Sophie Foley and Laurent Higgenbotham decided to enter a C-SPAN documentary contest, with a First Amendment theme.  The ladies shared a $1,500 prize by coming in second-place nationally.  Lauren was unable to join us, but Sophie Foley talked about the project.  Also, you can view the 6-minute documentary film at this link.

When the summer season of activity was announced for the Nickel Plate Amphitheater in downtown Fishers, it was made clear more was to be announced later.

Later is now, as the Fishers Parks & Rrecreation Department has announced additional acts coming to Fishers.

Below is the full news released issued by the city Monday morning:

==================

Four new concerts have joined the entertainment lineup at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater this year.

The Fishers Summer Concert Series kicks off this week with free concerts on Tuesday and Friday evenings in the newly renovated Amphitheater, presented by IU Health Saxony. The series also includes free Wednesday lunchtime concerts on Central Green in front of Fishers City Hall, presented by Meyer Najem. The full lineup is available at npdamp.com.

In addition to the previously announced schedule, four new concerts have been added to the season.

Free Saturday Concerts
New this summer, Fishers Parks & Recreation will host two special shows on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. Concerts are free, and tickets are not required for entry.

On July 20, Fishers welcomes Chance McCoy, a virtuoso fiddler, guitarist, and banjo player best known as a member of Grammy Award-winning Americana powerhouse Old Crow Medicine Show. His debut solo album, Wander Wide, blends old-school bluegrass melodies with modern rock and roll arrangements and rich, atmospheric production.

High-powered funk, R&B and soul band Huckleberry Funk takes the stage on August 17. Based in Bloomington, Ind., their live shows have earned them a reputation as one of the most exciting and entertaining performances in the Midwest. At the heart of a Huckleberry Funk show, the audience can expect powerhouse vocals, face-melting guitar solos, a touch of east coast horns, and rock-solid grooves.

Lawn chairs and outside food and beverages are welcome at these concerts. Beer will also be available from Four Day Ray for purchase onsite during the show. Learn more at npdamp.com/Saturdays.

Ticketed Friday Night Shows
Fishers Parks and Recreation will also host two ticketed Friday night concerts featuring national recording artists. Shows begin at 8 p.m. and gates open at 6 p.m. Tickets will be available beginning June 10 at npdamp.com/Tickets.

In partnership with 92.3 WTTS, Jade Bird and Ruston Kelly will perform on August 9. The ‘tts tiny ticket will be available for $9.23.  Jade Bird is quickly becoming one of the most exciting new British voices in the alternative music world. With her debut release the Somewhere AmericanEP and 2018’s follow-up breakthrough single Lottery, Jade has performed on Later with Jools Holland, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, andThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Ruston Kelly, a Nashville-based artist debuting his first full-length album later this year, will also take the stage alongside Bird in August. While also penning songs for artists like Tim McGraw and Josh Abbott Band, he continued working on his own material, releasing his debut EPHalloween in 2017 and earning praise from Rolling Stone.

The final show of the season will take place on Friday, September 20 with Grammy Award-winning artist Van Hunt, whose melding of R&B, soul, funk, pop, and rock ‘n’ roll has garnered critical praise and success over his nearly 15-year music career.  A charismatic and engaging live performer, Hunt has toured both as headliner as well as alongside such diverse acts as Kanye West, The Roots, Coldplay, Mary J. Blige, and Dave Matthews Band. Tickets will be available June 10 at NPDamp.com/tickets for $10.

Four Day Ray and various food vendors will also be onsite at both concerts. No outside food or beverage is permitted at ticketed shows.

To learn more about the concert series and other events happening at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater, visit NPDamp.com.

It was seven years ago that I filed into the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, along with my wife and mom, to watch the graduation ceremony for my twin daughters, Allison & Mary.

In 2019, the graduation classes of HSE and Fishers High Schools entered to Coliseum to receive their diplomas Saturday at the Coliseum.

First, HSE graduates celebrated in the morning, then Fishers High School in the afternoon.

There were the usual speeches.  HSE Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff asked each grad to think about the prayers that were behind them on this day from family, friends, teachers and coaches, something Dr. Bourff speaks about often.  He also asked each graduate to understand the milestone reached on this important day for themselves and their families.

Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff spoke before each graduation ceremony 

by

Rich Torres

Hamilton County Reporter

By RICH TORRES

LAFAYETTE – There was no dogpile.  Not this time.

As Cole Graverson induced a popup to left field for the final
out of the Class 4A Regional title game at Loeb Stadium, the
Hamilton Southeastern Royals celebrated, but they stood tall
doing it.

After claiming the program’s first regional championship since 2004, the
Royals rejoiced shoulder to shoulder and played the same way in all facets of the game to defeat Carroll 6-1 on Saturday night.

“This senior class has done a lot of firsts. The first (Hoosier Crossroads Conference) title. As a senior class, we hadn’t won a sectional while we’ve been in high school, and we did that,” HSE senior Cam Bolling said. “Winning regional is another step, but we have two more games.”

The Royals (21-8) are now one step closer to their goal of reaching Victory Field for a chance at a state title, and they did it was an array of dominant pitching and contagious hitting.

HSE outscored their sectional foes 15-1.  At regional, they went higher, outproducing
both Fort Wayne South Side and Carroll 20-1.

In the morning semifinal, senior Michael Dillon pitched a five-inning nohitter to run-rule Fort Wayne South Side 14-0 while the offense logged 14 hits and eight extra-base hits.

Against Carroll, the bats stayed hot, churning out 10 hits with five extra-base knocks, including four doubles and a towering home run by senior Greyson Droste, an Akron recruit.

Droste finished 2-for-3 with two RBI. The first run driven in off his bat came in
the top of the first with a single to left field for a 1-0 lead. His next hit traveled well
beyond 321 feet over the left-field wall for his first home run of the season to put HSE
ahead 2-0.

“We’ve been attacking fastballs. Earlier in the year, we were watching more pitches
and we were being hesitant and getting two strikes a lot,” Droste said. “It’s hard to hit
with two strikes, so I think we’re doing a much better job with attacking.”

Bolling was on the attack all day, going 2-for-3 in both games with a pair of RBI in
each. He blasted solo home run in the semifinal and in the final, Bolling hit
consecutive doubles during HSE’s back-toback two-run innings in the fifth and sixth.

“Cam did phenomenal today. He did a really good job,” Droste said.

Anthony Eggers added an RBI bunt in the top of the fifth, and Cole DeWael
dropped in an RBI single into left field in the sixth.

HSE’s six runs were plenty for starter Tyler Schweitzer, who carried a shutout
until he was relieved in the bottom of the seventh for closer Cole Graverson.

“I was a little upset that I couldn’t finish it just because I finally found my pitches
and I was finding the zone, but Graverson came out there and he did what he does
best. He got the three outs,” Schweitzer said. “He gave up one run, but it’s only our
second one this postseason. We’ll take it.”

Schweitzer threw 82 pitches and struck out nine. Dillon had eight during his outing
in the morning. The tandem walked a combined three batters.

“We’re a family right now. We’re loving each other,” Schweitzer said.
“We’re all relaxed, and I think that’s what’s helping us win.”

Like siblings, they back each other. No more so than the pitchers.
Prior to the postseason, the Royals had six starters in the lineup hitting below .286
and the team’s batting average fell lower until they flipped the switch to win nine
straight games.

In the semifinal, the Royals had nine batters with at least one hit. DeWael went
2-for-4 with a double, Jack DeWolf was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double, Eggers
was 1-for-3 with two run, an RBI and a double. Brayton Harrison drove in a run,
and Droste had two RBI with a double. Jake Huston laced an two-run double during
HSE’s six-run top of the third against Fort Wayne South Side.

“The amount of strikeouts the pitchers have had in the earlier games, we feel
awfully confident with Michael and Schweitzer on the mound and Graverson. It’s
just all confidence,” Bolling said. “We’re playing our best baseball. It feels good.”

Schweitzer’s title game win improved his record to 8-2. Dillon is now 8-1.

“They hit me around a little bit today, which I was a little scared of but my
defense backed me up a lot,” Schweitzer said. “I’m really happy with them and how
they helped me out.”

Schweitzer allowed seven hits, but the Carroll Chargers stranded 10 runners after
losing in the regional final to a team from Fishers for a second straight postseason.
Now, the Royals are heading to semistate next.

“The kids are having fun and above all that’s what it should be,” HSE coach
Jeremey Sassanella said. “This is great for HSE.”

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor 

Hamilton County Reporter

BLOOMINGTON – The list of threetime state champions at the IHSAA girls state track and field meet is relatively short, but two more athletes added their names to
that list on Saturday.

Hamilton Southeastern’s Kennedy Drish and Noblesville’s Shelby Tyler closed out
their fantastic high school careers with their third consecutive state title in their respective event at the state meet, which took place at Indiana University in Bloomington. Drish
finished first in the pole vault, while Tyler was the winner of the high jump.

Tyler’s winning jump was 5 feet, 9 inches, which she cleared on her first try.

“Obviously I didn’t jump my best, but I’m still happy with my performance,” said
Tyler. “Getting out to state and competing against these girls is a good experience.”
Tyler, a senior who has committed to the University of Georgia, became the first
three-time state champion in Noblesville history, and the first to win so many high
jump titles since Ellie Tidman of Batesville won four in a row from 2007 to 2010.

“It’s definitely a privilege,” said Tyler.
“It’s all that I could ask for.”

Drish cleared 12 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault, the highest she has ever vaulted at
state. The senior found herself in a battle with Center Grove sophomore Taylor
Jarosinski, who also got over 12-9, but Drish won the event because she had fewer misses.
It was a remarkable win for Drish, a Virginia Tech commit, since she had been
dealing with an injury that limited her practices. But as the great ones always do,
she came through at the big events.
“This one was probably the hardest one
for me,” said Drish of her three state wins.  “Taylor definitely gave me a battle, but it was definitely worth it in the end.”

Drish’s performance helped Southeastern finish high in the team standings for the
third straight year. The Royals, who came into the meet as defending state champions,
placed third with a score of 48 points. North Central won the meet with 75 points, while
Warren Central was the runner-up by scoring 52 points.

“We did what I hoped in most places,” said Southeastern coach Julie Alano. “We
didn’t have breakthroughs in a couple of events. Everybody ran a PR, or close to their
PR, in every event. You can’t go wrong with that.”

The Royals were part of an incredibly fast 4×400 relay race. The team of junior
Olivia Burgess, senior Mya Hammons, senior Tierra Sydnor and freshman Regan
Wans placed second in a time of 3:45.72, which was over a second and a half under the old state record. North Central won the race in 3:43.99.

“That’s just crazy that we ran that fast,” said Alano. It was a total team effort –
“Every girl ran fast,” said Alano. “It wasn’t any certain one on that relay. Everybody ran
a PR. That last race was amazing.”

“It was so fast and I loved every single minute of it. It was amazing,” said Wans.
The freshman was happy with her performance: “I threw down a new PR in the 400
and I threw down a PR in the 4×4 as well for my split, so I’m really excited about how
things turned out today.”

While Wans is just beginning her career, senior Lulu Black finished hers up on a
strong note. Black started the meet by running on the 4×800 relay, joining senior
Maddie Mirro, sophomore Halle Hill and junior Ellie Pedersen in placing second in
that event.

Black said it was the first time she had run in more than one event at state. She has
committed to North Carolina State University.

“That was an amazing accomplishment, just considering I haven’t done that before,
haven’t doubled at state before and I got to do it with my best friends,” said Black. “And
we really just set high goals for ourselves this year and we achieved them. So I’m super
proud of us as a whole.”

Black would later go on to race in the 3200 run, where she placed fifth in another
outrageously fast race. Black’s fifth-place time was 10:39.01 – the top five girls all
went under 10:40.

“I think I ran pretty well,” said Black.  “It’s crazy that it’s my last race here at IU
and for my team.”

Sydnor had another outstanding meet. In addition to the 4×400, she also joined Burgess, Hammons and sophomore Alyssa Barker in placing third in the 4×100 relay.

Sydnor came back a little while later and finished third in the 300 hurdles and also
placed seventh in the long jump.

Noblesville tied for 12th as a team by scoring 14 points. In addition to Tyler’s win,
the 4×800 relay team of senior Maria Anderson, sophomore Bella Sharples-Gordon,
senior Aubrie Deal and junior Anna Hazelrigg finished sixth.

Fishers tied for 20th by scoring 11 points. The Tigers had two fifth-place finishes, starting with the 4×800 relay team of junior Abby Carter, freshman Vera Schafer, junior Emma Gillespie and freshman Elizabeth Barrett.

While the 4×800 team was running, sophomore Alison Casey was vaulting her way to a fifth place finish in the pole vault.  Fishers’ 4×100 relay team of freshman Ella
Scally, sophomore Myah Donaldson, junior Gabby Lewis and senior Grace May took
ninth place.

Carmel junior Phoebe Bates scored five points for the Greyhounds with a fifth-place
finish in the 1600 run.
Hamilton Heights sophomore Maria Mitchell picked up two medals for the Huskies, placing eighth in the 1600 run and ninth in the 800 run. Mitchell was the first Heights runner to medal at state since Sierra Brown in 2014.

Mitchell was part of an exceptionally fast 800 run, which saw Pike senior Elizabeth Stanhope win in a new meet record time of 2:06.62. But she held her own and earned
a medal.

“I knew I was running at the end with the seeds, so I was in the back of that pack,”
said Mitchell. “I was just like, ‘Well, we’ll start in the back and we’ll just start to pick
them off through the race.’ That’s what happened.”

Sheridan junior Rebecca Merritt competed in both throwing events, placing 11th
in the discus and 16th in the shot put.

Westfield senior Zoe Pentecost also competed in the discus, finishing 13th. Guerin
Catholic senior Ellie Schroeder placed 11th
in the 800 run.

The summer season is very busy around Fishers.  The weather is nice (mostly), people are anxious to get outside and the city Parks & Recreation Department is providing plenty of activities this summer season.

The city released a long list of what local residents can do this year during the summer months.

Below is a full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

Continue reading Summer in Fishers →

by

Katie Wisely

WISH-TV/Hamilton County Reporter

It’s been a rough spring for farmers with the constant rain. A lot of the seeds aren’t even in the ground yet. Farmers are feeling the pressure, and consumers could see the impact on prices later this year.

According to a new report, only 22 percent of the state of Indiana is planted. Normally, this time of year it’s 94 percent.

Nathan Davis is a farmer in northern Hamilton County. He farms about 3,000 acres of corn every year. Right now, only 500 of that is planted. Davis uses that corn to feed the thousands of hogs he raises.

He says it takes about 180,000 bushels of corn to feed all of his hogs. On average, he sells about 18,000 a year. Davis says he needs at least 1,300 acres of corn planted.

This year he’s had to take new measures. He says he’s had to spend nearly $60,000 to buy contract corn for the fall just to feed the hogs. Davis says it’s due to the fact that the weather hasn’t been in their favor this year.

“It just doesn’t affect the crop,” he said. “I mean you have all of your inputs, your equipment costs, you’ve got your seed cost, your land cost and all that kind of stuff, so it’s huge. It affects everything really.”

Davis says the ground has to dry out before they can get the planter back out. He says the impact the weather has had on planting will increase the cost of corn. As of right now, Davis says it’s nearly $4 a bushel.

Some farmers are saying there’s a chance they may not get a crop in the field, or once they do plant, it fails due to the wet ground. Most farmers have some type of crop insurance, but the insurance doesn’t cover everything.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com) 

Joe Hogsett, mayor of our big sister city, Indianapolis, has a big problem with his streets, and he’s come up with an idea to have surrounding counties help him out of it. Of course, it’s an election year. Joe needs to get votes, and there’s nothing like telling the voters that you’ve found somebody else to pay for their needs.

So, Joe wants to have his surrounding counties, like Hamilton County, put some yet-to-be determined amount of their Local Income Tax money into a fund that would fix crumbling streets. Supposedly, Hamilton County would get some of its money back. But, likely not much.

This “regional” approach to road repair would require state legislation. It is true that a lot of our county’s residents use Indy’s streets; about 58,000 of our people commute into the city. And, about 15,000 Indianapolis residents commute to Hamilton County. Indy would benefit greatly by using those numbers in some kind of a formula that is yet to be devised.

And, there are a few other problems with Joe’s idea. Chief among them is the fact that commuters from our county already pay four tenths of one percent of their income in Marion County as their Deputy Auditor Drew Carlson told me yesterday. That might not sound like much, but by my conservative calculations it amounts to between $5 million and $6 million per year. You can fix a lot of chuckholes with that along with the money from the other surrounding counties.

There’s another consideration. While we have 58,000 commuters to Indy, we have about 318,000 people in Hamilton County. That means a vast majority, 260,000 more or less, do not commute and may not want to pay to fix Joe’s problem.

And, then we should consider that many commuters use largely interstate highways like 69 and 465 to get to work. Indianapolis does not maintain these roads, the state highway department (INDOT) is solely responsible.

The Local Income Tax (formerly known as COIT) is a big part of Hamilton County’s life blood for public services and facilities. Our county, cities, towns, townships and libraries get more than $156 million from this tax each year. Giving up part of it would potentially reduce local government’s services at all these levels.

Our local officials and legislators have a lot of serious thinking to do before agreeing to any “regional” approaches that Marion County politicians propose in an election year.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

BLOOMINGTON – By literally a few millimeters, Hamilton Southeastern’s Noah
Malone became a state champion on Friday.

The junior won the 200 dash by a margin of two-thousandths of a second – .002 – at
the IHSAA boys track and field state championships at Indiana University. The 200
dash was easily the race of the night and among the highlights of Hamilton County
athletes.

Malone helped the Royals to a fourthplace finish as a team, their best result since
winning state in 2013. Meanwhile, Fishers also landed in the top 10 and claimed a state
title in the 4×800 relay. Carmel, Westfield and Noblesville all had medalist performances as well.

Coming into the 200, Malone had already put together a nice list of accomplishments at state. He was the runner-up in the 100 dash and part of HSE’s fourth-place
4×100 relay, joining freshman Stephen Sydnor, sophomore Gage Pratt and junior
Caleb Durden in that race.

Malone’s biggest competitor was his friend and fellow junior, Jahn Riley of Pike.
Riley was working on his third medal of the night, already placing seventh in the 100
dash and winning the 400 dash. The two were side-by-side throughout the entire 200
dash, including right at the end.

It took a few seconds to figure out the winner, but it would be Malone. Both times
flashed on the scoreboard as 21.31 seconds, which were rounded up from the precise
times. Malone finished the race in 21.307 seconds, Riley finished in 21.309.

“I actually thought Jahn won,” said Malone. “I thought he won. But when the
screen came up as a tie, it was just insane.  Right now I’m just speechless, but it was a
good day overall. It was a good day. And props to Jahn. He brought me to that time.”

Pratt also earned a medal in the 200 dash, finishing in ninth place. Senior Jacob
Wiggers finished ninth in the 3200 run, giving the Royals a fifth medal. That was
also enough for Southeastern to clinch a three-way tie for fourth place; the Royals
joined Brownsburg and Cathedral in scoring 26 points.

“We’re real proud of the way our guys competed,” said Royals coach Brian Akialis.
“Obviously very excited when we’ve got a guy like Noah first in the 200, second place
in the 1 and then our 4×1 running their best time all year right when it matters most,
finishing fourth today.”

The Tigers finished the meet with 23 points, placing them eighth as a team.
Fishers began the running events with a win, as senior Ethan Meyer, senior Hunter Christy, junior Drew Smith and sophomore Jaylen Castillo finished first in the 4×800 relay. It
marks the second year in a row that the Tigers have won a state event.

Meyer then took sixth in the 1600 run.  Competing at state was a sneak preview for
him, as he has committed to run cross country and track at IU next fall.

“It’s definitely changed my life,” said Meyer as he reflected on his high school
career. “The experience I’ve had is something I’d never trade for anything else.”

Fishers also had solid days from its throwers. Junior Hayden Tobias took fifth
in the shot put, while junior Wyatt Puff finished eighth in both the shot put and the
discus.

Carmel finished in 16th place as a team with 16 points. Junior Logan Sandlin had
the best finish of the Greyhounds by taking fourth in the pole vault. He also competed
in the 300 hurdles, finishing 11th. Not bad for his first appearance at state.

“It’s definitely different than a normal track meet,” said Sandlin. “There are a lot
more people and it’s a lot more pressure. There are just a lot of different factors that
aren’t the same as a normal track meet.”

Senior Jakob Pearson finished fifth in the 110 hurdles, while the 4×400 relay team
of sophomore Owen Schafer, senior Drew Thornton, sophomore Colton Parker and
junior Eli Konow took seventh. Parker was also eighth in the 300 hurdles.

Noblesville finished the meet with two ninth-place medals. Sophomore Andrew
Anderson got his medal first after a top nine finish in the 800 run.

“It was a really fast start and a really tough race,” said Anderson. “I saw a couple
people get tripped up right in front of me. I had a good showing, it was really fun and I
got a lot of great guys here to support me.”

The Millers’ 4×400 relay team of juniors Shomari Rogers-Walton, Shawn Kinslow
and DeVontez Cox, and senior Mitchell Conard took ninth in that event.
Westfield earned an eighth-place finish in the 4×800 relay. That team consisted of
junior Mahamat Djour, senior Max Gutwein, senior Noah Douthit and junior David
Manella.

Guerin Catholic had two competitors at state. Senior Quinn Gallagher placed 11th
in the 3200 run, while senior Billy Freudenthal was 14th in the 300 hurdles.

North Central edged out Pike by one point to win the team state championship.
The Panthers scored 42 points to the Red Devils’ 41. Warren Central placed third with
27 points, giving the Metropolitan Conference a sweep of the top three teams.

The Hoosier Crossroads Conference also did well, with four teams in the top 10.
Southeastern and Brownsburg were part of the tie for fourth place, Fishers finished
eighth and HCC newcomer Franklin Central took ninth, with Mental Attitude Award
winner Malachi Quarles scoring all 20 of the Flashes’ points on wins in the 110 and 300
hurdles.