Gov. Mike Braun declared a new energy emergency Wednesday and extended Indiana’s gasoline tax holiday another 30 days, keeping 58.9 cents a gallon off the price at the pump through early September — and reopening a fight over how the state will pay for the roads that money was supposed to build.

The taxes had been set to return Friday. Braun said in July that his July 2 extension would be his last, telling reporters he lacked the authority to continue the break without lawmakers coming into special session. On Wednesday he found a new basis for it: the war in Ukraine and disruption to the Alberta Oil Sands Region from Canadian wildfires, rather than the Iran conflict that triggered the original emergency in April.

“New conditions that continue to disrupt global energy distribution provide a new basis for a suspension of gas taxes,” Braun said in announcing the order. “Affordability is my top priority, and my gas tax suspensions delivered the cheapest gas in America for Hoosiers all summer. I’m keeping those savings going for Hoosier families, and my recommended budget will tap our reserves to keep state and local infrastructure projects fully funded.”

What’s suspended

Two taxes remain off the books:

• The gasoline excise tax of 37 cents per gallon, which rose a penny July 1 under existing state law.
• The gasoline use tax — effectively the state’s 7% sales tax as applied to fuel — which was set at 21.9 cents a gallon for August.

Indiana’s average price for regular was $3.57 a gallon Wednesday, the lowest statewide average in the country against a national average of $4.08, according to AAA. That is up sharply from $3.06 in early July, and from $2.68 in late February before the Iran war began.

Huston: ‘make local communities and INDOT whole’

House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, endorsed the extension while signaling that the Legislature will have to sort out the road funding hole when it writes the next state budget.

“I support the Governor’s action today to provide continued relief for Hoosiers at the pump,” Huston said in a statement Wednesday. “All taxes paid at the pump are used to maintain and improve Indiana’s roads, and we intend to make local communities and INDOT whole for any road funding losses.”

“As we prepare for the next state budget, our intent is to work with the Governor and our colleagues in the Senate to identify existing resources and continue making the infrastructure investments that support Hoosiers, businesses and our growing economy,” he said.

That is not a small bill. Braun’s administration projects the four months of suspensions will cut $533 million from the revenue that flows to the Indiana Department of Transportation and to cities, towns and counties for road work. The governor has already directed the state to reimburse local governments from the State Highway Fund, with distributions underway since late July, and has suggested lawmakers tap the state’s surplus — which grew about 60% over the past year to roughly $4 billion — to cover INDOT’s share.

Democrats: ‘grasping at straws’

Indiana Democratic Party Chair Karen Tallian rejected the governor’s stated rationale outright, calling the new emergency declaration political cover for the Trump administration.

“Make no mistake, Governor Braun is using questionable legal authority to give cover to Trump for his undeclared war against Iran and the mess it created with oil prices worldwide,” Tallian said. “Braun is making up excuses — this time the long-running war in Ukraine and the Canadian wildfires — as reasons for a second energy emergency. Seriously? The truth is that he’s grasping at straws to outlast Trump’s unpopular war in the Middle East.”

Tallian pointed to S&P Global reporting that the Alberta wildfires were not expected to affect oil and gas production, and said no coverage has linked the fires to the oil sands region since early June.

“As long as the President continues with his unauthorized war for an unknown time, and the Middle East situation is an incoherent volatile mess, gas prices will continue to rise,” she said. “Governor Braun, we all want cheaper gasoline, not short-term highs that cost our local governments and INDOT over $533 million. Tell Trump to end the war in Iran today.”

The legal question

The dispute over Braun’s authority is not purely rhetorical. Indiana Code allows a governor to declare a disaster emergency by proclamation for up to 30 days, and states that “the governor may not renew or extend a proclamation more than once without approval of the general assembly.”

Braun’s first order, issued April 8, declared a 30-day emergency and lifted only the 7% sales tax on gasoline. A May 6 order extended it and added the excise tax suspension. A June 3 order declared a “second” emergency. By June, Braun was citing a 120-day maximum in the statute as the source of his authority; on July 2 he said the road ended in August absent legislative action. Wednesday’s order rests on a separate set of triggering conditions — Ukraine and the Canadian wildfires — rather than an extension of the earlier emergency.

Braun said in July he had not discussed a special session with legislative leaders but had not ruled one out. Nothing in Wednesday’s announcement indicated that has changed.

What it means locally

For Hamilton County drivers, the practical effect is another month of pump prices running roughly 59 cents below what they would otherwise be. For local government, it is another month of road money that has to come from somewhere else — and a reimbursement promise from the state that lawmakers have not yet written into a budget.

The suspension now runs through early September. Whether it goes further is a question for the General Assembly.

The Hamilton County Election Board will reconsider a proposal to replace traditional precinct-based voting with countywide Vote Centers beginning with the 2027 municipal elections.

The board will hold a public meeting and vote at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the Commissioners Courtroom at the Hamilton County Judicial Center in Noblesville. Residents will have an opportunity to comment before the vote.

Under the current system, voters must cast their Election Day ballots at their assigned precincts. The Vote Center model would allow any registered Hamilton County voter to cast a ballot at any designated Vote Center in the county.

Hamilton County currently operates 102 precinct polling locations. The proposal calls for 57 Vote Centers—more than twice the 27 locations required under state law based on the county’s registered voter population.

If the plan is approved, election officials would introduce Vote Centers during the lower-turnout 2027 municipal elections. That would give the county time to evaluate and adjust the system before the 2028 presidential election.

Election Board member Ray Adler, who voted against the proposal last year, said he now intends to support it. Adler cited Allen County’s implementation of Vote Centers and renewed partnerships between the Hamilton County Election Office and local school districts.

Several districts had previously stopped allowing schools to serve as polling places because of security concerns. According to the county, every local school district has now agreed to host Vote Center locations.

Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Kreag Williams authored Indiana’s original Vote Center legislation while serving in the Indiana House of Representatives. She said the system is intended to make voting more convenient while helping election operations keep pace with Hamilton County’s population growth.

“One of the biggest reasons this proposal works is because our local school districts have stepped up as partners once again,” Williams said. “By opening their buildings as Vote Centers, they’re helping ensure voters across Hamilton County have a convenient place to cast their ballot close to home. We’re incredibly grateful for their willingness to work with us to make voting more accessible.”

Residents who cannot attend the meeting may email comments to kathy.williams@hamiltoncounty.in.gov. The county is also accepting responses to an online survey before Sept. 25.

A power outage affecting roughly 2,000 Duke Energy customers in the Noblesville area has also disrupted service at Deer Creek Elementary School.

Despite the outage, classes are continuing as scheduled, according to Hamilton Southeastern Schools spokesperson Emily Abbotts. Students will be offered a cold lunch while regular food-service operations are affected.

School staff may also use Deer Creek Elementary’s outdoor learning spaces throughout the day. A backup generator is supplying power to portions of the building, allowing the school to maintain essential operations.

No changes to the school’s dismissal schedule have been announced.

Update:  Power was restored late morning Wednesday.

Two Fishers businesses agreed to host the anti-immigration rally that drew a large counter-protest to the city on Aug. 1, then pulled out — and the event’s organizer is now accusing the Fishers Police Department of leaking word of his venue troubles to the press.

Both revelations come from an interview published early Wednesday by the Indianapolis Star, which spoke with Save Heritage Indiana co-founder Daniel Poynter about how the event — billed by organizers as the first U.S. mass deportation rally — came together. IndyStar politics reporting intern Lucy Tobier reported the story.

Poynter told IndyStar the group originally lined up two different venues in Fishers, but both backed out. He declined to name them.

“While the business owners liked us, and they wanted to give us a space, it was just too costly for them,” Poynter told the Star. “They don’t want to get dragged through the mud by these people.”

The rally never happened in Fishers at all. As protesters gathered there on Aug. 1 chanting “no hate, no fear,” roughly 130 vetted guests were directed by email to a tent in Colfax, about 45 miles away, where former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino headlined the program. Save Heritage later described the shifting location reports as a “wild goose chase” in a post on X.

The second disclosure in the IndyStar story concerns law enforcement. Poynter said Save Heritage shared its security plans with Fishers police, and told them the group was having trouble locking down a venue. A day later, the local news site Indy Politics posted on X about those same venue struggles. Poynter told the Star he believes the Fishers Police Department leaked the information.

“The people on the left can march around and do their thing but we can’t,” he told IndyStar. “The government isn’t protecting us.”

Fishers police and a spokesperson for Mayor Scott Fadness did not immediately respond to IndyStar’s requests for comment on the allegation.

Poynter also told the Star that two private security firms scheduled to work the rally backed out over “safety concerns,” and that his group forwarded several death threats to the FBI. IndyStar’s request to attend the event was denied.

The rally exposed a split among Indiana Republicans. Gov. Mike Braun and Sen. Jim Banks declined to give recorded remarks, while Attorney General Todd Rokita and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith spoke virtually. Co-founder Nathan Roberts stepped down the day before the event over the group’s public criticism of Banks.

State Rep. Jim Lucas, who attended, told WIBC on Aug. 3 that the secrecy — attendees were driven through cornfields in vans — was “too secretive” for his liking.

Poynter said Save Heritage is just getting started, and is assembling a guide for organizers in other states who want to hold similar events.

Full credit for this reporting goes to Lucy Tobier and the Indianapolis Star. Read the complete story at this link.  You will likely need an IndyStar online subscription to access this story.

One person is dead and a Fishers man is facing a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death after a violent late-night crash at 96th Street and Allisonville Road.

The Fishers Police Department said officers and medics were called to the intersection just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4. When they arrived, they found the occupant of a white Hyundai Palisade dead at the scene.

The driver of a black Ford F-250 involved in the crash was still there when officers arrived and refused medical transport. Police identified him as Cory Amick and detained him for investigation of suspected operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Amick refused field sobriety tests at the scene, according to police. Officers obtained a search warrant for a blood draw, which was completed.

During the investigation, Fishers police reviewed video from a Flock camera near the intersection. Investigators said the footage shows the F-250 traveling at a high rate of speed through the roundabout before violently colliding with the Palisade. Police said the video confirms the contributing factors the department’s Crash Reconstruction Team had already identified.

The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office will release the victim’s identity after next of kin have been notified.

“The Fishers Police Department sends its deepest condolences to the family of the victim of this devastating incident,” the department said in a statement.

The investigation remains ongoing. Final charges will be decided by the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office. The preliminary charge against Amick is OWI causing death, a Level 4 felony.

Under Indiana law, a Level 4 felony carries a sentence of two to 12 years in prison, with an advisory sentence of six years.

A preliminary charge is not a formal criminal charge, and Amick is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The HSE first day of school arrives Wednesday with new backpacks and more than a few front-porch photographs.

For most students, Aug. 5 marks a return to familiar hallways and friends. For Hamilton Southeastern Schools’ kindergartners — the Class of 2039 — it is the beginning of an entirely new adventure.

Some children will hurry toward the entrance without looking back. Others may need one more hug or a parent’s reassuring promise that they will be waiting when the school day ends. Families, meanwhile, will balance pride and excitement with the realization that a major childhood milestone has arrived.

HSE offers full-day kindergarten at its 13 elementary schools. The day begins at 7:40 a.m. and ends at 2:10 p.m., giving the district’s youngest students their first experience with classroom routines, lunch at school and the important work of learning teachers’ and classmates’ names.

The first day is a full day for students at every grade level, according to the 2026–27 district calendar. High schools begin at 8:30 a.m., while intermediate and junior high schools start at 9:15 a.m.

HSE serves more than 21,000 students from preschool through 12th grade across Fishers and all of Fall Creek, Delaware and Wayne townships, including portions of Noblesville. Officials are asking families to be patient with transportation during the opening days as drivers and students become familiar with new routes.

A first day in a new school

Wednesday will bring more new beginnings than usual for some families.

New attendance boundaries for preschool through eighth grade take effect this year. The redistricting accompanied the expansion of Fishers Elementary School, which increases that building’s capacity from 450 to 700 students, while helping balance enrollment at schools across the district’s growing eastern side.

That means some returning students will experience their own version of a kindergarten first day: a different building, unfamiliar hallways and new classmates. HSE’s redistricting information says the changes are intended to manage growth, improve feeder patterns and make better use of available space.

Personal devices go away “bell to bell”

One of the most visible changes this year may be something students do not see: cellphones.

Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 78, which took effect July 1, strengthens the state’s previous classroom cellphone restrictions. Beginning this school year, public schools must limit access to personal wireless communication devices throughout the entire school day.

HSE’s new policy requires cellphones, smartwatches, smart glasses, gaming devices, personal tablets and laptops, digital cameras and personal earbuds or headphones to be powered off or silenced, stored and inaccessible from the opening bell through dismissal.

The restriction includes lunch, passing periods and study halls. Students may bring a phone to school, but they cannot access it during the day. Device use remains permitted on buses traveling to and from school when it does not interfere with safety.

Exceptions are available for documented medical needs, individualized education programs, Section 504 plans and certain language-learning needs. During an emergency, students may use a personal device when authorized by school staff or allowed by law.

Parents who need to contact a K-8 student should call the school’s main office. High school students may also communicate with families by email. HSE says violations may result in confiscation and progressive discipline, with a parent or guardian required to retrieve a confiscated device.

The restriction does not apply to district-approved instructional technology. More information is available in the district’s device policy FAQ.

Other changes for 2026–27

The district is continuing to phase out its bring-your-own-device program. Incoming students in grades K-2, 5-7 and 9-11 will receive district iPads without a rental fee and are not eligible to bring their own instructional devices.

HSE is also limiting student access to YouTube. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade may view videos only through teacher-provided links in Canvas or another approved platform. High school students will be limited to educational content or videos assigned by a teacher.

Families will see the return of consumable-material fees as well. The charges range from $25 for grades K-3 to as much as $125 for high school students, depending on grade level and course selections. Fees are waived for students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

Junior high athletic participation costs $50 per sport, while the high school fee is $75. The district says financial need will not prevent a student from participating. Additional details are included in HSE’s back-to-school guide.

For all the changes, however, the heart of the first day remains wonderfully familiar.

Kindergartners will find their cubbies, practice walking in line and begin turning a room full of strangers into a classroom community. Older students will compare schedules, reconnect with friends and meet new teachers. Families will watch buses disappear around corners and begin counting the hours until they can ask the most important first-day question:

“How was school?”

Thirteen officers spent Tuesday morning parked along some of the city’s busiest 35 mph corridors, and by lunchtime they had pulled over 91 drivers.

The Fishers Police Department said 12 of its officers, joined by a deputy from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, ran a targeted speed enforcement detail from 9 a.m. to noon. The worst offender clocked in at 25 mph over the posted limit — roughly 60 mph on a road designed for 35.

The timing was not accidental. With Hamilton County students heading back to classrooms, police say the mix of school buses, walkers, bicyclists and crossing guards changes the math on residential and collector streets that drivers may have gotten comfortable speeding through over the summer.

“As kids head back to school, we’re asking everyone to slow down, stay alert, and help protect the people who share our roads,” the department said in a post announcing the results.

Speed is one of the sharpest variables in whether a crash is survivable for someone outside a vehicle. Traffic safety researchers have long found that a pedestrian’s risk of serious injury or death climbs steeply as impact speed rises above roughly 20 to 30 mph — which is why enforcement efforts like Tuesday’s tend to concentrate on posted-35 roads rather than highways.

Ninety-one stops in three hours works out to roughly one every two minutes across the detail. The department did not say how many of the stops ended in citations versus warnings, or which roads were targeted.

Not every contact Tuesday morning involved a violation. Police said one officer broke off from enforcement to help an expecting family install a child’s car seat — a service Fishers officers and other Hamilton County agencies regularly provide, and one that safety advocates say matters given how often seats are installed incorrectly.

The department framed the morning as two halves of the same job. “But today wasn’t just about enforcement,” the post read, before closing with the department’s tagline: “Safe Streets. Strong Community.”

Multi-agency traffic details have become a routine tool for Hamilton County departments, which often coordinate around back-to-school weeks, holiday travel periods and known problem corridors. Partnering with the Sheriff’s Office lets a city department put more units on the road at once than its own patrol schedule would allow.

For drivers, the practical takeaway is simple enough: the 35 mph signs on Fishers’ arterials are being watched, and the margin officers were willing to extend Tuesday morning was thin.

Residents who want a car seat checked or installed can contact the Fishers Police Department to arrange an appointment.

Bull riding is coming to Fishers Event Center, and tickets go on sale later this week.

The Professional Championship Bull Riders (PCBR) will bring a full night of rodeo competition to the Fishers arena on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027, pitting some of the sport’s top riders against a pen of rank bulls. Barrel racing will round out the card, with cowgirls running the cloverleaf pattern against the clock.

Tickets go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at FishersEventCenter.com.

What to expect

For the uninitiated, the format is simple and brutal: a rider has eight seconds to stay aboard a bucking bull, with judges scoring both the athlete and the animal. Most attempts end well short of the buzzer.

Between rides, barrel racers take over the dirt, weaving a three-barrel pattern where hundredths of a second separate the payout from the drive home.

Family extras

Organizers are leaning into the family angle. The first 300 kids through the doors will receive a free cowboy hat and an autographed poster. Meet-and-greet opportunities with the bull riders will also be available.

About the venue

Fishers Event Center opened in November 2024 and has quickly become one of the busiest rooms in central Indiana. The 7,500-seat venue hosts comedy, country music, family shows and concerts across a range of genres, and doubles as a community space for local athletic events and high school graduations.

It is also home to three professional franchises: the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, Indy Ignite of Major League Volleyball and the Fishers Freight of the Indoor Football League.

If you go

• What: Professional Championship Bull Riders
• Where: Fishers Event Center, Fishers
• When: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2027
• Tickets: On sale 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 6 at FishersEventCenter.com

More than 21,000 Hamilton Southeastern Schools students return to classrooms Wednesday, Aug. 5, for the HSE first day of school. Their return will bring buses, student pedestrians and active school zones back to Fishers-area roads.

Elementary schools will operate from 7:40 a.m. to 2:10 p.m.; high schools from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and intermediate and junior high schools from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Families should make one last check of Skyward Tuesday night. According to HSE’s back-to-school guide, bus routes became available Aug. 1 but may change at the last minute. Required back-to-school forms are also due Wednesday. The district cautions that buses may run late during the first several days as drivers learn new routes.

The new year also brings new pre-K through eighth-grade attendance boundaries. The changes accompany the reopening of Fishers Elementary School after an expansion that increased capacity from 450 to 700 students, according to the district’s redistricting information.

Beginning Wednesday, motorists should once again expect reduced speed limits in posted school zones. Drivers should watch for flashing signals, follow the speed and hours shown on each sign, leave extra time for morning and afternoon traffic, and remain alert for children near crossings, neighborhoods and bus stops.

Indiana law also requires drivers to obey school-bus warning signals:

Yellow flashing lights mean a bus is preparing to stop. Slow down and prepare to stop.

When red lights flash and the stop arm is extended, drivers must stop before reaching the bus. On an undivided road, traffic approaching from either direction must stop and remain stopped until the red lights stop flashing, the arm is withdrawn and the bus begins moving.

The exception is a roadway divided by a physical barrier or an unimproved median, such as a concrete wall, cable barrier or grassy median. Traffic behind the bus must stop; drivers traveling in the opposite direction may proceed with caution. A road without such a barrier is treated as undivided, regardless of how many lanes it has.

The first days of school can mean unfamiliar routes, late buses and children learning new routines. A few extra minutes and a slower trip can help everyone begin the school year safely.

Three-time Grammy winner Billy Strings will play three sold-out nights at the Fishers Event Center this week, but fans without tickets won’t be left out of the fun.

The Fishers Event Center has partnered with the City of Fishers and Hamilton County Tourism to build a weekend of free, community-wide experiences around the concerts, set for Thursday, Aug. 6, through Saturday, Aug. 8. The shows were rescheduled from April.

Each day, the FORUM Credit Union Plaza outside the venue will host more than 40 Shakedown Street vendors and local artisans, along with a beer garden, food trucks, fan meetups, pop-up activities and photo opportunities. Official tour merchandise will be available early each day at the Fishers Event Center from 4:30 to 6 p.m. — no concert ticket required for any of it.

The three-night run caps a landmark stretch for Strings, whose latest album, “Highway Prayers,” won Best Bluegrass Album at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards earlier this year. The record, produced by Strings and Jon Brion and released on Reprise Records, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s all-genre Top Album Sales chart — the first bluegrass album to do so in 22 years. GQ has called Strings “the hottest roots-music phenomenon in decades.”

Since his 2017 debut, the singer, songwriter and guitarist has collected Grammy wins for Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd, 67th and 68th ceremonies, back-to-back Artist of the Year honors at the Americana Music Awards in 2022 and 2023, and Entertainer of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Awards in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. He has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and PBS’ Austin City Limits.

Strings followed “Highway Prayers” with an Apple Music Nashville Sessions EP and a surprise collaborative album with Bryan Sutton, “Live at the Legion,” recorded at Nashville’s American Legion Post 82 and featuring 20 traditional bluegrass and folk songs.

The concerts also mark one of the biggest weekends yet for the Fishers Event Center, which opened in November 2024. The 7,500-seat venue hosts concerts, comedy and family shows, and is home to the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, Indy Ignite of Major League Volleyball and the Fishers Freight of the Indoor Football League.

For a full guide to the weekend, including things to do around Hamilton County, visit visithamiltoncounty.com. More information about the venue is available at FishersEventCenter.com.