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.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Superintendent Patrick Mapes sent a message to families in the district lately explaining how some of the proposals from state legislators could impact the money available to our local schools.  A news story posted April 8 from WFYI reporter Rachel Fradette provides details of the budget legislation now before Indiana lawmakers, and it is not good news for HSE Schools.

Based on the numbers provided in the bill, with important footnotes, HSE Schools could lose $21 million in funding over a 3-year period.  It is difficult to imagine how our local school district would be able to absorb such a loss in funding, with so many programs on the chopping block in such a situation.

If there is any good news, this is a process and it is not over yet.  Much can happen between now and later this month when it is likely a legislative conference committee will write the final version of a 2-year budget for the state.  However, both House and Senate leaders seem to be saying this is the budget they want.

Other local government entities, including cities, towns, townships, counties and libraries, would all suffer financially under this proposal for property tax relief.

You can read Rachel Fradette’s entire story at this link.

I was unable to attend the first Fishers Freight home game last Friday due to a long-planned family trip.  But I did watch the game on the IFL Network (IFL stands for Indoor Football League).  Here are a few observations from watching that game on TV.

–The Freight have a first class defense and focus on running the football.  The success of the ground game allows openings to exploit defenses with the pass game.  So far, for the first two games of the season, it looks like Coach and General Manager Dixie Wooten has put together a competitive squad.

–The crowd of 5,600 was clearly into the game and enjoying every minute of it.  I sincerely hope more people at least sample a Freight game in person during this inaugural season.

–The IFL Network allows you to watch every IFL game with very good video production values. If you signup (at this link) you get a 30-day free trial….after that, it’s $9.99 a month or $29.99 for the entire 2025 season.

–I would say Andrew Smith, Jim Leisure and Eva Hallman are a great team on the video production of the Freight.  They did a very good job and were clearly prepared to call a game with a number of rules different from the outdoor game.  There were some technical glitches, such as not having access to the audio from the public address system to properly cover the pregame festivities and clearly hear the referee when his PA mic was turned on.  There were some glitches with the graphics, such as not showing the play clock, but those are small things.  Overall, the video production was good,

–Finally, I look forward to seeing my first Freight home game April 19th and hope I do not miss another home game.  The next game for the Freight takes them to Massachusetts,  taking on a team that made the championship contest last season (they lost to the Arizona Rattlers in that title game).  April 19th is the next home game for the Fishers Freight, taking on Bay Area, a team from Silicon Valley.  Our head coach Dixie Wooten was the offensive coordinator for the Bay Area for the past two seasons prior to taking the Freight job.

The Fishers Freight are out to a good start.  I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us.

With Hamilton Southeastern Schools on spring break this week, you will notice some changes in and around Fishers.  Restaurants will not be as crowded.  There will be less traffic on the streets and no school buses on local roads.  Special speed limits around school buildings will not be in place.

All in all, it will be a quiet week in our city.

It should be noted not everyone has left town this week, but many families have chosen this time to take a family trip out of town.  Others have chosen a ‘stay-cation” or send their young ones to camps and other local activities.

So, enjoy spring break.  Classes start again Monday of next week and just over 6 weeks of classes remain for the local school district.

Every few weeks I will get a question from one of my readers – when is Hy-Vee grocery coming to Fishers?  The answer I always get from city officials is, yes, Hy-Vee is coming and we do not know when.

Since the announcement was made that Hy-Vee planned to build new grocery stores in Fishers and Zionsville about three years ago, no ground has been broken on either store.  Reporter Daniel Bradley of the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) did a deep dive into the Hy-Vee story in a piece posted April 4.

Reporter Bradley got the same answer I always received on the Fishers store.  Zionsville Mayor John Stehr indicated Hy-Vee is holding off the store in his city due to high construction costs and concerns about the impact tariffs will have on what money it will take to build a new grocery.

I had always been told Hy-Vee needed some infrastructure improvements for the Fishers store.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told reporter Bradley he had not had any Hy-Vee update recently but indicated the grocery chain wants a roundabout constructed west of their site at 134th Street and Olio Road.  There are no current plans to build a roundabout at that location.

Daniel Bradley goes into much more detail in his reporting.  You can find the IBJ story at this link.  (Note:  If you are not an IBJ subscriber, you may not be able to access this story)

In front of a sellout crowd of 6,601 fans at the Fishers Event Center, the Indy Fuel pulled off a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory over the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night.

After falling behind 2-0 early in the second period, the Fuel clawed their way back with goals from Colin Bilek—who scored twice—Ty Farmer, and ultimately Cam Hausinger, who netted the game-winner on a power play tip-in during the extra frame.

The back-and-forth battle saw tempers flare in the third, including a fight just seconds after Fort Wayne reclaimed the lead at 3-2. Bilek responded with a clutch power play goal to tie things up and force overtime.

Goaltender Ben Gaudreau stood tall for the Fuel, and Indy outshot Fort Wayne 28-21 overall.

The win is a crucial one for Indy as the playoff race heats up, and it added another fiery chapter to the always-intense in-state rivalry.

Road work in and around Fishers is ramping up as we head into the month of April.  Plenty of items are on the weekly listing,

Here is the official update for the work week starting Monday, April 7, as provided by the City of Fishers:

Continue reading Fishers area road construction update for the week of April 7 →