Hamilton County looks prosperous by almost every measure. But behind the county’s rising incomes, new neighborhoods and economic growth are thousands of working households struggling to afford housing, food, child care, transportation and health care.
On this week’s Fridays With Larry, Larry Lannan looks beyond the familiar urban image of poverty and examines the financial hardship found in the middle of suburban communities. In Hamilton County, over 34,000 households fall below the United Way’s ALICE threshold, meaning their incomes do not cover the basic cost of living where they reside.
Larry’s guest is MaryEdith Malin, executive director of Hamilton County Kids Coats. The nonprofit provides free coats and winter wear to more than 3,000 children each year while connecting families with additional resources in their own communities.
Also in this week’s podcast, Larry shares commentaries about Peggy Wallace’s book and an unusual story involving Mozart.
Fridays with Larry is sponsored by Citizens State Bank.
A Florida-based developer will open the first units of a 362-unit luxury apartment community on Fishers’ east side in November, and its leaders say they are already scouting additional sites across Hamilton and Boone counties.
The project, the Silver Collection at Saxony, is being built by Silver Cos. at 13450 Dockside Drive, just south of IU Health Fishers along the east shore of the manmade Saxony Lake. It marks the company’s first ground-up multifamily development in central Indiana, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.
“It’s definitely the most expensive project that we’ve ever built in the history of our company,” CEO Spencer Silver told IBJ’s Mickey Shuey. Silver declined to disclose a total investment figure but told the newspaper the cost came in under $100 million.
Resort-style amenities
The property will offer one- to three-bedroom apartments beginning in November, according to IBJ. One-bedroom units will range from 728 to 828 square feet with one or two bathrooms; two-bedroom units will range from 997 to 1,237 square feet with two bathrooms; and the three-bedroom floor plan will span 1,431 square feet with two bathrooms.
Amenities include a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse — construction of which wrapped up earlier this month — along with a large saltwater pool, coworking space, a pickleball court, an upscale fitness center, a pet spa and a dog park. IBJ reported that residents will also receive free daily breakfast and access to a full entertainment and activity calendar run by a full-time staff member. Silver Cos. manages its properties directly through its subsidiary, Silver Property Management.
Rents expected at the top of the market
Silver declined to share asking rents with IBJ but said he expects them to rank among the highest in Fishers and Noblesville, if not the highest outright. As IBJ noted, The Mark at Fishers District, The Flats at Fishers Marketplace and The Hamilton are among the priciest addresses in Fishers, with some units renting for more than $3,000 a month.
“When people see what we’re providing them in lifestyle, I don’t think it’s even going to be a [tough] choice,” Silver told IBJ. “I think people are going to think that they have to live at Saxony because it is head-and-shoulders above anything else that people have seen here.”
The company plans a three-day, invitation-only preview from Sept. 15 to 17 featuring high-end food and performances by “American Idol” alum Casey Abrams, Grammy-nominated Latin rock band Los Wizzards and “America’s Got Talent” finalist Sal Valentinetti, according to IBJ.
Reporting by Mickey Shuey of the Indianapolis Business Journal. Read the full story at this link, but you will need an IBJ subscription to access the story.
Hamilton County Emergency Management has issued a Travel Watch as heavy rainfall and flash flooding create hazardous road conditions across the county.
Officials are recommending that residents limit travel to essential trips, including travel to and from work and emergency situations. The Travel Watch will remain in effect until conditions improve.
The advisory follows several rounds of heavy rain across central Indiana. According to the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, 4.12 inches of rain was measured near Noblesville from early Tuesday through early Thursday. Other two-day totals included 3.51 inches near Westfield, 3.50 inches near Carmel and 3.21 inches near Fishers—all before the latest round of storms.
Forecasters said Friday morning that additional heavy rain could worsen what they described as an already significant flooding event. Storms repeatedly moving over the same areas can quickly overwhelm drainage systems and cause creeks, streams and low-lying roads to flood.
A Travel Watch is the middle level of Indiana’s three-tier local travel advisory system, above an Advisory but below a Warning. Under the state definition, a Watch means conditions are threatening public safety. It does not prohibit all travel, but residents are urged to postpone nonessential trips.
Businesses, schools, government agencies and other organizations should also implement their emergency action plans while the Watch remains in effect.
Drivers who must travel should slow down, allow additional stopping distance and be prepared to turn around when encountering standing water, barricades or closed roads. Motorists should never attempt to drive through floodwater because its depth can be difficult to judge and the roadway beneath it may be damaged or washed away.
As of 6:30 a.m. on Friday, August 14, the river gauge at White River at Logan Street was at 18.85 feet. The river is expected to crest at 20 feet at 2:00 a.m on Saturday, August 15.
Roads reported impacted include the following on this list:
Status
Date of Closure
Location of Closure (Intersection)
Closed
8/14/26
SR 37 northbound only closed north of SR 32
Closed
8/14/26
Strawtown Ave between Prairie Baptist Rd and Cyntheanne Rd
Cadillac’s Formula 1 team is entering a new phase that will place greater emphasis on its developing headquarters in Fishers and growing its American workforce.
The shift comes as Cadillac replaces team principal Graeme Lowdon with Marcin Budkowski after the team’s first 11 races. CEO Dan Towriss told Autoweek that he made the leadership change as part of a transition that arrived earlier than expected.
Towriss said the decision was driven by Cadillac’s long-term vision and the pace of its progress—not solely by the reliability problems the new team has experienced.
Budkowski brings an extensive technical background to the position. He previously held aerodynamic roles with Ferrari and McLaren and later served in senior positions with Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, and the Alpine team.
Although Cadillac continues to operate from facilities in Silverstone, England; Concord, North Carolina; and Warren, Michigan, its new Fishers headquarters remains under construction. The Indiana facility is expected to become increasingly important as the organization enters what Towriss described as a more U.S.-centered phase.
Autoweek reported that some employees based in the United Kingdom have been told they must relocate to Indiana by January 2027 or face mandatory layoffs.
Towriss said Cadillac does not intend to make staffing decisions based on nationality. The organization plans to keep recruiting from Britain’s established Formula 1 talent pool while developing more engineers and other racing professionals in the United States.
The combination, Towriss said, could help “redefine what it means to have a U.S. team in Formula 1.”
For Fishers, the transition could make the city a central part of Cadillac’s effort to build a competitive American-led presence in the world’s highest-profile international racing series.
Indy Fuel head coach Duncan Dalmao will not return for the 2026-27 season, the team announced Thursday.
Dalmao is leaving Indianapolis to become an assistant coach with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League, one level below the NHL. The move creates a head-coaching vacancy for the Fuel ahead of their 13th ECHL season.
Fuel Owner and Chairman Jim Hallett thanked Dalmao for his work with the organization during the past five seasons.
“During his time with Indy, Duncs has been a strong presence both behind the bench and in our community,” Hallett said. “We are immensely proud to see him make this move to further his coaching career.”
Dalmao became the Fuel’s interim head coach near the end of the 2021-22 season. He was named the permanent head coach before the 2022-23 campaign, becoming the fourth head coach in franchise history.
During his tenure, Dalmao recorded 159 regular-season victories—more than any coach in Indianapolis hockey history—and guided the Fuel to four consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff appearances.
The Fuel also enjoyed their best regular season under Dalmao in 2022-23. Indy set franchise records with 43 victories, 244 goals and 23 road wins while earning a playoff berth.
In a statement, Dalmao thanked fans in Indianapolis and Fishers for supporting him and the team.
“After arriving five years ago, I never imagined Indiana would come to feel so much like home,” Dalmao said. “I will never forget your unwavering support through the good and bad.”
Dalmao also expressed appreciation for the Fuel’s players, hockey operations staff and front office, along with the Hallett family and the organization’s affiliates, the Chicago Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs.
“It’s been the honour of my life to be able to operate within such an amazing franchise,” he said. “A piece of me will always remain here in Indy.”
The Fuel did not announce Dalmao’s successor Thursday.
Indy is the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. The team will return to Fishers Event Center in October 2026 for its 13th season.
A sharp-eyed reader contacted me after the August 12th story on Hamilton Southeastern Schools CFO Tim Brown’s recommended 22-cent referendum rate for 2027, and the question is a good one — good enough that I suspect this reader isn’t the only person wondering about it.
The math question goes like this: the proposed rate of 22 cents per $100 of assessed value is 2.05 cents above the current 19.95-cent rate. Take a home assessed at $400,000, divide by $100, and you get 4,000. Multiply 4,000 by the 2.05-cent increase and you get $82 a year. So why did my article — citing Brown’s presentation — say the increase for a $400,000 home would be about $26 a year?
The multiplication is correct. The missing piece is a feature of Indiana property tax law that trips up nearly everyone the first time they encounter it: referendum rates are not applied to your home’s full assessed value.
The rate applies to your net assessed value
Every owner-occupied home in Indiana receives homestead deductions before any tax rate is applied. The rate — whether it’s the school referendum rate or any other — is levied against what’s left over, called your net assessed value.
And those deductions are in the middle of a major overhaul. Senate Enrolled Act 1, passed by the legislature in 2025, phases in substantially larger homestead deductions each year between 2026 and 2031. By the time the phase-in is complete, only roughly a third of a typical home’s gross assessed value will remain taxable.
So for that $400,000 home, the 22-cent rate never touches the full $400,000. Apply the 2.05-cent rate difference to only the post-deduction value in Brown’s projection and you land right around the $26-a-year figure from his presentation — a little more than $2 a month.
You can check this against another number the district has published: the ballot language will show a maximum rate of 36 cents, which the district says works out to roughly $700 a year on a median home rounded up to $400,000. If the full $400,000 were taxable, 36 cents would come to $1,440 a year — double the district’s figure. The difference, again, is the deductions.
The same math explains why the referendum is on the ballot at all
Here’s the wrinkle worth sitting with: the very mechanism that makes the homeowner impact smaller than the raw rate suggests is also the reason HSE is back before voters this November.
Those growing SEA 1 deductions shrink the tax base that the current 19.95-cent rate applies to, too. A rate can only raise money on value that remains taxable, and as the deductions phase in, that taxable value shrinks every year. That’s how the district projects it would collect about $45.3 million less than originally expected between 2026 and 2031 without a new referendum — even though the rate printed on the ballot is going up, the base underneath it is going down.
Check your own number
Every property is different — assessed values, deductions and exemptions vary parcel by parcel. The district has posted a calculator on its referendum page that estimates the referendum tax impact using your actual property information. If you want to know what the proposal means for your own bill rather than a hypothetical median home, that’s the place to start.
Hamilton Southeastern Schools has selected 42 parents, alumni and community members for its 2026–27 HSEngaged cohort.
The program gives participants a behind-the-scenes look at the school district through monthly meetings held from August through April. Sessions hosted at schools across the district will cover academic programs, student services, finance, operations and facilities management.
HSEngaged began in 2021 as a way to share information, highlights and stories about the district. Since then, hundreds of people have applied to participate.
The program’s impact has extended beyond its monthly sessions. According to the district, previous participants have become substitute teachers, joined the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation Board of Directors and volunteered in district schools.
Alumni have also supported community education efforts involving district referendum proposals and helped with events including the HSEF Legacy Celebration and HSE Schools’ Before the Bell.
“My job is to tell the stories of HSE Schools, but HSEngaged reminds me that those stories carry further when community members experience them firsthand,” said Emily Pace Abbotts, the district’s director of school and community relations. “It is rewarding to see participants leave the program better informed, more connected and ready to contribute in ways that are meaningful to them.”
Participants were chosen through an application process.
Victims of child and elder abuse in Hamilton County will have round-the-clock access to specialized services under a new three-year partnership approved by the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners.
The agreement with the Cherish Center, a nationally accredited child advocacy center in Carmel, provides forensic interviewing and victim advocacy services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The services will assist victims as well as local law enforcement agencies and the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office investigating abuse allegations.
“Our goal is to make sure victims and the professionals helping them have the resources they need when they need them most,” Hamilton County Commissioner Christine Altman said. “We want victims to have access to highly trained professionals in a safe, supportive environment right here in Hamilton County.”
The county will invest up to $619,800 over the life of the agreement, which runs from Jan. 1, 2027, through Dec. 31, 2029. It is the first formal contract between the Cherish Center and a government entity in Hamilton County.
The center served 302 victims of reported child and elder abuse in Hamilton County in 2025.
Forensic interviews are conducted by specially trained professionals and are designed to gather information from victims in a single, child-friendly setting, reducing the number of times a victim must recount what happened. Child advocacy centers bring investigators, prosecutors and victim advocates together under one roof.
Jordan Teeple (left) with Jason Urban before the HSE School Board
Jordan Teeple received a standing ovation at Wednesday night’s Hamilton Southeastern Schools board meeting as district leaders celebrated his selection as HSE’s 2026-27 Teacher of the Year.
Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools Jason Urban praised Teeple before the board, highlighting the seventh-grade math teacher’s commitment to his students and leadership at Riverside Junior High.
Teeple, who also serves as Riverside’s math department chair, is known for balancing high expectations with genuine care. He creates a classroom environment where students feel supported, confident and willing to take risks as learners.
Beyond the classroom, Teeple provides leadership across his department and remains deeply involved in the Riverside community.
In May, Teeple received a $1,000 award from the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation. He will now represent HSE Schools in the statewide Indiana Teacher of the Year competition.
Two exchanges Wednesday night revealed sharply different perspectives among Hamilton Southeastern school board members: how the district should refer to students who do not have a regular home, and what belongs on the walls of HSE classrooms.
A policy title, and the words inside the policy
The first came during the board’s review of policy updates recommended by its Policy Committee.
Sarah Parks Reese asked why the committee had recommended changing the title of a policy from “Homeless Students” to “Children Experiencing Homelessness,” but had left the older phrasing in place throughout the body of the policy itself.
She moved to send the item back to the Policy Committee so members could consider whether the language inside the policy should be changed as well, noting the committee had not discussed that question at its most recent meeting. The board voted 5-2 to return the issue to committee, with Ben Orr and Board President Tiffany Pascoe voting no.
The Policy Committee is made up of two board members — Dawn Lang and Juanita Albright.
Reading from a prepared statement, Orr argued the person-first phrasing is tied to national advocacy organizations he said carry a political agenda. Parks Reese asked whether there was alternative wording he would recommend that did not stigmatize the children involved. Orr said “Homeless Children” was a “fine description.”
Latrica Schooley said she did not think arguing over terminology was a productive place for the board to be, but added that words matter — particularly when the students in question have experienced trauma.
Context: Both phrasings appear in official use. The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which guarantees enrollment, transportation and school stability protections for students without fixed, regular and adequate nighttime housing, uses the statutory term “homeless children and youths,” and the federal grant program districts draw from is titled Education for Homeless Children and Youth. Person-first constructions such as “students experiencing homelessness” have become common in state guidance, district policy and the materials of advocacy groups that work on the issue. Indiana school districts are required to designate a homeless student liaison under the federal law regardless of which term the policy uses.
Criticism of the board president’s post
Later in the meeting, during the portion set aside for individual board member comments, Parks Reese and Schooley criticized Pascoe over a social media post that read:
If there are any politics or ideation rhetoric in any HSE classroom please message me directly the teachers name and building so I can address.
In times of RIFs and looking for support from the community to pass a referendum, this is not in alignment for earning the community’s trust nor acceptable (at anytime). I take your tax dollars as well as the environment your child learns in seriously.
Thank you in advance for advocating for our schools and a neutral learning environment.
The post included Pascoe’s personal cell phone number.
Parks Reese said the post amounted to acting outside the authority of an individual board member and that established rules should be respected. Schooley said the post did not reflect a consensus of the board and that complaints about a teacher should not bypass the superintendent and the district’s human resources staff. Under Indiana law, school boards act as a body, and individual members hold no authority to direct district operations on their own; personnel matters run through the superintendent.
Orr, again reading a statement, said all students should feel welcome in HSE classrooms, but said some signage can be construed as signaling that certain students are not welcome. Signs that may appear on their face to be welcoming, he said, are part of a partisan political agenda.
Pascoe responded briefly: “I am not going to entertain the false accusations, unprofessional.”
Context: Pascoe’s reference to “RIFs” points to the reduction-in-force process the district carried out this spring, when 18 teachers received notices amid declining enrollment; Superintendent Matt Kegley later said attrition had opened enough positions that none of those teachers would lose a job. The referendum she mentioned goes before voters Nov. 3, and would replace the operating referendum approved in 2023.
