A thank you note from Carmel Council Candidate Adam Aasen to Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard that was posted on social media has created not only a social media stir, but also a police investigation.
The note was originally reported to have been taken from Brainard’s trash, possibly on private property.
A photo of the note was originally posted on social media by Rick Smith, Noblesville.
In a conversation with Reporter Publisher Jeff Jellison, Smith said his social media post stating, “Well, it was all on the down low. After hearing Adam Declared Allegiance to the Mayor I staked out the Mayors trash. It took two weeks of searching but I knew sooner or later I would find it,” was sarcasm and not meant to be taken seriously.
Carmel Clerk Treasurer Christine Pauley told The Reporter she originally found the note in a small public trash can, then passed it along to someone else. She said she does not know how it came to be photographed and posted by Smith.
Pauley said the note was in a public trash can on city property, not on private property as has been alleged.
Carmel Police choose not to comment about an ongoing investigation.
Noah Malone (at the podium) receives a standing ovation from the crowd at the school board meeting
Noah Malone, a junior at Hamilton Southeastern High School, set new track and field records for the Royals in 2018. That is a big story in itself, but there is much more to this story.
Noah Malone accomplished all this while legally blind, after being diagnosed with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy in 2015. Noah splits his time between attending the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Hamilton Southeastern High School. He is a member of the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field Team and was named as one of the 2018 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field High School All-Americans and Male Track Athlete of the Year.
Noah Malone answered questions from board embers, and when he was done, the large crowd in attendance at the meeting gave Noah a standing ovation.
When The Hamilton Southeastern School Board made the decision to live-stream their board meetings with an online video system, the previous board was willing to preserve those video recordings for 45 days and then delete them. The board has since heard from a number of citizens in the area asking that these videos of board meetings be available longer.
On first reading, the board passed a measure Wednesday calling for board meeting videos to be available to the public for a minimum of 4 years from the date of the board meeting. The vote was unanimous. The same policy will be given a final vote by the board on second reading, likely in March.
Board member Julie Chambers offered the original motion to have these video recordings be made available to the public with no time frame, essentially making the video recordings available with no end date specified.
An amendment was offered to specify the retention period as 4 years and the amendment passed 5-1, with Julie Chambers voting no (board member Amanda Shera did not attend the Wednesday board meeting). Chambers did vote for the main motion and it passed unanimously.
The school district has the video equipment in place but has not offered live-streaming for past board meetings on video yet. The board voted to approve the contract with Swagit Productions to provide the video services. The contract calls for a one-time payment to Swagit of $24,580 and the school corporation will pay a monthly fee of $1,288 for the ongoing video services.
It should be noted these video live-streaming and recordings are only available for meetings held in the HSE Schools Administration Building board room. Any other meetings held at another site or in another room will not have video live-streaming or recordings. Board work sessions are normally not held in the board room and would not be available on video.
Debbie Driskell listened to a speech from a sexual abuse survivor and it stirred something within her that had happened a very long time ago. The Delaware Township Trustee has now made the #NoMoreSecrets campaign one of her projects from that time on to now. I had the chance to speak with Debbie Driskell about #NoMoreSecrets and the state of township government in the State of Indiana.
For at least three years, the Hamilton Southeastern School Board has postponed a decision on the wording of a nondiscrimination policy, and Wednesday night, after a spirited discussion by speakers from the public and among board members, the board decided to once again send the proposal back to the school corporation’s policy committee. There was also talk of the board members undergoing training to better understand nondiscrimination issues throughout the school district.
Jennifer Chavez appeared unhappy when she was told her presentation would be limited to 3 minutes, but she shared her entire planned speech with LarryInFishers. She believes board members should receive annual training on a number of issues, including equity and/or diversity issues.
Her most pointed comments were about the board’s lack of enforcement in their own code of ethics. “We have school board members who are presenting personal criticisms of leaders in our district including fellow school board members on social media, in texts, in emails,” wrote Chavez. “All of this is detracting from the goals of our public school board. As per your current policy, school board members should present any personal criticisms directly to the Superintendent. As per your current policy, school board members should recognize the integrity of prior elected officials and current board members.”
Chavez also wrote about her argument as to what should happen when a board member fails to meet the ethical standards. “Any School Board Member that is found in violation of the School Board Member expectations for ethics will be removed from service. How that happens can be further identified by the district policy committee, however it is imperative that this happens. You have disappointed your community. If you want our trust back you will ensure us that the type of behaviors that we have witnessed over the past few years are stopped and no longer tolerated.”
Chavez also cited recent court decisions saying they “have found that schools ARE required to accommodate gender identity among their non-discrimination policies, and that schools are legally barred from discriminating against any student (including those that are transgender). Given recent actions (albeit proven or perceived) of board members that have done unnecessary harm to parents and children in our community it is imperative that the board reset their commitment to ALL children by means of adopting policy that does not allow for personal belief systems determine the inclusion (or lack thereof) of every student in our community that deserves to be treated as a respected and important member of our public schools.”
The recommended language before the school board Wednesday from the policy committee cites state and federal statutes and says the following – “The school corporation will not discriminate in its educational or employment activities on any basis prohibited by applicable federal or state laws.”
Some board members did not find that wording strong enough, arguing that language means something to the school community. Board Member Julie Chambers wants specific language with protections for sexual orientation and transgender students and employees. “If our district is going to talk about mental health, we cannot leave this out,” Chambers said.
Chambers said a parent did some research on 26 school districts in the general area of HSE schools and found…18 include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, 16 include gender identity and 15 include transgender students. Only 6 of the 26 disticts do not include any of these protections and HSE is one of the 6. “How dare we say we are forward-thinking?,” said Chambers.
The board voted unanimously to send the nondiscrimination policy language back to the policy committee.
There were two high school students and one adult that used the nondiscrimination policy discussion to criticize school administrators for allowing a male swimmer to compete in a key swim meet after allegations of sexual misconduct. Board Member Brad Boyer said he was told that student would not be competing in the swim meet, but those speaking before the board insisted the swimmer in question will be competing.
Julie Chambers talks about nondiscrimination policy
From the short film Singh, depicting Mr. Singh being taken by TSA agents
Gurinder Singh just wanted to visit his sick mother by boarding a commercial flight in 2007. Mr. Singh belongs the the Sikh religion, which requires him to wear a turban. Federal regulations at that time came into play.
What happened next is portrayed in a new short film to be released this year, simply titled Singh. It is a scripted dramatization of what happened to Gurinder Singh as he attempted to board that plane n 2007.
The problems he faced dealing with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) resulted in government policy changes. Singh was awarded Indiana Minority Business Magazine’s 2019 Rosa Parks Trailblazer Award for his actions that resulted in the TSA Headgear Policy being changed to accommodate those with turbans and reinforced the religious rights of those observing the Sikh religious faith.
The film Singh is directed by Jenny Ruiz, an 18-year-old Indianapolis resident.
Gurinder Singh lives in Fishers and is a candidate for the Fishers City Council.
Although the film Singh has not yet been released, the trailer is now available. You can view the preview at this link.
Hamilton Southeastern sailed past Anderson 94-60 in a Tuesday game at the Indians’
gym.
The Royals outscored Anderson in each quarter, leading 31-15 after the first period
and 50-33 at halftime. Southeastern then jumped ahead 73-42 after three quarters. The
Royals had four players score in double figures, including two with double-doubles.
Noah Smith scored 22 points and handed out 12 assists, while Chris Grubbs poured
in 20 points and collected 10 rebounds. Landon Morris added 16 points and Aaron
Etherington contributed 10 points.
Southeastern is 14-6 and travels to Brownsburg on Friday to finish up Hoosier
Crossroads Conference play for the season
Two truly great men were lost in recent days and I would like to write just a bit about each one. One was from politics, the other from baseball. One I had the honor of meeting, the other I admired from afar.
First, let’s talk about John Dingell. He was a congressman from an area of Michigan not far from Detroit and served in the House longer than anyone else. He was elected to the seat after his father retired, and now Mr. Dingell’s wife holds that seat.
Everyone who knew John Dingell loved him, even his political foes. That is rare in a place like Capitol Hill.
I had the honor of meeting Congressman Dingell during a news conference with a local member of the House, Phil Sharp. Both men took a special interest in all things energy. I was working for a regional radio network at that time (the early 1980s) and waited for my chance to interview John Dingell.
As I was waiting, another member of the press corps told an awful, off-color joke and John Dingell smiled, did a half-hearted laugh and quickly turned to me. I spent only a few minutes with John Dingell, but I couldn’t help but like him.
The second man we recently lost was Frank Robinson. I listened to Cincinnati Reds radio broadcasts regularly during the early and mid 1960s. In those days, only a few baseball games were available on television.
One of my favorite Reds players was Frank Robinson. I still have memories of my best friend Jack Mitchell and I listening to every Reds game we could get on our transistor radios (cutting edge technology at that time).
My Dad announced we were taking a family vacation in the summer of 1965, and we were all going to a Reds game as part of the trip. I was beyond excited. I got a special treat when I discovered the the Reds were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers and the starting pitcher would be one of the greatest left-handers in the history of the game – Sandy Koufax.
What I remember most was what happened in the bottom of the first inning. Frank Robinson hit a towering home run over the scoreboard in left center field at the old Crosley Field, off the great Sandy Koufax. The Dodger starter only lasted to the fifth inning and the Reds won the game on a 2-out ninth inning home run by Leo Cardenas.
But the memory embedded in my mind is that Frank Robinson home run – it was something to see.
During the following off-season, in one of the worst trades in baseball history, the Reds traded Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles. Robinson tore-up the American League with his play and the Reds were relegated to second-tier status until the Big Red Machine came along in the 1970s.
Once his playing days were over, Frank Robinson became the first African American manager in Major League Baseball.
I have fond memories of John Dingell and Frank Robinson. Both left a strong legacy in their chosen professions. May their souls rest in peace
Mayor Scott Fadness talks about the status of his Mental Health Initiative
Fishers City Councilman Todd Zimmerman explained how Scott Fadness began talking to him about a mental health initiative the night election returns showed Fadness would become Fishers first mayor in November, 2014. The mayor began laying the groundwork for the Fishers Mental Health Initiative before he took office as mayor, while he was the Fishers Town Manager.
Since 2014, Scott Fadness has been working on moving forward withe the initiative. He provided updates from the police & fire departments, the local schools and the city’s efforts to publicize the initiative. Fadness gave the quarterly update on the initiative to a packed crowd at Fishers City Hall Tuesday afternoon.
The mayor described recent statistics that show suicide rates are down throughout the world over the past 20-30 years, with a few exceptions. The United States is an exception, which shows in increase. In Indiana, we rate very low in the mental health condition of residents and available assistance to address those mental health conditions, according to Fadness.
Initiatives now before state lawmakers in this legislative session were highlighted by the mayor.
“We also find ourselves in a time of economic disruption,” said Fadness. “We see rural America changing. We see suicide rates among farmers going up.”
It is up to government to find systems and get them into place to help those suffering as a result of the very big changes, the mayor explained.
Mental health has become more of a public issue in recent years. Even Lady Gaga is on board. But Fishers has been on board for many years, and the journey continues.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told me in a recent podcast interview that he is focusing on job creation in 2019, and a firm has announced today it is moving its tech jobs to Fishers.
Formstack, a software firm, will move its staff to the third floor of the Four Day Ray Building in the downtown Fishers Nickel Plate District.
“The City of Fishers shares the same spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation we hold dearly at Formstack,” said Chris Byers, CEO of Formstack in a news release. “Our move to Fishers is a reinvestment and recommitment to the growing tech ecosystem in central Indiana.”
Formstack was founded by Ade Olonoh in February 2006 to provide users with a online data capture services. Since 2006, Formstack has grown. Led by CEO Chris Byers since 2010, Formstack has launched dozens of new products and has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine. Formstack is a perennial Best Places to Work in Indiana honoree and Indianapolis Business Journal Fast 25 company.
“Our efforts to bring top-tier companies like Formstack to Fishers have been key to becoming one of the best places to live in America,” said Mayor Scott Fadness. “We recognize the impact Formstack has on the SaaS community, and we’re proud that they’ve decided to relocate to Fishers.” (SaaS is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet.)
