Hamilton County announced Thursday that work will begin at 106th & Mollenkopf Road on July 7th.  Below is the release from the county:

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Effective on or after Tuesday, July 7, 2020, the intersection of 106th Street and Mollenkopf Road will be under construction for an intersection improvement project. These improvements should last approximately 45 calendar days, tentatively wrapping up on or before Thursday, August 20, 2020.

Temporary lane restrictions may be in place with flaggers directing traffic. Please use caution while driving through this area.

We have plenty of news to report on the COVID-19 pandemic locally, as well as reporting of data and mask requirements.

First, the Fishers Health Department announced Thursday that more detailed information is now available on the total number of infections in the city and the number of deaths.  You can find the information at FishersRecovery.com.

As of 3:00pm July 2nd, 35 Fishers residents have died due to the novel coronavirus, with one death reported in the past 14 days.  The department says it has recorded 450 COVID-19 positive tests since the start of this pandemic, 55 of those reported in the past 14 days.

The mayor of Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett, announced masks will become mandatory in Marion County.  This is from a story on ibj.com written by Samm Quinn of the Indianapolis Business Journal:

Beginning July 9, face coverings will be required to be worn in indoor places where the public gathers, such as in office buildings and retail stores. They’ll also be required outdoors when it’s not possible to socially distance. Hogsett said the order won’t go into effect until July 9 to give residents time to get masks, but officials recommend residents who aren’t already wearing them start now.

It would appear “willful” offenders will be subject to fines, but as of this writing it is unclear how much the fine will cost offenders.

This means that 96th Street will be the line of demarcation on mandatory masks.  For example, if you visit Kohl’s south of 96th Street you will be required to don the mask.  If you are shopping at Fry’s Electronics north of 96th in Fishers, there will be no such requirement.

Then, the question arises, will Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness require mask wearing in Fishers similar to Hogsett’s decree in Indy?

I put that question to the city of Fishers, and here was the response:

“No decision has been made at this time.”

In other words, the answer is not “yes,” but it was not a solid “no” either.  This is something to watch in coming days.

An accident at I-16 & 106th street claimed the lives of two people Wednesday afternoon.

State Police released the following information, with an update providing the names of those fatally injured:

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The driver of the car who suffered fatal injuries in the crash was identified as 19 year old Marcus Padgett of Spencer Indiana. The passenger who suffered fatal injuries in the same vehicle was identified as 17 year old Elizabeth Robertson of Pendleton Indiana.

I-69 was reopened just after 11:00 p.m. The investigation into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

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Wednesday evening, at 5:38 p.m., emergency crews were called to the scene of a serious crash on I-69 southbound near 106th Street in Fishers. Senior Trooper Nick Klingkammer was close-by and arrived very quickly. He told dispatchers there were two unresponsive victims in one car and he was unable to gain access to render aid to them. The Fishers Fire Department quickly responded to the scene and hastily extricated both crash victims from the car. Despite life saving efforts, both the driver and passenger of the car were pronounced deceased at the scene. There was also a semi-tractor trailer involved in the collision, that driver was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

Preliminarily, investigators believe the driver of the passenger car swerved to avoid shredded tire debris in the roadway and lost control, the car spun into the path of the semi and was struck on the driver’s side. All lanes of I-69 remain closed as of 10:00 p.m. Neither Alcohol nor any other impairment is suspected as a contributing factor to this crash, however as state law requires blood tests for the drivers involved will be part of the investigation.

The driver of the semi is identified as 52 year old Anthony Manuel of Georgia.

The families of the deceased have been notified, however their identities are being withheld at this time to allow for proper notification to extended family.

The investigation into this crash is ongoing and there is no further information to release at this time.

I must give a lot of credit to James Briggs and the Indianapolis Star.  The editors published a piece written by Briggs which quotes experts as saying holding the Indianapolis 500 August 23rd with 175,000 fans (half the normal seated crowd) would be a huge health risk in the age of novel coronavirus.

One noted epidemiologist described fans at the 500 as “rolling the dice unnecessarily.”  All four experts cited in Briggs’ commentary, all living outside of Indiana, took issue with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s (IMS) argument that a stands-half-full race would be safe.

Indianapolis media has a history of not taking on IMS on an issue such as this.  As someone that has loved the 500, its history, traditions, social & economic impact, I want the race run this year, but only if it can be run safely.  After reading the Briggs piece, I am not so sure.

Even the drivers and crews of this weekend’s IndyCar and NASCAR races at IMS will be subject to strict health protocols in an effort to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak.  This weekend there will be no fans in the stands at IMS.

All sports are struggling to start or restart.  Golf is underway, but that is a sport that can be more easily controlled and can be held without fans.

The NBA will be starting up in July but one wonders how many players will opt not so show up.  After, all, most of those players have already collected the lion’s share of their pay during the season that was stopped.  One also wonders how well the NBA “bubble” at Florida’s Walt Disney World will work out.

Major League baseball players have not been paid yet this year, those teams were in the middle of spring training when coronavirus put a stop to everything.  Their protocols health-wise are much less stringent than the NBA.  A handful of players have said they will not play this shortened season due to health concerns.

The NHL has a restart plan with not a lot of details at this time.

Here is my point.  Any outbreak, even a few COVID-19 positive tests by players, coaches or support personnel in any of the professional sports, would likely shut down this season for good.  I have been reading many seasoned sportswriters with lots of good sources and they all voice concern that these truncated seasons will play out, or in some cases, even startup if coronavirus breaks out before official play begins.

As a life-ling sports fan, I miss sports.  I want sports back as a way to cope with the bad news we are experiencing during this difficult time in our history.  But lets be careful and do this the right way.  If we startup a season just to end it again prematurely, that would be the worst outcome for me.