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Beloved educator dies after lengthy battle with cancer
A Bartholomew County educator who earned widespread admiration for almost 20 years has succumbed after a three-year battle with cancer.
Columbus East High School social studies teacher Tony Pottorff, 49, died of complications resulting from advanced breast cancer at about 5:30 p.m. Friday in his home, according to a family friend. Family members were at his side, the friend said.
After receiving the news, Columbus East Social Studies department chairman Greg Lewis spoke with sadness and emotion in his voice.
“This is a giant that we have lost on so many levels,” Lewis said.
King Day celebration to be virtual
The 24th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration will be livestreamed via Zoom and Facebook Live due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rev. Fred King, chairman of the organizing African American Pastors Alliance, made the announcement. The theme will be “The Dream Lives On.”
“Due to widespread interest in the event, we chose not to cancel it,” King said.
The past several years, about 330 people, ranging from city and county leaders to clergy to foundation and nonprofit executives attended at The Commons or Columbus North High School. Each year, a keynote speaker focuses on some element of human rights, civil rights or a related topic linking to the life of King, who led the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s before he was assassinated in 1968.