The continuing construction along Lantern Road south of downtown Fishers will start to impact access to Fishers Elementary School beginning Monday, February 10th.  The Hamilton Southeastern School Board was recently briefed on this at a board meeting.  The Morgan Drive intersection with Lantern will be closed due to the road work.  Fishers Elementary will be accessed via 106th Street during this phase of construction.

Also, Southeastern Parkway south of 136th Street is scheduled to be limited to one lane on Monday, February 10th, 9am-3pm.  Road crews with flags will be handling traffic control duties during the period of lane restriction.

For the complete list of road construction, here is the official listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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by

Jeff Jellison

Publisher

Hamilton County Reporter

A bill, co-authored by State Rep. Tony Cook (R-Cicero), seeking to remove publication of school districts’ Annual Performance Reports from newspapers has been sent to the Senate after passing the Indiana House of Representatives.

The Annual School Performance Report is arguably the most important report produced by school districts. The report includes information such as student enrollment, number of certified teachers, teacher salary ranges, attendance rates, A-F ratings, percentages of students passing standardized tests, and school suspensions including suspensions and expulsions for weapons, drugs and alcohol.

If the bill passes the Senate, school districts will only be required to publish a summary of the report with an explanation on how the report can be found on the Department of Education’s website.

I mentioned Cook co-authored the bill; however, the bill was supported by State Representatives Goodrich, Schaibley, Huston and Torr – all represent portions of Hamilton County.

If Cook and the other lawmakers believe placing the report on the DOE’s website will provide for more exposure, I’ll argue they are wrong.

According to the Hoosier State Press Association (HSPA), 3 million adult Hoosiers read newspapers at least once per week. Also, according the HSPA, the Department of Education’s website, where the performance reports are recorded, only received 14,500 unique page views last year. To put that in perspective, the Hamilton County Reporter’s website, which publishes school reports, received 730,664 unique page visits over the last year.

Accessing the report could be troublesome for some internet users.

There are areas of the state that do not have high speed internet, as well as areas without adequate internet service making it difficult to obtain the report.

An older generation of Hoosiers simply do not use the internet and only read print news. This generation of Hoosiers are taxpayers, homeowners and voters, who have spent much of their adult lives engaging in politics and investing in the health of their school districts.

Some low-income Hoosier taxpayers simply can’t afford internet service.

If Cook and the other lawmakers believe there is a significant cost savings in not publishing the report in newspapers, I’ll again argue they are wrong.

The average cost of a school report published last year in the Reporter was $600. Many of those reports were more than a page long. The cost is much less than a business would pay to place the same size ad, and the advertising rate to publish the report is dictated by a state law passed by Indiana lawmakers.

Hamilton County schools are continuously receiving accolades for being some of the best in state. Attracting students to their schools is a competitive process for districts. According to local realtors, people looking to relocate to Hamilton County have used the reports in their decision as to what community they will reside in.

Indiana lawmakers are gradually chipping away at the public’s right to know through their attempts to eliminate public notice advertising. Lawmakers that seek to limit the number of people able to access public notice advertising should be held accountable.

Remember 2020 is an election year, and many of our state representatives have opponents on the primary election ballot.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern picked up its eighth straight victory on Thursday, beating Franklin Central 71-64 on the road in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game.

The Royals led 19-16 after the first quarter, but the Flashes took the lead in the second period, going up 35-33 at halftime. Southeastern used a 22-point third period to get back in front 55-53 by the end of the third, then outscored Franklin Central 16-11 in the fourth.

Four Royals players reached double figures. Vinny Buccilla led the way with 15 points on five 3-pointers. DeAndre Rhodes, who committed to play football at Indiana State this week, added 14 points. Kole Hornbuckle and Mabor Majak each had 12 points, with Hornbuckle making all three of his 3-point attempts.

Rhodes led the rebounding with eight, while Majak collected seven. Southeastern had 22 team assists, with Buccilla dishing out six. Rhodes and Hornbuckle both handed out five assists and Majak had four assists.

The Royals improved to 4-2 in the HCC, currently second behind Brownsburg’s 4-1 record. Southeastern is 12-5 overall and plays at Homestead on Saturday afternoon.

I have been away from podcasting for a few weeks, but, as promised, I am back.  On this episode, I converse with Emily & Mike Morgan about their podcast series The Grand Life.  It’s all about being a grandparent.  Once you finish listening to this podcast, you can find The Grand Life podcast series at this link.

Fishers District added yet another business opening to its lineup with the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Cycle Bar.  The studio will occupies approximately 1,980 square feet of retail space and features 45 bikes.

“I’m very excited to bring the first dedicated premier cycling fitness studio to Fishers, and to be opening at the Fishers District,” says Amanda Moor, Owner, CycleBar Fishers. “As a resident of Fishers, I’m passionate about this community and thrilled at the opportunity to combine my experience in sports with the CycleBar fitness experience. We’ll have an awesome team at this location and know CycleBar will further enhance the fitness experiences at Fishers District.”

Fishers City Council President Cecilia Coble was on hand for the Thursday morning ceremony, along with City Councilors John Weingardt and Jocelyn Vare.

Noblesville plans to construct a new sports stadium, saying no referendum or tax rate increase would be required to fund the project.  According to my news gathering partner, The Hamilton County Reporter, the new facility will be located off of Field Drive behind Noblesville High School where the district’s former Transportation building sits.

The new on-campus stadium will be larger than the existing space, with 50 percent more seating, expanded concessions and restrooms, and on-site parking. It will also be designed to maximize traffic flow and provide a safer environment for appropriately monitoring and managing crowds. Enhanced lighting, locker rooms for home and away teams, up-to-date broadcast technology capabilities, practice fields, athletic training space and additional storage are also included in the plans.

“This new stadium has been a long time coming for Noblesville and we’re excited to be making it happen,” said Dave Mundy, associate superintendent for Noblesville Schools. “We have outstanding support in our community for both athletics and performing arts, and the demand for more space to accommodate our programs has continued to increase as we have grown to be one of the largest high schools in the state.”

The district has studied the issue of a new stadium for several years and new construction was determined to be a more-cost effective option than trying to expand the current facility. Construction will be approximately $14 million, financed through a bond without the use of referendum dollars or an increase in the tax rate. It’s expected to be completed in the spring of 2021 for track and fall of 2022 for football and band.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County voters in this year’s Republican primary will encounter the longest ballot in recent history when they go to the polls May 5.

At the top of the ballot, Donald Trump will probably be alone for president as will Eric Holcomb for governor, but from there on unusually large numbers of candidates will be listed.

All four Hamilton County judges up for re-election this year appear to be going back into office unopposed. With the filing deadline at noon Friday, only the incumbent judges have filed for the Republican primary, and no Democrats have indicated intentions to run.

Circuit Court Judge Paul Felix and Superior Court judges William Hughes, Richard Campbell and David Najjar will be running for new six-year terms. The three other Superior Court judges: Michael Casati, Jon Brown and Gail Bardach, are not up for election this year.

Voters will see a contested race for Treasurer with Kim Good and Susan Byer running.

Nine people have so far filed for the county council At-Large position, including one Democrat.  Those individuals are:

• Ralph F. (Rick) McKinney (R)
• Brandon (Brad) Beaver (R)
• Sue Maki (R)
• Jeff Hern (R)
• Steven R Nation (R)
• Lyneen Burrow (R)
• John Ditslear (R)
• Gardiner P. Bink III (D)
• Tony Scott (R)

Ten candidates have filed for Congress following incumbent Susan Brooks’ decision to retire. They are:

• Kent Aberthany
• Andrew Bales
• Micah Beckwith
• Allen Davidson
• Beth Henderson
• Matthew Hook
• Danny Niederberger
• Mark Small
• Russell Stwallley
• Victor Wakley
• Victoria Spartz

Running for state representative whose districts are in whole or in part within Hamilton County are:

• Donna Schaibley, Dist. 24
• Chuck Goodrich, Dist.29
• Mike Vick (D), Dist. 29
• Daniel Bragg and Tony Cook, Dist. 32
• Todd Huston, Dist. 37
• Jerry Torr, Dist. 39
• Chris Jeter and Leah McGrath, Dist. 88

Running for state senate in local districts are:

• Scott Baldwin and John Gaylor in Dist. 20
• Terry Michael and John Ruckelshaus in Dist. 30

The board of directors for the Fishers Arts Council (FAC) has elected Tom Rich as the organizations new president in 2020.

The long-time Fishers resident has been a board member since 2016, and most recently served as vice president. His goals are to work with the city of Fishers, local businesses, and various artist organizations to expand opportunities for artists to exhibit and sell their art; to expand the opportunities for residents and visitors of Fishers to enjoy the visual arts; and to promote additional opportunities for the performing arts in Fishers.

FAC named new board members for 2020: Pat Grabill – watercolor artist and retired MSDLT educator; Jill Lehman – founder and managing consultant of High Frequency Arts; and Laura Villanyi – glass artist and former board member of the Children’s Museum and Indianapolis Art Center. Villanyi was elected to Vice President of the board for 2020. Returning board members include Madeline Romeo (Secretary), Les Reinhardt (Treasurer), Olivia Holt, and Michael Patrick.

The Fishers Arts Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, tax exempt organization.

The Fishers Plan Commission listened to proposals from the city staff on commercial open space standards, and decided to allow the Fishers City Council to make the final decision.

Plan Commission members listened to proposals by Fishers Planning and Zoning Director Tony Bagato, who was following-up on language in the 2040 city comprehensive plan.  The debate centered on how fee structures for open commercial space would impact business entrepreneurs and small business owners.

After a lively discussion, commission members voted unanimously to bring the proposals before the Fishers City Council for a final decision.

In other Plan Commission actions Wednesday night:

–Warren Harling will once again serve as president of the plan commission and Pete Peterson will be vice president.

–The commission voted unanimously to accept a letter from Woods of Britton, withdrawing their proposal for a second phase of the apartment complex.

–The former Ram Restaurant location near 126th Street and State Road 37 received a favorable recommendation from the commission to change rules allowing a dental office and perhaps other tenants to use that property.

In education parlance, the acronym STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math.  Wednesday, Fishers High School students were involved in a STEAM competition sponsored by Duke Energy and POWER Engineers.

The project is funded by a $5,900 grant from Duke Energy Foundation coupled with a $6,695 grant from POWER.  The program introduces high school students to STEAM concepts.

In one session, students were tasked with designing power transmission lines, thinking about all the factors involved in accomplishing such a task.  Papers were strung around the room, representing power lines.

“They were told to take their crepe paper and connect point A to point B,” said Lew Middleton of Duke Energy.  “The only restriction was they could not do it in a direct line.  They had to creatively find ways around.  As the exercise went on, they learned about different obstacles, different challenges that would come up, when trying to locate a power line.”

The program kickoff extends through February 5th and 6th.

Teams will continue to work over the next eight weeks. Once proof of concept has been demonstrated, the students will create presentations using selected technology, such as drone photography, 3D printing and virtual reality.

“We feel very fortunate to be included in this endeavor with Duke and POWER. This experience helps make what we’re teaching students in the classroom relevant,” says Fishers High School Principal Jason Urban. “We are thankful of community partners that are willing to invest in our students.”

The event concludes on April 30 at Fishers High School. Teams will have 30 minutes to present their final presentations to a panel of leading industry experts.