Columbus North students and staff, embracing what their principal called prayer in their hearts, struggled to get though a difficult day after learning that a student was critically injured in a car accident.

Social media lit up after the Sunday night accident near Taylorsville and continued into Monday as students used Twitter and Facebook to share updates on the condition of 18-year-old star basketball player Josh Speidel. The Columbus North senior’s condition was listed as critical but stable Monday in IU Health Methodist Hospital’s intensive care unit in Indianapolis, according to hospital officials.

North Principal David Clark said members of the 2,100–student high school demonstrated hopefulness regarding Speidel’s recovery, signing a large card for him set out in front of the counseling office. Numerous Twitter messages were sent under the hashtag #joshstrong.

“It is very somber at school,” North athletics director Jeff Hester said. “Josh is in everyone’s hearts and minds. It’s all anyone is thinking about.”

North head basketball coach Jason Speer, who was at Methodist with the Speidel family Sunday night and Monday, said the player was placed in a medically induced coma.

Columbus North officials received information Monday morning from the student’s family that he had undergone a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain and that the next 72 hours in his recovery from a traumatic brain injury would be critical.

“At this point, they just want to give him time. He has been unconscious ever since the accident,” Speer said.

Breathing on his own

Lisa Speidel, Josh’s mother, said Monday afternoon that her son is stable and breathing on his own and the pressure on his brain is at a normal level.

“He has been maintaining that normal blood pressure. They did a CAT scan last night (Sunday night) and this morning (Monday), and there have been no changes. There has been no more bleeding,” she said.

“It’s all quite amazing, quite a miracle — at least we are calling it a miracle,” she said in a telephone interview from the hospital. “There were no internal injuries.”

Her son has a skull fracture on his left side and his right jaw was fractured, she said.

Doctors’ concern continues to be the blood pressure on his brain remaining within a normal level, she said. The medical staff has started taking him off medication that has helped Speidel sleep, and the process has begun to wake him up on his own.

“I just want to see him open his eyes, and I want to hear his voice,” said his mother, who is an assistant principal at Margaret R. Brown Elementary School in Seymour.

Speidel is Columbus North’s all-time leading scorer in boys basketball. The 6-foot-8 power forward is averaging 25.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this season and has been nominated to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game.

He signed a letter of intent to play basketball next season at the University of Vermont, whose coach John Becker was planning to travel to Indianapolis to be with the Speidel family.

Becker had hoped to fly to Indianapolis on Monday, but flights were canceled because of the weather, Vermont sports information director Lisa Champagne said. The Vermont team has a home game tonight, but Becker hopes to be on a flight to Indianapolis on Wednesday.

The university tweeted, “Please pray for Josh Speidel. He’s a great kid who needs everyone’s support during this time! VT and UVM are with you Josh! #joshstrong.”

Friends, family gather

Collin Ebel, who has been one of Speidel’s closest friends since second grade, said he was stunned to learn of the accident.

Ebel and Speidel had been to a church league basketball game Saturday and afterward attended the North girls’ senior night game.

Ebel was among about 40 people in a Methodist Hospital waiting room Sunday night as Speidel’s family came out to give several updates about his condition. Family members broke down as they tried to deliver each report, he said, adding that they expressed gratitude to all the people who were there and those who were praying for their son.

He described Speidel as a fun-loving friend and the nicest guy anyone could ever meet.

“It’s crazy to think how popular he is,” Ebel said, referring to his star status on the Bull Dogs basketball team. “But he talks to everybody. He treats everyone the same way.”

When Speidel wakes up, Ebel said, he was going to give him a big hug and “tell him that I love him.”

“He has all my support, and he has all of Columbus’ support,” Ebel said.

Banners, posters, fundraisers

Ebel’s girlfriend, Lauren McNeely, said Columbus North cheerleaders are preparing a banner and 11-by-17-inch #joshstrong posters for students to display at tonight’s home basketball game against Hamilton Southeastern.

“We want to show Josh when he wakes up all the prayers and support for him and for his family,” McNeely said.

The signs have been donated by Quick Signs and Prestige Printing in Columbus.

Some members of the boys team participated in a shoot-around after school Monday instead of a typical practice for tonight’s game.

“We are doing this in the spirit of finding some kind of normalcy,” Speer said.

The North High School athletics department is having T-shirts made to raise money in support of the Speidel family. The shirts will have the #joshstrong logo and Speidel’s number on the back. They will be $10, with all proceeds going to the family.

A pasta dinner was planned for 5 p.m. today before the North game, with proceeds also going to help the Speidel family with medical bills, according to social media reports. Tickets are $5.

Speidel was taken to Methodist by ambulance after a two-vehicle collision 7 p.m. Sunday at U.S. 31 and Bear Lane. Bartholomew County sheriff’s deputies said Speidel suffered serious injuries in the crash.

Across-town support

Support has swelled throughout Columbus.

Columbus East officials called North Monday morning offering assistance. Columbus East also set up an area where East students could write messages of support to Speidel under the hashtag, @JSpeidel24 (which is Josh Speidel’s Twitter account) #ColumbusSticksTogether.

Lisa McCarter, president of East’s Quarterback Club, said the Olympians’ get-well messages will be sent to Methodist with family friends who are traveling back and forth to help the Speidel family.

“So many of these kids play on travel teams growing up, and lots of kids at East grew up with Josh,” said McCarter, whose family is friends of the Speidels.

“It’s just really scary. I don’t know another word to describe it,” McCarter said. “We’re just feeling helpless.”

McCarter has been calling area teams to see if they are interested in ordering basketball wrist sweatbands that will have Speidel’s number, 32, on them, along with his name in North’s blue and white colors.

“East and North are rivals when they play, but I am sure there are just as many East students who are upset as North students,” she said.

Clark described Speidel as a good student and a leader on the basketball court.

Speidel is a “take-charge kind of person,” a student who worked hard and did whatever was asked of him at North, his principal said.

“He was at the gym by himself running stair steps sometimes,” Clark said of Speidel’s dedication to basketball and his team.

A prayer chain was activated at Community Church of Columbus, where the Speidel family attends.

The church’s pastor, Chuck Coleman, was with the family at Methodist on Monday, according to the church receptionist. The church is collecting gasoline gift cards for the family to defray expenses of the family traveling back and forth to the hospital. Gift cards for gasoline may be dropped off at the church at 3850 N. Marr Road.

Lisa Speidel said the family has been “blown away by the people who are worried about Josh and who are praying for Josh.

“It has been amazing. We have been blessed with this community support,” she said. “We are overwhelmed by the calls coming in from all over the country.”

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Columbus North is hosting a pasta dinner at 5 p.m. today prior to the North-Hamilton Southeastern basketball game. Tickets are $5, and proceeds will be used to help Josh Speidel’s family with medical bills.

Community Church of Columbus, 3850 N. Marr Road, is collecting gasoline gift cards for the Speidel family, to alleviate costs of traveling to and from Methodist Hospital. The gift cards may be dropped off at the church between 8 a.m. and noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 8 a.m. to noon Fridays. For more information, call 812-376-9478.

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Columbus North cheerleaders are preparing a banner and 11-by-17-inch #joshstrong posters for students to display at tonight’s home basketball game against Hamilton Southeastern. The North athletics department also will be selling $10 T-shirts with the logo and Josh Speidel’s number 32 to raise money for the family.

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HOPE — Hope Grown Grubby was beckoned Monday morning to give her prediction during the first Groundhog Day ceremony in Bartholomew County.

“Grubby … awake from your slumber and tell us the news. If your shadow you see, six weeks more of the blues,” said David Miller, one of four local officials donning top hats for the ceremony.

Before a crowd of at least 50 onlookers huddled outdoors in 18-degree conditions, the year-old groundhog — on leave for the morning from UTOPIA Wildlife Rehabilitators southeast of Hope — was held above her wooden carrier at 8 a.m. as officials conferred.

Their official determination? No shadow. According to legend, spring is just around the corner for Bartholomew County.

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As onlookers in the town square spread word of an early spring through social media, they began getting updates from Grubby’s competitor in Gobbler’s Knob, 450 miles to the northeast in west central Pennsylvania.

But unlike Grubby, whose observation was welcomed during the ceremony led by UTOPIA founder Kathy Hershey, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. According to folklore, that means six more weeks of winter.

While some in Hope chuckled at the description of their groundhog as a “miracle varmint,” they preferred Grubby’s prediction over Phil’s.

Records going back to 1887 show Phil has predicted an early spring just 17 times.

Besides different predictions, there were other notable contrasts between the two ceremonies.

At Gobbler’s Knob, those who preside over the Groundhog Day event describe themselves as the Inner Circle, who decide on the forecast ahead of time.

Their Hope counterparts — Miller, David Webster, Chuck Baker and Michael Dean — prefer the label of Grubby’s Groupies.

They refused to acknowledge the presence of overcast skies prior to their proclamation.

The wording used by Phil’s Inner Circle for the nationally televised observance has been updated for the 21st Century.

“Forecasts abound on the Internet, but, I, Punxsutawney Phil, am still your best bet. Yes, a shadow I see, you can start to Twitter, hash tag: Six more weeks of winter!”

But in Hope, which takes its heritage seriously, more traditional wording was deployed to announce their more agreeable prognostication.

“No shadow she sees, the groundhog has spoken. Winter’s long spell will shortly be broken,” Webster announced.

So who is likely to be right — Grubby or Phil?

A Purdue University weather expert who relies on science rather than folklore to determine the chances of an early spring said it’s too soon to tell.

“From what I’ve seen, the long-term weather models are noncommittal,” associate state climatologist Ken Scheeringa said. “South-central Indiana has an equal chance of above or below average temperatures for the next month-and-a-half.”

Baker said myths such as the Groundhog Day forecast tie our present to the distant past, when nature had an even greater influence on agricultural-dependent lives.

“We have a natural asset, and we need to take advantage of it,” Baker said.

The appreciation of an old-fashioned Groundhog Day observance was evident during the post-ceremony reception in Strawberry Fields Mercantile and Auntie Aimee’s Country Tea Room on the north side of the square.

Made-from-scratch muffins and cinnamon rolls were served on traditional china with fine silverware and cloth napkins.

The crowd attending Grubby’s inaugural prediction was more than double what tea room officials had been expecting for their reception, the restaurant’s Rachel Pence said.

But Webster said even larger crowds are likely to emerge in future Groundhog Day festivities.

“It’s kind of like the Hope Ride,” Webster said. “I believe the first year we started with 13 bicyclists, and now, we’re up to about 2,000. So who knows?”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hope Grown Grubby’s Call To Duty: 

“Grubby … awake from your slumber and tell us the news.

If your shadow you see, six weeks more of the blues.  

If no shadow in sight, we all will rejoice. 

Spring will be here soon.  Oh, tell us your choice.”  

Proclamation of Grubby’s prediction for 2015:  

“No shadow she sees, the groundhog has spoken.

Winter’s long spell will shortly be broken

I suspect some are sad, some are glad. 

But I suspect Grubby is just indifferent.”

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HOPE — The new superintendent for Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. is expected to be introduced two weeks from tonight on Feb. 17.

Fourteen candidates applied to fill the position being vacated this summer by Dr. Kathy Griffey, who announced her intention to retire Oct. 7.

Four finalists — all residing in the Midwest — were interviewed for the position, school board president Steve Wilson said.

After a committee of both current and retired teachers, as well as past and present school board members, made their selection from among the finalists, a contract was negotiated with the leading candidate, Wilson said.

The FHSC Board of School Trustees will conduct a public hearing at 7 p.m. today on terms of the negotiated contract prior to their regular meeting. The hearing will take place in the board room adjacent to the central office at 9423 State Road 9 in Hope.

The three-year contract posted on the FHSC website would provide the new superintendent a first-year salary of $100,000.

After committee members examined superintendent salaries at 30 other school districts comparable in size, they learned the average salary was just over $98,000, Wilson said.

Griffey’s salary was increased to $103,441 in March.

Under the proposed contract, the corporation agrees to pay for the superintendent’s personal health insurance, valued at $14,280 annually.

Additionally, $750 also will be placed annually into a family health insurance plan, according to the posted contract.

“The health insurance package is no different from any of our other administrators,” Wilson said.

If the new superintendent completes work on a doctorate degree, the top FHSC administrator will receive an additional $2,000 beginning in 2016, the contract states.

But future raises would be based on evaluations of performance conducted by the school board before the end of each calendar year, Wilson said.

If the superintendent is evaluated as less than effective, no raise would be given the following year.

An evaluation of “effective” would provide the superintendent the same percentage pay increase as the teachers, while a “highly effective” determination would add an additional 0.5 percent increase to the salary, the contract states.

The school board reserves the right to schedule a second review in May, prior to the end of every school year.

Special care was made to ensure equal representation of both elementary and high school teachers on the selection committee, Wilson said.

Griffey, a Shelbyville native, first came to Hope in 2010 to replace Philip Deardorff.

While the 67-year-old has been with the district for only five years, Griffey’s retirement will mark the end of a 44-year career. Most of that career has been spent in a variety of administrative posts.

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Terms of a proposed contract with the leading candidate for the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School superintendent will be discussed during a public hearing tonight.   

The hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the board room at 9423 State Road 9 North, Hope.   

If there are no substantial public or board objections, the new superintendent is expected to be introduced to the community during the Feb. 17 school board meeting.  

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Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free Columbus North basketball player Josh Speidel from his crushed Honda Accord, resorting to peeling off the top of the car to remove him from the driver’s seat.

It took German Township firefighters about 20 minutes to free Speidel from the car after the 7:04 p.m. Sunday accident. His car was struck after he drove into the path of an SUV and was T-boned on the driver’s side.

Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said Speidel was driving an older-model Accord on a Taylorsville access road to U.S. 31 when the accident occurred.

Investigators said a southbound Chevy Traverse driven by Janell Foley, 42, Columbus, was traveling about 50 mph southbound on U.S. 31 after exiting Interstate 65, the sheriff department said.

Speidel’s Honda had stopped at the intersection of Bear Lane and U.S. 31 and Speidel entered U.S. 31 from the perimeter road on the west side of the highway, Myers said.

Foley’s vehicle collided with Speidel’s driver’s side door, which took the brunt of the collision, Myers said.

A passenger in Speidel’s car, Kaylee McCracken, 18, Greenwood, was transported to Columbus Regional Hospital after the accident, sheriff deputies said.

McCracken, who is a senior and plays basketball at Whiteland Community High School, was treated and released from the hospital. She was resting at home Monday and should be able to return to school later this week, her stepfather, Rick Stephens, said.

Both Speidel and McCracken were wearing seat belts, Myers said. The front airbags of the Honda deployed in the accident.

Foley was treated and released at the scene by paramedics; Foley’s two boys, ages 9 and 14, were not injured, investigators said. The Chevy’s side, front and rear airbags deployed in the collision, according to authorities.

Speidel was transported to Columbus Regional Hospital and then to Methodist by ambulance, as Columbus’ Life Line helicopter was grounded due to weather. The sheriff’s department initially reported Speidel was taken to Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis.

There was light rain mixed with some periodic light snow at the time of the crash. However, deputies said they do not believe speed or the weather were factors in the accident.

Deputies T.A. Smith and Leah Burton said the accident happened near the front of Speedway store at Bear Lane.

Smith was in the convenience store when the accident occurred, and other deputies arrived at the scene within a minute after the crash, according to the sheriff’s department. Indiana State Police assisted at the scene.

Traffic on U.S. 31 was detoured while firefighters and sheriff’s deputies worked at the scene.

The Bartholomew County Redevelopment Commission will wait until later this month to have the final public hearing about a proposed tax-increment financing district near Taylorsville.

Commission members will have the hearing at 6 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Bartholomew County Council chambers in the county office building.

The hearing will be about the commission’s plans to create the Greater Northern Gateway Economic Development Area and designate a 231-acre tax-increment financing (TIF) district. Public comment will be limited to five minutes per person and input relevant to the decision, the panel said Tuesday.

The commission’s vote on the proposal is likely to follow the hearing, although it may come at the next scheduled meeting to give time for members to digest comments, according to commission members.

The redevelopment commission is waiting for an economic impact statement from H.J. Umbaugh & Associates.

The Indianapolis-based firm has a draft and must submit a completed statement to the redevelopment commission at least 10 days before the hearing, said Jason Hester, Columbus Economic Development Board executive director.

If the TIF is approved next month, proceeds from local property taxes in the area, now known as Meadow Lawn Farms, that normally flow to schools, law enforcement and fire departments will be frozen for up to 25 years.

During that time, property tax revenue generated from higher assessed value within the TIF district is used for infrastructure improvements to attract new businesses.

The site in German Township is bordered by County Road 800N to the north, Louisville & Indiana Railroad to the east and U.S. 31 to the west. That property includes a 29-acre parcel that extends out from the southeast corner of the larger area.

Earlier this month, the proposals were approved without changes by the Bartholomew County Plan Commission, the Edinburgh/Bartholomew/Columbus Joint District Plan Commission and the Bartholomew County Commissioners.

Among the 30 people who attended the Jan. 20 county commissioners meeting were a number of residents who raised concerns about the TIF district.

For example, Tom Heller of Columbus described county officials as being “hush-hush, rush-rush” in their efforts to create a TIF district.

Heller’s allegation was disputed by county commissioners chairman Larry Kleinhenz and redevelop-ment commission president Jorge Morales.

Other concerns voiced by Heller include giving a nonelected body too much control over taxpayer dollars, as well as broadening the purpose of TIF districts beyond blighted areas.

But Morales, who also serves on the Bartholomew County Council, assured residents the commission is “moving ahead in a conservative and analytical way.”

Other concerns voiced by the public last week include government intruding on private real estate transactions and the risk of undeserving companies obtaining the land.

Meadow Lawn Farms has been on the market for more than 10 years and hasn’t sold despite active promotion and on-site visits, Kleinhenz said.

Without TIF funds to use for investment, the site might not see development for another 10 or 20 years, Hester said.

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For more information on the Bartholomew County Redevelopment Commission, made up of five voting members and two non-voting members, visit the group’s website at bartholomew.in.gov/bcrc-about-us.html

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A Columbus resident is making his way down the road to this year’s Pokemon World Championships.

Jared Weiss recently won a Pokemon City Champion title and a trophy in the Masters Division at the city championship competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That win also put Weiss’ points for the season at around 175, giving him more than half the total needed to make it to the world championships, he said.

Like most kids born in the ’90s, the 21-year-old grew up watching the popular television show and trading cards with his friends. Weiss is originally from Ann Arbor but moved to Columbus late last year because his father works for Cummins Inc.

Weiss also had an aunt who was a university professor in Japan, and she would buy toys and other Pokemon gear and bring them back to the states on visits, he said.

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But he didn’t start participating in competitions until three years ago, when he went with a friend from his figure skating training to get some decks at a card shop. Some people at the shop were involved in a league, and his interest built from there, he said.

This season of competition is the first time Weiss has buckled down to shoot for a spot at the world competition, he said. He’s been doing well because of the Donphan deck, which he used to win the city competition.

In the Pokemon Trading Card Game, players win matches by taking all of their six prize cards, which lay face down during the round, before their opponent can do so. Prize cards are won one or two at a time by knocking out your opponent’s Pokemon.

Weiss, and most players, do well with the Donphan deck because it has cards that help in blocking opponents from getting their prize cards, he said.

Doing well and being fully prepared for competitions comes down to building the right decks and practicing with them, he said.

Weiss compared playing the game to a chess game, where you have to know the right moves for each situation.

There’s also some luck of the draw involved, and lots of close calls during matches, he said. During one round toward the end of the daylong city championship competition, Weiss and an opponent went into sudden death, when players start a new game with only one prize card each in play.

Though he does get nervous about hoping to do his best and not mess up, Weiss has learned to deal with that feeling over the past three years competing, he said.

And with his competitive nature, he really enjoys the matches and seeing how well he can do in competitions, he said.

It’s also good to take road trips to events with friends and hang out with the people at the competitions, who are generally friendly and accepting, Weiss said.

Weiss encouraged anyone with an interest in the competitions to get involved in a league close to home. The two closest to Columbus are in Bloomington and Greenwood, he said, though he wishes there were one closer, those still present the best opportunity to get involved.

Organized Play events are sanctioned by The Pokemon Co. International and locally managed tournament organizers who run hundreds of Pokemon TCG and video game tournaments every year throughout the United States, according to Kersa Leichner, who handles public relations for the tournament series. Thousands of Pokeman competitors train and compete at various local league events and sanctioned tournaments in an attempt to become a Pokemon world champion, she said.

People also can go online to learn the game and play for free on pokemon.com, he said.

“Just play and have fun with it,” Weiss said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Weiss now is looking forward to the regional competition in St. Louis this spring. If he earns a top ranking at that competition, he’ll move on to the national competition, which takes place this summer in Indianapolis.

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Jared Weiss is preparing to head to the regional competition this spring in St. Louis. If he earns enough points there, he’ll receive an invitation to the U.S. national competition this summer in Indianapolis.

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