The Geist Race Series returns to Geist Reservoir on Saturday for its 18th year, and for the first time since 2008 the half marathon is sold out, the City of Fishers announced.
Spots remain in the 10K, 5K and a new 1-mile race. Runners can register online at GeistHalf.com until 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, or in person until 8 p.m. Friday at packet pickup at Grace Church-Fishers, 12450 Olio Road.
The 1-mile run/walk is new this year and is aimed at families. All four races are open to walkers and to participants pushing jogging strollers, according to the city.
Gates open at 6 a.m. Saturday. Opening ceremonies begin at 7:20 a.m., with the half marathon, 10K and 5K starting at 7:30 a.m. The 1-mile race steps off at 9 a.m., and the event wraps up at 11:30 a.m.
The start and finish line sits at the north end of the Olio Road bridge over Geist Reservoir. The post-race party will take over Olio Road between 116th Street and 113th Street, and drivers should expect road closures in the area Saturday morning. The city has posted a closure map on its website.
Every participant receives a race shirt, a finisher medal and a ticket for one complimentary drink — alcoholic or non-alcoholic — at the post-race party. Vendors this year include MashCraft Brewing, Athletic Brewing, Java House, Pure Green, Eiffel Waffle Creamery and Ghost Mobile Kitchen.
The half marathon course, which loops runners across the reservoir, has long been the series’ signature event. A sellout after 17 years is a notable marker for a race that has weathered a crowded central Indiana running calendar.
Democratic congressional candidate J.D. Ford is calling on U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz to pursue federal data center regulations after the Republican incumbent requested an independent review of major Indiana projects and their potential effects on utility customers and water supplies.
The exchange centers on who should pay for the electricity, water and infrastructure needed to support large developments — and whether federal review or new legislation will provide the protections both candidates say Indiana residents need.
In a September 9 announcement, Spartz said she sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum requesting a review of the LEAP Research and Innovation District and other major data center projects across Indiana. She wants an accounting of energy and water needs, infrastructure costs and enforceable protections against passing those costs to consumers and taxpayers.
Spartz said she supports advanced manufacturing and strategic industries coming to Indiana, but existing residents and businesses should not subsidize extraordinary private projects. She also said she has raised concerns about data center demands and LEAP’s water needs for two years.
“Hoosiers deserve substantiated answers before these commitments are made,” Spartz said. Her requested review would include projects involving Google, Amazon, Meta and other developers.
Ford, a state senator challenging Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, criticized the timing of her request and urged her to introduce federal legislation modeled on his Indiana proposals.
“Congresswoman Spartz is not serious about this issue, because if she were, she would introduce the same legislation that I did in the Indiana Senate in Congress: putting communities in control of whether and when data centers are built, and ensuring no costs are passed on to ratepayers,” Ford said in a campaign release.
Ford introduced Senate Bill 135 in 2025 and Senate Bill 79 for the 2026 session. The proposals called for disclosure of projected power and water use and local site assessments before construction permits could be issued. They also proposed quarterly electricity-use reporting to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Neither advanced beyond the Senate Utilities Committee, according to their legislative histories.
Ford also pointed to Spartz’s vote for an earlier version of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, arguing that its restrictions on state and local artificial intelligence regulation would have undermined communities’ ability to regulate AI data centers.
The House clerk’s record confirms Spartz voted for the bill on May 22, 2025. That version included a proposed 10-year moratorium on enforcement of certain state and local laws regulating artificial intelligence models, systems and automated decision systems, with exceptions.
However, the moratorium did not become law. The Senate voted 99-1 on July 1, 2025, to remove it from the legislation. Ford’s criticism concerns a provision Spartz supported in the House version, rather than a restriction enacted in the final law.
Spartz’s announcement requests federal scrutiny; it does not announce a completed review or new regulatory requirements. Ford is seeking legislation requiring additional disclosure and oversight before projects proceed.
The Indy Fuel have added four players over the past two weeks, including two forwards returning to the club, the team announced.
Forwards Cody Laskosky and Jadon Joseph are back for another season. The Fuel also signed newcomers Mike Brown and Austin D’Orazio.
Laskosky, 27, is the most established of the group. He came to Indy in November 2025, when Tahoe traded him for future considerations — a placeholder in trade agreements that can later be settled with a player, a draft pick or nothing at all. He had six points in 11 games before the deal.
He produced immediately in Indy. Laskosky scored 12 goals and added 21 assists in 50 games last season, and carried a plus-7 rating, the second-best mark among Fuel forwards. The rating tracks goals scored and allowed while a player is on the ice. He added four points in five playoff games.
The 5-foot-11 right-shooting forward spent the 2024-25 season at the University of Wisconsin, where he had 11 points in 27 games while pursuing a master’s degree in exercise psychology as a graduate student.
Before Wisconsin, Laskosky played four years at Rochester Institute of Technology. He won a conference tournament championship and a regular-season title there and was named his league’s best defensive forward.
A native of Camrose, Alberta, he played five seasons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League before beginning his college career.
The Fuel, Indy’s ECHL club, play their home games at the Fishers Event Center.
Deer Creek delegation, headed by Principal Danielle Chastain
Deer Creek Elementary has received a literacy award that includes $1,500 to expand reading choices for third- and fourth-grade students, according to Hamilton Southeastern Schools.
The 25th Anniversary Celebrate Your School Award comes from the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning, known as CELL, at the University of Indianapolis. The award program recognizes school communities as part of CELL’s anniversary celebration.
Deer Creek will use the money to expand choice-reading libraries in its third- and fourth-grade neighborhoods. Planned additions include high-interest fiction and nonfiction, culturally diverse literature, books accessible to struggling and multilingual readers, and popular authors and series intended to encourage continued reading.
According to HSE, the recognition highlights Deer Creek’s efforts to build a culture of literacy and help students become confident, independent readers. Those efforts include targeted support for students, along with at-home activities and school events that help families reinforce learning.
Deer Creek and all HSE elementary schools have worked with CELL for the past several years through the Indiana Department of Education’s Literacy Cadre program, the district said.
HSE said Deer Creek also will be featured on CELL’s social media channels and in its newsletter during September.
Hamilton Southeastern Schools will use “Children Experiencing Homelessness” in its policy addressing students without stable housing, following a unanimous school board vote Wednesday night.
The decision concluded several weeks of debate and two reviews by the board’s Policy Committee. Before approving the change 7-0, the board rejected a motion by member Ben Orr to retain “Homeless Children.” That motion failed 5-2, with Orr and Tiffany Pascoe voting in favor.
Orr read a lengthy statement opposing the change. He argued that some young people become homeless because of their own actions and cited laws that use the term “Homeless Children.”
The discussion followed an earlier disagreement over whether the wording should change throughout the policy. At a previous meeting, board member Sarah Parks Reese questioned why the proposed revision changed the title but retained older terminology in the body. The board returned the proposal to the committee for further review.
Both forms of language appear in official education materials. The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act uses “homeless children and youths,” while Indiana Department of Education guidance also uses phrases such as “children experiencing homelessness.” The latter is person-first wording, placing the child before the housing circumstance.
The federal definition extends beyond children living on the streets or in shelters. It includes students who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, including those sharing housing because of eviction, economic hardship or similar circumstances, and those staying in motels because adequate alternatives are unavailable. Eligibility is assessed individually based on living arrangements.
Whatever terminology a district uses, its obligations under federal law remain. McKinney-Vento provides enrollment protections, the right to remain in a school of origin when that is in the student’s best interest, and transportation to that school upon the required request. Every district must also designate a liaison to help eligible students access services.
Hamilton Southeastern Schools will reorganize its administrative leadership under changes approved by the school board Wednesday night, with Superintendent Matt Kegley projecting $15,000 in annual savings despite a pay increase for one administrator.
Chief Financial Officer Tim Brown will become assistant superintendent for finance, with an increase in his annual salary to $164,471. Ryan Taylor will move from assistant superintendent of human resources to chief operations officer, with no change in pay.
The board also hired Tammy Harwood as executive director of human resources. She plans to begin September 21. Under the new organizational chart, both Harwood and Taylor will report to Brown.
The restructuring follows Assistant Superintendent for Operations Bryan Rausch’s departure from the district. In a podcast interview with me after Rausch left, Kegley said he expected to make changes in administrative staffing. Wednesday’s approvals put those plans into place.
Board member Latrica Schooley sought to postpone Brown’s promotion, questioning the timing of an administrator’s pay increase with a school funding referendum on the November ballot.
Kegley responded that the administrative changes following Rausch’s departure would collectively save the district $15,000 over a year. Schooley’s motion died for lack of a second.
The discussion comes as HSE prepares to ask voters on November 3 to replace the operating referendum approved in 2023. The district says changes to Indiana’s property tax system are reducing anticipated revenue. Referendum funding primarily supports teacher salaries and benefits, along with school safety and security. HSE’s referendum information outlines the proposal.
Harwood joins HSE from Indiana University Bloomington’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, where she serves as human resources director. Her responsibilities include employee relations, compensation planning, recruitment and performance management, according to her IU staff profile.
Her new position also marks a return to a community where her children attended school.
“It’s great to be home back here in Fishers, as my children did attend Brooks School a few years ago, now they are in college,” Harwood told the board. She thanked board members for their “vote of confidence.”
Hamilton Southeastern High School students will help community members with fall projects Sunday, Sept. 20, while raising money for a scholarship honoring former HSE student Carrie Colglazier.
The annual Carrie Colglazier Scholarship Community Service Workday offers an eight-hour workday for a minimum donation of $25 per student worker, according to HSE Schools. Community members must sign up by Sept. 14.
Students can help with mulching, washing windows, painting, yard work, planting flowers, trimming bushes, raking leaves, cleaning gutters, cleaning garages and other fall projects.
All proceeds benefit the Carrie Colglazier Scholarship Fund, which provides a $16,000 scholarship distributed over four years to an HSE senior who has participated in girls soccer, girls track, FFA or National Honor Society.
Colglazier competed in soccer and track at HSE and was involved in FFA, 4-H and National Honor Society. The annual workday honors her involvement in school and community activities while helping another HSE student pursue further education.
Tickets are still available to watch Friday’s Mudsock football game as a VIP while supporting students in Hamilton Southeastern Schools, according to the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation.
Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers high schools will renew their annual rivalry Friday, September 11, at Reynolds Royals Stadium at HSE. The game is expected to draw a large crowd as the Royals and Tigers compete for local bragging rights.
For those not schooled in Fishers history, “Mudsock” is a nickname rooted in the community’s muddy early days. A history account shared by Fishers High School describes residents sinking into mud around their ankles and horses with mud caked around their feet like brown socks.
The foundation’s Mudsock VIP event, presented by Braden Business Systems, gives fans a way to enjoy the rivalry while helping fund classroom innovation grants across every grade level and student scholarships.
The foundation says VIP seats are going fast. All attendees at the VIP event must be at least 18 years old.
The Hamilton County Health Department is seeking seven additional staff positions, saying population growth has pushed demand for services back to — and in some cases beyond — levels before Fishers established its own health department in 2020.
In a Sept. 8 news release, the county department said increased workloads have strained staffing and filled its primary building to capacity.
“Many people assumed we would become a smaller organization,” said Jason LeMaster, the department’s administrator. “What we’ve experienced instead is tremendous growth that has stretched our staff, our building, and our resources.”
The department cited countywide population growth of nearly 9% since 2020, from approximately 349,000 residents to nearly 380,000. It also cited projections that the county will exceed 500,000 residents by 2050.
Demand has increased across environmental inspections, water quality programs, mosquito surveillance, vital records and community health services, according to the department.
Its Food Safety Program is handling its highest workload on record, the department said, as more restaurants, temporary food vendors and community events generate additional inspections and compliance responsibilities.
Space is another challenge. The department said seasonal employees, interns, public education programs and expanding services routinely exceed available workspace. Its Vector Control Program continues to operate from temporary facilities.
The seven positions were requested for the upcoming budget cycle. The release did not specify their cost or whether they have been approved.
The department is also pursuing state and federal grants to help cover rising costs for supplies, equipment and services. LeMaster said the department is prioritizing staffing requests while considering financial pressures on taxpayers and local government.
Fishers-based Spokenote has named Steve Johns, former CEO of Carmel-based fundraising technology company OneCause, as executive adviser to its board of directors.
Johns will work with founder John Wechsler and the board to strengthen operations and guide long-term growth, according to a company announcement.
Spokenote’s platform allows nonprofits, colleges, associations and consumer brands to create and distribute personalized video messages. Organizations use the technology for donor communications, fundraising, student recruitment, membership engagement and customer outreach.
“We’re now entering a new chapter focused on scale,” Wechsler said in the announcement. “Bringing Steve into the organization shows our commitment to building a leadership team capable of realizing the significant opportunity ahead of us.”
Johns led OneCause before its acquisition by Bonterra in 2025, according to the release. He also serves as board chairman of Indianapolis-based Boardable, which provides nonprofit board management software, and wrote the book “Fearless: Leadership Lessons at the Crossroads.”
“I see a tremendous opportunity to expand that success and help more organizations take advantage of the next generation of personalized communication,” Johns said.
Spokenote said its technology has powered engagement campaigns for organizations including the Indiana Pacers, Anheuser-Busch and Berkshire Hathaway.
As part of the company’s growth strategy, Wechsler will devote more attention to strategic partnerships, market expansion, enterprise customer relationships and long-term innovation while working alongside Johns on execution.
