The Fishers Health Department released its 2025 Community Health Assessment Friday, identifying mental health across the lifespan, healthy living and aging well as the three areas where the department will focus its work in the coming years.

The report caps a year of data collection that included local, state and national health statistics, nearly 1,500 community survey responses and input from more than 60 focus group participants.

Residents generally rate their own health well. The assessment found 92.4% of Fishers adults report moderate, good or excellent overall well-being, and 86.5% said they are satisfied with life. But 36.4% reported anxiety and 25.2% reported depression, and mental health was the health concern residents named most often.

“The community’s desires for more focus on mental health, aging well and healthy living came through clearly in both the data and what residents told us,” said Monica Heltz, director and health officer of the Fishers Health Department.

Heltz said the goal is “connecting people to prevention measures before poor health outcomes become a reality.” The department said it will announce a free mental health navigation service in the coming days to help residents find resources and treatment.

The assessment also documents a sharp demographic shift. Adults 65 and older are the fastest-growing age group in Fishers, up 188% between 2010 and 2024. The department links that growth to rising demand for fall prevention, mobility and caregiver support, social connection and services that help older residents stay in their homes. The National Association of County and City Health Officials recently gave the department a Model Practice Award for its fall prevention program.

Under healthy living, the report notes that obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol still affect a significant share of Fishers adults, and that heart disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death.

On access to care, nearly 97% of adult residents have health insurance and about nine in 10 have a regular health care provider. Still, more than 12% said they delayed care in the past year, most often because of cost or trouble getting an appointment.

Mayor Scott Fadness said the city’s decision to form its own health department is what made the local detail possible.

“Creating a local health department gave Fishers the ability to better understand the health needs of our own community and respond in ways that make sense for our residents,” Fadness said.

The assessment will feed into a Community Health Improvement Plan laying out specific strategies for the next several years. Both documents are part of the department’s push for initial accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board, a national body that reviews health departments against a set of performance standards.

The full report is posted at Health.FishersIN.gov/CommunityHealthAssessment.

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hamilton County gathered Friday morning to remember the lives lost, recognize those still carrying the burdens of that day and reflect on the unity that followed.

County and Noblesville officials joined first responders and residents who packed the Silo Building at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Noblesville for the Sept. 11, 2026, commemoration.

A common theme emerged from remarks by Hamilton County Commissioner Christine Altman, Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen and other speakers: Remembering 9/11 means honoring those who died while continuing to care for the people whose lives were forever changed.

The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks killed 2,977 people at the World Trade Center in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The victims included airline passengers and crew members, people at work and first responders who rushed to help, according to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

The consequences extend beyond those lost that morning. The federal World Trade Center Health Program continues to provide medical monitoring and treatment for eligible responders and survivors with health conditions related to the attacks.

Friday’s ceremony also reflected the passage of a generation. Some of today’s first responders were not yet born in 2001; others were too young to remember the attacks. Keeping that history alive means sharing it with those who have no personal memory of the day.

Alongside the remembrance was a message of hope. Speakers recalled the sense of unity in the immediate aftermath — the spirit of Sept. 12, when Americans came together to support grieving families, help their neighbors and stand behind those responding to the devastation.

That spirit offered a continuing purpose for the gathering in Noblesville: to honor those lost, support those still suffering and carry forward the willingness to care for one another.

I am hardly alone in remembering exactly where I was on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Walking into the government building where I worked, I remarked to a coworker about what a beautiful, clear September day it was. Twenty-five years later, that ordinary observation remains tied to an extraordinary day.

I was preparing to teach one of the most complicated classes my agency offered and was meeting with the education specialist when a manager peeked into the room. A plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers, she told us.

A few minutes later, she returned. A second plane had struck the other tower.

We looked at each other. We knew what that meant.

Then came word that a plane had hit the Pentagon. The question now was: What would happen next?

Shortly afterward, our office closed, and we were sent home. I watched the news coverage while my wife worked at her desk at home.

We would also learn about United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers. Their actions prevented the plane from reaching its intended target in Washington.

The attacks killed 2,977 people in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard Flight 93. Behind that number were individual lives, families and futures.

I remember telling a coworker that day that my twin daughters, very young at the time, would grow up in a different world from the one I had known.

My generation had lived through the tensions and frightening moments of the Cold War. We knew something about fear and uncertainty. But this felt different: commercial airliners turned into weapons, ordinary workplaces turned into targets, and no clear sense of where the danger might end.

Pearl Harbor offered a historical reference point for the shock of an attack on our country. When Japanese forces attacked on December 7, 1941, Hawaii was a U.S. territory, not yet a state. That distinction did not make the attack any less an attack on America.

In the aftermath of September 11, Americans responded with extraordinary generosity and courage. Many were inspired to join the armed forces.

Others found different ways to help.

I recall speaking with a nurse who had been working in Florida. She told her bosses she was going to New York to help. She did not wait for permission; she packed up and left.

Later, she shared harrowing accounts of what she encountered at the World Trade Center site—details I will not repeat here. Her story has stayed with me as a reminder of what people were willing to give, and what helping could cost them.

The suffering did not end when the immediate rescue and recovery work was over. Responders and survivors continue to need care for physical and mental health conditions related to the attacks and their aftermath.

As a nation, I believe we did some things very right after September 11 and other things very wrong. Historians and political scientists will continue to examine those decisions. Each of us can weigh that record as well.

My hope, twenty-five years later, is that we approach the threats we face with sound judgment. America has enemies. Protecting people requires resolve, reliable information and a willingness to consider the consequences of our decisions.

We should ask whether a response will make us safer, what it will demand of those asked to carry it out, and what burdens it may leave for the next generation.

When I think back to that clear September morning, I remember my daughters and the different world I feared they would inherit. That concern still shapes how I think about our country’s choices.

We owe remembrance to those killed, compassion to those still suffering, and care to those who served. We also owe future generations our best judgment.

This is a difficult world. Meeting its dangers requires courage—and the wisdom to decide how that courage is used.

A new grocery store is about to enter a Central Indiana market that Walmart reshaped and Kroger is fighting to hold, and the woman who will run it sat down for this week’s Fridays with Larry podcast.

The Sept. 11 edition, available now in both audio and video, opens with a look at how grocery competition is changing here. Kroger led Indianapolis grocery sales with 34.4% in 2022, followed by Walmart at 25.3%, according to Chain Store Guide data reported by Axios. In May, Reuters reported Kroger was preparing price cuts on thousands of products to win back share from Walmart, Costco and Aldi.

Into that market comes Meijer Grocery at 15700 Southeastern Parkway, the first Meijer inside the Fishers city limits. The 75,000-square-foot store opens at 6 a.m. Sept. 30. It is a smaller, food-focused format than a Meijer Supercenter, with bakery, meat, seafood and deli departments plus a pharmacy.

Store Director Janice Thongvanh joined the podcast to talk about the opening. She started at Meijer in 2017 as a part-time member of the remodel crew and was made full time within two weeks. Her team has filled more than 200 team member positions and 15 leadership roles through a series of local job fairs.

Thongvanh said the response from residents along Southeastern Parkway, who have wanted a grocery in that part of town for years, has been enthusiastic. The Meijer Express fuel station that opened earlier drew a crowd, she said, and the message was consistent: “It’s about time.”

She also discussed her work on food insecurity and childhood hunger, and what surprised her about Hamilton County. Meeting with schools, food pantries, housing communities and youth mentorship groups, she learned how many local students qualify for free and reduced-price meals. In an affluent community, she said, hunger is often hidden.

Opening week will include giveaways, discounts and events beginning at 6 a.m. Sept. 30, along with some locally sourced products still being finalized.

Also this week: Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers high schools have logged roughly 50 phone infractions each a few weeks into the school year under Senate Enrolled Act 78, the state’s bell-to-bell phone ban that took effect July 1. About 20 of those came on the first day alone. The rule everyone braced for turned out to be a shrug — but as I argue in this week’s commentary, settling the classroom is the easy part. Nielsen reported YouTube accounted for 13.8% of all television watched in this country in May, more than any network or streaming service. The living room is the harder conversation, and no state law is coming for it.

The episode closes in Poland, where about 30 robots demonstrated outside the digital affairs ministry calling for tougher regulation of artificial intelligence.

Fridays with Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

Watch the podcast at this link, or just listen using this link.

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.

More information is available at GeistHalf.com.

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 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.

Families seeking assistance can find information and resources through HSE’s Student Services webpage.

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.”