Home Blog Page 7

Finding balance: Youth Empowerment Summit encourages participants to take an ‘energy audit’

By
Brad Davis
-

Mike Wolanin | The Republic Youth Ambassadors dance the Macarena during the Youth Empowerment Summit at the Columbus Learning Center in Columbus, Ind., Friday, March 27, 2026.

Nearly 140 students from around the county arrived at the Columbus Learning Center Friday morning for a day filled with looking inward and considering how to find balance in a chaotic world at an age that makes that increasingly difficult.

The Council for Youth Development’s (CYD) Youth Empowerment Summit is an all-day student leadership conference, organized by CYD’s 22 youth ambassadors. It featured a keynote speaker, interactive breakout sessions and community partner tables who share resources, job opportunities and scholarship information for students.

The youth ambassadors work to develop the theme for the summit, as well as ideas for the breakout sessions. This year’s theme was “Finding Your Balance.”

Stephanie Serriere, professor of education at IU Columbus and director of the I-Engage Civic Empower Program, was the morning’s keynote speaker, giving her remarks after a short introduction from Mayor Mary Ferdon.

Serriere brought the energy right away, sharing a little about her life growing up and providing three strategies about finding balance. Serriere discussed the importance of undergoing regular “energy audits” and being cognizant of the emotional frequencies attendees put out into the world.

“The youth ambassadors were literally lined up, cheering people on the way in,” Serriere told The Republic. “That felt like a cup of coffee.”

“This community does so well in ushering them into being more community-oriented,” Serriere continued.

Students visited three different breakout sessions, all focused on the summit’s theme. Janae Garner Kelley, a Healthy Communities Action Specialist and Child Fatality Review Coordinator, discussed “maintaining balance.”

Turning Point’s Cassie Davidson, Director of Prevention, and Stephanie Cunningham, Community Prevention Program Specialist, led a session on “social equilibrium.”

CSA New Tech’s 2026 Teacher of the Year Bajorn Gaylord put together a breakout session on the “art of emptying.”

Youth Empowerment Coordinator Freddie King was the quarterback for the event, directing the flurry of activity in what was the most well-attended Youth Empowerment Summit to date.

“They’re a very dynamic group of young leaders,” King said of this year’s cohort of youth ambassadors. “They just have great perspectives on the world and they have so much to say.”

Leaning into the event’s theme, students had access to a calming space, conducted mindfulness prompts and took more in sensory art through Inclusive Options.

“We want them to be inspired and empowered to get involved. We want them to use their voice and seek opportunities for leadership,” King said. “We want them to be mindful of how they are navigating their world and making sure that they are protecting what is theirs: their time, their energy and giving themselves permission to take ownership of that.”

Applications to become part of next year’s youth ambassador cohort went live on Friday, and will be open until April 24.

“If you are maybe nervous to be a youth ambassador, then you are the perfect candidate,” King said. “Because it’s about growth, it’s about expanding beyond what you thought you could do.”

Supreme Court hears high-profile fight over Trump’s bid to limit birthright citizenship

By
The Associated Press
-

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up one of the term’s most consequential cases, President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. Trump plans to be in attendance.

In arguments Wednesday, the justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling from New Hampshire that struck down the citizenship restrictions, one of several courts that have blocked them. They have not taken effect anywhere in the country.

A definitive ruling is expected by early summer.

Trump will be the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court.

The case frames another test of his assertions of executive power that defy long-standing precedent for a court that has largely ruled in the president’s favor, but with some notable exceptions that Trump has responded to with starkly personal criticisms of the justices.

The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed the first day of his second term, is part of his Republican administration’s broad immigration crackdown.

Birthright citizenship is the first Trump immigration-related policy to reach the court for a final ruling. The justices previously struck down global tariffs Trump had imposed under an emergency powers law that had never been used that way.

Trump reacted furiously to the late February tariffs’ decision, saying he was ashamed of the justices who ruled against him and calling them unpatriotic.

He issued a preemptive broadside against the court on Sunday on his Truth Social. “Birthright Citizenship is not about rich people from China, and the rest of the World, who want their children, and hundreds of thousands more, FOR PAY, to ridiculously become citizens of the United States of America. It is about the BABIES OF SLAVES!,” the president wrote. “Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!”

Trump’s order would upend the longstanding view that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, and federal law since 1940 confer citizenship on everyone born on American soil, with narrow exceptions for the children of foreign diplomats and those born to a foreign occupying force.

The 14th Amendment was intended to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship, though the Citizenship Clause is written more broadly. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” it reads.

In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as illegal, or likely so, under the Constitution and federal law. The decisions have invoked the high court’s 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark, which held that the U.S.-born child of Chinese nationals was a citizen.

The administration argues that the common view of citizenship is wrong, asserting that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

The court should use the case to set straight “long-enduring misconceptions about the Constitution’s meaning,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote.

No court has accepted that argument, and lawyers for pregnant women whose children would be affected by the order said the Supreme Court should not be the first to do so.

“We have the president of the United States trying to radically reinterpret the definition of American citizenship,” said Cecillia Wang, the American Civil Liberties Union legal director who is facing off against Sauer at the Supreme Court.

More than one-quarter of a million babies born in the U.S. each year would be affected by the executive order, according to research by the Migration Policy Institute and Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute.

While Trump has largely focused on illegal immigration in his rhetoric and actions, the birthright restrictions also would apply to people who are legally in the United States, including students and applicants for green cards, or permanent resident status.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Looking Back – April 1

By
Staff Reports
-

German student Tim Prohaska, left, eats ice cream while classmate Ennie Pahmeier, right, looks on at Zaharkos in downtown Columbus on March 30, 2016. German students traveled from Columbus’ sister city, Löhne, Germany, as part of an educational exchange program.

2016

IUPUC’s Chancellor Nasser Paydar announced that Governors State University Dean Reinhold Hill was named IUPUC’s new vice chancellor and dean, the top position at the Columbus campus.

2001

Inmates at the Bartholomew County Jail ditched their orange garb and replaced them with black-and-white striped jumpsuits, reminiscent of earlier days.

1976

Columbus High School graduate Robert Gray traveled to Alaska to begin working on the Alaskan Pipeline with the Alaskan Resource Sciences Corporation. Gray earned a degree in geology from Indiana University in 1975.

Region police calls – April 1

By
Staff Reports
-

JENNINGS COUNTY

Arrests

Sunday

Casey Pickett, 47, Columbus, domestic battery, 12:50 a.m., by the North Vernon Police Department, $1,055 bond.

Conor Pickett, 22, North Vernon, domestic battery, 2:24 a.m., by the North Vernon Police Department, $1,055 bond.

Orbe Moncon-Matias, 39, North Vernon, warrant, 9:27 a.m., no arresting agency reported, $1,155 bond.

Austin Keener, 23, Seymour, warrant, 11:05 p.m., no arresting agency reported, $2,555 bond.

Fire, medic runs

Sunday

7:47 a.m. — Vehicle fire in the 1200 block of West O&M Avenue.

Incidents

Sunday

12:30 p.m. — Dispute in the 300 block of Flintwood Drive.

1:14 p.m. — Dispute in the 400 block of Sixth Street.

1:22 p.m. — Trespass in the 800 block of Hoosier Street.

3 p.m. — Property-damage accident in the 3300 block of Country Manor Boulevard.

8:55 p.m. — Trespass in the 100 block of East O&M Avenue.

10:21 p.m. — Burglary in the area of Buckingham Drive.

City police calls – April 1

By
Staff Reports
-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following information is summarized from the records of city, county and state police, fire and hospital agencies.

Arrests

Saturday

Robert W. Remboske, 45, Nashville, body attachment, 3:49 p.m., by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, released on $500 bond.

Crystal K. Floyd, 36, Seymour, possession of methamphetamine, possession of hypodermic syringe or needle, 4:46 p.m., by the Columbus Police Department, held with no bond.

Cora J. Robinson, 41, Seymour, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, driving while suspended with a criminal offense conviction, 10:47 p.m., by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, held in lieu of $12,500 bond.

Joseph D. Vincent, 29, of 3870 Highview Way, Columbus, two counts of intimidation, theft, 11:12 p.m., by the Columbus Police Department, held with no bond.

Sunday

Gietzy Bello, 41, of 850 Werner Ave., Columbus, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction, operating a vehicle without ever obtaining a license with a prior conviction, Bartholomew County warrant, 2:18 a.m., by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, held in lieu of $35,000 bond.

Wesley P. Harner, 24, of 162 Butner Drive Apt. 11, Hope, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, 4 a.m., by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, released on $2,500 bond.

Miguel S. Aboytes Guerrero, 32, Indianapolis, possession of marijuana, Bartholomew County warrant, 8:44 a.m., by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, held in lieu of $53,500 bond.

Fire, medic runs

Sunday

2:44 a.m. — Person injured in the 200 block of North Hughes Street.

5:10 a.m. — Structure fire in the 13500 block of North U.S. 31.

5:14 a.m. — Person injured in a fall in the 500 block of Belmont Drive.

12:42 p.m. — Person injured in the 600 block of East Julia Drive.

1:15 p.m. — Unconscious person in the 3800 block of 25th Street.

1:51 p.m. — Fire investigation in the 9100 block of Main Street.

3:17 p.m. — Structure fire in the 8300 block of North Buckingham Drive.

3:45 p.m. — Small hazardous material spill in the 90 block of Johnson Boulevard.

5:35 p.m. — Person injured in a fall in the 500 block of Belmont Drive.

9:01 p.m. — Structure fire in the 3400 block of Putter Place.

9:11 p.m. — Person injured in a fall in the 3700 block of Sitka Circle.

11:30 p.m. — Structure fire in the 3900 block of Williamsburg Way.

Incidents

Sunday

12:08 a.m. — Missing child or runaway in the 2800 block of Village Drive.

1:15 a.m. — Missing child or runaway in the 2600 block of Joseph Cox Court.

5:53 a.m. — Property-damage accident in the 200 block of Jonesville Road.

8:31 a.m. — Fraud in the 2700 block of Lucas Way.

9:54 a.m. — Leaving the scene of an accident in the 500 block of Patterson Road.

11:41 a.m. — Threats at Sumpter Trail and Regency Drive.

12:02 p.m. — Property damage at Kenholt Drive and North Indianapolis Road.

12:10 p.m. — Property-damage accident in the 2700 block of West Jonathan Moore Pike.

12:18 p.m. — Leaving the scene of an accident in the 3100 block of Indiana Avenue.

3:20 p.m. — Theft in the 2900 block of North National Road.

3:26 p.m. — Subject refusing to leave in the 700 block of Fifth Street.

3:26 p.m. — Property-damage accident at West Jonathan Moore Pike and I-65.

3:34 p.m. — Domestic disturbance in the 100 block of Meadow Place.

3:51 p.m. — Subject refusing to leave in the 100 block of Carrie Lane.

5:12 p.m. — Property-damage accident in the 3500 block of Nicholas Lane.

5:26 p.m. — Shots fired in the 1000 block of South Trotter Place.

7:17 p.m. — Shoplifting in the 3000 block of North National Road.

7:40 p.m. — Shoplifting in the 2000 block of Merchants Mile.

10:10 p.m. — Property-damage accident in the 10 block of South Beatty Street.

Around Town – April 1

By
Staff Reports
-

Editor’s Note: Submissions to Around Town are opinions submitted anonymously by readers, not factual representations, and do not reflect the viewpoints of The Republic or its staff.

April 1

Orchids to

all those who participated to the 28th annual Empty Bowls fundraiser, surely a worthy cause.

Rick Fields and Overhead Door Company for the excellent service and communication, from a grateful customer.

Capt. Amy Tompkins of the Salvation Army and all of her team for the best job ever hosting Empty Bowls at Central Middle School.

the organizers of the No Kings march in downtown Columbus for providing an uplifting experience, bringing joy and unity.

the kind couple who bought my meal for me at Grillerz on Friday, March 13. God bless you!

putting bullies in their place.

Onions to

the unjustifiable aggression to civilian and UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

the member of Congress going on an undeserved vacation without finding a solution to the DHS funding.

the elected one, who unlike so many of us, doesn’t have to do without putting food on the table, buy gas to get to work, and go to war when he’s never been, so he has no clue.

those complaining about the downtown lights; they make the city feel alive and bring a smile to many people’s faces —there’s no harm in a little extra sparkle year-round!

the attack ads on our local state senator referencing a nearly 10-year-old Indiana gas tax vote.

state politicians whose only campaign platform is a meaningless presidential endorsement.

all the bigoted laws targeting trans people that serve no real purpose other than to be hateful.

those that think “my way or the highway” is a successful negotiation strategy.

any female accepting the endorsement of a convicted felon mysogynist.

Pistons end long stretch of futility with first division title in 18 years

By
The Associated Press
-

DETROIT (AP) — After nearly two decades, and stretches of futility, the Detroit Pistons have won the Central Division again.

The Pistons defeated the Toronto Raptors 127-116 on Tuesday to finish a long climb back up the NBA ladder and clinch their first division title since the 2007-08 season.

“You take pride in understanding how hard it is to do these things in this league,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. “You take pride in the fact that you have a group of young men who have grown and achieved certain milestones.

“It’s a part of the process, and we expect more.”

Two years after going 14-68 and losing a league-record tying 28 straight games, the Pistons are 55-21 with two All-Stars in Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. With Cunningham sidelined by a lung injury, Duren had 31 points on 12-of-13 shooting and added nine rebounds against the Raptors.

“He’s so talented,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s a different kind of big that you see in the NBA. You have space-up bigs and post-up bigs, but when you have somebody who can do both, he’s a problem for people.”

Daniss Jenkins, who started the season on a two-way contract, had 21 points and five assists. He’s averaging 18.6 points and 6.9 assists since replacing Cunningham as the starting point guard.

“We knew we were trying to do something special this year,” he said. “It’s great to accomplish something like this, but we have our eyes on the playoffs and doing some damage there. We’ll celebrate this tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”

They’ve helped end one of the worst periods in franchise history.

In 2007-08, the Pistons were still running out most of the same players that had led them to the 2004 championship and a seven-game Finals loss to San Antonio a year later. They went 59-23 under coach Flip Saunders, then knocked out Philadelphia and Orlando on their way to the last of their six straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances.

They didn’t know it, but they were about to go off a cliff.

The following offseason, team president Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson and replaced Saunders with Michael Curry.

The Pistons went 39-43 and spent the next 10 seasons cycling through eight coaches and resulting in zero postseason victories.

That was followed by one of the worst five-year stretches in NBA history as the Pistons went 94-290 (.245) and hit rock bottom in 2023-24, when they lost a franchise-record 68 games.

Last season, Cunningham and Duren led the Pistons to a 30-win improvement before the fell in six games to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Take Your Best Shot: Brad Stinebring

By
Staff Reports
-

Brad Stinebring saw these flamingos enjoying early sunlight at the San Diego Zoo.

Brad Stinebring saw these flamingos enjoying early sunlight at the San Diego Zoo.

City approves house condemnation

By
Reilly Gaunt
-

City officials approved a condemnation order Tuesday for a house at 500 S. Cherry St. in Columbus.

City code enforcement officer Robin Chavez told the Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety that the property is incapable of being salvaged and needs to be condemned, vacated and demolished with legal action taken. She said the house is sinking in the middle and is in really bad shape.

“The house is very unstable. It’s not safe,” Chavez said. “This landowner has another property that was presented (to the board of works) about two months ago, and it’s now going to court as well, or to be demolished in the same situation.”

One resident lives in the house with a pet dog. Chavez said that neighbors told her that the owner does take care of the dog. Both the owner and the dog have been ordered to vacate the property as of March 30.

Chavez said that utilities could not find a record of water service in the house since before 2000. A toilet sits outside the house in the yard. She said she did not trust the electricity in the house at this time either.

Community calendar – April 1

By
Staff Reports
-

Events listed for Wednesday, April 1

Walk-in Wednesdays — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., IU Columbus, 4601 Central Ave., Columbus. Anyone interested in IU Columbus is encouraged to stop by to meet with an admissions counselor and take home a free beanie hat.

Preschool Art Studio — 11:15 a.m. to noon, Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Dress for a mess during this drop-in event.

TOPS (Take Pounds Off Sensibly) No. 1444 — 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mill Race Center, 900 Lindsey St., Columbus. Weigh-in at 11:30 a.m., meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Must be a member of Mill Race Center. For more information, call Karen Burbrink at 812-371-9616.

Skill Builders: Geometric Painting — 1 to 1:45 p.m. and 2 to 2:45 p.m., Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Have fun crafting while you socialize. Use painter’s tape to create bold geometric designs on canvas, then paint and peel to reveal sharp, modern artwork. Register on the library website.

Columbus AirPark Campus Career Fair — 1 to 3:30 p.m., Columbus Learning Center, 4555 Central Ave., Columbus. Approximately 50 area employers will be attending the Career Fair, seeking full-time employees, as well as summer and part-time roles, and potential internships. Featured jobs span the business, education, engineering, health care, liberal arts and manufacturing sectors in Bartholomew and surrounding counties. Attendees should bring printed copies of their resume. For more details, visit go.iu.edu/Za4SYc.

Kids’ Art Studio — 4 to 4:45 p.m., Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Join library staff and unleash your creativity. All supplies provided.

Teen Promject Runway — 4 to 7 p.m., The LEX, 850 Tipton Lane, Columbus. Unlock your main character energy with a new-to-you fit for prom that’s free. Choose between a dress or a suit, add a pair of shoes and an accessory. Limit one prom outfit per person. Register on the Bartholomew County Public Library website.

Pollinator Community Meeting — 6 p.m., Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Natalie Perry and Eric Riddle from the Sierra Club Winding Waters Group will lead a discussion on the ecological benefits of native plants and what the club is doing in Columbus to diversify public landscapes with native plants. They will share how the club has helped establish native plant landscapes at Noblitt Park, Columbus North High School, the Columbus AirPark Pollinator Path, Fresh Start Recovery Center, and at their newest project with the Bartholomew County Public Library.

Bartholomew County Writer’s Group — 6 to 7 p.m., Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St., Columbus. Make connections, learn and share with other area authors.

1...678...22,141Page 7 of 22,141