One year ago, Hamilton Southeastern Schools decided to have a Before The Bell celebration to mark the start of the school year.  It was such a success, the school district brought the event back this year, and the perfect weather contributed to a large crowd Thursday evening at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater.

Many persons of note were on hand, including Mayor Scott Fadness, Schools Superintendent Yvonne Stokes and School Board President Dawn Lang.

The first day of school for students is Wednesday, August 9.

Here are a few photos from Before The Bell.

I recall one conversation with Hatem Mekky…it was the day he became an American citizen.  He left his native Egypt years ago and was so thrilled to officially become a citizen here, it was my pleasure to congratulate him on that special occasion.

Mr. Mekky has been the the Assistant Director of Engineering for the City of Fishers, and will now become the Director of Engineering for the city.  One of his most important duties in recent years has been overseeing the construction of the State Road 37 reconstruction.

Mekky replaces Jason Taylor, who is leaving for a position in the private sector.

The city news release announcing Mr. Mekky’s appointment lists several upcoming projects under his department, including  roundabout redesign at 96th Street and Allisonville Road, a new roundabout at 116th Street and Allisonville Road; the Nickel Plate Trail; the SR37 corridor project; roundabout improvements at Olio Road and Southeastern Parkway; and the widening of Cumberland Road as well as 136th Street.

“Hatem has played a pivotal role in the engineering department’s success on improving the city’s transportation infrastructure for residents and the general public,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness in the news release. “I look forward to working with him as we continue to reinvest in our infrastructure to grow the quality of life here in Fishers.”

Prior to his position at the City of Fishers, Mekky was a Project Manager at American Structurepoint for 12 years where he worked on and designed multiple high-profile projects, including the Ohio River bridges, Super 70, U.S. 31 Kokomo bypass, I-69 Expansion Phase 1 Segment 1 and Lanesville Connector (Peter J. Schickel Way). He was also a member of the SR37 design team.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead our exceptional team with a vision for collaboration and innovation that will shape the future of our city,” said Mekky. “I look forward to building proactive infrastructure that will serve this community for years to come.”

A graduate of Southern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Mekky earned his master’s degree in civil engineering from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. He has held his Indiana Professional Engineering License since 2009.

The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office says it will seek the death penalty for Joshua Farmer, 32, of Noblesville.  He is charged with the shooting death of his wife at a Fishers gas station.

For more on the story from television station WTHR, use this link.

As you drive along Interstate 69 south of 116th Street, The Navient Building is one that can be easily seen.  Although Navient remains a tenant in that structure, MJ Wilkow purchased the building in 2022.  The new owner is leasing space, now named The Link, to a number of other tenants in the complex, which is technically more than one building.  One tenant is IU Health.

The Fishers Plan Commission gave a unanimous positive recommendation  to allow signage not currently allowed under current rules.  Representatives of Wilkow told Commission members the number of different tenants in the complex of buildings has confused those using the complex and the signage would alleviate that confusion.

In other Plan Commission items:

–A rezone request was continued by Commission members at the request of city staff for The proposed Flat Fork development in the area of 96th Street, Georgia and Cyntheanne Roads.  Staff says this will provide more time for the developer to meet with neighbors.

–A proposal to allow a new clubhouse with a restaurant at Gray Eagle Golf Course was continued to the next Plan Commission meeting to allow nearby residents to talk with the developer.  This project includes netting as high as 160 feet.

You may be aware that the Fishers High School Tiger Band will be traveling to New York City Thanksgiving Day, marching in the Macy’s Parade.  There is a lot of expense involved, meaning the band is raising money to lower the travel costs for the band members.

One fundraising activity is a silent auction currently underway that ends at midnight, Thursday, August 3rd.  You will find a wide variety of choices to bid on, so take and moment and peruse the listing at this link.

Don’t delay, the deadline is Midnight, August 3rd.  The winners can pick up their items Friday, August 4th

Hundreds of first responders were part of a three-day public safety drill held  in July at Ascension St. Vincent Fishers.  The training was an opportunity to showcase the coordinated response of Fishers Fire and Emergency Services, Fishers Police Department, and Ascension hospitals. This exercise provides valuable insights into each organization’s strategies, tactics, and capabilities, and emphasizes their shared commitment to maintaining public safety.

“Our partnership with Ascension St Vincent has been monumental in expanding our group and our problem solving abilities,” said Sgt. Jay Settergren, Fishers Police High Threat Response Team. “By partnering with them we get to see a unique perspective. We’ve never been able to do a training exercise in a hospital before and it adds an entirely different element to how we would rescue civilians and what our response structure would be. And we are extremely grateful for their partnership.”

All agencies involved plan to continue these training partnerships in the future. Fishers Fire and Emergency Services and Fishers Police have run these trainings for six years.

Bob Kravitz has been around Indiana sports for a long time.  He was a columnist for the Indianapolis Star, wrote a Web column and appeared on WTHR, and wrote for the local local version of The Athletic.  Let’s just say Bob’s experience at The Athletic was not always a positive one.

Bob talks about that and Colts, Pacers, college basketball and much more in this podcast.  You can subscribe to his Substack writings at this link.

Kim Lippe has spent the past 15 years working in Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools, having spent time in administrative roles at several HSE Schools, finally landing in Central Office as Assistant Superintendent of Staff and Student Services.  As of September 5th, she will take on a new role away from the HSE District.

Ms. Lippe was approved Monday night by the Brownsburg School Board as the new principal at Brownsburg High School.

During a podcast interview with me in October of 2021. Lippe said she went into banking and finance after college, then decided to try her hand at teaching, taking a position at Warren Central High School.  She was later recruited into the world of administration, where she held several such post within HSE Schools, including Assistant Principal at HSE High School, before coming to the Central Office.

Russell Dickerson has a number of hit recordings on the country music charts, and he is taking his national tour to the Fishers Amhpitheater  Sunday, September 10.  Tickets go on sale August 4th and go for $45 for the standing pit, $25 lawn tickets and $20 for groups of 4 or more, all pre-sale.  The day of the event, lawn tickets will go for $30 each.  Children 2 years of age and under are free.

Special guest David Rickets will join the show.  Once ticket sales begin, use this link to buy them.

The city news release announcing the appearance says Dickerson “is a Tennessee native country music artist that made a name for himself with his first studio album, Yours, back in 2017, including his first big single of the same name. Determined to get his music on the road, Russell Dickerson began playing for any audience he could find, no matter how big, leading to him becoming the first artist to release four consecutive career-starting singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart since Luke Combs, placing himself along some of the best of the best.”

Just a few months into producing my local podcasts, I interviewed Tom Dickey, formerly Community Development Director for the Town and later the City of Fishers, in the summer of 2016.  We discussed a number of topics when the origins of Launch Fishers came up.

The city was on the lookout for a place to get Launch Fishers started.  At first a small house just off 116th Street looked like the only option.  That was only enough space for 2-3 co-working firms to fit.

Then the city looked to the Hamilton East Library in downtown Fishers.  The building was built in 1993 but the lower floor had not been utilized yet.  As Tom Dickey explains it, Edra Waterman, whom he described as a “forward thinking library director,” offered some library space.  It was much larger than the small house under consideration and allowed Launch to grow quickly.  Launch Fishers has since moved into a larger building and the library is utilizing that lower level for the Ignite operations, which is very popular.  I have used it many times.

It was Library Director Edra Waterman that allowed Launch Fishers to grow quickly in the early years because that library space was offered.

My first exposure to the Hamilton East Library was when I moved to Fishers in 1991.  There was no Fishers branch at that time but I made several Noblesville trips to take advantage of the library.  Once the Fishers building was open, my wife Jane, and our two daughters, made use of the library regularly.  We all consider the library a major community asset.

I do not believe I am the only one concerned about the current state of controversy for the Hamilton East Library.   I have covered a couple of library board meetings lately and have seen a level of conflict between the board and many in the community that has risen in recent months.

I am not here to take sides, but I will say this – it is troubling to see this amazing community asset – the Hamilton East Library, serving Noblesville and Fishers – in such turmoil. This is not a good thing for those of us living here and is not the kind of publicity Fishers needs.

I fear it may be too late for this, but is there any way to bridge the gaps?  There is clearly conflict between the library board and a segment of our local community.  I would hope everyone would take a deep breath, think about how this is impacting our community, then find a way to lower the temperature.

If everyone continues this constant back-and-forth, I do not foresee a good ending to this.

I won’t get into the issues of the debate in this piece.  My only hope is that cooler heads will prevail and we can preserve the tremendous public asset, the Hamilton East Library.  It is all up to us now.