Members of the Senior Class at both local high schools, Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern, will be displaying their works of art through May 3rd at Fishers City Hall.

Awards will be presented in the categories of Best of Show and 1st, 2nd, 3rd places in the three categories of photography, drawing and painting. A total of $2000.00

This event will be held in concert with the city’s observance of Hope for Happiness, where the city partners with the Stigma Free clubs of Fishers and HSE High Schools to promote mental health and decrease the stigma around mental health. That Hope for Happiness will take place on the Central Green in front of the Art Gallery at City Hall.

The City Hall gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A public reception will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony at 8:00 p.m. on Friday May 3rd. at City Hall.

The organization “Save The Nickel Plate” issued a news release Tuesday, saying US Rail Holdings is appealing previous decisions by the federal Surface Transportation Board, and asking the board to allow the company to operate and purchase the Nickel Plate Line as a passenger train operation.  The City of Fishers says US Rail is filing the exact same arguments filed last year that the board rejected.

Save the Nickel Plate asserts in the release, “…the City of Fishers is now facing a significant challenge to their trail-only plan.”  The city argues otherwise.

“The latest filing by US Rail Holdings is merely an attempt to re-litigate its failed position before the Surface Transportation Board,” the City of Fishers responded in a statement.

The city points-out that the Surface Transportation Board’s December 2018 decision allowing the Nickel Plate Trail to move forward still stands.

According to Save the Nickel Plate, US Rail says First Transit has agreed to work with US Rail in providing passenger rail service to Union Station.

The city says it “does not support any proposal that leads to freight cars travelling through neighborhoods and clogging Fishers’ main thoroughfares multiple times a day.”

The US Rail request for an injunction from the Surface Transportation Board wants the board to order Fishers not to remove any rails along the Nickel Plate until the board rules on US Rails request to reactivate the rail line.

Fishers is moving forward with plans to begin converting the Nickel Plate Line to a trail, with construction scheduled to begin this fall.

Save the Nickel Plate has been arguing that the city did not properly consider a proposal to use concepts allowing a trail alongside the rails.  Fishers argued its engineers had looked at the rails plus trails idea and rejected it.  The City of Fishers then released an engineering study in February, 2019, conducted by Indianapolis engineering firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert, which estimated a trails and rails plan would at least cost an additional $20.5 million.

Save the Nickel Plate is planning a public meeting “to explore the feasibility and benefits of a rail-with-trail design as an alternative to the trail-only concept proposed by the City of Fishers.”  That meeting will be held April 8th, 6pm, at the building at Holland Park.

Fishers Police Officer Binh Davis continues to recover from an off-duty motorcycle accident that happened last year, but his family continues to struggle with all the medical bills piling-up.  The local Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge is sponsoring a fund raising event to support the Davis family.

FOP Lodge #199 plans the first, in what is hoped to be an annual event, May 18th, at the Harley Davidson dealership, near State Road 37 & 126th Street.  The gathering is called the Back the Badge – Ride & Pride. This event is a Motorcycle & Car show and an all Vehicles welcome Poker Run.

Registrations will be accepted online at https://fop199.org or on the Fishers FOP Lodge 199 Facebook page, via mail, or in person the day of the event. The registration fee is $25 per vehicle. That fee gets you entered in either the ride portion of the event, the Motorcycle / Car show, or both. All are welcome to participate in either the ride or car show regardless of the number of wheels on your ride. Spectators are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

There is no entrance fee for spectators, however, we will be accepting donations on site. The Event is being co-hosted and organized by the Blue Iron Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club and Classic Cars & Nostalgia Motors. There will be several categories of “Chief’s Choice Awards” for participants in both Motorcycles and Car classes. There will also be a “Binh’s Choice” Awards” as well.

There will be silent auction items, food, drinks and music throughout the day. If anyone is interested in donating items to the benefit, please contact the FOP Lodge at admin@fop199.org

It happens every year about this time.  Getting a popular restaurant table is much easier this week.  Public meetings are virtually non-existent.  This is the week of spring break in Fishers, with Hamilton Southeastern students and teachers enjoying a break from classes.

This is also the time of year when you see pictures on social media from people you know in Fishers out on the beach in places like Florida and Hawaii.  In other words, it’s this time of year that the rest of us endure a late March snowfall and jealously watch our friends and neighbors bask in the warm sun.

There are a few things to note as we entire the heart of spring break week.

First, when roads became slick in some places as snow began to fall Saturday evening, a car left 96th Street at Georgia Road and slid into a ditch filled with water.  There were some injuries but none were described as life-threatening.

Also, Fishers Police have been posting warnings about thefts from local residential mailboxes.  Some Indy-area media outlets have posted stories about this.  Just be careful and keep an eye out for any mail thieves in your neighborhood.

Thirdly, a report posted by the Associated Press and WRTV says a former employee of the Fishers Goodwill story has been sentenced on charges of secretly recording bathroom videos of workers.  Richie Hodges was sentenced to 12 years in prison.  According to the Associated Press story, Hodges agreed to the destruction of his desktop computer, laptop and external hard drives that had been seized during the investigation, as part of a plea agreement.

So, we are hopefully in for a laid-back week on the news front.

LarryInFishers has already posted ten podcast interviews featuring contested Republican primary races for Fishers City Clerk and Fishers City Council  I have scheduled an interview withe one of the mayoral candidates this week.  The other candidate has chosen to record the podcast interview later in April.  Read & listen for more about that Wednesday of this week.

Dan Domsic & I have known each other since 2012, which he joined CurrentInFishers as editor of the weekly newspaper.  Dan then went on to work for the City of Fishers, and now is moving on to a new position.  Here is my podcast conversation with Dan Domsic.

There were few empty seats and plenty of people standing at the Fishers City Hall Council Chambers Friday morning as the city took time out to honor military veterans of the Vietnam War.  Lapel pins were presented to the vets on hand for the ceremony.

The Guest Speaker was George Stavropoulos, a Fishers resident and a Naval Hospital Corpsman in the Vietnam War.  He became emotional when describing some very brutal battlefields during his time stationed in Southeast Asia, where he lost many good friends.  He also described an encounter with Vietnam War protesters once he was back in America, and he said bitterness remains over that.

Mayor Scott Fadness talked about memories of his grandfather, a veteran of Wold War II.

“We owe all of you a tremendous debt of gratitude”, said the mayor.  “Today is just a small token of appreciation.”

Navy Veteran El Ahlwardt served as master of ceremonies for the event, as he has done many times at such events held in Fishers.

The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held outside at Liberty Plaza, but a rainy weather forecast forced the event inside City Hall.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

(Editor’s Note:  Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff said Wednesday that no schools will be polling places in the upcoming primary election, but he is open to using HSE school facilities in the November general election if needed)   

Thousands of Fishers residents eligible to vote in the upcoming primary election will find their precinct polling locations have moved from past elections. The change in locations comes about because of school officials’ concerns about safety. Apparently fearing a terrorist might enter the school during voting, Hamilton Southeastern has asked that no schools be used as polling sites.

Several hundred voters in Carmel and Westfield will also find their polling places changed for various reasons not related to the school safety concerns. Countywide, 39,378 voters will find their Election Day voting place has changed, according to County Clerk Kathy Williams. She and her staff have been working on the changes since January.

Affected voters will be notified by mail of their new voting location. That notification process comes at a price; the mailings and the time involved by election workers amount to thousands of dollars. The post cards being used and postage amounts to $15,700.

State law provides that public buildings can be used as polling places if needed. Several schools in Hamilton County have been used for many years, but two years ago school officials began voicing safety concerns, Carmel Clay Schools were the first to announce they no longer wanted voting in their buildings.

County officials, apparently not wanting to debate the matter, agreed to move all voting to new locations at Monday’s County Commissioners meeting. The changes in Fishers were approved without comment.

Williams said yesterday that she may need better locations for the 2020 general election, and asked that if any organization has a building with substantial parking space, she would like to hear from such a group. And, as is customary, workers for Election Day duty at the polls are being sought.

As the May 7 primary election nears, satellite early voting centers will be opening in the last two weeks before the election. These centers will again be located at Westfield City Hall, Fishers City Hall and the Carmel Public Library. Hours for voting may be found on the Hamilton County website under current election information.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Weingarten on Thursday held a press conference outside Carmel City Hall. Weingarten is calling upon the Hamilton County Election Board to conduct an investigation into Carmel’s mayoral election and alleged bribery claims.

“Today I am going to file a request with the Hamilton County Election Board to initiate an investigation into the possibility of a bribery or an extortion,” said Weingarten.

“It’s been alleged that Mayor Brainard’s campaign offered a bribe to have his opponent Fred Glynn not run against him,” said Weingarten.

Glynn is a current Hamilton County Councilman and is running against Carmel’s longtime mayor, Jim Brainard.

At the press conference Weingarten said he would immediately be filing the proper paperwork with the Hamilton County Election Board.

Hamilton County Clerk and Election Board Member Kathy Williams confirmed her office did receive Weingarten’s request.

“We received it at 11:30 a.m. and copies have been forwarded to Election Board members and Hamilton County Attorney Mike Howard,” Williams said.

Hamilton County’s Election Board is comprised of two Republicans, Kathy Williams and Ray Adler, and one Democrat, Greg Purvis.

Williams told the Reporter the Election Board could review Weingarten’s information at their next meeting on Friday, April 5.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board reviewed a lengthy survey of e-learning experiences, collecting responses from 4,800 parents and 1,500 students (students include grades 7-12 only).  The overall data show parents and students happy overall, particularly with the policy of using e-learning days to prevent adding school days at the end of the year, reducing the summer vacation.  Comments submitted as part of the survey indicate that three consecutive e-learning days may be too many.  You can review the survey results at this link.  

In other items from the Wednesday night’s board meeting:

–Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff briefed the board on a proposal to make changes in  Social and Emotional Learning, and combining Digital Citizenship with that curriculum.   Dr. Bourff cited the influence some online sources have over students as a major reason to consider this change.

— Kim Day has agreed to accept the offer of the principal position at Fall Creek Intermediate. (Note:  I had incorrectly reported that Brian Behrman would become principal at Riverside Intermediate.  Mr. Behrman and current RIS principal Dana Kaminski will remain in their current jobs.  LarryInFishers apologizes for the error)

–The board spent a period of time on building projects, first authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds to fund several physical projects. Plans were allowed to move forward after board action, including renovations at Fishers Junior High, renovation work at both high school auditoriums and LED lighting upgrades for several school buildings.  The board also approved work on the Fishers Junior High School parking lot

–Students and administrators made an impassioned plea to the board for help in funding playground upgrades at Riverside Intermediate School.  This was for information only.  The board will consider acting on the request at a future board session.

–Safety issues have resulted in a major change in polling places for the upcoming May 7th primary election.  No schools will be utilized as polling places. “I want to make it clear that the schools remain open to assist our community if polling places are needed,” Dr. Bourff told the board.  “But for security and safety issues, the (Hamilton County) superintendents came together, at the invitation of our County Clerk, Kathy Richardson, some weeks ago and discussed the safety of polling places within the schools.”   It is possible county election officials may need to use some schools as polling locations in the November general election.

–Board members will be receiving media training from an outside firm, Sease-Gerig, at a future work session.

State Senator John Ruckleshaus has endorsed Fishers City Council candidate Gurinder Singh, according to a news release from the Singh campaign.

“I have worked with Gurinder Singh on many workforce projects that benefit the state and Hamilton County,” says Ruckelshaus in the Singh release.  “Gurinder Singh is passionate about the state and his community and would make a great addition to the council.”

State Senator Ruckleshause represents District 30, which covers part of the Indianapolis north side, a section of Carmel and a part of west Fishers south of 116th Street.

Singh is running for an at-large city council spot in the Republican primary election.