Dawn Lang, President of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board, read a statement at the start of the Wednesday night meeting, saying out of 10 applicants for the job of superintendent, 5 will be interviewed in 2 rounds during January, with an offer expected to be extended by the end of January.  Once a contract agreement is reached by mid-February, that pact will be posted on the HSE School District Web site 10 days prior to a public hearing on that contract.

The new superintendent will report based on negotiations between the parties, but no later than July 1, 2024.

At the October 11th board session, Lang said there would be a “community forum” on the superintendent search.  That was done in the form of a focus group held November 28th.

There were 30 members of that focus group, appointed by the following parties in the following numbers:  HSE School Board members appointed 3 focus group members each…Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness appointed 2…Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen appointed 2…The President of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association appointed 3…and there were 2 members of HSE Schools Administration.

Lang emphasized no board members were present for the focus group after she provided introductory remarks, then left the room.  There were breakout groups of 5 each that reported back to the entire group on their discussions about content standards at the state level and which skills should be prioritized for a new superintendent.

The board has been briefed on the results of the focus group session in an executive session.  According to Lang, the results of the focus group, along with the names of the participants, will be publicly released after the superintendent interview process is complete.  “This is to preserve the integrity of the search process,” said Lang.

The consultant hired  by the school board, Administrative Assistance, facilitated the focus group session.

The Century Club is a group of men, meeting quarterly, and voting to support one local area charity.  Each member commits to contributing al least $100 to the chosen charity.

3 organizations were pitched to the Century members December 12th…..YMI, Hollis Adams and Recovery Cafe.  The members voted and YMI was the winner.

For more information on the Century Club, use this link.

You can listen to the podcast I recorded with club founder Adam Kallick and member John DeLucia at this link.

The Indiana State Democratic Party has decided to dip into Hamilton County and take the county chair, Dayna Colbert, to be the state-wide party’s new Executive Director.

Ms. Colbert became the Hamilton County Chair in 2021.  During her reign, the number of elected Democrats in Hamilton County has remained small, but the party’s candidates have become more competitive.  State-wide candidate Destiny Wells carried  Carmel and Fishers in her recent race for Indiana Secretary of State.

“After years of building up the party as chair in Hamilton County, I am excited and eager to join the IDP statewide team as the next executive director in the new year,” Dayna Colbert said in a party news release. “Over the last few years in Hamilton County, we have made considerable inroads that can give us a blueprint for more statewide success. In 2024 and beyond, we will continue to be the party working to bring back balance to our state, improve, protect, and restore healthcare options and personal freedoms, fund our local schools, and expand economic opportunities for all.”

Colbert is an alumna of Hoosier Women Forward, a political and civic leadership program designed to encourage Democratic women to be more involved politically in their communities and state.

The Fishers Advisory Committee on Disability welcomed the Indy Fuel hockey team’s mascot Nitro as the panel’s regular meeting was starting December 12th.  The Fuel will partner with the committee for a March 22nd Fuel game as part of Disability Awareness Month.  But the Committee is partnering with the city and other outside groups as well.

Committee member Stacey Oldham talked with me about those community partnerships in the video below.

Jake Reardon McSoley, Director of Recreation and Wellness for the City of Fishers, calls this an “exciting day.”  The Board of Public Works & Safety voted Tuesday morning to enter into a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the Hagerman Group for construction of the new $61 million community center, to be located at 121st and Hoosier Road.  The facility is scheduled to open in October of 2025.

A BOT arrangement is a form of public-private partnership for construction of the center.

McSoley told the board members that with approval of this agreement, work could begin immediately on constructing the community center.  It is expected a ceremony will be scheduled soon to mark the start of construction.

For more on the community center, use this link.

Fishers Fire & Emergency Services has replaced self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), declaring the remaining SCBA equipment surplus, transferring 12 SCBA and 24 cylinders to the Fishers Police Department for use in non-fire hazardous environments during SWAT operations.

There is more SCBA equipment remaining, so the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety voted Tuesday morning to donate the equipment to Ukraine.  This apparatus has been replaced with updated equipment for the city’s Fire & Emergency services.

The SCBA donation will be made to U.S. Ambulances For The Ukraine, which is managed through The Ukrainian Society of Indianapolis, in conjunction with the Ukrainian Society in Chicago.

The changes continue on the Hamilton East Library Board.  According to a story posted on the IndyStar Web site Monday afternoon, Kim Logan has been appointed to the board by the Hamilton County Council.  Logan replaces Tiffanie Ditlevson who resigned from the board recently as she prepares to take a seat on the Fishers City Council.

Logan currently serves on the Fishers Plan Commission and the Delaware Township Board.

The Hamilton East Library has jurisdiction over the libraries in Fishers and Noblesville.

Cooper & Cow recently announced an opening for its high-end Steakhouse in downtown Fishers, at 116th Street & Municipal Drive (the old LouVino location).  The establishment is now open as of Monday, December 11.

Here are the hours of operation:

Monday – Thursday: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday & Saturday: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday: 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

You can make reservations at Opentable.com.

I will soon be reviewing the year-end stories for this local news blog and my local podcasts soon.  That is something I do each year.  But there is something else to contemplate as 2023 comes to an end.

This year will mark the completion of my 12th year writing this local Fishers, Indiana news blog, and the 8th year of producing local podcasts.  My thoughts went back to 2012.

After retiring from federal government service in September, 2011, I spent the last 3 months of that year dealing with personal family issues.  As 2012 dawned and retirement in place, what do I do next?  There was that job advising people about their taxes (I spent nearly 20 years as a government tax law specialist) then 5 years in a teaching gig with Indiana University.

But even with all that, there was plenty of time on my hands.  What do I do with all that time?  After all, although I love film, there is only so much film to watch and only so many books to read.

Before entering the federal civil service in 1983, I had spent 14 years in the radio broadcasting business, the last several years as a news reporter & anchor.  Journalism is hard work, but I loved every minute of my time in radio news.

Since I had done news reporting, a survey of the local news landscape revealed local news was hard to find, even in 2012, for my home since 1991, Fishers, Indiana.  I was no technical wiz, but putting a simple blog together and writing local news appeared to be an option, so why not try?  I did.

Looking back on 12 years of writing this blog, several things continue to amaze me.

My goals in 2012 were simple.  Write a news blog by attending Fishers Town Council meetings and Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meetings.  I would also link to other local media outlets when they would write about Fishers (there were no paywalls then).

Perhaps a few hundred government geeks like myself would likely read this blog, I thought.  I would just sit with the public in these meetings, write about what I heard and saw, and that would be it.

That all changed a few months into 2012 when a member of the Fishers Town Council, John Weingardt, walked up to me before a council meeting and asked, “Are you Larry?”

Yes, I responded, expecting to hear a complaint about something I had written,  No, John just told me he had been reading my blog, along with others around town, and he wanted to meet and talk with me.

That’s the moment I realized something was happening here.  I had done virtually no promotion of the blog, but word was getting around.  There is some local guy writing about Fishers.

My blog count of unique visitors was a few hundred in 2012 as this all began.  In 2023, my unique visitor count will exceed 91,000.  For a locally focused news blog in a city of just over 100,000, that is an amazing number.

All I have ever tried to do was write about what is happening in my home of 32 years.  It is clear there is a demand for local news coverage and I have done my best to fill that hole in local news.

In 2016, I discovered that podcasting was making a comeback with cell phone technology.  I used my radio broadcasting background, learned more about the technical side of podcasting, and began the LarryInFishers podcasts in 2016.  I have had well over 100,000 occasions where someone has listened to one of the local podcasts I produced.

While looking back on 2023 and reviewing the entire year, I cannot ignore the fact that you, the readers of my blog and listeners to my podcasts, have made this all worthwhile.  I have been paid a small amount for some of this work, but this news blog and podcast serve as mostly a volunteer endeavor.

The only reason this continues is you.  The messages I receive, the comments you make and the support you have provided gives me the urge to continue.  I tried to quit this blog twice, but it was all of you, collectively, that convinced me to carry on.

I am not as young as I used to be, so there has been some slowdown in my work.  But as long as I have my health, my goal is to continue my news blog and podcasts.

A large thank-you to my wife Jane for supporting me in this work.  I would not be able to do all this without her support.

My most important “thank you” goes out to all of you, the readers of this blog and listeners to my podcasts.  You have made this work worthwhile.

May God bless each and every one of you as I look back on 2023 and buckle-up for 2024.

The major reconstruction of the 146th Street & Allisonville Road intersection continues by the Hamilton County Highway Department.  Above, you will find the latest map of how traffic is routed as of December 8.

Below you will find the latest information.  The restriction eliminating left turns from 146th to Allisonville remains.  HAMCO Highway officials say the next change in the traffic pattern will happen next month, with specifics coming later.  Continue to be on the lookout for lane restrictions in the area.  See the update below for more details.