Hamilton County Reporter
New Year’s Day is Tuesday and as we watch 2018 draw to a close, Hamilton County’s Hometown Newspaper invites you to take a look back at the stories which helped shape our year. We have looked at the most viewed posts on our website, ReadTheReporter.com, and on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/HamiltonCountyReporter, to determine which articles got the most interest from you, our readers.
Here are Hamilton County’s top stories for 2018:
School violence hits home
The Noblesville West Middle School shooting on May 25 was the top story of the year.
For most of the second half of the year Noblesville had the unenviable distinction of having had the only school shooting in the state. Fortunately, no lives were lost when a 14-year-old student shot a fellow student and a teacher.
In the months since, the teacher, Jason Seaman, has been honored repeatedly for his heroic action of disarming the shooter. Both Seaman and the wounded student, Ella Whistler, recovered.
The assailant has been committed to a youth facility until he reaches the age of 18.
Click here to read the full story.
Massive turnout in 2018
The hard-fought primary and general elections of 2018 saw historically large voter participation. Republicans fended off an unusually strong Democratic challenge in the November general election.
In the end, Republicans won all but one office – a township board seat in Fall Creek Township – but margins were closer than usual, leading Democratic Chairman Joe Weingarten to express satisfaction with the progress his candidates had made.
In most countywide races, Republicans won with about 60 percent of the vote, but that was down from the 70 percent or more that is normal in the county.
Click here to read the full story.
Downtown Noblesville gets ‘top’ notch restaurant
Grindstone Public House now calls 101 N. 10th St. in Noblesville home.
It is named Grindstone Public House and it brings the best of both Clancy’s and Grindstone Charley’s to Noblesville. For those who miss the Topper, it could be a dream come true. While this new restaurant does offer a Topper, it is more akin to Grindstone Charley’s than to Clancy’s. Check them out on Facebook.com/GrindstonePublicHouse or at grindstonepublichouse.com.
Click here to read the full story.
Carmel resident reaches plea agreement in money laundering
Four suspects signed plea agreements in connection to an American Senior Communities money laundering scheme.
The former CEO for American Senior Communities, Carmel resident James Burkhart, along with Daniel Benson, ASC’s chief operating officer, Steven Ganote, a personal friend of Burkhart, and Joshua Burkhart, the brother of James who is known as “Justin Barnes,” were all arrested in October 2016 for their involvement in a money laundering scheme.
The U.S. District Attorney’s Office confirmed that all four had agreed to plea agreements at the end of 2017.
Click here to read the full story.
Nickel Plate debate
The long running debate over the future of the Nickel Plate Railroad continued through most of the year.
Community leaders’ decision to eliminate the rail line south of Noblesville and convert it to a walking and biking trail touched off a major controversy with some citizens wanting to maintain the tracks for train traffic.
In the end, a new organization, the Nickel Plate Heritage, took control of the railroad north from Noblesville and began running excursion trains on the historic line. The Indiana Transportation Museum, which had operated trains for 30 years, left for new headquarters in Logansport.
Opioid crisis
A continuing crisis of drug overdosing was also a top series of stories of the year. There were likely hundreds of cases of county citizens treated for drug overdoses and more than 40 deaths from deadly opioid drugs during the year.
Hamilton County was not alone in seeing the dramatic increase in drug abuse. Nationally the illegal drug use has been called a crisis of epidemic proportions. Police, health officials and the courts locally have been struggling with methods to stem the tide of drug addiction and death.
White River and Seals Ambulance Service
White River Township residents have been served by Seals Ambulance Services since May 1, 2018. Seals emergency service has become a very divisive topic, and there is a great deal of misinformation about both why White River chose Seals and how well or poorly residents are being served. The Reporter decided to give our readers some accurate information to consider in an editorial published on May 2.
The decision to hire Seals looks great on paper. It is an established company and is part of a national family of companies called Priority Ambulance. It contracts for ambulance service with Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center, the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center and Indiana Downs Horse Track, and it is the preferred provider for Community Health Network. It has over 50 ambulances available in Indiana.
But Seals was only in-service 48 percent of the time in April.
Perhaps, when negotiating with White River Township, Seals Ambulance Services sold the sizzle instead of the steak.
Click here to read the full story.
Rascal Flatts rushed off stage, fans evacuated
Law enforcement officials and representatives from Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center did not initially confirm what caused the Rascal Flatts concert to end with the band being rushed off stage and the venue being evacuated on Aug. 10.
The Reporter learned there were multiple phone calls, deemed to be credible, indicating an explosive device may have been on site. Sources told The Reporter no one was injured as a direct result of the bomb threat. No one was injured during the evacuation.
Click here to read the full story.
Noblesville NOW financing in question
‘Noblesville NOW’, an aggressive public works proposal, was unveiled during the year.
It calls for downtown redevelopment projects, a new police headquarters, roundabouts, more walking trails and the undertaking of a Pleasant Street upgrade which, with county assistance, is ultimately aimed to provide a bypass of the downtown area.
The first redevelopment project, called The Levinson, is set to get underway in March 2019 along Maple Avenue between 8th and 9th streets.
Click here to read the full story.
Wayne Township Fire Department theft investigation results in federal indictment
Members of the Wayne Township Fire Department were shocked this year when department treasurer Norman Burgess was charged with stealing $140,000 in the volunteer department’s funds. Restitution has been ordered, but department members in the meantime have donated some funds to keep the operation on course.
Click here to read the full story.
Top Sports headlines
Hamilton County high schools continued to rack up state championships during the year, headlined by Carmel’s girls swim team national record of 31 consecutive championships. Noblesville High School’s band won their second consecutive State Fair band contest.
Public officials retire
The retirement of several high-profile public officials also makes the list of top stories for the year.
State Rep. Kathy Richardson, Judge Steve Nation, Mayor John Ditslear and Sheriff Mark Bowen are among those announcing retirement from office, although Ditslear has one more year as Noblesville mayor.
Richardson is leaving the state legislature to become County Clerk on Jan. 1.
Jail expansion and solar project
The past year saw an expansion of the county jail underway to alleviate overcrowding, and the installation of a solar panel farm to provide sun powered energy for the corrections complex and health department.
The solar power is predicted to cut energy costs, which is a major county budget item. County officials may also use solar power when expanding the Government and Judicial Center in the next year or two.
Carmel named ‘Best Place to Live in America’
Carmel was again named best place to live in America by various national publications.
Despite controversy over public spending, the Brainard administration continued its plans to remake Carmel into a premiere “edge city.” During the year, more roundabouts, park projects and business development continued including the massive Midtown Redevelopment between the downtown area and Civic Square.
Fishers and Westfield were also cited as among the best in the nation.
Click here to read the full story.