by

Craig Adkins

Hamilton County Reporter 

From the opening tip, it was obvious that it was going to be a knockdown, drag out
affair. That’s how it always is when Noblesville and Fishers get together on the hardwood.

Noblesville got the best of Fishers in the fourth quarter to notch their first HCC win
and most importantly, stopped their five-game losing skid. The Millers overcame a
very physical Tiger team by the count of 57-47.

Both squads seemed a little edgy in the first quarter, turning the ball over at will,
until first-year Fishers head coach Lauren Vail was forced to burn her first timeout
with 3:48 left in the first and her Tigers trailed 4-0.

Something must have sparked the Tigers in the huddle. Skylar Fulton swished a three
to get Fishers within 4-3. From that point, the teams fed off of each other to make for
quite an intense first eight minutes. Tiger Sophomore Tamia Perryman drove the lane
and banked a layup up and over the rim with seconds left in the quarter to knot the score
at 7-7 after one.

The Millers tried to push their lead once they got it back in the second quarter, but
Fishers just had a relentless pursuit on defense all night long and they weren’t going
to give in so easily.

Momentum shifted numerous times in the second, but it was mainly a pair of
Maddie Knight treys that got Noblesville back in front 17-15 and pushed their lead to
22-15 late in the quarter. After an Emily Kiser free throw, Mallory Johnson sank a
deep three from about 28-feet as the halftime buzzer sounded, giving Noblesville a 26-20
lead at the half.

Fishers came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, jumping out on an
8-0 run before the Millers came to. Fulton drained another three from the
right corner to bring it within one at 26-25 and Ali Gerka dropped in a three herself that
forced Noblesville to call a timeout with 5:27 left in the third.
Along with another outstanding outing from University of Michigan signee Emily
Kiser, the junior tandem of Johnson and Knight were huge sparkplugs for the Millers
exactly when they needed to be.

As if the second quarter didn’t have enough intensity, the third had six of the
game’s eight ties to keep the crowd at The Mill on the edge of their seats all night.
Johnson knocked down another three to tie it at 32. Gerka tied it at 34. After a Kiser
layup, Kennedi London tied the game at 36.

Cierra Tolbert put Fishers up 38-36, but Kiser again tied it at 38 on an offensive
rebound putback. Maddie Knight was fouled while shooting as the third period buzzer
sounded. Knight made both free throws and the Millers took a 40-38 lead into the fourth.

On a night when the physicality of Fishers would test Emily Kiser to the limits,
she did what she could to rise to the occasion. The 6’3 senior all-state candidate just
simply made things happen for Noblesvile in the final quarter, scoring in clutch situations
and making things that much tougher for the Tigers to come back.

The Millers started off the fourth on a quick 6-2 run, thanks to head’s up play from
sophomore Abby Haley, assisting on consecutive buckets by Kiser and Madison
Whetro, pushing the Noblesville lead to 44-38.

The lead grew even more when Johnson drilled another three from downtown
pushing the lead to nine at 51-42, forcing Vail and the Tigers to call a timeout with
3:48 remaining.

“I’ve gotta give a lot of credit to Noblesville,” said Fishers head coach Lauren Vail.
“They have had a rough stretch and for those girls to remain positive and to remain
together and to buy in and to come out and play the way they played tonight was
impressive,” Vail continued on Noblesville’s play on Friday night.

A pair of Whetro free throws gave the Millers their first double-digit lead of the
night at 53-42. Noblesville would wind up with their first HCC win of the season with
a 57-47 win Friday night.

“They had kids step up and obviously you know Kiser is a very good basketball
player, but when you have other kids knocking down three’s, that makes them tough to
beat,” said Fishers head coach Lauren Vail after her team’s loss at Noblesville.

Hungry for their first conference victory, the Millers were gave the Tigers all they
had. With eight ties and a total of five lead changes, it was inevitable that one of these
two were going to find a way to get the best of the other and push away for the win, but
it was a battle to the end before the Millers could push away for the win.

“Fishers is really good and Lauren has done an absolutely phenomenal job,” said
Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley complimenting Vail on the 7-4 start in her
first year at Fishers.

“They’re talented and we knew when we looked at them that we knew we had to do
a good job of taking Toni out of it and I thought our kids did a great job of doing
that,” Buckley referring to senior guard Toni Grace of Fishers who was held to four
points, all at the free throw line. Grace averaged 18.6 prior to Friday.
The Millers put an end to their five-game losing streak and got back on the positive
side of things.

“All the things we struggled with against that stretch, somebody punches us and I felt
like we just folded. And tonight, they came after us over and over and we had to keep
answering. Like I said, I’m just really proud of our fight and toughness tonight,” said
Buckley on her team’s grit in Friday’s win.

Fishers (7-4, 1-2 HCC) was led in scoring by junior Skylar Fulton with 14,
including four three-pointers. Ali Gerka added 8, all in the third and Kennedi London
with seven.

The Tigers host Pendleton Heights (6-5) next on Thursday, Dec. 14.
Noblesville (5-6, 1-3 HCC) notched their first conference win and were led by a
monster night from Emily Kiser, who netted 24 points and hauled in 21 rebounds (10
offensive). Maddie Knight joined her in double-figures, while Mallory Johnson
added nine and Madison Whetro chipped in eight.

The Millers will host Anderson (5-5) on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at The Mill.

The City of Fishers is looking to keep a close eye on vacant grocery store properties, and perhaps other vacant commercial space, with a proposed overlay zone.

For more details on this, read Linsdey Erdody’s story on the on Indianapolis Business Journal Web page at this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools have broken ground on the new Southeastern Elementary School, to be located on Cyntheanne Road just north of Southeastern Parkway.  The ceremony was held Friday afternoon at the construction site.

Those speaking included, HSE School Superintendent Allen Bourff, School Board President Matt Burke and Mike Holtkamp of Hagerman Incorporated (the construction contractor on the project).

By

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Paul Ayers, two-term County Council member, announced Thursday that he will not seek a third term on the council. The Carmel Republican, representing parts of Clay Township and all of Washington and Adams townships, was first elected in 2010.

The position is up for election next spring, and is now an open seat. There will likely be no shortage of candidates seeking to succeed Ayers.

Ayers cited business obligations and the desire to devote more time to his large family and other pursuits that he enjoys as reasons for his decision to retire from the council.

The seven-member council is the fiscal body of the county. Four of the seats are up for election in 2018. Although all members are Republicans, there has been some division in recent years. Ayers has generally been among the more conservative members when issues have divided the membership.

In a letter to friends and family, Ayers said, “Being on the council has been a labor of love. We are so blessed in Hamilton County, and I thank all council members, elected officials, the great employees and family and friends who have been so helpful and hardworking.”

He said he plans to continue to do volunteer work and “help the Republican Party and other candidates as time allows.”

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County Area Neighborhood Development Inc. (HAND) has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Central Indiana Senior Charles N. Smith Trust Fund, a CICF Fund, to support a new Home Repair & Mobility Assistance program for low- to moderate-income seniors.

The program is a collaboration among three organizations: HAND, Habitat for Humanity of Hamilton County and Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County. The bulk of the funding will be used for home repairs or modifications that will allow seniors to continue aging in place. The remainder will pay for a regularly scheduled “shopper shuttle” for seniors who need help getting to the store.

HAND is the program administrator, processing home-repair applications and tracking results. Habitat’s experienced volunteers will handle construction. And Shepherd’s Center is coordinating the shopper shuttle along with providing referrals for both services.

Organizers hope to complete 15 home-repair projects and provide shuttle access to as many as 40 seniors a month by November 2018.

The three organizations also are working with the City of Fishers on a separate initiative to build ramps for homeowners with accessibility issues, and they are seeking additional funding for repairs to homes not owned by seniors.

Founded in 2003, HAND invests in neighborhoods, provides housing solutions and develops partnership to improve lives and build community. The organization owns six apartment communities that offer a total of 96 affordable units; 10 additional units are under construction near Carmel.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County is going to be losing a lot of its clout in the state legislature. Not only has Luke Kenley, formerly chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, retired from office, but now Kathy Richardson, House Majority Caucus chair, has announced she will not run for re-election.

Both legislators are Noblesville residents. Kenley has been replaced by Victoria Spartz, also of Noblesville. Only time will tell who replaces Richardson after next year’s session.

Richardson has served in the House of Representatives since 1993. District 29 which she represents includes Noblesville, Wayne and most of White River townships. She has won overwhelming re-election every two years since her initial election in 1992.

Kathy says she will run next spring for County Clerk, a job she once held prior to her legislative career. Present Clerk Tammy Baitz is retiring next year.

The big question is: who will seek Kathy’s seat in the legislature?

You can make a pretty safe bet it will be a Republican from Noblesville since the district is heavily Republican and Noblesville is the only major community in the district.

Names that come to mind would include County Councilman Brad Beaver, who made an unsuccessful attempt to replace Kenley. City Councilor Megan Wiles, who also made a run for Kenley’s vacated seat. Or, how about Mike Howard, city/county attorney? Or, maybe Steve Nation, who is likely to retire next year as judge of Superior Court 1?

All these folks have pretty good name recognition and have had experience in government. But, obviously, no one has made any intentions known since it was only this week that Kathy made her surprise announcement that she would not seek another term.

It will be unfortunate for Noblesville and for the legislature to lose Kathy as a House member. She has become known statewide as the expert in election administration. She has never enjoyed or been a part of controversy. A couple of years ago she was probably passed over for an appointment as Secretary of State because she wouldn’t play politics to get to the head of the line when the office became vacant.

Many folks tend to think it doesn’t much matter who represents our county in the legislature, but it can. Without Kathy and Luke in the Statehouse, their successors and other local legislators Tony Cook, Victoria Spartz and Jerry Torr are going to have to work hard to keep legislative focus on the best interests of Hamilton County.

As the long-time Executive Director of HSE S.P.O.R.T.S, Lynda Carlino, prepares to retire, she has been honored by the City of Fishers.  Mayor Scott Fadness awarded Lynda the Key To The City Wednesday night.

“Lynda’s commitment to building HSE S.P.O.R.T.S. over the last 18 years is a true testament to her love and service to our community,” said Mayor Scott Fadness. “I can think of no one more deserving of a key to our City and a sincere thanks for creating a positive space for Fishers’ youth through athletics.”

Ms. Carlino has overseen the independent nonprofit organization during years of massive growth in local youth sports.  She plans on retiring at the end of this year.

I interviewed Lynda in a podcast recorded in April this year,  You can listen to that podcast at this link.

Hamilton County Reporter

House District 29 State Representative Kathy Richardson (R-Noblesville) announced she will not seek re-election to the Indiana General Assembly. Richardson
will seek the office of Hamilton County Clerk in 2018. “I am announcing that in January I will be filing to run for Hamilton County Clerk in 2018 and I will not
seek re-election to the Indiana House of Representatives,” stated Richardson.

“I have been honored and humbled to serve the communities I love in the 29th district. We have accomplished a great deal that has established Indiana as the
envy of many other states,” said Richardson.

During her time in the Statehouse, Richardson partnered with Governors Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb to deliver balanced budgets, lower taxes
and bring great jobs to Indiana. Richardson also served as an elected member of the House Republican Leadership since 2000, the first woman to serve in an elected
Caucus Leadership role in Indiana history.

“Serving as a member of Leadership gave me the opportunity to be at the table when major decisions about our state were considered and have a big influence on legislation,” Richardson added.

Incumbent Hamilton County Clerk Tammy Baitz announced her decision not to seek re-election earlier last week.

“Clerk Tammy Baitz’s decision not to seek re-election allowed me to assess running for Hamilton County Clerk in 2018. The election process has received a great deal
of attention at the federal level, and I anticipate many
changes will be coming very soon at the local level. I believe
Hamilton County could benefit from my experience
with election law and procedures and so I have taken the
decision to offer my service to our citizens as County
Clerk”, Richardson explained.

Richardson is a prominent member of the House
Elections Committee and is a crucial contributor to several
of Indiana’s election reform initiatives. Richardson
is currently the Election Administrator in the Hamilton
County Clerk’s Office and supervises all of Hamilton
County’s elections.

As County Clerk, Richardson hopes to continue her work implementing several measures to improve voter participation, such as electronic poll
books, extending early voting and explore the adoptionof vote centers.

Hamilton County Reporter

Garrick Mallery passed away on Dec. 4 at the age of 89. He was a lifelong Hamilton County resident whose impact on the community spans generations.

Mallery, who began selling real estate while in college in 1948, held the oldest active real estate license in Indiana. He is remembered for his rich and varied service to the Noblesville community, much of which is noted in his obituary on Page 5 in the Wednesday, Dec. 6 edition of the Hamilton County Reporter.

In the 1960s, Garrick organized the Hamilton County Health Department, where he currently served as Chairman. In 1962, Garrick played Santa in the inaugural Noblesville Christmas Parade, continuing for several years afterward. He reprised the role for the 50th anniversary of the parade, and then served as Grand Marshal in 2015.

A statement about his passing from the City of Noblesville reads as follows:

“It is a sad day for our community with the passing of Garrick Mallery. He has been a leader in our city for decades and through his tireless work, it’s hard to throw a stone across Noblesville without having it hit somewhere that Garrick had an impact on. He put his stamp on Noblesville and Hamilton County by appraising, developing, buying and selling real estate, including Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center and First United Methodist Church. With all of his accomplishments, Garrick said his legacy was giving family land dating back to 1984 to Noblesville Schools for White River Elementary. He loved Noblesville and was a pillar in the community. He will be missed.”

Jim White is retiring at the end of 2017 and Zach McKinney is taking over the Transportation Department at the Hamilton Southeastern School District.  I talked with both of them for this podcast.