Hamilton County’s primary election results are in, and there are a few surprises.

The counting is over, although it is not official until June 12th and some provisional ballots must be considered, we do now know the likely winners in contested races for the 2020 primary election.

The Republican race for 3 at-large county council seats drew a number of candidates.  Sue Maki topped the list with 17.99% of the vote.  Next is incumbent Brad Beaver with 15.09% of ballots cast.  The third and final hopeful to make it onto the November general election is Steve Nation with 14.96% of the vote.   John Ditslear was next in line with 13.9%, but not enough to get on the general election ballot.

This means incumbents Rick McKinney and Jeff Hern will not serve another term on the council.

County Commissioner incumbent Steve Dillinger won easily over his challenger Charlie McMillan.  Susan Byer defeated Kim Good for County Treasurer by 5 percentage points.

Scott Baldwin defeated JR Gaylor easily for the Republican nomination for Indiana Senate, District 20, the seat held by Victoria Spartz.  Spartz will face Democrat Christina Hale in the general election for 5th District US Congress.

In Indiana House District 88, former Speaker Brian Bosma’s old district, Chris Jeter won the GOP nomination over Leah McGrath.

The baseball and softball fields were quiet in mid-April this year all around Fishers.  The novel coronavirus was to blame as Mudsock Youth Sports was forced to cancel spring sports this year.  I spoke with the organization’s executive director, Scott Spillman, about that and a number of other subjects in this podcast.

You may have seen the announcement today that Carmel has ordered a curfew within its city limits beginning at 9pm Tuesday.  The announcement cites “threats directed at our (Carmel) community.”  The city says this 9pm-5am curfew will remain in place until lifted by the city.

What about Fishers?  City officials say they do not anticipate imposing a curfew here.  Fishers is aware of the threats made against Carmel stands to assist our neighbors to the west is help is requested.

“At this time, we do not have any credible threats toward Fishers,” says Fishers spokesperson Ashley Elrod.

A curfew is in place for Indianapolis and all of Marion County from 9pm Tuesday through 6am Wednesday.

Solar energy is becoming more popular as technology improves.  There is a local nonprofit organization, Solar United Neighbors, that is organized to encourage groups of residents to band together and provide solar energy systems for their homes.

This allows individual families to get solar installations at reduced cost.  Indiana Program Director Zach Schalk has a Web site explaining how the solar co-op works at this link.

Bob Rice, Energy Manager of the HSE Schools, will talk about how the solar projects at local school buildings are working, at a Webinar sponsored by the co-op June 8th.  You can register for the Webinar at this link.

With COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd, the oxygen in the news tank is depleting.  However, there is an important primary election Tuesday, June 2nd….I have a few thoughts in this Larry’s Log commentary…

They used social media to get the word out.  Monday, June 1st, at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater, students in the Fishers area were organizing a Fishers Equity Awareness Demonstration, with the goal of urging change in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.  I don’t cover events in person much anymore, but this was one I needed to see for myself.

The event was scheduled 4-8pm, so I arrived around 6:15.  The marching was well underway.  The crowd was mostly students, but there were many families and some from the older generation there to support the young people

This was held literally across the street from police headquarters.  Officers were there and watching, but kept their distance.  I saw a very peaceful crowd, but one that was very clear that change is something America needs after what happened to George Floyd.

I have no estimate on the crowd, but there were a lot of people on hand.

Following the demonstration, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness issued the following statement:

“Tonight, I witnessed our next generation come together to clearly voice their collective anger, frustration, and disappointment at previous generations’ inability to right the wrongs of the past. The conduct of these young people and their commitment to creating a better society for all gives me a glimmer of hope in this dark chapter of our nation. Our city is on a journey to create an environment where all people are treated with dignity. Tonight is a reminder that we must be willing to commit ourselves to that end.”

Below is a brief video of the march, and some photos as well.

Continue reading Students march in downtown Fishers →

Next time you visit Brooks School Park in Fishers, check out the art wall.  You will find his latest creation, shown above.