When Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools held the first Evening of Innovation around this time last year, a huge crowd was on hand at HSE High School.  This year, the event is back and is set for May 1st, 6-8pm, at Fishers High School.

There will be over 100 interactive experiences representing every school in the district.  It’s a chance for the entire Fishers area community to see how learning in our district is shifting towards developing future ready skills in our students.

The Evening of Innovation is free to all, with no admission charge

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

An outline of what is called The White River Plan was presented to County Commissioners at their Monday meeting by Tourism Director Brenda Myers.

The plan calls for steps to make the river and its banks cleaner and more attractive to those visiting the county’s major waterway. Beyond that, the plan is to encourage knowledge of the numerous parks and historic sites along the river.

The river improvement plan was conceived several years ago with the intent of making the river a recreational asset for Hamilton and Marion counties. Currently the project’s supporters are in the process of preparing recommendations for what can be included in the development stage.

Myers said “an action-oriented plan” will be created by May 16 taking recommendations into consideration. She stressed that there will be no consideration of purchasing or making use of privately owned land that borders the river. Earlier, there were apparently unfounded rumors of plans to condemn or purchase river frontage.

Existing recreational and historic sites on White River include Strawtown Koteewi Park, Potters Bridge Park and trail, the Noblesville Riverwalk, Conner Prairie, Carmel’s River Heritage Park, Fishers Heritage Park and Hazel Landing Park.

Monday’s presentation was informational only. No vote by commissioners was requested.

The county parks department is expected to coordinate with the plans as they move forward. Eventually, some type of Hamilton-Marion County board for White River development is envisioned to carry out and maintain river improvements including possibly retrofitting dams to maintain a favorable river elevation

When all candidates had filed their paperwork for the May 7th primary election, I knew the challenge I had in front of me.  There were no contests for the Democrats, but I saw a number of contested races for Fishers city elected offices.

The contested races total 12 candidates.  My first thought was…will all 12 agree to record a podcast interview with me?  More importantly, would I be able to handle 12 podcast recording sessions before the May 7th primary election?

The answer to both questions ended up being yes.  Yes, all 12 Republican primary candidates running for city offices in Fishers agreed to record podcasts.  And, somehow, I was able to produce 12 podcasts with all the candidates.

Why did I decide to take on this big task?  It has to do with the low voter turnout we tend to have in primary elections locally.  There are many excuses people give for not voting, but the one excuse that won’t work this time around is that you know nothing about he candidates.

I produced all these podcasts as a way for voters to experience listening to the voices of the candidates themselves.  You can find out what they are all about by listening to these podcasts.  They are all about 30 minutes long with no commercial breaks.

Below are links to all 12 podcasts.  I took the time, as a volunteer, to produce them.  The least you can do is take the time to listen, as you can, before entering the voting booth.

MAYOR

Scott Fadness

Logan Day

CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE

Gurinder Singh

Todd Zimmerman

 Rich Block

Cecilia Coble

CITY COUNCIL SOUTHEAST DISTRICT

Pete Peterson

Paula Hughel

CITY COUNCIL NORTHEAST DISTRICT

Brad DeReamer

Tom Grinslade

CITY CLERK

Jennifer Kehl

Jackie Bowen

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness is once again on the ballot for another 4-year term in office.  I spoke with the mayor about his re-election campaign.

The pre-primary campaign finance reports have been posted, and incumbent Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness continues to raise campaign cash, but has also spent a lot of money as election day draws near.

Through April 12th, Fadness has $356,801.35 cash on hand.  He began the calendar year with $456,767.90 in the bank, and has spent $187,066.55 so far this year.  You can review the entire report at this link.

Meanwhile, Fadness’ Republican primary election opponent, Logan Day, didn’t become an official candidate until 2019, so he started the year of 2019 with no funds in the bank.  The report shows he raised $9,694.98 through April 12th.  His report also shows expenditures of $9,674.07 during that same period.  That leaves candidate Day with only $20.91 cash on hand as of April 12th.  Logan Day’s full campaign financial report can be seen at this link.

Primary election day is Tuesday, May 7th, with early voting already underway.  Below is the schedule of early voting hours at Fishers City Hall:

Wednesday and Thursday, April 24 & 25 from 2 pm to 7 pm 

Friday and Saturday, April 26 & 27 from 10 am to 3 pm 

Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 & 2 from 2 pm to 7 pm 

Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4 from 10 am to 3 pm  

Cities have been dealing with cell towers for years, particularly the issue of where they are placed and under what circumstances.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the Board of Works and Public Safety Monday that more and more requests are rolling into the city for placement of small cell tower equipment inside local neighborhoods.

These small cell towers have a range of only 500 to 700 feet.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of these tower requests within neighborhoods are expected to be coming soon, according to the mayor.  As they become more popular, this could overwhelm the current city approval system.  As Fishers city ordinances now stand, the Board of Works must conduct a public hearing and vote on each request.

The mayor wants the Board of Works, City Attorney Chris Greisl and staff from the planning and zoning department, to work on what the mayor describes as “policies and thresholds that make sense.”

The mayor indicated this could all be discussed at a Board of Works public work session in the future.

Fishers has had the same Fire Department HQ building for 28 years, but the old structure is undergoing demolition to allow for a new building next to City Hall.  The new headquarters building carries a  $9.4 million price tag, and will take 18 months to build.

The new station will provide additional space for firefighter living quarters, as well as functional work space.  The administration offices will still be a part of this station with additional space for management needs.

Firefighters stations at the headquarters have been relocated to the Indy Fuel apartments off 126th Street, which keeps the firefighters and equipment in the same response district.  This location keeps the response times unchanged for continuity of service.

Lt. Rich Nyberg takes the sledgehammer swing to the building

If you have traveled State Road 37 lately, you have seen roving crews dealing with drainage issues, in preparation for the major construction later this year.  There will be utility relocation going on in the coming weeks and month along that stretch of highway.

In reviewing the Fishers Road Construction weekly update, you will see many ongoing projects, but there are a couple of new ones.

First, 116th Street eastbound between the municipal complex and Commercial Drive will see lane restrictions April 24 through April 25.

Also, look for a road closure on the northwest side of Municipal Drive as storm sewer work will be underway as a prelude to construction of he new Fishers Ellipse office building.  You will be able to access Municipal Drive from Lantern Road during the 2 weeks of construction

Look below for the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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116TH STREET
There will be a temporary lane restriction on eastbound 116th Street between Municipal Drive and Commercial Drive between Wednesday, April 24 and Friday, April 26. The restriction will be in effect between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm.

MUNICIPAL DRIVE
Beginning late next week, the northwest side of Municipal Drive will be closed for storm sever work for the new Flexware Innovation and Fishers Ellipse, LLC. buildings. The closure will take place on the north side of Municipal Drive from the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater west to the Fire Station parking lot. Motorists will still be able to access Municipal Drive from Lantern Road. The closure is expected to last for 2 weeks.

136TH STREET & CYNTHEANNE ROAD
Temporary lane restrictions are in effect between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. near and at the intersection of 136th Street and Cyntheanne Road. Restrictions are due to utility work for roundabout construction.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD 
126th Street at Allisonville Road will be closed beginning around 6 a.m. on Monday, April 22. The closure is expected to last for approximately 20 days. Detour routes will be down 131st Street and 116th Street to Lantern Road. Homes along 126th Street can be accessed from Lantern Road. Allisonville Road will remain open.

Southbound and northbound traffic on Allisonville Road has moved onto the newly constructed pavement as part of Phase 3 of the project.This will be the traffic configuration moving into the spring of 2019. The posted speed limit will remain 30 mph.

For more information on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

126TH STREET
Work has begun on intersection improvements for 126th Street and Parkside Drive. View the Fact Sheet to learn more about this project.

Periodic lane restrictions are in effect on westbound 126th Street between Olio Road and Pennington Road. Restrictions are active from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will extend through the month of April.

96TH STREET
Utility relocation is beginning on 96th Street as part of the road widening project, resulting in periodic lane restrictions over the coming months. For more information about the 96th Street road widening project, view the Fact Sheet.

STATE ROAD 37
Drainage work for SR37 is in progress. Construction vehicles will be using the construction entrance on Lantern Road, between 126th Street and 131st Street, and may cause some short delays.

Suburban communities that are largely white always work to shed the image that racial profiling could be going on.  In Fishers, a Facebook post by the Police Department was attacked on Facebook as an instance of possible racial profiling, and Fishers is now working to react to all the Facebook comments and media attention.

The local police often place messages on social media as an alert to residents if illegal activity is suspected.  Recently, a post displayed a picture of a African-American man taken from a home security system.  That man appeared to say something suspicious that was recorded by the home security technology, but that was apparently not written on the initial police department Facebook post.  The police Facebook post referred to a man seen in the neighborhood in a  “silver ‘beat up’ Chrysler passenger car.”

Several comments were posted to Facebook accusing the Fishers Police of racial profiling.

Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart then posted his own message in response, writing “we were wrong by not releasing the full facts of the situation that prompted the original post.”

The chief went on to say, “It is never our intent to discriminate or judge any individual in any incident in Fishers.”

Then, Friday afternoon, The City of Fishers issued another statement by Chief Gebhart describing a meeting he and his assistant, Luke Gannon, had with the man in the initial Facebook picture.

Here is how Chief Gebhart described the meeting:

“The conversation was extremely productive, and the outcome of the meeting was positive. The individual in the video did want to clear the air and agreed that his actions could be construed as suspicious.  The family has asked that we remove the initial social media post and we intend to support their wishes.

“In the future, our Department will make every attempt to not only provide critical information needed to keep our residents safe, but also the context and motivations behind the information.”

When the Facebook comments began to mount accusing the Police Department of racial profiling, reporter John Tuohy posted a story about the situation on the Indianapolis Star Web site Friday afternoon

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers junior Brynn Urban is among the 18 high school student-athletes from across the Hoosier State will begin next school year as members of the 2019-20 IHSAA Student Advisory Committee (SAC).

Urban, a cross country, track and field athlete for the Tigers, is one of nine juniors who will join nine seniors that are beginning their second year with the group, which will receive hands-on leadership experience in various areas via several IHSAA-sponsored events as well as serve as a voice to the IHSAA staff.

Each year, the IHSAA receives nominations from school principals on behalf of student-athletes from IHSAA member schools. From that group of nominations, 20 are selected for interviews by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee and returning members of the
SAC. From those interviews, nine incoming juniors are invited to join the group of nine
returning seniors.

The other incoming juniors on the SAC will be Brookelyn Brown, North Vermillion;
Brooke Comer, North Harrison; Leyton Czarnecki, LaVille; Ethan Keehn, Lake
Station Edison; Gracie Madison, BarrReeve; Claire Shide, Mishawaka; Graham
Siefker, La Porte and Elizabeth Steinhart, Mount Vernon Posey. The seniors on next
year’s committee will be Silas Allred, Shenandoah; Abby Bannon, Crawfordsville;
Clay Campbell, Jimtown; Lydia Laker, Franklin Central; Grant McAtee, Castle;
Emma-Kate Moore, Knightstown; Tom Newton, Harrison; Edreece Redmond,
Bishop Chatard; Savannah Strieter, Evansville North.

The SAC, which began in 2001-02, represents the entire IHSAA membership of
410 schools, and its structure reflects that of the IHSAA Board of Directors in terms of
classification and districts.

The SAC meets four times annually – twice each semester – and is responsible for
hosting meetings with student peers at the Fall Area Principals Meetings; assisting with
the awards ceremonies at IHSAA state championship events throughout the school
year, planning and administering the annual IHSAA Student Leadership Conference in
June and; to engage in and support the activities of Special Olympics Indiana including the Unified Track & Field and Unified Flag Football State Tournaments.

Other SAC functions include the development of an IHSAA Captain’s Handbook which is posted to IHSAA.org as well as assisting in the creation of multiple public service announcements addressing good sporting behavior which will be utilized during 2019-20 state championships events.