Fishers becomes a much smaller place during the week of HSE Schools Spring Break with so many people traveling south.  But, not every family leaves town during that time.

Fishers Parks is offering a Spring Break Summer Camp.  April 1-5, the camp will be offered 8:30am-4:00pm.  The cost is $200 for Fishers residents, $300 for nonresidents.  This camp is modeled after the Fishers Parks summer camp.

Campers must bring a shelf-stable lunch, 2 snacks, water bottle, and appropriate tennis shoes and clothing (for short walks outside, active play and games, etc.) to camp each day.

You can register at this link.

No matter what day or time, there are Fishers Police officers trained and available to pilot drones and can be on the scene to use that technology at any time.  There are about 20 uniformed Fishers officers trained in utilizing drone technology for a variety of uses, such as searching for a missing person or looking for a suspect after a crime is reported.

Drones used outdoors have infrared equipment, allowing police to search effectively, even during night time hours.

The drone cost is part of the department’s annual budget from the city, but is helped along by some foundation grants and donations by local residents

A training session was held Tuesday and demonstrations were offered to the media.  At the top of this post you will hear from FPD’s Public Information Officer, Sgt. Angela Ellison,

Below, there is a demonstration of how a special indoor drone is used by police.  Also below, there is a brief video of an outdoor drone being used in training and a drone practice session in landing the drone softly and safely.

(Story updated 7:50am Wednesday morning)

Fishers Police took a Hoosier Road Elementary School food service worker into custody Tuesday morning after reports the employee brought a concealed firearm into the school.

Under arrest is Javara K. Ofoia, 22, from Fishers.  She faces a charge of possessing a firearm on school property.

School Resource Officers took the worker into custody without incident and the firearm was secured.  Fishers Police emphasize no students were involved and there was no “imminent threat to safety.”

According to Fishers Police, Ofoia told a witness she had a handgun in her purse and not to tell anyone because she knew it was a felony. Officers say they found the gun in Ofia’s purse, in her unsecured office. She told officers she had the gun because she works at an Indianapolis restaurant that was “shot up” over the weekend and was afraid.

Bringing a firearm into a school building is a violation of state law and HSE School District polity.

The FPD news release says this is an example someone seeing something and  saying something.

Fishers Police officers arrested 18 individuals for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) during the month of February, with 34 charges connected to those arrests.

That is according to a social media post from Fishers Police over the weekend.

Police remind motorists there are a number of options to get around if you are impaired.  There are ride sharing services, you can have a designated driver in your group chosen in advance or just call a friend to provide a ride.

“We take the safety of our streets seriously and will continue to work hard to keep our community safe,” according to the FPD social media post.

It was the early 1980s, I cannot be more exact than that.  As morning news anchor and reporter for WCSI Radio in Columbus, Indiana, part of my regular beat was to cover Bartholomew County Government.  One meeting of the County Council was quite controversial.

It was so long ago I cannot remember the exact issue involved, but the council was set to vote on a matter that would adversely impact a relative of one council member.  That council member planned to vote in favor of the measure, but didn’t want his relative to know.

That one council member asked the council president if the vote could be done secretly…in other words, each council member would write their individual votes on a piece of paper, hand the votes to the council president, and he would then announce the result of the vote (8-1, 9-0, for example) but there would be no record of how each council member voted, just a record of the vote result.

The measure passed (don’t recall the vote numbers), no one objected  and the meeting moved on.  When I wrote my story, I quoted language in the open meeting law in place at that time, and noted the manner of voting in this instance did not appear to be consistent with state law.

The local newspaper, The Columbus Republic, decided to press the issue.  The print edition each day, for many consecutive days, had a different story about the “secret vote” by the Bartholomew County Council.  You could say the editorial staff of the Republic made this their own personal crusade.

At the next county council session, the council attorney blasted the newspaper in public.  The Republic reporter sat next to me in these meetings and what she said in response to me will not be quoted here.  It was all finally resolved, as I recall, with a council vote the traditional way, with members on the record.

Why do I bring this up now?  Indianapolis Star reporters Brittany Carloni and Kayla Dwyer published a story, last updated March 1st, about an amendment tacked onto a piece of legislation at the Indiana General Assembly that was supposed to only deal with how local governments should handle disruptions in public meetings.  The amendment was introduced by Representative J.D. Prescott, (R)-Union City,

The Star story says this amendment “would require the public access counselor to only consider the exact text of Indiana’s access laws or applicable court cases when issuing advisory opinions.”

Public Access Counselor Luke Britt did not comment on pending legislation, which is what an official in his position is required to do.  Prescott did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.

But State Senator Aaron Freeman (R) Indianapolis, had a lot to say to the Star journalists.  He accused Britt of of taking “some liberties” in interpreting the state open meetings law.

“I think certainly it’s fair to say there’s been some very liberal interpretations of the statute,” Freeman told the Indianapolis Star.

I only know what my experience has been.  I have never met or spoken with Luke Britt but I have read many of his decisions.  I do not believe former Governor Pence or Governor Holcomb would appoint, then re-appoint, some radical liberal to a job such as Public Access Counselor.

There was a squabble between the local school board and Television Station WTHR’s investigative news team a few years ago.  That case went all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court and WTHR won a unanimous decision by the justices, backing Britt’s advisory opinions.

My experience in reading Mr. Britt’s writing is that he is not liberal or conservative, he is just trying to honestly and fairly interpret a law that doesn’t answer every question that arises.

Britt may have been silent on all this, but the Star quotes a number of what the reporters describe as “government transparency advocates.”  They all agree that Prescott’s amendment, passed in House committee, would gut the Public Access Counselor by limiting any opinions to the exact language in the statute.

I have been in and out of journalism since 1973 and firmly believe watering-down our open meetings law is a very bad idea.  Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail in the end.

The Star story can be accessed at this link, but you may need a subscription

It was an emotional event.  It started with the Outside the Box Choir singing the Celebration song and the energy in the room was vibrant.  At other times, tears were shed, some tears of joy but also sad memories of the past.

It was the Disability Awareness Month kickoff Friday morning at a packed Launch Fishers Theater.  Keynote speaker Stacey Oldham spoke of her personal journey with Multiple Sclerosis.  She was told at age 20 her life expectancy would only span to about age 50.  She has celebrated her 59th birthday and looks forward to a marriage ceremony soon.

Stacey talked not only of her own experiences, but how advances in treatments and medical science in general have created longer life expectancies and a general better quality of life for those dealing with disabilities.

Mayor Scott Fadness, a supporter of city efforts in aiding the disabled, spoke of Fishers as a young city, progressing like a human in the teen years.  Fishers has been undergoing rapid growth for many years, but has some maturing ahead in the future.

City Council President Cecilia Coble was the emcee for the kickoff event.

Stacy Oldham was not only the keynote speaker, she was also recipient of the 2024 Life Without Limits Award.  The Cornerstone Employer Award went to Lauren Hayes of Heartland Church.

HSE Special Education teacher Jillian Mack was presented with the Accessibility Award.  She was surprised that school officials arranged for her 4th grade class to attend the ceremony, and her students chanted “Go, Miss Mack” as she accepted the honor.

Another major theme of the kickoff was how people with disabilities can become productive members of society with just a little accommodation from an employer.

The emotions were strong for the Fishers Disability Awareness Month Kickoff Friday morning.  But that was just the beginning.  For more on what will happen throughout the month of March, use this link.

I have already written extensively about the closure of Allisonville Road at 146th Street for 90 days, but be aware of some water quality work along other sections of Allisonville Road.

Also, be aware of road work along Municipal Drive near the construction site for the new City Hall/Arts Center.  Watch for sidewalk projects in the Windermere neighborhood and trail closures for the planned Heritage Park Bridge.

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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STATE ROAD 37 IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

To learn more about the State Road 37 Improvement Project and sign up to receive text updates, visit 37Thrives.com. 

STATE ROAD 37 AND 141ST STREET
A pre-construction phase at SR 37 & 141st Street is currently in place. During this phase, 141st Street will be a Right-In-Right-Out (RIRO) traffic configuration. 
This is not the permanent configuration. This will allow for traffic to flow more freely along SR 37 until the next phases of construction can be activated. This will eliminate backups along SR 37 that have caused dangerous stops to the free flow traffic and backups on the 146th Street interchange. Again, this is not the permanent configuration for 141st Street. The full timeline for the 141st Street interchange will be provided after project bids are accepted in the Spring 2024. View detour routes here. 

View how to merge safely onto Northbound SR 37 from 141st Street here and onto Southbound SR 37 from 141st Street here. To navigate the merge, remember:

• Use the accel lane to gain speed, not stop
• Use your mirrors and pay attention
• Look for a gap in SR 37 traffic and safely merge

To learn more about the Clear Path Improvement Project and sign up to receive text and email updates, visit clearpath465.com 

I-465 & I-69
Drivers will see an increase in construction along the I-69 corridor in the coming months. This work will focus on reconfiguring the interchange at I-465 and I-69. New ramps will provide direct movements from eastbound I-465 and northbound I-465 to northbound I-69. Binford Blvd. will also be reconstructed to separate local traffic from traffic entering and exiting I-69 and I-465. Access to I-69 from Binford Blvd. will remain open. 

Crews closed the two ramps at 82nd Street on Monday, January 29. These ramps will remain closed throughout most of 2024.

• Ramp from I-69 South to 82nd Street
• Ramp from 82nd Street to I-69 South

Patrick Mapes, in his first podcast interview with me after officially taking on the HSE Superintendent position, covered a lot of territory and answered a number of questions head-on.  Here are a few issues we discussed.

–Mr. Mapes does not appear inclined to continue the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion position (DEI) that has been vacant since Nataki Pettigrew left.  He believes other members of the school staff can collectively handle the DEI issues.

–He intends to remain in this job 6-7 years, the normal time a superintendent tends to serve one school district.

–He talks about the Role of Deputy Superintendent Matt Kegley.

–Following the cancellation of the Panorama Survey contract about one year ago, Mr. Mapes talks about what survey HSE Schools might use to fulfill the state requirement.

–He talks about keeping Wayne Township within the HSE family.

There is much more in this podcast.  Listen to the entire podcast at the link below:

Hamilton County Highway officials warned us in advance, and now it is here.  Allisonville Road is closed at 146th Street for an estimated 90 days.

Indy area television news crews were doing live reports Friday morning, showing viewers that, yes, as announced, Allisonville Road is closed at that location.

This is part of a major construction project that will create a roundabout at ground level on Allisonville Road and 146th Street will be on an overpass above Allisonville.  There will be ramps to connect 146th Street to Allisonville Road once the work is complete.