One Fishers family will not have a Merry Christmas after a fire erupted in their home, but one piece of good news – there were no injuries.  The home is located in the Haig Point neighborhood, just southwest of 116th Street and Hoosier Road.

Firefighters received the call a little after 9:00pm Christmas Eve. According to Fishers Fire officials, heavy flames from the attic were showing when fire crews arrived.  Firefighters quickly attacked the blaze and contained the brunt of the fire to the attic area.

Investigators believe a bird nest atop a flood light may have been the cause.   No damage estimates are yet available.

Mayors and city councilors throughout Hamilton County have been in talks to come up with a solution to the dispute over distribution of Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) funds within the county.   That distribution formula is set by state law.

State Representative (and Speaker Elect)Todd Huston tells LarryInFishers.com that most state legislators are not sympathetic to solving Hamilton County problems.  But, if all parties agree to a new distribution formula, state lawmakers would likely go along and enact that statute.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said earlier this year that his city is losing about $21 million this year to Carmel, when both municipalities have roughly the same population.  That amount of money would pay for the entire Fishers Fire Department and a good portion of the police force, according to Fadness.

“I have a proposal ready that would go back and make necessary changes, but from my understanding with the local elected officials, they’re working to resolve it themselves,” said Huston in a podcast interview recorded with LarryInFishers.com December 23rd.

An effort was made to change the formula near the end of the 2019 legislative session, but Huston says concerns were raised about possible unintended consequences for other parts of Indiana, scuttling the proposal.

“I think (the Hamilton County cities are) going to resolve it locally,” Huston said. “There’s an acknowledgment that if they don’t, I will have my own plan and that probably won’t benefit all the cities.  Hopefully, they can resolve it.”

You can listen to my entire podcast interview with Todd Huston at this link.

It has been traditional the past few years for Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness to sit down with me on a podcast, talking about the past year and what’s to come in 2020.  Here is that discussion

Todd Huston has represented Fishers in the Indiana House since 2012.  Now, Representative Huston is the Speaker-Elect of the Indiana House, taking over the gavel as as Speaker at the end of the 2020 legislative session.  Here is my talk with Speaker-Elect Houston.

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)

It hardly seems possible that Noblesville’s Ivy Tech is in its sixth year of operation. The vocational college opened in August of 2014 in facilities at 300 N. 17th St., which originally housed Noblesville High School.

Officially known as Ivy Tech College – Hamilton County, it is one of 30 Ivy Tech campuses in Indiana, and it’s here because of the foresight of Noblesville and Hamilton County leaders and no doubt some help from local state legislators.

City and county government invested about $18 million to buy and re-fit the building for its current use as an institution of higher learning. Daniel Lee Clark, vice chancellor in the state Ivy Tech system, heads operations locally.

The college’s two-year program offers associate degrees in courses designed to prepare students for entry into the county’s economic and growth sectors. That includes such subjects as building construction and automotive technology as well as general studies. Credits can be transferred to state universities.

A big advantage is the substantially lower cost of tuition than found at a major university campus.

Enrollment at Ivy Tech in Noblesville reached 2,722 by the end of 2018. Most students are from Hamilton County, but nearby residents are accepted. Clark says that figure is not capacity, and larger numbers can be accommodated. Registration for the spring semester is now open. Classes begin Jan. 14.

Ivy Tech facilities are not limited to the college. The Parks Department makes use of space there, along with food bank distribution, even some high school classes.

All in all, securing Ivy Tech in Noblesville has to be considered one of the major community accomplishments of the decade.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers freshman Olivia Smith has only been playing varsity basketball for less than two months, and she has quite a few big games ahead for her high school career.

But she will never forget her first Mudsock game. Smith hit a buzzer-beating layin to give the Tigers a 54-52 win over crosstown rival Hamilton Southeastern Saturday night at the Tiger Den.

Besides the Mudsock trophy, there was quite a bit at stake in this game.  Fishers freshman Olivia Smith has only been playing varsity basketball for less than two months, and she has quite a few big games ahead for her high school career.

But she will never forget her first Mudsock game. Smith hit a buzzer-beating layin to give the Tigers a 54-52 win over crosstown rival Hamilton Southeastern Saturday night at the Tiger Den.

Besides the Mudsock trophy, there was quite a bit at stake in this game. Fishers was putting its unbeaten record on the line. Both teams were undefeated in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play coming into the contest. And both are ranked in the Class 4A coaches poll,
with Tigers fourth and the Royals sixth.

“You try and try to tell your kids, ‘Look, it’s another game,’ and you try to prepare like it’s another game,” said Fishers coach Lauren Votaw. But the coach is aware that the rivalry is a big one and she was happy to see her team get the win.

“You just love it for your kids, too,” said Votaw. “They’re so much fun to coach every single day because they come in and they buy in. And they bought into the culture and they bought in to loving each other and doing things the right way. Right now I’m just so excited for them to get to experience the fruits of their labor.”

It was a close game the entire way. Southeastern led 16-13 after the first quarter, with Jackie Maulucci scoring seven points. The Tigers’ Katie Burton had seven points as well.
The Royals were up 30-28 at halftime, then led 44-40 after three quarters. Kaitlynn Feagan stepped up big for Fishers in the second period, scoring nine points. The Tigers held Southeastern to eight points in the fourth quarter, overcoming an early deficit in the period to tie the game at 52-52, then Smith stepped up and made the game-winning basket.

Fishers didn’t have anyone in double digits, but had three players score nine points: Feagan, Burton and Audra Emmerson. Tamia Perryman added eight points, while Olivia Smith and her sister Hailey Smith both had seven points.

Senior Lydia Stullken had five points; she and Feagan each collected four rebounds.

“This is so awesome,” said Stullken. “So happy we all stuck together, pulled
it out in the end.”

“We really only had yesterday morning to prepare fully, because we had a game on Thursday,” said Stullken. “We really locked in, we stepped it up and we did it.”

Sydney Parrish led Southeastern with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Maulucci finished with 15 points.

The Tigers are 4-0 in conference play and 14-0 overall, and are off until a Jan. 4 game at Fort Wayne South Side. The Royals are 4-1 in the HCC and 10-2 overall, and play this weekend at the North Central Classic, taking on Henderson County (Ky.) on Friday and Springboro (Ohio) on Saturday.

It is finally out in theaters – after much anticipation, the new Star Wars fil,. The Rise Of Skywalker, is in theaters nation-wide.  So, does this film measure up to the hype?

Here is my review.

The City of Fishers will begin work on a new roundabout at 126th Street and Ford Road, just west of State Road 37, in March of 2020, following the approval of a $1.69 million bid from Rieth-Riley Construction.  According to the city engineering department, the work on the roundabout should begin at roughly the same time as work begins in earnest to reconstruct the 126th Street interchange with State Road 37.

The roundabout is projected to be complete by early July of next year.

Property owners adjacent to the 126th Street intersection with Ford Road have hired a police officer to direct traffic during busy traffic times for a number of years, just to allow traffic to move in that area.  Officials say access for local residents and businesses in the area will continue during the construction period.

The bid was approved by the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety at a Friday morning meeting.

Sledding is a favorite activity this time of year with the amount of snow we have on the ground in and around Fishers.  The Fishers Fire Department is using this Saturday morning experience of one Fishers family as a lesson in safety.

According to a Facebook post from local firefighters, a 4-year-old child sat down on a sled at the top of an incline and the child began sledding down the hill before the parents could react.  The sled carried her onto a retention pond.  According to the Fishers Fire Department, the ice did not crack.

The parents did the right thing by not trying to walk onto the ice, but called fire officials, who arrived and safely brought the 4-year-old back to safe ground.  “Firefighters reported hearing the ice “pop” as the rescuers weight was placed on the ice but again, luck held that the ice could support the weight,” the Facebook posting said.

The fire department is crediting the parents for doing the right thing and not trying to walk on the ice themselves.

Fire officials have this advice for situations such as this.  “As temperatures rise over the next few days, the ice likely won’t continue to support weight. Please keep your children away from retention ponds. The risk is just too high.”

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor 

Hamilton County Reporter

Once again, the annual Mudsock boys basketball game lived up to the occasion.

Fishers held off a fourth-quarter comeback by Hamilton Southeastern, then made its own comeback in overtime to score its second consecutive Mudsock trophy. The Class 4A No. 8 Tigers won 54-51 Friday at the Royals’ gym, keeping their record unbeaten at 7-0.

It was the second overtime game of the evening, as the Fishers junior varsity team won its game 42-39, also needing an extra period. That was followed by a Unified game between the Tigers and Southeastern, so it was a night filled with exciting basketball from start to finish.

The Royals provided the excitement in the fourth quarter, as they rallied from a 38-28 deficit to force overtime. John McCall started the run by scoring on a floater, then Elliott Robinson made two free throws to cut the Fishers lead to 38-32.

The Tigers still led 41-37 with under four minutes left. HSE’s Mabor Majak drained a pair of free throws, then tied the game on a layin. Fishers responded when
Justin Long hit a 3-pointer to get the Tigers back on top, 44-41.

Vinny Buccilla’s basket brought the Royals back within one, then Charlie Smith extended the lead to two, 45-43, with a free throw at the 1:28 mark.

That would be the last point until Majak scored on a rebound basket with under 10
seconds left to tie the game at 45-45.

Southeastern was in control during the first part of the OT, with Sam Jacobs
and Buccilla both making layins and Majak hitting a free throw to put the Royals
up 50-45 halfway through the period.

But Fishers would finish the game on a 9-1 run. Sophomore Jeffrey Simmons
threw in a 3 to cut HSE’s lead to two, then Simmons converted a traditional threepoint play to give the Tigers a 51-50 lead.

Buccilla tied the game with a free throw, but Charlie Smith put Fishers in front for
good with a layin. The Tigers held the lead from that point forward. Dominic
Castellani finished it off with a free throw.

“I thought our guys, in the moments where we were back against the wall, they made the play they needed to make,” said Tigers coach Matt Moore. “Justin hits a big 3, Dom gets a big steal, Isaac (Farah) gets a steal, Jeff hit some shots. It just shows the character and the poise that these guys have and that’s something that is fun about them. You’re never down and you’re never out.”

Fishers led 9-8 after the first quarter and 22-17 at halftime, with Simmons scoring nine first half points. The Royals took a 24-22 lead with 4:55 left in the third quarter after Buccilla drained a 3-pointer. But Simmons tied the game with a layin, and that started a 16-6 run
that lasted into the fourth period.

Simmons scored 22 points to lead all scorers, with Smith adding 12 points.
Both players collected seven rebounds as well. Isaac Farah handed out four assists.

Buccilla led Southeastern with 17 points, while Majak earned a double-double of 16 rebounds and 10 points. Robinson had two blocked shots.

“They won the toughness battle the first three quarters,” said Royals coach Brian Satterfield. “In the fourth quarter, we won the toughness battle and it allowed us to get back in the game and get into overtime.” But the coach said his team “had too many errors and you got to give them credit.”

The undefeated Tigers are off until next Friday (Dec. 27) when they play at
the Bedford North Lawrence tournament.

Southeastern is 3-4 and will next play on Monday, Dec. 30 when it hosts Pendleton
Heights.