Several months ago, I ran into a Democratic candidate for local Fishers office in the upcoming election, when the subject of campaign issues came up.  This Democrat was unsure what issues his party would feature when the campaign began in earnest.  Since that time has past, it is becoming easier to see what those issues might be.

IndyStar reporters John Tuohy and Rachell Fradette teamed up, writing a story that appeared on the newspaper’s Web site late Thursday morning.  They spoke to Democrats, Republicans and some independent observers to take the temperature of the local city council races as the election campaign begins in earnest after Labor Day.

The local school board and library board, and issues related to both, are cited in the IndyStar story.  Democrats feel they have issues that relate to local residents, Republicans say their own record will win the day.

One issue not raised in the IndyStar story is fund raising.  If Democrats want to be competitive in the November Fishers general election, they need to be competitive in raising money.  I know Republicans have been very busy on the raising-cash trail.

You can read the IndyStar story at this link.  (NOTE:  You may have trouble accessing this story if you are not an IndyStar subscriber.  Online subscriptions are very inexpensive.  Let me say this again:  Subscribe to your local media!)

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness will present his 2024 budget to the Fishers City Council Monday night.  Also on the agenda is a vote on the recommendations from the Council’s Non-Profit Committee, consisting of Council Members Todd Zimmerman, Cecilia Coble and Jocelyn Vare.  In the past, the Council has approved the recommendations from that committee.

Here is the list of organizations slated to receive funding in 2024, if the full Council votes to approve:

Hamilton County Youth Assistance Program $40,000.00

Youth Mentoring Initiative $50,000.00

Janus Development Services $10,000.00

Conner Prairie Museum $80,000.00

Prevail $15,000.00

Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County $10,000.00

Outside the Box $15,000.00

Cherish Child Advocacy Center $20,000.00

Recovery Café Hamilton County $10,000.00

During the COVID period, events like the One Zone Chamber of Commerce State of the Schools were not possible.  August 16, 2023, there was a State of the Schools luncheon featuring the superintendents For Hamilton Southeastern and Carmel school districts, with a large crowd on hand.

Dr. Yvonne Stokes spoke first, defining success and explaining how HSE Schools expect graduates to be “ready for the world,” be it a job out of high school, a professional certification or on to college.

She highlighted the many partnerships with the City of Fishers and the 180 businesses providing internships to HSE students.  Dr. Stokes reminded the crowd of the district’s involvement with the Pursuit Institute, along with the other Hamilton County school districts.

The district is also working with Ford Next Generation to form “Portrait of a Graduate,” envisioning what is needed to move that project forward.  Ford will be conducting a week-long event with HSE Schools the week of October 23.

She also plugged the need for community and business support for the referendum vote coming November 7th, emphasizing the importance of a “yes” vote, providing what she describes as “vital” funding for the 8-year period beginning in 2024.

Carmel Superintendent Mike Beresford touted the successes of his district and the good work by his board, staff and teachers.  He described the impact of the teacher shortage, saying teaching openings that once attracted 1.000 applicants now will draw about 25.

He also sold the need to pass the operating referendum for Carmel Schools in the November election.

Administrators for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools briefed school board members on the state of academics in the district at a Tuesday morning work session.  Although there are areas ripe for improvement, the news overall was very good on the academic front.

The briefing, led by Assistant Superintendent Matt Kegley, did not include the most recent IREAD scores because those results are embargoed by the state for now.  But one number that stands out is the SAT score.

This is just the second year all high school juniors in Indiana have taken the SAT test and HSE ranks 5th in percentage of juniors at benchmark on both sections of the SAT.

Detailed comparisons were made of other school districts similar in size or located nearby HSE.  Those districts include Brownsburg, Carmel, Zionsville, Valparaiso, Pen Harris, Westfield, Center Grove, Warrick and Noblesville.

In ILEARN math scores, the data shows 10 of 12 demographic groups demonstrating increases over last year.

You can review the entire report shared with the board at this link.

The Geist Half Marathon is back and is better than ever.  The city of Fishers is taking over the event this year.  Jake Reardon McSoley talks about the city’s involvement and Tom Britt talks about the event’s history.  For more information, and registration, use this link.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness may have no appointments to the Hamilton East Library Board, but he is weighing-in on the library board policy of reviewing books in the teen section for possible placement in the adult collection based on content.  The mayor is asking for cooler heads to prevail and wants the library board to bring in everyone in the community to find a solution to the current dispute between the board and segments of the public.

The mayor talks about that, the 2024 budget and more in this podcast:

Below is a release from Fishers Police on who is eligible for the cadet program, and how to register.

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Registration for the Fishers Cadet Program is currently open for all Fishers area teens between the ages of 14 (or currently enrolled in the eighth grade) through 19 (or currently enrolled as a senior in high school).  Registration is done electronically and is a two-step process.  The first step collects basic information for the background check.  After the background portion is complete, a link will be sent to complete the second step.  Registration is open through September 1, 2023.

Register at this link.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was the morning news anchor for radio station WCSI in Columbus, Indiana.  The radio station had a long history of service to the local public and was owned by a family enterprise that also owned the newspaper in Findlay, Ohio.

I also covered the local schools and county government during my four-year stint in Columbus.  It was a very competitive market with the other radio station in town, which had a very good journalist as its news director.

But both radio stations were constantly competing with a journalistic juggernaut, The Columbus Republic.  Owned by the local Brown family, The Republic had a staff of hard working and savvy journalists that were often very aggressive in their news-gathering operation.  In the rare event when I scooped The Republic, the reporter on that beat was called on the carpet.

I had the chance to befriend many reporters at The Republic and admired their work.  When you make your living as a reporter and have competition, it keeps you on your toes and motivates you to work even harder.

I have been saddened by what has happened at The Republic in recent years.  New ownership has a different view on news coverage, and the realities of newspaper economics these days haven’t helped either.  I know some good journalists that have left The Republic in recent years because it is not anywhere near the operation it once was.

So it was not good news when the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) recently posted a story on a major cutback in the print editions of The Republic.  Starting in September, The Republic will publish a print edition only two days a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The IBJ quotes the publisher as saying this should have been done 10-15 years ago, with more people using online sources of news as opposed to print.  The company, AIM Indiana, is also cutting back print editions for its Seymour and Greenfield operations.  The Franklin Daily Journal will have the most print editions, because that newspaper is in the best financial shape of all the company’s locations, according to the publisher.

It is sad to see a once mighty and respected operation like The Republic relegated to two-days-a-week in print.  But it is a growing trend.