The Fishers Health Department has seen an increase in its COVID testing site in positive cases, while the Hamilton County positivity rate has seen a decreased.  Local Health officials have looked at the data and found he case incidence rate is 3.6 times higher for those unvaccinated.

Below is the latest update, as provided by the Fishers Health Department:

Fishers Metrics Review Over the past week, we’ve seen an increase in cases both in Fishers and across the state. Overall, the Hamilton County positivity rate for unique individuals has decreased from 10.2% to 9.9%, while the Fishers testing site positivity rate has increased from 11.1% to 13.8%. We also have seen an increase in the Fishers case incidence rate from 16.5 to 21.5, which is the first increase that we’ve had in the case incidence rates in several weeks.  Looking at the data, the case incidence rate is 3.6 times higher in unvaccinated individuals, so the most important thing we can do is to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the booster if you’re eligible, and encourage friends, family, loved ones, and community members to get vaccinated.  Walk-in or schedule ahead and get your free COVID-19 vaccine at the Fishers Health Department Vaccine Site, at your local pharmacy, or various pop-up clinics throughout the city. See the full metrics report.
		Pediatric COVID Vaccine Now Available Parents can now schedule an appointment for their child(ren) ages 5 – 11 to receive the free pediatric COVID-19 vaccine online at ourshot.in.gov, by calling 2-1-1, or the Fishers COVID Hotline at 317-595-3211. Please note that appointments are required, no walk in availabie until further notice.  A parent or guardian must provide consent, and children under 16 must be accompanied to the vaccination appointment by an adult.  At this time, the Pfizer vaccine is the only approved COVID-19 vaccine for ages five to 11 and is administered as a two-dose primary series, three weeks apart, but is a lower dose (10 micrograms) than that used for individuals 12 years of age and older (30 micrograms).
		Booster Shot Update The Fishers Health Department offers booster shots for eligible individuals who meet the following requirements: Received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine as their initial series 6 or more months ago and: Age 65+ Age 18+ who live in long-term care settings Age 18+ who have underlying medical conditions Age 18+ who work or live in high-risk settings Age 18+ who received Johnson & Johnson 2 or more months ago The CDC continues to update the criteria for those eligible for boosters. Please visit the CDC’s website for the most updated eligibility requirements. CDC’s recommendations now allow eligible individuals to choose which vaccine they receive as a booster dose.  To schedule your appointment, visit fishers.in.us/vaccine and learn more on the Booster Shot FAQs page. The Fishers Mass Vaccination Clinic at 12520 E 116th Street (at the corner of 116th Street and Brooks School Road) has dedicated a large number of appointments to facilitate this process.

The calendar may say mid-November, but there continues to be road work in and around Fishers.  The ongoing projects continue, plus there are road resurfacing plans in the upcoming week.

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

The weather did not cooperate for an outdoor Liberty Plaza Fishers Veterans Day event, but the ceremony was moved indoors Thursday morning to the YMCA, where a good crowd gathered for the proceedings.

Senator Todd Young provided the keynote address, telling the story of a Civil War soldier from Bartholomew County, Indiana, that never received the glory he was due for playing a key role in the Union winning the war, by intercepting the war plans of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

El Ahlwardt did his usual masterful job of keeping the show moving along.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness handed out pins to all vets on hand and provided the closing remarks.

The Fishers Junior High School Choir provided the patriotic music, under the direction of Cindy Baney.

Here are more photos from the Fishers Veterans Day ceremony:

Continue reading Senator Todd Young provides Veterans Day Keynote Address →

Fishers is having a great deal of success in attracting foreign firms in the life science industry and announced Thursday morning that a Korean company is headed to our city.

List Biotherapeutics plans a $125 million facility in Fishers encompassing 110,000 square feet on 15 acres in the Fishers Life Science & Innovation Park.  List, whose parent is Genome & Company in South Korea, plans to hire 210 employees and open by the end of 2023.

Stevanato Group and INCOG Pharma are already part of the Park, located near 126th Street and Cumberland Road.

“Fishers is perfectly positioned to support List Bio’s global expansion plans,” stated Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness in a company news release. “We have the skilled workforce, infrastructure, and partnership with my administration that allows List Bio to focus on what matters: developing next-generation technology for the LBP manufacturing industry.”

As far as government incentives in the package, pending approval of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) board of directors, based on the company’s job creation plans, the IEDC will commit an investment in List Biotherapeutics Inc. of up to $3.15 million in the form of incentive-based tax credits. The IEDC will also offer the company up to $75,000 in conditional training grants, and up to $1,685,000 to the local community from the Industrial Development Grant Fund to support infrastructure improvements.  These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once people are hired and trained and investments are made.

The Fishers City Council will review and vote upon additional incentives during the November 15 City Council meeting, which include a 15-year personal property tax abatement and approximately 15 acres of real property.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board approved the hiring of a new assistant principal at Fall Creek Junior High School Wednesday night.  Michael Ryan comes to HSE from Brownsburg, but was with HSE Schools before that.

“I am so excited to come back and bring all that I’ve learned at Brownsburg, but also all that I know at HSE the time that I was here,” Ryan told the board.

In other items from the board meeting:

–Board Secretary Julie Chambers presented data on how the 4 board districts may be redrawn based on new census data and the new precinct boundaries nearly complete at the county level, awaiting final state approval.  The goal is to have all four districts as even as possible in population.  However, Board Member Suzanne Thomas presented differing numbers she says are based on the new precincts.  Board members agreed they need to work on getting agreement on the numbers and decide how the new boundary lines should be done.  No action was taken Wednesday.

–The school district reviewed a new agreement with the city to handle maintenance and snow removal on school grounds.  The pact had not been revisited since 2013.  Under the proposed contract with the city, the schools would pay $482,000 per year for the city service.  HSE Facilities Director Harry Delks told the board it would cost the schools well over $1 million to obtain this service from another source.  No action was taken and will be considered at a future meeting for approval.

–The board unanimously approved the new one-year contract with the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association, calling for a 3.25% pay increase for teachers.  Both sides praised each other in the handling of the talks.  Association President Abby Taylor told LarryInFishers that the new pact received 95% support from the teachers voting to ratify.

–Board members Brad Boyer and Suzanne Thomas voted against a normally routine funding item on the Wednesday agenda, due to an item providing “restorative training” to HSE staff.  Administrators described the restorative system as a way to have suspended students consider why they were suspended rather than stay home or serve the suspension at school.  The funding measure passed 5-2.

–The Snapshot of Success recognized HSE High School Junior Aryadeep Buddha for earning $3,500, competing in the AT&T 5G Sports Hackathon.  He devised a game people attending sporting events can play in-between the action, using 5G technology.

Masks remain required in Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools, but that may be changing.

“We are planning to go mask optional for second semester, I want parents to know that,” says HSE Schools Superintendent Yvonne Stokes.  She plans to consult with the teachers next week on those plans and expects to utilize metrics in monitoring the situation within each HSE school building.

It is possible that the district could reimpose a  mask mandate in an individual building, based on the metrics for that building.

Stokes says the school board will consider the “Return to In-Person Instruction Plan” at the December 8 board session where public comment will be available for that agenda item.

Parents will not be required to vaccinate their children in order to attend HSE Schools, but unvaccinated students will be subject to additional protocols, according to Superintendent Stokes.  Also, it will take several weeks for students receiving the vaccination to become fully vaccinated.

The district is having challenges with support staff, as are many local schools in the area.  Even among substitute teachers, only about 10% of the sub pool is willing to work under the present conditions of COVID. To respond to that and a need for support staff in general, the district will host a Hiring Fair, Thursday, December 9, 4-7pm, at the Fishers High School College and Career Academy (CCA).  HSE will be seeking applicants for substitute teachers, instructional assistants, remediation staff, bus drivers, and food service workers.

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When the City of Fishers scheduled the Veterans Day ceremony outdoors at Liberty Plaza, they were taking a chance on the weather.  It appears the weather has won in 2021.

The event has been moved indoors to the Fishers YMCA (9012 E. 126th St.) for Thursday, November 11, at 10am.

Indiana United States Senator Todd Young is scheduled to be the featured speaker.

This is my the first time missing a Fishers State of the City address delivered by Mayor Scott Fadness.  I think I had an excuse, in a local hospital room with an IV in my arm.

The mayor’s staff did provide me with the text of his speech.  I always look to what the mayor chooses to highlight in the speech as a way of gauging his view of where Fishers has been, is now and appears to be headed in the future.

The speech opened with thoughts on an international flight (parents with boys his age get little quiet time at home).  He recalled what it was like in the early stages of the pandemic.

He then brought up to the stage his department heads and staff, providing the audience with a rundown of how each had contributed to the city getting through the COVID period as well as could be expected under the circumstances.

As the mayor looked to the future, he cited the constant bombardment of negative messages about government and how that has created a skeptical view of Fishers, since the constant bickering is common on the national level.  In the view of Fadness, all that national noise makes it difficult to take the pulse of the local community accurately.

He then pivoted to the many accomplishments the city has seen recently, including weathering the COVID economic storm, along with a long list of projects the city is undertaking.

Mayor Fadness makes an appeal at the end of the speech, challenging us to find our common ground, our agreement on some basics.  He recognizes the differences we have, but asks that we overcome those differences by striving to exercise three qualities:  grace, curiosity and a sense of humor.

Fadness looks to the next 24-36 months, saying the city will see a “remarkable transformation.”  So, just where were you on that international travel Mr. Mayor?  Going for another economic development project?  After all, the city just lured an Italian firm here.

This speech looked back at the painful start of the COVID pandemic, how Fishers dealt with that situation, then looked forward to how we might come together as a community on some common ground we all share.

Mayor Scott Fadness laid down a challenge for all of us.  Can we come together and reach some common ground in this era of hyper-partisanship?  The answer resides in all of us, the citizens of Fishers.  Time will tell.

There were two serious traffic crashes in Fishers in recent days, one Friday and the other Sunday.  The Friday accident took one person’s life.

At 2:30pn Friday, Fishers Police responded to 131st Street and Olio Road and found a crash involving two vehicles, with three people sent to area hospitals.  One of the three died.

The fatality is identified as Billy Newman, 95, from Fishers.  Injured were Doris Newman, 81, also from Fishers, and Marsha Lipe, 72, from Indianapolis.

Based on evidence collected at the scene and witness statements provided to officers, it appears a Cadillac, traveling southbound, turned left (eastbound), into the path of an Acura traveling northbound.

This crash remains under investigation.

Sunday at 4:30pm, officers were called to Allisonville Road and White Oaks Drive, finding a vehicle stopped and a pedestrian taken to a local hospital.

According to police, the pedestrian, an unidentified 15-year-old,  was running eastbound, across Allisonville Road, when he crossed into the path of the southbound vehicle. Authorities says the driver immediately stopped and cooperated with the investigation.

No citations were issued. This crash remains under investigation.

Police provided no update on the conditions of those injured in the two accidents.

Democrat Jocelyn Vare was elected to the Fishers City Council in 2019, taking office in 2020.  She is announcing her candidacy for the newly drawn Indiana State Senate District 31 seat.  Several political commentators have suggested the new senate district can be competitive for Democratic candidates.

Vare says Fishers voters put their trust in her as an at-large council member and she will go on a listening tour seeking the trust of those in the redistricted seat.

“I earned that trust by listening to Fishers voters and I will continue listening whether I am at City Hall or the Statehouse,” Vare said. “During my State Senate campaign, people can be confident that I will continue my Fishers City Council service focused on resident representation and transparency.”

In the news release announcing her exploratory committee, Vare cites her independence in dealing with the Republican majority on the city council.

“Everyone deserves a public servant who represents them – someone who puts them first,
works hard, and thinks independently,” said Vare. “I am that public servant. I have
always been centered by local issues that make a difference in people’s lives, like caring for our neighborhoods and educating our kids.”

Vare and Samantha DeLong were the first Fishers Democrats elected to city office in anyone’s memory.  Ms. DeLong recently moved out of state and Crystal Neumann was appointed to complete the council term.

According to Vare, the new Senate District 31 “brings our city together for the first time to vote for our representative in the Indiana State Senate.”  The district includes Fishers, Geist, parts of Noblesville and the Northeast Side of Indianapolis.