The Indy Fuel began the 2024 season on the road, playing their first 15 games away from home while the new Fishers Event Center was being completed. Despite a season marked by ups and downs, the Fuel surged late in the ECHL schedule to clinch a coveted playoff spot.

Indy closed out the regular season with two road games, falling 6-4 to Kalamazoo on Saturday and dropping a hard-fought 4-3 overtime decision in Toledo on Sunday.

Now, the focus shifts to the postseason, as the Fuel square off against Toledo in a best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Here’s the full schedule for the opening round:

Kelly Cup Playoff Schedule – Round One: Indy Fuel vs. Toledo Walleye

• Game 1: Thursday, April 17 – at Toledo, 7:15 p.m.

• Game 2: Friday, April 18 – at Toledo, 7:15 p.m.

• Game 3: Monday, April 21 – at Indy, 7:00 p.m.

• Game 4: Tuesday, April 22 – at Indy, 7:00 p.m.

• Game 5: Saturday, April 26 – at Toledo*, 7:15 p.m.

• Game 6: Monday, April 28 – at Indy*, 7:00 p.m.

• Game 7: Wednesday, April 30 – at Toledo*, 7:15 p.m.
  (*if necessary)

The Fuel are guaranteed at least two home playoff games: Monday, April 21, and Tuesday, April 22, both with 7:00 p.m. puck drops at the Fishers Event Center. If the series extends to Game 6, a third home game is scheduled for Monday, April 28.

Buy playoff tickets using this link.

When you spend more than 14 years in the radio broadcasting business, you get the chance to work with a lot of great people. For me, one of those people was Larry Henry. Larry passed away last Friday.

I was the morning news anchor at WCSI in Columbus, Indiana for about four years. For roughly three of those years, the morning show host was Larry Henry. Sometimes, there’s a special kind of chemistry that happens when two people talk on the radio—and Larry and I had that. Every morning, we’d spend about ten minutes just having a conversation, and it clicked. Larry was especially proud when an ARB rating sweep showed that our program was not only number one in Bartholomew County, but number one across three counties in the area.

Larry was a top-notch professional. I truly enjoyed working with him as a team, and I valued our friendship—even though we hadn’t been in touch in recent years. He left WCSI to join the WIBC sports broadcasting team and eventually moved to Detroit, where he made his mark doing play-by-play for University of Michigan basketball and covering a wide range of other sporting events.

Later in life, Larry moved to Madison, Indiana, entering semi-retirement.

But Larry was perhaps best known for his passion for auto racing. He covered the month of May for WCSI, which caught the attention of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. On race day, he reported from the backstretch and Turn 3—where he made one of his most memorable calls: the moment Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. touched wheels in Turn 3, sending Unser into the wall and paving the way for Fittipaldi’s first Indy 500 win.

I have such great memories of working with Larry and calling him a friend. We lost a truly special person when Larry passed away on April 11. He was 73.

According to his online obituary, Larry requested cremation, and a celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.

Thanks for the memories, Larry. I’ll never forget you.

The Fishers Freight dropped the first game in their young history at the Tsongas Center in Lowell Massachusetts, 50-47, to the Pirates in a close, hard fought battle.  Massachusetts was in the IFL championship game last season but went into this game 0-2.  The Pirates needed a win and the Freight were wanting to go 3-0, but it was not to be for the team from Fishers Saturday night.

Coach Dixie Wooten was not hesitant to change things up during this game.  Mike Baloga once again struggled as the Freight kicker and the Freight went to 2-point conversion attempts after touchdowns.  Starting quarterback Jiya Wright was pulled in the 4th quarter for backup Keegan Shoemaker, who threw his first IFL touchdown pass early in the 4th quarter.

The Pirates had struggled with their kicking game this season and brought back a kicker they had on the roster previously, Josh Gable, who kicked the winning field goal with 1 second remaining in the game.

There were some outstanding plays by the Freight, a team that refused to give up when they were down.  Shawn Steele came up with an interception with less than 3 minutes left in Quarter 4, setting up a long pass play from Shoemaker to JT Stokes who made an acrobatic catch the took him over the boards, but he held on to the ball for a completion.  The Freight then scored to tie the contest at 47 each.  Devin Hafford came up with a kickoff touchdown.

It was a 22-yard field goal by Gable that won the game for the Pirates, 50-47.

The Pirates are now 1-2 and the Freight are 2-1. The Freight will face Dixie Wooten’s former team, the Bay Area Panthers, where he coached for 2 years before joining the Freight, Saturday, April 19, at the Fishers Event Center, 7pm kickoff.

Temperatures may not have seemed spring-like in recent days, but spring is here according to the calendar.  As a result, look for the summer road projects to get underway.  Two big ones here in Fishers this year include roundabout construction at 131st & Howe Road, and 121st and Hoosier Road.  Some preliminary work will begin soon on those two projects.

For a full view of Fishers-area road construction, here is the listing for the work seek starting Monday, April 14, as provided by the City of Fishers:

=================== Continue reading Road construction update for the week of April 14 →

The Indy Fuel will face the Toledo Walleye in the first round of the ECHL playoffs, but the path was anything but easy.  The Fuel needed just one point to clinch a post season berth, and it looked like they might beat the Kalamazoo Wings at the Fishers Event Center Friday night.

The Fuel had a 4-3 lead with 40 seconds remaining in Period 3 when the Wings’ Max Humitz found the back of the net, tying the score and sending the game into overtime.  At that point, Indy was guaranteed a playoff spot.

The 7-minute overtime period resulted in no scoring, when Kalamazoo scored twice in the shootout to take the win.

The Wings took charge early in the contest, with Drake Pilon scoring twice in the first stanza, one being on a power play in Period 1. In Period 2, Kevin Lombardi and Nathan Burke scored for the Fuel, but Ryan Naumovski lit the lamp for Kalamazoo, and the Wings led 3-2 after 2 periods.

About 14 minutes into the third Period, Owen Robinson picked a perfect time to score his first professional goal, tying the score at 3-3.  But Humitz scored with seconds remaining in Period 3, forcing the game into overtime but assuring the Fuel a playoff series with the Toledo Walleye.

Game 3 of the playoff round will be a home game at the Fishers Event Center Monday, April 21.  Tickets are on sale.

It appears the Indiana House, Senate and Governor Mike Braun have struck a deal to provide property tax relief for Hoosier homeowners, but the question now is, at what cost?

Republican House Speaker Todd Huston was instrumental in putting this deal together as a legislative leader.  Representative Huston represents the eastern part of Fishers.

Democrat Victoria Garcia Wilburn represents the western section of Fishers and voted against the property tax measure, Senate Bill 1 (SB1).  She cites a number contained in a recent WFYI story, from the Legislative Services Agency, saying Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools would lose $26.7 million over 3 years as part of SB1.  In a social media post, Representative Wilburn also says Hamilton County will lose $35 million under the property tax deal.  According to Ms. Wilburn, homeowners “might” save $300 a year on their property tax bills under this legislation.  She describes SB1 as “a solution creating more problems.”

In a statement issued April 9th, Speaker Huston describes this deal as “meaningful relief for Hoosiers who’ve been hit hard with rising property taxes.”  The Speaker says SB1 will provide $1.4 billion in property tax relief over 3 years.

HSE Schools issued a statement earlier this week before the most recent numbers were available.

“As written, Senate Bill 1 could result in severe reductions to our district’s operational budget over the next three years,” the HSE School District says. “These potential cuts would directly impact students through the loss of academic programs, increased class sizes, reductions in staff, and limits our ability to maintain and update school facilities to the high standards our community has come to expect.”

The HSE statement emphasizes the district’s record of fiscal responsibility, making careful use of taxpayer dollars to prioritize student success.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness describes SB1 as complex and the city will see less money than projected.  The mayor tells LarryInFishers he does not have a specific number, but it will be in the millions of dollars.  He notes that the city will receive more money each year in the coming 3 years, but less than would have been collected without this legislation.

Fadness approves of the provision allowing cities a process to enact their own income taxes.  Fishers and Carmel have had disputes the last several years about how the state formula passes out local option income taxes at the county level down to cities like Fishers.

House Speaker Huston and Senator Kyle Walker have been in contact with Fishers on the status of SB1 as it has moved through the legislative process.  Fadness adds that Fishers will remain aggressive in quality of life issues and will work with state lawmakers in this long transition of how Indiana funds local governments through the property tax system.

Fadness is confident the city will have a good handle on money available as he begins to fashion a 2026 city budget later this year.

You may recall I cited a WFYI news story April 8 saying the tax deal under consideration by state lawmakers would cost Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools $21 million over 3 years.  Now, on April 10, it appears the leaders in the Indiana House and Senate, and Governor Mike Braun, have struck a deal for property tax relief.

Part of that deal will take money away from local governments.  We are still waiting on how much local units of government would lose under this agreement at the Statehouse, but WFYI is updating how much local school corporations would lose under this plan, and it is not good news for HSE Schools.

The proposal before state lawmakers would rob the HSE School District of $26.7 million over 3 years.  There is also a provision in this legislation for public schools to share revenue with charter schools.

To read WFYI reporter Rachel Fradette’s story about all this, use this link.

As a member of the Baby Boom generation, I know people of my era, including myself, are not getting any younger.  Our health as we age is very important.

The City of Fishers recognizes there is a growing part of the local population aging and local officials have put together a group to submit recommendations for actions the city should take to deal with this.

In early March, Fishers announced the creation of the Aging & Wellness Task Force.  That group is charged with exploring programming, resources, and infrastructure to better serve Fishers’ senior population. 

The Task Force is asking for your help.  A short survey has been placed online.  The city is hoping seniors, caregivers, or interested community members provide responses aimed at shaping future recommendations for healthy aging in our city.

The survey is open through May 6 and can be accessed at this link.

The Task Force is Co-chaired by Fishers City Councilman Bill Stuart and Dr. Juanita Albright, a local physician and President of the Hamilton Southeastern School District Board of Trustees,

It has been an up and down year for the Indy Fuel.  They spent the first 15 games of the season on the road as the Fishers Event Center was finishing construction, which is not an easy way to start any season.  There have been times this season the Fuel did not look like a playoff team.

That has all changed as the Fuel have hit the gas the past few weeks and are in the drivers’ seat to claim the fourth and final playoff berth in the ECHL Central Division.  Indy has a 6 point lead over Bloomington and Kalamazoo with only 3 games remaining,

The Fuel took a giant step toward the playoffs with a 5-1 win over the Bloomington Bison Wednesday night at the Fishers Event Center.  The Fuel took a 2-0 lead early and were in control from that point on.  Bloomington’s only goal came in period 3.

The Fuel face Kalamazoo Friday night at home for Fan Appreciation Night at the Event Center.  Indy then hits the road to take on Kalamazoo again Saturday night, this time in Michigan.  The final regular season game is at Toledo Sunday.

A long season that started with a lengthy road trip is ending with a very likely playoff spot for the Fuel.