My wife Jane & I have done our best to shelter in place, but we had important family business that required us to travel to the Florida Panhandle the last few days.  It gave us a look at what is the new normal, at least for the time being.  I personally saw wonderful examples of people going out of their way to stay at least six-feet apart.  Then, there were a few other examples not as encouraging.

Spending time on Okaloosa Island along the Florida Panhandle, I recalled how normally busy this time of year is, with people and families on spring break filling the area.  That is not the case this year.  The beaches are closed, which they should be under the current circumstances.  In one sense it was peaceful listening to the ocean waves along the shore.  However, it was a bit eerie at the same time with no people on the beach other than security personnel patrolling the area enforcing the closure.

I enjoy taking a walk and there were lots of other people walking along the same Florida sidewalk with me.  We all kept our distance, even carefully moving closer to the street in order to keep at least six feet between us as we would meet along that sidewalk.

Driving along the Interstate there was a very different situation at the rest stops.  There was no staff other than those cleaning.  The rest rooms were not busy because the number of motorists traveling is way down.

There was only one rest stop that concerned me, where about 8 men were congregating, telling jokes at close range.  I suppose it’s good news that is the only troubling example I could find along the way.

The health experts nationally and locally are telling us to brace for a very tough couple of weeks.  The news is mostly bad.

I cannot say any more than has already been said or written about those on the front lines.  I have friends and relatives in nursing, teaching and law enforcement.  Those are all jobs on the front lines, along with first responders, such as ambulance crews.  There are doctors and technicians and a long list of people putting themselves at risk showing up for work in hospitals.  They are asking us to stay at home.  It’s the least we can do.

I hope local people here in Fishers, once this crisis has subsided, will put on the biggest party and celebration you have ever seen, with all these special people as guests of honor.  Let’s start thinking about that now, since we need to think of something positive.

One other development on the coronovirus front.  Jeff Jellison, in a recent front page commentary in his newspaper, the Hamilton County Reporter, has called on local officials to provide more specifics on where COVID-19 cases are testing positive, and where those that are dying from this virus are from, more specifically, such as the city in which they live.

The Hamilton County Health Department provided the answer today, and the answer is no.  They cite federal health privacy laws and will not say where any person specifically resides in the county when reporting cases and deaths.

That decision will provide plenty of fodder for future discussion.

Just a reminder that the City of Fishers has a COVID-19 hotline staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – 317-595-3211

The largest newspaper in any metropolitan area is always a very important local institution.  For the Indianapolis area, and the state of Indiana, the largest newspaper is the Indianapolis Star.  Something is happening there and we all must pay attention.  I talk about that and more in today’s edition of Larry’s Log.

Ashton Wolf is a name people around Fishers should know.  He has been involved in many artistic productions in the area for a number of years.

Ashton and Aaron Henze have been working on a new 30-minute weekly television program focusing on people doing important and creative things in all of Central Indiana.

The TV show (Indy – On The Town) premieres this Sunday.  It will air each week Sundays at 11:30am, on WHMB-TV, channel 40, based out of Noblesville.

I spoke with Ashton about his new endeavor, and a few other things, in this podcast.

When dealing with something as serious as a virus rising to pandemic levels around the world, it is good to look at how others view this from a wider lens than most of us.

An Israeli academic, Yuval Noah Harari, has written best selling books on the history of humankind and how we learned to form communities and master the earth.  Harari has an interesting perspective on how mankind handles something like a pandemic now versus two centuries ago.

I discuss that, and more, in the April 1st edition of my daily podcast, Larry’s Log. (Photo is of Professor Harari)

When ending my local Fishers news blog, I wrote that commentaries might be on the way.  It didn’t take long for me to have something to say, and it should not surprise you that the novel coronavirus is the subject.

Governor Eric Holcomb provided an update Wednesday and it was not good news.  Indiana had its deadliest day of COVID-19 with 16 deaths and 400 new positive tests.  Let’s remind ourselves that testing kits and equipment remain scarce.

President Trump clearly provided a very different tone in his Tuesday news conference, warning us that April will be a tough month.  The numbers in the best case scenario nationally are in the 6 figures and, if we as a nation do not heed the advice of experts, can see deaths exceed one million.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness issued an open letter Wednesday to those living in the city.  He told me in a couple of conversations about this issue before I ended the news blog that there is no other place he would rather be than in the mayor’s office.  He said essentially the same thing to the IndyStar’s John Tuohy.

The Fadness open letter is a document that reveals much about the man.  He admits how this pandemic has impacted him personally in his responsibilities and how being with his sons in the evening is an important respite for the mayor.

For a man building an entrepreneurial spirit throughout his city and developing Fishers in his vision, the mayor likes to be in control.  He admits we are not in control of this health crisis, but we are required to deal with it.

As the fourth or fifth largest city in the state, Fadness prepares us for what is to come…Fishers will get its share of fatalities as a result of this pandemic, and holding down that number is up to us and our behavior as individuals.

Scott Fadness is asking all of us living in this city to take the normal human emotions of anger and fear, and direct that energy into helping others as we can under the circumstances.  If there ever was a time to look out for your neighbors, this is it.

Here is the end of the mayor’s open letter:

“The next thirty days will test our resiliency and character. Let us commit ourselves to compassionate action that will have us reflect on this unprecedented time with a quiet sense of pride about the true character and resolve of our Fishers community.”

Mayor Fadness and I have differed on a few issues but agree on many others.  I could not agree more with the sentiments expressed in his letter.  Everyone in Fishers should read the letter and take it to heart.  I did.

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Here is the full text of the open letter:

Continue reading COVID-19 has spurred my first commentary – the mayor’s open letter →

It’s nice to know I have made it to the second episode of Larry’s Log.  In this podcast, I review the latest on COVID-19.  There is a new program involving local high school students and opportunities to learn the building trades.  There is that and more in this Larry’s Log podcast:

Now that I am no longer covering the daily news beat in Fishers, I am trying something new.  A brief podcast about what happened that day and perhaps more than that, posted late in the evening.  I would aspire to post every day, but realistically understand it may not be posted every single day.

Please try my new brief blog.  It’s called Larry’s Log because it’s just what I am considering that day, like a log one would keep for one’s self.  But in this case, it’s on the Internet for all to hear.

Here is my first episode of Larry’s Log.

There is no easy or gentle way to say this so allow me to be direct.  LarryInFishers.com as a local Fishers news blog ends as of this post on Sunday, March 29th.  This Web site & podcast series will continue in a different way moving forward.  In addition, I am issuing a challenge to leaders & citizens in the Fishers community. Trust me, I made this decision well before the novel coronavirus disrupted our lives and economy.

Allow me to take some space and explain all this.

I moved to Fishers in 1991.  I had lived in my apartment at the Indy east side neighborhood of Irvington for seven years and enjoyed living there.  What brought me to Fishers was my marriage to Jane.  She had already built a ranch home in the Sunblest neighborhood, and she talked me into coming to Fishers.  It will grow, she said.  My wife is always right and she was certainly correct about that.

So, I moved to this sleepy suburb of Indianapolis called Fishers, with a population under 10,000.  I watched as the town, later to become a city, started to grow, just as Jane predicted.  When our twin daughters started school, it was about the same time the giant growth spurt hit Fishers and the HSE Schools, which many say happened 2000-2010.  Census figures showed a Fishers population in 2000 as 37,835….in 2010, it was 76,794.  That was more than a 100% increase over ten years.

There was a newspaper that had been publishing for over 100 years, the Noblesville Daily Ledger.  I subscribed and was very glad I did.  The Ledger not only covered Noblesville and the county, it did a very nice job of providing news about HSE Schools and the Town of Fishers.  When the news business began its major downturn 12-14 years ago, the Ledger eventually disappeared, much like many local newspapers everywhere in America.

When it was gone, I missed the Ledger.  The Current in Fishers, a weekly newspaper mailed to everyone with a Fishers postal address, did its best publishing once a week but could not update us on daily developments.

As background, I worked in journalism as a radio reporter and anchor for about ten years.  That ended in 1983 when I switched careers and joined the federal civil service.  In 2011, I retired as a federal employee and wondered what might be next.

I am no tech wiz, but had some help from a friend who writes about technology nationally (thanks, Scott Fulton!) and started a fairly simple blog with the Web address of LarryInFishers.com – I have no idea why I chose that name but it was all I could come up with at the time.

I had a very simple goal in January of 2012 – just sit through town council and local school board meetings, take notes, then post a story about the meeting.  I suspected a few government nerds such as myself would have any interest in my writings.  My goals were modest.

Then, I began to realize something was happening.  To my surprise, people were reading in numbers I couldn’t imagine.  Some town council members were wanting to get to know me.

The only reason for all this attention at that time centered on the fact that I was the only reporter doing daily news coverage about Fishers.  There were people in Fishers wanting local news and I was giving it to them on a timely basis.

That was the start of LarryInFishers.com.  I have just completed eight years writing this blog.  Even when traveling the state instructing for Indiana University, or on vacation in Florida, my laptop was always with me and I wrote many a story out of a hotel room far from Fishers.

I was shocked that my blog was getting so much attention.  The one thing that bothered me was that I had to attach my name to it.  If only we were back in the days when Benjamin Franklin could make up a lady’s name and write under a pseudonym.

I never wanted LarryInFishers.com to be about me, I wanted it to be about the events I was covering and the people I wrote about locally.  I was never comfortable with celebrity, even a low grade form of celebrity.

As LarryInFishers.com continued, I was able to cover some historic stories about Fishers.  That included, in my first year, the referendum campaign that switched Fishers from a town to a second-class city.  I watched and wrote about the first mayoral campaign that included six candidates. The scariest evening of that campaign for me was moderating a candidate debate.  I was told by others that it went well but was too nervous that evening to even judge for myself.

That election installed the Town Manager Scott Fadness into the new office of mayor.  Covering Scott Fadness has been quite a job.  The mayor is always thinking ahead, challenging his staff to do the same.  Scott Fadness treated me with more respect than a small local news blogger likely deserved.   Mayor Fadness and his staff have been great to me.

The old town council and current city council members have always been responsive when I ask questions.  That also applies to the local school board and school administrators.  There are always a few isolated exceptions, but by-and-large, they have always treated me with great respect.  I did my best to return the favor.

As an old radio guy, the emergence of podcasting began to fascinate me.  Once again, my friend Scott Fulton provided some learned advice.  In February of 2016, I posted my first podcast.  I tried a series of tax podcasts but that didn’t attract much of an audience, so I stuck with interview podcasts with local people and added the Arts&Fishers podcasts with film reviews and other arts reviews.  I still team up with Adam Aasen from Carmel and post film podcasts when we can both get together.

The number of people listening to my podcasts has surpassed any goal I had.

I want to explain, the best way I know how, why I have made the decision to end the local news blog.

First, I am not getting any younger.  I find myself making more errors than just a few years ago and find myself not as sharp as I once was in handling the podcasts.  I have high standards for myself and haven’t been meeting those standards lately.

Another factor is that my mother and my in-laws are getting up in the years and I need to be available to help when called upon.  Jane & I know how lucky we are to have them and want to do all we can to be of assistance when needed.

Then, there is the news that I will become a grandfather in August.  This is exciting.  My daughter & son-in-law live in South Dakota so Jane & I are planning even more visits north & west of Fishers.

There is something else that bothers me and I hope all my readers understand.  Doing this blog alone has not been easy.  Even relatively small news organizations have other people to consult.  When I work on a story, it’s all up to me.  I make the decisions.  That is a large burden, especially with the size of the audience reading this blog and listening to my podcasts.  The burden is starting to wear on me after eight years.

I want to be clear that the only reason I am ending the news blog is due to the points I made in this piece.  I am angry at no one and reiterate that, with very few exceptions, I have been treated with professional courtesy by all the people I cover.

Every time I contemplated ending the blog, I kept telling myself that I do not want to make Fishers a news desert, where local news is hard to find.  More pressure will be put on people like John Tuohy, MJ Slaby and Holly Hays of the Indianapolis Star…..Kurt Christian from the Indianapolis Business Journal…Anna Skinner of Current…..Jeff Jellison of the Hamilton County Reporter, as well as the many editors and other decision makers at those news organizations and others.  I would hope all will cover Fishers more completely in the future, even with the economic pressures these businesses are enduring.

Allow me to thank the news outlets that allowed me to do some writing for them.  For a few years I wrote commentaries for Current in Fishers.  I have also done some writing for the Indianapolis Business Journal, a journalistic institution that commands great respect in Central Indiana.

Last, but not least, my sincere thanks to the productive partnership formed with Jeff Jellison, publisher of the Hamilton County Reporter.  Jeff & I were able to grow our audiences together and I wish Jeff all the best.

Let me say this once again – subscribe to your local media!

I do not plan to abandon LarryInFishers.com.  I expect to continue film reviews and reviews of other arts events.  I will continue producing podcasts, although not as many as in the past.  The plan is to feature the work of nonprofit groups locally and people in the local arts scene as part of my Arts&Fishers podcast series.  If Adam Aasen wants to keep our film podcast going, that is good with me.

Expect some news commentaries on this blog – how many and how often is unknown at this time, but watch for some posts all about what is happening here and elsewhere.  It is the daily news coverage of local events that will end with this post.

I suspect there will be some that will miss reading this blog…to you I say, God Bless you!  But if you want daily local news coverage to continue, there is a way.  Fishers could do what local communities have done around the nation – start a nonprofit news organization.

Let me be clear, there are many in this community with ties to the nonprofit world and could step-up to the plate and get this going.  I will be willing to help, but after eight years of blogging, I am only in a position to be supportive and can help if asked…I cannot take the lead.

There is always the chance someone or a group could form a for-profit business to produce local news, but that will be a tougher path.  Frankly, I am in favor of any plan that would get the job done.

There is always a chance that not enough people in key places will support any local news organization, and if that is the case, so be it.  This is a choice our local leaders and citizens must make.

In closing, I want to sincerely thank all of you.  The readers of this blog are the people that kept me going for more than eight years. I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

This has not been an easy decision but one I had to make.  Now is the time.

My last message is this – be an active citizen.  Attend community and government meetings.  Engage your elected officials.  Do your part.

Thank you, Fishers.  I may end this news blog but continue to reside in Fishers and still care about my local community.  That’s why I started this blog in the first place.

Changing a name can be a difficult decision.  The organization that called itself HSE SPORTS from 1987 through the end of 2019 felt a change in name was in order, which officially went into affect on January 1, 2020.  Now the local youth sports organization wants to remind everyone that what was HSE SPORTS is now called Mudsock Youth Athletics.

“Effective branding helps people connect positive experiences to an organization,
fostering trust and confidence, said Scott Spillman, Executive Director, Mudsock Youth
Athletics. “We collaborated with a local branding company who talked with our board,
staff, coaches, parents, and other community members. Through extensive research, it
became clear that a rename and new logo was necessary to reflect how our
organization has evolved and to more accurately highlight the services and programs
we offer.”

Where does the term Mudsock originate?  Local historians mostly say it goes back to the late 19th century when Fishers consisted mostly of swamp land, and people frequenting the area often had mud on their socks.  There was a famous “Battle of the Mudsock” in the late 1800s that was so violent and rare it made the New York Times.

The annual HSE-Fishers football contest is named the Mudsock Game, as are most games between the two high schools located in Fishers.

“Our mission has stayed the same since its inception in 1987; to cultivate an organization that provides all kids in our community a chance to actively participate in the
sport they choose, said Beth Lawrence, Assistant Director, Mudsock Youth Athletics.
“We are constantly evolving to provide new sport offerings, access to greater
education and highlighting our community commitment in all we do.”

Mudsock Youth Athletics’ new logo reflects the organization’s recreational
and competitive team sports that promote character development, leadership
and physical fitness. The Tigers’ red is used to represent Fishers High School and the
Royals’ blue represents Hamilton Southeastern School. The athletic sock is featured
prominently dipped in mud as a tribute to the history of the community. The sock is
slightly slanted to mimic the shape of the state of Indiana.

“We chose a modern feel with a retro look that portrays what we do in the best way
possible, said Spillman. It was important that the design of the logo evolve with us over
time while nodding to elements of our past.”

Unlike other youth sport organizations in Fishers, Mudsock Youth Athletics serves as
the umbrella organization to individual member leagues and provides the leagues and
families a centralized way of registration, communication, scheduling and field/
facility distribution.

“Our volunteers play a critical role in our success and we are fortunate to have members of our community who pour their time, talent and efforts into their league and
most importantly into their players, said Lawrence. “Our focus is to create an
experience that enriches our kids’ lives with a volunteer base made up of neighbors,
family, community members, teachers, and more. We have full confidence that our
rebrand is reflective of this.”

Look for some lane restrictions on State Road 37 in the area of 141st & 146th Streets in coming days.  Details are provided below.

With spring-like weather returning, road construction is also ramping-up in the Fishers area.

Below is the full listing up road construction as provided by the City of Fishers:

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