Hoosier Crossroads Conference play continued Friday night with another challenging evening for Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern, as both schools fell to unbeaten conference opponents.

Fishers dropped a 49-10 decision at home to Brownsburg, while Hamilton Southeastern traveled to Westfield and came away on the short end of a 36-7 score.

The Tigers (0-4, 0-2 HCC) found themselves facing another of the conference’s top programs, and Brownsburg showed why it remains among the favorites in Class 6A. The Bulldogs controlled the line of scrimmage, piling up 227 rushing yards and 412 total yards while converting six of nine third-down opportunities.

Fishers’ offense generated 208 total yards, including 185 through the air.

Quarterback Drew Wessel completed 12 of 23 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown but was intercepted three times. He also connected with Proll on a 23-yard completion.

Despite being outgained on the ground 227-27, the Tigers avoided turnovers on downs and converted two of nine third-down opportunities. Brownsburg finished with 21 first downs compared with nine for Fishers and converted all five of its trips inside the red zone into points.

Hamilton Southeastern (1-3, 0-3 HCC) also faced a difficult assignment against unbeaten Westfield.

The Shamrocks remained one of the conference’s hottest teams, defeating the Royals 36-7 to improve to 5-0 overall. Hamilton Southeastern managed one touchdown but was unable to slow a Westfield team that has now won its first five games of the season.

The Royals have now opened conference play with losses to Avon and Westfield after beginning the season with a victory over North Central sandwiched between defeats to Fort Wayne Carroll and Avon.

For both Fishers schools, the early conference schedule has proven to be among the toughest in Indiana. Fishers has opened against Carmel, Lawrence North, Noblesville and Brownsburg, while Hamilton Southeastern has faced Fort Wayne Carroll, Avon and Westfield in addition to its win over North Central.

Both teams will look to regroup next week as conference play continues, with the focus shifting toward finding consistency on both sides of the football before the second half of the regular season.  Fishers will travel to Avon and HSE faces Zionsville at home

U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz is demanding that Democratic challenger J.D. Ford remove or correct campaign website statements about her finances and congressional record, while challenging him to a public debate on health care, Big Tech and data centers.

The Republican congresswoman outlined her objections in a Sept. 18 letter to Ford. The two are competing for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District seat, which includes Hamilton County.

“These are not differences of political opinion. These are objectively verifiable facts,” Spartz said in a campaign news release. “If Mr. Ford has evidence to support these allegations, he should produce it. Otherwise, he should correct the record.”

Ford’s campaign website alleges that Spartz traded $5 million in stocks in industries she regulated, resisted congressional stock-trading reforms, violated disclosure rules and used her office to enrich herself.

Spartz denies those allegations. In her letter, she says she has never personally owned or traded individual stocks and that the transactions cited by Ford involved her husband Jason’s retirement account.

A congressional transaction report included with her letter identifies a September 2024 sale of Simon Property Group stock as a transaction made through Jason Spartz’s Roth IRA. It lists the sale in a disclosure range of $1,000,001 to $5 million, rather than specifying an exact $5 million amount. Spartz says the proceeds were substantially below $5 million and were used to purchase farmland.

Spartz also disputes the claim that she opposed stock-trading reform, citing her July 22 vote for H.R. 7008, the Stop Insider Trading Act. The House’s official roll call confirms that she voted for the measure, which passed 232-198.

On financial disclosures, Spartz says the House Ethics Committee confirmed that a filing questioned in earlier news coverage complied with applicable requirements. The materials supplied with her letter do not include that committee confirmation.

She also rejects Ford’s assertion that congressional service enriched her, saying her financial position has not materially changed because of her service.

Beyond the financial dispute, Spartz proposes a debate covering both candidates’ legislative records, campaign contributions and committee service. She disputes Ford’s claims about her health care and technology positions and says she has refused campaign contributions from Big Tech.

In a separate Sept. 18 letter to media organizations, Spartz asks them to independently verify disputed allegations against public records before running advertisements or other paid communications containing those claims.

Ford’s response to the letters was not included in the materials provided for this story. His campaign website contained the disputed allegations when reviewed for this report.

The Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced convictions in four trials over the past two weeks, with three of the cases built on Fishers Police Department investigations.

“It’s been an extraordinarily busy trial week for us here in Hamilton County,” the office said in a post on its official Facebook page.

Jurors in the first case heard evidence Sept. 8 through Sept. 11 against Giovanny Javier De Jesus De Jesus, who faced two counts each of attempted murder and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

Fishers police responded July 21, 2025, to a report of a person shot on Benton Drive and found a woman with multiple gunshot wounds. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition. The office said De Jesus De Jesus fired at the woman and at the 18-month-old child in her arms as she tried to leave a residence. Officers arrested him the same day.

The jury deliberated about two hours before returning guilty verdicts on all counts, the office said. Sentencing is set for Oct. 9.

A second jury trial began Monday, Sept. 14, in Hamilton Superior Court 1. Xinjun Zhu faced five counts: two counts of rape and one count each of sexual battery, criminal confinement and resisting law enforcement.

Those charges followed a Fishers police investigation into a report from a woman who said she was sexually assaulted while receiving a massage at Massage Finesse, a Fishers business. After three days of evidence, jurors convicted Zhu on both rape counts, as well as sexual battery and resisting law enforcement. The office did not report a verdict on the criminal confinement count. Zhu is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 8.

A bench trial began Tuesday, Sept. 15, in Hamilton Circuit Court in State of Indiana v. Natalia Arreaza Ramirez, who faced charges of aggravated battery, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, criminal recklessness and possession of cocaine.

Prosecutors said the charges stem from a June 2, 2024, encounter in which Arreaza Ramirez stabbed a person at a party at her home. Fishers police investigated. After two days of evidence, the judge convicted her on all four counts. Sentencing is set for Oct. 14.

A second bench trial that also began Sept. 15 involved Kenneth Guy, charged with a single count of dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death.

Westfield police responded Jan. 27 to a report of an unresponsive man and suspected an overdose based on evidence at the scene, according to the prosecutor’s office. Detectives later identified Guy as the source of the drugs that killed the victim. The judge found Guy guilty after two days of evidence. He will be sentenced Dec. 1.

“The convictions in each of these cases are the direct result of the commitment of our law enforcement officers and prosecutors to public safety,” the office said. “We take violent and deadly crimes seriously, and we will utilize every resource at our disposal to ensure those committing such acts in Hamilton County are held accountable.”

Fishers artist Abigail Staffelbach earned Best in Show and a $1,000 prize for her oil painting “Through Clouds, Blue” at the Fishers Arts Council’s seventh annual Juried Exhibit of Hamilton County Artists.

The awards were presented Sept. 11 at the Fishers Municipal Center. Jiffy Lube of Indiana returned as title sponsor of the competition.

Staffelbach also received a solo exhibit for 2027. Juror Carol Strock Wasson of Union City praised the painting’s color harmony, atmospheric depth and handling of edges.

“This is a memorable painting that will remain with me for many days to come,” Wasson said.

Five category winners each received $600:

• Best Landscape: Neal Snapp of Fishers, “The Cool Edge of Sunset.”
• Best Portrait/Figurative: Wesley Dallas Merritt, formerly of Sheridan, for his watercolor “Treasures in the Fog.”
• Best Floral/Other: Rich Ernsting, for his transparent watercolor “Tranquility.”
• Best Abstract: Valerie Bielski of Noblesville, “Sunset on Kona.”
• Best 3D: Susan Hirsch of Fishers, for her stoneware piece “Have I Done Enough?”

Craig Mullins of Indianapolis received a $250 merit award for “Fly Adrift Along the Aspens,” as did Brenda Whicker, formerly of Fishers, for “Blushing Mums.”

Fishers resident Asma Siddiqui won the Noblesville Creates People’s Choice award for the second consecutive year. Her textured acrylic and mixed media work, “Memory of a Rising Wave,” earned the most combined online and in-person votes and a $250 prize.

According to the arts council, Snapp’s painting sold before the awards evening ended, while Bielski’s work sold on the exhibit’s opening day.

The exhibit continues through Oct. 2 at the Art Gallery at City Hall and in the adjoining Fishers Art Center galleries at 1 Municipal Drive. Most of the exhibited works, including many award winners, are available for purchase, according to the council.

The arts council lists visiting hours as 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays during the Fishers Farmers’ Market. Artwork also can be viewed on the Fishers Arts Council Facebook page.

The Sept. 18 edition of the Fridays with Larry podcast marks World Alzheimer’s Day with a conversation about what the disease looks like day to day — and who carries the weight of it.

World Alzheimer’s Day falls Monday, Sept. 21. Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disease that affects memory and thinking and, eventually, the ability to manage everyday life. It is the most common form of dementia, and it is not a normal part of aging. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates 7.4 million Americans 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia this year. In Indiana, the association counts more than 121,000 people with the disease and more than 221,000 friends and family members providing unpaid care.

This week’s guest is Joe Kohler, director of operations for Griswold of North Suburban Indianapolis, which serves Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville, Westfield and neighboring communities. Kohler says dementia accounts for roughly 80% of his clients. He describes the signs that go beyond ordinary forgetfulness — a stove left on, a withdrawal from family and social events, the same question asked again and again.

Much of the conversation is about the families. Kohler says the first call usually comes from a son or daughter asking for respite — a few hours or a day of relief from what is otherwise a 24/7 job. He talks about why families wait too long to ask for help, and what private-pay home care costs when there is no long-term care insurance, generally $28 to $36 an hour depending on need.

We also discuss where treatment stands. Drugs such as Leqembi and Kisunla can slow decline in some people in the early stages, and last year the FDA cleared the first blood test to help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s in people showing symptoms. Those are reasons for hope. More than a century after the disease was first described, there is still no cure.

The episode closes with a commentary on Canada. I spent several weeks there in the 1980s and came home with an affection for the country that has lasted. I think about Gander, Newfoundland, where residents took in thousands of stranded air passengers on Sept. 11, 2001. Twenty-five years later, amid tariffs and a hardening trade dispute, that kindness is worth remembering.

Fridays with Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank, with a Fishers branch inside the Thomas A. Weaver Municipal Complex.

Watch the video version here or just listen using this link.

Registration is open for HAND’s 2026 Trivia Night, the affordable housing nonprofit’s annual fundraiser, set for Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Delaware Township Community Center in Fishers.

Doors open at 6 p.m. at the center, 9094 E. 131st St., with trivia beginning at 7 p.m. The event is presented by Merchants Bank.

Indy Live Trivia will again run the competition, leading five rounds of general trivia. Organizers call it HAND’s most popular event of the year.

This year’s theme asks teams to turn the page — literally. Participants are invited to choose a favorite children’s book or character and bring it to life through team costumes and table décor. Organizers suggest storybook classics and childhood favorites, and prizes will be awarded for the best costumes and best decorated tables.

HAND is also asking attendees to bring a new children’s book to the event. In what organizers describe as a nod to Dolly Parton and the millions of books she has helped put into children’s hands, the books collected that night will be shared with HAND’s youngest residents and with children at the O’Connor House.

“We can’t wait to see what stories fill the room,” organizers said in announcing the event.

HAND Inc. provides affordable housing and advocates for housing options across Hamilton, Boone and Tipton counties. Trivia Night has been a significant fundraiser for the organization — a previous edition of the event, also held at the Delaware Township Community Center, raised nearly $30,000 through ticket sales, table sponsorships, raffle tickets and donations.

Sponsorship opportunities are available in addition to team registration. Details on registration, team size and sponsorship levels are available from HAND.

Register using this link.

Fishers Public Health Director Monica Heltz says the newly released Fishers Community Health Assessment shows a city changing faster than many residents may realize — and that the changes are reshaping how her department spends its time and money.

The report is labeled 2025, the year most of the data was gathered, but was released this year. In a podcast conversation, Heltz said the biggest surprise was the breadth of demographic change.

“Our older adults are our most rapidly growing demographic,” she said, adding that the city has also grown more diverse by race, age and income, particularly among younger residents.

The assessment draws on roughly 1,500 survey responses, a series of focus groups and publicly available data sets. Heltz said the toughest part was drilling county-level data down to the city level to separate Fishers from Hamilton County as a whole. The department also reviewed a de-identified IU Health data set and found the public data held up well.

Three priorities emerged: mental health, aging well and healthy living.

On mental health, Heltz said residents repeatedly told the department they did not know where to begin looking for help. In response, the city has added a mental health support specialist who helps residents navigate services. The service takes no insurance and is open to anyone by appointment. The department already employs a licensed clinical social worker working alongside police and fire, along with two community health advocates.

The survey included a screening, in which roughly 3 in 10 adults screened positive for possible depressive symptoms. Heltz stressed that is a screening tool, not a diagnosis, and said depression and anxiety are both common and treatable.

Falls drive much of the city’s EMS volume, Heltz said, and the department’s fall prevention program offers in-home safety assessments and Stepping On classes. Social isolation surfaced as a concern for older adults, young adults and caregivers alike — a challenge Heltz tied partly to a fast-growing city where “almost nobody is from here.”

Other findings drew Heltz’s attention: about 96% of respondents reported health coverage, but roughly 12% said they delayed care, mostly over cost or appointment availability. Using the ALICE measure, 23% of households in the two ZIP codes studied are in poverty or earning too little to comfortably cover basic needs. Black mothers in Fishers were 2.3 times more likely than white mothers to deliver a low birth weight baby, mirroring a long-standing statewide disparity.

Heltz also discussed the swings in state public health funding, which was rolled back 73% after the Health First Indiana increase, and the loss of several federal grants.

Two more documents are coming: the Community Health Improvement Plan, due soon, and a three-year strategic plan expected by the end of the year.

This episode is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

Listen using this link or the link below.

The Fishers Century Club has selected SERVE Village as the recipient of its quarterly crowdgiving funds, recognizing the organization’s work helping Hamilton County residents recover from recent flooding.

Members made the selection at their meeting Tuesday, Sept. 15. The session was devoted entirely to local nonprofits that stepped forward during the flood response.

SERVE Village helped coordinate that response countywide, pulling together volunteers, government agencies and nonprofit partners. The group organized cleanup and “muck-out” crews, distributed essential supplies and connected affected families with available resources. That work continues as cleanup across the county goes on.

“SERVE Village stepped up when our community needed it the most,” said Adam Kallick, founder of the Fishers Century Club. “They brought people and resources together, organized volunteers and helped families begin the difficult process of cleaning up and recovering. Our members wanted to recognize that incredible response and provide additional support for the important work that continues.”

The final donation is expected to land in the $3,000 to $4,000 range. Contributions are still coming in from members who could not attend the meeting. Once the tally is complete, the club will present SERVE Village with a check for the full amount.

“The flood didn’t create the Village, it revealed it. We are incredibly proud of what SERVE Village helped coordinate, but even more proud of the community that showed up for one another,” said Michelle Schmidt, SERVE Village’s board president. “Thank you Fishers Century Club for being part of the village, we are so grateful!”

Anyone still wanting to contribute can do so through the club’s online Grapevine giving platform at www.tinyurl.com/OnlineGivingFCC.

The meeting also produced a second opportunity for the nonprofits that presented. Mike Pratt, who runs Vicious Biscuit in Fishers, attended the meeting and — after hearing more about the club and the charities — offered to host dine-to-donate events benefiting the organizations that presented, including those not chosen as the quarterly winner.

The Fishers Century Club is a local crowd-giving organization that meets quarterly to hear presentations from area charities, vote on a recipient and combine individual contributions into a single larger community gift. All funds collected go directly to the selected nonprofit.

The next quarterly meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, at The Club Coworking.

More information and a list of past winners is available at www.fisherscenturyclub.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fisherscenturyclub.

Kindergarten students practiced bongo drums at the Hamilton East Public Library during a recent visit, getting a hands-on introduction to music as part of a new Hamilton Southeastern Schools program connecting art, movement and literacy.

The drumming was one part of The Arts, a Kindergarten Experience, which will reach approximately 1,100 students across HSE’s 13 elementary schools. Piloted last spring, the program is now being fully implemented as the district’s sixth guaranteed student experience.

Dr. Danielle Fetters-Thompson, HSE’s assistant superintendent of foundational learning, described the program as “a great way to introduce our students to the arts.”

She said the arts focus adds something different to the district’s guaranteed experiences, which otherwise center on STEM or social studies. It also introduces HSE’s youngest learners to creative opportunities in Fishers.

The activities connect with learning that begins before students arrive. Fetters-Thompson said the children had read a book about a little girl and drumming before taking part in the Bongo Boy drumming experience.

Their itinerary also included watercolor painting and a clay activity at the Fishers Art Center, along with another library activity connecting the experience to literacy.

The initiative brings together HSE Schools, the Fishers Art Center — a division of the Indianapolis Art Center — and Hamilton East Public Library. Every HSE kindergarten student will visit both locations during the school year, according to the district.

HSE says the program aligns with Indiana academic standards for visual arts, dance, music and English/language arts, connecting the field trip activities with classroom instruction.

“This experience reflects our belief that learning should be engaging, creative, and connected to the world beyond the classroom,” HSE Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley said in the district’s announcement. “Thanks to our partnerships with the Fishers Arts Center and Hamilton East Public Library, our kindergarten students can explore the arts in meaningful ways.”

A planning committee helped shape the program for young learners. Its members included kindergarten teachers; art, music and physical education teachers; building principals; and leaders from the art center and library. Together, they designed activities blending visual art, movement and literacy while introducing families to community arts resources.

Michelle O’Hollaren, executive vice president of education and innovation for the Indianapolis Art Center/Fishers Art Center, said the visits may give some children their first opportunity to create in a professional arts setting.

“By giving every HSE kindergartener the opportunity to explore, make, and experience art firsthand, we are helping build creativity, confidence, and curiosity that can extend far beyond the art studio,” O’Hollaren said in the announcement.

Hamilton East Public Library Director Melissa Loiselle said the partnership with HSE and the City of Fishers fits the library’s mission of connecting the community with information and ideas. She also highlighted Ignite Studio, the makerspace at the Fishers Library.

“The Ignite Studio is an incredible makerspace at our Fishers Library that we are excited to share with our community’s youngest innovators!” Loiselle said.

The program joins HSE’s expanding collection of guaranteed experiences, designed to give every student access to hands-on learning throughout their time in the district.

Fishers has rolled out its fall calendar, and it mixes the familiar with a few firsts — including the inaugural Big Ten Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Fishers Event Center over Thanksgiving week.

The season’s most immediate business is the end of another one. The Fishers Farmers Market, presented by IU Health, closes out its run with two final Saturdays at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater — Club Day on Sept. 19 and a Thrift-A-Thon on Sept. 26. Both run 8 a.m. to noon with more than 100 Indiana vendors.

That same Saturday evening, Glow in the Park returns to the amphitheater from 6 to 9 p.m. Wear white. Expect DJs, foam cannons, neon splash zones, inflatable slides, black lights and lasers. Tickets are required.

October is the heavy month. Conner Prairie’s Headless Horseman runs Thursdays through Sundays, Oct. 1-25. The AgriPark Fall Festival takes over the farm Oct. 3-4 with an expanded scarecrow trail, campfires, animal encounters and food trucks. Both AgriPark Campout dates, Oct. 9-10 and Oct. 16-17, are already sold out.

New this year: free Movies in the Plaza at the Fishers Event Center, with “Miracle” on Oct. 3 and “Hocus Pocus” on Oct. 10, both at 7 p.m.

Hometown hockey is back Oct. 16, when the Indy Fuel open their third season at the Fishers Event Center against the Wheeling Nailers at 7:15 p.m.

Halloween lands on a Saturday. Boo Bash, presented by GBC Bank, runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the amphitheater, and the city’s official trick-or-treat hours are 5:30 to 8 p.m., with Fishers police patrolling neighborhoods. The Fishers Arts Council also marks Día de Muertos on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at the Fishers Municipal Center, with a community altar, pan de muerto and live music.

November brings the city’s free Recycling Day on Nov. 7 at Billericay Park, the Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11 at the Municipal Center theater, and the Second Friday Gallery Hop on Nov. 13.

Then comes the big one. From Nov. 20-25, the Big Ten’s top 15 women’s volleyball teams meet at the Fishers Event Center — home of the Indy Ignite — with the championship match on Thanksgiving Eve.

Registration is also open for fall break camps, Community Center programs, Art Center classes and Maker Playground workshops. A full list of dates, times and locations follows below:

Continue reading Fall in Fishers brings back the glow, adds hockey and a Big Ten first →