Hamilton County Reporter

The Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday approved allowing Hamilton County to hire an additional magistrate.

“Our judicial officers are in serious need of an extra set of hands to help speed up the trial process,” Schaibley said. “It is encouraging to see the swift action in the General Assembly to help provide Hamilton County with this much-needed resource.”State Rep. Donna Schaibley (R-Carmel) said the new magistrate would preside over minor offenses and hold preliminary hearings for more serious crimes. Schaibley said Hamilton County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, which makes it more difficult for staff to keep up with the workload.

The most up to date data from the Weighted Caseload Measure shows Hamilton County has just one judicial officer for about 29,500 people. Schaibley said Hamilton County superior and circuit court judges, commissioners, council and prosecuting attorney support adding this position.

House Bill 1145 now heads to the Senate for further consideration. To learn more, visit iga.in.gov.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com)

Less than two weeks remain during which candidates may file for the May 5 primary election. Thus far few contests have developed for the county offices at stake in this year’s election.

The major exception is the competition for three at-large seats on the Hamilton County Council. Thus far seven candidates have formally filed and another one or more are expected.

Why so much interest in the council? At least part of the reason is the factional split on some issues between the seven incumbent councilors.

All members like to consider themselves fiscal conservatives, but some are more conservative than others. This splint probably leads to the number of candidates interested in the three seats.

Those filed thus far are: Brad Beaver, Lyneen Burrow, Jeff Hern, Sue Maki, Rick McKinney, Steve Nation, and former Noblesville mayor John Ditslear, who filed his candidacy on Tuesday. There are indications that others may join the field.

In the meantime, no contests have developed for county commissioner where Mark Heirbrandt and Steve Dillinger are running for re-election.

Similarly, County Auditor Robin Mills is thus far unopposed.

Former County Treasurer Kim Good now has an opponent for the Treasurer’s position. Susan Byer filed her candidacy on Tuesday.

Incumbent Surveyor Kent Ward is alone running for another term.

No Democrats have yet filed for any county office.

Dozens of candidates for precinct committeeman and state convention delegate have filed in both political party primaries.

The parties will hold reorganizational meetings this year, and both parties have state conventions with the GOP gathering shaping up to be the most interesting. Attorney General Curtis Hill will be opposed by Adam Krupp and John Westercamp.

Hamilton County Reporter

In a battle of top 10 Class 4A teams, No. 4 Fishers took care of No. 6 Lawrence North 55-41 Tuesday at the Wildcats’ gym.

The Tigers played an outstanding defensive first quarter, taking a 17-2 lead by
the end of the period. Fishers continued to add to its lead, going up 34-14 at halftime
and 47-26 after three quarters. Lawrence North tried to make a comeback in the fourth
period, but the Tigers held off the Wildcats to get their 20th win of the season.

Lydia Stullken led Fishers with 14 points and eight rebounds, followed by
Katie Burton’s nine points and six rebounds. Hailey Smith added eight points
and eight rebounds, with Olivia Smith collecting five rebounds and dishing out
four assists. All eight players that took to the court for the Tigers scored.

Fishers is 20-1, marking the fourth time in program history that the Tigers
have reached 20 wins. Fishers travels to Franklin Central on Friday for its regular-season and Hoosier Crossroads Conference finale.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern got a wake-up call during the first half of its Senior Night game during Pike.

The Red Devils were tied with the Class 4A No. 5 Royals at halftime, but Southeastern woke up in a big way in the second half. HSE outscored Pike 23-2 in the third quarter and rolled to a 61-36 victory in the Royals’ final game of the regular season.

The Red Devils led 7-4 at one point during the first period before Southeastern went on an 8-0 run. Junior Lydia Self started things with a pair of free throws, then senior Sydney Parrish and sophomore Makayla Hinshaw both hit 3-pointers.

A layin from Jaelynne Murray cut HSE’s lead to 12-9, which is where the first quarter ended. Lauren Horton tied the game with a 3-pointer to start the second, but two seniors teamed up to get the Royals back on top: Bailee Poore scored off a Lauren Morris steal.

The game went back and forth for a while until Southeastern made another 8-0 run to take a 25-18 lead. Parrish scored five points, sandwiched between a Morris 3. But Pike came back again, and used its own 7-0 run to tie the game by halftime, 25-25.

“We were stagnant on defense in the first half,” said Royals coach Chris Huppenthal. “We tried to trap and their splitting our traps, getting to the basket easy. When we go up 25-18, they score three possessions in a row. Offensively, we weren’t moving the basketball. We had some opportunities to get the basketball inside and people weren’t able to make
the pass inside.”

The Red Devils scored the first basket of the second half, but after that it was all Southeastern. The Royals went on a 23-0 run that ate up almost the entire third
quarter and gave them a 48-27 lead.

Parrish, freshman Olivia Brown and Morris each hit a triple for the first nine points of the run. Parrish totaled 11 points in the third quarter. Senior Bri Baker helped the Royals continue to cruise in the fourth period, hitting a pair of 3s in the early minutes of the quarter.

“Olivia Brown comes off the bench and does a wonderful job for us,” said Huppenthal. “Bri Baker hit a couple 3s. The difference was that we just woke up. We’re not at a time of the year where you can sleepwalk through any part of the game. It’s Game 22 and we just got to do a better job preparing ourselves when we walk out of the locker room.”

Two seniors, appropriately, led HSE in scoring. Parrish finished with 24 points, including three 3-pointers, and reached double-double status with 10 rebounds. She also had six assists. Parrish now sits at 1,862 career points, needing seven more to match the Hamilton County girls scoring record. Morris added 10 points.

“It’s not easy being a high school athlete, going through four years of summer workouts and weight training and the season,” said Huppenthal. “It really, for all intents and purposes now has become a year-round commitment. You look at these five seniors have made that commitment. As a coach you really appreciate that about them, what they’ve done for the program. These kids are part of the legacy last year of winning a state championship, a big part of that, and that’s going to be something that they’re going to
be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

Southeastern finished the regular season 20-2 and plays Carmel in the first round of the Westfield sectional next Tuesday. The Royals beat the Greyhounds 52-36 back on Nov. 29, but 4A No. 9 Carmel has been on tear as of late, winning 11 of its last 12 games.

“We know they can be dangerous,” said Huppenthal. “We know they can shoot the ball. We know their length. It’s just something that we’ve got to get ourselves ready for and again, we’ve got to be ready when we walk out of the locker room to play the game.”

A second Weingardt is joining a local accounting firm.  John R. Weingardt has been named Senior Tax Specialist at Peachin, Schwartz and Weingardt.  His father, John W. Weingardt, is a partner on the firm and serves on the Fishers City Council.

Peachin, Schwartz & Weingardt is located on Crosspoint Boulevard in Fishers.

It is no secret that we live in extremely partisan times politically.  The Hamilton County  League of Women Voters is planning an event at the Hamilton East Library in Noblesville Monday, February 17th, at 6:30pm aimed at educating voters on how to find non-partisan information.

The speaker is scheduled to be Bill Moreau, co-founder and president of the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc.–operating online as The Indiana Citizen–a nonpartisan, non-profit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed, engaged Hoosier
voters.

The League will also talk about its Web site – Vote411.org

The February 17th session will include information on referendums, absentee ballots, ID requirements, candidate forum videos and more.

Bank robberies are rare in the City of Fishers, but police report that one happened Tuesday afternoon at the Regions Bank branch near 116th Street & Allisonville Road.

Fishers Police say a suspect displayed a handgun to a teller and demanded money.  The teller complied and the suspect fled the scene.  There were no injuries.

An extensive search was conducted in the area of he bank, but the suspected robber remains at large.  The suspect is described as a black male, 30-40 years of age, wearing a hat and a coat.  Police released a photo from bank security cameras (see photo above).

Anyone with information regarding this robbery should call Detective/Sergeant Robbie Ruble at 317-595-3319.

As one goes through various stages of life, there are major milestones remembered for a lifetime.  For me, count my wedding day and the day my twin daughters were born as two major days to remember.

A new milestone is ahead of me this year.  For the first time, I will become a grandfather.  My daughter and my son-in-law, living in South Dakota, will become parents in August.  The emotions I feel are hard to describe, but I know they are wonderful.

The prospect of becoming a grandparent myself brings back memories of my own grandparents.  I am very fortunate to have clear and amazing memories of all four grandparents.

My grandfathers were larger-than-life men to me as a young man.  My paternal grandfather, Sam Lannan, was a farmer and political activist, holding several elected and appointed offices in Martin County, nestled in rural southwest Indiana. My maternal grandfather, Arnold Kidwell, lived close to us and I saw him regularly.  For a man with only a sixth-grade education (common for farm kids in his day) he had a great deal of intelligence and was as up-to-date on current events as anyone I ever knew.

Then there were my grandmothers, who were both saints in my view.  Dola Lannan was amazing in many ways, perhaps primarily because she put up with my grandfather Sam so well.  She had lots of grandchildren but knew all of us well.  I have so many fond memories of being around her.

My maternal grandmother, Alice Kidwell, told me something I still remember today.  Being a parent is a special experience, she told me, but being a grandparent is even better.  She lived to be 99 years of age, and was of sound mind up to about the age of 95.  I learned so much from her I could not even begin to describe it all here.

So, as I look forward to being a grandfather, I remember all four grandparents.  I know how lucky I am because I know a number of people that never knew any grandparents.

My daughter and son-in-law do not want to know the sex of the baby in advance, that is their call and, I am okay with it.  Will my wife Jane and I spoil our grandchild?  Of course, that’s part of the job.

But spending time with my grandchild will be the most important thing.  Jane and I will be heading to South Dakota even more often than we do now, because time is an important component of being a grandparent.  My dad’s parents did not live close to us but we visited Martin County regularly, and for that I am still grateful.

So, allow me this personal note on what is normally a local news blog to let everyone know I am anticipating another major milestone in my life.  This one may be the most special of all.

The city has accepted a bid from Harding Group to repave city streets during 2020 following a Monday vote by the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety.  The $2.66 million funding will mostly come from the Wheel Tax, although Mayor Scott Fadness emphasized that two parking lot paving projects in the area in commercial areas near City Hall will not by funded by Wheel Tax money.

The bid includes some sidewalk and curb work in the neighborhoods.  Subdivisions that will see this work include Auburn Springs, Pleasant View/Sweet Briar, Sandstone, Spyglass Falls, and Spyglass Hill.  For more details on the work, use this link.

The board also approved purchasing 15 new police patrol vehicles, all Ford Explorer hybrids, for a total of $538,155.  This only covers buying the vehicles, not the cost of outfitting each one with equipment for police use.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board discussed school start times, bus schedules and related issues for more than 90 minutes at an early morning work session Monday, but the board is no closer to a consensus or staff recommendation on where to go from here.  The longer these decisions are delayed, the more likely it will be that the current schedules may continue into next school year.

Superintendent Allen Bourff told board members he has been involved in internal discussions about the start time changes and bus system redesign since he assumed the HSE position in 2015.  Bourff also said the complexity of the various options has led to difficulty in communicating with the public on all the options.

Bourff cited several reasons why schedule changes are being considered by the school district.

First, there is scientific sleep research data that suggests that the school district should make some changes in the daily class schedules.

Second, Bourff says schedule changes can lead to better support of teacher professional development.

Third, there is a constant shortage of school bus drivers in the HSE School District, so redesigning the bus schedule can ease that shortage  by “economizing” the routes.

Finally, a redesigned bus routing system could also create more flexibility for all transportation routes. such as shuttle service between school buildings.

Surveys indicate abut 60% of the respondents do not favor a 3-tier bus scheduling system as proposed, while about 40% favor such a change.  Bourff says many in the community have questioned the reliability of those survey results.

The board is grappling with two concepts – “flipping” start times with elementary students reporting for class earlier with those at the secondary level starting classes later, and going to a 3-tier bus scheduling system.  Both can have an impact on the start and end time of classes each day.

The board held a robust discussion, looking at all proposals from a number of different angles.  After the session ended, Bourff emphasized that the agenda item on Wednesday night’s regular board meeting will remain a discussion item with no action expected.

Scott Spillman of Mudsock Sports told board members moving the secondary class day later could have an impact on the availability of gymnasiums for his group’s indoor programs and could complicate the schedules of volunteer coaches.

School administrators will put together a recommendation for the board, but it will not likely happen soon.