I have always been intrigued by history — world, national, and local alike. So when the Hamilton East Public Library in Noblesville hosted a local history fair last Saturday, it was an easy decision to spend part of the afternoon there.

There was much to see and much to hear. With the nation preparing to mark its 250th birthday in 2026, there was plenty to learn about the broader American story. But the real treasure was closer to home. People from all corners of Hamilton County had gathered to share the history of their own particular piece of it — the towns, families, churches, and settlements that, stitched together, make up the county we know today.

I decided to bring along my new iPhone and capture some video. Unfortunately, when you pair a man of my age with brand-new technology, bad things can happen.

I recorded what I thought was some fascinating video with folks from the Fishers Historical Society and the Hamilton County Historical Society. Both had wonderful stories and a wealth of information to share. Sadly, those interviews never made it past the technical difficulties — a lesson learned, and an apology owed.

I did, however, manage to successfully record an interview with Bryan Glover of Roberts Settlement, and it was well worth the trouble. Roberts Settlement is one of the county’s most remarkable chapters: a rural community in Jackson Township founded in the 1830s by free families of color who migrated north from North Carolina, seeking land they could own and a measure of safety in an unsettled time. By 1840 the settlement had grown to about ten families and some 900 acres; by the 1870s it numbered roughly 300 residents. Roberts Chapel, built in the community’s early years and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, still stands — and every year since 1925, descendants have returned for an annual Homecoming. It is living history, and Hamilton County is fortunate to have it.

You will find a link to that interview below, along with links to learn more about Roberts Settlement and about the historical societies for Fishers and Hamilton County.

Our local area has a rich history. I would encourage you to go learn more about it. You may be surprised by what is sitting right in your own backyard.

Roberts Settlement

Fishers Historical Society

Hamilton County Historical Society

Father’s Day is a special day for me in two different ways.

First, I celebrate the privilege of being a father myself to twin daughters. Second, I remember my own father, who left us 32 years ago.

My daughters gave me a very special Father’s Day present this year. It was a collection of some of my favorite junk food, along with photos of me at their weddings. Walking Allison and Mary down the aisle will always be among the best memories of my life.

Being a dad is special under any circumstance. It is even more meaningful when “daddy’s little girls” grow up to become outstanding young women. Allison and Mary have done exactly that, and now they are wonderful mothers themselves.

I am also fortunate to have two outstanding sons-in-law, Jacob Lewis and Tyler Cahill. They deserve to celebrate this day as well. They are the best dads my grandkids could have.

Then there are the memories of my own father.

Dad left us at the far-too-young age of 64, but he left behind a legacy that continues through his six children and a very special collection of grandchildren.

My dad was known for many things, but one aspect of his life that should never be forgotten is the work he put into the credit union movement. He firmly believed in the idea of people joining together to form a nonprofit financial institution designed to serve its members.

During the early 1950s, when he first started working at the Army Finance Center at 56th Street and Post Road in Lawrence, now known as DFAS, he immediately volunteered to serve on the credit committee at the Finance Center Federal Credit Union.

It is hard to imagine now, but at that time, credit unions like Finance Center offered little more than savings accounts and car loans. Today, credit unions are full-service financial institutions, offering many of the same services banks provide.

My dad quickly moved onto the board of directors for Finance Center Federal and remained there until shortly before his passing. He served as board president during an important period when credit unions were being allowed to expand the services they offered and the people they could serve.

He also led the board when construction began on the headquarters building on 56th Street, near I-465, across from Lawrence Central High School. That building remains the headquarters for what is now known as Financial Center First Credit Union, which currently operates under a state rather than federal charter.

I could write hundreds of words about what my dad accomplished in his life. But for this Father’s Day, suffice it to say that Bernie Lannan believed deeply in the credit union concept and supported his own credit union with countless hours of volunteer service on its board of directors.

Had he served on the board of a commercial bank, he likely would have been paid for that work. Bernie Lannan was satisfied to do it as a volunteer.

So, to all fathers, happy Father’s Day 2026. Enjoy your special day.

When Dixie Wooten spoke with Fishers Freight play-by-play announcer Andrew Smith earlier in the week, he made it clear there was no taking the Iowa Barnstormers lightly. They have only one win on the season, but they are a squad with a new coach rebuilding the team with an eye on preparing for the 2027 season. Then the oddsmakers said the Freight were 26.5-point favorites going into Saturday night’s contest at the Fishers Event Center. Turns out the oddsmakers underestimated the outcome.

Hosting Iowa for the second time this season and the third meeting overall, Fishers chased the season sweep and got it, rolling to a 55-13 victory that set a new franchise record for largest margin of victory.

The Freight wasted no time. Josiah King ran in a touchdown on the opening drive, and after a Calum Sutherland kick, Fishers led 7-0. A bad snap and a sack of Iowa quarterback Dante Aviles-Santos handed the ball right back when Tre Smalls recovered the loose ball, and King soon punched in his second score for a 14-0 edge. Iowa answered with a touchdown late in the quarter, but a missed extra point kept it 14-6. Quarterback Felix Harper then kept it himself just before the buzzer to make it 21-6.

Iowa stayed within reach early in the second on a long Aviles-Santos strike to Demonte Martin, trimming the lead to 21-13. From there, the Freight pulled away. A blocked Iowa field goal set up King’s third touchdown of the night for a 28-13 cushion. Sutherland then recovered his own onside kick — a call upheld on review — and Fishers cashed it in when King scored again with 18 seconds left in the half, off a long Harper pass to Coulter, for a 35-13 lead.

The second half belonged entirely to Fishers. Jordan Davis scored twice in the third quarter, the second coming after a Nicholas Lenon interception, pushing the lead to 48-13. In the fourth, Darius Long blocked another Iowa field goal and Jaylin Swan recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and the final margin of 55-13. The Freight held Iowa scoreless after halftime, and with one minute to go, Harper’s relief — and the offense — knelt the clock out.

The 42-point win broke the franchise record of 41 points, set last season in another win over Iowa to close the year.

The Freight are now 7-6, very much in the hunt for the final two playoff slots in the Indoor Football League Eastern Conference. The final three games of the season are on the road at Green Bay and Quad Cities, with the regular season finale at home against Orlando. It is a challenging schedule to mark the end of the 2026 regular season. If Fishers makes the playoffs, they will have to earn it.

It is officially summer so the road construction listing in and around Fishes continues to be a long one.  Be aware of the Spark Fishers Festival coming up June 26 & 27 that will impact traffic in the downtown Fishers Nickel Plate District those two days.

Here is the summary of major area construction, followed by the complete list, as provided by the City of Fishers:

• 96th Street and Cyntheanne Road – Full Closure -Follow detour route
• 136th Street Widening – Southeastern Parkway to Prairie Baptist Road – Follow detour route
• 116th and Allisonville Intersection Improvements Project – Down to one lane in all directions
• Lantern Road – Closure at Morgan Drive from June 8 – 19
• Southeastern Parkway & Olio Road Roundabout Improvements – Periodic lane restrictions

SPARK!Fishers – Various road closures & Parking restrictions

Continue reading Weekly Fishers-Area Road Construction Report →

The Fishers Black Leaders Club, a student organization at Fishers High School, again sponsored one of the best Juneteenth celebrations in the area Friday night. Conner Prairie served as the host site, and perfect early-summer weather drew a large and wonderfully diverse crowd to the gathering.

The evening offered something for everyone. Vendors lined the grounds, music filled the air, inflatables kept the youngsters busy, and a lineup of food trucks rounded out a special night in Fishers. Set against the open lawns of the living-history museum, the celebration had the easy, festive feel of a community coming together.

Juneteenth, now a federal holiday, commemorates June 19, 1865 — the day Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people there were free. The news came more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and about two months after the Civil War’s end, marking the moment freedom finally reached the last enslaved Americans. Congress designated Juneteenth a national holiday in 2021.

That a celebration this vibrant was organized by Fishers High School students speaks to the leadership taking root in the next generation — and to a community eager to mark the day together.

Here are additional photos from the 2026 Fishers Juneteenth celebration.

Continue reading Fishers Black Leaders Club Hosts Standout Juneteenth Celebration at Conner Prairie →

A Hamilton County election official has flagged a page of 10 voter signatures submitted by a volunteer for Greg Ballard’s independent campaign for secretary of state as potentially fraudulent, prompting the county Republican Party chairman to call for an investigation and prosecution.

Ballard, the former Republican mayor of Indianapolis, is seeking to qualify for the November ballot under the “Lincoln Party” label. To do so, he needs nearly 37,000 verified signatures from registered Indiana voters. His campaign has submitted about 35,000 so far, ahead of a June 30 deadline.

Hamilton County Election Administrator Beth Sheller said her staff discovered the suspect page sometime in late May or early June. “Nine out of 10 of these addresses were not real addresses,” she told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. The one legitimate address carried a name not registered to vote there — a name that instead matched the volunteer who submitted the signatures.

“And, you know … all the writing’s kind of the same,” Sheller said. “That’s what led us to believe that they were possibly fraudulent, and then we let the State Police decide.”

State Police picked up the page shortly after its discovery, according to the Capital Chronicle. “I can confirm that we received allegations of a crime and we are currently investigating,” spokesman Sgt. John Perrine said, noting the agency presents its findings to prosecutors rather than filing charges itself. Police did not say whether other counties had reported signatures from the same volunteer.

In a Thursday news release, Hamilton County GOP Chair Mario Massillamany called on the Indiana State Police and the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office to investigate and prosecute the volunteer. “Greg Ballard is running for the office responsible for protecting Indiana’s elections, yet a volunteer on his campaign has been caught submitting fraudulent petition signatures,” he said. “If you cannot run an honest petition drive, you have no business running the office that safeguards our elections.” Massillamany also urged election officials in all 92 counties to conduct a “heightened review” of Ballard’s petition pages.

Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Kocher told the Capital Chronicle his office “will review any information provided and work with the appropriate investigative agencies to determine if criminal charges are appropriate,” but said it would be inappropriate to comment further on a specific investigation.

The Ballard campaign said the system is “working exactly the way it’s supposed to,” noting that signatures are verified by counties and that each gatherer must attest to the validity of every sheet. “As soon as we learned of this issue, we ended this rogue individual’s association with the campaign,” the campaign said. It emphasized the 10 signatures represent about 0.02% of the more than 35,000 submitted.

Sheller cautioned that the campaign didn’t necessarily do anything wrong. “They’re trusting their people to go out and get them,” she said. Still, she added: “An example, at least, should be set. Otherwise, it’s going to keep happening.”

If Ballard qualifies, he’ll face Democrat Beau Bayh, Libertarian Lauri Shillings and a yet-to-be-named Republican, with the GOP nominee set to be chosen Saturday at the state party convention.

Fishers Police were among several Central Indiana law enforcement agencies assisting Fortville detectives Wednesday in a multi-location investigation that included a search warrant served in Fishers.

According to a Fortville Police Department news release, detectives and assisting agencies served search warrants June 17 at several locations, including the Woods at Vermillion neighborhood in Fishers, the Coppertone neighborhood in New Palestine, Eagle Highlands Way in Indianapolis, the 8000 block of East Washington Street in Indianapolis and the 3000 block of North Shadeland Avenue.

Fortville Police said investigators located illegal narcotics, firearms, counterfeit merchandise, evidence of corrupt business influence, money laundering, tax evasion and more than $100,000 in U.S. currency during the warrant operation.

Several individuals were detained for interviews and further investigation, according to the release. No specific arrests or formal charges were announced in the information released by Fortville Police.

Fortville Police Chief Patrick Bratton thanked a number of agencies for assisting in the investigation, including the Fishers Police Department, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Plainfield Police Department, Carmel Police Department, New Palestine Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, Hancock County Joint Tactical Team, Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office, Greenfield Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Indiana Excise Police, Indiana Department of Revenue and the Indiana Fusion Center.

The case remains under investigation.

This week’s episode of Fridays With Larry welcomes local volunteer Virginia Tate, who joins the program to talk about the value of giving her time. Tate explains how volunteering keeps both her body and her mind active as she ages, offering a firsthand case for staying engaged in the community through the years.

Host Larry also turns to the national mood as the United States approaches its 250th birthday. Drawing on polling data, he contrasts how Americans feel about their country today with the sentiments recorded during the bicentennial in 1976 — highlighting what has shifted, and what has held steady, across half a century.

From there, the conversation moves to the FIFA World Cup. Larry looks at a practical challenge on the pitch: how players and officials manage to communicate during matches when so many of them speak different languages.

He closes with a lighter story from one of the tournament’s host cities, explaining why Boston is running short on beer during its World Cup matches — a shortage that, as it turns out, traces back to Scotland and its traveling fans.

It’s a half-hour that ranges from personal reflection to national history to the global game.

The Fridays With Larry Podcast is sponsored by Citizens State Bank

Listen to the full episode using this link for video, this link for audio, or use a link below.

The filing deadline has passed, and the field is now official for the four Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board seats on the November 3 ballot. Nine candidates filed across the four districts — but one of those seats has, in effect, already been decided.

Stephanie Braden is the lone candidate in District 4. Barring an unlikely legal complication, that makes her the winner by default, set to take the seat without opposition. The remaining three districts will be contested, including a District 2 race that grew to three candidates and a District 1 contest that now spans three different ballot labels.

This is the first HSE election held under Indiana’s new partisan-races law. Under Senate Enrolled Act 287, signed this spring, school board candidates may run with a party label or with none at all; previously, every HSE board race was strictly nonpartisan. Of the nine candidates, two filed as Republicans (Greg Wright in District 1 and David Turk in District 3), one filed as a Libertarian (Anthony Jason Wren in District 1), one as an independent (Braden), and the remaining five chose no party affiliation. Indiana is the 10th state to allow partisan school board elections, making this fall’s vote an early test of how — or whether — party labels reshape these traditionally low-key local races.

The candidates

District 1 (1 seat) is the only three-way race with three different labels on the ballot.

Faiza Maqsood (No Party) is a 20-year Fishers resident whose three children all graduated from HSE; she has held leadership and treasurer roles with organizations supporting students and families, including IPS Sidener Academy, the Julian Center and Wheeler Mission.

Greg Wright (Republican), a dentist and small-business owner, says he is running at a pivotal time as the district navigates budget pressure, staffing and enrollment changes; his campaign site is wrightforhse.com.

Anthony Jason Wren (Libertarian), one of the last to file, is the first third-party candidate in the field and had no findable campaign web presence as of this writing.

District 2 (1 seat) drew three no-party candidates.

Josh Perry is a 2007 HSE High School graduate and Purdue alumnus who now works as a commercial underwriting manager for Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance; he and his wife are raising two children who attend Harrison Parkway Elementary, and his campaign emphasizes steady, balanced leadership and purposeful spending.

Cyrus Keck, also a Harrison Parkway parent, has been a regular school-board-meeting watcher and is running on financial accountability and administrative oversight, citing concerns over the district’s charter-school rollout; he says he filed without a party because “our school board should not be about politics.”

Ferras B. Abdalla was among the final filers and, like Wren, had no findable campaign web presence as of this writing.

District 3 (1 seat) is a contest between a newcomer and a veteran.

David Turk (Republican) is a real estate developer and father of three who moved his family to Fishers in 2021; his platform centers on protecting HSE’s special-education programs, retaining teachers and responsible budgeting.

Michelle Fullhart (No Party) is no newcomer — first elected in 2014, she served two terms and was board president in 2019. A longtime district educator, she has been an outspoken voice on the recent teacher contract, saying teachers “feel disrespected” by the agreement.

District 4 (1 seat) is settled.

Stephanie Braden (independent), a registered nurse of more than 16 years and a 25-year member of the U.S. Army Reserve, is unopposed. A mother of five whose children have all attended HSE schools, she has campaigned on academic excellence, fiscal responsibility and empowering educators.

Reminder: each candidate runs only within their own district, and voters cast a ballot only in the district where they live.  View a map of the four districts at this link.  

The Hallett Sports Foundation is making a long-term investment in local education, announcing a $1 million pledge to the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation.

The commitment will provide at least $100,000 annually over the next 10 years. Funding will be generated through fundraising efforts led by the Indy Fuel hockey team and the Fishers Freight indoor football team, including a portion of ticket proceeds from selected home games, along with in-game fundraising initiatives and community engagement activities.

Both teams play their home games at the Fishers Event Center, giving local fans a direct way to support Hamilton Southeastern Schools while attending sporting events.

The money will support the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation’s work to strengthen educational programming, create innovative opportunities and enhance initiatives aimed at student success across HSE Schools.

“We believe meaningful change is created through long-term commitment and community participation,” said Sean Hallett, CEO of Hallett Sports. “This pledge creates an opportunity for fans, partners, and supporters to directly contribute to educational impact through experiences that bring our community together. We are excited to support the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation and invest in opportunities that will benefit students for years to come.”

The Hallett Sports Foundation says the pledge fits with its mission of strengthening communities through investments in education, youth development and programs designed to create lasting outcomes.

Justin Hirnisey, executive director of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation, called the commitment transformational.

“We are incredibly grateful for this transformational commitment,” Hirnisey said. “A partnership built around sustained community engagement and long-term support creates meaningful opportunities for our students and schools.”

The Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation supports educational excellence throughout the district by investing in innovative programs, expanding access to opportunities and enriching the student experience.

Additional details on designated games, specific fundraising initiatives and annual funding allocations are expected to be announced jointly by the Hallett Sports Foundation and the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation.