Being a high school principal has changed a lot through the years. Factor-in having two large high schools in the Hamilton Southeastern School District and the complications multiply. I invited Fishers High School Principal Jason Urban and HSE Principal Chad Cripe on this podcast to talk about a number of issues they face in running their respective high school buildings.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness sat down for a podcast interview with me on December 23rd. We discussed a number of subjects. The mayor described expectations that 2020 will be “a year of building.” The many building projects include State Road 37, the 116th Street development downtown where the new headquarters for First Internet Bank and a new hotel will begin construction – and a complete reconstruction of 96th Street will be underway.
Here are some of the items the mayor talked about as the city enters 2020.
New downtown development along 116th Street This massive undertaking will begin in earnest during 2020, but will take about 24 months to complete, so it will not be finished in 2020. Fadness says this will change the landscape of downtown and the City of Fishers. Once complete, all this will profoundly change the look and feel of downtown, including the Nickel Plate Trail, a new high-end hotel and the six-story First Internet Bank Headquarters.
“It will feel like an urban center in the sense of – you will feel like you’re in a downtown area,” Fadness said. “We’ll have world-class amenities that nobody else in Central Indiana really has. I think it will be really a crown jewel for the city of Fishers and this area. We’ll definitely demonstrate that we’re a dynamic and very vibrant city.”
Sense of community The mayor is planning to spend the first six months of the new year building a sense of community and culture among the population of Fishers. He wants local residents to feel connected to the overall community. He looks at this as another critical piece of infrastructure, this one a human infrastructure.
As the mayor sees it, people seeking a suburban home look for housing, its affordability, as well as how close the home is to a job and good schools. The precise geographic location is not the point for these people. The mayor sees his job as, once here, how do you fall in love with the city where you happen to reside? People tend to retreat back to their cul-de- sacs. Fadness plans to explore ways to get people out of their neighborhoods and give them pride and ownership for the city they call home.
Geist – Waterfront Park and Conservancy District – The Geist Waterfront Park is still in the design stage. A number of permits will be needed in order to move forward, Do not look for construction to start in 2020, but Fadness wants to move forward as quickly as possible.
Legal moves have begun to establish a Geist Conservancy District, with the power to tax and be responsible for maintenance of the lake. The mayor says the Indiana General Assembly must act to keep this moving forward. Fadness says he supports “some sort of conservancy district.”
The mayor acknowledges the rub will be the issue of which homeowners must pay for the lake maintenance costs.
“This is an asset that so many different homes derive value from the fact that they’re in this area and that it is a wonderful natural amenity,” Fadness said. “I also recognize the fact that Citizens (water utility) doesn’t necessarily view their job as making sure you can water ski on the lake.”
Citizens owns the lake and is only focused on the water supply from the lake, according to the mayor.
“You have this scenario where you have this wonderful natural amenity that does require management, it does require maintenance,” the mayor told me during the podcast. “It just depends on which stakeholder you are talking about…what kind of maintenance needs to be done. There’s going to be a lot of conversations about this going forward. I do believe this is an asset that needs to be managed and I do believe there are costs that come with it and I do believe the people that benefit directly and indirectly from the lake should pay that.”
116th Street & Allisonville Road When Kroger opted to remodel their current store in the area and not build a new grocery, that left a large commercial hole in the area. Fadness says he is “cautiously optimistic” that progress will be made in 2020.
He recently spoke with the developer and says the property owner is actively searching for a tenant to fill that area.
The mayor also pointed to a major step taken in partnership with the Hageman
Company to buy the large old brown building on the southeast corner of 116th & Allisonville Road. “Our plan is to tear that building down and look to redevelop it,” said Fadness.
“For the folks that live along 116th & Allisonville, we are definitely trying to be as aggressive as we can to redevelop that area,” added the mayor.
New Democrats taking office on the city council Fadness has held meetings with Jocelyn Vare and Sam DeLong, the two new Democrats taking office on the city council in 2020. “I hope everyone is well intentioned,” Fadness said.
“We’re going to openly communicate with all nine council members. We’re going to treat everyone the same, unless, for some reason, we’re given a reason why we have to act otherwise,” the mayor said.
I reminded the mayor there are many cities throughout Indiana that do not operate that way. “I think our residents would demand that we operate professionally and transparently with all nine (council members),” the mayor responded.
You can listen to my entire podcast interview with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness at this link.
Hamilton County Reporter
Hamilton Southeastern finished with a 2-0 record at the North Central Classic after beating Springsboro (Ohio) 62-51 on Saturday.
The Class 4A No. 6 Royals led 16-12 after the first quarter, but Springsboro came back to take a 32-31 lead by halftime. Southeastern took the lead back in the third period, then pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Springsboro 18-10.
Sydney Parrish scored 35 points for Southeastern. Parrish set a new HSE scoring record during the game; she now has 1,679 points, breaking the old record of 1,657 set by Zach Gunn. Parrish made five 3-pointers and also had eight rebounds.
Ryan Viele added 11 points; she and Lydia Self both collected four rebounds.
Lauren Morris dished out seven assists. Southeastern is 12-2 and will play
at New Castle on Friday afternoon in a make-up game.
Hamilton County Reporter
It was an all Hamilton County final at the Bedford North Lawrence Tournament Saturday and the Class 4A No. 7 Fishers Tigers came away with a 47-37 win over the University Trailblazers.
Fishers remained perfect on the season at 11-0, while University sits at 8-3 after a 3-1 weekend in Bedford.
Jeffrey Simmons led the Tigers with 19 points. The 6-6 sophomore made 8 of 11 foul shots, including a 7 of 9 fourth-quarter performance at the charity stripe.
Max Greenamoyer led University with 15 points, including four 3-pointers. The 6-0 senior had 16 three pointers during the tournament.
The first quarter was a defensive slugfest, with a Bryce Williams 3-pointer at the buzzer giving Fishers a 7-5 lead. Tigers coach Matt Moore thought the low score was due to both teams guarding at a high level. He praised University, saying the ‘Blazers were “one of the better teams” on the Fishers schedule.
The Tigers jumped out to a 11-5 lead early in the second quarter before a Camden Brown basket and a pair of Greenamoyer 3-pointers gave University a 13-11 lead with 4:40 remaining in the half. That would turn out to be the last Trailblazers lead of the game. The Tigers scored the last seven points of the half and another buzzer beating 3-pointer, this one by Dominic Castellani gave Fishers a 22-15 halftime advantage. Simmons had six
points in the quarter and Charlie Smith had four for the Tigers.
“We hit a shot at the end of the first quarter, hit a shot at the end of the half,” said Moore. “Both were 3s that gave us some separation.”
The third quarter again featured strong defensive efforts, with each team scoring only seven points. Joe Martin hit an early three pointer for University to cut the lead to 22-18 and Greenamoyer’s late three pulled the Blazers within 27-22, but five points from Simmons provided the offense for the Tigers 29-22 lead after three quarters.
Fishers looked poised to blow the game open early in the fourth quarter, scoring the first eight points for a 37-22 lead. University fought back with baskets from Greenamoyer, Martin and Sam Mervis and a three pointer from Brown to get within 39-31 with 90 seconds
left. The Tigers made their foul shots down the stretch to hold off the Trailblazers.
In addition to Simmons’ 7 of 9 at the line, Smith and Justin Long were each two for two on foul shots as the Tigers made 11 of 13 fourth-quarter free throws.
Moore said that in the second half, his team did a great job of “locking down and guarding one possession at a time.”
Simmons and Greenamoyer were named to the All-Tournament team selected by Bedford radio station WBIW.
Completing the six-player All-Tournament team were Brayton Bailey of Bedford North Lawrence, Isaac Vencel of Bloomington North, Maximus Gizzi of New Palestine and Peyton Wert of Milan.
University coach Brandon Lafferman was excited with his team’s play at the tournament. “Congrats to Fishers and Coach Moore on a great tourney run and championship. They are really solid on both ends of the floor and made it tough on us all night.”
“I’m really proud of our boys and how they played in Bedford from the minute we arrived to the final second in the championship game against Fishers. We got great production from everyone who stepped on the floor and our team energy was outstanding. These Christmas tourney trips are priceless opportunities for team bonding and improvement and I’m thankful we got the invitation to play in Bedford this year. “
The Holiday tournament championship game appearance was the fourth in five seasons for University. The Trailblazers were champions in the Vincennes tournament in 2015 and 2018 and runner-up at Vincennes in 2017. Fishers is next in action Friday, Jan. 3 when it travels to Columbus East. University is off until Jan. 7 when it travels to Traders Point Christian Academy.
EARLIER GAMES
Fishers reached the championship game with a 58-44 victory over Scottsburg. The Tigers led 18-5 after the first quarter, with Castellani scoring eight of those points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Scottsburg cut Fishers’ lead to 27-18 by halftime, but the Tigers stayed in front 44-35 at the end of three. Simmons had seven points in that period.
Four Fishers players landed in double figures, with Simmons and Isaac Farah each scoring 12 points. Castellani and Smith both had 10 points.
University earned its way to the championship game with a 45-39 win over the host Bedford North Lawrence Stars.
Joe Martin and Max Greenamoyer again led the Trailblazers with 15 points each as University broke away from a 30-30 tie after three quarters to take top honors in Pool A.
Greenamoyer scored in the lane then fed Jacob Sager for a lay-in to put University in front to stay, before Trey Mollett’s 3-pointer pulled the Stars within 34-33.
Martin scored two quick baskets for a 38-33 lead with 2:18 left. Korey Ash-Simpson had consecutive baskets for a 42-35 lead with 1:09 left.
The ‘Blazers missed the front end of three consecutive one-and-ones, but Ash-Simpson rebounded the third miss, leading to a pair of made free throws by Sam Mervis to put the game away. The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with University holding a 12-7
lead on two 3-pointers from Greenamoyer, four points from Martin and a pair of Mervis foul shots, before the Stars scored the last seven points on the quarter to lead 14-12 after the first.
Two more Martin free throws and 3-pointers by Mervis and Greenamoyer got University to a 20-20 tie before baskets by Mervis and Martin put University up 24-20 at the half.
The Trailblazers threatened to blow the game open early in the third with 3-pointers from Martin and Greenamoyer put University up 30-22 at the 6:03 mark, however University did not score again in the period.
Mervis finished with nine points, Ash-Simpson had four points and Sager
two to round out University’s scoring.
Christopher Lloyd joins Adam & Larry, looking back at the best films of 2019. Adam lists his ten favorite films of the decade.
Hamilton County Reporter
Hamilton Southeastern’s defense took over in the third quarter, and that led the Royals to a 53-44 win over Henderson County (Ky.) Friday at the North Central Classic.
The Class 4A No. 6 Royals trailed 10-8 after the first quarter and 25-22 at halftime. But Southeastern held Henderson County to only two points in the third period, then poured in 21 points in the fourth to seal the victory.
Sydney Parrish scored 25 points and collected nine rebounds. Lauren Morris had a solid game, adding 10 points and making four steals.
The Royals are 11-2 and return to the North Central Classic this afternoon to play Springboro (Ohio).
Hamilton County Reporter
Fishers went 2-0 in pool play Friday at the Bedford North Lawrence Tournament.
In their first game, the Class 4A No. 7 Tigers beat New Palestine 74-55. Fishers outscored the Dragons in each quarter, leading 13-6 after one period and 32-19 at halftime. Justin Long scored seven points in the first, then Jeffrey Simmons added nine points in the second quarter.
Simmons finished the game with 15 points, while Long scored 14. Two other Tigers players reached double figures: Bryce Williams added 13 points and Charlie Smith scored 10. Long and Isaac Farah both made two 3-pointers.
Fishers beat a good Bloomington North team 46-35 in its second game. The Tigers led 12-8 after the first quarter, then went up 20-16 at halftime. After a close third quarter, Fishers pulled away in the fourth period, with six players scoring at least one point.
Simmons again led the way, with 17 points.
The Tigers are still perfect for the season at 9-0 and finish up play in Pool B by taking on Scottsburg at 11:45 a.m. today. Fishers, already the winner of Pool B, will then play either University or the tournament host Stars later that evening for the championship. The Trailblazers and BNL will play each other at 11:45 a.m. to determine the Pool A winner.
I am wrapping up my fourth year podcasting, and have been reviewing all the data from my podcasts produced and posted during 2019. What I will do here is look at three types of podcasts and list them based on the number of times an access is made to one of my podcasts and all or most of the podcast is played.
I will categorize my podcasts in three parts – candidate podcasts, Arts&Fishers podcasts and all other podcasts. When it comes to the candidate podcasts, several of those productions had lots of listeners, but the candidate lost. This could be connected to local Fishers voters wanting to know as much about the office hopefuls, especially those not well known around town before their candidacy for office.
So, based on my podcasting statistics, let’s look at the most-listened-to podcasts I produced in 2019. Each title includes a link to the podcast, if you wish to listen.
CANDIDATE PODCASTS
1) Logan Day – Mr. Day ran against incumbent Mayor Scott Fadness in the May Republican Primary election and lost.
2) Jackie Bowen – Ms. Bowen ran against incumbent City Clerk Jennifer Kehl, and lost in the May GOP Primary.
3) Gurinder Singh – Mr. Singh ran for an at-large city council seat, but lost in the Republican Primary.
4) Scott Fadness – The incumbent Fishers mayor recorded a podcast shortly before the May GOP primary. He was renominated and had no opponent in the November general election
5. Paula Hughel – Ms. Hughel was a Republican Primary candidate in the Southeast District, but lost to incumbent Pete Peterson.
OTHER FISHERS PODCASTS
1) HSEqual – HSEqual was a group formed over the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board debate about a school nondiscrimination policy. A policy backed by HSEqual was enacted by the board. This podcast features Jamie Cairn and Michael Vance, Two of the founders of HSEqual, before the final vote was taken by the school board.
2) Mayor Scott Fadness – This podcast has become an annual tradition. This production was recorded and posted in early January, 2019, talking about the year 2018 and what might be coming in 2019.
3) Coverdale Consulting – Coverdale Consulting has built a reputation as one of the most prominent political consulting firms locally for Republican candidates. On this podcast, I spoke with Rachael Coverdale and Andrew Grieder about the firm on May 21st.
4) HSE School Supt. Allen Bourff – This was recorded on the first day of school year for students, August 7th
5) Nickel Pate Rails & Trails – Logan Day, in his role with “Save The Nickel Plate,” and Tom Williams from Indiana Trails, were advocating for a rail plus trail concept along the Nickel Plate. Their campaign was unsuccessful as the rails were removed a short time after this podcast was recorded and posted.
ARTS&FISHERS PODCASTS
1) Review of the film Joker – This was the most listened-to podcast of the entire year, which is a bit odd because I did not give this film a good review. But more people listened.
2) Ford vs. Ferrari – This is another film review, I absolutely loved this movie!
3. A Star is Born – Seems when I post a podcast review that is less than positive, more people listen…that’s what happened in this case.
4. Meeting Gorbachev – Famed German film director Werner Herzog had lengthy talks with the man that oversaw the dismantling of the Soviet Empire. Whatever you thought you knew about Gorbachev, you will learn something new by watching this excellent documentary film.
5. Downton Abbey – This British TV show got the full-blown feature film treatment here, and for reasons that continue to escape me, lots of people listened to my podcast review.
So, there it is, most listened-to podcasts in three categories of my podcasts. I feel blessed that during 2019 there were more than 16,000 times one of my podcasts were listened-to, either entirely or mostly. Thanks to all my podcasting listeners. One thing you can do, if you choose to do so, is rate my podcast on whatever platform you use to listen. A rating and a comment would be great, particularly on iTunes.
2019 has been a very busy news year in Fishers. In my nine years of news blogging locally, I believe I can say that was true for each and every year.
It is once again time to go back through the news stories of 2019 and try to find my Top 20 list. Most news organizations have many meetings and tons of heated arguments for any top news story list. For me, writing this blog alone, I can only have a debate within my own mind.
So, I’ve finally settled on a list. Just so you know, there were several news stories that just barely missed. Among them include Governor Holcomb choosing to announce his anti-vaping policy at Fishers High School, Bob McCutcheon’s resignation from his city post after many years of attracting acts to the city Amphitheater, the debate over creating a Geist Lake Conservation District, the creation of the Fishers Arts & Culture Commission, and the agreement between city officials and MetroNet on how to move forward with installing fiber cables in local neighborhoods.
Here is my listing of the top news stories for Fishers during 2019, from number 20 to the most important (in my view) as number 1.
20) Arrests for Amphitheater American flag fire A pair of 18-year-olds were arrested in connection with a fire set on an American Flag that had been placed on the wall of the city Amphitheater stage, the day after the 4th of July.
19) Mike Bottorff resigns from the HSE School Board Bottorff was the school board president at the time, but in a message to his fellow board members, cited family reasons for his decision to step down in late May. Clint Wilson was selected by the board to fill-in the remainder of Bottorff’s school board term.
18) HSE Schools install solar projects Bob Rice is in charge of this program, which is already powering schools and more are scheduled to be added.
17) Jeff Hill leaves the city, Jason Taylor assumes the job With the large number of projects underway on Fishers streets and roads, the person directing the city engineering department is a key individual. With the State Road 37 project getting underway in earnest during 2020, Jason Taylor, formerly the assistant to the director of engineering, assumed that post during 2019. Hill left the city for a private sector opportunity.
16) Mike Reuter retires Mr. Reuter has been at the financial helm of the local HSE School District for about 25 years. He will continue to contract with HSE Schools for financial services.
15) Fishers men indicted on firearms charges This story received a lot of attention locally and regionally because the U.S. Attorney’s office alleges the two men were conspiring to sell weapons to ISIS.
14) HSE Schools explore flipping start times School Superintendent Allen Bourff has been discussing the possibility of having elementary students start school earlier and secondary students reporting later. This is the result of medical studies showing older students need more sleep. The community meeting held to gather comments found a number of parents opposed to the change, but some voiced support. School administrators plan to have a recommendation for the school board early in 2020.
13) The Fishers Police Department begins deployment of body cams Officers are being equipped to record themselves while on duty. A civilian employee is included in the 2020 budget to manage the program and the massive amount of video recordings.
12) HSE School Board issues an apology to the local community The board said it has not upheld the school corporation’s normally strong reputation within the local community and around the state. Acting board President Sylvia Shepler’s statement on behalf of the entire board acknowledges. “…it appears our actions have further divided and brought unnecessary criticisms from the media, our community, our staff and our students. On behalf of the board, I want to apologize.” The statement was issued in June.
11) Fishers City Clerk investigation An outside law firm was hired by the city council to probe allegations of civil rights law violations against City Clerk Jennifer Kehl. The investigation found no law violations, but did say there were “management issues” with Ms. Kehl, and the city has taken all duties away from the clerk that are not specified in state law. The report itself has never been released publicly. Jennifer Kehl denies all allegations of wrongdoing and/or management issues.
10) The Yard & Fishers District begin to open Slowly but surely, restaurants and other businesses in The Yard and Fishers District development are beginning to open for business.
9) Rick Wimmer retires from coaching The Fishers High School football coach started the program as the school first opened. He won a state championship during his tenure. Coach Wimmer will remain a physical education teacher at Fishers High School. His replacement has not been hired yet.
8) Todd Huston named Indiana House Speaker-Elect It was announced that the member of the Indiana House representing Fishers will be the Speaker of House after the 2020 legislative session, replacing the retiring Speaker Brian Bosma. Leah McGrath, leaving as Fishers Deputy Mayor, plans to run for the Bosma open seat in the 2020 election cycle.
7) State Road 37 Project moves forward The construction crews are hard at work with reconstructing the east-west intersections with State Road 37 in Fishers. The first interchange to be built will be 126th Street, and the major construction activity is set to start in March, 2020.
6) Reynolds Christmas light display donated to Conner Prairie The family owning Reynolds Farm Equipment announced last July they would be donating their locally-popular Christmas light display to Conner Prairie. Reynolds had offered the free display on their property for many years, but with continuing development in that area and construction nearby on State Road 37 underway, the family decided to donate the light display to Conner Prairie, which made it part of their Christmas program.
5) Hamilton County enacts 911 tax An income tax increase of one-tenth of one-percent will be levied on all Hamilton County residents following the approval of the tax by the sufficient number of municipalities in the county satisfying state law. The money will be used to pay for 911 emergency services.
4) $160 million development along 116th Street downtown Preliminary work is already underway for a large development along 116th Street in downtown Fishers, near the municipal complex. First Internet Bank will be moving its headquarters there, and Browning investments will be building commercial, residential and hotel facilities.
3) Nickel Plate rail tracks removed, making way for the trail After much planning and controversy, the railroad tracks along the Nickel Plate were mostly removed, making way for the construction of the Nickel Plate Trail.
2) HSE Schools enact a nondiscrimination policy This policy update had been stuck in a policy committee for over three years, but when it finally emerged, there was much controversy over whether to name protected classes of students, such as those transgender. The first reading left the named classed out, but a group of local citizens calling themselves HSEqual organized and worked to change school board members’ minds. The second and final reading saw the passage of an amendment including protected classes of students from discrimination.
1) Local city elections The Republican primary election for city officials in Fishers saw no surprises, with incumbent Mayor Scott Fadness defeating challenger Logan Day by a wide margin. City Clerk Jennifer Kehl and some incumbent members of the city council won nominations over challengers. In the general election, history was made as two Democrats won seats on the Fishers City Council, Jocelyn Vare and Samantha DeLong. Losing their council seats were Republicans Rich Block and Eric Moeller.
So, that’s my list. Feel free to disagree, argue or take issue with this listing to your heart’s content, because this is my list and my list alone, no one else put it together.
But, allow me to wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2020!
The Fishers Arts Council will kickoff 2020 at the Art Gallery in City Hall by displaying the work of Jeanette Pomeroy Parssi, beginning January 4th. The exhibit will be titled – Dreaming in Color.
There will be a public reception Friday, January 10th, 6-8pm at Fishers City Hall.
Ms Parssi say she is aiming to stimulate emotions through mostly oil paintings on canvas. “Experts tell us that colors stimulate emotions,” Parsii said in an Arts Council news release.
Jeanette Parssi has traveled extensively to many locales in Europe to hone her craft, sometimes alone, at other times as part of a group, but always with the goal of becoming a better artist.
