As the Wednesday night Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting was coming to an end, it was time to recognize four board members attending their final board session.

Michelle Fullhart did not seek re-election after 8 year on the HSE Board, but has been the member with the longest tenure.  She read a statement emphasizing the accomplishments during her time on the board, including a stint as president during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Three other members of the board – Brad Boyer, Janet Pritchett and Julie Chanbers – were unsuccessful in their bids to be elected to another term.  Three members of the board – Sarah Parks-Reese, Sarah Donsbach and Suzanne Thomas – have 2 years left on their terms.

Superintendent Yvonne Stokes presented each outgoing board member with a memento and the remaining board members each spoke briefly to those leaving the board.  Previous Superintendent Allen Bourff was also on hand to make some brief comments about the 4 members attending their last HSE Board meeting.

Four new school board members will be sworn-in at the first meeting of 2023 on January 11th.

When the City of Fishers opened bids for the interchange at 141st Street and State Road 37 during May of this year, city engineers say the city “did not get a favorable bid” at that time.

The city’s Assistant Director of Engineering, Hatem Mekky, told the Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday morning that his department sat down with consultants looking into “a lot of different iterations and value engineering efforts to reduce the costs on that interchange.”

Mekky was  explaining a request before the board for an additional American Structurepoint fee of just under $108,000 to continue working on reducing the cost of the 141st Street roundabout over State Road 37.

Mekky projects this endeavor will save at least $2 million on the project, possibly as much as $7 million once all is said and done.  The city expects to go out for bids once again in the spring of 2023.

The board approved the fee for American Structurepoint.

The city previously announced that 141st Street at State Road 37, now a traffic signal, will be switched to a right-in right-out configuration on 141st Street effective in early January.  That will allow traffic on State Road 37 to move freely at that location.  The city describes this as an “interim” move until bids are received more in line with the budget.

I started covering local politicians in the early 1970s.  I continued that, of and on, through my time writing this blog.  Not much surprises me in politics at this point, but was genuinely surprised by some recent social media posts.

I have known Todd Zimmerman since 2014 when he asked to meet with me before announcing his intention to run for an at-large Fishers City Council seat.  The transition was being made from a 7-member town council to a 9-member city council.

Todd wanted to get into politics, and has now served on the council since his election in 2014.  But Todd had been posting on social media in recent weeks that he was wavering on whether to seek another council term.

Here is a Twitter message Todd posted November 3rd:  “There is unfinished business I would like to see to conclusion, but I need to make sure I have the fortitude to serve in this office until 2028.”

That was not the Todd Zimmerman I had come to know.  Was he really ready to forsake politics?

I contacted Todd about recording a podcast about his year in 2022 as President of the Fishers City Council.  He told me he would announce his future political plans on that podcast.

Last Friday, Todd made it official that he will seek another term as an at-large member of the Fishers City Council.  It was what I expected but the social media posts in early October had me wondering.

At the end of our podcast recording session Friday, I asked Todd what advice he would give anyone thinking of entering politics at this time.  His first piece of advice was to ignore the polarization talk on social media and national news outlets.

“The greatest changers of policy, the greatest leaders that I have ever seen, are the ones that can sit down at a table, be presented with issues, sit down with someone on the opposite side…and be able to talk through and find solutions that benefit the residents, the community, the taxpayers, not personally benefitting their portfolio, fame,” Zimmerman said on the podcast.

He went into a lot more detail on this.  There is also an element of drama that goes on in local politics behind the scenes and Fishers has its share just like anywhere else.

One person appeared to be relieved Todd Zimmerman has announced his intention to run for another council term.  Mayor Scott Fadness immediately showed his approval on social media once the podcast was posted late Friday afternoon.

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

I have written often on this blog why I continue writing about local news in Fishers.  There just is not much original, straight news coverage on the local scene here.

But on the state level, we are seeing different developments.  Many years ago I covered the Indiana Statehouse on occasion…not much, but a little.  What struck me in the early 1980s was the number of reporters news outlets around Indiana sent to report on government at the the state level.

That has thinned out a great deal over the years, with newspapers closing and consolidating ownership.  But we have new news outlets starting-up and they are worth our attention.

First, Capitol Chronicle is a nonprofit that provides its materials free of charge.  I had Nikki Kelly, the editor of that operation, on a podcast available at this link.  You can see their work and sign-up for a free e-mail newsletter at this link.

An operation that has just launched is State Affairs.  This news source does have a subscriber fee of $12.99 per month, or less per month if you pay in advance for an entire year.  State Affairs has taken two top reporters away from the Indianapolis Star, Kaitlin Lange and Ryan Martin.  I’ve already subscribed and am looking forward to reading their content.

You may have heard about Axios, it is a national news operation out of suburban Washington DC, but is now opening local bureaus in states.  Axios is expected to open its Indiana operation soon, possibly in January.

So, as you can see, the Indiana Statehouse is adding news outlets and that is a very good thing.  State lawmakers have a very big impact on the daily lives of Hoosiers.

However, I remain pessimistic about local news in Indiana.  It really hit me when the weekly newspaper in my parents’ home town closed a couple of years ago.  The Loogootee Tribune first published in the post-Civil War era.  It’s demise is not a good sign for Indiana local news.

The problem is a lack of a business model that works for local news operations.  You can always try the nonprofit route but it is a heavy lift to get started and requires constant fund-raising to be successful.  Making money commercially providing news online works in some places, but is not profitable everywhere.

There are two newspapers in Hamilton County, The Times and The Reporter.  They have both survived because Hamilton County is the most affluent county in the state.  But when an economic downturn hits, will both be able to survive?  Time will tell.

In the meantime, I continue to cover Fishers as best I can.  Thank you for reading.

Todd Zimmerman has decided to run for another 4-year term on the Fishers City Council.  The councilman made the announcement during the Friday afternoon podcast recording session for LarryInFishers.com.

Zimmerman also talked about the year of economic development in fishers and the new city recreation center, among many other issues.

Listen to the entire podcast at the link below.

Fishers Police Department Major Ryan Jones is the 17th Fishers officer to graduate from the FBI National Academy.  The graduation was Thursday, December 8th.

The graduation took place at the National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.  Nationally, fewer than one percent of officers have the opportunity to attend the program.

The National Academy offers ten weeks of advanced communication, leadership, and fitness training. Participants must have proven records as professionals within their agencies to attend. On average, these officers have 21 years of law enforcement experience and usually return to their agencies to serve in executive-level positions.

Rarely has Netflix had such an anticipated series like Harry and Meghan.  There has been a lot of hand-wringing in the British royal palace on just what Harry & Meghan will say in this docuseries.

There are 6 episodes and the first 3 are now available.  It is a revealing series, mostly the story of their meeting, courtship, romance and marriage.  The 3rd episode ends just before the marriage ceremony, so there is a lot left to go.

Here is my review of the docuseries Harry and Meghan…

When Inc. Magazine released its annual Best in Business for 2022, Round Room was the sole Indiana business recipient of this honor.  Round Room, a firm dealing with wireless retail outlets, is located in Fishers.

The Andretti name is synonymous with auto racing throughout the world.  Mario Andretti has won the Formula One championship and the Indianapolis 500.  Mario’s son Michael Andretti has won five Indy 500 races as a car owner.

Andretti Motorsports broke ground Tuesday on its new complex in Fishers, near Hague Road, between 96th and 106th Streets.  Mario and Michael Andretti were on hand, along with Governor Eric Holcomb (recently recovered from a bout of pneumonia), Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, Fishers City Council President Todd Zimmerman and many more.

What will make this building special is not just the work on the racing operation.  An Andretti museum is planned, along with an Italian restaurant.  This will become a destination for many people visiting the area.

It is expected to take about 2 years for the construction to be complete.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools will upgrade its Web site in early 2023, based on an update provided to the school board at a Tuesday morning Work Session.  Emily Abbotts and Abby Brown of the district staff explained the entire communications program and plans for the Web changes.

HSE staff, after researching options and investigating how other school districts handle their Web sites, decided to go with the Web firm Finalsite.  Abbotts says this new vendor will provide more flexibility in Web design and will provide certainty on cost over a period of time.

“We’re really excited about this changeover,” Abbots told the board.

The board was updated on the various ways the district communicates with students, parents and staff.  HSE utilizes a number of social media platforms to communicate, with the most recent addition a TikTok account..