WTHR posted a story Tuesday evening with details of allegations contained in a lawsuit filed against the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools.  It deals with accusations of attacks in a school rest room by another student.

There are many other details about this lawsuit, many are disturbing.  You can read the entire WTHR story at this link.

When I moved to Fishers after marrying Jane in May, 1991, I knew I was moving into a small suburban town of just over 7,500, but growing fast.  One thing most people in the area knew was this – Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools served Fishers and it was a school district with an outstanding reputation.

As I settled into my new Fishers home, I often heard and read officials in Fishers praising the school district.  Once I began writing this local Fishers news blog in 2012, I heard the message time and time again – Fishers and a quality public school system are synonymous.

Scott Fadness, as Town Manager & Mayor of Fishers, has often spoken of how the HSE Schools have, to a large extent, fueled the growth of Fishers.  The city helps the school district in a number of ways, something you do not see often in Indiana.

Creating and maintaining a quality school district means a number of ingredients must work together and ensure quality.  That includes the school board, administrators and teachers.

The way it is supposed to work is as follows:  The board hires and evaluates the superintendent, the superintendent leads the school administration and the teachers can then be supported and do the most important job, instruct students in the classrooms.

I have always admired the way HSE Schools were able to keep academic standards high while taking-in tremendous growth in the student population, basically from the time I moved to Fishers in 1991 up to the present time.  Current projections show student population is leveling off, mainly due to demographic changes.

I retell this information because something is going wrong with HSE Schools, and I refer to recent stories published by Indianapolis media.

The first was from WFYI statehouse education reporter Rachelle Fradette.  She wrote a piece published June 14th on an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) filed by the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), the union representing HSE School District teachers. (Available at this link, no paywall).

Ms. Fradette’s story documents what is alleged in the ULP complaint.  Abby Taylor, HSEA President, makes several assertions.  Here is part of the WFYI story:

“Taylor alleges Murphy created a hostile work environment through ‘aggressive’ messaging and a warning he may claim ghost employment against Taylor, among other allegations. Taylor said she ‘felt unsafe and intimidated’ by Murphy during a May meeting with other staff, according to the complaint.”

Reporter Fradette also cites documents detailing a contentious issue between HSE HR Chief Brian Murphy and Taylor, over teacher staffing in grades K-6.  According to the documents cited in the story, Murphy contacted the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), asking that Taylor be fired and threatened to involve Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, who represents the east side of Fishers.

The entire matter will go before a hearing examiner from the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board for review.

Caroline Beck of the Indianapolis Star also published a piece on this issue June 18th, and is available at this link, (You may need to be a Star subscriber to access this story)

When the teachers’ union feels there is a “hostile work environment” to the extent it files a ULP, it is a way of revealing your dirty laundry to the public and state education officials.  I would hope every Fishers resident, and the wider geographic area served by HSE Schools, is taking notice.

Although the school board and administration have the legal authority over these decisions, I would ask that all public officials, privately or publicly, find a way to encourage settling these issues between HSE Schools and the teachers’ union.

I only write a small. local, mostly volunteer news blog here in Fishers.  All I can do is call it the way I see it, as someone having lived in Fishers 33 years and in my 13th year of writing a local news blog and covering HSE Schools.  We cannot let this public controversy continue.

Bottom line, let’s not kill the goose that laid the golden egg.  HSE Schools and its teaching staff are our golden goose.  I call on everyone that cares about this community to ask those involved in this dispute to dial down the vitriol and settle the differences.

This is the start of Spark Fishers, with the final day containing a street fair at the Municipal Complex Saturday from 2-9pm.

As part of the street fair, the arts community in Fishers is coming together to provide an indoor opportunity for you to experience what local artists are creating, at the new City Hall/Art Center.

For more details on all the Spark Fishers activities, use this link.

The last regular job I had in radio broadcasting, and journalism, was with Network Indiana in 1983, using the name Larry Mitchell.  The same company owned WIRE, a long-successful AM country music station, and their FM station was WXTZ, a “beautiful music” operation.

The Network Indiana newsroom supplied news content to the statewide network, WIRE and WXTZ.  We anchored the newscasts for WIRE and the Network, but we only supplied news copy we had written to WXTZ.  Seems the management wanted the smooth-voiced announcers they had hired to work on the beautiful music station to read the news.

One of the WXTZ announcers was a young Dave Calabro.  I am not sure whether this was his first gig in broadcasting, but if not, it was one of his first.

You get to know a number of people in the broadcasting business when you work in it as I had for 14 years.  Let’s just say Dave was one of the nice guys and I always pulled for him to succeed in the business.

I had nothing to do with it, but Dave’s career took off.  I recall going to Richmond, Indiana on government business and watching Dave doing sports for a Dayton local TV news program.

It didn’t take long for Dave to return to Indianapolis and become a sports anchor at WTHR.  He also became part of the public address announcing team at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something only a small number of people have ever done.  On 500 race day, and lots of other occasions at the world-famous race venue, you will hear Dave’s voice.

Just a few days ago, I learned of Dave Calabro’s retirement at the end of the calendar year.  He will continue to be the PA announcer at IMS, but his everyday job as a sports reporter will be coming to an end.

Congratulations to Dave Calabro on his retirement.  You certainly deserve this after many years of toiling in a very tough business, TV news & sports.

Another summer week is upon us and we have another road construction report for the Fishers area.  It should be mentioned that this listing includes not just Fishers city projects, but Hamilton County work and the huge INDOT I-69 & I-465 Clear Path construction.  You will also find Fishers planned sidewalk projects as part of this.

Be aware of some traffic issues in the area of downtown Fishers for the Spark Fishers Festival activities.

Below is the full report, as provided by the City of Fishers:

Continue reading Fishers-area road construction report – work week starting Monday, June 24 →

In the late 1960s, I was at a Cincinnati Reds baseball game at the old Crosley Field when Pete Rose made a fielding error.  Someone in the crowd yelled, “You Hoosier!”

That’s when I first realized the word “Hoosier” was not a compliment outside the state of Indiana.  So, are people living here proud to be Hoosier?

Skyler Braun, the man behind the local e-mail newsletter Fishers Digest, partnered with a market research company to ask people living in Fishers, are you proud to be a Hoosier?

It should not surprise you that 65% of respondents said yes, they are proud Hoosiers.  It also did not surprise me that 18% had no opinion and probably never even thought about it.

What was a bit surprising was the 17% that responded no, they are not proud to be a Hoosier.  Perhaps these are people originally from Ohio?

Skyler’s Fishers Digest is a free twice-weekly local Fishers newsletter with his own touch on local news.  You can sign-up for his newsletter at this link.

When you think about the Spark Fishers Festival, you think of 2 things you do not want…very hot temperatures or rain.  Let’s hope both stay away in 2024.

This year’s activities begin Monday, June 24 and wrap-up Saturday, June 29, with the parade and street fair.

Below you will find more details, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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No one filed to run for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board on the last day to step forward and run.  The filing deadline was Thursday, June 20, at noon.

Here are the candidates for the HSE Board in the November general election, based on the online posting by the Hamilton County Election Office:

This will be an at-large election.  Every eligible voter residing within the HSE School District votes for one candidate in each of the township races.

I arrived at Conner Prairie at about 5:30pm for the Fishers Juneteenth celebration Wednesday.  The parking lots were already filling up.  I could tell the turnout exceeded last year.

As I left the grounds, the lady keeping track of the number of people walking through the gate had over 740 on her counter as of 6pm.  Juneteenth is becoming a popular gathering in Fishers.

The Future Black Leaders Club from Fishers High School once again was in charge of putting the Juneteenth celebration together again this year.  There were more booths and activities compared to 2023.

Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in America.  June 19, 1865 was the day the final notification was provided to slaves in Galveston, Texas that the Civil War was over and all were now free.  It is a federal holiday.

In my walk around the grounds, all were having a very good time.

Below are more photos from the 2024 Fishers Juneteenth event:

Continue reading Biggest crowd yet for 2024 Fishers Juneteenth celebration →

As we grow closer to the filing deadline for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board another candidate has thrown his hat in the ring.  Greg Lannan, a local Republican Party supporter in the past, and currently serving on the Fishers Board of Zoning Appeals, has announced he will run as an at-large candidate in Delaware Township.  He made the announcement in a Facebook post Wednesday morning.

Lannan and his wife Megan have recently become parents and “my wife and I are proud to raising our son in the community that has given us so many incredible opportunities.”  He says he is running to support students, parents and teachers.

Lannan currently works as a director of business development and marketing for a local firm.  He cites parental involvement, educational transparency, sound fiscal management and helping students excel academically as centerpieces of his campaign.

Greg Lannan was born and raised in Fishers and is a 2009 graduate of Fishers High School.

In this at-large election, voters choose from candidates running within their township, but all voters cast ballots in each township race.  The deadline to file as a school board candidate is Thursday, noon,  June 20th.

As of 11:15am June 19, here is the list of candidates officially filing for HSE School Board in this year’s election:

Delaware Township

Greg Lannan

Latrica A Schooley

Fall Creek Township

Suzanne Thomas

Terry Tolle

Wayne Township 

Sarah E. Parks-Reese

John F. Stewart

(NOTE:  Greg Lannan & I share the same last name.  We had lunch a few years ago and determined we are related as distant cousins, but did not know each other until a few years ago)