Perhaps it was the best place to present a check to the City of Fishers…..the bay area of the IU Health Emergency Room in Fishers on a cold Tuesday afternoon in March.  IU Health presented a check of $43,680 to support the “paramedicine behavioral response” program.

The money will go to local efforts in providing follow-up and support help for mental health patients.  This serves situations where the police department personnel and hospitals may not quickly identify mental health needs for some people encountered by first responders.

Mayor Scott Fadness pointed out that homicides are rare in Fishers but, sadly, there are many more suicides.  This program will be aimed at helping those suffering from mental health issues at an early stage and provide the help needed.

Mayor Fadness began a mental health initiative as he assumed the office of mayor in 2015 and that program continues.

“This new behavioral response program was identified by the Fishers Mental Health Task Force as an important component of the city’s mental health initiative,” said Alicia Shulhoff, President of the IU Health North Suburban Area in a news release.

This blog is centered on Fishers news, but every now and then, I take a point of personal privilege.  This is one of those times and I have two things to write about on this Sunday evening.

First, for reasons I cannot explain, I was fascinated with radio broadcasting from the time my parents bought my brother Tom & I transistor radios in the early 1960s (hard to believe that was hi-tech at that time).  I listened intently just about every day to nearly all the local stations I could get on my little portable radio.

That interest in radio never waned.  In 1968 I was hired to work in a radio station just to change records and tapes (digital technology did not exist at that time) and to watch over the equipment.  There was no microphone in the studio, everything was prerecorded.

But I waited for my chance to work on the air.  I graduated from a trade school that specialized in training radio announcers.  I applied for jobs everywhere.

Finally, I landed my first announcing job.  It was WIFN Radio in Franklin, Indiana.  A man named Ron Douglas was willing to take a chance on a young kid just out of high school to be a part of his announcing staff.

Ron Douglas started me part-time, then later allowed me to join the full-time staff a few months later.  Eventually, Ron promoted me to Program Director, which is essentially the person managing the announcing staff.  Ron also allowed me to live my dream of being a sports play-by-play announcer for high school and small college sports.

Ron was not a natural salesman, but to be a radio station manager in those days, you needed to get out on the street and sell.   A strong work ethic allowed Ron to slowly grow the station’s revenue, even in tough economic times.

Ron and I didn’t agree on everything.  I didn’t like the way he treated some of my friends when they came to work at the station.  But broadcasting has always been a tough business, so that all resulted in growing a thick skin, which helped me later on in my 14-year broadcasting career.

Ronald G. Douglas died on January 7th, 2019, at the age of 74.  I suppose everyone in broadcasting remembers the first person willing to take a chance and hire them.  Ron Douglas took a chance on me.  I will never forget that.

My sincere sympathies to his wife Mary and Ron’s entire family.  I will always remember Ron.

Now, on to the second item, NUVO.

I remember when NUVO hit the local news scene in 1990.  The Pulliam family owned the Indianapols Star and News and maintained the staunchly conservative political stance the newspapers had always exemplified.

NUVO came onto the scene to provide a counter-balance to the Pulliam Press of that time.  It’s politics were decidedly liberal, but the real strength of the weekly paper was the entertainment news.  NUVO was the news source of record for entertainment in the city of Indianapolis.

The late Harrison Ullman was strident in his criticism of the Indiana legislators.  Even as a small paper, it was all over downtown Indianapolis and our Statehouse elected officials never cared for Ullman’s cutting commentaries about their work.

NUVO was a free newspaper you could pick up in most areas of Indianapolis and some suburbs.  It was an early adapter to Internet technology, long before the Star had an online presence.

Basically, NUVO provided an alternative view of the city.

That alternative view is no more.  NUVO is yet another casualty of the print media as it is laying-off most of the staff.  There will be an online news site yet to be established, but there will reportedly be no entertainment news on the new online site, and there will be a monthly charge to subscribe.  I wish them well, but it’s a competitive market out there.

I am a believer that different points of view need to be heard.  If the local newspaper is conservative, you like to see a more liberal counterpart.  If the local paper is liberal, a more conservative view should be available.  The Indianapolis Star just fired its editorial page editor and has drastically cutback editorial commentary in a dramatic fashion.  This is not good.

The loss of NUVO is a very big loss for the entire Indy metro area.  NUVO publisher Kevin McKinney has invested a great deal of his own money into keeping NUVO alive for a very long time.  But in the end, it just wasn’t enough.

My heart goes out to all the staff members that lost their jobs at NUVO, including editor Laura McPhee.  It is a tough time for journalists.  My hope is that all these unemployed writers land on their feet.

by

David Williams

WISH-TV / Hamilton County Reporter

A measure approved by the Indiana Senate would help public schools make sure their environments are safe from radon.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the extremely toxic radioactive gas causes lung cancer. The EPA also says you can’t see the gas, smell it or taste it.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools actively tracks the gas in its facilities.

Bob Rice, who is the energy manager for Hamilton Southeastern Schools, said Friday, “It comes from the ground and it can infiltrate buildings. It’s the second-leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.”

Rice is in charge of testing all HSE schools for radon every five years.

“Most of our schools are on slabs. But, the radon gas can still come in. Since we have brick walls, it can actually build up in our schools,” Rice said. “So, it’s one of those issues where we’re bringing in enough fresh air so we’re pumping the radon out and getting fresh clean air in so we’re not exposing our kids to radioactive elements.”

Cumberland Elementary School was remodeled and tested a couple years ago. The cost to test that school was about $1,200. Rice said it costs more to test its high schools, Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern, which are larger than the elementary schools.

“We’ve never had a school reach over 4 picocuries, which is kind of the baseline,” Rice said. “Most of ours are around 1.3, 1.8, which is the average of Indiana.”

Under a bill from state Sen. Eric Bassler, the state’s Health Department every three years would have to give each public school district a “best practices” manual for indoor air-quality management and radon testing recommendations.

“It will get radon on people’s radar screens,” said the Republican from Washington, Ind. “So, they will be able to start being aware of it. They can then make a decision on how often they would test for it. I believe the EPA recommends a school test every five years.”

The senator said less than roughly 5 percent of Indiana public schools have tested for radon in the last five to 10 years.

“If we ever got to the point where we were going to require schools to do that testing,” Bassler said, “I’d want to provide them with funding to help to the testing.”

Bassler’s bill was referred to the House on Wednesday for consideration.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Winning a boys basketball sectional championship is never as easy as it looks.

Just ask Carmel, which successfully defended its home gym Saturday night by winning the Class 4A Sectional 8 title at the Eric Clark Activity Center. The No. 1-ranked Greyhounds had to fight for the entire game against old rival Hamilton Southeastern, but found a way to a 45-39 victory. This is the fifth straight sectional championship for Carmel and qualifies the ‘Hounds for the Logansport regional, where they will play Fort Wayne Northrop in the first game, at 10 a.m. next Saturday.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and you got to give those guys credit,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “They fought. It was one of the most back-and-forth games that I’ve been a part of. I was happy the most with our guys responding. It’s not like they got punched in the mouth and they took it, they sat back and took it. They came back and they battled. I thought they were tough.”

The Greyhounds never trailed in the game, and were only tied once: Carmel’s Andrew Owens opened the contest with a 3-pointer, but the Royals’ Vinny Buccilla answered that with a three-point play.

Karsten Windlan’s jumper got the ‘Hounds ahead 5-3. Seconds later, Windlan and Owens made back-to-back 3s, putting Carmel up 11-4.

The Greyhounds led 13-9 after the first quarter, and quickly extended the lead to 15-9 after John Michael Mulloy made a layin and Windlan converted two free throws. Southeastern’s Kole Hornbuckle nearly brought the Royals all the way back, draining a 3, then scoring off a steal. Mulloy got the lead back to five with a layin, but Chris Grubbs nailed a triple, and got HSE within 19-17.

The Royals were without injured starting guard Noah Smith, so several players stepped up for Southeastern. Osborn praised the Royals on their effort after the game, calling them “a good, talented team.”

“They’re really good as far as keeping guys off the boards and limiting extra possessions,” said Osborn. “Against a team like that, they go 7-2, 6-7, 6-6, 6-6 to start the game. And they’re flying in there. I think the first seven possessions they get five offensive rebounds.

“Our guys battled. Andrew comes out with a lip cut and bleeding everywhere, and he gets it fixed and he’s right back in there, and he battles for the rest of the game.”

Grubbs would later make 3 of 4 foul shots with under 12 seconds left in the second quarter (on separate fouls), cutting Carmel’s lead to 21-20. But Greyhounds freshman Pete Suder put in a layin with time running out in the half, giving Carmel a 23-20 halftime lead.
“Before the game, we always tell each other, ‘There’s going to be some runs, but we got to stick together and play as a team,’” said Windlan. “We really bought into that.”

The third quarter was a defensive one, as both teams scored eight points. Southeastern got within one point twice, including at 27-26 when Landon Morris hit a jump shot. Mulloy made two foul shots, then Suder scored again to get the lead back to 31-26.

The Royals had the last word of the period, as Aaron Etherington’s floater kept the Royals within 31-28. But Carmel got going in the fourth, beginning the quarter with an 8-0 run. Windlan started the run with a free throw, Suder made a layin, then Mulloy converted a three-point play to give the ‘Hounds their biggest lead, 37-28. Windlan scored soon after, and Carmel was up 39-28.

“The great thing is, we can say we’ve been here before,” said Mulloy. “And it was awesome just to know that we were able to focus in on things. We have a freshman (Suder) starting. He’s learning and it’s a great time to lead and just show the younger kids what to do and to step up and that’s what they’re doing.”

Southeastern made one last push with under two minutes left: Grubbs drained two free throws, then Etherington dunked a rebound, keeping HSE within 41-36 with 1:17 left. But the clock was on Carmel’s side by now. Owens made a layin with under a minute to go, then Mulloy made two free throws with 15 seconds left.

Mulloy scored 19 points and Windlan added 10; both collected eight rebounds. Owens also scored 10 points.

Grubbs scored 12 points and pulled seven rebounds for Southeastern, which finished the season 16-9. Morris and Mabor Majak each grabbed six rebounds, and Etherington dished out four assists.

Carmel’s win marked the boys basketball program’s 29th sectional championship, and the third time that the Greyhounds have won five in a row. Carmel won nine consecutive titles between 1966 and 1974, then collected five straight championships between 1976 and 1980.

WISH-TV/Hamilton County Reporter

It’s a sound we’re all familiar hearing: Outdoor warning sirens alerting us to severe weather.

It’s something we take for granted, assuming there’s a universal policy in place to keep us safe. But there are some areas in central Indiana where sirens will be sounded when there is no threat at all.

Outdoor warning sirens are for public safety, alerting those outside to get inside. They’re usually placed in highly populated areas near a park or sports complex.

“I think they still serve a purpose today,” said Hamilton County EMA Director Shane Booker.

Booker

Here in Hamilton County, while in storm operations mode, each of these stations serves a purpose, from monitoring storm spotters, watching the radar to sounding the sirens.

“We will sound the sirens in the event of a tornado warning that the NWS [National Weather Service] polygon is for a particular portion of the county and we will sound sirens where the siren sound covers that polygon,” Booker said.

While most counties in central Indiana follow the same protocol, there is no statewide policy and it’s up to local municipalities on when they sound sirens.

Monroe County, for example, has the capability to sound each siren separately but its policy is all or none. For example, when a tornado warning is issued for Stinesville in the northern part of the county, sirens in Harrodsburg some 20 miles away would be active, even though there is no severe weather threat there.

“We saw from early on that doesn’t work for us,” said Hamilton County EMA Deputy Director Carl Erickson. “We don’t want people to get content and see it’s sunny outside. So from early on we want the ability to set the sirens off we want to set off.”

Erickson

And while sometimes these sirens can be heard from inside your home, that’s not their main purpose. Outdoor warning sirens are for those who are outdoors and really shouldn’t be your only method for getting severe weather information. Weather radios will go off if there’s a warning in your area, or you can also download the Storm Track 8 app to get warnings, too.

For Erickson, it’s more than just pushing a button on a computer screen. He’s been sounding sirens for more than a decade and considers it a rewarding part of his job.

“It’s a really cool thing to do, to let the public know something bad is going to happen and knowing that this agency had a key role in … that is huge for me,” Erickson said.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Carmel advanced to the Sectional 8 championship game with a 62-52 win over Fishers Friday at the Eric Clark Activity Center.

The Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds got off to a great start, holding a double-digit lead late in the first quarter, then weathered a comeback by the Tigers in the fourth quarter. Carmel plays Hamilton Southeastern in tonight’s championship game.

“You know that teams are going to make a run,” said Greyhounds coach Ryan Osborn. “You try and prep the guys for it. You know everything’s not going to go exactly the way you want it to.”

Carmel skipped off to a 7-0 lead, with two John Michael Mulloy baskets sandwiching a 3-pointer from Andrew Owens. Luke Hernandez hit a jumper to get Fishers on the board, but the ‘Hounds used a 10-3 run to consume the remainder of the first quarter and lead 17-5. Luke Heady started the run with a 3.

Carmel then made an 8-2 run that lasted most of the second period and gave it a 25-7
lead. Mulloy scored five points, while Ben Frische added the other three points. Alex
Szilagyi ended the run by making a 3, but Robert Fry scored on a layin, then Peter
Suder got a basket off a steal to end the half, giving the Greyhounds a 29-10 lead.

“I thought we started the game well, and we executed and defended. We did everything we needed to do except make free throws in the first half to build a lead,” said
Osborn.

The game tightened up in the second half, but Carmel was able to keep a comfortable distance from Fishers in the third quarter. Mulloy scored six more points in
the third, with Owens hit another 3. Josiah Matthews got going for the Tigers, adding
seven points, then Willie Jackson made two free throws at the very end of the period.

“Playing hard is part of the expectation,” said Fishers coach Matt Moore. “We need
to continue to put four quarters together. If you’re going to try to beat a team like
Carmel, you’ve got to find a way to put an entire game together. And if you do that,
you got a chance. But you can’t turn the ball over the way that we did and dig that hole.
There’s a saying that you can’t win a game in the first half, but you can lose one. And
we did that.”

Hernandez opened the fourth quarter with a 3, keeping Fishers within 41-28, but
Karsten Windlan immediately got the lead back up to 44-28 with a three-point play.
Carmel later led 47-31, but Jackson singlehandedly took the Tigers on an 8-2 run,
making two free throws, draining a 3, then converting a traditional three-point play.
That cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 10, at 49-39.

Szilagyi got the lead under 10 by nailing a 3, putting Fishers within 53-46. Two Jackson free throws then cut the lead further, to 54-48. But Windlan answered by going 4 of 4 from the line during a 15-second period, and that got Carmel out of trouble.

“I’m proud of the seniors,” said Osborn. “I’m proud of their resolve, their ability to
get through stuff.”

Mulloy scored 19 points for the ‘Hounds, who are now 21-1 for the season, with Windlan adding 14 and Owens scoring 11. Owens and Mulloy each collected five rebounds.

Jackson, a senior, scored 18 points and made all 11 of his free throw attempts. Hernandez contributed 11 points, while Matthews, Szilagyi and Jeffrey Simmons all collected four rebounds. Fishers finished its season 17-8.

“Proud of our seniors,” said Moore. “I think our seniors really set the tone, not only
for the season, but for the program. They’ve done something, an uncharted territory in
terms of taking our team to the number of wins we had and the places that we’ve won.
That’s a credit to those guys. We’re going to
miss those guys dearly.”

by

Richie Hall

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern had to fight for it, but the Royals are in the Sectional 8 championship game.

Southeastern got past Noblesville 47-41 in Friday night’s first semi-final game at the Eric Clark Activity Center in Carmel. The Royals will take on the Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. tonight for the title.

Southeastern (16-8) jumped out to an 8-2 first-quarter lead, with Noah Smith scoring five points. But the Millers cut the lead to 8-7 by the end of the period. Xavier Hines made a layin and Alex Hunt finished the quarter with a three-point play.

Sophomore Landon Morris hit back-to-back baskets to open the second quarter, and an Aaron Etherington 3-pointer got HSE up 15-7. Hines hit his own 3, which the Royals’
Vinny Buccilla answered with another Southeastern triple. The Royals led 18-11 at
halftime, but a got big scare when Noah Smith went down with an injury. He did not
return to the game and it is uncertain if he will play tonight.

“He’s the motor that makes us go,” said HSE coach Brian Satterfield. “He’s our best defender. He’s the guy that pushes the ball. He can create offense. You saw him hit the
3 to start the game. He was ready for that challenge.”

Hines opened the second half with another 3-pointer, then Jordan Schmidt got
hot, scoring nine points in the third quarter (two 3s and a traditional three-point play).

Southeastern was able to stay ahead, though, as Etherington scored eight points; he
drained two 3s and scored off a rebound.

“He stepped up big and hit some big shots for us,” said Satterfield. “But all the
guys did.”

Etherington’s second 3 of the quarter put the Royals up 31-25, but Zack Johnson cut
it to 31-29 with consecutive baskets. Mabor Majak hit a free throw to move HSE ahead
32-29; that would be the score at the end of the third.

Etherington opened the fourth by nailing back-to-back 3s, but the Millers answered that with a 10-3 to get within 41-39. Hines hit another 3, while Johnson scored four points.

Eagan Keever-Hill hit two foul shots with 1:10 left, and Noblesville was within two.

Chris Grubbs made two foul shots to push the Royals ahead by four, but Hines answered that with a pair of free throws. The Millers were now within 43-41 with 49.5 seconds left, but HSE would not let them score again, getting the game’s last four points.

“We’re one possession away with 49 seconds to go,” said Noblesville coach Brian McCauley. “Couldn’t be prouder of them and how they improved from the first time
we played them to the second time we played them.”

Etherington finished the game with 18 points, including five 3s. Morris added nine points and collected eight rebounds. Grubbs was all over the stat line, with eight rebounds, six points, four assists and two blocked shots.

“Landon’s just been coming on,” said Satterfield. “He’s been tremendous here, especially the second half of the season.”

Hines scored 15 points and pulled five rebounds, while Schmidt added 11 and made four steals. Zack Johnson scored eight, while Keever-Hill handed out five assists. All four are seniors, with another senior Alex Hancock, in the starting lineup as well.

“We went through a great stretch there,” said McCauley, whose team ended the season 13-11. “They finished the season really strong. We had one hiccup in our last home game, but other than that, we really finished the season strong. That’s the mark of a senior-laden team, a team that wants to win as opposed to a team that wants to get the season over with. That’s what senior leadership will do.”

The Council Chambers at Fishers City Hall were nearly full Friday morning as the city kicked off the month of March, Disability Awareness Month.  Cecilia Coble and Stacey Oldham, co-chairs of the Fishers Advisory Committee on Disability, handled the welcoming duties for the kick-off celebration.

There were two keynote speakers this year – Noah Malone and Jordan Dickey.

Noah is a junior at HSE High School and is a star runner on the track team.  He contracted a medical condition that has severely limited his eyesight.  That hasn’t stopped Noah from continuing his athletic career and he is still a standout performer on the track squad.

Jordan has a severe disability that confines him to a wheelchair, but that hasn’t stopped Jordan from being a wheelchair soccer player for 15 years.  Jordan received a college degree and an MBA.  He did an internship with a local marketing company Statwax.  Jordan illustrated for the company what he could do in crunching data and is now a valued full-time employee for Statwax.

Mayor Scott Fadness asked each of the keynote speakers what bothers them the most about how others deal with them, and both said they just want their fellow students and coworkers to treat them like anybody else in school or in the work place.

The Advisory Committee on Disability awarded the Life Without Limits Award to Conner Prairie for the nonprofit group’s work with the disability community.  The award was accepted by Conner Prairie’s Human Resources Director Shelby Slowik.

The bottom line message from the kickoff event was this – if given the proper tools and support, those with disabilities can be major contributors to society.

I recorded a podcast with Jordan Dickey, Stacey Oldham and Cecilia Coble about this year’s Disability Awareness Month activities during March in Fishers….you can listen to that podcast at this link.

Shelby Slowik accepts the Life Without Limits Award on behalf of Conner Prairie (standing at her left, Fishers City Councilwoman Cecilia Coble)

At Large City Council candidate Gurinder Singh has announced a pledge – he is making a commitment to donate his city  council salary, if elected, to charities benefiting police and fire department workers. In a news release issued by his campaign, Singh says his council salary  would go half to the Indiana Fishers Fire Foundation and half to the Central Indiana Police Foundation, which provides gunshot trauma kits and other resources.

Based on the 2019 city salary ordinance, Fishers City Council members are paid just over $20,000 per year.

Singh is running in the Republican primary against the three incumbents currently holding at-large city council seats – Cecilia Coble, Rich Block and Todd Zimmerman.

The primary election is set for Tuesday, May 7th.

As the City of Fishers has grown to a municipality containing an estimated 91,000-plus residents, the city staff has grown, and that has caused a space crunch at City Hall.   With the police department exiting its longtime home in a building just north of City Hall and moving across the street to the new George Kehl Station, a number of city departments have been in the process of moving into the the previous police station.

The City Services Building (CSB) is the name given to the former police headquarters, and the public will have access to the CSB as of Friday, March 1st.

The Fishers City Court, which has been holding sessions in the City Council Chambers, will now be located inside the City Services Building, providing a secure and permanent location for court officials. Those visiting the CSB will be able to deal with permit and inspection processing, sewer and storm water bill payment, court payments, and traffic tickets.  Parks & Recreation payments will be accessible at the City Services Building. This includes payments and registration for building and pavilion rentals, activities and programs, and Special Event Permit Applications (SEPA). This new location can service residents in addition to Parks & Recreation’s office at 11565 Brooks School Road.

Plenty of parking is available in the area of the CSB, with surface lots and a number of parking garages nearby.

City officials say planning your trip to City Hall or the CSB is a good idea by accessing city services at the Web site using this link.

If you choose to pay the city with a credit card, be aware that a 3% credit processing charge will be in effect for all credit card transactions. Exact cash or check is preferred.