A local school will be able to have 4 goats on the premises following action Monday night by the Fishers City Council.  Riverside Intermediate School will house and care for the goats on school property, but needed an exemption from city ordinances.

Last month, Councilman Pete Peterson was concerned about the ordinance change proposed because he had concerns about what unintended consequences could follow.  The exemption from the animal control ordinance approved Monday night was specific to the plans at Riverside.

Crew Car Wash received the zoning variance the firm was seeking, allowing plans to move forward and locate the company’s headquarters to a facility near 116th Street & I-69.  A car wash operation will be part of the complex.

Monday night, the Fishers City Council passed the final step in allowing the rezoning for the Crew Car Wash plans.

Also, council members members voted Monday for a rezoning of a house located near 126th Street and Olio Road, to be utilized as an insurance agency office.  The vote was 7-1 with Pete Peterson casting the no vote.  Peterson said this use is not part of the 2040 comprehensive plan and he is concerned about how this will impact the area in the future.

The Fishers City Council approved an apartment project at Lantern Road and Fishers Point Boulevard Monday night, over the objections of three council members.  Scannell Properties intends to build the $29 million multifamily development with a tax increment bond to be financed by Scannell.  The developer will receive fee waivers from the city as part of the 180 unit project agreement.

Scannell says this development will be an important gateway to the Nickel Plate District and the Fishers downtown.

The council approved the project agreement with Scannel by a vote of 5-3, with Councilors David George, Todd Zimmerman and Cecilia Coble voting no (Councilman Eric Moeller did not attend the meeting).  George said he has concerns about building apartments at that specific location, because the apartments could limit the development possibilities north the the development, heading toward 116th Street.

Jason Taylor is the Director of Engineering for the City of Fishers and Hatem Mekky is the Assistant Director.  They both took time out and provided an update on road construction in and around Fishers for this podcast.

In February of 2016, I tried an experiment.  Podcasting was gaining interest, so I thought, why not get into the game myself?

So, I produced my first podcast, an interview with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, in February of 2016.  I have been producing podcasts on a fairly consistent basis ever since.

If you haven’t listened to my podcasts for a while, here’s a reminder of what I have to offer.

First, I try to post regular conversations with local people with something important to say.  Recently, there have been LarryInFishers podcasts about the upcoming Spark Fishers Festival, efforts to help businesses and residents when the big State Road 37 construction begins later this summer, and an interview with Sophie Foley, Fishers High School grad who won a second place prize from C-Span for her short documentary film on the Constitution and freedom of speech.  I even recorded a conversation with my wife Jane about our recent trip to New York City.  I have posted podcasts with political candidates and election officials, as well as others key to what is happening in and around Fishers.

Then there is the long-running podcast series I call the Arts&Fishers podcasts.  It consists mostly of film reviews, although I do occasionally review local arts events as well.  Lately, I have posted reviews on films such as Late Night and Rocketman,

Finally, there is the film review series with my podcasting partner Adam Aasen, which we call “Hamilton County Goes To The Movies.”  We started that podcast series in the summer of 2017, but needed to push the pause button in 2018.  I was preparing to travel the state teaching for Indiana University and Adam was about to become a father for the first time.  Adam was also a Carmel City Council candidate.  Adam’s beautiful daughter was born last December and he is enjoying his first Father’s Day as a dad himself.  He won the Republican nomination for the City Council seat in the May primary election.

Adam and I may have paused the podcast last fall but we decided to come back.  We may not post every week, but we will as film releases warrant.

So, check out my podcasts.  They are available a a variety of platforms where you can find podcasts.  I have had tens of thousands of “listens” (times were a person has listened to most or all of a podcast) since February of 2016.  I would appreciate you sampling what I have to offer.

Also, if you listen on iTunes, take a moment to rate the podcast and write a brief comment or two.  I would appreciate it.

Here are links to a few of the places where you can find my podcast.

Spotify 

Apple Podcasts

iTunes

Stitcher

Listen Notes

Soundcloud

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

When the Hamilton Southeastern baseball team began practices this week, coach Jeremy Sassanella noticed that there were “an awful lot of smiles” that day.

There’s a reason for all the Royal smiles: Southeastern is getting ready to play for a state championship. The Royals will play Columbus East for the Class 4A state title on Monday at Victory Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

“They’re focused and approaching the week with great anticipation, excitement, and pride,” said Sassanella, who guided the Royals to state in his first year as HSE’s head coach. Sassanella said he believes his players understand the task at hand, as well as what it means to be the first Southeastern team to go to the baseball state finals.

“These kids are living up the moment and enjoying the ride,” said Sassanella.

While Southeastern is making its first-ever appearance in the state finals, Columbus East will be playing at state for the fourth time. The Olympians also reached state in 1979, 1987 and 1989, back when four teams played at that level. Columbus East lost in the semi-finals each time, so the Olympians are making their first appearance in the championship game as well.

Columbus East is 25-4 for the season. The Olympians won their first seven games before falling to Brownsburg, then won six of their next seven contests before dropping consecutive games to Columbus North and Floyd Central.

Since then, Columbus East has won 12 straight games – six in the regular season, six in the tournament. The Olympians won a tough sectional at East Central by beating Shelbyville 1-0, Bloomington South 2-1 and Columbus North 5-3.

Columbus East picked up two more close victories at the Evansville Reitz regional, first squeezing past Jeffersonville 8-7 in 10 innings, then beating Castle 5-1 in the championship. The Olympians then won their first semi-state in 30 years, traveling to Mooresville and beating Avon 10-3.

Two batters in the Columbus East lineup are batting over .400. Senior Julian Greenwell averages .421, while junior Dalton Back hits at a .404 clip. Both have the most hits on the team with 40, while Back leads in runs batted in (35), runs scored (33), triples (five) and is tied for first with six home runs. Greenwell and junior Cole Gilley both have nine doubles, while senior Nash Murphy also has cracked six home runs.

Gilley is one of three solid pitchers for the Olympians, with a 7-1 record; he also leads the team in strikeouts with 86. Sophomore Cole Taylor is 8-0 with a 1.09 earned-run average, while sophomore Kaden Wise is 7-1 with an ERA of 1.63.

While the Royals haven’t been able to see Columbus East play in person, Sassanella said they were able to speak with several teams that took on the Olympians.

“They’ve got some very quality arms and have been stout offensively,” said Sassanella. “Have some quality wins on the year and we know they’re a very competitive bunch who plays with a ton of confidence.”

The same could be said of Southeastern, which comes into state with a 22-8 record. The Royals are on a 10-game win streak that includes a regular-season finale sweep of Franklin Central, which helped Southeastern clinch the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship.

Playing at the Noblesville sectional, HSE beat North Central 7-0, Westfield 1-0 and Carmel 7-1 to win its first sectional title since 2015. The Royals then cruised to a win at the Lafayette Jefferson regional, overwhelming Fort Wayne South Side 14-0 and Fort Wayne Carroll 6-1.

Southeastern then won its first-ever semi-state championship by beating Mishawaka 4-2. In doing so, the Royals are now the fourth HCC team to play in the state finals over the past six years, joining Noblesville (2014), Zionsville (2016) and Fishers (2018).

“I’d confidently put our conference up against any conference in Indiana as the toughest out there,” said Sassanella. “The teams are full of high quality players and coaches year in and year out. The teams are well prepared, well rounded, and well coached. Having so much quality talent in Central Indiana and in the HCC helps in a big way come post season play.”

Senior Greyson Droste is the Royals’ leading hitter with a .410 average; he also leads the team in hits (34) and doubles (11). Droste shares the top spot when it comes to RBI with Matthew Buckingham, as both have 25. Jake Stout and Jake Huston lead in runs scored with 21 each.

On the mound, the Royals have two great pitchers. Michael Dillon is 9-1 for the season with a 2.12 ERA and 74 strikeouts, while Tyler Schweitzer is 8-2, with an ERA of 1.43 and a team-leading 87 strikeouts.

“We’ve obviously been very pleased with the efforts of our staff this year and their development over the season,” said Sassanella. “I’m most impressed with their composure and execution in a ton of big games. So much focus on kids these days with big arms and not enough on kids becoming pitchers.  I feel the most proud of how our pitching staff has executed their pitches and stayed composed against a gauntlet of our regular season schedule and post season journey. They’ve learned to compete at a high level which requires more than just being able to throw hard. They’ve also supported each other as a staff and done so with little regard for who gets the credit. They care for each other and just want to do their part to help the team win.”

After a long hiatus, Adam Aasen & I are back with the podcast series Hamilton County Goes To The Movies.  The podcast will be a periodic look at films available locally.

Several ongoing road construction projects continue this summer throughout the City of Fishers.  In addition, several road resurfacing projects will be underway in a number of local neighborhoods.

Here is the weekly listing of road construction projects, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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If you ever wanted to see a real astronaut live and in person, the Hamilton East Library in downtown Fishers will give you that opportunity on Monday, June 17th, at 7:00pm.

Dr. David Wolf will be on hand to speak of his many experiences exploring outer space.

There are no tickets required and you need not register.  Just come to the library Monday, June 17th at 7:00pm.

Emma Thompson has acting talent, as does MIndy Kaling.  Add in Kaling’s screenplay and you get a mixture that results in plenty of laughs.  My review of the film Late Night