I do not remember the year, but Bob Knight was at the top of his career as basketball coach at Indiana University.  My brother Tom & I knew a family that had several people graduate from IU.  The mom of the family had always wanted to see an IU basketball game.

One of her kids wrote a letter to Bob Knight explaining the situation and asking for his help.  Knight immediately arranged for seats at an IU home game next to the home bench.  Let’s just say the mom was not prepared for the language used by the coach, but otherwise it was a magical experience for her.

That was a part of Bob Knight.  He could be charitable and giving.  But there was the other side of Knight.

John Feinstein spent an entire season with Knight and wrote the book Season On The Brink.  During his book tour, when asked his impressions of Bob Knight the person, he responded that Bob Knight was the best person Feinstein had ever known and the worst person he had ever known.

My brother-in-law Fred Glass, during his 10-year tenure as IU Athletic Director, met with Knight and tried to convince him to return to Assembly Hall during a home game.  Fred also worked with former players with which Knight had a close relationship, asking them to talk with the coach.

It all came to fruition on February 8, 2020.  Fred got his wish and Bob Knight was honored at Indiana University in the building where he plied his trade so well, before a large crowd of IU fans.

Fred once told me we are all package deals, meaning, no human is totally good or bad.  With Bob Knight we had the good and the bad.  It is up to you to decide what you think has legacy should be.  No doubt, he was a complicated man that was one of the best basketball coaches to ever roam the sidelines.

Fishers Deputy Mayor Elliott Hultgren says the new Events Center is on track for a grand opening in November of 2024.  Hultgren told the Board of Public Works and Safety that the award of an $18 million bid to Hunt Construction in the public-private partnership arrangement “closes out the bid process” for this project.

The Events Center will be the home for the Fuel minor league hockey team and the Fuel recently announced an indoor football team will also be a tenant in the building.

Mayor Scott Fadness says after some “bad soils” found in the parking area of the construction site, there should be no more “unforeseen costs” as work continues on the building.

“I’m not saying there are going to be things that we didn’t consider but now that we are going vertical it eliminates a lot of those unforeseen conditions,” Fadness said.

The board approved the final bid on the Events Center.

In other items before the board at the Thursday morning meeting:

–City Engineering Director Hatem Mekky says the roundabout construction at 106th Street and Hoosier Road should be completed by the end of November or early December.

–The Fishers Police Department will be placing a substation at St. Vincent Hospital at Olio Road to allow faster response times in the northeast corridor of the city.  St. Vincent is providing the space.  Chief Ed Gebhart says the only cost to the city for this substation will be cable service.

–Verizon has not installed any 5G towers in Fishers for a very long time and it appears there are no plans to install any at this time.  The board revoked 15 right-of-way permits because Verizon has not acted on any of these locations for 2 years, resulting in the right -of-way revocations.  Verizon has never commented on why the company stopped constructing 5G towers in Fishers.

The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), the union representing teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District, and the HSE School District appear to have reached a tentative agreement on a contract covering the 2023-2024 school year.  The contract has been posted as an attachment on the agenda for a special school board meeting set for Thursday, November 2nd, at 5pm.

The contract is the only item on the board meeting agenda, and is for information and discussion, but no board vote at this time.  If the pact is ratified by the HSEA membership, the board will vote on the new contract.

Teacher salaries were between $44,074 and $87,530 prior to any increases negotiated in this agreement. After ratification, the basic salaries of full-time teachers will be between $48,500 and $91,801 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Below is the new hire salary schedule for teachers, which is part of the agreement.  The full text of the contract is available at this link.