The long-time Transportation Director for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools just briefed the school board for the last time on preparations for the start of school. Jim White plans to retire in December of this year. (You can listen to the Podcast interview I recorded late last year with Jim White at this link.)
White’s department will start the school year with 303 buses, 362 employees & 299 of them drive school buses. The miles driven by all buses combined during the 2016-2017 school year totaled just under three million miles. The fuel costs to run those buses for the last school year came to $871,726.
There will be 19 new buses on the road as school goes into session in August.
The total transportation budget for 2016-2017 school year was $13.6 million.
You can view all the data Director White shared with the board at this link.
When HSE High School student Ranvir Sandhu’s mother attempted suicide, he was motivated to start a school club aimed at educating others about mental health. He got the help of Principal Matt Kegley, School District Mental Health Coordinator Brooke Lawson, Spanish Teacher Leslie Caliz, and some others to start the club. The Stigma Free Club now sports 70 members, with the goal of spreading education about fighting the stigma often attached to those suffering from mental illness. The group is holding a special event August 11th. You can learn more about that event at this link.
The Hamilton Southeastern School Board honored Ranvir and his fellow club members at the July 26th meeting.
Group picture from Monday’s Fishers Mental Health Initiative Report to the Community
Phase One of the Fishers Mental Health Initiative is now complete, and Phase Two is well underway. Phase One centered on improving education and training, and enhancing already-available resources and access to service.
The city’s Phase Two will focus on changing the culture and stigma around mental health, with the kickoff coming in August.
August 2nd will feature an interfaith, community prayer gathering hosted by Grace Community Church. The prayer service begins at 7 p.m. and takes place at the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater.
“During phase one, our team achieved wins on the tactical side,” Mayor Scott Fadness said in a city news release. “Now that we’ve addressed gaps in our community paramedicine program, crisis intervention and the role of first responders during a crisis; we’ve got to turn our attention to changing the culture and policy around mental health. How do we get this conversation to the dinner table inside each resident’s household?”
Here is a full listing of upcoming Phase Two Mental Health Week events:
Wednesday, August 2nd
Interfaith Prayer Gathering for Stigma Free Fishers
Nickel Plate District Amp | 7 p.m.
Tuesday, August 8th
Tuesday Night Concert featuring Intermission guest Mike Riekhof
Nickel Plate District Amp | 7 p.m.
Wednesday, August 9th
Peyton Riekhof Foundation for Youth Hope Dineout for Mental Health:
City BBQ – 9367 Ambleside Drive, Fishers
Handel’s (3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.) – 8760 E. 116th Street, Fishers
Thursday, August 10th
Peyton Riekhof Foundation for Youth Hope Dineout for Mental Health:
Stone Creek – 13904 Town Center Blvd., Noblesville
Friday, August 11th
Stigma Free HSE’s Hope for Happiness Celebration feat. Dave and Rae
Central Green, City Hall | 6-9 p.m.
AMP After Dark: WJJK presents Dogs of Society: A Musical Tribute to the Music of Elton John
Nickel Plate District Amp | 9 p.m.
Saturday, August 12th
Fishers Unplugged Weekend in the Parks
Community Movie Night featuring Inside Out
Nickel Plate District Amp | Dusk
Community Health Network will have tables at HSE Schools Back to School Nights to
learn more about your school’s new Mental Health Therapist
(NOTE: Commentaries by Fred Swift are posted on LarryInFishers.com through a partnership with the Hamilton County Reporter)
Hamilton County motorists who drive 146th Street and wish to head south on Keystone toward Indianapolis should be happy to hear that a new section of roadway to access southbound Keystone from 146th will be well underway by this time next year.
The elevated link, sometimes called a ‘flyover’ will be less than a half-mile long, but will make a critical link essentially extending Lowe’s Way to the south over northbound Keystone and then curve into the southbound lanes of Keystone where drivers encounter no stoplights until reaching 96th Street.
(Currently it is more difficult to get onto the popular parkway, with motorists having to use 151st Street in order to get on U.S. 31 which has an exit for Keystone.)
County Highway Director Brad Davis prefers to call the project a Lowe’s Way extension. Bids will be taken in February, and likely be awarded in March. He reports that about $4 million in federal funds will help pay the estimated $12 million cost of the Lowe’s Way connection.
A second, future phase of the project will take the improvement to the north end of existing Range Line Road to allow direct access from 146th to Range Line, the main route into downtown Carmel. There is also good news for the highway department from Purdue University estimates of revenue coming to the county from the state increase in gas tax and other fees adopted by state legislation this year.
Davis said estimates show about $3 million next year for the county. Actual disbursements will reportedly start in August of this year, and would appear to amount to something over $1 million yet this year. This money is for the county unit only, and does not include disbursements to the eight cities and towns in Hamilton County. The formula used for these additional payments is the same that is used for disbursement of currently allocated gas tax revenues.
A $10.7 million shiny new Fishers Police Headquarters building could be ready for occupancy a little over a year from now, following action by the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety. Board members approved a resolution allowing the city to enter into a public-private partnership agreement with the Hagerman Group, during its regular Monday meeeting.
The new parking garage, to be partially used by the police department, is already under construction. The new police headquarters structure will be 48,000 square feet, compared to the current headquarters building which contains 24,000 square feet of space.
Hagerman constructs the garage and new building, the city will then purchase the facilities from Hagerman under this agreement.
A public hearing was required under law, but no one chose to speak.
In other Board of Works actions, all the following were approved:
–Purchase of an Emergency Response Team vehicle, using forfeiture money taken by the police department. Mayor Fadness described this as “more civilian-like” than other emergency response vehicles used by other local law enforcement agencies.
–Early payment for the 116th Street Pedestrian Improvement Project, extending from Allisonville Road to I-69.
–Amend and extend the Landscape Maintenance Contract
entered into between the City of Fishers and Brightview Landscape.
Mayor Scott Fadness began his Mental Health Initiative Report to the Community Monday afternoon with some statistics and stories from the previous week. When police arrive at the scene of a resident suffering a mental health episode that is serious, that person is subject to what is termed in law enforcement parlance an “immediate detention.”
The mayor said one immediate detension run was for a person suffering from depression and schizophrenia, feeling down and seeking help. Another run involved a woman reporting her daughter had sent suicidal messages that were “concerning,” finding a gun on the stairway. In yet another, a suicidal man was attacking himself with a knife and was bleeding. Another man was threatening suicide over the recent breakup with his girlfriend.
So there was a total of 7 immediate detentions in Fishers during one week in July. The mayor said there were 11 suicides in Fishers during 2016 and 5 so far in 2017.
That set for the stage for the panel discussion led by the mayor to talk about the accomplishments of his 2 1/2 year initiative to deal with mental health issues in Fishers.
During the panel discussion, Dr. Suzanne Clifford of Inspiring Transformations said suburbia, in general. is ignored in the area of mental health services. She added that, of all places, Silicon Valley in California contains a “cluster” of suicides.
Dr. Bernice A. Pescosolido was the keynote speaker for the luncheon, held at Launch Fishers. She described how stigma devalues a person as a human being, separating the stigmatized person from the rest of society. She has worked to deal with the stigma felt by those needing treatment for mental health issues.
“The only way to reduce stigma and to improve the lives of people with mental health is to do multi-level, long-term changes, because society’s change slowly,” Dr. Pescosolido said.
Dr. Pescosolido has worked nationally on the issue of mental health stigma, even working on such stigma that exists within the medical profession.
Mayor Fadness said the issue of mental health in the growing suburban city of Fishers is “real.” He made clear his initiative to address mental health in his city is far from over.
Mayor Scott Fadness (far right) leads the panel discussion with (L-R) Fishers Fire Chief Steve Orusa, Dr. Suzanne Clifford of Inspiring Transformations, Brooke Lawson & Mike Beresford of HSE Schools
Mark your calendars now for Tuesday morning, August 8th, 10:00am, for the next Coffee with a Cop event at the Starbucks near Exit 210. Fishers Police Department officers will be on hand to talk with local citizens.
This is scheduled the day before classes begin for Hamilton Southeastern schools, so students will be able to attend.
Police officials say there will be no agenda or speeches, just a chance for Fishers residents to talk with their local police officers.
The Starbucks is located at Olio Road and Olivia Way, near the I-69 Interchange 210.
(NOTE: Commentaries by Fred Swift are published on this news blog as a result of a partnership between the Hamilton County Reporter & LarryInFishers.com)
It’s not often that a person serves for 50 years as a member of a governmental body. But, Noblesville’s Garrick Mallery holds that honor, possibly a record in the state if not the nation. Not only that, but Mallery has been president of the Hamilton County Health Board almost the entire time.
The health department is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. An open house for the public is planned from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 27 at the health office. There will be a display of historic vital records going back 135 years. Cake and coffee will be served. The department was actually organized in 1966, but the following year was its first full year in business. Operating out of a room in the basement of the old Courthouse, there were initially three employees: a nurse, a sanitarian and a secretary.
The first board, appointed by county commissioners, was composed of Dr. John Haywood, Dr. Haldon Kraft, Max Hunter, James Morris, Gerald Johnson and Garrick Mallery, who said recently, “It’s been interesting. I’ve done a lot of things, but this was one of the highlights of my life seeing it [the department] come along” to where it is today.
The health department has expanded dramatically as the county has grown. Health inspectors now check hundreds of restaurants and other food handlers to protect the public from unsanitary conditions, provide immunizations for the county’s children, maintain all county birth and death records, seek to eliminate dangerous mosquito breeding grounds and provide public education on best health practices among other services.
Mallery believes the health department does more good for Hamilton County than perhaps the public sometimes gets from the news. Thursday the doors will be open to show the public what all they have in the field of public health.
Adam & I review War for the Planet of the Apes, and we welcome Andy Murphy as our guest – she has quite a show business resume in her own right, but also has a very famous son
