by

Richie Hall

Hamilton County Reporter

In an all-county battle at the Tiger Den, the Carmel girls basketball team won its
seventh straight game by beating Fishers 79-52 on Tuesday.

The Tigers started the game strong, with Tamia Perryman hitting consecutive
putbacks to put Fishers up 4-0. But the Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds got their offense
going after that, embarking on a 20-2 run that monopolized most of the period and put
them ahead 20-6.

“Early on when we were having a little trouble scoring, we just had great looks and
didn’t make anything,” said Carmel coach Tod Windlan. The coach said once his team
started making baskets and getting turnovers, which led to the ‘Hounds getting
easy transition baskets. Windlan said the way his team “shared the ball in transition
was fun to watch tonight.”

The run ended with a flourish, as Tomi Taiwo hit a 3-pointer, then Amy Dilk scored
easy baskets off back-to-back steals. The Tigers cut the lead to 20-10 by the end of
the quarter; Toni Grace scored on a layin, then Ali Gerka made a basket off a Grace
steal.

Carmel rolled through the second period, leading 45-21 at halftime after opening the
quarter with a 17-13 run. Dilk poured in nine points during the period, including a 5-of-5
effort from the free-throw line. Fishers did get its first run during the middle of the
quarter, with six straight points. Kenedi London scored and Katie Burton added four
points.

The Tigers made another 6-0 run in the third quarter, with Grace scoring four points.
That got Fishers within 51-33. But the ‘Hounds answered with a 15-5 run of their
own that lasted well into the fourth period and gave them a 66-36 lead. Blake Smith
got a pair of layins in the third quarter during that run.

Taiwo helped out with four foul shots during that time, finishing up an outstanding
foul shooting performance: The senior went 10-of-10 from the line for the game. Dilk
also did well, making all seven of her free throws. Reagan Hune was 4-of-4.

Dilk finished with 25 points, eight assists and seven steals. Taiwo added 17 points.
Jasmine McWilliams led on the boards with five rebounds. Smith blocked three shots.

“Carmel’s very good and they’re very good at what they do,” said Fishers coach
Lauren Vail. “They force us into a lot of first-half turnovers, and that really hurt us.

“I thought our kids played really hard.  We were able to handle their pressure a little
bit better as the game wore on, which is all I could ask. But you got to give credit to
Carmel. They’re No. 1 in the state for a reason and they played very well.”

Grace scored 21 points for Fishers, with Perryman playing strong by collecting nine
rebounds. Lydia Stullken had two blocks.

Carmel is now 20-1 for the season, clinching its third consecutive 20-win
season. The Greyhounds will go back on the road Friday for a huge Metropolitan
Conference game at Pike, the No. 2 team in 4A.

The Red Devils are 6-0 in the MIC, so they have already clinched a share of the
title. Carmel is 4-1, so the ‘Hounds are still in contention for a share of the
championship as well.

“We haven’t won the MIC in a long time at Carmel, so it’s something we got our eyes
set on. So hopefully we’ll come ready to play. We got to rebound better than we did
tonight.”

Fishers is 10-10 and hosts Avon Saturday afternoon for its final Hoosier
Crossroads Conference game of the season.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

County Council member Fred Glynn has announced he will seek another term. In his announcement, posted in the Hamilton County Reporter newspaper, Glynn pointed to accomplishments such as county government improvements and balanced budgets.

“It is a false narrative that we have to choose between good government and fiscal responsibility,” Glynn said. “My first term proves you can do both.”

Glynn represents Council District 1, which encompasses Carmel and the western edge of Fishers.

Hamilton County Reporter

Jason Sloderbeck announced Tuesday he is ending his campaign for Hamilton County Sheriff. Below is Sloderbeck’s statement on his decision to drop out of the race:

“After much consideration and conversations with my family, I have decided to not continue my run for Hamilton County Sheriff. I want to thank everyone who supported my efforts; however, I feel I am best suited to serve the residents of Hamilton County in the position I am currently in as jail commander. I am looking forward to working with our future sheriff to keep Hamilton County moving in the right direction.”

Todd Zimmerman took the gavel Tuesday night to run the Fishers City Council meeting for the first time as council president.  Zimmerman was elected unanimously by his fellow council members to be council president during 2018.  Councilor Rich Block was unanimously elected to serve as council vice president for the coming year.

In other council business:

–Appointments to boards and commissioners were approved.  You can view the entire list at this link.

–A voluntary annexation for property at 136th Street and Brooks School Road received council approval…this is part of the planned new complex for iTown Church.

–An Agency Fund was adopted for the Parks Department, which will allow private vendors to be paid more quickly.  For more details, use the link.

The Fishers City Council unanimously changed the local code to treat vaping the same as using tobacco products on city property, essentially banning it unless city officials choose to designate an area for vaping & smoking at specific events.

Fishers City Parks and Recreation Director Tony Elliot told council members this change will bring city ordinances in line with rules already in place by the Hamilton Southeastern School District.

Council President Todd Zimmerman allowed the public to comment on the proposal before the vote, and there were two people choosing to speak.

A vaping shop owner expressed his concern about vaping being lumped in with tobacco products.  He argued many of his customers have used vaping as a way to quit tobacco-related products like cigarettes.

A second speaker, identifying herself as a representative of Smoke Free Hamilton County, expressed support for the new vaping rules.  She was concerned about the spread of vaping in local schools.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film Phantom Thread – here’s my review

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness is developing a document on the fiscal impact of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and revealed the first draft to the City Council Finance Committee January 10th.  The mayor hired Policy Analytics, a research and analysis firm located in downtown Indianapolis, to crunch the numbers.

Here are a few of the findings contained in that report:

–TIF districts generate $576,000 per year for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District because property tax increases authorized by referendum are collected within a TIF district.

–Fishers TIF districts impact five-tenths of one per cent (0.5%) of the HSE School District budget annually, because 80%-90% of the HSE annual budget is provided by the state, not local property taxes, as a result of the 2008 property tax reform legislation enacted by the General Assembly.

–TIF districts have generated $47 million in public infrastructure projects, such as sewers, roads, storm water work and public parking garages.

–TIF districts in Fishers have generated 5.200 new jobs within the city.

–TIF districts in Fishers have resulted in $380 million in private sector development.

The report provides numbers on how tax rolls would have been impacted had the development come without the TIF incentives.  For example, HSE Schools would have received $1.1 million annually more if all the development had happened without TIF.

Finance Committee members John Weingardt and Eric Moeller, along with Mayor Fadness, said at the Finance Committee meeting that the development would not have happened without TIF.

Weingardt said he “100% believes” none of this development would have happened in Fishers without the TIF incentive.

Fadness said there was no development like this for 20 years and did not begin to happen until TIF incentives were used.

When the city’s growth years are over, Fadness says a future mayor will have a billion dollars in new assessed valuation of property to cushion the end of massive growth when the TIFs begin to expire.

Tax Increment Financing is a complex system that generally allows property taxes generated by the underlying property to be used for paying off debt to build part or all of the property.

The City Council Finance Committee will present these findings to the full council, possibly in February, for consideration of a resolution.  Fadness plans to present a resolution to the HSE School Board.  Both resolutions are not to agree or disagree with the city’s use of TIFs, Fadness says, but would serve to provide a statement that the numbers presented are correct.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers dropped a 45-39 Hoosier Crossroads Conference game to Brownsburg on Saturday at the Tiger Den.

It was a back and forth game, with Fishers leading 10-7 after the first quarter
and the Bulldogs up 21-14 at halftime. The Tigers were within 29-27 after three periods,
but Brownsburg pulled away in the fourth.

Tamia Perryman had a perfect night, making all seven of her field goal attempts
for 14 points. Skylar Fulton drained three 3-pointers, also scoring 14 points. The two
were also the leading rebounders, with Perryman getting six boards and Fulton
collecting five.

Fishers is now 1-4 in the HCC and 10-9 overall. The Tigers are back home on
Tuesday to host Class 4A No. 1 Carmel.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern took control in the middle quarters to beat Anderson 76-60
in a Saturday home game.

The first period finished in a 13-13 tie, but the Class 4A No. 7 Royals poured in 22
points in the second quarter to take a 35-28 lead at halftime. Southeastern continued its
run in the third period, eventually taking a 54-40 lead.

Five Royals finished in double-figure scoring. Nick Bowman and Aaron Etherington each had 15 points, with Chris Grubbs scoring 13, Noah Smith 10 and Mabor Majak 10. Chaz Birchfield pulled 10 rebounds, with Etherington and Smith both collecting six.

Smith dished out seven assists, while Bowman handed out five. Majak made five
blocked shots and Grubbs had three blocks.

Southeastern is 12-2 for the season and hosts 4A No. 4 Zionsville on Friday.