I hosted radio talk shows in the 1970s and early 1980s. Even so, when I started podcasting in 2016, I still had a lot to learn. Podcasting technology is very different from the routine of radio production. It took some work, but I eventually got the hang of it.

I also learned the real secret to successful podcasting: hard work. Posting episodes on a regular schedule takes discipline, and most people who start a podcast don’t keep it going. The industry calls this “podfade.” A 2026 study by CastFox Research found that 22.8% of podcasts stop after one episode, more than half never get past six, and only 6.9% ever reach 100 episodes.

Most of my podcasts deal with serious subjects, but now and then I enjoy having some fun. In Fishers, one podcast team has fun in every episode: The Scuttlebutt Club.

Current in Fishers Editor Leila Kheiry has written a fine piece about the show’s hosts, sisters Katelyn Marando and Taylor Pearl. The two started the podcast about three years ago, near the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. As busy moms whose days revolved around their children’s schools, practices and games, they wanted to find things in the community for themselves. They hoped other parents would come along for the ride.

They told Kheiry they knew nothing about podcasting at first. They searched online and got advice on equipment and editing from a friend’s husband who has his own podcast. Since then, they have added video and now post episodes on YouTube, reels on Instagram, and audio on the major podcast platforms.

That kind of growth only comes from steady work. A new episode comes out every Tuesday. The sisters feature local businesses and restaurants and preview weekend events, and they often record on location around town, from a pickleball facility to the Fishers Event Center.

Mayor Scott Fadness also appeared as a guest on The Scuttlebutt Club. When the mayor comes on my podcast series, we usually stick to city business and only occasionally get into family life and hobbies. The Scuttlebutt sisters did it the other way around. They skipped politics and policy and asked the mayor about life as a dad, a husband and a friend. Marando told the Current the goal was to show who he is outside of politics.

I have always been glad to promote fellow podcasters who do the work of producing on a regular basis. Three years of weekly episodes puts the Scuttlebutt sisters well ahead of most podcasters. I tip my hat to The Scuttlebutt Club. Having fun on a podcast is a special brand all its own. Keep up the good work.

You can read Leila Kheiry’s story at this link:

You can watch the Scuttlebutt Club episode with Mayor Fadness here:

Cody Laskosky scored twice in 79 seconds early in the second period to tie the game for the Indy Fuel. The Wheeling Nailers answered with two late goals in the period and went on to a 5-2 win Saturday at the Fishers Event Center.

Indy outshot Wheeling 29-22 in front of 4,377 fans, including 11-4 in the third period. Nailers goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped 27 shots for the win.

Wheeling built a 2-0 lead in the first period. Mike Posma opened the scoring at 9:33 with his first goal of the season, assisted by Dante Sheriff and Hunter Sansbury. Justin Taylor made it 2-0 at 13:21, with assists from Kevin Gursoy and Sansbury.

The Fuel came out strong in the second. Laskosky scored at 1:35, set up by Ashton Cumby and Kyler Kupka. At 2:54, with Wheeling’s Scott Cremen serving a tripping penalty, Laskosky scored again on the power play to tie the game 2-2. Kupka and Mitchell Hoelscher assisted. The goals were Laskosky’s seventh and eighth of the season.

The tie held until late in the period. Posma scored his second goal of the night at 18:03, from Tanner Hartman and Sheriff, to put Wheeling back in front. Indy’s Jackson Desouza then went off for delay of game, and Robby Drazner scored on the power play at 19:28 for a 4-2 Nailers lead after two periods. Ryan Pitoscia and Dustin Geregach assisted.

Indy pressed in the third, but Kaskisuo turned away all 11 shots he faced. Craig Armstrong sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:22, assisted by Brandon Yeamans.

Fuel goaltender Thomas Gale made 17 saves on 21 shots in 59:10 of play.

Indy went 1-for-5 on the power play, and Wheeling went 1-for-2.

Kupka had two assists for the Fuel. Sansbury and Sheriff each had two assists for Wheeling.

The game’s three stars were Posma, Sansbury and Laskosky.

This was the Fuel’s fourth consecutive loss.  The Fuel now face the Toledo Walleye in a 4pm game Sunday,

Motorists traveling through the Southeastern Parkway and Olio Road intersection continue to face major traffic restrictions, while several other Fishers road construction projects are nearing completion.

The City of Fishers’ latest weekly road construction report says Phase 2 of the Southeastern Parkway and Olio Road roundabout reconstruction is expected to continue through the end of the year.

The project has closed the roundabout connections allowing northbound and southbound traffic to continue directly through the intersection on Olio Road. The fifth leg of the roundabout has also been permanently closed.

Southbound Olio Road traffic approaching from the north must turn west onto Campus Parkway/146th Street. Northbound motorists must use 136th Street and the newly constructed connection to Southeastern Parkway. Other detours are in place for eastbound and westbound traffic.

The city urges drivers to review the detour maps at FishersIN.gov/Olio before traveling through the area, particularly when visiting nearby hospitals and medical offices, which remain open and accessible.

There is better news along 136th Street. The widening project between Southeastern Parkway and Prairie Baptist Road reopened November 6. Some intermittent lane restrictions remain while crews finish the work.

At 116th Street and Allisonville Road, the intersection remains open, but drivers should expect occasional lane restrictions as crews complete traffic signal installation, sidewalk concrete work and restoration. Sidewalks within the project area remain closed.

Other construction updates include:

• Allisonville Road: Beginning the week of November 16, utility work will restrict the right northbound lane just north of Riverplace Drive.
• 131st Street and Brooks School Road: Utility relocation continues ahead of construction of a new roundabout, with occasional lane restrictions possible.
• Cumberland Road: Duke Energy utility work continues between 106th and 116th streets, with lane restrictions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• USA Parkway: The widening project north of 106th Street is substantially complete. Final work and periodic lane restrictions are expected through November.
• Resurfacing: Work is substantially complete along 131st Street, Howe Road and Promise Road, with pavement markings and other finishing work remaining.

Meanwhile, AT&T and Brightspeed are preparing additional fiber installations in several Fishers neighborhoods.

The Clear Path 465 project will also affect regional motorists this weekend. On Saturday, November 14, one eastbound I-465 lane between Keystone Avenue and White River will close from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Construction schedules remain subject to weather conditions.

The complete Fishers area road construction report follows:

Continue reading Olio Road roundabout closures continue as other Fishers road projects near completion →

Cincinnati goaltender Timofei Obvintsev stopped all 18 shots he faced, and the Cyclones beat the Indy Fuel 3-0 Friday night at Heritage Bank Center.

The Fuel, who play their home games at the Fishers Event Center, were held to single digits in shots in every period. Indy had eight shots in the first, six in the second and four in the third.

Cincinnati took control in the first period. Ryan Kirwan scored his seventh goal of the season at 9:15, assisted by Matt Copponi and Sahil Panwar. Simon Labelle made it 2-0 at 14:28 with his second goal, set up by Mitchell Wolfe and Matt Anderson.

From there, the game turned into a goaltending duel. Fuel goalie Adam Gajan kept Indy within reach through the second and third periods. Gajan finished with 29 saves on 31 shots.

Indy got its best chance to get back into the game 9 seconds into the second period. Obvintsev was called for delay of game, giving the Fuel their only power play of the night. Indy did not score on it.

Gajan went to the bench for an extra attacker late in the third period. Panwar then scored into the empty net at 18:08 to finish the scoring. It was his eighth goal of the season. Copponi and Sam McCue assisted.

Panwar ended the night with a goal and an assist, and Copponi had two assists. Cincinnati outshot Indy 32-18.

The game was clean. Obvintsev’s delay-of-game minor was the only penalty called. The Fuel were not penalized at all.

Labelle, Panwar and Obvintsev were named the game’s three stars. The crowd was 4,823.

The Fuel return to the Fishers Event Center Saturday at 7pm and face the Wheeling Nailers.

Professional Championship Bull Riders (PCBR) will bring two shows to Fishers Event Center in January after organizers announced the addition of a second performance due to popular demand.

The originally scheduled show is set for Saturday, January 9, 2027, at 7 p.m. A second show has been added for Sunday, January 10, at 2 p.m.

Both performances will feature professional bull riders competing against some of the nation’s toughest bulls, along with cowgirls participating in barrel racing competitions.

Organizers say the first 300 children entering the venue will receive a free cowboy hat and autographed poster. Fans will also have opportunities to meet participating bull riders.

Several ticket options are available, including an Early Access Experience that allows fans to enter the venue before the main event.

The Early Access Experience will be offered Saturday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Those purchasing the special passes will have opportunities to take photographs on the arena dirt with bulls and selected riders, shop for merchandise before the general crowd arrives and visit the venue’s Legacy Club. Light snacks and a drink ticket are included.

An Early Access Pass requires a separate ticket to the same day’s performance. Adults and children ages 5 and older must have both tickets to participate. The number of passes is limited.

VIP floor tickets are also available, offering front-row seating near the arena dirt and access to the Legacy Club.

Tickets for both performances are on sale at FishersEventCenter.com.

The Fishers Event Center, which opened in November 2024, seats approximately 7,500 spectators and hosts concerts, family entertainment and sporting events.

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

Hamilton County’s official results for the Nov. 3 general election were released Friday after a meeting of the Hamilton County Election Board. They show no changes from the preliminary numbers reported on Election Night.

Of the county’s 290,805 registered voters, 150,824 cast ballots, for a turnout of 51.86%. Early in-person voting nearly matched Election Day voting: 70,190 people voted in person before Election Day and 70,925 voted on Election Day. Another 9,709 voted by mail.

Speaker unseated

The official count confirms that Democrat Lauren Cole defeated Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston in House District 37. Cole won 13,320 votes (51.52%) to Huston’s 12,533 (48.48%), a margin of 787 votes.

Other Hamilton County legislative results:

• House District 39: Lindsay Gramlich (D) 54.10%, Danny Lopez (R) 45.90%
• House District 32: Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D) 61.12%, Paul G. Nix (R) 38.88%
• House District 24: Racheal Bleicher (D) 53.77%, Hunter Smith (R) 46.23%
• House District 29: Alaina Shonkwiler (R) 52.39%, Devon Wellington (D) 47.61%
• House District 88: Stephanie Jo Yocum (D) 53.07%, Chris Jeter (R) 46.93%
• Senate District 31: Kerry Forestal (D) 57.35%, Juanita Albright (R) 42.65%
• Senate District 21: Kirsten Root (D) 14,053, Tracey Powell (R) 13,927, a 126-vote margin

For districts that extend beyond the county, these figures count Hamilton County votes only.

County offices

Democrats won several countywide seats. Charles Hollowell was elected sheriff with 50.94% over Republican Dustin K. Dixon. Alexandra E. Wilson won circuit court clerk with 51.27%, and Emily L. Angel Shaw won Superior Court No. 8 with 52.47%.

Republican Christine Altman held the District 1 commissioner seat by 326 votes, 72,559 to 72,233, over Democrat Ti’Gre McNear.

In county council races, Democrats Christopher Daniel (District 1), Nathan Bullock (District 2) and Jason E. Frank (District 4) won. Republican Mark F. Hall won District 3.

Fishers-area races

Hamilton Southeastern Schools’ referendum passed with 58.33% of the vote, 25,627 to 18,310.

The HSE school board winners were Greg Wright in District 1, Josh Perry in District 2 and Michelle Fullhart in District 3. Fullhart defeated David Turk with 53.03%. Stephanie Braden was unopposed in District 4.

In Fall Creek Township, Democrat Stephanie Hunt was elected trustee with 55.26% over Doug Allman. Democrats Alex J. Hunt, Joe Weingarten and Mulalo Rikhotso won the three township board seats.

In Delaware Township, Debbie Driskell was unopposed for trustee. Democrats Patrick Schooley, Jennifer Dean Chaudhry and Bethann Buddenbaum won the board seats. In Wayne Township, Laura McNamara was unopposed for trustee.

Other results

School referendums also passed in Carmel, Noblesville and Westfield Washington. Sheridan’s failed, with 47.67% voting yes.

Hamilton County voters approved both statewide constitutional questions: the bail amendment with 57.90% and the judicial residence amendment with 61.83%.

In county voting for statewide offices, Democrat Beau Bayh received 53.90% for secretary of state. Jessica Bailey (D) won 51.42% for comptroller, and Coumba Kebe (D) won 50.95% for treasurer. In the 5th Congressional District, Democrat J.D. Ford carried the county with 55.36% over Rep. Victoria Spartz.

When I was a news reporter at WCSI in Columbus, Indiana, I watched defense attorney Niles Stanton argue a case. Jeff Rasley knew Stanton from a different vantage point. He worked as Stanton’s law clerk in the late 1970s, and that experience became the basis for his novel Justice Betrayed: The Rise and Fall of a Death Penalty Crusader.

Rasley, a retired Indianapolis attorney, joins me on the November 13 edition of Fridays With Larry. We recorded the interview on November 5, the day Indiana executed Jeffrey Weisheit at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. We talked about the years that can pass between a death sentence and an execution, and why it matters whether journalists are allowed to witness the procedure.

The conversation also turns to county jails. Rasley recalls working on lawsuits over jail conditions in central Indiana. He makes a point that can get lost in the debate over building a new jail. Many of the people held there are still waiting for their cases to be heard.

I open the episode with a commentary on how people outside elected office push for changes in the law. I close with a question for those of us in Fishers and Hamilton County who fly out of Indianapolis International Airport. When will we see the benefits of the FAA’s move to replace floppy disks and other aging air traffic control equipment?

Fridays With Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

Watch the November 13 edition of Fridays With Larry below at this link, or listen only using this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board voted Wednesday night to reject all bids for 16.14 acres of district-owned land at 136th Street and Prairie Baptist Road in Fishers. Administrators recommended rejecting the bids after the October auction fell short of the district’s target price.

The vote clears the way for a real estate broker to seek offers. The district expects a sale to close in 2027, and the board would still have to approve the final sale. Tim Brown, HSE’s assistant superintendent for finance, previously told LarryInFishers.com that the auction drew 45 bids. He did not disclose the highest offer or the district’s target price.

The property is leased for farming and is part of a larger tract the district once owned at the intersection. A portion of the original tract was used for a Fishers fire station. District officials told the board’s finance and facilities committee in August that the remaining acreage was too small and poorly situated for a future school.

Brown has said the district plans to use the proceeds to pay down part of the $8 million its health insurance trust owes the operations fund.

The board also approved a 3% pay raise for non-certified staff in 2027, with a maximum increase of $1,828. The percentage matches the increase approved for teachers. A decision on raises for administrators was deferred.

The board extended its agreement with the City of Fishers for hands-on learning programs and added the district’s kindergarten arts program to the agreement. The program, piloted last spring, is already underway this school year. It brings kindergarten students to the Fishers Art Center and Hamilton East Public Library for activities that connect visual art, music and movement with storytelling.

Board members were also briefed on a proposal to authorize up to $40 million in general obligation bonds for 2027, with a decision expected in December. The board set the same borrowing limit for 2026, when the district determined it needed $33 million.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley used Wednesday night’s school board meeting to thank the volunteers behind the district’s successful funding referendum. Voters approved it with 58% of the vote.

Kegley singled out Laura Cole, who chaired the Advance HSE political action committee, along with the committee chairs she recruited over the summer.

Kegley said he contacted Cole because she had been active in the district’s 2023 referendum effort.

“She came into my office, and she sat down, and anyone that knows Laura won’t be shocked. She said, ‘What do you need from me?’” Kegley said. “I knew I was in.”

Cole agreed to lead the PAC. During public comment at the board’s June meeting, she asked members to put the question on the ballot and assured them the community would rally behind it.

“As usual, she was not wrong,” Kegley said. “Our community has always come alongside our schools.”

Kegley said the result was no accident. He credited Cole and the team she built, as well as the volunteers who made calls, knocked on doors, wrote postcards and worked the polls. He also noted that many volunteers’ spouses deserved recognition alongside them.

“This team showed up, and the volunteers that followed showed up in a big way,” Kegley said.

He thanked them on behalf of the district’s employees, the community and its students. He closed with a joke: with any luck, the district won’t have to talk about referendums for a while, hopefully 8 years.

Cole told the board she sent out a call for help right after Kegley asked her to lead the effort. She reached her own network and people well beyond it.

“There’s Republicans, there’s Democrats, there’s parents, there’s grandparents, there’s retired teachers, there are school board candidates,” Cole said. “There are so many people that just showed up because they knew how important this funding was.”

She called the campaign a chance to build bridges in the community.

“I hope that this really helps us to move forward as a community and that we all just see how good we can be and how much good we can do when we all work together,” Cole said.

Cole said one of the things she appreciated most was the support from this fall’s school board candidates. The PAC could not help their campaigns in any way, but all but two of the candidates still pitched in. They staffed tables, worked football games, handed out flyers, donated or came to events.

“I just think it’s really incredible what they did,” Cole said. She noted that some of those candidates were at the meeting.

Cole called the campaign “a herculean effort.” She said she hopes the district won’t need another referendum for eight years, when her own children will be out of school. But she made a promise to the board.

“You have my yes vote in eight years if we have to do that,” Cole said. She added that she hopes the community can now turn its attention to coming together and doing what is best for the district’s teachers and students.

Indy Ignite players are reading with elementary students and teaching volleyball in physical education classes as Fishers prepares to host the first Big Ten Women’s Volleyball Tournament.

The school visits began Oct. 28 and continue through Nov. 20, the opening day of the tournament. Hamilton Southeastern Schools says the program is expected to reach about 5,000 students. The tournament runs Nov. 20–25 at the Fishers Event Center, where the Ignite play their home matches.

The activities vary by grade. Ignite representatives are reading with students in kindergarten through fourth grade, teaching volleyball to fifth and sixth graders, and greeting seventh and eighth graders at morning pep rallies.

Members of the team’s front office are also taking part, along with the Firestarters dance team and Pepper, the Ignite mascot. Students who participate receive a Big Ten drawstring bag and pencil.

“Having Indy Ignite players visit our schools, read with students and even jump into our physical education classes is something our kids will remember and it might even inspire a new love for volleyball,” HSE Superintendent Matt Kegley said in the release.

Kegley credited the Ignite, the City of Fishers and the Fishers Event Center with making the visits possible. Mayor Scott Fadness encouraged residents to welcome the college teams and fans coming to Fishers for the tournament.

The Ignite are part of Major League Volleyball. The team finished as the league runner-up in its inaugural 2025 season and entered the 2026 championship as the No. 1 seed.