The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools started the school year with a policy of recommending mask wearing, with no mandate. At the Wednesday afternoon school board meeting, Superintendent Yvonne Stokes told the board administrators are following the language provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and continue to monitor each school building for COVID cases and exposure.
Dr. Stokes said that if the school district does decide to implement a mask mandate, there will be evidence to justify that decision. HSE School officials will make adjustments as needed based on the data at hand.
Plenty of e-mails have been flooding Dr. Stokes e-mail account about mask policy with varying views on the issue. She emphasizes that everyone on her administrative team does care about all children in the school district.
According to Stokes, some HSE students have been in COVID quarantine settings.
“We are aware of the CDC guidance and we are currently deliberating the feasibility of us incorporating shorter quarantine time periods,” Stokes told school board members.
Fishers is beginning to feel the same impact of increased COVID cases seen in the rest of the state. In a video update, Fishers Health Department Epidemiologist Josh Robinson cited the increase in the primary metrics as the reason for a risk level change.
The department has increased the community risk level from level 1 (green) to level 2 (yellow). The Hamilton County positivity rate is at 11.4%, which puts the county in red, the highest risk category. The Fishers testing site has a positivity rate of 7.87%, or level orange. The Fishers case incidence rate is at 19.54 (orange).
The area availability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) space is in green, the best availability level. However, local hospitalizations, in general, are increasing, according to Robinson.
The Fishers Health Department has seen a dramatic increase in positivity rates from early July to early August, with biggest increase in the age group under 12, the sector not eligible for the vaccine. But Robinson adds that the increase in positive cases is being seen in other age groups as well.
Robinson warns the current trends point to the strong possibility Fishers may move the community risk rating level up to level 3 as early as August 17th or 24th.
“There remains a higher level of risk for contracting and transmitting COVID now than what we’ve seen the past few months,” said Robinson.
Over 75% of our eligible (12 & over) population in Fishers has at least one COVID vaccine dose, but still leaves about 18,000 eligible residents unvaccinated. Also, Robinson says there are about 18,000 people under the age of 12 living in Fishers not yet able to receive a vaccination.
For those reasons, the Fishers Health Department urges the local population to follow CDC guidelines on mask wearing.
If you have any questions or want to setup a vaccination, contact the Fishers Health Department at 317-595-3211.
You can view the latest video from Josh Robinson at this link.
It may have been 17 years ago, but the Indiana Pacer players involved in the incident often described as Malice at the Palace have never talked much about what happened that night in November of 2004. But a new documentary shows the entire situation in a different light. Here is my review of the Netflix documentary film Untold: Malice at the Palace.
Also, as a bonus, listen after my review for Adam Aasen’s interview of Jermaine O’Neal.
It has been months since the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety has been asked to consider the placement of 5G cell towers in local neighborhoods. Verizon had paused its program late last year and has restarted the process in recent months.
Two proposed neighborhood tower plans were tabled by the board. The first to be tabled was at the Lantern Overlook subdivision. Residents speaking before the board said one proposed tower would be placed in a nature preserve. One resident broke down into tears talking about how the tower would ruin the natural view from her home.
Mayor Scott Fadness urged Verizon to find a solution that meets the technology firm’s technical needs without impacting the Lantern Overlook homeowners.
“The current location, as proposed…from my perspective, is not suitable,” Fadness said. “It adversely impacts individual homeowners disproportionately for this neighborhood.”
The mayor says he is willing to work with Verizon for an acceptable compromise. The city has approved most of the proposed towers, so, in the spirit of compromise, Fadness is asking that the Lantern Overlook tower placement be reconsidered.
The board also tabled the proposed tower location in the Harrison Woods neighborhood. Verizon is being asked to work with both Lantern Overlook and Harrison Woods HOAs and residents for a solution that works for all parties.
Several neighborhood tower location plans were approved with no public comment, with Verizon and the neighborhoods working out any tower placement issues in advance. That includes Canyon Ridge, Cherry Hill Farms, Harrison Green and Lantern Farms.
As Mayor Fadness reminded everyone at the Tuesday morning board meeting, state and federal statutes limit what a city may consider on where 5G towers are place.
I clearly remember the first time I met Bob Jenkins. I was working at the radio station in Martinsville, Indiana and one of our rural county schools, Monrovia, was in the high school football playoffs in the 1970s. I was assigned to call the game play-by-play. Bob had been assigned by Network Indiana to provide reports on the game periodically.
I recall we talked a while before the game started. In a business where egos can inflate to very large levels, Bob was as humble and regular as a person could be. Anyone meeting Bob would learn to like him quickly.
It was many years later that I left the radio broadcasting business and went into the civil service. But for several years in the 1980s, I took a working vacation and filed radio reports on activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice and qualifying.
I recall a group of sports reporters that hung around the pits at the start-finish line where the race officials were measuring speed. You had to be there in order to know the latest news.
Bob was almost always there and I enjoyed listening to the banter between him and the other members of the local sports media. I wasn’t a regular, so I mostly listened, and learned a lot.
One could learn about auto racing by listening to Bob Jenkins. He helped create NASCAR on cable TV as the anchor for the early broadcasts on ESPN. He later worked the Indy 500 on race day for the world-wide radio network carrying the race and later for ABC Sports. Bob accomplished so much in his career.
We both worked for Network Indiana for a few months in 1983, but he worked in sports and the newsroom where I toiled was on the other side of the building. I rarely saw Bob during that time.
Bob Jenkins death was announced August 9th. He had been fighting cancer for some time and I was hearing from his close friends that Bob didn’t have much time left. But Bob left all of us a body of work to remember. I am proud to have known him just a little.
My first memories of WIBC go back to the early 1960s. My parents bought my brother Tom & I new transistor radios, fairly high tech for that day and age. That’s when I began listening to AM 1070, WIBC.
At that time, WIBC with the top rock station in Indianapolis. Bouncing Bill Baker was on every morning while preparing for school. But the station also did plenty of news and sports. Sid Collins had a sports roundup every evening.
When WIFE-AM went on the air, replacing the old WISH Radio at 1310 AM, they took the rock audience with them and WIBC transitioned to more adult music. But WIBC remained a top station in the Indianapolis market.
When I began my radio career in the late 1960s, WIBC had the best radio newsroom in the state. It was a first-class operation from top to bottom.
As radio’s business model began to change, the owners switched the FM station on 93.1 to WIBC and transformed the AM 1070 signal to WFNI, a sports talk station.
Only a few days ago, an historic event happened. The AM 1070 signal went silent. The ownership says they are searching for another way to bring AM 1070 back, but the radio engineers I know say that will be a tough goal to reach.
The 6 towers that manage the 1070 directional signal have been located near Zionsville. you can see the towers from I-65. But you won’t for long.
Turns out suburban sprawl made the land where the towers are located just too valuable and developers made an offer to the radio station ownership they could not refuse. So the towers are coming down and development on the property is already underway.
Because the signal for AM 1070 is directional, so as not to interfere with other AM stations, finding a location to bring 1070 back will be difficult, but not impossible. Emmis Broadcasting says they are trying and I believe the company.
But all those memories dating back to the early 1960s came back when I learned about the demise of AM 1070. Only time will tell if it ever returns.
There is lots to talk about on the movie front. I could not make this week’s podcast recording session, but Adam Aasen & Alec Toombs talk about Green Knight, The Suicide Squad, Untold: Malice at the Palace and the ScarJo lawsuit against Disney in this episode of the Grade A Movies Podcast.
It is once again time for the Fishers Police Cadet Program to accept new members.
Registration is now open for all Fishers area teens between the ages of 14 (or currently enrolled in the eighth grade) through 19 (or currently enrolled as a senior in high school).
There is a 20stop, electronic registration system. The first step calls for filling out the interest form and then officers will conduct a background check. After the background portion is complete, a link will be sent to complete the second step. Registration is open now through August 25, 2021. Register here, www.fishers.in.us/cadetprogram.
The purpose of the Fishers Police Cadet Program is to provide Fishers’ area youth between the ages of 14 and 19 with information about a law enforcement career through hands-on experiences, tours, guest speakers, and discussions. The Fishers Police Cadets meet two Tuesdays each month during the school year with additional volunteer and ride along opportunities throughout the year.
The first meeting for FPD Cadets will be held on Tuesday, September 14 from 5:30 until 8:00 p.m. at the Fishers Police Department located at 4 Municipal Drive, Fishers, IN 46038.
There is good and bad news on the COVID front locally.
Fishers Health Department Epidemiologist Josh Robinson reported earlier this week that the Fishers Testing Site shows a 4.7% positivity rate, which puts the city in the green, or low category. However, the Hamilton County Unique Positivity Rate is at 9.8% and Fishers has a case incidence rate, measuring the average daily cases for a 14-day average per 100,000 residents, of 10.25%, the highest that number has been in a while. Both Hamilton County and the Fishers case incidence rate levels are in the significant level, or orange.
The overall community risk level is at yellow, Level 2, or moderate. Contact Tracing, testing availability and testing turnaround remains in green, or a low risk area.
Hospital capacity locally and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) availability locally remains good. But, Robinson cautions there has been a recent increase in daily hospitalizations.
Again, the good news is that the overall COVID community risk level in Fishers is green, or low. However, Robinson projects the risk rating will rise next week based on the data he sees this week.
The best news Robinson has for Fishers is that 67.74% of the Fishers population 12 years of age and older are fully vaccinated, and 74.84% have one COVID vaccination. This lowers the chances of more variants and mutations of COVID developing.
But Robinson reminds us that about 19,000 Fishers residents are eligible for the shot and have not yet been vaccinated. The state of Indiana reports that 87% of new COVID cases are Delta variant. This variant generally infect 8-9 more people per infection, compared to 1-2 with cases not Delta.
The Fishers Health Department recommends masking, including universal masking for K-12 schools, including visitors. The Hamilton Southeastern Schools are recommending masking as classes begin, but have not made masking mandatory.
The Fishers Health Department is offering walk-in vaccinations. Here is the information:
You may recall that the Spark Fishers concert featuring the Spin Doctors scheduled for June had to be postponed and has been rescheduled for October 1st, 8pm, at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater in downtown Fishers.
Admission continues to be free for this event. Operating restrooms, hand washing, and sanitization stations will be available on site. No outside alcohol will be allowed. Chairs and blankets are welcome. The Fishers Parks and Recreation Department will continue to monitor federal, state and local COVID guidelines daily, and will adapt accordingly.
The Spin Doctors are Gammy award nominees. The band is best known for their early ‘90s hits “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and No. 17 respectively.
