Tom Roush plans to move his Lincoln dealership from Westfield to Fishers, at State Road 37 & 131st Street.

You can read the full story, written by Lindsey Erdody of the Indianapolis Business Journal, at this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team took a tough loss to Warren Central Thursday, 34-33 at the Royals’ gym.

Class 4A No. 6-ranked Southeastern led 20-12 at halftime, but the Warriors worked their way back to take a 27-26 lead by the end of the third quarter. Warren led 32-28 late in the fourth, but the Royals got back in front after Tayah Irvin drained a 3-pointer and Amaya Hamilton made a layin with around three minutes left in the game. Neither team would score again until the Warriors made a layin with about four seconds remaining.

“I thought our girls did everything right,” said HSE coach Chris Huppenthal. “Sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you want it to.”

Malea Jackson led the Royals with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Irvin had two 3-pointers on her way to nine points. Hamilton grabbed seven rebounds with Irvin collecting five. Molly Walton handed out six assists, Irvin made four steals and Hamilton blocked three shots.

“I thought our kids did a lot of really good things today,” said Huppenthal. “I thought they played hard.”

Southeastern is now 13-5 and off until Friday, Jan. 12, when it travels to Westfield for a Hoosier Crossroads Conference girl-boy doubleheader. The girls game starts at 6 p.m., with the boys game to follow.

By

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Steve Schwartz, Noblesville, was elected Wednesday as president of the Hamilton County Council on a 4-3 second ballot vote which revealed the deep division between factions on the seven-member council.

Traditionally the presidency of the council is rotated among the members. While under this arrangement it was Schwartz’s turn to lead the council this year, outgoing president Fred Gwynn called for a secret paper ballot when members first voted.

Councilor Brad Beaver was nominated for president by councilor Rick McKinney. In the council’s first secret ballot in memory, a 3-3 tie resulted with one abstention. The second ballot produced a 4-3 victory for Schwartz who then nominated Beaver for vice president, and he was elected.

By state law secret ballots are prohibited in public meetings, but Schwartz asked that the second ballot be taken by individual voice vote, making his election legitimate.

The council as fiscal body of the county has voted unanimously on many issues, but on some critical or controversial items the split has become obvious over the past few years. All seven members are Republicans.

In other action, the council re-appointed Carol Carley, Carmel, to the county Alcoholic Beverage Board. Appointed to the Hamilton County Economic Development Commission was Jim Ginebaugh, Noblesville, and to the Westfield Economic Development Commission was Joe Duepner.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

With the new year 2018 comes the beginning of a new political season. Candidate filing for 52 state and local offices begins Jan. 10. The primary election will be May 8, and as usual in Hamilton County, most of the action will be on the Republican side in the primary. But, Democrats also claim they will have some names on the ballot this year.

In the important May voting, candidates will be chosen for at least five major offices being vacated by incumbents. The county will select a new state representative in District 29 where Rep. Kathy Richardson is not running for re-election.

Garen Bragg, Chuck Goodrich and Greg O’Connor have announced their plans to seek the seat in the GOP primary. Also showing interest is Noblesville resident Mark Hall.

Candidates for judge in Superior Court 1 will be chosen to replace the retiring Judge Steve Nation. Nation has not officially announced his retirement, but at least two potential candidates are known to have expressed interest in running.

County Clerk Tammy Baitz is also retiring. Ms. Richardson plans to seek nomination for that vacated position.

Sheriff Mark Bowen ends his two terms allowed by law at the end of 2018. Four candidates have announced intentions to seek the GOP nomination for sheriff. They are: Bill Clifford, Eddie Moore, Mitch Russell and Jason Sloderbeck.

Two Republican candidates are already in the field hoping to replace County Councilman Paul Ayers who is leaving the council at the end of his term. Ken Alexander and Rick Sharp have indicated they will run.

Township trustees and township board members in all nine of the county’s townships are up for nomination in May. So far Noblesville Township’s Tom Kenley and Clay Township’s Doug Callahan have said they will run again. Their board members are expected to follow suit.

Other offices at stake in 2018 are state legislative seats held by Reps. Tony Cook, Donna Schaibley, Jerry Torr and Sen. Mike Delph. All are expected to run again but have not officially announced.

The offices of Prosecuting Attorney, County Assessor, County Recorder and County Coroner are also up. Prosecutor Lee Buckingham is known to be planning to seek re-election as is Coroner John Chalfin. Incumbent Assessor Robin Ward and Recorder Jennifer Hayden have not yet announced their intentions.

All current officeholders are Republicans. No Democrat has yet announced for office.

Non-partisan school board members who formerly were elected at the time of the primary are now not to be chosen until the November general election.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told his department heads at a recent retreat that he intends to seek another term as mayor in 2019.  “I think there is stuff here that I just haven’t finished yet,” the mayor said a podcast interview with LarryInFishers.com recorded Wednesday morning.

“It’s amazing how fast time flies by,” said Fadness.  “You think, Oh my gosh, I have a year to accomplish this or two years to accomplish it and then two years goes and you’re like, jeez, we didn’t get it all done.”

The mayor foresees a busy 2018 going into 2019, leading to his decision to seek at least one more term.  He cited a city council he can work with, and how he will campaign hard, not just for himself, but also for his council members.

“I think they (city council members) have done a great job, they’ve worked well as a team,” the mayor said.  “They understand and believe in the vision for our city.”

In other newsworthy items from the podcast:

–Plans are moving forward for the new park on Geist Reservoir.  The city has legally initiated condemnation proceedings to take the property through emminent domain laws, but continues talks with IMI Incorporated, the owner of the land, for a purchase, so as not to delay the project.

–Fadness expects more regional economic development efforts after his work with Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett on a bid for the Amazon2 project.

–The mayor has every reason to believe that Kroger will build the new store at 116th Street and Allisonville Road, but he is not certain when.  He will be meeting with Kroger officials soon.

You can access the entire podcast interview below:

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Big things are coming in Hamilton County in the new year of 2018. Besides what has become “normal” such as continued home building and business expansion, there are going to be new sights and sounds as the county continues its record growth and development.

Most obvious to the casual observer will be the beginning of the huge $125 million rebuilding of State Road 37, essentially making it into a non-stop freeway from Noblesville to Interstate 69. When completed the highway will greatly reduce drive time for daily commuters. No more stop-and-go lights. This will move traffic much more easily.

Within Noblesville, the beginnings of a Pleasant Street bypass and new bridge over White River may materialize this year. More walking trails including the controversial conversion of the Nickel Plate Railroad from the city to the south county line will begin to take shape. The sound of an excursion train back on the tracks north to Atlanta is set for this summer.

Major county government projects in Noblesville will get underway. They include a jail expansion with solar energy and a huge addition to the Government and Judicial Center.

For those who visit or live in Carmel there will be almost non-stop development along the Monon Greenway from Main Street to the Civic Square a half-mile south in a corridor between Range Line Road and 3^rd Avenue. And, of course, more roundabouts everywhere.

Elsewhere in the county, we will find more new construction in the Fishers area including another new elementary school. Westfield will see more development around Grand Park along with the arrival of the Colts who will hold training camp at Grand Park this year.

Political change is coming to the county’s legislative delegation, the local judiciary and perhaps on the County Council.

A new state senator, Victoria Spartz, will represent parts of the county this year, and a new state representative will be elected to take office in 2019 replacing Rep. Kathy Richardson.

In the courts, Judge David Najjar is beginning his first full year in Superior Court 5 and a new judge will be elected to take over next year from retiring Judge Steve Nation in Superior 1.

Candidates claiming to be more progressive on local issues will make an effort to take control of the County Council where four of the seven members are up for election this year. Incumbent Fred Glynn faces a challenge from Sue Maki and incumbent Paul Ayers is not running again. Ken Alexander and Rick Sharp will compete to take his place.

Issues including public transportation to Indianapolis and new parking facilities in downtown Noblesville may be on the ‘back burner’ for this year. Neither is dead, but no immediate plans have been revealed. But, major progress and change are afoot this year in the state’s fastest-growing county. Funding for the new building and public improvements comes from two sources. Private business investment which is obvious and, in the public sector, the not-so-obvious effect of the County Option Income Tax, known as COIT.

Since Hamilton County has by far the highest per capita income in Indiana, the collections on one percent of that income amount to huge sums of money each year for county, city and township governmental units.

COIT collections now exceed property tax revenue countywide and enables local officials to pay for all kinds of public improvements. Therefore, with private investment following (and encouraging) our mushrooming population and big tax revenue (bigger for some units than others) we find the reasons for a year of record growth and development.

Hamilton County Reporter

 Hamilton Southeastern won the Columbia City/Huntington Holiday Hoops Tournament last week.

After Thursday pool wins over Norwell and Scecina, the Class 4A No. 2 Royals held off Huntington North 45-44 in the semi-finals. Noah Smith scored 11 points for HSE and also had five steals.

Southeastern won the championship game over Lake Central, 58-44. Mabor Majak led the way with 18 points, with Chaz Birchfield adding 13 and Aaron Etherington 11. Majak grabbed seven rebounds, with Etherington and Chris Grubbs both collecting five. Smith dished out nine assists.

The Royals are 11-0 and play at Lawrence Central on Friday before hosting 4A
No. 4 Warren Central on Saturday.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers dropped a 67-42 game to Ben Davis, the defending Class 4A state
champion, on Tuesday.

The Tigers held their own with the 4A No. 6-ranked Giants in the first quarter,
which finished in a 10-10 tie. Willie Jackson and Terry Hicks each scored four
points in the period. But Ben Davis outscored Fishers 21-7 in the second quarter
to take a 31-17 halftime lead. The Giants then steadily increased their lead in the
second half.

Alex Szilagyi led Fishers with 10 points, while Hicks finished with nine. Luke
Hernandez and Jack Maller both added six points.

The Tigers are now 4-6 for the season and host Pike on Friday.

==============

Fishers played two games at the Grace College Classic on Saturday.

The Tigers beat Valparaiso 62-45 in their first game, with Terry Hicks scoring 16
points. In its second game, Fishers lost to Warsaw 43-38. Jordan Jones and Jeremy
Szilagyi both scored eight points.

Two local Fishers academic teams have won state championships.  That is very good news.  But there is a new challenge for both teams – they need to raise money allowing them to travel to the nation’s capital and compete against other teams from around the nation.

Teams competing in “We The People” from Fishers Junior High and Fishers High School have won their respective state championships.  Now they head to Washington DC and face other schools from around that county that have earned the right to come to the national competition.

“We The People” is an exercise in civic knowledge, centered on the constitution, its history and its impact on today’s society.

Fishers Junior High School’s team last year won the national title in its category of competition.  Fishers High School went to the national contest two years ago.

The Fishers High School team is coached by Liz Paternoster.  The Fishers Junior High School squad is led by Mike Fassold.

The students and coaches have worked very hard to get this far.  Now these young people are asking for your help and support.

Both teams have established Go Fund Me pages as a way to raise funds for their national competition travel.  It is very easy for you to support their quest for a national title.

You will find the Fishers High School Go Fund Me page at this link.

The  Go Fund Me page for the Fishers Junior High School team is at this link.

Start the new year by supporting these young people in their academic journey.

First, allow me to wish all of you reading this a very happy new year.  Let us hope for the best year ever coming up in 2018.

January 2018 marks another milestone for this news blog.  It was January, 2012, when I wrote my first story for LarryInFishers.com.  It was about a Fishers Town Council meeting.

The Council President was Scott Faultless.  David George was sworn-in as a council member for another term at that meeting.  Other council members at that time included John Weingardt, Stuart Easley, Mike Colby, Renee Cox and Pete Peterson.

Scott Faultless chose not to run for another term in the next election, citing family reasons.  Stuart Easley lost a city council re-election bid to Brad DeReamer.  Renee Cox gave up her council seat to run for mayor and lost in the Republican primary to Scott Fadness.  Mike Colby lost his city council election to Selina Stoller.  David George, John Weingardt and Pete Peterson are currently members of the Fishers City Council.

Looking at that story from 6 years ago, it is fascinating to see what happened.  The council approved plans for a medical technology corridor.  Residents of Barrington Estate made their case to the council for a more “pleasant” buffer zone between the development and their homes.  As you can see today, the plan for the medical corridor became very successful as you look to the east of Exit 210.

An apartment complex was proposed to be built near the Geist Christian Church, at 126th Street and Promise Road.  That development never got off the ground, but single family homes are now being developed in that area.

Cumberland Road Park was underwater once again.  Yes, it floods sometimes even in the month of January.

The council was introduced to a new city employee at that meeting, Jeff Hill.  He is still with the city and heads-up the city engineering department.

Much has happened in Fishers since I covered that first town council meeting.  Later that year, local voters approved a referendum creating a city form of government.  Scott Fadness was elected the first Mayor of Fishers.

The new mayor has been energetic about moving forward on his priorities.  They include an ongoing initiative to improve the state of  mental health in the city.  He has been aggressive in promoting economic development and bringing jobs to Fishers.

There is so much more I could mention about what has happened in the past six years, but that story would be so long few of you could get to the end of it in one reading.  Let’s just say I never knew the ride I was about to take in covering Fishers news when I began that journey in early 2012.

As I have written here before, I had very modest goals when starting this project.  I just wanted to cover the local meetings because other media was not reporting news from Fishers on a regular basis.  I’ve known all the editors of Current in Fishers since Dan Domisc and I respect the job that weekly publication does.  But it is a weekly that has a limited amount of space for news and relies heavily on feature stories.  There is nothing wrong with that, but Current in Fishers goes to the printer late in the week and is generally received in the mail by most people the following Tuesday.  I thought there was a need for more regular, timely coverage of Fishers news.

The Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) has a North of 96th reporter, but Lindsay Erdody covers all the northern suburbs with a special eye on the business angle.  The Indianapolis Star has sometimes taken in interest in Fishers and at other times largely ignored the city.  Lately, John Tuohy was assigned by the Star to cover Fishers and Emma Kate Fittes has the northern suburb education beat.  Ms. Fittes has been in attendance at Hamilton Southeastern School Board meetings lately.  Local television news operations occasionally cover local news, but it is hit or miss with most of them.

It is encouraging to see the IBJ and IndyStar take more interest in covering Fishers news. One of my goals in starting LarryInFishers.com was to get more local commercial news operations interested in covering Fishers, or perhaps someone would make an effort to start a commercial daily news operation in Fishers.  Since the IBJ and IndyStar have pay walls and require subscriptions for more than a few accesses per month to their Web sites. it is still my job to provide the best news coverage one old retired guy, a journalist once in his working life, can provide on a volunteer basis.

In 2017, I realized county government was having an impact on Fishers, but as one person trying to cover news, I could not cover the Hamilton County government.  That’s one reason I entered into a partnership with the Hamilton County Reporter newspaper.  You will find news items from the Reporter on this blog.  In exchange, the Reporter runs news items from LarryInFishers.com.  When Publisher Jeff Jellison asked how we could work together, our news partnership resulted and, in my view, has worked well for both of us.

As a former radio guy who worked as a news reporter and talk show host, I watched the growth of a new communication platform – podcasts.  Looking at it from my point of view, podcasts are just radio shows accessed on the Internet.  There are few opportunities for local people to sit down and talk about what they are doing in the community at some length.  A podcast allows for just that.  In February, I will have completed two years of producing local podcasts.  I also do some some reviews of arts events , some local, some not.  I also started a new weekly podcast featuring film reviews and a local guest.  My partner Adam Aasen helped make that podcast possible.  If you like film and haven’t listened, give it a try at this link.

Looking into the new year, there will be plenty of news to cover just based on what we know now.  The Yard culinary development near IKEA will begin construction and more announcements of restaurants planning to locate there will happen.  Hamilton Southeastern Schools will continue construction on the new Southeastern Elementary School.  And of course, there are always unexpected developments in the news.

Once again, thanks to all of you for reading this blog and listening to my podcasts.  Your kind words make all the work I put into these project well worth it.

I am looking forward to 2018 in Fishers.  I hope you are as well.  I will do my best to let you know what’s going on.