Were you thinking about how you would handle the responsibilities of being President of the United State in the 5th grade?  Speaking for myself, that never crossed my mind at that time.

But Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate student Nicole Morris has thought about it, and is one of the winners of the national Presidential Podium Video Challenge.  The competition was organized by the Library of Congress Young Readers Center.  Nicole had to record a one-minute video answering as if she was POTUS, outlining what important problem would she fix.

You can see her one-minute video at this link.

School calendars can provoke some interesting discussions.  That is exactly what happened at the Wednesday night Hamilton Southeastern School Board meeting when Superintendent Allen Bourff presented the first draft of a proposed calendar for the 2018-2019 school year.  Dr. Bourff described the calendar as similar to the one being used this school year.

Board Member Terry Tolle once again argued for a balanced school calendar, with longer fall and spring breaks, but that would require starting school much earlier.  Sylvia Shepler argued for a longer Thanksgiving break and shorter fall break.  Those are just a couple of examples of the ideas tossed out by board members, triggered by the draft calendar.

The calendar calls for school to begin for students on August 8th, 2018.  Fall break would extend from October 15th to October 19th.  Thanksgiving break would be November 21st through the 23rd (Wednesday through Friday).  Christmas break would be scheduled from December 24th through January 4th.   Spring break would begin on Friday, March 29th and go through Friday, April 5th.  The final day for students would be Friday, May 24th, unless make-up days are needed and classes would then continue into the following week.

The board took no action on the calendar at the Wednesday session.  The calendar will come before the board in a future meeting for final approval.

You can view the proposed calendar at this link.

Many parents with children in the Hamilton Southeastern Schools will be receiving information from school officials about a Netflix program, 13 Reasons.  The television series centers on a high school student that commits suicide and each episode is aimed at a recording she left for the 13 people whom she feels contributed to the decision to take her own life.

Assistant Superintendent Mike Beresford told the school board Wednesday night that a group of school psychologists has issued a warning about the show.

“Our most vulnerable students have a hard time seeing the difference between fact and fiction, and may see that as romanticizing the notion of suicide or the whole notion of revenge,” Beresford said.

The concern is centered on the popularity of 13 Reasons among junior high and high school age youth.  As a result, HSE administrators are fashioning a message to parents and school staff about this issue.

If a teen wants to watch the Netflix program, it is recommended parents watch the show with their child.  Some good can come out of watching the show with the right perspective, according to Beresford, because the girl in the story misses facts and has false perceptions about what is happening around her.

Matt Moore has coached the Kokomo Wildcats the past three seasons, and he will now take charge of the basketball squad at Fishers High School.  Moore replaces Joe Leonard, who resigned March 10th after 10 years coaching at Fishers.

Moore was a small college coach at Mt. Vernon (Ohio) Nazarene University before coming to Kokomo.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board approved the hiring of Moore during the Wednesday night board session.  At that same meeting, the board approved two other new coaches for Fishers High School – Wrestling coach Jason Cook and Boys Swimming Coach Joe Keller.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board is set to vote tonight on a new basketball coach for Fishers High School.  Matt Moore is recommended to replace Coach Joe Leonard.  Moore has been the hoops coach at Kokomo High School.

The board is set to vote on a consent agenda Wednesday night, which lists all personnel actions for the certified staff.  The proposed action has been posted to the HSE Schools Web site.  You can read the consent agenda at this link.

Cyber threats and stalking are tools used by some people to harass others, and a victim of this form of criminal activity resides in Fishers.  The United States Attorney’s office in Indianapolis announced federal charges have been filed against Shamonique Ferguson, 21, from North Carolina, for extortionate communication, mail threats, and interstate stalking between December of 2016 and April of 2017..

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Josh Winkler, outlines in a news release how Ferguson allegedly made false police reports to the home of a Fishers family and threats were made to the employer of one of the family members.

According to the release from Minkler’s office, three Indiana University campuses and Ivy Tech were also victimized by these threats.

U.S. Attorney Kristina M. Korobov, who is prosecuting the case for the government, says if convicted, Ferguson faces up to 5 years of imprisonment for each count charged.

“We live in times where the Internet, cell phones, and social media allow for unlimited communication with friends, family, and even complete strangers. Sadly, we also live in times where people abuse that privilege, turning a text message, a webpage, or a keyboard into an instrument of fear by instantaneously transmitting anonymous threats,” said Minkler. “Faced with the risk of large scale violence, universities, businesses, and individuals cannot simply disregard threats.”

Fishers Police were involved in this investigation, along with the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Indiana State Police.

Here is how the U.S. Attorney’s Office described what happened:

According to the criminal complaint, Ferguson harassed her victim prior to December of 2016; however, beginning in 2017, the behavior escalated. Ferguson delivered threats to Indiana University, alleging that the victim was planning mass acts of physical violence on several of its campuses. Ferguson posted threats to send a pipe bomb to the victim’s residence and to commit violent acts at the victim’s then place of employment, a family entertainment center in Fishers, IN. Ferguson also mailed various items to the victim and her family, including an item that contained bodily waste and threats to kill the victim. Over a period of less than 4 months, Fishers police, fire, and ambulance services responded to the victim’s residence on more than 20 false reports made by Ferguson. Because many of the calls were recorded, a Fishers Police Department detective was able to recognize Ferguson’s voice as the false reporter. Facebook records for Ferguson showed that she enlisted others to make false reports against the victim as well. 

Lynda Carlino has led the local youth sports program in the Fishers area for a very long time.  Lynda has announced her intention to retire at the end of 2017. She talks about her impending retirement and many other issues in this podcast.

Saxony Hall at Saxony Lake opened during the summer of 2016, and parks department officials found few bookings for wedding events since.  It turns out that the city set its rental rates too high.  As a result, the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety acted to immediately lower those rates.

The new rates will be $1,200 for Fishers residents and $1,500 for nonresidents, which includes 6 hours of rental and additional time for setup.  Extra hours will cost $200 an hour for residents, $250 an hour for nonresidents.  More details are available at this link.

Saxony Hall is located at Saxony Lake and Beach, contains 4,500 square feet of space and can seat up to 150 people.

As the spring season moves forward, so does the list of road construction projects around the Fishers area.

The full listing for the work week beginning Monday, April 24th, is provided below, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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116TH STREET

There will be lane restrictions on 116th Street between I-69 and Cumberland Road throughout the summer in order for the contractor to make improvements to 116th Street.

USA PARKWAY

There will be periodic restrictions on USA Parkway while crews construct turn lanes for IKEA.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD

There will be lane restrictions on northbound and southbound Allisonville Road from 126th Street to 131st Street between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. all week. There will be flaggers and barrels onsite to help direct traffic. Please drive with caution.

I-69 AND CAMPUS PARKWAY

Milestone Contractors has begun mobilizing cranes and other equipment and setting a temporary concrete barrier wall along I-69 at Campus Parkway Exit 210. Work will require alternating lane closures on northbound and southbound I-69 between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Lane closures may recur each night through the end of the week depending on weather and progress. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT at eastcentralin@indot.in.gov or 1-855-463-6848.

126TH STREET

There will be periodic lane restrictions between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on 126th Street between Allisonville Road and Lantern Road while the contractor installs passing blisters near Reserve at Lantern.  Flaggers will be on site to direct traffic during the restrictions.

106TH AND CUMBERLAND ROAD ROUNDABOUT

There will be possible lane restrictions around the roundabout while the contractor finishes up work.

SR37 CORRIDOR

Crews will be out along the SR37 Corridor from I-69 north to 146th Street and within 1000’ feet east and west of SR37.  Crews will be out performing survey and geotechnical work.  Please drive with caution when you see vehicles parked along the roadside.

You have likely seen the cell phone video of a man being physically forced from his airline seat and dragged off the plane.  Just what are your rights as an airline traveler?  Also, how should you go about planning you summer vacation trip?  I talked to local Travel Agent Ann Craig Cinnamon about those questions and others…