Once I let it be known there would be no school board candidate podcasts in this election cycle for HSE School Board from me, I received a message that some high school students were interested in taking on the job. I had a phone call from Izzy Alexander, a senior at Fishers High School, offering to handle the school board interviews. I offered to post them on my blog and handle the post-productions tasks.
A few weeks later, Izzy sent me 11 audio files with podcasts featuring all 11 school board candidates. Izzy’s brother Casey, a freshman at FHS, handled the interviews with Fall Creek Township candidates (5 in all) and Izzy took care of Delaware and Wayne Townships (6 total).
After receiving a ton of positive feedback on the job they did on those podcasts, I invited Izzy & Casey to join me on a podcast to discuss the experience of interviewing those on the ballot for the HSE School Board in 2020.
Hamilton Southeastern used an outstanding defensive performance to grab its third straight win on Friday.
The Royals beat Franklin Central on the road 14-7. The victory kept Southeastern tied for second place in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference at 5-1.
“I thought defensively we played tremendous. They’ve done a great job all year long, standing tall,” said HSE coach Michael Kelly.
Southeastern scored one touchdown in each of the first two quarters. Jace Alexander got the first one, getting the ball into the end zone on a two-yard run.
Blaine Wertz then stepped up early in the second quarter, running in from 14 yards to score. Alex Geroulis kicked both extra points. Kelly said that Alexander and Wertz were a “nice little 1-2 punch from both of those guys this evening.”
In the second half, the Royals’ defense held firm. The Flashes were threatening with around a minute to go in the fourth quarter, but Southeastern made a fourth-down stop to secure the win.
Louden Sundling led the Royals’ defense with eight tackles, including one for a loss, four assists and 1.5 sacks.
“Louden Sundling had a big game,” said Kelly. “Just played his tail off.”
Noah Wolf made six tackles and three assists, while JT Mutchner contributed five tackles, one assist and 0.5 sacks. Kelly also said that defensive backs Mikah Phillips and Gio Ragland came through for HSE “in a big way.”
Quarterback John McCall completed 12 of 25 passes for 147 yards, with Wertz catching three of those throws. Wertz also led the rushing with 105 yards.
The Royals improved to 6-2 overall. Southeastern hosts Brownsburg next Friday; both teams are 5-1 in HCC play.
Fishers’ Grant Shelton defends against Westfield’s Mason Piening during a Shamrocks’ offensive play. (Photo by Richie Hall)
by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
FISHERS – When Westfield took control of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference standings two weeks ago, coach Jake Gilbert spoke of taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
The Shamrocks have indeed made the most of those opportunities, and received the fruits of that on Friday. Westfield, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A, clinched at least a share of the HCC championship by beating Fishers 45-6 at Reynolds Tigers Stadium.
The ‘Rocks are 6-0 in the conference, just ahead of Brownsburg and Hamilton Southeastern, both of which are 5-1. This is the second time Westfield has won the HCC championship; the Shamrocks tied with Fishers for the conference title in 2013.
“We’ve been a really good practice team, and I’m just so happy that they’ve been rewarded, because they practice with discipline, they practice with competitiveness,” said Gilbert. “They’ve gotten better. We got off to a hot start, but we weren’t arrogant. We’ve been humble and hungry. I’m just so proud of our kids for finishing it. We’re not quite finishing it yet, but we’re HCC champs no matter what. I just couldn’t be happier with our players and coaches.”
Fishers gave Westfield an early scare by scoring the game’s first points. Jeffrey Simmons caught a 37-yard pass from Lucas Prewitt for a Tigers touchdown. But the Shamrocks responded right away, with Magwire Graybill blocking the extra-point attempt.
After that, Westfield took over. Junior quarterback Maximus Webster dominated the game, scoring four rushing touchdowns and passing for one more. Webster punched the ball in from the one-yard line with 3:51 left in the first quarter to get the ‘Rocks on the board, then rushed in for a 13-yard score late in the period.
“I knew we were going to be able to score,” said Gilbert. “Defensively, we have not started games well the last few weeks. We got to fix that. But we have absolutely adjusted and then played well.”
Webster wasted no time scoring in the second quarter, making a three-yard trip to the end zone just 25 seconds into the period. Micah Hauser added a one-yard TD run midway through the quarter, and the half ended with Webster finding Mason Piening for an eight-yard touchdown pass. After all that, Westfield held a 35-6 halftime lead.
“The usual suspects getting involved,” said Gilbert. “I thought Nic Depasquale had a good night tonight. I was happy with Reid Schepers. The O-line, as usual, did a pretty good job.”
Webster had one more touchdown to score, which he did early in the third quarter on a seven-yard run. Sean Sullivan made the extra-point kick, as he did for all six of the Shamrocks’ touchdowns. Webster’s score came at the 9:23 mark of the third and triggered a running clock for the remainder of the game.
Westfield wasn’t done yet. Midway through the fourth quarter, Frankie Ispen kicked a 22-yard field goal.
“She deserved that chance,” said Gilbert. “She’s been great at practice. Very competitive and had a great JV season. I wanted to get her three.”
Webster was nearly perfect, completing 15 of 16 pass attempts for 201 yards. He also rushed for 51 yards. Hauser led the ground game with 64 yards.
Depasquale made five catches, with Schepers and Piening both getting four receptions. On defense, Charles Dager made nine tackles, followed by Hauser with six and Kyle Pape with five.
Prewitt had a solid game for Fishers, going 11-of-15 for 109 yards. Landon Morris had four catches and Simmons finished with three. Carson Dunn led the Tigers’ rushing with 37 yards.
Evan Miller and Joey Slimak both had seven tackles for Fishers, with Curtis Kearshner making five, including 2.5 for a loss.
“We started out playing well,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk. “The game just slowly started slipping away from us there. We got behind and then offensively we had to get a little bit more aggressive and we just couldn’t convert some first downs. And unfortunately, when that happens against a good Westfield team, that score just slips away from you and things start to get out of hand.”
The Shamrocks are now 7-1 and overall and finish the regular season and HCC play by hosting Franklin Central next Friday. Fishers is 2-4 in the conference and 2-6 overall, and travels to Zionsville next Friday to finish its league and regular seasons.
HSE Schools Supt. Allen Bourff, on the most recent video
Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Superintendent Allen Bourff plans to place a recommendation before the school board October 14th to begin in-person learning 100% for grades 5 and 6, starting November 2nd. Dr. Bourff cited the experience so far with elementary students, up to grade 4, and believes that data can be used to expand the learning in-person in the traditional classroom.
November 2 was chosen as the date because it is one week after fall break and provides time to make the transition. Bourff said elementary staff and students have done a “commendable job” in handling the health and safety protocols.
There will be a second recommendation made to the board at the October 14 session, allowing virtual-only learning to be extended through the second semester for those families choosing that option.
Dr. Bourff commented that grades 7-12 will see a return to 100% in-person classes “as soon as safely possible.”
Bourff cited many challenges in bringing all grade 7-12 students back to the classroom 100%, but will recommend that action “when conditions within the schools and within the community indicate it is safe to do.”
School officials have received what Bourff describes as some “disturbing reports” of student stress in virtual learning. Professional support is available for students experiencing such stress. Contact administrators or counselors to ask for help.
Parents are encouraged by Dr. Bourff to thank a teacher. Classroom teachers are working under conditions never seen before and face challenges they must address as they go along.
You can view the entire video featuring Dr. Bourff at this link.
Here is the weekly report on road construction in and around Fishers, as provided by the city:
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STATE ROAD 37 AND 126TH STREET
126th Street east of SR 37 is currently closed and is anticipated to reopen in November. During this time, cross access will be restricted, with only right in and right out. Northbound SR 37 traffic will not have access to 126th Street and will shift to the southbound lanes. Two lanes will remain in each direction. Local access to businesses will remain open. Detour route markers and advance warning signs will be in place prior to the closure. View the detour map here.
On Monday, October 12 between the hours of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. one lane of SR 37 southbound will be restricted between 131st Street and the flyover ramp south of 126th Street. This will allow tie in work to be completed to push SR 37 southbound traffic onto the final configuration of SR 37.
STATE ROAD 37 AND 146TH STREET
All left-turn lanes are currently restricted on SR 37 and on 146th Street with traffic moved to the interior lanes. Through traffic and right turns on SR 37 and 146th Street will remain open. This phase is anticipated to be completed by the end of November. Drivers are encouraged to seek alternate routes for all left turn access. View an alternate route map here.
Please drive with caution through this area. To learn more about the State Road 37 Improvement Project and sign up to receive text updates, visit 37Thrives.com.
PROJECTS NORTH OF 116TH STREET
126TH STREET AND FORD DRIVE
Phase 2 construction of the 126th Street and Ford Drive roundabout is underway and is anticipated to reopen in October. During this phase, 126th Street will be closed east of Ford Drive to Kirkpatrick Way. Residents and businesses on Ford/Windsor Drive will be accessible from Lantern Road. Lockhart Cadillac will be accessible from southbound SR 37 only. Check out the project fact sheet to learn more and view the detour map here.
PROJECTS SOUTH OF 116TH STREET
96TH STREET 96th Street east of the Sargent Road roundabout to Cumberland Road is currently closed and is anticipated to reopen in early November. During this time, the bridge over Mud Creek will be replaced with a widened structure and additional travel lanes will be added. Check out the project fact sheet to learn more and view the detour map here.
There will be temporary lane closures throughout the week of October 12 on 96th Street east of I-69 as part of the resurfacing and median island project. Please use caution while driving through this area. Check out the project fact sheet to learn more.
ALLISONVILLE ROAD The far east lane on Allisonville Road south of 106th Street is currently closed between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for work in front of Fire Station #93 and is anticipated to be completed by Friday, October 16.
FRANCES STREET
Frances Street between Meadows Drive and Lantern Road is currently closed and is anticipated to reopen in October.
MOORE STREET
Moore Street between 116th Street and South Street is currently closed and is anticipated to reopen in October.
NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECTS
BURBERRY
Road resurfacing is currently taking place and is anticipated to be completed by the end of October.
NICKEL PLATE TRAIL
There may be very short-term narrow lanes or lane closures at the Nickel Plate Trail crossings for the next 2 to 3 weeks to allow the contractor to pour concrete for curb ramps and pole foundations. Please use caution when driving through these areas.
NEIGHBORHOOD PARKING UPDATE
The City of Fishers’ objective is to create a safe and inviting community by improving infrastructure, reducing congestion, increase mobility options, and manage parking in our city which is experiencing constant growth. We are committed to providing accessible and adequate parking options for all residents, guests and visitors. Our goal is to educate the community about parking regulations to reduce the chances of violations. Find info about neighborhood parking ordinances and how to file a complaint here.
FLASHING YELLOW ARROW TRAFFIC SIGNALS
Several traffic signals throughout the City of Fishers have recently been upgraded to include flashing yellow arrows. This is a measure put in place to allow for improved traffic flow. A yellow flashing arrow means that you may proceed with the turn only after you have yielded the right of way to pedestrians and oncoming traffic. If you a facing a steady yellow light or arrow, your right of way is ending. Find info here regarding flashing yellow arrow traffic signals.
Five years into the State Road 37 project, the City of Fishers and Hamilton County government are $42 million over budget, and construction has not been completed on any of the five intersections scheduled for renovation.
According to Hamilton County Highway Department Director Brad Davis during a Wednesday presentation provided by representatives from the City of Fishers, the original $24 million, split equally between Fishers and Hamilton County, has been exhausted. Stevens further explained INDOT contributed $100 million toward the project, of which approximately 75 percent has been committed.
Massillamany
Following the presentation, during the regularly-scheduled council meeting on Wednesday, District 2 council member Amy Massillamany expressed her frustration with the City of Fishers. “Of the 37 meetings open to the public, that was the first time outside of the decision made four years ago that they [Fishers] were here giving a breakdown of what the overruns looked like.”
At the meeting, Council members explained the county is only responsible for $21 million of the overrun due to cost sharing with Fishers.
District 4 representative Ken Alexander explained the cost overrun, saying, “Those estimates were based on construction cost coming out of a downturn in the economy. You probably had lower construction cost. As the economy improved you are now buying things that had higher escalation costs than anticipated. The issue is how do we stop it from going forward. What are we doing to look for scope reduction? We don’t have all that information today.”
According to Council member Fred Glynn, the $21 million will likely increase as the project moves forward.
Glynn
“It is a bigger cost overrun than any of us have ever seen. It is an ongoing project and it ain’t done,” said At-Large member Brad Beaver.
Beaver continued, saying, “The City of Fishers is the lead agency on a combined effort. We are not extremely happy about it either. It is a big project and big projects sometimes go over. I’m not happy with it, but we are going to hold up our end of the log.”
Glynn wants to see a stopgap put in place on the project.
“His [Beaver’s] vote is to hold up the end of it. Just for the record, that’s his vote, one vote,” Glynn said. “I am not supporting it in its current form. We need some type of stopgap because there is no guarantee that even that number is not going to get hit. For me to go forward supporting this, I need to see a reduction on the county end. We could commit to this, and in another year, they could want another $10 million dollars.”
McKinney
Council President Rick McKinney also expressed his concern with Fishers. “I’m highly disappointed with the lack of progress and lack of communication between the council and Fishers project coordinators.”
McKinney asked Stevens about 126th Street, the first intersection scheduled for completion. Stevens indicated motorists should expect to see that intersection open in early November.
The county will continue discussion on the overall project in upcoming meetings.
There are many worthy organizations in our local community supporting young people. One of those groups is the Youth Mentoring Initiative (YMI).
The big fund-raising event for YMI is the annual Mayor’s Breakfast. The coronavirus pandemic forced the event to go virtual in 2020. As of Thursday night, over $32,600 had been raised.
Below is a city news release with more on this year’s event:
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Youth Mentoring Initiative (YMI) hosted its annual Mayor’s Breakfast virtually on Thursday, October 8 at 8:00 a.m. YMI’s largest annual fundraiser, hosted by Mayor Scott Fadness and YMI Executive Director Alison Gatz, featured former Indianapolis Colts player Joe Reitz; Brooke Lawson, HSE Schools Mental Health and School Counseling Coordinator; YMI mentors and mentees; and others as they share the impact mentoring can have on students. The Breakfast raises funds to help provide school-based mentoring services to more than 300 students.
“This year, it’s more important than ever that we support our mentees through mentorship,” remarked Gatz. “We’ve pivoted our model to provide safe virtual visits with the mentors, mentees, and YMI staff and we know this has helped many of our kids get through the challenges of virtual learning, isolation, and quarantine. But we have more work to do – which will all be made possible by the generosity of our donors and our mentors.”
Supporters are encouraged to visit givebutter.com/ymibreakfast for playback of the virtual Breakfast and donate in support of mentorship.
Gatz also honored longtime Board member, Steven Orusa, who stepped down in his role as President of the YMI Board of Directors Orusa, an eight-year board member, served as president since late 2019 and led the organization through exponential growth as the organization increased donations and mentor programming. The YMI Board of Directors has elected Joe Eaton, as Orusa’s successor, longtime community supporter and Board Member since 2019.
“It’s an honor to serve the Fishers community through the impact of mentorship,” said Eaton. “This is the year where so many have experienced challenges and the more than 300 mentees currently served by YMI are no different. Our goal with this event is to fully fund the training, recruitment, and matching of our community mentors with student mentees.”
A special thanks to the generous corporate sponsors and donors who have already committed to supporting the Mayor’s Breakfast for YMI:
As we entered the month of October, there were many families in Fishers asking this question – will we even have a Halloween this year with the pandemic? The answer is yes, but there are recommendations for parents
The hours for Trick or Treating will be 6-8pm October 31st, which is a Saturday this year. Police Chief Ed Gebhart has a number of tips for those venturing out Halloween night.
Here is the information, as provided by the Fishers Police Department:
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The City of Fishers has announced trick-or-treating hours and recommendations to stay safe and healthy this Halloween.
Citywide trick-or-treat hours will be held Saturday, October 31 from 6-8 p.m. To stay safe on Halloween, Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart offers the following tips:
A parent or adult should accompany children when they are trick-or-treating.
Stay within your neighborhood. Only visit homes where the porch lights are on, indicating a home that is handing out treats.
Only go to houses where you know the owner.
Give and accept pre-packaged candy only. Homemade treats should not be handed out or consumed.
Have children bring treats home for adult inspection before they are eaten.
Carry a flashlight.
Choose costumes that are flame retardant.
Wear light-colored clothing, short enough to prevent tripping. Add reflective tape to dark colored costumes.
Watch for vehicular traffic and use caution when crossing the street.
The Fishers Health Department’s Public Health Director, Monica Heltz, DNP, MPH, shares health-related safety recommendations to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 on Halloween. Those recommendations include:
Do not participate in trick-or-treating or handing out treats if you have symptoms of COVID-19, a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the past 10 days, or have been notified that you have been in contact with COVID-19 within the past 14 days.
All trick-or-treaters and all persons handing out treats should sanitize hands frequently and if possible, between each contact. Hands should also be sanitized prior to consuming any edible treats.
All trick-or-treaters and all persons at home when answering their door should wear a mask or facial covering made of two or more layers of breathable material.
All treats should be individually wrapped.
Do not dispense treats from a common bowl or receptacle. Consider no-contact methods for dispensing treats (i.e. treats in individual bags in the yard, treats in plastic eggs dispersed in the yard, etc.) Trick-or-treaters should look for treats outdoors around the house before knocking.
Trick-or-treat only with individuals from your household or smallest social bubble.
Consider lower risk activities for celebrating Halloween as an alternative to door-to-door trick-or-treating, especially for high-risk individuals. Ideas include a neighborhood scavenger hunt, virtual costume contest, or family movie night.
The complete list of Halloween recommendations is available at this link.
Voter (left) talks with election worker with plexiglass separating them
My wife Jane & I voted absentee in the primary election earlier this year and are eligible to vote absentee in the general election but decided to early vote instead. It’s hard to explain why. Maybe it is the shared experience of being there, in person, with other people in your community, gathering to experience democracy.
We decided not to try voting the very first day, but the second day instead. We live a bit closer to the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, as opposed to the downtown Noblesville location, so we chose the Fairgrounds.
We arrived at the location 30 minutes before the scheduled opening time for the polls. Parking is easy at the Fairgrounds. There were about 25 people lined-up in front of us as we took our place in the queue.
The weather was pleasant and that made waiting outside a much nicer experience. Everyone in line that I could were wearing masks. All the poll workers were wearing masks. There was a sign as you walked into the building saying mask-wearing is mandatory.
It was good to see that as you verify your identification, there was plexiglass to separate the voter and the poll worker. You are given a card with data on it and a small paper printout.
Once that was done, I was headed to a voting machine. One glitch that was impacting many voters (including myself) was the discovery that many of the data cards had been cleaned with hand sanitizer, and it appears the sanitizer wipes the data from the card.
The poll worker, a very nice lady, had to seek some help and finally had to enter a code printed out on the piece of paper I was given at check-in in order to setup my voting machine. Once that was done, I cast my ballot and was on my way.
Even with the short delay, I was out of the building at 9:30am. I had arrived to get in line at 8:30, the doors opened on time at 9:00am, and I was in my car by 9:30.
Hats-off to the workers staffing the polling site at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. They were doing their best to get voters through efficiently, while also ensuring all the equipment was working for the voters.
As I left the fairgrounds, the voting line was very long. It is good to see people living in my local community love democracy.
When I announced a few weeks ago that I would not be able to record podcast interviews for all the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) school board candidates, I received an offer from a brother-sister combination at Fishers High School. Izzy is a senior and her brother Casey is a freshman at FHS. Both are alumni of Mike Fassold’s “We The People” program at Fishers Junior High School. Both Izzy & Casey were members of national championship teams at FJHS.
“We The People” is a program centered on civics and knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. Teams compete by presenting a four-minute paper, reading it verbally to the judges, then taking questions from those judges.
Both contacted me with an interest in helping with the production of candidate podcasts. So, last week, Izzy sent me eleven audio files of candidate podcast interviews. It took me several days to complete the post-production work on all eleven audio files and turn them into podcasts for posting on this blog.
All eleven candidates agreed to be interviewed by this high school duo. Izzy and Casey definitely brought a different perspective to those discussions than an adult such as myself would do.
So, just how interested are people in these podcasts? I checked the numbers as of noon Monday, less than 24 hours after all podcasts were posted. The stats are unbelievable.
The number I will cite is a measure of “listens.” A listen means one person listened to most or all of a podcast. So far, all podcasts combined have a total number of listens exceeding 650. That breaks all records for listens this soon in the process.
It is clear residents in the HSE School District want to hear what the candidates have to say, and like the approach Izzy & Casey took to these discussions.
I posted each podcast one at a time Sunday, October 4. If you want a handy listing, here are links to all the candidate podcasts, by township. Remember, this is an at-large election, so all registered voters in the district may select one candidate per township when voting this cycle.
