“Indiana already has one national black eye in the aftermath of the RFRA debacle. It doesn’t need another because some legislators insist on letting it remain one of the few states without a meaningful hate crime law.”

–Greg Weaver, former government and politics editor at The Indianapolis Star.

Indiana is at an important crossroads.  If our lawmakers at the Statehouse make the wrong decision, the entire state will pay a dear price.  It is all about a hate crimes law (also known as a bias crimes law) and Indiana is on a list that is not a good one.

The Hoosier state is one of 5 states without a hate crimes law.  The Indiana Senate passed a strong piece of legislation out of committee early in the session, then the bill was amended on the Senate floor in a way that cut the guts out of the proposal.

The bill is now in the hands of the Indiana House of Representatives.  What happens next will have major economic ramifications for us all.

The Senate cut-out the list of groups covered by the bias crimes law, including race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.  Without that list as part of the law, Indiana will remain on the list of 5 states without a hate crimes law.

Two men attended a news conference at the Statehouse a few days ago, put on by the Indiana Technology & Innovation Association.  One was John McDonald.  He is the CEO of Clear Object, one of the fastest growing tech companies in the state, headquartered in downtown Fishers. The other was John Wechsler, founder of Launch Fishers and the Indiana Internet of Things Lab located in Fishers.

Both men understand what is at stake here.  If our state legislators do not enact a meaningful bias crimes law, tech companies cannot survive here.

Check out what McDonald said about the importance of including a specific list of the groups covered in this law.

“Technology is Indiana’s fastest growing sector, but we’re in a death match for talent. There aren’t enough skilled workers to fill the jobs we’re creating,” said McDonald. “Having Indiana on the list of 5 states without a bias crimes law is a barrier to attracting skilled talent to our state. We can’t get off this unflattering ‘list of 5,’ without a list.”

Firms such as Eli Lilly and Cummins Engine have told lawmakers much the same thing….without a meaningful hates crimes law, young talent will not locate here.  Our reputation will be that of an intolerant state.

Anyone living in Indiana, and I’ve lived here all my life, is aware we are, by and large, a welcoming place.  Like any other state, we have our small segments of people with other ideas, but we are a largely welcoming place.  If our laws do not reflect that, our reputation elsewhere will not reflect that.

Greg Weaver was an editor of politics and government at the Indianapolis Star.  I have never met Mr. Weaver, but based on comments I have seen and heard, the reporters working under him all thought the world of him.  Sadly, he left journalism by taking an early retirement incentive from the Star’s owner, Gannett.

If you want a view on the importance of Indiana’s reputation, read the piece he recently wrote, published in the Terre Haute Tribune Star, at this link.  He says it much better than I ever could.

A letter to the editor was published in the Indianapolis Business Journal’s March 8th edition, signed by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, several other area mayors and a number of business leaders.  They all urge Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma to restore “the list” to the hate crimes bill (SB12).

Governor Eric Holcomb is solidly behind a meaningful hate crimes law.  Some people are worried the governor has not been aggressive enough in using his bully pulpit to make the case.  It should be noted that Indiana’s governor is institutionally weak in dealing with laws.  The governor can veto legislation, but a simple majority in the Senate and House can override a governor’s veto.

The issue before our lawmakers is clear.  If a meaningful hate crimes bill is not enacted, high-tech firms will not grow, and maybe need to leave the state of Indiana because employees will refuse to live here.  Large companies founded in Indiana, such as Lilly and Cummins,  will not be able to grow their work force and, over time, could be forced to move their headquarters elsewhere because employees will not come to live and work in a state they do not view as welcoming.

So, here we are, at a crossroads.  Our state faces the real possibility of becoming an economic backwater.  What will our lawmakers do?

I know one thing, after getting to know many legislators over the years.  They read their mail.  They pay attention to comments made in phone calls and e-mails.  They all pay attention to what their constituents are saying.

If you have strong feelings about the bias crimes law, now is the time to let your member of the House and Senate in the Indiana Legislature know what you think.

Supporting a meaningful hate crimes bill, with a list, is not just critical to the economic future of Indiana…..it’s the right thing to do.

Fishers Mayoral Candidate Logan Day held a Meet & Greet event at the Holland Park building Sunday afternoon, attracting 25-30 of his supporters.  The Republican primary hopeful discussed campaign issues and the importance of voter registration.

Day is challenging incumbent Mayor Scott Fadness in the May 7th GOP primary election.

Hamilton County Reporter

A ceremony was held on Friday to recognize and celebrate officers in several divisions of the Sheriff’s Office who were promoted in rank. The promotions were a combination of hard-rank positions accomplished through a competitive testing process and positions appointed by Sheriff Quakenbush. The selection process for promotion consists of written tests, interviews, practical examinations and evaluations, among other factors.

Dustin Dixon was promoted to Merit Lieutenant. Dixon will head the Nights A squad in Patrol. Lt. Dixon has been a K9 deputy for many years and oversees the program as well as the Tactical Tracking Team.

Dan DeYoung was promoted to the rank of Merit Sergeant. DeYoung came to the Sheriff’s Office in 2013 after serving with the Illinois State Police. He is assigned to the Nights A squad and also serves as a firearms instructor and on the Bike Team.

The Reserve Division falls under the Patrol Division and several promotions were appointed in the area. Reserves serve as volunteer deputies to augment Sheriff’s Office full-time staff. Reserves have employment outside the Sheriff’s Office but work numerous hours in volunteer capacities to assist in any ways they can, most often as road deputies.

Matt Snively was appointed Reserve Captain after recently serving as a lieutenant in the division. Snively has been with the Reserve Division for 20 years.

Ryan Horine was appointed Reserve Lieutenant. Horine has served in numerous capacities around the Sheriff’s Office and has been part of the Reserve Division since 2001.

Kurt Delong, Mike Gordon, and Blaine Mallaber were appointed as Reserve Sergeants. The Reserve Division is divided into three squads with a sergeant overseeing each squad. Delong joined the Reserve Division in 2000, Gordon in 2005, and Mallaber 2013.

Scott Goff was promoted to the rank of Detective Sergeant in the Investigations Division. Goff was hired in 2007 and spent his early years in the Patrol Division before moving into Investigations. In addition to his work as a detective, Goff provides Critical Incident Response with the Peer Support Team, is active on the Tactical Tracking Team, and is a certified bike instructor.

Michael Stanisz was promoted to the rank of Corrections Sergeant in the Jail Division. Stanisz has been with Sheriff’s Office since 2013 and been active in numerous ways in the jail. He will be busy as the jail continues to expand.

Bryant Orem was promoted to the rank of Merit Sergeant in the Operations Division where he will oversee Records Management and Data Analysis. Orem was hired in 2008 and served in the Patrol Division and as Public Information Officer among other tasks.

When it became known through a number of media reports, and ads asking people to apply for jobs, that Shake Shack was looking into expanding into the Indy metro area, the rumor mill began to get lively.  Will Shake Shack end up in the now-under-construction Yard project in Fishers?

After all, the culinary area of The Yard and Shake Shack would appear, on the surface, to be a perfect match.  But don’t start longing for those burgers and shakes just yet.

Lori Wick, spokesperson for Thompson Thrift, developer of The Yard, tells Larry In Fishers, “…we do not have a signed lease with Shake Shack and cannot provide any additional information.”

Now, that does not preclude Shake Shack from entering into a contract agreement with Thompson Thrift to have a presence in The Yard at a future date, but as of this writing, there is no contract in place. Most developers will not comment on a tenant without a signed contract in hand.

So, no contract now, but let’s wait and see what the future brings.

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) 

Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday at 2 a.m. It was just beginning to get light at 7 a.m. Now it will be dark again.

Of course it will be lighter in the evening, but with cold weather still here, what good does that do us?

Now I read that there is a move to leave us on Eastern Daylight the year around.

It’s time to stop this foolishness. Indiana belongs on Central Standard Time. That’s historically accurate and is easily seen by looking at a U.S. map.

The fact is come Sunday morning most of Indiana will be on double daylight time again as we now are every summer season.

Our state legislature’s desire to beat the clock and give us more light in the evening started in the 1960s when Indiana was “moved” from the Central Time Zone to Eastern thanks to various lobbying groups who wanted us on the same time as New York.

For many years we stayed on Eastern Standard the year around while most of the other states went to Daylight Time in the summer. That was not bad, but the pressure groups got busy again a few years ago and convinced the legislature we needed to observe Daylight time, which amounts to double daylight when compared with the Central Time zone where we really belong.

Hamilton County’s Sue Dillon has been working on this for years. She is sometimes misunderstood by folks who think she is against daylight time. No, she is telling us the simple fact that we belong on Central Time where we could observe daylight time in the summer.

Let’s not let this latest lunacy of maintaining Eastern Daylight the year around go any further or school kids will be standing in the dark at the bus stop until 8:30.

When Miss Indiana Lydia Tremaine began speaking before lunch crowd of students at HSE High School Friday, she made a couple of things clear….no, she was not a popular kid during her days as a student at East Noble High School in the northern Indiana community of Kendallville, but she used her talents in music and singing to win the Miss Indiana title and won the right to be a part of the Miss America pageant.

Miss Indiana was in Fishers to meet with students and promote the dance marathon benefiting Riley Children’s Hospital.  She encouraged HSE students to get involved in raising money for Riley.

Ms. Tremaine also promotes programs for those with disabilities, and participated throughout the day Friday in events around Fishers promoting Disability Awareness Month

When starting this blog in January of 2012, I vaguely remembered a small notation on the first Fishers Town Council meeting I covered.  I went back and checked the story about that January 17th session, & found the following last sentence in that piece: “A new town employee, engineering consultant Jeff Hill, was introduced to the council.”

Jeff Hill began his stint as an employee for the town, later the city, of Fishers in January of 2012, about the same time I began writing LarryInFishers.com.

As the Director of Engineering for the city, he oversaw the department’s staff.  But Jeff accomplished some major tasks when it came to managing vehicular traffic.

Anyone remember when IKEA opened its doors in Fishers?  That was October 11th, 2017.  Local residents were predicting a motorized apocalypse, with gridlock in all directions once the IKEA story opened its doors.

Granted, there were traffic challenges, but I heard stories of how Jeff Hill was presiding over a command center to manage all the traffic coming in from all directions, especially I-69.  There was a lot of traffic, but the predicted apocalypse never materialized.  You can credit Jeff Hill for managing what would appear to have been an unmanageable situation.

A growing suburb needs a plan to control traffic and anyone living here for any length of time has experienced traffic jams.  But I suspect our traffic situation would have been much worse had Jeff Hill not been on the job.

City Spokesperson Ashley Elrod confirmed for LarryInFishers a rumor going around town the last day or so – Jeff Hill will be leaving his position with the city in early April.  I don’t have all the details, but it appears Jeff received an offer from the private sector he simply could not refuse.

With this major staff opening, it will be interesting to watch Mayor Scott Fadness and what he will do.  Will he simply replace Jeff Hill or will he reorganize some city staffing arrangements?

I know one thing for sure, Jeff Hill will be a hard person to replace.  I wish Jeff Hill the best of luck in his new job.  He has always been friendly, professional and straightforward in dealing with me in my reporting duties.  Jeff Hill will be missed.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern’s Amaya Hamilton is one of 13 Indiana senior girls basketball players that have been selected for the 2019 IndyStar Indiana Girls All-Stars, it was
announced on Thursday.

Those chosen to the team will play three games in June — one exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars as well as home-and-home contests against the Kentucky All-Stars.

Hamilton was a four-year varsity player for the Royals, and helped Southeastern to a Class 4A state championship two weeks ago. The 6-2 forward, a Division I commit to Duquesne University, averaged 11.6 points per game this season.

The other 2019 Indiana Girls All-Stars, listed alphabetically, are: Jorie Allen of Bedford North Lawrence, Shaila Beeler of Warren Central, Sydney Freeman of Central Noble, Carissa Garcia of Fort Wayne Concordia, Rikki Harris of North Central, Lilly Hatton of North Harrison, Emma Nolan of Marquette Catholic, Maddie Nolan of Zionsville, Sophia Nolan of Marquette Catholic, Hannah Noveroske of Michigan City, Riley Ott of La Porte and Cameron Tabor of New Castle.

The head coach for the 2019 Girls AllStars will be Debbie Guckenberger of Brownsburg. She will be assisted by Mike McBride of Eastern (Pekin) and Chris Seibert of Crown Point.

The 2019 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball will be announced from within the group of All-Stars listed above at The Star’s Indiana Sports Awards program on May 5 at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis.

The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 5 at a site to be announced. The first game against Kentucky will be June 7 at Bellarmine University’s Knights Hall in Lousville.

The final game against Kentucky will be June 8 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar Indiana Boys All-Stars.

The Indiana Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, also will play home-and-home doubleheaders against the Kentucky Junior AllStars. Those games tentatively are set for June 1 at a Kentucky site to be announced and June 3 at an Indiana site to be announced.

The Indiana All-Stars program was founded in 1939 when the Indiana Boys All-Stars played the state champion Frankfort Hot Dogs. The series with Kentucky began in 1940, and the girls portion of the All-Stars was added in 1976. The Junior All-Stars, boys and girls, were added in 1996.

The Indiana portion of the AllStar Games is organized and produced by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.

The Indianapolis Star, with its IndyStar brand, is a title sponsor.

Miss Basketball is selected through a balloting process of coaches and media overseen by game organizers from the IBCA. The remainder of the team is finalized by All-Star game director Mike Broughton after observing numerous games and events throughout the season, conferring with coaches, school officials and media across the state and reviewing votes submitted by coaches and media who each could recommend up to 10 players.

As the Spark Fishers summer festival prepares for the second celebration in 2019, the event will have a new presenting sponsor.  First Internet Bank, a financial institution that has seen large growth since moving its headquarters to Fishers, will be the presenting sponsor the the festival, set for June 28th & 29th.

First Internet Bank plans to move its headquarters in December to 116th Street in the Nickel Plate District, near the Municipal Complex, as part of a Browning Investment development.  The firm is currently housed in a building located at 11201 USA Parkway in Fishers.

“First Internet Bank is delighted to sponsor the Spark!Fishers event in celebration of this great community,” said David Becker, President and CEO of First Internet Bank, in  city news release. “Being headquartered in Fishers, we’re incredibly proud to support this favorite summer tradition in our hometown. It’s especially significant to be a part of the event as we connect one milestone—our 20^th anniversary this year—with our future as we break ground on our new headquarters in downtown Fishers.”

The city says Spark Fishers will start Friday, June 28th, with a nationally known musical act to be announced at a later date.  The main festival will be held in the Nickel Plate District of downtown Fishers June 29th

Some of the activities planned include:

• A 5K Walk/Run and Half K Run for Kids, brought to you by the Fishers YMCA and Geist Half Marathon, with a new route for 2019
• The Fishers Farmers’ Market in the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater
• A massive street fair in the Municipal Complex featuring local artisans, food vendors, businesses, and community organizations
• A patriotic evening parade through downtown Fishers
• A firework show to cap off the celebration

Fishers was once a small town with that small-town feel where everyone knew you, your family and most of your life history.  Mayor Scott Fadness grew up in a small North Dakota farming community with a feel much like that – everyone knew your name, your family and most everything about you.

The mayor emphasized community in his speech to the Fishers YMCA annual fundraising campaign breakfast Thursday morning.  He cited the summer Tuesday night concerts that draw 5,000-6,000 local residents each week

“Not one time, not one single time, have we had an issue with a person at those events,” Fadness said.  “I ask you, where else in America can you tell people you have a free concert, feel free to bring whatever you want to drink, have 5,000 people show up consistently every Tuesday night, and never have a single issue with people acting inappropriately? That says something about the character and quality of our community.”

He cited the concerts as one example where local residents can make a human connection and get to know each other.  As Fishers has grown into a large suburban community, finding ways to get to know each other has become more difficult, but the Tuesday concerts serve as one example of how the city is trying to bring local citizens together, trying to build what the mayor described as “a sense of community.”

The mayor told the crowd that the Fishers YMCA is on the front lines of building the city’s sense of community.  He said an organization like the local Y is the difference between “a sterile suburban environment and a true community.”

Danny Brown told the crowd about how the YMCA saved his life.  He was exercising and suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, a medical emergency where only about 5% survive and fully recover.  Due to quick action, the use of AED equipment at the Y and the people on the scene when he collapsed, he became one of the 5% that fully recover from a cardiac arrest.  Mr. Brown became emotional when talking about the people at the Fishers Y that day and how they saved his life.

The Fishers YMCA is best known for the exercise facilities and swimming pools, but there is much more to the organization, including youth summer camps and after-school programs.

The Fishers YMCA never turns anyone down for membership because they cannot afford to pay the membership fee.  About 25% of families receive some sort of help because they lack resources to pay for Y services.

When you contribute to the Fishers YMCA, part of that money is used to help those families unable to afford YMCA membership and programs.  Donating to the Fishers YMCA is easy, just use this link and use the DONATE button at the top of the page.