I was married late in life at age 39 and became a father with twin daughters, Allison and Mary, born in my early 40s. I wondered whether I would ever know any of my grandchildren.
Let’s just say God has been good to me. Just days ago, my third grandchild was born, Maya Marie Cahill. My daughter Mary and her husband Tyler are proud parents and will bring Maya up the right way.
I am also happy for Tyler’s parents, DeOn and Jim Cahill. Maya is their first grandchild and Jane & I are so happy for them.
I had the chance to hold Maya the other day and she opened her eyes, looking at me. It was a special and emotional moment.
Now Jane & I have Dakota and Callie Lewis, along with Maya, as our three precious grandkids. We love them all so much.
And, thanks to the readers of this blog. When I posted the personal note that I would be away from blogging a bit, you were so generous with your comments. I have a special group of people reading this blog.
As we head into the latter part of July, the Fishers-area road construction list remains a long one. Note that there is a traffic pattern change coming to the construction site at 96th Street and Allisonville Road.
For all the details, see the full listing below, as provided by the City of Fishers:
There are special things in life that happen and you treasure those moments. I have just become a grandfather for the third time and my wife Jane and I are beyond excited to welcome our new granddaughter into the world.
This is just a heads-up that I will be posting a little less over the next few days as Jane and I, along with my son-in-law’s family, help the new parents with our beautiful granddaughter.
The Fishers Century Club announces that Shop For Kids was chosen as the winning charity at their recent meeting held on Tuesday night at the recreation event room at Knowledge Services.
Shop For Kids, a Hamilton County-based 501(c)(3) organization, has been dedicated to raising funds from the community and local businesses for the past 15 years. Their mission enables law enforcement officers to take underprivileged children shopping for Christmas, making a significant difference in the lives of these children.
Dustin Dixon, who attended the meeting along with several other community-minded individuals, was selected to present a charity of choice from a hat. He chose to present Shop For Kids, where he serves as the board chair and is deeply passionate about their mission. During his presentation, Dixon highlighted how officers are paired with children from the community to provide both items they need and an item they want.
“I want to thank the guys who attended and support the Fishers Century Club. Their group of guys use the simple power of numbers to give a charity, like Shop For Kids, unexpected funds,” said Dustin Dixon. “These funds will bless additional kids in our community when officers take them Christmas shopping later this year. I’d encourage guys looking to network and hear about local organizations to come to the next Fishers Century Club.”
The Fishers Century Club will reconvene on September 17th to learn about more local charities and select their next quarterly winner. This upcoming meeting is particularly significant as it will push the Fishers Century Club over the $40,000 mark in giving since its inception in mid-2021. The Club’s goal is to continue growing in attendees, aiming to reach 100 members who each contribute $100 per quarter, thereby making a significant impact of $10,000 at each quarterly meeting.
At the July 10th Fishers Plan Commission meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to send an unfavorable recommendation to the City Council on a proposed gas station and convenience store at 135th Street near State Road 37. The matter was scheduled for a final vote by the City Council Monday night.
Fishers spokesperson Ashley Elrod tells LarryInFishers the petitioner chose to withdraw the proposal from the Council agenda. It is not known where this proposed development goes from here.
At the Plan Commission meeting, Commission member and Councilor Selina Stoller expressed her view that there are plenty of gas stations and convenience operations in that area of the city.
Kyle Pierce is a Fishers High School graduate and went on to achieve his degree at Ball State University. His interest in politics led him to a seat in the Indiana General Assembly, representing Anderson and a part of Madison County.
Kyle Pierce talks about his journey in politics that landed him with a seat in the Indiana State Legislature.
Members of the HSE High School Boys’ Lacrosse and Girls’ Softball teams fille the City Hall Theater
The Fishers City Council honored two state championship teams Monday night, both from Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) High School. The Boys’ Lacross and Girls’ Softball squads received a hearty round of applause and were handed certificates by Mayor Scott Fadness and John Weingardt, representing the City Council.
Weingardt presided over the Council meeting due to a home accident and injury, plus a positive COVID test, kept Council Chair Cecilia Coble from attending the meeting. Vice President Pete Peterson was also unable to attend.
The Council passed measures implementing the economic development plan for a major expansion of the life sciences firm INCOG. Mayor Fadness praised INCOG for selling Fishers as a good business location, drawing other life science firms to the city.
Mayor Scott Fadness leads the council work session
The Fishers City Council joined Mayor Scott Fadness in a work session Monday to discuss annexing an area in the far southeast section of unincorporated Hamilton County, mostly adjacent to the City of Fishers. The session also reviewed the innovation grant program for Hamilton Southeastern School District teachers.
The tract of land Fishers is looking to annex in the southeast area is unincorporated Hamilton County, although residents in the area have Fortville addresses with the Postal Service. There are 960 parcels of land that Fishers is eyeing to annex, but 710 of those have remonstrance waivers. This is mostly tied to a zoning designation granted to the developer in 2009, according to the mayor’s Chief of Staff Jordin Alexander.
Public sessions with the those residing in the neighborhoods will be held this month and in August. The City Council will vote on the fiscal plan for annexation at the August meeting. A public hearing will be conducted in October, with the adoption of the annexation ordinance subject to a City Council vote in December. The remonstrance and appeal period is a long one, extending to May of 2025. The entire annexation process will not likely be completed until June of 2025.
Mayor Fadness indicated that once this annexation is complete, he will likely call for a special census. The last official census in 2020 put the City of Fishers population a tick under 100,000. Fadness believes the current Fishers population is about 105,000, with 110,000 coming soon. A special census could help by allowing the city to up money it receives from state government.
Council members and the mayor turned to the HSE Schools Innovation Grants the city is funding. Fadness emphasized this program is not in competition with the money provided HSE teachers by the HSE Schools Foundation, but can fund requests for projects the Foundation is unable to handle due to the dollar amounts. The fund started this year with $500,000 and has handed-out $80,000 in grants. Fadness says the $500,000 amount was for one year only. He hopes to fund the grants by providing smaller funding each year, but with enough money in the fund to approve a large project if the committee sees fit.
Retired HSE teacher Mike Fassold outlined for the Council how the committee he chairs considers each request for project funding. He highlighted one HSE High School teacher proposing a virtual reality system that has so far been very successful.
The Fishers Events Center may still be under construction with an opening in November planned, but Mitch Lists, General Manager of the facility, talks about the first three acts to appear on the local stage in this podcast, link below.
INCOG BioPharma Services, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in sterile injectable biopharmaceuticals, has announced a significant investment to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Fishers. The expansion includes constructing a second 100,000-square-foot building on its campus, with groundbreaking scheduled for August. This new facility will increase the company’s commercial-scale device assembly capacity, supporting autoinjectors, pens, wearable injectors, and syringe accessorizing, while also adding new labeling and final packaging capabilities.
The addition of this second building will enable INCOG to offer comprehensive, end-to-end solutions from filling to device assembly and final packaging. This streamlined process aims to simplify supply chain solutions for its global biopharma customers.
“We are excited about this new investment and the opportunities it brings,” said Cory Lewis, CEO and Founder of INCOG. “Our customers will have access to a suite of solutions from filling through final packaging. This supply chain integration is essential in accelerating a drug product to commercial launch, and even more important in today’s constrained markets as the need for sterile injectable products is quickly growing to address challenging diseases and improve healthcare outcomes. The hard work and expertise of the team we have built at INCOG has allowed us to accelerate investments and address the immediate needs of the global biopharma industry.”
The expansion is expected to create over 100 additional high-paying jobs in Fishers. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) claims Indiana is the largest exporter of pharmaceutical products in the continental United States. By the end of 2023, Indiana’s Life Science sector included over 3,000 companies, employing 67,000 people and contributing $95 billion to the state’s economy, according to the IEDC.
“We are proud to contribute to the social and economic growth of Fishers by creating new jobs and fostering a vibrant life science community,” added Lewis. “The city and IEDC have served as an extension of our team. It’s exciting to bring current and prospective clients to our facility so they can experience the growing community where we do business.”
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness expressed his pride in INCOG’s growth and expansion into a second building. “This expansion reinforces Fishers as a leading hub for life sciences and biopharma manufacturing. INCOG has played a significant role in building the industry cluster in Fishers, and we look forward to celebrating their future successes,” Fadness said.
The expansion follows ongoing efforts to commission and install a second high-speed syringe and cartridge filling line, along with supporting automated visual inspection equipment. The new filling line will complement INCOG’s existing multi-use filling line, bringing the site’s filling capacity to 140 million units per year. The automated visual inspection and autoinjector assembly capabilities are already available, with the additional syringe filling capacity expected to come online in Q2 2025. These enhancements will enable INCOG to meet the growing demand for biopharmaceutical solutions that utilize pre-filled syringes and autoinjector delivery mechanisms.
