Hamilton County Reporter

Captain Dennis Quakenbush (R-Cicero) announced his entrance into the 2018 race for Hamilton County Sheriff Tuesday.

Quakenbush has served with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for over 15 years and is heading into his eighth year as the Patrol Commander. He currently oversees the day-to-day operations of the patrol division.

“The sheriff’s position requires long hours, steadfast dedication and an unwavering desire to serve the people of Hamilton County,” Quakenbush said. “As Hamilton County Sheriff I will proactively fight the substance abuse crisis, improve operations to make the agency more efficient, and put a greater focus on community involvement.”

Quakenbush is a life-long resident of Hamilton County and currently lives in Cicero with his wife and their four sons.

Hamilton County Reporter

Will Riley, Fishers, announced his candidacy for Hamilton County Judge, Superior Court No. 1.  Mr. Riley is running for Superior Court No. 1 in the Republican Primary following Judge Steven R. Nation’s announcement that he will not be seeking a fifth term.

Mr. Riley graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1989 and began working at Baker & Daniels. While there, he learned the fundamentals of the law: Reading, writing and critical thinking. He now practices with Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC, where he serves as managing partner.

“Hamilton County residents deserve justice that is equal for all.  I have dedicated my practice to giving my clients a voice in the courtroom and allowing them to have an opportunity for justice,” said candidate. Riley.  “As a judge, I will take my responsibility seriously to safeguard the open access to the courts and fair and impartial rulings for individuals and businesses.  I promise to operate my courtroom with fairness, respect, and adherence to the rule of law – every single day.”

Hamilton County Reporter 

Hamilton County Superior Court No. 1 Judge Steven R. Nation announced Monday that he will not seek a fifth term in the upcoming May 2018 primary election, and for the first time in 40 years his name will not appear on the ballot.

Nation was elected to the Bench and took office in 1995 and is now completing his 24^th year, or fourth term as a Judge. Prior to taking the Bench, Nation served as a Hamilton County Deputy Prosecutor for two years and in 1979 was elected as the Hamilton County Prosecutor where he served 16 years, or four terms.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the citizens of Hamilton County. I am grateful to God and the people of Hamilton County for permitting me to serve them all these years. I have been blessed to work with many wonderful elected officials and people from the various communities in Hamilton County. Hamilton County is the best place in the State to live because we have such caring people who live and serve here. I hope that my service has protected the citizens and has helped make Hamilton County and the State of Indiana a safer and better place to live,” Nation said.

When a dog fell into an icy retention pond in the Britton Falls neighborhood, Fishers firefighters responded, rescuing the lady and her dog.  A 911 call was placed around noon today from a woman located on Dillinger Lane, with a plea to save her dog in the retention pond.

The caller then told the 911 operator she was going to rescue the dog herself, despite the operator’s plea not to do so.  By the time rescue crews arrived, the woman had fallen in to the icy waters 15 feet from shore.

The woman was having trouble holding-on to the rescue rope while holding her dog at the same time, according to fire officials.  The dog finally got onto the ice, where the dog fell back into the water, but firefighters were able to rescue the dog.  The woman was quickly brought to safety without needing to hold-on to the dog.

The lady refused medical treatment and took her dog to a local veterinarian.

The rescue operation took about 5 minutes.

The Fishers Fire Department is pleased this incident turned out well, but is also taking this opportunity to remind local residents of the danger posed by icy neighborhood ponds.  Below is part of that statement from fire officials:

“Even if (the ice) looks solid, it may not be.  For central Indiana retention ponds, you should never play on or near them.  Stay off the ice and never sled towards them.  If someone or an animal should fall through the ice, do not go in after them.  Reach, Throw but Don’t Go!  Reach for them if they are close, throw them a rope or a flotation device but never go in after them.  This cold water is debilitating and can make you a victim as well.”

Sun King Brewery will be a part of the new Yard culinary development near IKEA.  Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness joined Sun King officials to announce the development Tuesday morning at the Sun King tasting room on 96th Street in Fishers.

The new 13,000 square foot specialty production brewery and tap room will be part of The Yard development.  This means the original plan for a large Sun King operation near Fry’s Electronics in Fishers has been scrapped, due to legislative and environmental complications.

Thompson-Thrift will own the building and lease it to Sun King for 10 years, with some options for both sides in the contract.

This continues a partnership between Fishers and Sun King that goes back four years when the original facility was planned.

“I think what’s happening at The Yard, (I-69)Exit 205, with Top Golf, IKEA and downtown (Fishers), we’re shifting the gravitational pull of the northeast side of Indianapolis,” Fadness said.

The brewery will have two levels, including a 3,000-foot rooftop patio.

Sun King’s location at The Yard will be adjacent to a Culinary Accelerator, which is a partnership between the City of Fishers and Launch Fishers to develop new chefs and bring new restaurant concepts to the City of Fishers. The Culinary Accelerator will feature three food stalls that are open to the public. Additional details about the Culinary Accelerator and its tenants will be released later in 2018.

The Yard is scheduled to open in the spring of 2019.

The history of the Indiana Pacers is a colorful one, especially the early years of the pro team.  Here’s the second part of my conversation with Mark Montieth, author of the book Reborn, which concentrates on the early years of the Pacers.

Fishers plans a major upgrade to what is described as the Central Green area of the municipal complex.  The picture above, provided by the city, highlights to improvements scheduled to be completed by June 1st of this year.

You can check the city Web site for regular updates at this link.

On September 11th, 2017, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness joined Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett for a news conference, announcing a regional central Indiana bid to lure the Amazon second headquarters to this area.   Now that the Indy metro area has made the list of the final 20 regions under consideration, the speculation is running rampant.

There is a lot of talk on the chances of the Indy metro area landing this big economic development prize.  I think we should just take it all at face value.  In my opinion, central Indiana has a 1 in 20 chance, just like all the other finalists.

Although Fishers Mayor Fadness was heavily involved in preparing the local bid, the mayor told me in a podcast interview recorded January 3rd (well before the Amazon announcement of the 20 finalists) that no site within the City of Fishers was part of that bid.

“Something of that magnitude, I wasn’t really certain it belonged in a suburb like Fishers,” Mayor Fadness told me. “I was really doing it because I wanted Indianapolis, as a metropolitan area, to put our best foot forward.”

The two mayors, Hogsett and Fadness, have established more than a working relationship.  “He and I are friends,” said Fadness.

Hogsett knew how the Fishers mayor “geeks out” on economic development projects and how they are structured.

“Part of what I brought to the table for that, I think, I hope, is a suburban face to it, to say, this is a regional effort,” the Fishers mayor said.

All suburban mayors were allowed to submit a site for Amazon, and a group of officials from the metro area and business leaders ranked all those submitted sites.

This entire exercise of submitting the Amazon bid was not just an effort to lure Amazon here, it was a way to bring all the government and commercial entities closer together in order to look at economic development from a regional point of view.

Fadness hopes this lays the groundwork for regional collaboration in the future.  He has a goal for 2018.  “You’ll see me very, very active on more regional thinking in 2018.”

Even though Fishers would not host the new Amazon complex if it comes to central Indiana, Fadness is well aware that Fishers will get its share of new residents coming here to work for Amazon .

Amazon has not given a specific date on when a decision will be made, all we know is it will likely be announced before the end of the year.

You can listen to my entire podcast interview with Mayor Fadness at this link.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter 

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com) 

For better or worse, it just could be Hamilton County that attracts the much publicized Amazon’s second national headquarters. We stress could be, but still far from a certainty.

The retail giant last week narrowed its search for a location to 20 sites
including central Indiana. Folks in the Indianapolis media say that if the area is
selected there are five most promising places for the billion dollar complex, two
of which are in this county.

One possible site is east of Noblesville between State Road 38 and Interstate
69 where an as yet unidentified buyer is in the process of securing options
on several thousand acres of farmland. With offers to pay as much as $40,000 per
acre, you can assume the mysterious person or group is not planning to
grow soybeans.

The other county site is Metropolitan Airport property
north of 96th Street, south and east of the airport. It is ground that is
not needed for airport operations and has long been seen as a prime location
for business or commercial development.

Both these locations are close to I-69. Amazon is known to want easy access
to interstate highways and an airport.

Last fall in this column we speculated on the possibility that someone
saw at least the possibility of landing a giant distribution center, hence the
optioning of big acreage in Wayne and Fall Creek Townships. The purchase
of large tracts of land by anonymous buyers for a big development is not unheard
of. In the 1950s the Indianapolis Water Company quietly bought 3,000 acres north of Noblesville.

We know the site today as Morse Reservoir and the subdivisions surrounding
it. The Noblesville Ledger eventually figured out what the land was to be used for.

It’s hard to visualize what an Amazon headquarters would look like with 50,000 employees, hundreds of thousands of square feet under roof and constant truck traffic coming and going at such a gigantic complex.

Many political leaders would see it as the greatest thing that could be
imagined. Jobs, jobs, jobs and presumably reasonably high paying jobs. Of
course, Hamilton County has very low unemployment so the employees
would likely come mostly from surrounding counties. Nearby Madison County has been hurting for years since the closing of major manufacturing plants there. Jobs within a few miles would no doubt be welcome.

Then, we must think of what would be needed to service Amazon. Major
road improvements, sewer and water utilities, public safety personnel
and schools. Most major industries expect a community to provide incentives
such as property tax abatement.

We’d be getting ahead of ourselves to consider all this, but local government
might have to do some calculations to see that some of the costs would not fall
on current residents. It may well not happen, but it’s never a bad idea to think
about all the ramifications, good and not so good of any possibility.

Eddie Moore officially filed his candidacy for Hamilton County Sheriff
today, Friday, Jan. 19. Eddie has been a Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy since 1987.

He received his B.A. from Anderson University and began his profession and
passion of serving the community immediately upon graduation.

A resume in the Hamilton County Reporter cites Moore’s experience in the local sheriff’s office in his candidacy for Hamilton County Sheriff in the May Republican primary election.