As the fireworks fade over Fishers this Fourth of July, the harder question lingers: what does the next chapter hold for a country that just turned 250? The polling offers a portrait of a nation that is worried but not resigned — a people wrestling with doubt while refusing to give up on the ideals that got us here.

A sober mood

The numbers are candid. In Pew Research Center surveys this spring, 59% of Americans said the country’s best years are behind us, while 40% believe they are still ahead. As 2026 began, 69% told Pew they were dissatisfied with the way things are going, against just 29% satisfied. Look further out and the gloom deepens: asked about the U.S. 50 years from now, 44% are pessimistic and only 28% optimistic. Majorities expect a country that is more politically divided (66%), less influential in the world (58%), and more dangerous (56%) by 2050.

Gallup adds another data point: American pride has slipped to a 25-year low, and fewer than half of Americans now believe everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream.

But not without hope

The full picture is more layered than the headlines suggest. In the same Pew research, Americans split almost evenly on the near term — 48% optimistic and 51% pessimistic about the country’s future overall. Most say they feel “hopeful” when they think ahead, and 54% describe themselves as “happy” about it. Compared with 2023, more adults now expect the economy to grow stronger and political divisions to ease in the decades to come.

The American Dream itself remains stubbornly alive. In the Milken Center–Gallup study of more than 6,300 adults, 69% still believe they can personally achieve it, and Americans across party lines agree the Dream is worth striving for. Republicans, Democrats and independents also broadly share the view that the Dream is “unfinished” — a rare patch of common ground in a divided age.

What the experts say

Scholars and commentators tend to resist writing America’s obituary. Many point to the country’s demonstrated resilience — its technological edge, economic depth, military strength and entrepreneurial streak — as durable reasons for optimism. Historians note that this is a nation that has survived a civil war, the upheavals of the 1960s, segregation, and the “malaise” of the 1970s, and emerged intact each time.

Writing in The Fulcrum, a nonpartisan civic-affairs publication, historian Joe Palaggi frames the moment in terms of that resilience. “The story of America is not the story of avoiding failure,” he writes. “It is the story of recovering from it.” The health of the republic, he argues, is measured not by the absence of disagreement but by “the ability of citizens to disagree while maintaining a shared commitment to the nation itself.” The real risk is losing confidence, because “a confident nation can confront its failures.” Ultimately, patriotism is less about believing the country is flawless than about whether “we care enough about it to leave it stronger than we found it.”

Looking forward from here

For a community like Fishers — consistently ranked among the best places to live in the country — the same tension runs through both national and local life: real anxiety about institutions and direction, paired with an enduring belief that the work of the republic is unfinished rather than over.

Two and a half centuries in, that may be the most American posture of all — clear-eyed about the problems, unwilling to surrender the promise. The next 250 years will be written by the people who choose to keep building.

When the fireworks go up over Fishers this Fourth of July, they’ll mark something bigger than a long weekend. Saturday is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — the semiquincentennial, if you want to impress somebody at the cookout. It’s worth pausing on what those 56 men actually did when they put their names on that parchment, because it was a good deal braver than the picnic version we usually tell.

Signing was treason. Not treason as a figure of speech — treason as a capital crime under British law. The Treason Act of 1351, still on the books in 1776, defined “levying war” against the king as high treason, and the punishment was as gruesome as English law got: a traitor could be hanged, drawn, and quartered, his property seized by the Crown, his family left with nothing. These weren’t anonymous pamphleteers. They signed their real names, in a document they knew would cross the Atlantic and land on the king’s desk.

They understood the stakes. That famous closing line — “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” — wasn’t flourish. It was a list of exactly what they stood to lose. Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have put it more bluntly at the signing: “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Historians can’t confirm he said it, but the sentiment was accurate enough.

And some of them did pay. Richard Stockton of New Jersey was captured by British forces, imprisoned and reportedly mistreated, his estate looted; his health broke and he died in 1781. Others saw homes burned and fortunes ruined in the fighting. It’s fair to note, as historians do, that no signer was executed for signing — the Revolution succeeded, and Britain never got to hold its trials. But that outcome was far from certain in the summer of 1776. When those men dipped their pens, they were betting their necks on a war they had not yet won.

Two and a half centuries on, the country they gambled on is still here — and still arguing with itself about what it has become. A new Associated Press-NORC poll, part of a series marking the anniversary, offers a candid snapshot of how Americans feel at 250. The picture is more conflicted than celebratory.

Start with the American Dream — the idea that hard work gets you ahead. Only about a third of Americans say it still holds true today. Half say it once held true but no longer does, and 15% say it was never true to begin with. That tracks with recent Wall Street Journal/NORC surveys, so it isn’t a blip. Belief in the Dream is far from evenly held: 57% of Republicans say it still holds, versus 24% of independents and 17% of Democrats. Older adults keep more faith than younger ones — 46% of those 60 and up still believe, compared with just 22% of adults under 30.

Pride in the country’s institutions has also cooled over the past decade. Just 28% of Americans say they have a lot of pride in how U.S. democracy works, down from 42% back in 2017. Pride in the nation’s history slipped from 58% to 44%, and pride in the armed forces fell from 78% to 59%. Americans still take the most pride in the military and in the country’s scientific and technological achievements — but the trend line, across the board, points down.

Ask what holds us together and what pulls us apart, and the answers are almost mirror images. The most common thing people name as uniting Americans is freedom or liberty. The most common thing they name as dividing us is politics — “political interests or values.” In other words, the thing the signers risked everything for is still the thing we most agree on, even as the political arguments around it grow louder.

There are gentler notes, too. Nearly half of Americans, 47%, still see the American flag as more of a unifying symbol than a divisive one, though only about one in five fly it at home regularly. And roughly four in ten say the 250th anniversary makes them feel “proud,” with about a third “excited” — even as a quarter say they feel “conflicted” and another quarter “indifferent.”

Put those two portraits side by side — the men who signed under threat of the gallows, and a country now split on whether the promise held — and you get something more useful than a greeting card. The founders didn’t hand us a finished nation. They handed us a bet, and 250 years later the wager is still open. However you’re marking the Fourth here in Fishers, that seems worth a moment’s thought.

It’s another summer season road construction week in Fishers. Be aware of some closures on 131st Street.  That’s just part of a long list of construction in and around our city.

Here is the full road construction listing, for the week beginning Sunday, July 5, as provided by the City of Fishers:

• 96th Street and Cyntheanne Road – Full Closure
• 136th Street Widening – Southeastern Parkway to Prairie Baptist Road – follow detour route
• 116th and Allisonville Intersection Improvements Project – Down to one lane in all directions
• Southeastern Parkway & Olio Road Roundabout Improvements – Periodic lane restrictions
• 126th Street – single-lane restrictions (Beginning July 13)
• 131st Street Road Closure – Follow posted signage

Continue reading Road construction update for the week starting Sunday, July 5 →

Dangerous heat will remain a concern for Fishers and Hamilton County even after the current Extreme Heat Warning expires Friday evening.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis says the Extreme Heat Warning remains in effect until 8 p.m. Friday, with heat index values reaching as high as 110 degrees. A Heat Advisory will immediately follow, remaining in effect from 8 p.m. Friday until 9 p.m. Saturday, with heat index values expected to reach up to 105 degrees.

Hamilton County Emergency Management is urging residents to take extra precautions, especially with the holiday bringing outdoor events, gatherings and travel.

Officials say high heat can affect people quickly. Residents are encouraged to drink plenty of water, limit beverages that can contribute to dehydration, such as alcohol and caffeine, and pay close attention to how they feel throughout the day.

Anyone who begins to feel overheated, light-headed or unusually tired should get to a cool indoor space as soon as possible. If going indoors is not possible, people should seek shade and slow down until they recover.

The National Weather Service says heat-related illnesses increase significantly during periods of extreme heat and high humidity. Residents are advised to stay in air-conditioned areas when possible, avoid direct sun, and check on relatives, neighbors and others who may be vulnerable.

Officials also remind residents never to leave young children or pets in unattended vehicles. Vehicle interiors can reach lethal temperatures within minutes during extreme heat.

Hamilton County Emergency Management is asking residents to keep themselves, their neighbors and visitors safe as the holiday weekend approaches.

When a large media company bought the local newspaper in Sullivan County, Indiana, reporter Angela Allen lost her job. For a rural community in the southwest corner of the state, that meant losing something bigger than a byline — it meant losing the person who showed up to the meetings, asked the questions, and told residents what was happening in their own backyard.

But the community wasn’t ready to let local journalism disappear. By public demand, Angela was brought back on a part-time basis to continue her reporting. It was a rare and encouraging thing: readers standing up and insisting that their local news matters.

The comeback, however, came with hard realities. Part-time reporting doesn’t pay a full-time living. Angela had taken another full-time job after losing her reporter position — and she says she then lost that job as well, due to political pressure on her employer. The result has been real financial hardship for someone who simply wanted to keep informing her neighbors.

This week’s episode of Fridays With Larry tells Angela’s story in full: how corporate ownership is reshaping small-town newspapers, why her readers fought to bring her back, and what it costs one person to keep the truth flowing in a community that depends on it.

Angela is still reporting for the paper part-time, but she can’t live on that income alone. If you’d like to support her work and help her through this period of hardship, you can contribute to her GoFundMe page: Support Angela Allen — Stand Up for Truth

Fridays with Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.

You can watch the podcast on YouTube at this link, or listen to the audio version using this link.  Or, use the links below:

The Hamilton County Democratic Party said Thursday that four new candidates have filed to run for county office this fall, giving voters contested Democratic choices in several countywide races in a county long dominated by Republicans.

The candidates filed their paperwork Thursday morning at the Hamilton County Clerk’s Office. They are Ti’Gre McNear for Hamilton County Commissioner, District 1; Charles Hollowell for Hamilton County Sheriff; Alexandra Wilson for Hamilton County Clerk; and Doug May for Hamilton County Council, District 3.

“Across Hamilton County, Democratic candidates are stepping forward because they believe our communities deserve thoughtful, accountable leadership and real choices at the ballot box,” said Josh Lowry, chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. “The enthusiasm we’re seeing from candidates, volunteers, and voters reflects the momentum building across our county. Every office matters, and we’re proud to offer strong candidates who are committed to serving their neighbors.”

Each Democrat will face a Republican who advanced through the party’s May 5 primary or ran unopposed, in a county where the GOP has held every countywide office for years.

In the race for Commissioner, District 1 — which covers Carmel and Clay Township — McNear will challenge longtime Republican incumbent Christine Altman. Altman was first elected to the board of commissioners in 2003 and previously served on the county council, making her one of the county’s most established officeholders.

For sheriff, Hollowell will face Republican Dustin K. Dixon, a 25-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who won a competitive GOP primary in May, defeating chief deputy John Lowes with about 63 percent of the vote. The seat is open because Republican Sheriff Dennis Quakenbush is term-limited and cannot seek re-election.

In the clerk’s race, Wilson will run against Republican Beth Sheller, who currently serves as Hamilton County Election Administrator and secured the GOP nomination for clerk in the spring primary.

And in County Council, District 3 — which takes in Noblesville, Jackson and White River townships — May will face Republican Mark F. Hall.

The party framed the filings as part of a multi-cycle effort to compete more broadly across Hamilton County. Democrats said they have expanded candidate recruitment, increased volunteer engagement, and built what the party described as a year-round grassroots organization.

Residents interested in volunteering, supporting candidates, or learning more about the 2026 campaign can visit hamcodemsin.org.

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.

Democrat J.D. Ford’s congressional campaign announced it raised more than $365,000 in the second quarter of 2026, a haul the campaign says came overwhelmingly from Hoosiers as he challenges Republican incumbent Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District.

The campaign said more than 90 percent of donors were based in Indiana. The figures are self-reported and cannot be independently verified until quarterly reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission, due July 15.

“I’m honored and grateful for the support of our friends and neighbors,” Ford said in a statement. “This outpouring of energy shows that Hoosiers are ready for a leader in Washington who will fight for affordability and accountability.”

Ford, a state senator from Carmel serving his second term, won a crowded seven-way Democratic primary on May 5. He has said his run was motivated by Indiana Republicans’ failed effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps, which Spartz supported.

Spartz’s finances

If accurate, Ford’s quarter would far outpace the incumbent’s recent fundraising. FEC records show Spartz’s campaign raised about $1.09 million from January 2025 through April 15, 2026 — but only about $57,700 of that came in the first quarter of 2026, according to her April filing.

Her campaign has also been spending faster than it takes money in. It reported roughly $56,000 in cash on hand as of April 15, down from $258,000 at the start of the cycle, and carried $200,000 in debt. Much of the spending went to repaying $525,000 in loans Spartz had made to her own campaign. Spartz’s second-quarter numbers, covering the period after her primary win over Scott King, are not yet public.

A poll with caveats

Ford’s campaign paired the fundraising announcement with an internal poll it commissioned, which it says shows nearly two-thirds of district voters want new representation and shows Ford leading Spartz “after messaging” — that is, after respondents heard campaign arguments, a technique that typically produces more favorable results for the sponsoring candidate than an initial head-to-head. Internal polls released by campaigns should be viewed cautiously; no independent public polling of the race has been released.

An uphill district

Despite Spartz’s thin bank account, Ford faces difficult terrain. The 5th District — covering Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, Grant, Howard and Tipton counties in Indianapolis’ northern suburbs and beyond — has not elected a Democrat since Jim Jontz in 1990. After Spartz won her first race by a narrow margin in 2020, the district was redrawn to strengthen its Republican lean, and she won reelection comfortably in 2022 and 2024, most recently defeating Democrat Deborah Pickett, who took about 38 percent of the vote.

Spartz, a Ukrainian-born certified public accountant from Carmel first elected in 2020, announced in 2023 that she would retire, then reversed course. She has said she is seeking a fourth term “to help get our Republic back on track fiscally.”

The general election is November 3.

The Fishers Planned Unit Development (PUD) Committee approved two projects Wednesday, while plans for a new hotel were pulled from the agenda shortly before the meeting began.

The proposed Fishers Fieldhouse drew the most discussion, with committee members raising questions on several details of the project. In the end, the committee was complimentary of representatives of the developer, Buckingham Companies, and gave the plans its approval.

The Fieldhouse, first announced by the city in June as part of a $169 million sixth-phase expansion of the Fishers District, will serve as the new headquarters and practice facility for the Indy Ignite, the Major League Volleyball franchise that has played its home matches at the nearby Fishers Event Center since the team’s 2025 debut. The $65 million, 180,000-square-foot building will include the 29,000-square-foot Ignite headquarters and practice facility, flex space that can be configured for 10 basketball courts or 20 volleyball courts, and 20,000 square feet of additional user space.

City officials view the Fieldhouse as a further investment in youth sports, positioning Fishers to attract large-scale basketball and volleyball tournaments. Groundbreaking is expected this fall, with the facility anticipated to open in late 2027 or early 2028.

The Crossing Curio Hotel, planned in the same general area of the Fishers District, was removed from the agenda shortly before the session began. No new date was announced for when the proposal will return.

In the committee’s other action Wednesday, plans were approved for the Story Cottage facility on Brooks School Road, a proposed 6,600-square-foot memory care facility. The proposal had been before city officials once before and is now being submitted a second time.

The Fishers Plan Commission had also been scheduled to meet Wednesday night, but the session was canceled for lack of a quorum. The next Plan Commission meeting is expected in early August.

The Extreme Heat Warning covering Fishers and the rest of Hamilton County has been extended and now remains in effect until 8 p.m. Friday, the National Weather Service in Indianapolis says, as a stubborn stretch of dangerous heat and humidity continues to grip central Indiana.

The warning had originally been set to expire Thursday evening, but forecasters extended it as the oppressive heat pattern showed no signs of breaking down on schedule. Heat index values — how hot it actually feels once humidity is factored in — are expected to reach as high as 109 to 110 degrees through the warning period. Confidence is slightly lower for Friday itself, since a chance of afternoon showers and storms could offer some relief, but the Weather Service says the risk of dangerous heat remains high enough to keep the warning in place through the evening.

“Heat related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events,” the Weather Service said, urging residents across the warned area to take the conditions seriously.

Hamilton County Emergency Management Urges Continued Caution

Hamilton County Emergency Management is echoing the Weather Service’s call for residents to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned spaces, avoid direct sun during peak hours, and check on relatives and neighbors — especially older adults, young children, and those without reliable air conditioning — who may be more vulnerable to the heat.

For those staying indoors, officials recommend keeping blinds or curtains closed to block out the sun, using fans or portable air conditioners to improve circulation, wearing light and breathable clothing, and cooling down with damp cloths as needed.

Not everyone has the option to stay inside. For those who must be outdoors, emergency management officials advise planning activity for early morning or evening hours when temperatures are cooler, taking frequent breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas, and carrying water or an electrolyte drink to sip throughout the day. Residents are reminded to never leave children, older adults, or pets in a parked car, even briefly.

Know the Signs of Heat Illness

Officials are urging everyone to stay alert for symptoms of heat illness, including headache, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, and general weakness. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should move to a cooler area and hydrate right away. If someone stops sweating, becomes confused, or loses consciousness, it could be heat stroke — call 911 immediately.

The Extreme Heat Warning remains in effect for a large swath of Indiana, including central, east central, north central, south central, southeast, southwest, and west central portions of the state, until 8 p.m. Friday.

Thousands of people pass through the Thomas A. Weaver Municipal Complex every year — for a city court date, a library card and many other reasons  — without ever asking who Thomas A. Weaver was. I wanted to find out, so I went looking through the public record.

What emerged is the story of a small-circle civic official who helped guide Fishers through a pivotal growth period, just before the town’s modern suburban boom, and whose sudden death turned a routine act of local government into a lasting memorial.

A councilman during a formative era

Contemporary reporting described Weaver as a member of the Fishers Town Council and president of Printed Wiring Inc., an electrical business. A 1992 Indiana Court of Appeals decision, Delph v. Town Council of Town of Fishers, ties him to a 1990 annexation dispute along I-69, listing Weaver alongside fellow council members Walter F. Kelly and Roy G. Holland. The case places him squarely among Fishers’ top leadership during a period when the town was beginning to annex land and lay the groundwork for the growth that would follow later in the decade.

Killed by lightning at Crooked Stick

Weaver died on Aug. 8, 1991, struck by lightning while walking from the course to his car during a rain delay at the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel. He was 39. Wire service reports at the time — including United Press International’s coverage of that day’s opening round — confirmed he was a member of his town council and president of a wiring company, and that rescue personnel at the scene were unable to revive him. Later accounts identified his wife as Dee and his daughters as Karen and Emily.

Why his name is on the municipal complex

The clearest public explanation comes from local historical and official records. The Hamilton East Public Library’s history of Fishers’ town & city halls says the complex was established in 1991 and named for “a notable town councilman” — one of several sites the town has occupied over the decades as it grew from a fire-station-and-clerk’s-office operation into a full city government. A Town of Fishers annual report preserved by the Indiana State Board of Accounts records a June 28, 1992 memorial “Key to the Town” presented to the Thomas Weaver family, praising Weaver for his “commitment and dedication” to “strong family values, neighborhood spirit, and civic pride.”

That combination — a sitting councilman, killed suddenly and publicly, at the height of a formative decade for the town — appears to be why Fishers chose to attach his name permanently to its seat of government rather than simply mourn and move on.

Some gaps remain

The complete paper trail is still incomplete online. The city’s current Agenda Center notes that older agendas and minutes not yet added to the portal must be requested separately, and no indexed record of the formal naming resolution turned up in available searches. But the surviving record is consistent on one point: Fishers remembered Weaver not just as a public official, but as a civic figure whose values the town wanted physically attached to the center of its government — a distinction that has outlasted the building itself. (The 1991 structure gave way to a new City Hall in 2015 with Fishers’ incorporation as a city, and the Weaver name was carried onto the Arts & Municipal Complex that replaced it in 2024, city officials confirmed at the time.)

Weaver was gone before I began writing about Fishers in January 2012, so I never knew him. I only wanted to look through the public record and find what I could about the man whose name is on our local municipal complex. He was, unmistakably, a man closely tied to the history of Fishers.