Members of the Carmel, Fishers, Westfield and Noblesville police departments, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police will participate in the ceremony. (Photo provided)
Hamilton County Reporter
The 38th annual Hamilton County Law Enforcement Memorial Service honoring fallen police officers will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1. The event will take place at the gazebo on the lawn of Carmel City Hall, 1 Civic Square, Carmel.
The Hamilton County Police Memorial Service will honor all of the Hamilton County fallen heroes of law enforcement. Members of the Carmel, Fishers, Westfield and Noblesville police departments, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police will participate in the ceremony.
Local elementary school choirs will also perform during this special event. Carmel Fire Department Pipes and Drums will participate in the service as well.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Jamie Bradway, widow of Rod Bradway, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department E.O.W. Sept. 20, 2013.
Please bring your friends and families and join with local dignitaries as we pay homage to our fallen brethren.
If inclement weather occurs, the event will be moved to the bays of the Carmel Fire Department Station No. 41, 2 Civic Square, Carmel.
State Senator Jim Merritt issued a statement Saturday about the decision of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board to not list protected classes in its nondiscrimination policy. Below is the text of Senator Merritt’s statement:
“I am fully in support of Board Member Chambers’ amendment to the HSE discrimination policy. As I have noted before, the new state bias crime bill would have been even stronger if it had specified key at-risk groups and I plan to fight for those designations in the future. HSE has the opportunity now to protect vulnerable members of the community and should act in a forward-thinking, positive and inclusive manner.”
Part of Senator Merritt’s Senate District includes part of the HSE School District.
The weather continues to warm and road construction will be on the upswing, during the work week starting Monday, April 29th, in and around Fishers.
Here is the latest listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:
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106TH STREET
There will be lane restrictions on 106th Street from Eller Road to Lantern Road starting Monday, April 29 through Wednesday, May 1, weather permitting, to complete pavement striping. Flaggers will be in the area to help direct traffic.
136th Street
The Hamilton County Surveyor’s Office will be closing 136th Street east of Cyntheanne Road starting on April 30 for 5 days in order to replace a culvert under the roadway. Questions can be directed to their office at 317-776-8495.
116TH STREET
There will be a temporary lane restriction on eastbound 116th Street between Municipal Drive and Commercial Drive through Friday, May 10. The restriction will be in effect between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm. daily.
MUNICIPAL DRIVE
The northwest side of Municipal Drive will be closed for storm sewer work for the new Flexware Innovation and Fishers Ellipse, LLC. buildings. The closure will take place on the north side of Municipal Drive from the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater west to the Fire Station parking lot. Motorists will still be able to access Municipal Drive from Lantern Road. The closure is expected to last for 2 weeks.
136TH STREET & CYNTHEANNE ROAD
Temporary lane restrictions are in effect between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. near and at the intersection of 136th Street and Cyntheanne Road. Restrictions are due to utility work for roundabout construction.
For more information on this project, view the Fact Sheet.
ALLISONVILLE ROAD
126th Street at Allisonville Road closed on Monday, April 22 for approximately 30 days. Detour routes are down 131st Street and 116th Street to Lantern Road. Homes along 126th Street can be accessed from Lantern Road. Allisonville Road remains open.
Southbound and northbound traffic on Allisonville Road has moved onto the newly constructed pavement as part of Phase 3 of the project. This will be the traffic configuration moving into the spring of 2019. The posted speed limit will remain 30 mph.
For more information on this project, view the Fact Sheet.
126TH STREET
Work has begun on intersection improvements for 126th Street and Parkside Drive. View the Fact Sheet to learn more about this project.
Periodic lane restrictions are in effect on westbound 126th Street between Olio Road and Pennington Road. Restrictions are active from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will extend through the month of April.
96TH STREET
Utility relocation is beginning on 96th Street as part of the road widening project, resulting in periodic lane restrictions over the coming months. For more information about the 96th Street road widening project, view the Fact Sheet.
STATE ROAD 37
Drainage work for SR37 is in progress. Construction vehicles will be using the construction entrance on Lantern Road, between 126th Street and 131st Street, and may cause some short delays.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness has weighed-in on the Hamilton Southeastern School Board’s 4-3 vote Wednesday, with board members acting not to list protected groups of students and employees in the district’s nondiscrimination policy. The mayor, in a statement released Friday, urged school board members to “enumerate those most vulnerable in their anti-discrimination policy.”
Fadness cites Dr. Martin Luther King:
“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
The mayor concedes that there is a division of authority in Indiana law between city government and school governance, but, “I cannot abdicate my role as a community leader.”
“We should not discount the effect of finally saying in an affirmative voice that we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you as one community,” Fadness said in his statement. “For those currently in power, it may be difficult to discern the value of these actions, but we have not walked in others’ shoes.”
The board must pass the nondiscrimination policy on second reading at the May 8th meeting for the proposal to become official school policy.
Below is the full statement issued by Mayor Fadness:
“Although I recognize and respect the division of authority between our school system and city government, I cannot abdicate my role as a community leader. Our community continues to be viewed and recognized as one of the best cities in the nation to live and raise a family. Those accolades ring hollow if we are not willing to support those among us who are most vulnerable. We should not discount the effect of finally saying in an affirmative voice that we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you as one community. For those currently in power, it may be difficult to discern the value of these actions, but we have not walked in others’ shoes. We have not experienced the pain and struggles of those who have felt marginalized by our society. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.’ It is my hope and ask that the HSE School Board will enumerate those most vulnerable in their anti-discrimination policy and bring us one small step closer to a more complete community.”
Late June will be here before you know it, and the Spark Fishers Festival will be underway before you know it. The 2019 festival is issuing a call for volunteers.
This year’s celebration will be Friday, June 28th & Saturday, June 29th. There are plenty of opportunities for you to volunteer.
The list of needs is long, from stage hands to ice delivery drivers, and parade banner holders and vendor support leaders. Age and expertise is not as important as a desire to help support a local community event.
Volunteering for the Spark Fishers Festival is easy, just use this link.
It appears that Fishers did not get the legislative language local officials were seeking in what the mayor has called “abnormalities” in the distribution of County Option Income Tax (COIT) distributions in Hamilton County. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the City Council Finance Committee April 15th that Carmel receives $21 million more in COIT distributions compared to Fishers annually, despite the two cities being similar in population.
State Representative Todd Huston tells LarryInFishers that a bill in the General Assembly aimed at equalizing that disparity over several years did not survive the 2019 legislative House-Senate conference committee, due to the impact the measure would have on other parts of Indiana.
“I am extremely disappointed we couldn’t come to consensus on legislation to fix the tremendous discrepancy of the County Option Income Tax distribution in Hamilton County during this session of the General Assembly,” said Huston in a statement to LarrInFishers. “I will continue to work diligently to fix this inequity when we meet again next year.”
Huston backed a bill that passed the House aimed at dealing with the widening gap between Fishers and Carmel in distributing COIT funds, but the Senate came up with much different language. Fadness described the Senate bill as “not an ideal scenario for us (the City of Fishers).”
Fadness has said that if state lawmakers do not change this distribution formula, the disparity will widen over time. The current $21 million difference would fund the entire Fishers Fire Department and a good part of the police force, according to Fadness.
“We’re extremely disappointed that the legislature did not move toward a more equitable and fair distribution for local income tax this legislative session,” Mayor Fadness said in an e-mailed statement. “We are committed to ensuring Fishers receives its appropriate distribution of income tax, and we will advocate for it again next year.”
A group of African-American students told stories of discrimination at HSE Schools, and spoke in support of a strong nondiscrimination policy
“The school corporation does not discriminate in its educational or employment activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression), disability, age, religion, military status, ancestry or genetic information, nor on any basis prohibited by applicable federal or state laws.”
That language was the subject of a long and heated debate among members of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night. After an argument that seemed to never end, the board finally voted down the language above proposed by Board Member Julie Chambers. Board members Chambers, Janet Pritchett and Michelle Fullhart supported the amendment language , but board member Sylvia Shelpler and Brad Boyer argued that the proposed amendment’s language was unnecessary.
When it came to a board vote, Amanda Shera, Mike Bottorff, Sylvia Shepler and Brad Boyer voted to reject the Chambers amendment. Julie Chambers, Janet Pritchett and Michelle Fullhart voted for it. As a result, the amendment was voted down 4-3.
The board then voted 4-3 to accept the following language instead:
“The school corporation will not discriminate in its educational and employment activities on any basis prohibited by applicable federal or state laws.”
Shera, Bottorff, Shepler, and Boyer voted yes on that measure. Chambers, Pritchett and Fullhart cast no votes.
The vote followed some of the sharpest verbal exchanges this reporter has witnessed in the over 7 years I have covered the HSE School Board. 10 members of the public spoke passionately before the board in the public comment period, all but one arguing in support of Board Member Chambers’ amended language, which they felt was a strong statement of protection for all students in the HSE School District.
A majority of board members did not see it that way, and once Chambers’ amendment was voted down by 1 vote, there were outbursts from the audience, some in anger, some breaking down in tears over the board’s decision. Many left the meeting room after warnings from Board President Bottorff about public outbursts during the session.
And there is one more thing. This was just the first reading of this nondiscrimination policy. It is not officially approved until voted on once again by the board in second reading, likely at the next regular board meeting.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was corrected at 9:20pm pm on 4.25.2019. The previous version cited the original proposed language for the policy. Brad Boyer moved to change the wording of the nondiscrimination policy passed on first reading Wednesday night.)
The Fishers Arts Council will be handing out awards to local high school artists May 3rd at Fishers City Hall. Mayor Scott Fadness and Arts Council President Shari Knox will be presenting the honors to 16 students during the 10th Annual Fishers Arts Council Senior Showcase. The students in the running are all from the Hamilton Southeastern School District.
The categories are:
Best of Show $500.00
First Place, Photography, Drawing, Painting $250.00 each
Second Place, Photography, Drawing, Painting $150.00 each
Third Place, Photography, Drawing, Painting $100.00 each
Honorable Mention (6 total) FAC Certificates
$200,000 in total awards will be given May 3rd, a Fishers Arts Council record.
A free public reception is set from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the Art Gallery at Fishers City Hall. The awards ceremony will begin at 8:00 pm.
The judge for the exhibit was Deborah Stapleton, Executive Director of the Anderson Museum of Art (AMA), Anderson, IN. Ms. Stapleton recently was a judge for the 2019 Indiana Artisans Show at the State Fairgrounds. She has been with AMA for the past 39 years.
When Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools held the first Evening of Innovation around this time last year, a huge crowd was on hand at HSE High School. This year, the event is back and is set for May 1st, 6-8pm, at Fishers High School.
There will be over 100 interactive experiences representing every school in the district. It’s a chance for the entire Fishers area community to see how learning in our district is shifting towards developing future ready skills in our students.
The Evening of Innovation is free to all, with no admission charge
An outline of what is called The White River Plan was presented to County Commissioners at their Monday meeting by Tourism Director Brenda Myers.
The plan calls for steps to make the river and its banks cleaner and more attractive to those visiting the county’s major waterway. Beyond that, the plan is to encourage knowledge of the numerous parks and historic sites along the river.
The river improvement plan was conceived several years ago with the intent of making the river a recreational asset for Hamilton and Marion counties. Currently the project’s supporters are in the process of preparing recommendations for what can be included in the development stage.
Myers said “an action-oriented plan” will be created by May 16 taking recommendations into consideration. She stressed that there will be no consideration of purchasing or making use of privately owned land that borders the river. Earlier, there were apparently unfounded rumors of plans to condemn or purchase river frontage.
Existing recreational and historic sites on White River include Strawtown Koteewi Park, Potters Bridge Park and trail, the Noblesville Riverwalk, Conner Prairie, Carmel’s River Heritage Park, Fishers Heritage Park and Hazel Landing Park.
Monday’s presentation was informational only. No vote by commissioners was requested.
The county parks department is expected to coordinate with the plans as they move forward. Eventually, some type of Hamilton-Marion County board for White River development is envisioned to carry out and maintain river improvements including possibly retrofitting dams to maintain a favorable river elevation
