The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board has announced the four finalists to serve the remaining term of Michael Bottorff, the at-large member from Fall Creek Township.

The four finalists are:

Travis Brown

Peter Griffin

Jason Lantzer

Clint Wilson

The board will hold public interviews with each of the candidates at a meeting set for Tuesday, June 18th, at the school administration building.  This meeting will not be live streamed on video because it is not being held in the regular board meeting room.

The board will then name to new board member at the next regular board meeting, set for June 26th.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Bids will be taken June 28 by the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority on removal and sale of the Nickel Plate rails, thus marking the beginning of the end of the railroad between downtown Noblesville and Indianapolis. The port authority is owned by Hamilton County and the cities of Noblesville and Fishers.

Removal of the rails and railroad ties is the first step toward converting the rail right-of-way to a pedestrian and bike trail. The railroad south of Noblesville has not been used for train traffic for several years, and its future has been the subject of a long-running debate between the port authority and groups that wanted to preserve the rail line.

City and county officials met Monday to discuss the rail removal process and division of proceeds from the sale of the hundreds of tons of scrap iron and wooden ties estimated at around $2 million. But, the cost of removal and repair of dozens of streets the railroad crosses is unknown until bids are received.

The Nickel Plate north from Noblesville to Tipton will remain an active line for excursion trains operated by the Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad. The railroad was built in 1851 and was key to the development of communities through which it passed. Commercial use of the line ended in the 1990s and was taken over by the port authority, created to save the railroad from abandonment.

Monday’s meeting, following a regular county commissioner session, was called a work session where no final decisions were made. Other matters of mutual concern were also considered, including an update on the State Road 37 upgrading project now getting underway through city and county jurisdictions.

Also considered was Noblesville’s plan to improve Seminary Park with facilities accessible under the Americans With Disabilities Act., better lighting, sidewalks and signage.

It has been the topic of debate and discussion, now it is upon us – construction on State Road 37 in Fishers.  That rebuilding of the highway is set to begin later this summer.  Preparations are beginning on how to deal with the massive project.  I spoke in May with Keriann Rich of IMAVEX and Ashley Elrod from the City of Fishers about the unveiling of the 37 Thrive program, helping businesses and the public deal with the issues surrounding the construction.

I have had people ask me the following question – what do classroom teachers do during the summer break?  After all, that is part of covering the local school scene. right?

Well, yes, I do cover the HSE Schools and I do know a number of teachers.  Frankly, if I were a classroom teacher, I would just spend the summer break time recovering from the work load and stress accumulated over the course of the school year.  Some teachers do that, and they each are absolutely entitled to do so.

But there are a number of teachers that take time over the summer to make themselves better teachers by working in groups and sharing ideas.

One such opportunity for teachers to gather and work on becoming better educators started Monday at Fishers High School.  It’s called the Authentic Learning Summit.

This is a program for teachers in and around the HSE Schools, where instructors can take the opportunity to become better at the set of subjects called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Dr. Christy Hilton from the Indiana Department of Education (DOE) started the program by explaining the process to become STEM certified and, possibly, eligible for state funding.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the assembled educators how education is tied to parents’ desire to allow their children to have a better life.

“People will cross oceans in rafts, they will walk, march for miles and miles and miles, at the opportunity for their children to have a better outcome than they had,” said Fadness.  “As a city, if we want to be vibrant, if we want to be sustainable for the foreseeable future, there’s no single, bigger motivator to attract talented people to our community than the belief that those people, when they come here, their children will have a better outcome than they had.”

The mayor also expressed his belief that strong education is not just the responsibility of the schools and teachers, but is a mission for the entire community.

The Authentic Learning Summit is funded by a variety of sources, including the State of Indiana and the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation.

Just returned Saturday afternoon from a whirlwind 3-day trip to New York City, taking in some normal tourist things and two major Broadway shows.  (For more details on the trip, my wife Jane and I recorded a podcast at this link)

While I was away, a few news items of note happened.

First, Samm Quinn of the Indianapolis Business Journal posted a story online June 7th about 14 homes along 116th Street being bought-out for a new development.  These homes a near Maple Street, west of Chatham Tap.

the Hageman Group is behind the proposed development, the details of which have not been revealed.  You can read Samm’s story at this link.

Second, Fox59 reported that a vehicle was stolen Friday afternoon from the Top Golf parking lot in Fishers.  Indy Police day the stolen car was found on the east side of Indianapolis and two arrests were make.  Find more details from Fox59 at this link.

Speaking of Fox59, they plan to have a summer kickoff event at the Fishers Nickel Plate Amphitheater June 21st, 7-10am.  More information at this link.

Last, but certainly not least, my congratulations to the HSE High School baseball squad for defeating Mishawaka and heading to Victory Field for the state championship final game against Columbus East, June 17th, 8:30pm.  Good luck, Royals!!

According to HSE Schools, 24 people have submitted applications to fill the school board term of Mike Bottorff, who resigned from the board citing family responsibilities as the reason.  The deadline to apply was 4pm last Friday.  So, the question is, what happens next?

The school board will meet in executive session June 12th in order to  determine a set of  3-5 finalists.  The names of those finalists will be announced either before or during the June 12th public board meeting, after the private session.  Those finalists will be interviewed by school board members at a public meeting set for June 18th, 3pm, at the school administration building.  Board members plan to act as a panel in questioning the candidates.

The board will hold a vote at the June 26th regular board meeting naming the new board member.  It is not known when the new school board member will be sworn-in. Under state law, when there is a vacancy on a school board, the remaining board members vote on the replacement.

There are six HSE School Board members remaining.  If there would be a tie vote on naming a replacement for Mr. Bottorff, , or the board could not agree on the new board member, a Circuit Court judge would make the decision.  The Circuit Court judge in Hamilton County is Judge Paul Felix.

The new board member will serve the remaining term for the Fall Creek Township at-large seat held by Mike Bottorff.  That seat is up for re-election in the fall of 2020.

My wife Jane & I had been talking about going to New York City and catching a play or two on Broadway.  It had been about 36 years since I had visited the city and almost as long for Jane.  We saw two outstanding plays and took in a jazz club, along with other tourist adventures.  Here are Jane and I talking about our trip in podcast form:

by

Rich Torres

Hamilton County Reporter

PLYMOUTH – It wasn’t a huge move, just a minor shift in the batting order made on Memorial Day, but one that continues to pay dividends for the Hamilton Southeastern Royals, especially on Saturday during the Plymouth Semi-state.

With Cole DeWael setting the table and Anthony Eggers supplying the power, the
HSE Royals got off to a fast start during the Class 4A semi-state championship at Bill
Nixon Field and fended off Mishawaka 4-2 to earn the program’s first trip to the state
finals at Victory Field.

The key during the Royals’ 10th straight victory started at the top where Eggers and
DeWael formerly held opposite roles.

“Generally, in my coaching past, I’ve made more changes than I have in the backend of this year, but this was one that was kind of a hunch,” HSE coach Jeremy Sassanella remarked on flipping Eggers and DeWael in the lineup. “I thought Anthony isn’t missing by much, but I think we try Cole in the leadoff hole, and that’s work pretty well. The kids have battled.”

The duo used six pitches in the top of the first to give HSE a 2-0 lead, and Xavier commit Michael Dillon had plenty to work with through 6 innings of three-hit, scoreless baseball. Dillon (9-1) struck out 11 batters, walked two and retired the first eight batters he faced.

“I’ve been waiting for this all year. This whole week I knew I was going to start, and it was hard to sleep at night. I was just ready for this game,” Dillon remarked on this shutout through six frames. “I knew I was going to go out there and give everything I had even more. I knew I wanted to go as long as I could, and I felt with as much adrenaline and everything I had, my brothers picking me up, even in the sixth inning I felt as sharp as the first.”

DeWael was locked in from the start.  Taking four straight pitches to lead off the
top of the first, DeWael walked to first before Eggers launched an 1-0 offering over
the opposite field wall for his first home run in his prep career.

“It felt great off the bat. I was ready to go,” Eggers said. “That was my first one ever. I hit some back in seventh, eighth grade, but it was the perfect time.”

The Royals’ insurance runs proved crucially timed late as Greyson Droste drew a hit by pitch to give HSE a base runner in the top of the sixth. Jordan Millikan entered as a courtesy runner for Droste and later scored on a throwing error to put the Royals
up 3-0.

An RBI double by DeWael in the top of the seventh made it 4-0, as the junior center
fielder finished the game 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.
“The first inning is crucial to score runs, and Eggers doesn’t hit to many home runs
like that. It was just really cool to see,” DeWael said. “We’re both just looking to
get base hits and score runners. We just want to keep it going.”

Dillon rolled with 95 pitches thrown, but he was relieved by fellow ace Tyler Schweitzer in the bottom of the seventh. The Ball State recruit put the Cavemen on their heels with two quick outs, but a fielder’s choice bunt and a hit batter gave Mishawaka an opening.

The Cavemen (25-7) rallied with a pair of RBI singles by AJ Rosebush and Nicholas Bodle, but Schweitzer regrouped to strikeout Derrick Dawson swinging for the game’s final out.

“I told the kids early on and it was hard to understand. Of course, we didn’t know
we would be standing here, but I told them, we have some tough grind out wins and
losses early. I tried to explain over the course of a season and to win championships, we have to learn about ourselves through that,” Sassanella said. “Not only in the X and Os, but just about each other.”

The Royals will have a chance to show who they are in Indianapolis during the 4A
title game against No. 3 Columbus East (25-4).

“It’s the first time in HSE history that we’re going to Victory Field, so my heart is pumping right now on pure adrenaline,” Schweitzer said. “We get to go on the biggest stages in Indiana next Monday. I can’t wait.”

Hamilton County Reporter

On Friday, Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization Executive Director Anna Gremling presented a check in the amount of $7,392,304 in federal funds to Hamilton County Board of Commissioners President Steve Dillinger, Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt and Commissioner Christine Altman.

The funds will help pay for three infrastructure projects, including the reconstruction of Bell Ford Bridge, a historic covered bridge that’s being relocated to Geist Park to provide both a park attraction and a connection point for the Geist and Fall Creek Nature Trails. The bridge is being moved from Jackson County to the park at 10979 Florida Road, where it will be restored and reconstructed over Fall Creek. The bridge will be a prominent feature as part of the county’s Recreational Connectivity Master Plan.

The two other projects receiving funding are the resurfacing of 146th Street from U.S. 31 to Hazel Dell Parkway, and replacing Bridge 187, which spans Mud Creek on 106th Street east of Cumberland Road. Funding for all three projects will be available in State Fiscal Year 2024.

As part of an annual funding process, Hamilton County submitted projects for consideration by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for planning and programming federal transportation funds in the eight-county Central Indiana region. Projects are ranked based on such criteria as impacts to air quality, improvements to congestion, safety, pavement quality and more.

“It’s always a very competitive process with nearly 70 applications this year from 18 municipalities, but Hamilton County’s projects were among those that rose to the top,” Gremling said. “Building and maintaining infrastructure is one of local governments’ biggest challenges, and one of the ways they make a critical contribution to regional and state economies.”

By

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Republican candidates for most municipal offices in the November election are going to be elected without opposition. Democratic County Chairman Joe Weingarten said Friday that despite his earlier hopes for candidates, including one for mayor of Carmel, there will be none other than a handful of city council hopefuls already filed around the county.

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard is essentially re-elected to a seventh term. Also to be elected are mayoral candidates Chris Jensen in Noblesville, Scott Fadness in Fishers, and Andy Cook in Westfield. Technically, Democrats have until June 30 to fill vacancies on their November general election ticket. But, none have come forward.

Weingarten said there is still a possibility of a city council candidate in Fishers. Three Democrats for Fishers council who secured a place on the ballot in the May primary are: Jocelyn Vare, at-large; Lane Skeeters, South Central District, and Adam Kaps, Southwest District.

In Noblesville there are three Democrats: Paula Gilliam at-large, Jason Myers in District 5 and Jeremy Hawk in District 6. And, in Carmel, Democrats for council are Cleaster Davis in the Central District, Ti’Gre McNear in the Northeast District, William Howard II in the North District and Miles Nelson in the West District.

No Democrats are filed in Westfield, Sheridan, Cicero, Arcadia or Atlanta. Weingarten said the county party is sponsoring an Emerging Leaders Project designed to prepare younger Democrats, ages 21 to 40, for seeking office in the future.

He also announced that he is accepting applications for the position of County Democratic Party secretary. The post is currently vacant. Persons interested should contact the chairman by June 21.