New program will connect emerging professionals with business executives and community leaders while helping local employers develop and retain talent.

OneZone Chamber of Commerce has launched NextGen, a new leadership initiative designed to help emerging professionals build relationships, strengthen their skills and become more involved in Hamilton County’s business community.

Operating under the tagline “Creating Tomorrow’s Leaders,” OneZone NextGen will combine professional development with networking and hands-on leadership experiences. The chamber said participants will have opportunities to meet CEOs and community leaders, develop practical skills and expand their professional networks.

“NextGen is about investing in the people who will shape what our communities and workplaces look like in the years ahead,” OneZone President and CEO Jack Russell said. “We want to create a place where people can build genuine connections, learn from established leaders and have opportunities to step up and make an impact.”

The initiative also is intended to help Hamilton County employers attract, engage and retain workers with leadership potential. OneZone said connecting those employees with local businesses and civic leaders could strengthen the county’s long-term talent pipeline.

That issue is becoming increasingly important as Hamilton County continues to grow. The county’s population reached an estimated 387,036 in 2025, an increase of 11.4% from its 2020 estimate base, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hamilton County added more residents than any other Indiana county during 2025, according to an Indiana Business Research Center analysis.

Rapid population and business growth can create demand for employees who are prepared to move into management, nonprofit and civic leadership roles. It also increases competition among employers seeking to keep talented workers in the community.

“Talent development isn’t just an individual issue — it’s a business and economic development issue,” Russell said. “When people feel connected to their community, see opportunities to grow and have a pathway to leadership, they are more likely to build their careers and their lives here.”

OneZone has not yet announced program dates, participation requirements or costs. The chamber said more information about NextGen events and participation opportunities will be released in the coming months.

OneZone Chamber of Commerce serves businesses in Carmel, Fishers and northern Hamilton County through advocacy, professional connections, leadership development and other business resources.

Sahm’s Hospitality Group plans to bring a new taco and cocktail concept called Mamacita to 11501 Allisonville Road in Fishers, according to original reporting by IndyStar dining reporter Bradley Hohulin.

Eddie Sahm, the company’s vice president of business development, told Hohulin that Mamacita has an ambitious target of opening in November.

The restaurant will take over the former Rockstone Pizza and Big Lug Taproom space. The Sahm’s concepts operated at the location from 2013 until 2025. The retail development also houses the original Sahm’s Restaurant, which has served the Fishers community since 1986.

Mamacita represents a new direction for the family-owned hospitality company, which has introduced more than a dozen restaurant concepts during its approximately 40 years in business.

Sahm told IndyStar that trips to Mexico City helped inspire the new restaurant. He was particularly drawn to the city’s relaxed, welcoming bars, including establishments where clawfoot tubs were used to hold iced beer and wine.

Another influence is Turner’s, a downtown Indianapolis bar in the Stutz building that Sahm’s manages. Turner’s has developed a close relationship with neighboring Julieta Taco Shop, effectively creating the kind of tacos-and-cocktails experience Sahm hopes to offer at Mamacita.

“The food and the energy, it just feels so right,” Sahm told IndyStar. He described the concept as a come-as-you-are bar pairing carefully prepared food with high-quality cocktails.

Mamacita’s menu will focus primarily on the cuisines of Mexico and Central America, with the possibility of seasonal dishes inspired by Brazil and Peru.

Plans also call for the restaurant to source Indiana-grown corn through Lebanon-based Sugar Creek Malt. The corn will be nixtamalized—an ancient preparation process that improves its flavor and texture—and pressed into fresh tortillas at the restaurant.

Sahm said the goal is to combine Indiana ingredients with Latin American approaches to cooking.

Longtime Sahm’s beverage director Steve Simon will oversee Mamacita’s drink program. The selection will reach beyond tequila and mezcal to include cocktails shaped by Simon’s experience and individual style.

Simon previously worked at Vanguard, a now-closed Broad Ripple restaurant, and helped open Half Liter BBQ in Indianapolis’ SoBro neighborhood in 2019.

Rather than relying only on traditional cocktail recipes, Sahm said the team wants to create drinks that seem familiar while offering unexpected or exotic flavors.

Mamacita is expected to become the 12th restaurant currently operated by Sahm’s Hospitality Group. The company is also developing a 13th concept, Handsome Johnny, for a yet-to-be-announced Indianapolis location.

This article was written from and credits original reporting by IndyStar dining reporter Bradley Hohulin. Read this story at this link (you will likely need an online IndyStar subscription to access this story) 

With the midterm election less than three months out, the Hamilton County Elections Office is asking residents to consider spending a day behind the check-in table instead of in line at it.

The office marked National Poll Worker Recruitment Day on Tuesday, an annual push organized by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to fill the ranks of the temporary workers who make in-person voting possible.

“This National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, we encourage residents to sign up to be a poll worker,” said Beth Sheller, Hamilton County elections administrator. “Becoming a poll worker not only provides a behind-the-scenes look at how elections are conducted, but also offers an opportunity to serve alongside friends, neighbors, and coworkers.”

It takes a small workforce to run an election in a county this size. Hamilton County deployed 730 election workers across its voting locations during the 2026 primary, and the general election typically draws heavier turnout than the spring contest.

Poll workers set up polling locations, greet voters, verify registrations and issue ballots on the county’s voting equipment. Teams are bipartisan by design, with Republicans and Democrats working side by side at each site — a structure Indiana law builds in as a check on the process.

To serve, a person generally must be a registered voter in the county, at least 18 years old, and able to read, write and speak English. Candidates on the ballot in that precinct are not eligible. Students who are 16 or 17 can take part through the state’s Election Day Live program.

The county also added a new position for 2026. The Hamilton County Election Board voted earlier this year to place a sheriff — a poll worker role, not a law enforcement officer — at every polling location.

The jobs are paid. Election Day clerks receive $130 for the day, plus $15 for completing the county’s online training and a $20 food allowance for workers who bring their own meals. Early voting and absentee workers are paid hourly. Prospective workers should confirm current rates for the position they want when they apply.

Residents can apply through the county’s Election Worker Portal, a system Hamilton County rolled out to handle applications, scheduling and communication in one place. The portal is available through the Elections Office page at hamiltoncounty.in.gov.

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Early voting is scheduled to begin Oct. 6, with 12 early voting sites planned across the county.

Election officials across Indiana have leaned harder on recruitment in recent cycles as longtime poll workers age out of the role. Counties that come up short have to consolidate sites or stretch crews thin — both of which show up as longer lines on Election Day.

Fishers Blues Fest will return to the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater for two nights of free live music over Labor Day weekend.

The all-ages festival is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6, at the amphitheater, 6 Municipal Drive. Gates will open at 4 p.m., with performances beginning at 5 p.m. each day.

Now in its 14th year, the festival will feature eight local, regional and national acts performing blues, soul, funk and rock.

“What makes Blues Fest special is the range of artists audiences can discover in one weekend, from internationally recognized musicians to emerging talent,” Fishers Parks Director Marissa Deckert said in a news release. “Keeping the festival free gives everyone the opportunity to experience great live music right here in downtown Fishers.”

Indianapolis-based Mojo Gumbo Band will open Saturday’s schedule at 5 p.m., followed by the JR Clark Band at 6 p.m. Blues Award winner Dylan Triplett will perform at 7:15 p.m.

Saturday headliner Judith Hill will take the stage from 8:30 to 10 p.m. The vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has worked with Prince, Michael Jackson and Elton John. Her solo music blends blues, soul, funk and rock.

The Blues Brothers Triumphant Tribute will begin Sunday’s performances at 5 p.m. King Bee + The Stingers will follow at 6 p.m., bringing a mix of original music, funk, soul and interpretations of blues standards.

Houston musician Mathias Lattin, who won the 2023 International Blues Challenge and its Best Guitarist award, will perform at 7:15 p.m.

Grammy-nominated musician Jontavious Willis will close the festival from 8:30 to 10 p.m. His music draws from his Georgia heritage and Delta, Piedmont, Texas and gospel blues traditions.

No tickets are required, and lawn seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests may bring chairs, blankets, outside food and nonalcoholic drinks. Food, beverages and alcohol will also be sold on-site. Outside alcohol is prohibited.

Free parking will be available in garages and along streets throughout the Nickel Plate District. Accessible parking will be offered at the south City Services Building lot, 3 Municipal Drive.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools will officially open the rebuilt Fishers Elementary School with a ribbon cutting and community open house at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the school, 11442 Lantern Road.

Tours of the building will be offered following a brief ceremony. The district says current and former FES families, alumni, neighbors and community members are all welcome.

The event closes a chapter that began more than five years ago, when the future of Fishers Elementary was one of the tougher questions on the school board’s plate. The school sits on roughly 8.5 acres just south of downtown Fishers — every other HSE elementary school has about 20 acres — and by 2021 the district was looking at an estimated $12 million in deferred maintenance at the building. Then-Superintendent Yvonne Stokes put the choice to the board plainly at an October 2021 work session: was it worth putting that kind of money into a landlocked building, and if not, where would a replacement go?

The board ultimately chose to stay put and build out. In March 2024, trustees unanimously approved a maximum price of $45 million for a renovation and addition designed to house about 700 students. Wurster Construction was hired as construction manager.

Getting to that number took some trimming. A first round of contractor bids came in roughly $10 million over projections, and the district adjusted the plans — keeping synthetic turf under the playground equipment but using natural grass for the larger open area around it, thinning the asphalt in the staff and visitor parking lot while keeping the heavier surface for buses, and shifting furniture costs to a later funding source.

Fishers Elementary last saw a major renovation in 1988, with a refresh in 2003. The work wrapped up on schedule — students are already in the building, having started the 2026-27 school year there this month. The Aug. 20 event is the community’s first look inside.

Thursday’s open house is free and no registration is required.

Three Fishers-area elementary schools hit 100%

Hamilton Southeastern Schools’ third graders posted a 97.3% pass rate on the 2026 IREAD assessment, the district’s best showing in six years and a mark no other large district in Indiana matched.

Of 1,426 HSE third graders who took the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination test, 1,387 demonstrated proficient reading skills. The result is up 1.3 percentage points from 96% in 2025 and more than three points from 2024. Among districts testing more than 600 students statewide, none scored higher.

Three schools — Hoosier Road Elementary, Geist Elementary and Southeastern Elementary — recorded perfect 100% pass rates. Eleven of the district’s 13 elementary schools met or exceeded Indiana’s 95% literacy goal, and every HSE elementary came in at 90% or better.

“Improving on an already strong result is not easy, and our teachers and school leaders deserve tremendous credit,” Superintendent Dr. Matt Kegley said. “They know their students and pay close attention to what each child needs. That means using the data, adjusting instruction and continuing to find ways to help students grow. Our students put in the work, families reinforced it at home, and together they made this possible. They should be incredibly proud.”

Well ahead of the state

The district’s number sits nearly nine percentage points above the statewide figure. The Indiana Department of Education reported this week that 88.7% of Hoosier third graders passed IREAD in 2026 — an improvement of about 1.5 percentage points over last year, the second-largest single-year gain since the test began, and the fifth consecutive year of statewide growth. Indiana’s literacy rates have now moved past pre-pandemic levels.

The stakes attached to those numbers have risen sharply. Under a literacy law passed by the General Assembly in 2024 and first enforced last school year, third graders who cannot pass IREAD after multiple attempts must repeat the grade. About 3,040 students statewide — roughly 3.6% of test takers — were retained in third grade following the 2025 administration, more than seven times the 412 held back two years earlier. A follow-up measure signed in 2025 guarantees students at least two chances to retake the exam over the summer before retention applies, and lawmakers have since moved to exempt some English learners.

Good-cause exemptions remain narrow: they largely apply to students in special education, English learners with fewer than two years of Indiana literacy services, students who have already been retained, and those who passed the ILEARN math assessment.

Second graders gaining too

HSE also tested its second graders, who can take IREAD a year early under the state’s optional administration. Their pass rate rose from 81% in 2025 to 83% in 2026. Eight of the district’s 13 elementary schools improved over their 2025 second-grade results.

Passing early takes pressure off both students and schools — a second grader who clears the bar has effectively banked the requirement before the retention clock starts.

District officials credited evidence-based reading instruction, regular progress monitoring and targeted intervention for students who fall behind.

“Reading touches every subject and every part of a student’s school experience,” Kegley said. “We are proud of this progress, but we are not finished. We will keep working with students who need more time and support.”

HSE serves roughly 20,000 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade across Fishers and parts of Noblesville. The district said it will release its 2026 ILEARN results separately once the state publishes them next month.

Hamilton County appears more likely than not to adopt vote centers for the 2027 municipal elections — and one of the reasons is that local school districts, which spent years asking to be left off the polling place list over security concerns, are signaling they are willing to come back.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools spokesperson Emily Abbotts told me on Aug. 10 the district is prepared to work with the county.

“This isn’t something we have had to navigate in recent years, but we’ll work with county officials to accommodate voting while keeping students and staff safe and minimizing disruptions to the school day,” Abbotts said.

That is a notable shift in tone. In April, Abbotts explained to Current Publishing why HSE had stepped away from hosting elections.

“Displacing P.E. classes from the gyms and having to barricade and man the adjoining areas of the building to keep the community from entering the school became a safety challenge,” she said at the time. “Couple that with the parking lot issues, particularly at arrival and dismissal times — it became too much.”

Westfield Washington Schools gave Current a similar answer in April. Spokesperson Craig Tierney said hosting elections conflicts with district safety rules requiring background checks and visitor check-in, and that “election site hosting brings with it more of an ‘open-door’ policy that does not align with those safety protocols.”

Where the proposal stands

The Hamilton County Election Board will hold a public hearing and vote at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the Commissioners’ Courtroom at the Hamilton County Government and Judicial Center, 1 Hamilton County Square, Noblesville.

The proposal on the table calls for 57 vote centers, replacing the 102 precinct polling places the county will use in this November’s general election. State law would require only 27 based on Hamilton County’s active voter count, so the plan roughly doubles the legal minimum.

Under the current system, a Hamilton County voter can vote early at any location in the county, but on Election Day must cast a ballot at the polling place assigned to the precinct where they live. Vote centers would let any registered county voter use any vote center in the county on Election Day.

If approved, the county would start with the May 2027 municipal primary — a deliberately low-turnout election — rather than waiting for the 2028 presidential cycle.

Nothing has been decided. The proposed list of 57 locations is a draft, and the Election Board has taken no final action.

Why 2027 looks more likely than 2026 did

Indiana law requires a unanimous county election board vote to adopt vote centers. That is what sank the proposal last September, when the three-member board split 2-1. Clerk Kathy Kreag Williams and Democratic appointee Greg Purvis voted yes. Republican appointee Ray Adler voted no.

Adler’s stated reason at the time was caution. “I just think we should let Allen County go through it and see what problems they have,” he said last year. “We’re changing voting for hundreds of thousands of people and I want to make sure it’s not an experiment.”

Adler has since told The Reporter he now intends to support the measure, citing Allen County’s rollout and the county Election Office’s work rebuilding relationships with every local school district. With Williams and Purvis both previously in favor, that would supply the three votes the proposal needs.

Williams, who authored Indiana’s original vote center legislation as a member of the Indiana House, has put the schools at the center of her case for the plan.

“One of the biggest reasons this proposal works is because our local school districts have stepped up as partners once again,” Williams said. “By opening their buildings as vote centers, they’re helping ensure voters across Hamilton County have a convenient place to cast their ballot close to home.”

The list leans heavily on schools

Of the 57 proposed vote centers, roughly three-quarters are school district buildings. Fifteen belong to HSE: 11 elementary schools, Riverside and Sand Creek intermediate schools, the district administrative offices and HSE Fishers Academy.

Two things stand out about that list.

First, HSE has offered no high school and no junior high. The same pattern holds elsewhere in the county. Noblesville Schools appears with two middle schools and six elementaries, no high school. Carmel Clay offers the high school stadium rather than the building. Only Hamilton Heights and Sheridan — the county’s two smallest districts — put high schools forward. Whether that was the compromise that brought districts back to the table is a fair question for the Sept. 29 hearing.

Second, there are no churches on the proposed list at all. That is consistent with what county officials have been saying about their shrinking pool of sites. Hamilton County Elections Administrator Beth Sheller told Current in April that churches were becoming harder to recruit.

“I call churches over and over asking them, and I’m not getting a very good response anymore on adding locations,” Sheller said. “I fear that we are going to lose more and more churches as it goes along.”

Sheller has also said she would like Election Day to become an e-learning day for students, ideally in time for the 2028 election year, which would remove much of the safety objection. Noblesville Schools has said it would discuss the idea if the county made a formal request. No district has announced such a change.

Cost is a secondary argument. The county estimates roughly $17,000 in savings from needing fewer poll workers, and about $20,000 from reduced rental fees, since public buildings are available to the county at no charge under Indiana law.

One caution from Fort Wayne

Adler cited Allen County, which used vote centers for the first time in the May 2026 primary after consolidating 110 polling places into 53 centers. Voters liked the convenience and turnout rose to 14.5 percent from 12.2 percent in 2022.

Counting them was harder. Allen County workers tabulated from the 6 p.m. poll close until after 3 a.m., resumed hours later, and did not release final unofficial results until roughly 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. Elections Director Amy Scrogham called it a “learning process” and said the board would “always place accuracy over speed.” Two races stayed unresolved for weeks: a state senate primary certified by 14 votes, and a county commissioner race that required a recount not finished until Aug. 3.

Hamilton County would be running a larger operation — 57 centers for more than 280,000 registered voters. How the county plans to avoid a repeat is worth asking on Sept. 29.

How to weigh in

Residents can speak at the Sept. 29 hearing, email comments to Clerk Williams at kathy.williams@hamiltoncounty.in.gov, or complete the county’s online survey before Sept. 25.

Fishers Event Center finished the first half of 2026 in the red, and management pointed to a single, unexpected culprit: a broken leg.

Billy Strings’ three sold-out shows, originally booked for April 24-26, were pushed to August after the bluegrass star broke his leg in a backstage skateboarding accident during an encore break at a show in Charlottesville, Virginia. Strings said he “tried to do a trick I’ve done a million times” and landed awkwardly. Moving the Fishers dates lifted three guaranteed sellouts out of the second quarter and dropped them into the third.

That swing accounted for much of the period’s shortfall, Event Center management told the Fishers Town Hall Building Corporation in an update Monday. Event income came in below projections. The venue hosted 65 events in the first six months against a projection of 74, and posted a net loss of just over $334,000.

General Manager Mitch List told the board the gap is largely a matter of timing rather than demand, and that the Strings revenue will show up in the third-quarter numbers.

A crowd that spilled outside

The rescheduled run finally happened Aug. 6-8, and it drew far more people than the 7,500 seats inside could hold. List said Forum Credit Union Plaza, the outdoor space at Fishers District just beyond the arena doors, filled with fans — many of whom had no tickets and simply wanted to be part of the night.

Opening night made national news for the wrong reason. Someone in the crowd threw a lighter that struck Strings in the head during “This Old World.” He was not seriously injured, but he stopped the show and delivered a profanity-laced response to the throw, telling the crowd he had been about to say how happy he was to be there.

List said arena cameras, along with help from fans seated nearby, identified the person who threw the lighter. The individual was escorted out of the building.

Strings turned the incident around the following night, walking onstage in a hockey helmet. He later worked the line “don’t let your lighters fly” into a song before trading the helmet for a ball cap.

A busier second half

Management expects the back half of 2026 to outperform the first, with 16 touring shows on the calendar compared to 10 in the second half of 2025.

The biggest addition isn’t a concert. The inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament comes to Fishers Nov. 20-25, bringing 15 of the conference’s 18 teams to Stockdale Street for a five-round bracket. The winner takes the Big Ten’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.

The Event Center opened Nov. 22, 2024, and is home to the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, pro volleyball’s Indy Ignite and the Fishers Freight indoor football team.

Residents have until Sept. 7 to apply for the free eight-week emergency preparedness course.

Hamilton County Emergency Management is accepting applications for its fall Community Emergency Response Team Basic Course, which teaches residents how to safely assist their communities during emergencies and disasters.

The eight-week Hamilton County CERT training begins Sept. 16 and meets from 7 to 9:30 p.m. each Wednesday through Nov. 4.

Through classroom instruction, hands-on activities and realistic scenarios, participants will learn practical disaster-response skills, including fire safety, light search and rescue, hazard assessment and basic medical operations. The training is intended to help residents provide immediate assistance and support professional first responders when emergency help is not yet available.

Organizers say the program also helps participants improve their personal preparedness while strengthening resilience in neighborhoods, workplaces and community organizations.

The basic course is free and open to the public. Participants must commit to remaining active in the program after completing the course. Graduates become Hamilton County Emergency Management volunteers and can continue developing their skills through monthly meetings, advanced training, drills, exercises, emergency operations and special-event support.

Hamilton County has more than 120 active CERT volunteers, according to the county. Local teams serve communities including Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Sheridan and Westfield.

Applications for the fall course will be accepted through Sept. 7. More information and registration instructions are available on the Hamilton County CERT webpage.

Janet Chandler is beginning a school year unlike any she has experienced in nearly half a century. For the first time in 47 years, she will not be returning to a Hamilton Southeastern classroom.

The recently retired Hamilton Southeastern High School teacher joined me for a LarryInFishers.com podcast conversation about her career, the district’s remarkable growth and the importance of preparing students to become informed citizens.

When Chandler began teaching at HSE in 1979, the high school enrolled about 500 students and much of the surrounding area was rural. Roads such as 116th Street were two lanes, and Chandler recalled driving past cows and horses on her way to school. Finding a nearby gas station was considered a welcome development.

By her final year, HSE High School had grown to nearly 3,500 students, and the district had added a second large high school in Fishers.

Chandler said that growth created more opportunities for students, including additional Advanced Placement and dual-credit courses. What disappeared, she said, was the small-school atmosphere in which nearly everyone knew everyone else.

During her career, Chandler taught French and social studies before moving exclusively to social studies. She also coached HSE’s We the People and Mock Trial teams, helping students research complicated civic questions, defend their conclusions and respond to challenging questions.

“I’m not going to tell you what to think,” Chandler said of her approach to teaching. “I’m not going to tell you what I believe, because that’s not relevant to you. What’s relevant is that I give you the tools so that you can figure out how to do research, how to support your beliefs — or change your beliefs.”

Chandler also served for many years as president of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association, representing the district’s teachers. She first became association president during the 1983–84 school year, when HSE teacher salaries ranked near the bottom among Indiana school districts.

She recalled difficult contract negotiations, including years when teachers returned to school without an agreement and one bargaining session that continued from Friday afternoon into Saturday.

Our conversation also covers changes to Indiana’s collective bargaining laws, teacher compensation and retention, and Chandler’s concern that the teaching profession is no longer valued as highly as it should be.

Her advice to new teachers is to expect the first year to feel overwhelming and to establish a work-life balance, while recognizing that much of the preparation and grading cannot be completed during the regular school day.

Chandler is now considering volunteer opportunities and ways to remain involved in the community. She also plans to spend more time reading while remaining open to whatever comes next.

The LarryInFishers podcast series is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

Listen to my full conversation with Janet Chandler at this link or the link below.