Hamilton Southeastern Schools students scored more than 24 percentage points above Indiana’s statewide proficiency rates in math and English/language arts on the 2025-26 ILEARN assessment, according to results released by the district.

For students in grades 3-8, HSE reported a math proficiency rate of 68.1%, compared with 42.7% statewide. In English/language arts, the district reported 66.4%, compared with Indiana’s 42.0%.

Those figures put HSE ahead of the state by 25.4 percentage points in math and 24.4 percentage points in English/language arts. The district said differences across individual grade levels and subjects ranged from 21 to 30 percentage points.

The results come with an important qualification: Indiana redesigned the assessment, so the scores cannot be used to determine whether performance improved or declined from previous years. The Indiana Department of Education says changes to academic standards and test design make the 2026 results a new baseline for future comparisons.

“We are proud of our students as well as the teachers and staff who support them every day,” HSE Superintendent Matt Kegley said in the district’s release. “These results show a high level of learning happening in classrooms across HSE Schools. They also give us important information about where our students are doing well and where we can continue to grow.”

The redesigned math and English/language arts assessments use a “through-year” model. Students in grades 3-8 complete three checkpoints during the school year before taking a shortened final assessment in the spring.

The checkpoints give teachers information they can use to adjust instruction and identify students who need additional help. The spring assessment measures students’ mastery of state standards and is used in school accountability, according to the Indiana Department of Education’s ILEARN overview.

HSE said an overview of the district’s results will be presented at the Oct. 14 school board meeting.

Chris Cameron, the Indy Fuel’s all-time leader in games played, is retiring from professional hockey after five seasons, the team announced Thursday, Sept. 24.

Cameron, 27, leaves with 309 games played for the Fuel. The defenseman also holds franchise records for penalty minutes with 552 and goal differential at plus-47, according to the team.

He was named the Fuel’s 10th captain at the start of the 2024-25 season.

“The last five years have been an amazing ride,” Cameron said in the announcement. “I’d like to thank the Fuel fans and the Indianapolis community for embracing me, providing me a second home and an opportunity to live out my dreams of playing professional hockey. All glory to God and Go Fuel!”

The 6-foot-5 defenseman spent nearly his entire professional playing career with Indy, with the exception of two games with the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals during a 2022 call-up. The Fuel said he helped the team reach the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of his four full seasons with the club.

The Fuel will return to Fishers Event Center in October for their 13th season. The team is the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.

Five weeks after the White River crested near 24 feet in Noblesville, breaking a record that had stood since 1913, the water is gone. For many Hamilton County families, the hardest part may still be ahead.

More than 160 county families left their homes during the flood. Fishers police and firefighters evacuated residents along Wapahani Drive. Researchers who study disasters say the deeper mental health toll often shows up weeks and months later, once volunteers leave and insurance claims, FEMA paperwork and temporary housing start to wear people down.

On this week’s Fridays with Larry, I talk with Michael Ross, former Indiana state director of disaster mental health and now a faculty member at Indiana University in Bloomington. Ross explains what flood survivors go through after the water goes down. He also covers the warning signs to watch for in adults and children, and why he believes “the greatest technology for cultivating community resilience is talking to each other.”

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available:

• Disaster Distress Helpline: Call or text 1-800-985-5990. It is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day.
• Local recovery help: 317-595-3211, or dial 211.
• FEMA assistance: The deadline to apply is Oct. 25 at DisasterAssistance.gov.

Also on this episode: Artificial intelligence tools have become very good at breaking into computer systems. I look at what that means for city offices, schools, hospitals, utilities and small businesses in Fishers and Hamilton County, and the one question every public board and business owner should be asking: Who is patching our systems, and how fast?

This episode is sponsored by Citizens State Bank, member FDIC and an equal housing lender.

Watch the podcast at this link, or if you just want to listen, use this link.

With its U.S. headquarters under construction in Fishers, the Cadillac Formula 1 team is adding three experienced engineers to its technical leadership, including former Red Bull chief designer Craig Skinner, according to Motorsport.com.

Filip Cleeren reports that Skinner will become Cadillac’s chief development engineer. Eric Blandin, formerly Aston Martin’s deputy technical chief, will take over as head of aerodynamics. Tim Lean, whose experience includes work at McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, will become chief engineer for aerodynamics modelling and simulation, reporting to Blandin.

The appointments come as Cadillac works to improve its car and prepares for its second Formula 1 season in 2027. The team said all three engineers are expected to join within the next few months.

“These appointments represent a vital step in the technical evolution of the team,” Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski said in a statement quoted by Motorsport.com.

Budkowski said the hires bring experience from race and championship-winning organizations to areas central to Cadillac’s development.

Cadillac entered Formula 1 this season as the series’ 11th team, with veteran drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Its debut car uses Ferrari engines.

The Fishers headquarters is part of an operation with facilities on both sides of the Atlantic. Cadillac also has a base in Silverstone, England. General Motors has described the Fishers campus as part of the team’s growing infrastructure, alongside its work at GM’s motorsports facility in Charlotte, North Carolina.

For Fishers, the hires mark another step in the development of the racing organization building its U.S. home here.

U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz’s campaign said Thursday, Sept. 24, that her attorneys had demanded Indianapolis television stations stop airing a political advertisement she says falsely portrays her as profiting from stock trading while serving in Congress.

The advertisement, sponsored by Commonsense Hoosiers PAC, accuses Spartz of becoming “a corrupt politician getting rich at our expense,” according to a cease-and-desist letter provided by her campaign.

The campaign’s news release identifies WISH-TV, WNDY-TV and WRTV as recipients of its demand. The copy of the letter supplied with the release is addressed to WTHR sales manager Brent Denny.

Spartz, the Republican incumbent in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, is seeking reelection against Democrat J.D. Ford. The district includes Fishers.

“This is not a difference of political opinion. These are objectively verifiable facts,” Spartz said in the campaign release. “I have never personally owned or traded individual stocks, and I certainly did not get rich in Congress, through stock trading or anything else — as anyone can see from my public financial disclosures.”

Her attorneys, Jason Torchinsky and David Johnson of Holtzman Vogel, argue that the advertisement incorrectly attributes transactions in her husband’s and dependent children’s Roth retirement accounts to Spartz personally. They also dispute the advertisement’s use of a $5 million figure, saying it appears to reflect the upper end of a reported transaction range.

Financial disclosures included with the letter identify multiple stock transactions as belonging to family members’ retirement accounts. One entry in the report covering 2024 lists a partial sale of Simon Property Group stock on Sept. 20, 2024, valued between $1,000,001 and $5 million. The entry specifically identifies the transaction as being made by Jason Spartz’s Roth IRA.

That disclosure reports a range for the sale amount. It does not establish an exact $5 million transaction or identify that amount as profit.

The attorneys acknowledge that five transactions in the report covering 2021 lack descriptions identifying the account owner. They say those transactions also involved Jason Spartz’s Roth IRA and supplied account records in support of their argument.

The campaign separately maintains that Spartz’s overall disclosed net worth has not materially changed since she entered Congress and that most family assets consist of real estate, farmland and other holdings largely owned before she took office. The disclosures list assets and liabilities in broad ranges, limiting precise comparisons of net worth.

The dispute comes amid broader criticism of Spartz’s finances by Ford. His campaign’s online media kit alleges that she traded $5 million in stocks in industries she regulated while in Congress. Spartz’s attorneys cite that page in their letter and contend the PAC advertisement repeats its allegations.

The letter calls the advertisement false and defamatory and warns that Spartz is prepared to seek legal relief if it continues airing. Those are her attorneys’ allegations; the letter is a demand to remove the advertisement, not a court ruling on its accuracy.

The materials provided by the campaign do not establish whether any station has stopped airing the ad.

Crews are scheduled to begin demolishing the flood-damaged Hazel Dell Parkway bridge just south of 106th Street on Monday, Sept. 28, according to Hamilton County.

The bridge was destroyed during August flooding. Milestone Contractors will begin moving equipment to the site Friday, Sept. 25, with crews expected to work 10-hour days, six days a week. The contract requires demolition to be completed by Oct. 30.

The work will also include restoring slopes along the banks to improve stability and safety, County Highway Director Brad Davis said.

“This is more than just taking the bridge down,” Davis said. “Crews will also restore the slopes along the banks to make the area more stable and safer.”

Representatives from Hamilton County, the City of Carmel, Carmel Utilities, Martin Marietta and Milestone Contractors met at the site Thursday to review demolition plans and coordinate the work.

Design work on a permanent replacement is continuing.

“Getting the demolition done now will save valuable time once we’re ready to begin construction on the new bridge,” Davis said.

The county’s release did not provide a construction start date or an opening date for the replacement bridge.

Faiza Maqsood says attending Hamilton Southeastern School Board meetings helped convince her to become a candidate. She came away feeling parents and educators were speaking but were not being heard, and she decided to get involved.

Maqsood, a candidate for the District 1 seat, joins me for the latest installment of my HSE School Board candidate podcast series.

A Fishers resident for about 20 years, Maqsood has three children who graduated from HSE Schools. We discuss how that experience shaped her views on public education and what her background in nonprofit finances, revenue management and data analysis could bring to the board.

School funding is a major part of our conversation. Maqsood supports the operating referendum, pointing to teacher retention and student programs as priorities. I ask how she would approach spending decisions if the referendum fails and how she would evaluate whether the district is using its money well.

Maqsood also discusses teacher morale and her endorsement from the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association. She says she made no commitments to receive the local teachers union’s endorsement, describing the discussion as one about shared support for educators.

She explains her decision to run without a party affiliation and why she believes listening to people with different views is an important part of serving on the board.

Our conversation also covers academic performance, parents’ concerns and educators’ professional judgment, student mental health, school safety, cell phones and artificial intelligence. Maqsood supports continued mental health services and says schools should help teachers and students learn to use AI effectively.

Thanks to Citizens State Bank for sponsoring this podcast.

Listen to the podcast using this link or the link below.

The new Meijer Grocery on Southeastern Parkway opened its doors to members of the media Thursday, less than a week before it opens to the public on Sept. 30.

Store Director Janice Thongvanh led the tour. She described the store as a quicker alternative to the traditional Meijer supercenter.

“The concept is a very in and out shopping experience,” Thongvanh said. “It’s what you need for your everyday needs for your grocery shopping.”

The store at 15700 Southeastern Parkway covers about 75,000 square feet. Thongvanh said a Meijer supercenter is roughly twice that size. It is the first Meijer inside the Fishers city limits.

The store will have four staffed checkout lanes and 11 self-checkout stations. Thongvanh said the priority will be moving customers through the staffed lanes.

This is the second Meijer Grocery in Indiana. The first opened in July 2024 at the Noblesville Promenade Shops at State Road 32 and Little Chicago Road. It was also the first Meijer Grocery outside Michigan. Thongvanh helped open that store.

“This is the second grocery format in Indiana, and I was lucky enough to help open the first one in Noblesville, so I’m very familiar with how the store runs,” she said.

The Fishers store includes a full-service bakery, meat, seafood and deli departments, plus fresh produce, a pharmacy, health and beauty care, pet supplies, and a floral and greeting card section. Shoppers can also use Meijer’s Shop & Scan, pickup and home delivery services and its mPerks rewards program. The Meijer Express fuel station on the site opened Sept. 2.

The company says it is Meijer’s 45th store in Indiana. Thongvanh said the store hired more than 200 team members through local job fairs.

Meijer wrote a $15,000 check to Nancy Chance of the Good Samaritan Network.  Those funds will be used to help flood victims in the local area.

Doors open at 6 a.m. Sept. 30. Meijer plans giveaways, discounts and events during opening week.

The store also adds another option to a crowded Indianapolis-area grocery market, where Kroger and Walmart lead in sales and Costco and Aldi keep expanding.

Republican U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz and Democratic challenger J.D. Ford are exchanging accusations over stock transactions and campaign spending as they compete for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District seat, according to a Sept. 24 report by Indianapolis Star reporter Marissa Meador.

Meador’s reporting for IndyStar examines Ford’s allegations and Spartz’s responses, including important distinctions about whose stocks were sold and what financial disclosures show.

Ford, a state senator, accused Spartz of trading $5 million in stocks in industries she regulates and opposing restrictions on congressional stock trading. Spartz denied personally owning or trading individual stocks and said she voted for the Stop Insider Trading Act in 2026.

According to IndyStar, a 2024 financial disclosure lists a sale of Simon Property Group stock by Spartz’s husband, Jason, valued between $1 million and $5 million. That disclosure range does not establish a $5 million sale. Spartz said the actual amount was substantially lower. Ford argued that she still benefits from her husband’s transactions.

The dispute also involves a Westfield property owned by Spartz and her husband that serves as her campaign headquarters.

Ford questioned campaign payments covering rent, utilities and property taxes. Spartz said a $30,000 payment to her husband reported in 2025 covered six years of back rent for the campaign’s use of the property.

Meador interviewed Brendan Fischer, director of strategic investigations at the Campaign Legal Center, who questioned aspects of the arrangement. He described using a house as campaign headquarters as unusual and raised concerns about the campaign paying property taxes separately from rent.

IndyStar also reported that the property’s treatment changed from a $750 monthly in-kind contribution to a $2,500 monthly rental payment. Spartz’s campaign attributed the change to a compliance review that found the earlier valuation was below market rate.

Spartz said she plans to stop using the property as campaign headquarters after the election and has listed it for sale.

The exchanges come as Democrats hope to make the district competitive, although political analysts still rate it solidly Republican, Meador reported.

This summary is based on reporting by Marissa Meador of The Indianapolis Star/IndyStar.  Read the entire story at this link. (NOTE:  You will need an IndyStar subscription to access the story.  I recommend you subscribe to your local media)

Fishers families now have a local place to donate and pick up donor human milk.

The Fishers Health Department and The Milk Bank held a ribbon-cutting Thursday to open the city’s first Milk Depot and Milk Express. The site is at the health department, inside the Fishers Community Center.

Approved donors can drop off frozen milk there. Parents and caregivers can pick up pasteurized donor milk they have ordered through The Milk Bank.

“This is a super exciting day for The Milk Bank,” said Freedom Kolb, the organization’s CEO. “To bring together a depot and express site in one convenient location is such an incredible gift to the babies we serve and to the community.”

Kolb said pasteurized donor human milk is one of the most effective tools for protecting medically fragile babies and reducing infant mortality.

“Similar to blood banking, it’s considered a standard of care and life-saving medication,” she said. “We step in for all those who are born too small, too sick or too soon.”

Donated milk supports hospitals and families, including premature and medically fragile infants in neonatal intensive care units. Families may also use donor milk to meet a medical need, to bridge a gap in the early postpartum period or to support breastfeeding goals.

Kolb, who lives in Fishers, praised the city and its health department for “prioritizing all of their residents, even their tiniest citizens.”

She said the new site also helps protect the regional supply of donor milk. That supply serves more than 120 hospitals, including the local hospitals where Fishers babies are born.

“We hope that it’s meaningful to moms who choose to donate and make that life-saving difference,” Kolb said, “but also meaningful for the babies in our community that need that milk, that we can step in exactly at the moment of need and remove those barriers.”

Milk Express pick-ups and approved donor drop-offs are available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hours run until 7 p.m. on Thursdays, and the site is also open on select Saturdays. Milk Express orders are coordinated directly through The Milk Bank.