Update as of 2:55pm Sunday – The National Weather Service now says a “significant winter storm” is expected to move into our area Thursday and continue through the upcoming Christmas weekend.  Read the entire statement at this link.

The forecast team at the Indianapolis National Weather Service office is not known to be hyperbolic when issuing statements.  The one released Sunday morning is worth notice.

The Weather Service says there is “potential for an impactful winter system later this week.”  It is too early for more specifics, but it looks like our first major winter storm of the season may hit us by Friday, although the timing is also not exactly known.

Hamilton County Emergency Management in Noblesville says now is the time for winter storm preparation.  The advice includes:

–Checking your emergency kit

–Replacing flashlight batteries

–Testing generators

–Test snow-blowers

–Find enough ice melt.

Those are just a few reminders in case the winter storm materializes Thursday or Friday this week.  Watch the latest news from the National Weather Service.

When the City of Fishers setup a map of home Christmas lights, I decided to check out a few and video record them.  The video linked below as my first attempt to provide some examples of what can be found around our fair city.

It is a bit amateurish but a small attempt at video recording some home holiday lighting at the link below.

The Consent Agenda of a Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting is normally a list of routine matters, basically detailed financial items and personnel actions.  But the December 14th Consent Agenda contained an item that appears to settle a legal dispute going back many years.

It all started in 2016 when that same Consent Agenda listed a 5 day suspension for employee number 10042.  The WTHR News investigative reporting team asked who that employee was, and it was disclosed Fishers High School varsity football coach Rick Wimmer, also a teacher, was the person suspended.  Mr. Wimmer has since retired.

WTHR asked for the facts surrounding the decision and never received a response that the television journalists believed were consistent with state law.  Public Access Counselor for Indiana, Luke Britt, ruled twice against HSE Schools, saying facts about the suspension must be disclosed.  Those opinions are advisory and HSE chose not to follow Mr. Britt’s advice.

The Reporters Committee For A Free Press, a nonprofit group that provides legal help for issues such as this dispute, provided attorneys to pursue the issue in court on behalf of the WTHR investigative reporters.  HSE prevailed in the county court and the state court of appeals.  The Indiana Supreme Court is not required to accept every case appealed to it, but chose to hear this dispute.

In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled in favor of WTHR, essentially saying HSE Schools must disclose a factual basis for Mr. Wimmer’s suspension in 2016.

The case was remanded back to the local court.  In that Consent Agenda item approved at the school board meeting last Wednesday, HSE agrees to pay WTHR $35,000.  The settlement agreement says HSE School officials admit no wrongdoing in settling this matter.

As to the disclosure of facts surrounding Rick Wimmer’s 2016 suspension, the settlement agreement does not address that.  I will let Bob Segall and his investigative news team broadcast that story when they are ready about that part of the issue.

One of the most talked-about docuseries ever offered by Netflix is now available.  All six episodes of Harry & Meghan are ready to be seen.  I have watched all six.  Here is my review.

The City of Fishers plans to request bids on the interchange at 141st Street and State Road in August of 2023.  City Controller Lisa Bradford and City Councilor John Weingardt both confirmed that plan at Wednesday’s City Council Finance Committee meeting.

Bradford told committee members INDOT is scheduled to have a large road construction bid award a month before August of 2023, allowing contractors losing out on that bid cycle to submit serious bids for the 141st Street and State Road 37 interchange project.

According to Bradford, contractors have been submitting bids that are “inflated and outrageous” lately that are not “realistic,” including the bids received in May of 2022 for the 141st & SR 37 project.

“The hope is that by going (with the bid letting) after INDOT, you’re going to actually get some real bids, some real, actual, truthful, this is really what I would do he project for, bids,” said Bradford.

Bradford emphasized that the city does plan to move forward and is “fully committed” to constructing the roundabout on 141st Street and an underpass at State Road 37, and does not wish to delay the project any longer.  The city has announced what it describes as an “interim” measure, converting the current traffic signal at 141st Street and SR 37 to a right-in right-out on 141st Street, that will prevent east-west motorists from using 141st at SR 37, but allows the free flow of vehicles on SR 37 at that location.

Finance Committee Chair Weingardt said State Road 37 will likely see an increase in traffic soon with a number of projects coming to Allisonville Road to the west.  Hamilton County will need to close the intersection of 146th Street and Allisonville Road for a period of time to construct a roundabout on Allisonville Road in 2023.  He added that there will be city construction projects coming on Allisonville Road at 116th Street and 96th Street that will cause motorists to use State Road 37 as an alternative.

A list of new proposed high school courses were presented to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board at the last regular meeting, and board members unanimously voted to approve the listing.  The new courses will be available to students in the 2024.2025 school year.

Included is one class that sparked a positive response by board members previously, sports officiating, that will be available to juniors and seniors.

The full listing of the new courses can be found at this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board recognized two state championship teams and welcomed two new building administrators at Wednesday night’s meeting.

The HSE High School girls volleyball team won its first state championship.  Also, the Cheer team at HSE took top state honors as well.

The board formally approved two new administrators.  Sarah Riordan will be an Assistant Principal at Fishers High School.  Katie Luck has been named Assistant Principal at Hoosier Road Elementary School.

As the Wednesday night Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting was coming to an end, it was time to recognize four board members attending their final board session.

Michelle Fullhart did not seek re-election after 8 year on the HSE Board, but has been the member with the longest tenure.  She read a statement emphasizing the accomplishments during her time on the board, including a stint as president during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Three other members of the board – Brad Boyer, Janet Pritchett and Julie Chanbers – were unsuccessful in their bids to be elected to another term.  Three members of the board – Sarah Parks-Reese, Sarah Donsbach and Suzanne Thomas – have 2 years left on their terms.

Superintendent Yvonne Stokes presented each outgoing board member with a memento and the remaining board members each spoke briefly to those leaving the board.  Previous Superintendent Allen Bourff was also on hand to make some brief comments about the 4 members attending their last HSE Board meeting.

Four new school board members will be sworn-in at the first meeting of 2023 on January 11th.

When the City of Fishers opened bids for the interchange at 141st Street and State Road 37 during May of this year, city engineers say the city “did not get a favorable bid” at that time.

The city’s Assistant Director of Engineering, Hatem Mekky, told the Board of Public Works and Safety Tuesday morning that his department sat down with consultants looking into “a lot of different iterations and value engineering efforts to reduce the costs on that interchange.”

Mekky was  explaining a request before the board for an additional American Structurepoint fee of just under $108,000 to continue working on reducing the cost of the 141st Street roundabout over State Road 37.

Mekky projects this endeavor will save at least $2 million on the project, possibly as much as $7 million once all is said and done.  The city expects to go out for bids once again in the spring of 2023.

The board approved the fee for American Structurepoint.

The city previously announced that 141st Street at State Road 37, now a traffic signal, will be switched to a right-in right-out configuration on 141st Street effective in early January.  That will allow traffic on State Road 37 to move freely at that location.  The city describes this as an “interim” move until bids are received more in line with the budget.

I started covering local politicians in the early 1970s.  I continued that, of and on, through my time writing this blog.  Not much surprises me in politics at this point, but was genuinely surprised by some recent social media posts.

I have known Todd Zimmerman since 2014 when he asked to meet with me before announcing his intention to run for an at-large Fishers City Council seat.  The transition was being made from a 7-member town council to a 9-member city council.

Todd wanted to get into politics, and has now served on the council since his election in 2014.  But Todd had been posting on social media in recent weeks that he was wavering on whether to seek another council term.

Here is a Twitter message Todd posted November 3rd:  “There is unfinished business I would like to see to conclusion, but I need to make sure I have the fortitude to serve in this office until 2028.”

That was not the Todd Zimmerman I had come to know.  Was he really ready to forsake politics?

I contacted Todd about recording a podcast about his year in 2022 as President of the Fishers City Council.  He told me he would announce his future political plans on that podcast.

Last Friday, Todd made it official that he will seek another term as an at-large member of the Fishers City Council.  It was what I expected but the social media posts in early October had me wondering.

At the end of our podcast recording session Friday, I asked Todd what advice he would give anyone thinking of entering politics at this time.  His first piece of advice was to ignore the polarization talk on social media and national news outlets.

“The greatest changers of policy, the greatest leaders that I have ever seen, are the ones that can sit down at a table, be presented with issues, sit down with someone on the opposite side…and be able to talk through and find solutions that benefit the residents, the community, the taxpayers, not personally benefitting their portfolio, fame,” Zimmerman said on the podcast.

He went into a lot more detail on this.  There is also an element of drama that goes on in local politics behind the scenes and Fishers has its share just like anywhere else.

One person appeared to be relieved Todd Zimmerman has announced his intention to run for another council term.  Mayor Scott Fadness immediately showed his approval on social media once the podcast was posted late Friday afternoon.

You can listen to my podcast interview with Todd Zimmerman at this link.