Legal Advertisement Strand Associates, Inc. (629 Washington Street, Columbus, Indiana 47201) is submitting a Notice of Intent, on behalf of Columbus City Utilities, to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management of our intent to comply with the requirements of Construction Stormwater General Permit to discharge stormwater from construction activities associated with the Westside Interceptor Sewer located at 3390 S 150 W, Columbus, Indiana 47201. Run-off from the project site will discharge to an Unnamed Tributary to East Fork of the White River and Opossum Creek. Please direct questions to Strand Associates, Inc at 812-372-9911 or by email at emily.tenaglia@strand.com. 60158483 R 03-14-2026
Defunding libraries?: Bill language added with no public hearing has requirements with dire consequences
Republic file photo
The front circulation desk at the Bartholomew County Library is shown.
Bartholomew County Public Library officials are expressing concern about a new state law they say imposes unique budget restrictions on public libraries that could open the door for local governments to dramatically cut — or even eliminate — their funding.
The concerns stem from last-minute language added to House Bill 1406 that requires libraries to seek binding budget approval from their fiscal bodies or accept uniquely low budget growth limits. The language also eliminates a previous cap that prevented fiscal bodies from cutting a library’s budget by more than 10% in a given year — meaning, at least in theory, that a fiscal body could now defund a library entirely.
Gov. Mike Braun signed the bill into law on Thursday. State lawmakers representing parts of Bartholomew County — Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus; Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; and Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville — all voted in favor of the bill.
Locally, library officials said they are concerned about the impact that the bill could have on the library funding, especially after the passage of Senate Enrolled Act 1 last year, which cuts the amount of property taxes available to taxing units, including libraries. The Bartholomew County Public Library’s fiscal body is the Bartholomew County Council.
Initial analyses found that SEA 1 is expected to reduce funding for the Bartholomew County Public Library by an estimated $750,000 over three years. The library saw a $100,000 decline in property tax revenue last year. Its current operating budget is around $5.86 million.
“With this new legislation, (HB) 1406, and then compounded with the SEA 1 … it’s just, it is a lot for the library. It’s really going to hit us hard,” said Bartholomew County Public Library Assistant Director Vanessa Martin, who is also the Indiana Library Federation’s Advocacy co-chair. “We’re always looking at our resources and services that we offer. But compounded with all of these things coming into play, we’re concerned about what our budget is going to look like for the future.”
What the law does
The new provisions revolve around the state’s maximum levy growth quotient, or MLGQ — a figure set annually by the state that caps how much local government units can increase their property tax levies compared to the previous year. The current MLGQ is 4%.
Under the new law, any library seeking a budget increase that would result in its property tax levy going up by more than half of the MLGQ must submit its proposed budget and property tax levy to its fiscal body for approval before Sept. 2 of each year.
Missing that deadline would carry steep consequences. A library’s property tax levy would automatically be set to 49% of the previous year’s levy — a far steeper penalty than the 80% that applies to other local government units.
Under the previous rules, the library director would propose a budget and work with the library board to ensure it is correctly allocated, officials said. The board would then hold two separate public meetings — one for a public hearing on the proposed budget and another to adopt the budget. The county council would generally not be involved in approving the budget.
Now, the county council is required to get involved unless the library decides to adopt a budget that is less than half of the MLGQ.
Singling out libraries?
Supporters of the new law say it strengthens accountability for taxpayer‑funded institutions, noting that library boards are appointed rather than elected.
Critics counter that the legislation singles out libraries for restrictions that other local government units with appointed boards are not subject to. They also argue that the language was inserted into the bill without being heard in committee or holding a public hearing.
Locally, the Bartholomew County Public Library accounted for 2.5% of the county’s overall property tax levy in 2026, according to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
Lauer, who voted in favor of the bill, said the new law adds accountability and oversight to the library budget process.
“All that means is that the county council can have some input into that budget if it’s increasing over a certain amount,” Lauer said. “It doesn’t mean they have to take any action. It doesn’t mean they have to approve or deny it, but it does give some new accountability to the taxpayers. …It gives more oversight through the county council on how our tax dollars are spent. …This will give the county council a little more skin in the game to work with our libraries across the state.”
“Our libraries (in Bartholomew County) are run well,” Lauer added. “I don’t think that this would be an issue for Bartholomew County. There are certainly other places across the state probably where some of this language came from. People in other parts of the state are frustrated with their libraries.”
Library oversight
The Bartholomew County Public Library is governed by a seven-member volunteer board that sets policy, oversees finances and hires a library director to handle library operations, according to the library’s website. Board members serve four-year terms and are limited to four consecutive terms. All members must live within the library district.
While the board members are not chosen by voters, they are appointed by four different bodies of elected officials.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners, Bartholomew County Council and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. School Board each appoint two members, while the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. School Board appoints one member.
Additionally, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance ensures that library budgets and tax levies comply with state law, and the Indiana State Board of Accounts conducts financial audits of public libraries.
Library officials said they believe public libraries already have enough oversight and that there is a process for elected bodies to appoint or remove board members.
”We’re really disappointed with this legislation,” Martin said. “We worked really hard this session to make connections with our with the legislators at the state level, and we just, hoped for a better outcome. And then some of the language that got snuck in at the very end was it was just so disappointing because it had not been heard in committee. It had not had a public hearing, and it kind of came out of the blue.”
The Latest: Trump threatens Iran’s oil infrastructure after US bombs island military sites
President Donald Trump said U.S. forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, which is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian Parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.
Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the war with the Islamic Republic.
Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf states, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes, even as U.S. and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran.
The moves appear to signal the two-week-old war is not nearing an end.
Here is the latest:
Airstrike kills 2 in Baghdad
An airstrike hit a house in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, early Saturday, killing at least one person, according to a security official and another affiliated with the Iranian-backed armed groups in the country.
The strike in Baghdad’s Karrada district also wounded two people, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press.
In a statement, the Iraqi military condemned the strike as “a blatant violation of all humanitarian values and a disregard for international conventions.”
The strike happened before a missile attack hit the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad.
—
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Iranian media reports 15 explosions in Kharg following US strikes
Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported at least 15 explosions with thick smoke rising over Kharg Island, earlier hit by U.S. strikes.
It said the strikes targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower, and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar, adding no oil infrastructure was damaged in the attack.
Iran reiterates threats to target US-linked oil facilities
Iran’s joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked oil and energy facilities in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure were hit.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters made the threat early Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run television.
He warned that Iran will target “all oil, economic, and energy infrastructures belonging to oil companies across the region that have American shares or cooperate with America” if energy and economic infrastructure in Iran is attacked.
No comment from US Embassy after strike on Baghdad compound
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after a strike hit it’s compound in the Iraqi capital.
On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”
The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones in the past by Iran-aligned militias.
The groups have recently stepped up attacks on bases hosting U.S. and coalition troops.
A drone strike in northern Iraq on Thursday killed a French soldier and wounded several others stationed there as part of an international coalition.
Missile strikes helipad inside US Embassy compound in Baghdad
A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, two security officials said.
The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries after the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies, added the security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak with the press.
Video obtained by The Associated Press showed smoke billowing from inside the compound.
—
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Northside students get first look at renovated wing
Mike Wolanin | The Republic Northside Middle School Principal Evan Burton leads eighth grade students on a tour of the newly renovated eighth wing of Northside Middle School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, March 13, 2026.
Northside Middle School eighth-grade students who had been waiting for months to see what had become of their wing during the Envision 2030 renovations were at the grand reveal Friday, and they weren’t disappointed.
Northside is undergoing $50 million in renovations—the second largest project of the Envision 2030 facilities plan, which involves improvements to school facilities and learning environments across the school corporation.
“That’s where the pool was?” one student said in disbelief walking past a new multi-purpose space. “This is so exciting,” another student said as they walked towards the new wing for the first time.
The students may only be spending one semester in the new wing, but that didn’t stop their enthusiasm as they toured their new area and got ready to say farewell to the learning arrangements they’ve been dealing with since August.
The work at Northside won’t officially be finished until July 2027 but contractor Meyer Najem Construction has made sweeping progress thus far.
The work involves full renovations of classrooms, converting the former pool into a multi-purpose space, a new main office, two new shared science labs and improved security measures. Also encompassed are newly designed common areas for teams on each grade level and a renovated main gymnasium.
The new multi-purpose space is mostly finished, but will serve as three temporary classrooms while the seventh-grade wing renovations are taking place before retractable bleachers are put in.
As students head off to spring break, school employees will be hard at work moving furniture into each classroom in the eighth-grade wing, and installing the variety of technology that defines learning in today’s day and age including ViewBoards, which are basically 80-inch touch screens.
Northside Principal Evan Burton attended the school as a student and is in his fourth year as principal after serving as assistant principal for seven. He said the experience of showing off the new wing to students is among the most exciting things he’s been able to do during his time as an administrator.
“They have not seen any of it other than pictures throughout the year, so the reaction’s pretty cool” Burton said of students. “I love coming in here because it just feels like school. It just does. But you don’t know how much better school can feel or how dated school feels until you see it another way.”
Burton was taking students to the new three-level wing team-by team, but provided a look at the seventh-grade wing as of now to give a sense of the changes.
The original uniqueness of the seventh- and eighth- grade wings remain, including the exposed red brick and orb light fixtures.
Northside, built in 1961, is the product of a design by architect Harry Weese, who is credited with designing more Columbus structures— 14, according to the Columbus Area Visitors Center — than any other noted architect. The building was inspired by the old Mooney Tannery factory that used to be in Mill Race Park area. An addition to the school was completed in 1992.
What’s noticeably different at first glance is the amount of natural light in the new wing, common team spaces on the courtyard sides of every hallway and fresh-out-of-the-package furniture. The hallways are wider even though they weren’t expanded, stairs not nearly as steep and lockers aren’t nearly as tall as students don’t carry as many textbooks as they did in the past.
Some teachers already have their names on their classrooms, and will be steadily moving their belongings to their new rooms over break. Burton said he had been bringing teachers through the new wing often over the last couple of weeks.
Eighth-grader Natalia Guerra called the renovations “majestical” saying the reveal exceeded her expectations.
Guerra said the hallways in particular were much more spacious. Kinley Hill was happy to see how spread out the layout was, a welcome change.
A couple students—who will remain unnamed—said the influx of light in the new classrooms will make it hard for them to fall asleep in class compared to their previous arrangements.
Georgia Watkins was impressed with the new common areas, with another student mentioning how they will help build more of a community within teams.
The seventh-grade wing renovations will take place next school year from August to December. The other wing will take a lot less time comparatively because contractors won’t need to focus on filling in another former pool space.
“It’s really been unbelievable,” Burton said, summing up the morning. “I know all of the projects are night and day different, but it is a totally different space in every sense.”
Northside isn’t the only school passing Envision 2030 checkpoints over break. Smith is opening a wing that houses programming for students in the district with special needs.
Schmitt Elementary School, although not technically part of Envision 2030, is nearing the end of its renovation work. Fifth- and sixth-graders moved into their new spaces recently. New technology will be installed over break, plus new furniture will arrive. Students will move out of temporary classrooms in the gym, with the final work at Schmitt focused on STEM, art and music classrooms on the south end of the structure.
City moves forward with housing project
Photo provided Highlighted in yellow, this area is the proposed location for a new affordable housing complex on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Hutchins Avenue.
City officials are moving forward plans for what will be a 17-unit affordable housing project located on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Hutchins Avenue.
Columbus Plan Commission members on Wednesday night forwarded a favorable recommendation to the Columbus City Council regarding a request by Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana to rezone 26,571 square feet from planned unit development (PUD) zoning to Residential: Multi-Family (RM) to allow for the housing development, which will be called Hutchins Crossing.
Rezoning requests must be approved by Columbus City Council members over two meetings to be finalized. The request may come before city council as early as April 7.
The subject property is currently a part of the United Way and Sans Souci parking lot. The idea is that VOA—one of the largest nonprofit developers of affordable housing—will subdivide off a 0.61 acre parcel to build the 17-unit development.
The existing PUD zoning was created in 1989 as a means of consolidating the corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities of Arvin Industries. The PUD was modified in 2002 to facilitate the former Arvin manufacturing facilities reuse as the United Way Center.
A PUD is a self-created zoning district where the developer of the property is able to create their own specifications for the area, including sign standards, building heights and parking standards.
There’s a range of zoning in the area, from residential multi-family to heavy industrial.
There are existing industrial operations to the north and the United Way Center is to the south. The property to the immediate west is Sans Souci. Flats on 14th, a 110-unit affordable housing project currently under development, is also close by.
The preliminary recommendation from planning staff to city council was approval, along with two commitments related to the site design and that a minimum 11-foot travel lane, 5-foot tree lawn and 6-foot sidewalk be added on the south side of 14th Street between Central Park Place Apartments and Hutchins Avenue.
Planning staff found the site to be a desirable infill use opportunity, one of the many goals of 2024’s housing study.
Chloe Engleking, development associate with Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana, told commission members that the project will be focused on “adults with high needs” and that the first floor will be 100% ADA-compliant. The development is intended for people struggling to find housing and will be pet friendly. It will also be supported through funding from the state, according to Engleking.
The property is currently owned by United Way, but will come under the ownership of VOA as the development makes its way through the local government process.
VOA has met with surrounding neighbors and organizations, including Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Central Park Place Apartments, and they all had been supportive of the project. United Way also hosted an open house regarding the proposed development in late February “that went very well,” Engleking said.
VOA is intending to apply for a variance through the board of zoning appeals to ask for less required parking because residents in the development will likely not have cars, Engleking added
Although the development will remove parking that currently serves United Way and Sans Souci, planning staff found that the amount of spots that remain “appear to comply with what the zoning ordinance would require” to serve both organizations, according to city documents.
Asking Eric: Moving in with boyfriend complicated by bully brother
Dear Eric: After more than a year together, my boyfriend and I are planning to move in together with his brother. Originally, I was planning to move away since I’m graduating college and received some very cool opportunities, but after meeting him I was willing to put my career aspirations on hold in order to see where our relationship would go.
We agreed I’d stay here and see how compatible we are living together, then we would go long distance or have him follow me while I pursue my career. My boyfriend lived with his family, but he planned on moving out with me.
Coincidentally, his brother was planning on moving out and invited my boyfriend to live with him.
I am constantly getting into conflicts with his brother before we’ve even moved in together. Brother keeps trying to push for more expensive places that are beyond our budget, divide bills in really bizarre unequal ways that are obviously flawed, and seems resistant to coming up with rules around cleaning or chores.
Then I overheard Brother badmouthing me to their mom. My boyfriend heard it too but shrugged it off. He idolizes how “fair” and reasonable his older brother is.
I have already passed up some very valuable opportunities in order to pursue living with Boyfriend, and we have no other issues in our relationship. But I don’t know what to do.
This is my first relationship so I’m not sure if this is one of those things you just suck up to maintain the relationship. I know many people that just do whatever they can to maintain peace with their partner’s family, and I don’t want to make my partner choose between me and his family. I also don’t want him to think I’m some kind of villain constantly picking fights with his “awesome” big brother.
– Three’s A Crowd
Dear Three’s: I am loath to be cut-and-dry, particularly when it comes to someone else’s relationship. But please don’t move in with them.
This is not something you have to suck up. This is trouble that will very likely only make you miserable once you’re locked into a lease with them.
Don’t live with someone who doesn’t like you or exhibit trustworthy habits, i.e., the brother. If your boyfriend wants to, that’s his prerogative.
I think you’ll be a lot happier pursuing opportunities in your field and coming into your own, rather than hitching your wagon to your boyfriend, his brother, and this apartment. Work doesn’t trump relationships, but personal growth and independence is key to having healthy relationships. While you may not be able to get the opportunities you passed up, there are others out there and you should pursue them.
Going long distance first isn’t making your partner choose between you and his family. This is shifting the order so you both have room to grow. He’d be living on his own, you’d be pursuing your career. You both have something to bring back to the table down the road.
Dear Eric: My boyfriend of one year and I have been seeing each other almost daily. We are both in our 70s. He has old-fashioned values, married at 19 for 40 years. She divorced him.
I had two brief failed marriages and several long/short relationships. He makes degrading and sarcastic comments about my exes, wishes he had their deep pockets, thinks I was free with sex and should have hooked up or married one of them so I would not be alone now.
He also has two friends who know or knew my ex-beau and loves to get information from them which causes a battle with me.
Other than those spurts of putting me down he is great, always helping others, and he has many, many friends. He cannot be home alone: always busy with sports, gatherings. He is committed to our relationship, we have strong chemistry, we dance and dine. He has had months of therapy but cannot stop. Any chance he could change?
– Many Promises
Dear Promises: He can change; I don’t know if he will change. He may be great in other ways, but he has a huge mental block 00 and maybe even an obsession – with your past. And it’s resulting in cruelty toward you. That is at the core of your relationship. If he can’t love you enough to not be cruel to you, it’s worth asking yourself if this is a relationship that is actually feeding you.
He’s going to great lengths to find ways to torment you. This simply isn’t loving behavior. Indeed, it could be considered emotionally abusive. His insecurity about the path that your life took does not need to be your problem. Draw the line for him clearly. Tell him: either this ends now or we can’t move forward together.
Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.
A Taste of Ireland – The Irish Music & Dance Sensation comes to Columbus Sunday
Photo credit: Chris Hardy A Taste of Ireland—The Irish Music & Dance Sensation, features a cast of world champion Irish dancers, performing Sunday at Columbus North High School.
“A Taste of Ireland – The Irish Music & Dance Sensation” comes to Columbus at 3 p.m. Sunday to conclude its tour of the Hoosier state.
Performing in the Columbus North High School Erne Auditorium, the show explores and expands traditional Irish dance in a modern vein.
“This show offers audiences an adventure through the heart and soul of Ireland, where every beat of music and every step of Irish dance shares a captivating journey,” the show’s producer and director Brent Pace said. “Each narrative is interwoven with dramatic lighting, breathtaking visual scenery and performances that express the depth of these stories, so that audiences can appreciate Ireland’s rich history through movement, music and dance.”
Tickets are available now at atasteofirelandshow.com. Ticket prices, with fees included, range from $41.27 to $75.26.
“A Taste of Ireland – The Irish Music & Dance Sensation” is presented by Pace Live as part of its 2026 world tour following its West End debut in the U.K., a returning Off-Broadway engagement and international performances in Australia and New Zealand. The production debuted in the United States in 2024.
The show is directed and produced by Pace, an international producer, director and founder of Pace Live. Ceili Moore, a dancer since the age of 3 and a producer and choreographer with “A Taste of Ireland” since 2016, serves as co-director and producer.
The production’s reimagined contemporary score, featuring classics such as “Danny Boy” and “Wild Rover.”
The cast includes headliners Jess Miller (World Championship runner-up, former “Lord of the Dance: Feet of the Flames), Callum O’Neill (World Champion, Ceili Dance World Champion, formerly of “Riverdance”), fiddle player Aisling Sage (member of Biird, supporting act on Ed Sheeran’s tour, formerly of “Lord of the Dance”) and many other world-class Irish dancers and performers.
Dr. Richard Feldman: Kennedy’s new food pyramid has some concerns
In January, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of health and human services, issued a new “food pyramid,” the required five-year update entitled the “2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”
The new food pyramid is a significant change from previous federal nutritional guidance that was grounded on decades of evidence-based nutritional and metabolic research. The new pyramid is considered an “upside-down” version of previous models, including the more recent “MyPlate” adaptation. It prioritizes protein, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits at the wide top and positions whole grains at the bottom narrow tip.
Kennedy developed the new guidance out of public view, using a panel appointed by him rather than utilizing traditional independent expert input. Kennedy has criticized previous recommendations as being influenced by the food industry; yet half of the members of his new panel have financial relationships with the food, beef, dairy, and supplement industries.
Consistent with Kennedy’s previous health recommendations (for example, the childhood vaccine schedule, COVID and influenza recommendations, and Tylenol use in pregnancy), portions of the new guidelines are confusing and conflictual, emphasizing research consistent with his views while ignoring or minimizing unsupportive research.
That said, there are many positive aspects to the new pyramid, and it adds detail never before included. Kennedy’s pyramid:
- Emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods and strongly discourages ultra-processed and packaged foods high in added salt and with chemical additives, including artificial flavorings, nitrites, petroleum-based dyes, and artificial preservatives.
- Encourages fruits and vegetables, which contain fiber, micronutrients, and anti-inflammatory components.
- Strongly discourages refined grains and other refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks, and other foods high in added sugar and “junk foods.”
- Promotes healthy fats from olives, avocados, nuts, and seeds.
- Supports cooking oils that contain essential fatty acids; examples include olive oil and canola oil.
However concerningly, the new pyramid:
- Recommends greater amounts of protein at every meal than previously recommended. This includes proteins from plant sources such as beans, legumes, and nuts, as well as animal proteins from poultry and seafood, but also from eggs and red meat. There is little evidence that higher protein intake provides health benefits other than in strength training. It can even lead to worsening of chronic kidney disease and conversion to visceral fat, which increases diabetes risk in some people.
My concern with eggs and red meat is that they contain high amounts of saturated fat, which can lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular atherosclerosis. Decades of research confirm this.
Kennedy states, nonetheless, that “We are ending the war on saturated fats.” Saturated fat from animal sources, including red meat, eggs, butter, and beef tallow, is emphasized and considered one of the healthy fats. But the new guidelines send mixed messaging by simultaneously advising that saturated fat remain below the previously recommended 10% of total calories.
- Emphasizes full-fat dairy such as whole milk and cheese. Again, my concern is with the amount of saturated fats in whole dairy products. However, concern over the consumption of whole-fat dairy in people without cholesterol problems is somewhat controversial.
These are more than just guidelines; they also form policy frameworks for nutritional programs accepting federal funding.
Endorsements by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Cardiology carefully highlight only the positive aspects of the new nutritional guidelines as outlined above.
Although there are many positive aspects to the new nutritional guidelines, I remain uneasy, mostly about the new pyamid’s promotion of saturated fats.
Dr. Richard Feldman is an Indianapolis family physician and the former state health commissioner. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
Lori Borgman: The reason it’s called HARDware
Borgman
I can catch a plane, a ball, a cold and the flu, but the one thing I can’t catch is home improvement skills.
I recently painted a small bathroom cabinet. The project took three days, not including 11 trips to the big box hardware store.
Meanwhile, on six different cable channels, people with home improvement skills ripped out small half-baths and replaced them with master baths featuring double sinks, heated floors, lighted mirrors, saunas and walk-in showers large enough to wash a team of Clydesdales. What’s more, they did it all in under 60 minutes.
This week, my inner home-improvement self was prompted to redo the shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets. I upped my game thinking I could try peel-and-stick vinyl tile. I asked a clerk if it was hard to cut vinyl tile. He guffawed and said all I’d need is a knife.
The man in the blue vest lied. After leaving a small trail of blood from the kitchen to the bathroom medicine cabinet, I returned the vinyl squares and bought peel-and-stick shelf paper.
Peel-and-stick lives up to its name. You peel and it sticks — to you, your clothes, your scissors, your hair, the sides of the cabinets, the tops of the cabinets and to every other inch of peel-and-stick in a 3-mile range.
My skill set deficiencies are not new. In seventh grade, girls took home economics and boys took industrial arts. Boys made projects with hammers and saws. Girls learned how to sew a shift. A shift is a dress resembling a pillowcase with an armhole on each side and a zipper in the back. Our teacher Miss Grove, the first person I ever knew to wear contact lenses, made me rip my zipper out and put it in again. Miss Grove blinked her eyes a lot.
The fourth time Miss Grove told me to rip out the zipper and try again, I had to buy a new zipper. Miss Grove’s eyes blinked faster and faster each time she checked my work. Eventually, the entire left side of her face began twitching wildly.
Being that our school was progressive, for one week the boys took home ec and the girls took shop. I was sure I would do well in shop. My dad knew how to build; my brother knew how to build. Surely, I could build, too.
We made letter holders — three pieces of wood, nailed and glued together. At some point in the process, we were to put the letter holder in a vice. I crushed it.
Literally.
The shop teacher had me try again with new pieces of wood. As he watched over my shoulder, he took the soon-to-be letter holder from my hands, finished it, put it in the vice and said I could watch the glue dry.
Those sorts of experiences might set a lot of people back, but not me.
I remain a home improvement visionary — albeit without the skills or tools.
Lori Borgman is a columnist, author and speaker. Send comments to editorial@therepublic.com.
Hauser band students go on tour
HOPE — Hauser high school band students are traveling to Music City over spring break.
The Jets are bringing the music of Hope on a multi-city experience performance tour next week. Leaving Monday, the young musicians will begin their tour by going to St. Louis, before going up through the capital of Blues music in Memphis, and finishing in Music City, or better known as Nashville, Tennesse before returning on Saturday.
Michael Klinger, Hauser’s band director, an Indiana Wesleyan University alumni, traveled on spring break tours with the wind ensemble and Chorale groups during his time in college.
