how the plane is being dismantled prior to being transported to Columbus. Submitted photo

Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum volunteers are awaiting the arrival of a C-119 “Flying Boxcar” aircraft the museum purchased last year, with some pieces the plane — including the vertical tail, engines and wheels — expected to arrive in Columbus during the first week of March.

The 40,000-pound plane, which is not airworthy, is being taken apart at an airport in Greybull, Wyoming, where it will be loaded on to four trucks and driven some 1,460 miles to Columbus, said Nick Firestone, Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum Board president.

Once in Columbus, the aircraft will be reassembled, restored and put on public display on the west side of Bakalar Green, along Ray Boll Boulevard, just south of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II aircraft now on display.

Museum officials said they hope to have the entire aircraft in Columbus by the end of April but “probably have several years worth of restoration to do,” said Skip Taylor, a museum member who is leading the C-119 project.

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“They pulled it into a hangar and started taking it apart in December,” Taylor said. “Around New Year’s (Day), they had the plane to where it was down to the fuselage and wing box. They even took the wheels off. The gears have been retracted and it’s laying on its belly. They are now separating the wing box from the fuselage and that is last major work to be done before transportation.”

The museum hired the aircraft’s former owner, B&G Industries, which does airplane frame work and performs other services, to take the aircraft apart, Taylor said.

The fuselage, which is 13-feet tall and 11.5-feet wide and weighs around 10,000 pounds, will be wrapped in protective material and loaded onto a lowboy trailer and transported to Columbus.

The wing box, looking from above, is around 38-feet long and 21-feet wide, also will be wrapped in protective material and loaded onto a lowboy trailer. The wing box is a centralized part of the plane, which Taylor described as its “spinal column,” that connects to several key parts of the aircraft, including the wings, fuselage, among others.

The rest of the plane will be loaded onto a 26-foot box truck and a 53-foot flatbed semi truck, Taylor said.

“The plan is right now is to have the fuselage and wing box separated by the end of March and right when that’s done have people go out and get it, and ideally, we’ll have it here in April,” Taylor said.

Once in Columbus, museum officials, as well as a group of volunteers and representatives from other organizations, plan to start reassembling the plane in a hangar at Columbus Municipal Airport, Taylor said. Though the plane won’t be fully restored, museum officials expect offer the public the chance to view the aircraft starting in May.

The C-119, also known as the “Flying Boxcar” due to the unusual shape of its fuselage, was in service with the U.S. Air Force from 1947 to 1972 and was designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients and mechanized equipment. The aircraft was also used to drop cargo and troops using parachutes, according to the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum.

The aircraft, when assembled, is about 86-feet long, has a 110-foot wingspan and is 27-feet tall at the tail. The Flying Boxcars were powered by two Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone radial engines, each with 3,500 horsepower, and could reach a maximum speed of 296 miles per hour.

The U.S. Air Force extensively used C-119s during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.

Retired C-119s were also used as air tankers to fight wildfires in the United States.

The particular C-119 purchased by the museum was built in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the Canadian Air Force, Taylor said. The aircraft was later acquired by Hawkins & Powers and used to fight forest fires. Its last known flight was in 1990.

The Flying Boxcars are of particular historical significance to Columbus, according to museum volunteers. Here, the pilots referred to them as the “Dollar Nineteens,” according to museum records.

From 1957 to 1969, 36 C-119s for the 434th Troop Carrier Wing were stationed at Bakalar Air Force Base, which is now Columbus Municipal Airport. The C-119s were a staple in Columbus, flown out of the base longer than any other aircraft.

Manufacturers Fairchild and Kaiser built 1,151 of the C-119s from 1949 to 1955. However, only around 40 Flying Boxcars are still left today, most of them in museums across the country or in a scrap yard, Firestone said in an earlier interview.

“This aircraft is just so historically significant for this airfield,” Taylor said.

The Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum purchased the plane for $15,000 this past May.

That same month, the museum launched a crowdfunding campaign sponsored by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, and raised $50,034 to disassemble and transport the plane to Columbus, according to the campaign’s website.

The project also received a $50,000 matching grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s CreatINg Places program, the state’s crowdfunding grant program.

“Primarily, the fundraising project was to take care of the expenses involved in Phase 1 of this project,” Firestone said. “We’ve broke it down into three phases. Phase 1 is acquiring the plane and its disassembly and transfer to Columbus. Phase 2 encompasses the reassembly and restoration of the aircraft, and Phase 3 is site preparation and positioning the aircraft for display on the site across from the museum.”

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The C-119 purchased by the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum is being taken apart at an airport in Greybull, Wyoming. Some pieces the plane — including the vertical tale, engines and six wheels — are expected to arrive in Columbus during the first week of March, said officials at the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum

The fuselage and wing box will be wrapped in protective material and loaded onto a lowboy trailer and transported to Columbus. The rest of the plane will be loaded onto a 26-foot box truck and a 53-foot flatbed semi-truck.

Museum officials expect to have the entire aircraft in Columbus by the end of April.

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To learn more about the C-119 aircraft being brought to Columbus, visit atterburybakalarairmuseum.org/project-charlie-119.html.

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Seymour officers face charges of ghost employment, official misconduct

By

Jordan Morey

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February 12, 2020

By Aubrey Woods

The Tribune (Seymour)

A special prosecutor has charged two Seymour police officers with ghost employment, official misconduct and theft as the result of a four-month investigation, police report.

Former Police Chief Bill Abbott and current Capt. Carl Lamb have been on administrative leave during the investigation that was started in October 2019 by the Indiana State Police.

The charges, which are all Level 6 felonies, stem from a review of that investigation conducted by a special prosecutor, according to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles with the Indiana State Police Versailles Post.

Wheeles, the post’s public information officer, reported during the investigation, detectives were able to determine Abbott was employed by Schneck Medical Center to schedule off-duty officers to provide security at the Seymour hospital. That investigation indicated Abbott allegedly performed his duties for Schneck while also working in his official capacity with the police department.

Investigators also were able to determine Lamb, while on duty with the police department, allegedly worked outside employment for K4 Security of Jeffersonville, Wheeles reported.

That firm had a contract to provide off-duty officers for work in a construction zone on Interstate 65. Lamb coordinated and scheduled off-duty Seymour officers to work the security job while he was on duty with the police department, and he was paid by both the city and security firm, according to the news release.

Lamb also was a part-owner and employee of a Seymour company, B Safe Tactical Training, which provides training to area schools, churches and businesses. Investigators were able to determine Lamb received payment from that company while he also was on duty in his capacity with the police department.

Abbott and Lamb were arrested Wednesday. Abbott was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown at 12:53 p.m. Wednesday and released on a $1,505 bond at 1:17 p.m. Lamb was booked into the jail at 12:23 p.m. Wednesday and released at 12:48 p.m. after posting a $1,505 bond.

Neither officer was able to be reached for comment.

A Level 6 felony is punishable by six months to two and a half years in jail upon conviction.

Sabotin headed to state in new event

By

Ted Schultz

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February 12, 2020

Trinity Lutheran's Rachel Sabotin hugs Columbus North's Erica Samuel after the 200-yard individual medley in the sectional finals at Columbus North, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020. Paige Grider for The Republic Paige Grider | For The Republic

Rachel Sabotin is a three-time top-10 state finisher in the 500-yard freestyle.

But when it came time to pick a second event for this year’s girls swimming postseason, the Trinity Lutheran senior opted for an event with which she was far less familiar — the 100 butterfly.

“She wanted to try something different,” said her father and coach, Doug Sabotin said. “She saw it as a challenge.”

Rachel Sabotin met that challenge in Saturday’s Columbus North Sectional. The Columbus resident and Akron University recruit, who earlier in the day had defended her sectional title in the 200 individual medley, won the 100 butterfly in a personal-best 55.78 seconds.

“This is the first time I’ve swum the 100 butterfly in a bigger meet, and I just wanted to have fun,” Sabotin said. “I did the 500 free all three years, so I figured, ‘Why not switch it up?’ and just have a little fun with it.”

Sabotin placed 10th at state in the 500 freestyle as a freshman, fourth as a sophomore and seventh last year. She also finished 17th as a freshman and 10th as a sophomore in the 200 freestyle. Last year, Sabotin replaced the 200 freestyle with the 200 IM and placed seventh at state in that event.

Going into Friday’s preliminaries of the Girls Swimming State Finals at IUPUI’s Indiana University Natatorium, Sabotin is seeded fourth in the 200 IM based on her sectional time of 2:02.96. But that’s only a little more than a second off top seed Devon Kitchell of Zionsville’s 2:01.67.

Sabotin, whose twin sister Hannah is a starter for the Trinity girls basketball team that will play in the West Washington Regional on Saturday, is seeded ninth in the 100 butterfly, just five-hundreths of a second out of eighth and a little more than two seconds behind top-seed Elizabeth Broshears of Evansville Memorial. The top eight from the prelims qualify for Saturday’s finals, while swimmers 9 through 16 make the consolation heat.

“I’m definitely shooting for the 200 IM this year,” Rachel Sabotin said. “The 100 fly is such a close race. So it really just depends on how your race is that day. We’ll just have to see if I can make it to that top-eight spot, and then in finals, see what I can do.”

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Girls Swimming State Finals

When: 6 p.m. Friday (preliminaries), 9 a.m. Saturday (diving prelims and semifinals), 1 p.m. Saturday (swimming consolations and finals and diving finals)

Where: IUPUI’s Indiana University Natatorium, 901 W. New York St., Indianapolis

Admission: Unreserved tickets are $8 per session or $15 for both days. A limited number of $18 reserved season tickets may be purchased online exclusively via the IHSAA e-commerce site at IHSAA.org

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