Part of the festivities surrounding the annual Mudsock Game, featuring football rivals HSE High School and Fishers HS, is the Pasta Bowl.  This fundraiser centers on collecting pasta for local food banks and other charities providing food to those in need.

Collection boxes will be setup around Fishers and the HSE School District if you choose to donate boxes of pasta.  All the 22 schools in the HSE District will engage in a friendly competition to see which buildings can collect the most boxes of pasta.

I am in my 9th year of writing this news blog and my 4th year of producing local podcasts.  I started the podcasts to give local people 30 minutes or more to talk about what they are doing in the local Fishers community.

I plan on taking a brief time-out on posting podcasts in order to catch-up on other projects I am doing.  But, do not fear, I will be back with more podcasts in about 10 days.

I do plan to invite all candidates to appear on a podcast, if there is more than one person on the ballot for that office in the November Fishers city general election.  I believe there are about 10 candidates that would be invited under that definition.

I have had a number of podcasts posted lately on issues such as the Nickel Plate future (rail and/or trail), the HSE Schools Foundation, local publisher Tom Britt, Indianapolis Business Journal Statehouse reporter Lindsey Erdody, and Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart.  There are many more.

So, as I take a brief respite from podcasting, check out the many podcasts already posted during 2019.  You can check out all those podcasts at this link.

Hannah Baer, a senior at HSE High School, was honored by the Hamilton Southeastern School Board Wednesday night for being a Girl Scout Gold Award winner.  The project that gained her the award related to recruiting a team of volunteers to build an outdoor learning space for children in HSE Preschool of the Natural Sciences at Brooks School Elementary.

Hannah previously completed the Bronze and Silver Awards for Girl Scouts based on her work in the local community.

She plans on double college majors in education & psychology.

On August 16th, Fishers City officials told me Allisonville Road construction north 116th Street was expected to be completed, with all four lanes open, by the end of August.  It appears there have been some delays.  The city now says the construction there will continue into the week of Labor Day.

For more on that, see the listing below of road construction projects, as provided by the City of Fishers, for Labor Day week:

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by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

The extremely wet spring weather will keep Hamilton County corn and soybean crops far from setting record yields. But, crops are also far from a disaster this year. That’s the reaction I get from a few folks in the business.

Early in the season it appeared that very little corn would be planted. Some farmers planted soybeans instead because they can be planted later and still have time to mature after a wet spring. But quite a bit of corn was planted before and after the worst of the spring rains. And, in many cases, the corn looks good except for sections of fields that repeatedly flooded.

Farmers seem to think that if we experience some hot weather in September and a reasonably late frost, crops that were planted late will still have time to mature. Corn and beans are by far the county’s largest farm crops.

The Hamilton County Purdue Extension office declined to comment on anything they have heard about how local crops are doing. Apparently, Purdue has told their extension agents to not speculate on crop production. The office also claims to not have information on how many acres are still being planted in the county.

It is obvious that more and more land is being taken out of production for housing and business development. But, north of 196th Street farming is still the major industry, and a big part of the county’s overall economy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show a little over 100,000 acres in the county are devoted to farming, most of it in cropland. Hamilton County’s total land area amounts to 256,640 acres.

Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton County Commissioners, in collaboration with the Humane Society for Hamilton County, are working to update the county’s animal ordinances, which were last revised in 2006. They are inviting the public to review the proposed revisions and FAQs and to offer feedback at the next meeting on Sept. 9.

Heirbrandt

“Last winter we had some residents concerned about the safety and well-being of animals during a bitter cold snap,” said Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt. “That discussion provided a great opportunity to reevaluate our animal ordinance, introduce new guidelines, and more clearly define some ambiguous language.”

The committee presented its proposed ordinance to the County Commissioners on Monday, Aug. 26. The proposal includes new temperature guidelines to protect animals from extreme weather conditions. It also more clearly defines “adequate” food, water, shelter, space, ventilation and veterinary care as it pertains to domesticated pets. New definitions and penalties have also been added for backyard breeders and puppy mills. The proposed changes also further define and strengthen the penalties for animal abuse and neglect.

“We believe this is a precedent-setting ordinance,” said Rebecca Stevens, president and CEO of the Humane Society for Hamilton County. “We’ve studied local ordinances across the United States and surveyed law enforcement in other counties to gauge the effectiveness and enforceability of their current ordinances. We’ve done our due diligence to develop an ordinance we feel could serve as a best practice for other communities.”

The proposed does not have an impact on livestock animals, as that is governed by Indiana State Law by the Indiana State Board of Animal Health. The ordinance will be enforceable in unincorporated areas of the County, but the hope is other cities and towns in Hamilton County will consider adopting it as well.

“Currently all other municipalities utilize their own local animal ordinances and personnel for enforcement that take precedent over Hamilton County’s ordinances,” said Hamilton County Animal Control Deputy Doug Sanford. “It is our hope Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville and Westfield will consider adopting the same language to make for easier and more consistent enforcement.”

County Commissioners will vote on the proposed changes at their next meeting at 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9 in the Commissioner’s Chambers at the Hamilton County Government and Judicial Center, 1 Hamilton County Square, Noblesville.

If approved, the updated ordinance will go into effect Nov. 15. The proposed ordinance, along with an FAQ section, can be found at hamiltoncounty.in.gov. If you have questions or concerns, please contact the Commissioners’ Office at (317) 776-9719.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers made it a Metropolitan sweep on Friday, as the Tigers won 26-13 at
Pike.

The Class 6A No. 10 Tigers jumped out to a 13-0 lead by the end of the first
quarter. Marcus Roux completed two short touchdown passes, the first one a
seven-yard throw to Reggie Cook-Graham midway through the period. Later
on, Roux lobbed a two-yard TD pass to Jeffrey Simmons.

Roux struck again in the second quarter, with a third touchdown pass. This one
was from 17 yards out to Caleb Gates.

Meanwhile, the Fishers defense limited the Red Devils to two field goals in the
quarter, and the Tigers went into the locker room at halftime with a 20-6 lead.

Fishers’ Jack Phillips got the only points of the third quarter on a 32-yard
field goal. Pike began the fourth period with a 6-yard rushing touchdown to cut
the Tigers’ lead to 23-13, but the Tigers would get no closer. Phillips nailed another 32-yard field goal with 3:45 left for the final points of the game, he also made two extra-point kicks.

Roux had an outstanding game, completing 18 of 26 passes for 215 yards and the three touchdowns. Reece Boland led the receptions count with five. Fishers’ defense pushed the Pike ground game into negative territory, as the Red Devils finished the game with minus 9 yards rushing.

The Tigers are 2-0 and open Hoosier Crossroads Conference play next Friday
at Noblesville.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern was dealt a tough loss on Friday, as North Central stunned the Royals with a fourth-quarter comeback to win 17-16.

Southeastern started the game with a big defensive play from Michael Cross, who took an interception return 48 yards into the end zone for a touchdown with 10:25 left in the first quarter. The Royals then led 6-0 for most of the half until the Panthers got their own pick six with 3:58 left in the second quarter.

The Royals got the lead back right before halftime, as Nijawon Wilson took the ball in from two yards out with 45 seconds left in the half. The subsequent extra point kick put Southeastern up 13-7 at halftime.

Alex Geroulis made a 40-yard field goal with 6:53 remaining in the fourth period to put the Royals up 16-7. But North Central came back with a touchdown, then won on a field goal as time expired.

Southeastern is 1-1 and hosts Avon next Friday to open Hoosier Crossroads
Conference play.

A high school is a busy place on a regular school day.  Students are moving between classes.  The electronic signal is loud and signifies when classes start and stop.  There is a lot going on.

Governor Eric Holcomb chose the Fishers High School College and Career Academy as the site for a big announcement Thursday afternoon.  He and his Health Commissioner, Dr. Kristina Box, announced a marketing campaign to stem the rising tide of young people using vaping.

The campaign will consist of education in the form of classroom curriculum and information on a state Web site with the facts on the health risks of vaping.

Dr. Box spoke of the alarming medical data that is mounting, showing health dangers tied to vaping.  She and Governor Holcomb are launching this campaign to stop the rising number of young people vaping.

Jason Urban, Fishers High School Principal, said he and his staff will be reviewing the high school curriculum being developed by state officials to present the stark health risks tied to vaping, for possible use by his teaching staff.

It was a cool August Thursday morning for the Mayor’s Breakfast, held on the grounds of the historic Ambassador House, benefiting the Youth Mentoring Initiative (YMI), an organization matching local volunteers with HSE School District students in need of mentors.

The crowd was large and enthusiasm for YMI was at a high level for the annual fundraising effort.  Everyone persevered through a coffee shortage, even though twice as much coffee was ordered this year compared to the 2018 event.

Indiana State Health Commissioner Kristina Box was on hand, speaking of the challenges many young people face throughout our state.  She also presented Fishers Mayor Scott Fadnesss with a certificate from a national organization, recognizing his work promoting mentoring programs.

Mayor Fadness told the breakfast crowd about the YMI graduation ceremony he recently attended.

“It was extraordinary to see how proud the mentors were of these kids,” said the mayor.  “It was a nice, quaint celebration.  But for some of those kids, and I’m reading between the lines here, it was probably the most anyone’s ever celebrated in their lives about a particular accomplishment.  It wasn’t necessarily coming form their mom or dad, it was coming from someone in their community that just invested in them.”

Fadness praised the work of the local schools in the mental health area, and how that has been a part of the city’s efforts to improve mental health, using programs aimed at preventing problems.  He described YMI as a key preventative program.

YMI Board President (and Fishers Fire Chief) Steve Orusa made the pitch for donations to YMI.  You can donate now using this link.

YMI is always in need of adult mentors.  Executive Director Alison Gatz says there is a particular need for men mentors, with several male students waiting in line for a mentor.  If you would like to volunteer as a mentor, use this link.

Here are more photos from the Mayor’s Breakfast:

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