I have been thinking all week how I should express my Christmas greeting to the Fishers community in 2020.  Most of us look back on this year with a bad taste in our mouths, and with good reason.  This has been a hard year for most of us.

I do not want to minimize that pain.  COVID-19 has brought serious health and economic hardships.  People have become sick.  People have spent time in the hospital due to coronavirus.  People have died.

I do believe most of us have become numb to the numbers, but there is human suffering and pain attached to these numbers.  For instance, there have been a total of 6,538 positive tests for Fishers residents since the pandemic began. I was one of those.  I was also one of the lucky ones to survive.

There have been 51 people in Fishers listed as dead due to COVID-19.  That is not just a number.  Those people are moms, dads, brothers, sisters and spouses.  Each COVID death impacts an entire family and circle of friends.

With all that pain, I want to point out that there are acts of kindness going on throughout our fair city of Fishers.  Mayor Scott Fadness has started a campaign to recognize those in Fishers helping others.

Even with the divisions we see within our local community, we often forget that selfless acts of kindness are happening all day, every day throughout Fishers.

So, let us not forget about how we help each other out.  It is worth recognition.

In this very difficult year, I have something to celebrate myself.  I became a grandfather for the first time.  My grandson Dakota is four months old now and the light of my family’s life in a year that has not provided much to rejoice.

So, as hard as things are, let’s remember and recognize the good that is happening in our communities and our families.  Do not ignore the suffering and hardships many of us are undergoing at this time.  Perhaps you can find a way to help your neighbors, as many people in Fishers are doing now.

Please, enjoy the holiday season.  God bless all the readers of my LarryInFishers.com news blog.

Trane Technologies says it plans to move 100 employees from the northeast side of Indianapolis to Hub & Spoke in Fishers.

Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) reporter Kurt Christian has a story posted on the newspaper’s Web site at this link. (NOTE:  Your access to the story may be limited if you are not an IBJ subscriber)

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers lost a tough game at Class 4A No. 1 Lawrence North on Tuesday, falling to the Panthers in overtime 65-60.

The Tigers got off to a great start, leading 15-6 after the first quarter and 32-18 at halftime. The Panthers began to chip away at that lead, getting within 43-35 by the
end of the third period.

Fishers led 56-53 with seconds left, but a last-second 3-pointer by LN sent the game into overtime. The Panthers outscored the Tigers 9-4 in the extra period. Fishers is 2-2 for the season.

The Tigers play next Tuesday at the Huntington North Tournament, taking on New Haven and Arsenal Tech in pool play

The recount for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board is complete and Sarah Donsbach remains the winner, by 19 votes, following the additional ballot count.  Here are the totals following the tally overseen by the Recount Commission:

Sarah Donsbach         14,752

Amanda Shera             14,733

Tony Bagato                  12,931

Hamilton County Superior Court Judge Jonathon Brown issued the order December 20th finalizing the commission’s work.  The Recount Commission consisted of three members – Amy Summerfield, Joe Weingarten and Jerry Liston.

Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams says the recount resulted in 3 additional votes for incumbent Amanda Shera, 2 more votes for Donsbach and 5 fewer votes for Tony Bagato.  In the original certified count, Donsbach was shown as the winner in Delaware Township with 20 more votes than Shera.

This will mean the HSE board will have three new members sworn-in at the first meeting in 2021, scheduled for January 13.  Those new members will be  Ms. Donsbach, Sarah Parkes-Reese and Suzanne Thomas.

The number of positive cases for the novel coronavrus in Fishers has skyrocketed, resulting in a strict public health order issued Tuesday by the city Health Department.  Indoor dining will not be allowed and food establishments will be required to close from 10pm to 5am the next day.  The order begins Christmas day and continues until 5am January 8, 2021.

For the first 14 days in December, the Fishers Health Department reports 1,363 new positive COVID-19 cases, 40% higher than the previous 14-day period.  City health officials say positive cases in Fishers are expected to continue on an upward trend through the entire month of January.

Below is the full news release issued by the City of Fishers Tuesday morning:

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The Fishers Health Department issued Public Health Order 08-2020 today ordering all restaurants, bars, taverns, nightclubs, retail food establishments, and other establishments providing in-person food and/or drink service to be closed to indoor dining and drink service and cleared of customers between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.  During these times, carry-out dining is permissible. The Order will go into effect on December 25 at 10 p.m. and will remain in effect until 5 a.m. January 8, 2021.

As of December 14, 2020, new positive cases for the first 14 days of December (1,363 new cases) are approximately 40% higher than new cases identified during the first 14 days of November (982 cases), and trends in positive cases indicate Fishers is likely to experience a continued period of growth in new positive cases through January 2021.

A low-income rental community named Cumberland Cottages is being proposed for an area at Cumberland Road and 141st Street.  The development from HAND, a Hamilton County nonprofit organization specializing in constructing such projects, describes the project as a rental community consisting of individual buildings resembling cottages.

Although anyone qualifying would be able to apply as residents, it is targeted at single parents working in jobs such as the restaurant industry.

The council gave the plans first reading.  It will no head to the Fishers Plan Commission for a public hearing and advisory vote before returning to the city council.

For more on Cumberland Cottages, use this link.

The Grantham housing development has been sent back & forth for a few months with several changes made by the developer, and Fishers City Councilors approved zoning changes for the 200-home project Monday night after a spirited debate among council members.

The vote to approve was 6-3, with council members Brad DeReamer, Sam DeLong and Jocelyn Vare voting no.

The project will be constructed at 113th Street and Southeastern Parkway.

For more details on the plans for Grantham, use this link.

First a fitness operation planned on locating there, but COVID-19 cut into the demand, leading to Memory Ventures plans to take over that property on 96th Street.  The Fishers City Council approved a 10-year tax abatement to Memory Ventures in exchange for $1 million in improvements planned for the former grocery store

Memory Ventures moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Fishers in 2014.  The firm specializes in transforming old media into digital form.

Christmas season is generally a time when some of the year’s best films are released.  In this pandemic, things are a bit different but there are some amazing movies out in theaters and other platforms.

In this week’s Grade A Movies Podcast, Alec Toombs, Adam Aasen & Larry Lannan review the film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.  The trio also looks at the winners in the annual awards announced by the Indiana Film Journalists Association.

There is a spirited discussion about Christmas films, mainly what does and does not qualify as a Christmas movie.

You won’t want to miss this episode of the Grade A Movies podcast, at the link below.

1920s America was the start of a renaissance in the world of popular music.  It was the jazz age.  The blues were becoming popular as a offshoot of jazz.  Radio was getting started and recordings of music were a git with American consumers.

That all brought popularity and notoriety to a number of African-American music artists.  one of those was Ma Rainey.  The film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is about a woman demanding respect from white America if they wanted to profit from her music.

Viola Davis puts in a remarkable performance in this film.  But everyone will remember Chadwick Boseman for his outstanding performance as an outspoken member of Ma’s band.  Boseman died of cancer shortly after completing work on this film.

So, what about the film as a whole?  I provide my take in this review.