Indiana Landmarks Foundation has presented Hamilton County with their award for ‘Historic Preservation for Continued Use,’ naming the Courthouse as a best example of preserving a public building. The Courthouse is 140 years old this year. In the architectural style of French Second Empire, the structure was restored in 1994 with many original features retained. County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt accepted the award Thursday.
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Duane Brenton will be the Libertarian Party candidate for county sheriff in this fall’s general election. The Fishers resident will oppose Dennis Quakenbush, the Republican nominee. No Democrat has filed. Brenton will apparently be the only Libertarian on the county ballot.
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Property owners have until June 15 to appeal their recently updated real estate assessments. Notices of annual trending of assessments were sent last month. For property owners who got no notice, there will be no change in their assessment. Property taxes for next year are based on assessed value of land and structures. Folks wishing to appeal may get further information from the County Assessor’s office.
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Officials report no decision has yet be made on countywide financing of 911 communication costs. The issue arose early this year when county officials asked towns and townships in northern Hamilton County to help pay for the increasingly expensive costs of operating the vital communications center. At present the county along with Carmel, Noblesville, Fishers and Westfield pay the entire cost. Seven other units get calls answered and dispatched from the center at the county sheriff’s office. A meeting with the northern units was held last month, but no resolution was reached and no further meeting has been set. County officials want a decision for 2019 operations, budgeting for which is made this summer.
Communications Officer Ray Haney sits at one of the workstations where Hamilton County calls to 911 are received. (Reporter photo by Stu Clampitt)
by
Stu Clampitt
Hamilton County Reporter
Between 9 a.m. on Friday, May 25 – just before the first call came in about the active shooter at Noblesville West Middle School – until 5 p.m. that afternoon, Hamilton County 911 dispatchers handled 364 calls, of which the incident that has become a national news story was only one.
“While that incident was occurring, life in the rest of Hamilton County was still occurring as well,” Hamilton County Public Safety Communications Executive Director Michael Snowden told The Reporter. “We had two completed suicides, one attempted suicide, 27 traffic accidents, 18 suspicious circumstances, 11 traffic hazards, eight thefts – we were busy literally all day long. It is hard to say we were no longer busy because of the school incident at ‘X’ time, but we were really busy that entire day.”
Hamilton Southeastern’s Madison Norris had a great day at the IHSAA’s boys state track and field meet Saturday at Indiana University. Norris won the 110 high hurdles state championship and was part of the Royals’ second-place 4×100 relay.
Hamilton County Reporter
Three Hamilton County teams finished in the top 10 and won two individual events
at the IHSAA boys state track and field meet, which took place Saturday at Indiana
University.
Hamilton Southeastern finished third with 44 points, behind only Avon’s 66 points
and North Central’s 47. Madison Norris led the way for the Royals, winning the state
championship in the 110 hurdles in a time of 14.02 seconds.
Norris later joined Jack Boyd, Noah Malone and Chase Maxey to place second
in the 4×100 relay. Malone won two more medals by taking fourth in both the 100 and
200 dashes. Gabe Fendel placed fourth in the 1600 run, Nathan Smith was fourth in
the 300 hurdles and HSE’s 4×400 relay team of Chaz Birchfield, Nick Bostock, Nick
Bowman and Jackson Sweeney took eighth
in that event.
Carmel finished in eighth place, scoring 26 points. Spencer Gudgel placed third in
the 400 dash, then finished the meet by teaming with Alex Brown-Baez, Eli Konow
and Trey Harris for a sixth-place finish in the 4×400.
Ben Miller took third in the 3200 run.
The Greyhounds also got a fifth-place result from Harris, Konow, Gudgel and Jimmy
Snyder in the 4×800 relay. Isiah Baxter finished seventh in the 200 dash.
Fishers tied for 10th with 16 points, but finished the meet with an event victory. The
4×400 relay team of Nicholas Carrithers, Henry Lewis II, DiSean Graham and Benjamin
Norton clocked in at 3:15.80 to place first. Earlier, Lewis, Carrithers and Norton
joined Jason Lassic to take fifth in the 4×100 relay. The Tigers’ 4×800 relay team of Dylan
Arive, Samuel Kuhn, Ethan Meyer and Drew Smith placed ninth.
Westfield’s Peyton Haack placed eighth in the pole vault.
Fishers’ Ben Norton was part of the Tigers’ state champion 4×400 relay team
The Fishers baseball team won its first ever regional championship on Saturday. The Tigers scored seven runs in the ninth inning to beat Fort Wayne Carroll 12-5, thus winning the Lafayette Jefferson regional at Loeb Stadium. Fishers plays Chesterton next Saturday in the Kokomo semi-state. (Photo provided)
Hamilton County Reporter
After getting past one tough game on Saturday morning, the Fishers baseball
team found itself in another tough game Saturday night.
The evening game was the regional championship at Lafayette’s Loeb Stadium.
The Tigers were knotted at 5-5 with a pumped-up Fort Wayne Carroll team
through eight innings. After having the bases loaded with one out in the top of the
seventh and eighth but not scoring, Fishers was in that same situation in the top of the
ninth.
That time, the Tigers came through, to the tune of seven runs. That powered
Fishers to a 12-5 Class 4A Lafayette Jefferson regional championship victory, the first
ever regional crown for the program. The Tigers will now play Chesterton next Saturday
in the 4A north semi-state at Kokomo.
“It’s awesome,” said Fishers coach Matt
Cherry. “We’re not done yet, but excited for
them to keep fighting, keep battling and
finally coming through with the seven runs
in the ninth.”
While it was frustrating to leave the bases loaded so late, both times the Tigers
quickly regrouped on defense. Fishers set down the Chargers 1-2-3 in the bottom of
the seventh, forcing extra innings. The Tigers again took care of Carroll three-up,
three-down in the bottom of the eighth.
Fishers’ offense tried again in the ninth. With one out, Jack Roudebush drew a walk,
then Ben Burton was hit by a pitch. JJ Woolwine got on with a base hit, loading
the bases again. Could the Tigers finally get one in?
They did and then some. Craig Yoho came up after Woolwine, and he sent a
single into left field to score Jack Roudebush and Ben Burton. Next up was Grant
Richardson, who smashed a single into center field to get Woolwine and Yoho in
to score.
“That’s what this team’s done for the last two years,” said Cherry. “As long as we
don’t run out of time, they have fight in them and they’re going to find a way to get
it done. And we didn’t run out of time this time, we kept holding them defensively and
on the mound and finally broke through there in the ninth.”
After absorbing a strikeout, Fishers got another runner on when Matt Wolff got hit
by a pitch, sending Richardson to second. That brought up Alex Jamieson, and he
cracked a home run into left field. The 5-5 tie was now a 12-5 lead.
Carroll got a groundout for the third out, so all the Tigers had to do now was get three
outs on defense, which they did easily. Matt Wolff, who relieved Richardson in the
eighth inning, sandwiched two strikeouts in between a groundout to third baseman Kiel
Brenczewski.
Wolff is officially credited with the win, but Richardson deserves recognition as
well. He threw seven and a third innings, striking out 12 and allowing seven hits.
Richardson also went 4-for-6 at the plate; he, Yoho and Jamieson all batted in three
runs.
Fishers scored one run each in the first three innings. Richardson hit a homer into
center field in the first inning, Burton singled in Nick Lukac in the second, and
Brenczewski hit a sacrifice fly to score Yoho in the third.
Carroll took a 5-3 lead through the fifth inning, but the Tigers tied it up in the top
of the sixth on back-to-back sacrifice flies. Woolwine’s right field fly ball sent Tristan
Baker home and moved Burton to third base. Burton then scored after Yoho sent
another fly ball into right field.
In the semi-final, Fishers came back to beat Zionsville 6-5. The Eagles had the
Tigers down 4-1 midway through the third inning, but the Tigers rallied with four runs
in the bottom of the third.
Brenczewski got things started with a left field double that sent Woolwine and
Yoho home. Richardson scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4. Jamieson then
hit a sacrifice fly to score Collin Shelton and put Fishers in the lead.
Richardson hit a fourth-inning double that scored Yoho and put the Tigers up 6-4.
Woolwine got Fishers on the board in the first inning with a solo home run; both he
and Yoho had two hits.
Luke Albright went five innings for the
win, striking out four. Wolff pitched the last
two innings and got the save.
On this week’s edition of Hamilton County Goes To The Movies, Adam & I review The Rider, a very special film about a bronco rider in rural South Dakota. Our guests this week are John Krull and Shelby Mullis…both were heavily involved in producing a new documentary film about Indiana Senator Richard Lugar.
Based on the performance list, Hamilton Southeastern was favored to win Friday’s IHSAA girls state track and field meet.
All the Royals had to do was take care of business. And they did.
Southeastern won its first ever girls track and field state championship, waiting out a
one-hour weather delay and some very tough competition to triumph at Indiana University. The Royals used their superior depth to score 62 points, pulling away from runner-up Brebeuf Jesuit as the meet went into its later stages. The Braves scored 44
points.
“We were favored to win, but there’s so many things that can happen,” said HSE
coach Julie Alano. The Royals coaches impressed upon their athletes that everybody
needed to do their part – “You go take care of what you’re supposed to do,” said Alano
– and if that happened, Southeastern would win.
“And that’s what we talked about, and making sure that you did whatever you need
to do to make sure you score your points and do your part,” said Alano.
Brebeuf held an early advantage due to its strength in the 4×800 relay (which finished
third), the 100 hurdles (which placed second) and wins in the 100 dash and 4×100
relay. Alano admitted that the Royals were a little worried after those events.
But Southeastern wasn’t too far behind. Junior Tierra Sydnor helped out with a
fifth-place finish in the long jump, then senior Mia Mackenzie added another five
points by taking fifth in the 100 hurdles. “It’s amazing, because last year we
weren’t even expecting to get second, because there’s only seven of us who made
it,” said Sydnor. “And this year, we were really working hard towards it in practice,
saying that we can do it.”
Senior Camille Christopher finished third in the 100 dash, and was part of the
Royals’ runner-up 4×100 relay, along with sophomore Olivia Burgess, Sydnor and
freshman Alyssa Barker.
The tied began to turn in HSE’s favor once the pole vault results came in. Royals
junior Kennedy Drish defended her state championship in that event, with a winning
vault of 12 feet, 6 inches. Drish went for 13 feet, but 12-6 isn’t bad either – “I just came
in, did what I did, what I’ve been practicing, and got 12-6, so I’m happy with that.”
Drish’s teammate, senior Jessica Bray, helped out with a sixth-place finish in the
pole vault, clearing 11-6.
“It’s been a really exciting past two years,” said Bray, who has committed to
Grand Valley State University. “I never really expected to be here when I first
started, so I’m just happy to be here. I’m happy to be here again this year.”
With the pole vault points in, Southeastern moved into the lead. The Royals got
more points from Mackenzie, who took seventh in the 300 hurdles, then Christopher
earned a runner-up finish in the 200 dash. Junior Lulu Black added two more points
after taking eighth in the 3200 run; Black’s time was 10:47.67, a new school record.
By now, Southeastern had the meet in hand, but why not finish with a bang? That’s
what the Royals did in the 4×400 relay. The team of Burgess, junior Mya Hammons,
freshman Annice McFarland and Sydnor finished the meet with a win in that event.
HSE’s 4×400 time was 3:51.10. The Royals edged out Perry Meridian by .04
seconds. Sydnor ran the anchor leg, and she got that extra inch in the end.
“Last week was a lot of pushing, it was a lot of roughhousing going around, so no
one really ran their best best times,” said Sydnor. “Like today, we were a whole two
seconds faster.”
“Exclamation point. Oh, my gosh,” said Alano. “They’ve done it in practice. I knew
they could run faster. That was a school record for us.”
“There were a lot of good teams in that race,” said Alano. “We had practiced all
kinds of crazy situations, but not really out front by ourselves, because we weren’t sure
that would happen. We were so excited. We had a pack there, we were so excited, it was
so crazy. That was awesome. All the girls ran well there. It was every person doing
their part on that relay, too.”
Southeastern’s win was the first state championship for the Royals since the boys
track and field team won in 2013. It also puts HSE in an exclusive club: Friday’s state title
was the school’s 10th IHSAA state title.
After Brebeuf’s 44 points, two-time defending state champion Warren Central
placed third with 40 points. Carmel finished in fourth place with 38 points.
Sophomore Phoebe Bates led the way, claiming the state championship in the 1600
run. Bates made a strong kick in the last 100 meters to finish the race in 4:51.79. Bates
also took fifth in the 3200 run.
“I thought the mile went really well, and then the 32, I just gave it everything I had,”
said Bates. “It was a good day.”
Senior Kara Deady finished up her high school career with another medal in the pole
vault. Deady, who will vault for IU next year, placed fourth by clearing 11-9.
“It was very tough this year,” said Deady. “We had a lot of good vaulters. But
you just got to try your best. It wasn’t what we had hoped, but I’m happy to be back here.
It was fun.”
Junior Reagan Hune earned three medals at the meet. She placed fifth in the 400 dash,
then was part of Carmel’s ninth-place 4×100 relay, joining sophomore Kiara Gill and
seniors Carly Markley and Josie Upton. Hune ran the anchor on the Greyhounds’
eighth-place 4×400 relay, teaming up with freshman Abbey Grogan and seniors Beverley
Thompson and Alexis Waples.
Carmel opened the meet with its 4×800 relay team of freshmen Annie Christie and
Mahalet Zeruesenay, senior Anna Morozov and sophomore Sydney Haines finishing in
fifth place. Senior Maddie Dalton took sixth in the 1600 run.
“Our girls showed up and competed their hearts out,” said Greyhounds coach Aaron
McRill. “The coaches are so very proud of this group. The meet itself was incredibly
exciting from start to finish. Lots of great teams and lots of great competition. We fell
just six points shy of the podium, but we feel we had a pretty great meet. Congratulations
to HSE and Brebeuf, well deserved.”
Noblesville tied for 13th place with 15 points. Junior Shelby Tyler soared to
another state championship in the high jump, in yet another battle between her and
Zionsville senior Katie Isenbarger.
Both athletes cleared 5-11, but Tyler got the win on fewer misses. Thus Tyler
defended her state title, becoming the first Millers athlete to win back-to-back track
championships.
“It felt good,” said Tyler. “I had really good competition. And it was fun, and I
think that’s the most important part.”
Noblesville’s 4×800 relay team of senior Abi Little, junior Aubrie Deal, freshman
Bella Sharples-Gordon and sophomore Anna Hazelrigg placed sixth in that event.
Little also finished ninth in the 1600 run; she has committed to run at IU.
Fishers scored nine points to place 28th as a team. Junior Tamia Perryman won three
medals for the Tigers, first placing eighth in the 100 dash. Later, she finished ninth in the
200 dash. In between, Perryman joined seniors Toni Grace and Danielle Harrison
and junior Grace May to take fourth in the 4×100 relay.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Kennedy Drish defended her state championship in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet, 6 inches.
Southeastern’s Tierra Sydnor leans in at the end of the 4×400 relay, getting the Royals the victory by .04 seconds.
If you drive in and around Fishers, you know every summer is road construction season. The listing below shows new closings set for Brooks School Road ad 131st & Cumberland. Also, the summer concert series begins again June 5th.
Below is the entire listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:
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96TH STREET
Paving work will be occurring on 96th Street at Olio Road on Friday, June 1. Crews will be out milling the pavement during the day and paving overnight. Flaggers will be in place to help direct traffic.
131ST STREET
Beginning Monday, June 4, the intersection of 131st and Cumberland Road will close for 45 days to construct a new roundabout. See the detour map here.
Paving crews are working on 131st Street between Promise Road and Marilyn Road. Flaggers are present to help direct traffic.
Expect lane restrictions, weather permitting, along 131st Street between Allisonville Road and Lantern Road for the construction of the Conner Trail from Conner Prairie to the Municipal Complex. Lane restrictions will also take place on Lantern Road between 131st Street and Municipal Drive.
BROOKS SCHOOL ROAD
Starting on or after June 4, there will be temporary lane restrictions on Brooks School Road south of 116th Street while utility relocation work is performed. Flaggers will be in place to help direct traffic. Road closures will begin in July for the construction of a passing blister to improve visibility and enhance motorist safety.
Beginning on or after June 4, Milestone will close Brooks School Road between 126th Street and 136th Street to build a sidewalk to the east side of the bridge over I-69. Traffic will be detoured via 136th Street, Promise Road, and 126th Street to get around the closure. The road will reopen in early August. Questions can be directed to indot@indot.IN.gov.
MOLLENKOPF ROAD
Beginning on or after June 4, Mollenkopf Road between 96th Street and 106th Street will have lane restrictions in place while paving work is being completed. Flaggers will be present to direct traffic.
ALLISONVILLE ROAD
Lane restrictions will be in place, as weather permits, along Allisonville Road from 126th Street to 131st Street for the roadway expansion project. Restrictions will be in place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and flaggers will be on site directing traffic, as necessary. This will be an active construction site with reduced speed limits. For more info on this project, view the Fact Sheet.
136TH STREET
136th Street is closed between Southeastern Parkway and Prairie Baptist Road for the construction of a new roundabout. See the Detour Map.
HOOSIER ROAD
Lane restrictions are in place on northbound Hoosier Road at 116th Street. Traffic control is in place.
NICKEL PLATE DISTRICT
On Saturday between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m., road closures will take place along the east side of the Municipal Circle along Municipal Drive for the Fishers Farmers’ Market. Access to Municipal Drive from North Street will also be closed during this time. Farmers’ Market parking is available in The Depot and The Switch garages (see the Parking Map for more details).
The summer concert series begins June 5 with shows Tuesday and Friday evenings on Central Green. Municipal Drive in front of City Hall will be closed for stage construction beginning at noon on concert days. Also beginning at noon, North Street and Municipal Drive will become a right turn only, and Fishers Center Drive and Municipal Drive will become a left turn only. Beginning at 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and 7 p.m. on Fridays, there will be road closures on Municipal Drive at 116th Street, on Municipal Drive at Fishers Center Drive (vehicles will still be able to turn left), and on Municipal Drive at North Street (vehicles will still be able to turn right). Roads will reopen at midnight. Street parking on Municipal Drive will be restricted from 2 p.m. until midnight on concert days. Guests can access the event from Fishers Center Drive, Municipal Drive (north), and North Street. Parking is available at The Switch garage, accessed from North Street.
The Board of Works recently passed an ordinance for no parking in the Nickel Plate District between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. See the Parking Restrictions Map for more information.
GEIST RIDGE DRIVE
Geist Ridge Drive at Florida Road is closed as Hamilton Southeastern Utilities has contracted Culy Contracting to perform sanitary sewer repairs in this area. Access into Valleys at Geist subdivision is available on Olio Road and 104th Street. Temporary lane restrictions on Florida Road may occur in this area due to construction traffic.
106TH STREET
106th Street is closed to through traffic from Eller Road to Allisonville Road and from Allisonville Road to Hague Road for the 106th Street Infrastructure Project. Closures for through traffic will also take place from Hague Road to the Crosspoint Boulevard/Lantern Road roundabout. For more info on this project, view the Fact Sheet.
ELLER ROAD
Eller Road is closed to through traffic south of White Horse Lane for concrete work associated with the 106th Street Infrastructure Project.
I-69
As part of a $92 million design-build contract, Milestone has added a third lane in each direction to the median, repaired and resurfaced existing pavement, and rehabilitated bridges and drainage structures on 15 miles of I-69 in Hamilton and Madison counties. Construction of an additional auxiliary lane between the 116th Street entrance ramp to I-69 South and the I-69 South Exit 204 ramp to 106th Street will continue through next spring.
I-69 South will be temporarily reduced to two lanes to allow space for the State Road 37 and 116th Street entrance ramps to safely merge while construction continues on the southbound auxiliary lane between the 116th Street and 106th Street ramps.
Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT via email or at 1-855-463-6848.
STATE ROAD 37
A public meeting was held on Tuesday, May 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Delaware Township Trustee Office. The meeting presentation and updated information is available on the project’s new website. The State Road 37 improvement project is a $124 million joint project between Fishers, Hamilton County, Noblesville, and INDOT. Questions or concerns may be directed to SR37@rqaw.com.
OUTSIDE OF FISHERS
From June 4 through August 8, the City of Carmel will close 116th Street between Towne Road and Ditch Road, and between Clay Center Road and Spring Mill Road.
Carmel Clay School Board President Layla Spanenberg introduces Mike Beresford as the district’s new superintendent (Photos by Larry Lannan)
It appears neighboring school districts are tapping into the administrative talent at Hamilton Southeastern when searching for a new superintendent. First it was Beth Niedermeyer, an assistant school superintendent at Hamilton Southeasern, hired by Noblesville as superintendent in June of 2014. Now, it’s Mike Beresford’s turn, as he was announced Friday morning as the new superintendent for the Carmel Clay Schools.
“You’ve put your faith and trust in me,” Dr. Beresford told Carmel school officials. “I will not let you down. I will build that trust and move forward with everything I have to make that happen.”
Beresford said he feels like he’s “been chosen to be the manager of the (New York) Yankees when they had every good player in the league,” because of the stellar reputation of the Carmel Clay School District.
During the next 100 days, Beresford plans to conduct what he calls a listening tour, and says he will seek out students, administrators, teachers, community people, police, fire, city and anyone that will talk to him. He wants to find out “what makes Carmel Clay Schools tick.”
Dr. Beresford is to start his new Carmel job July 1st. His contract calls for a base salary of $170,000 a year with pay increases tied to the board’s evaluation. The pact also includes a deferred compensation retirement savings plan, a $500 monthly allowance for auto and travel expense and a $100 per month technology allowance.
The hiring will become official after a public hearing on the new contract and an official vote by the Carmel Clay School Board later this month.
Dr. Berseford accepts congratulations from Carmel well-wishers
Hamilton County Democrats are seeking, and in some cases reviewing prospective candidates, to fill their largely empty November election ballot. The party has a caucus scheduled for June 27th in which candidates will be chosen for positions not filled in the May primary.
County Chairman Joe Weingarten said, “It’s hard. We want to make sure we have candidates who have the qualifications for the job” they will be seeking. And, it’s always been tough filling the Democratic ticket in heavily Republican Hamilton County.
The party is expected to field candidates for a number of township positions and a few county jobs, but probably not for major county offices like judge, sheriff, prosecutor and clerk of the courts. The candidates the party fields for vacant spots on the ticket will be chosen in the June caucus to be held at the Fishers branch of the Hamilton East Library.
As chairman, Weingarten has been trying to put life into the party after years of being virtually non-competitive. The last Democrat to win countywide office, Circuit Judge Charles Ardery, was elected 60 years ago, and the last to win a major city office was Noblesville Mayor Robert Wical, elected 43 years ago.
Democrats are also gearing up for their annual banquet, formerly called the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. That name will be changed this year because both those former presidents were slave owners, and the names are now not considered appropriate in the current race-sensitive environment.
A new name for the dinner party and a principal speaker have not yet been announced. But the event is scheduled for July 21 at the Carmel American Legion Post 155.
Local Democrats are putting their hopes for November on new leadership, reports of more Democrats on the voter rolls and a prediction by some that 2018 will be a big year nationwide for the party.
The federal Surface Transportation Board has issued its ruling on the future of the Nickel Plate Rail Line, and rules in favor of Fishers, Noblesville and Hamilton County in their plans to convert the line from rails to trails.
You can read the entire text of the decision at this link.
This will now allow conversion of the Nickel Plate Rail into a pedestrian trail pursuant to the National Trails System Act and the Board’s interim trail use regulations
The City of Fishers, in a news release, says local officials will immediately pursue the conversion of the Nickel Plate line to a trail from 96th street to 146th street.
There were a number of comments received by local residents and a “Save the Trail” group organized to preserve the Nickel Plate line for trains, but the board ruled in favor of the local governmental units in their plans using the rail banking process to convert the rail line into a trail, much like the Monon Trail in Carmel.
Fishers announced Wednesday that it is forming a committee to work on plans for the Nickel Plate Trail. For more on that, use this link.
