If you have driven by the area of 141st Street and Cumberland Road, you have likely seen the ongoing construction of the Cumberland Cottages residential development, by housing nonprofit HAND Incorporated.

HAND Executive Director Andrea Davis says she and her staff will be doing the “punch walk” inspection looking for minor issues this week.  She expects construction to be complete in about 3 weeks.  Once construction is done, tenants will begin moving-in.

There are 11 rental units in Cumberland Cottages, 6 will be rented as affordable housing, the remaining 5 will be at market rate.

Davis says 42 applications for housing at Cumberland Cottages has been received, most for the affordable units. HAND is looking for opportunities to fill the market rate units with folks who are also in need of affordable housing.  “We need to get creative about that,” Davis says.

The market rate rental costs are not yet available for Cumberland Cottages.  For the affordable housing units, the rent is a bit complicated, tied to the percentage of family income of the area median income levels established by House & Urban Development (HUD).

For those qualifying at 40% of the area median income, there are two 2-bedroom units renting for $759 a month.

For those qualifying at 50% of area median income, there is one 3-bedroom unit renting for $1,125 per month.

If you qualify at 60% of area median income, there is one 2-bedroom unit renting for $954 a month…..and two 3-bedroom units  renting for $1,265 per month.

As to how area median income is defined for Cumberland Cottages, it is based on the size of the household.  Here is the information provided by HAND:

The original Cumberland Cottages plan was for 11 detached units, but budget challenges changed that.  However, HAND is looking forward to opening the project.

“We’re really excited,” says Davis. “This is the first of this kind of design that we’ve done with the homes oriented around shared green space, it’s called a cottage court design.”

An opening ceremony is tentatively planned for mid-July, even though there will already be residents living there.

The Speaker of the Indiana House is a very powerful person in decisions made by state government.  The current Speaker, Todd Huston, represents District 37, which includes the eastern part of Fishers.  The job of Speaker is very time-consuming so Speaker Huston has not appeared on one of my podcasts for a while, mainly due to scheduling issues.

I recorded a podcast with Speaker Huston May 28, and he had comments on a number of issues, including…

–The concerns of Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness about Carmel receiving $60 million more in property and income tax revenue each year compared to Fishers

–Changes in the Public Access Counselor law

–School vouchers and rules on discussions with teacher unions

–His support of Indiana University President Pamela Whitten in an Op-Ed piece for the Indianapolis Star

–The debate over water resources

–The social services  state funding shortfall of $1 billion

-and-

–What to expect in next years budget session.

The podcast is available at the link below.

I have seen much written about the local television blackout for the Indianapolis 500 lately, but do you know anything about the first 500 shown on television?

The year was 1949 and television was just beginning.  It was not in every household by any means at that time.  Manufacturers and TV broadcasters wanted more televisions in more homes.

That led to the first TV station to go on the air in Indianapolis, WFBM Channel 6 (which now uses the call letters of WRTV), to broadcast the race live in order to promote more sales of TV sets.  That happened in 1949 and 1950.  WFBM only had 3 cameras, all along the main stretch, covering the race.

I remember my Mom and Dad telling me about watching those races.  They said it was good, but keep in mind television was brand new and expectations were low.  It is estimated that about 3,000 televisions in the Indianapolis area were tuned to the race broadcasts in 1949 and 1950.

There is an old story that many local Indianapolis broadcasters tell.  After the 1950 race, Wilber Shaw, the man hired to run the Speedway in those days, was having a drink with the WFBM people when he looked them in the eye, and just said, ‘You and your (expletive deleted) television station.”  It was then that television knew 1950 might be the last television broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 ever on local television.

Beginning in 1986, ABC was granted the rights to broadcast the race live, but it was blacked out in Indianapolis.  Only twice has the race been broadcast live in Indianapolis…for the 100th running and the COVID era races where no fans were allowed.

That takes us to 2024.  The speedway had a small number of unsold tickets (by IMS standards) and the decision was made not to allow a local TV broadcast.

That changed with the 4-hour rain delay.  The Speedway announced at the last minute that, due to the long rain delay, the local Indy blackout would be lifted and the race could be shown in WTHR, the local NBC affiliate.

Social media lit up from the time of the announcement of the blackout the Friday before the race, to the time IMS relented due to the rain delay and allowed the local TV broadcast.  Local sports commentator Bob Kravitz has argued that the Speedway is losing local fans by not allowing the 500 on live local TV.

I take a position that as long as the IMS ownership is taking public money, and the state is providing subsides in the millions of dollars each year, the public is entitled to a live TV broadcast.  Kravitz writes about how the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team kept the team away from local TV, robbing a generation of potential Blackhawk fans to be created during that time.

The Blackhawks thought denying local TV would sell more tickets.  A little like the Speedway management is thinking.

If the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sells 90-95% of the tickets available, the 500 should be on local television.

Memorial Day is one of those annual observances that started small in the Town of Fishers and has grown exponentially as the City of Fishers has grown.  An unseasonably cold, overcast and windy day did not stop the crowd from gathering Monday morning to observe America’s war dead.

El Ahlwardt, Chair of the Fishers Armed Services Commission, provided his usual aplomb serving as the MC of the observance.  Mayor Scott Fadness talked about how his father taught him to “show up” for others in life and how the Fishers Armed Services Commission has shown up for the Fishers community in putting on events such as the Memorial Day service.

Guest Speaker Kent Abernathy, with a long resume that includes a stint as Commissioner of Indiana’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles, talked about how Indiana is among the top states in the nation honoring military veterans.  He told the stories of 2 Indiana service members that lost their lives in Middle East wars.

Here are more photos from the 2024 Memorial Day ceremony in Fishers:

Continue reading Memorial Day in Fishers 2024 →

May 27 is Memorial Day but it is a Monday and Fishers has released the road projects in or near the city.

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

Continue reading Fishers area road construction – week beginning Monday, May 27 →

Bob Rice handles all things energy in Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School buildings.  He just returned from a White House summit all about how schools across the nation are saving money on energy costs.

Bob talks about that, and an award HSE Schools received at the summit, in this podcast, linked below.

The new Fishers City Hall is nearing completion, with most city employees now working in the new structure.  Part of City Hall will be an Arts Center.  The Indianapolis Arts Center will be providing the arts classes.  I received a tour of the facilities and they are impressive.

Mark Williams, Executive Director of the Indianapolis Arts Center, and Michelle O’Hollaren, Vice President of Education & Innovation, joined me for a podcast discussion.  The new Fishers Arts Center will have a June arts summer camp.  Also, the operation is on the lookout for local arts instructors.

Listen to my conversation with Mark & Michelle at the link below.

As the school year nears an end, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District has announced the Teacher of the Year for this school year, and the  2023-2024 winner is Aimee Bastin.

Mrs. Bastin has 30 years of public education experience.  She currently serves as a resource teacher and also chairs the Exceptional Learners Department at Fall Creek Junior High School.

“I think of teaching like, if you want to go into sales and you want to be a good salesperson, you have to believe in the product,” says Bastin. “And I believe in what we do here at HSE.”

She is also a leader in professional development, sharing the latest information on new accessibility tools and learning strategies for students.

Along with the honor of being named HSE’s Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Bastin was awarded a $500 prize from the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation. She will also move forward as the district’s nominee for the Indiana Department of Education’s Teacher of the Year competition.

According to FCJ Principal Michael Ryan, “Mrs. Bastin will do anything it takes to help students and works to ensure every child is receiving a world-class education.”

The two other finalists for district-wide Teacher of the Year were Clarise Nolan of Sand Creek Elementary, a speech pathologist, and Sarah Chattin, long-time science teacher at HSE High School.

There was a time when the Hamilton Southeastern School Board used a “Snapshots of Success” agenda item at board meetings honoring school-related individuals and teams, but it appears that tradition has ended.  The Fishers City Council is picking up the slack, taking time during the Monday night Council session to honor two local school teams.

First, Council members and Mayor Scott Fadness welcomed the Fishers High School Boys State Championship basketball squad, under Coach Garrett Winegar.

The city also honored the HSE High School “We The People” team for their success in the recent national finals.  The team, under Coach Janet Chandler, showed their talent in  knowledge of civic affairs.

The Nickel Plate Trail in Fishers was once the Nickel Plate Rail Line, and when the conversion was made from the railroad to a trail, adjacent landowners sued the federal government.  According to a story posted on the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) Web site, those landowners, stretching from Indianapolis to Noblesville,  have reached a $7.6 million settlement with the federal government.

According to reporter Taylor Wooten, “The settlement involves 168 property owners along more than 20 miles of the Nickel Plate Trail from just south of East 16^th Street in Indianapolis to just west of the White River in Noblesville.”

There is much more to this story.  You can read the entire piece at this link.  Note that you may need a subscription to access this story,