For many years, one of the most dangerous intersections in Fishers has been 126th Street and Hoosier Road, particularly since 126th Street was widened to four lanes.  As of this Wednesday, motorists will find a much easier way to navigate that intersection.

Mayor Scott Fadness told the City Council Monday night that the traffic signal being installed at that location is scheduled to be operational on Wednesday of this week.

Members of the Fishers City Council received an update on plans for the renovation of the area between City Hall and the Amphitheater, including an upgrade to the Amphitheater itself.  Sean O’Grady, Assistant Director of the Fishers City Department of Public Works, told council members at the Monday work session that the current schedule calls for the renovated Amphitheater to be completed June 1st.

The design calls for a pavilion between the stage and City Hall, which is set for completion in Mid-June, 2018.  The pavilion will provide more rest rooms and will be a space for community meetings.

City officials say the bids will determine how extensive the renovation will be.  After the Amphitheater upgrade, which expands the stage by 25 feet, the next priorities for Mayor Scott Fadness will be expanding sidewalks in the area and sloping the ground to allow better sight lines for the Amphitheater.  The mayor said the third priority for him will be a fountain area and ice skating rink.  Fadness says if the budget does not allow the third option, that could be added later when money is available.

The budget for this renovation is $6 million.  Over $1.4 million has already been spent on the project, leaving just over $4.5 million remaining.  How much renovation that will buy will not be known until bids are opened in January.

When an area is growing as much as Fishers and the Hamilton Southeastern School District, it takes many leaders to handle the influx of people and students.  Our local area is losing two people important to managing that growth.  They both richly deserve retirement.

First, there is Jim White.  He has handled transportation for Hamilton Southeastern Schools for many years.  He was the captain of the ship that scheduled all the bus routes in a community that managed massive student growth during his tenure.  Imagine dealing with that growth and also maneuvering around all the road and street construction we have seen around Fishers.  With all that, the buses almost always ran on time.  Jim will point to his staff, but members of his staff point to Jim as being the leader they always could depend upon.  Jim is traveling to Florida next month, but his main home will remain in the Fishers area.  I wish him well.

Then there is Lynda Carlino.  She is the long-time executive director of the Southeastern Program Of Recreational Team Sports (S.P.O.R.T.S.).  This is a nonprofit organization that has run youth sports programs throughout Fishers and the area encompassing the Hamilton Southeastern School District for many years.  Once again, Lynda presided over this organization during a massive influx of young people wanting to play sports.  It has been Lynda’s job to hold together all the volunteers that have made S.P.O.R.T.S. possible all these years.  Many cities administer youth sports programs through the their local parks & recreation department.  Fishers never had to do that because Lynda Carlino and S.P.O.R.T.S., through private donations, volunteers and some help from local government, has professionally handled youth sports programs.  We all owe Lynda a debt of gratitude for all she has done.  She deserves some time in the warm sun next month.

Zach McKinney is taking over the HSE Schools Transportation Department in a transition that began in July of this year.  Scott Spillman is entering his new job as executive director with S.P.O.R.T.S.

I am sure Zach & Scott will do an outstanding job in handling their new duties.  But we will miss Jim and Lynda.  They have been properly recognized for their long service to the community.  I have had the honor to get to know them a little.  They are both fine people.  I wish them well in retirement.

by

Jim Belser

Hamilton County Reporter

The intensity couldn’t have gotten any higher Saturday night at Fishers as the
Tigers tangled with Hamilton Southeastern in girls’ basketball to determine this year’s
Mudsock trophy winner. In the end it was the Royals cool composure down the stretch
that carried them to a 54-49 victory over their Hoosier Crossroads Conference rivals.

“When we get together, whatever your record is, whatever you’ve done on the past
doesn’t matter, Hamilton Southeastern coach Chris Huppenthal said. “I was proud
of our kids, they stayed composed and hopefully that will help us on the future.”

Hamilton Southeastern withstood a torrid comeback attempt by Fishers late in
the fourth quarter after being up by as many as 10 points. Shelby Ford, coming off the
bench in place of an injured Sydney Parrish, knocked down a free throw during the Tiger
run with 46 seconds to go, putting the Royals up 50-46.

“When she hit the free throw with 46 seconds left, it put us up by four and became
a two-possession game,” Huppenthal said.

Teammates Molly Watson and Malea Jackson followed her success at the foul line,
combing for 3 of 4 from the stripe the rest of the way to hold on for the win and move
the Royals to (12-2) on the season. Despite the loss, Fishers holds on to a winning
record at (7-6).

Parrish of Hamilton Southeastern saw limited action in the contest as she battled
early foul trouble and left the game with just under a minute to go after hitting her chin
on court following a foul on a drive to the basket. She finished with 12 points on the
night.

Malea Jackson led the Royals in scoring with 14 points. For Fishers, Toni Grace led
the Tigers with 16, while teammate and sophomore guard Tamia Perryman chipped
in 14.

Down 45-35 with just over five minutes left, Fishers got a steal and a fast break score
from Katie Burton. Kenedi London hit a 3 pointer for Fishers and Grace scored on a
fast break bucket following a Fishers steal to cut it to 49-44. Fishers gave itself one last
chance when it forced a late game turnover with Burton diving on the floor to gain
possession and calling time out

Two late scores by Perryman of Fishers wasn’t enough to threaten for the win. For
Fishers coach Lauren Vail, it was business as usual between the two schools.

“They are an extremely talented basketball team. He had kids step up and hit big
shots. Kids that don’t necessarily hit big shots,” Fishers coach Lauren Vail said.
“They were poised down the stretch when we tried to speed them up. I though both
teams played exceptional hard, and I thought it was a great basketball game.”

The Lady Royals controlled the pace for much of the first half even with leading
scorer Sydney Parrish on the bench with two fouls for much of the second quarter.
Picking up the slack was teammate Jackie Maulucci, who contributed eight secondquarter
points to keep the Tigers at bay.

Molly Walton of HSE gave the visitors their biggest lead of the first quarter after
going coast to coast for a layup following a steal. Her score at the 1:42 mark gave the
Royals a 12-8 lead. Fishers came back to tie things up at 12 with 10 seconds left in the
first with a steal and a fast break score by Toni Grace.

The Royals opened a scoring gap in the second quarter as the Tigers struggled to
find their range. Fishers was just 2 for 7 shooting in the second quarter.

Fishers takes on Delta in Muncie at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20. Hamilton Southeastern
plays Plainfield at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 in an away game.

Adam & I review the film The Shape of Water, talk about the new Star Wars film and review the Golden Globe nominations.  Our guest this week is Dave Dugan.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

There is no such thing as momentum in a Mudsock game.

There certainly wasn’t in Friday’s Hamilton Southeastern-Fishers boys
basketball game, which took place at the Royals’ gym. Southeastern, ranked No. 3 in
Class 4A, appeared to have pulled away twice during the second half, but the Tigers
clawed their way back both times.

Finally, the Royals escaped with a 42-38 victory. The victory keeps Southeastern
unbeaten for the season at 6-0. Fishers is now 2-4.

“We’ve played a challenging schedule,” said HSE coach Brian Satterfield. “We have
to with our conference and with our sectional. We’ve got to do that and guys got
to be ready to step up. We know that we’re going to go through ups and downs
throughout the year with as young as we are.”

There were ups and downs in the first quarter, for sure. Aaron Etherington opened
things up for the Royals with a 3-point basket, then Fishers took the lead when
Willie Jackson scored on a putback and Jeremy Szilagyi drained a 3.

The Tigers led 7-5 before Etherington pushed HSE back up 9-7 with a pair of
baskets. But a Jordan Jones layin finished the quarter, and got Fishers back to even at
9-9.

“It was crazy,” said Etherington. “It was really fun. It was really loud and it’s just fun
being able to play in front of all those people.”

Jackson made two steals in the first half that led to baskets, and his second-quarter
takeaway got back in the hands of Szilagyi, who nailed another 3. That put Fishers
ahead 14-12.

Then it was Noah Smith time. The Royals junior took over in the later minutes
of the period, scoring six straight points on three baskets, the last of which was a
buzzer-beater that gave HSE an 18-14 halftime lead.

The third quarter opened with Brendhan Russom making a layin to get Fishers
within 18-16. But Southeastern swung the game in their favor quickly with back-to-back
3-pointers by Etherington and Nick Bowman. Those long-range shots gave HSE
a 24-16 lead.

Undaunted, Fishers pushed back, making a 6-0 run to get within 24-22. Terry
Hicks helped out with a pair of baskets and Jones scored on a layin.

“You play one possession at a time and I thought we did a good job of not getting
emotional when they went up eight,” said Tigers coach Matt Moore. “We turned them
over, we were able to convert a little bit. We did a much better job when we’d attack
the paint, making that extra pass.

“But we left too many shots out there. We had a ton of shots in the lane that we
just didn’t convert that put us over the top.”

The third quarter ended on a basket by the Royals’ Chaz Birchfield, which made
the score 28-24. The Tigers got to within 30-29 with 5:17 left in the fourth, but then
Southeastern took off on an 8-1 run.

Etherington started things with a layin. Birchfield made two free throws with 3:37
left, then two more at the 3:06 mark. The run ended in dramatic fashion as Mabor
Majak made a two-handed dunk – his only points of the game, but they certainly
counted. Southeastern was up 38-30 after that.

The Tigers made one more 6-0 run to cut HSE’s lead to 38-36. Josiah Matthews
hit a 3-pointer to begin the run, then a free throw by Jones and two more by Jackson
put Fishers in striking distance with 27.1 seconds left. But the Royals were able to
hang on, with Birchfield’s putback with around 10 seconds left essentially sealing
the game.

“Our guys keep battling through,” said Satterfield. “They’re playing together and
staying together, even through the challenging times and we’re finding ways
to win.”

Southeastern’s Etherington led all scorers with 17 points, while Birchfield
added 10 points and pulled seven rebounds. Bowman dished out six assists, while
Etherington and Majak both blocked two shots.

Szilagyi scored eight points to lead Fishers, and also made five steals. Jackson
and Russom both had five rebounds and Hicks made four steals.

The Royals will play another home game on Wednesday, taking on Pendleton
Heights. Fishers is back on the road Thursday, traveling to Muncie Central.

Jim White is retiring after a long stint running the transportation system for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools.  At the annual Mudsock basketball game between HSE and Fishers High Schools, The HSE  School Board President Matt Burke read a proclamation honoring Jim.

But the highlight of the evening was a surprise to him – Governor Eric Holcomb signed a Sagamore of the Wabash award for Jim, with local State Representative Todd Huston doing the honors of presenting the certificate.

You can view a You Tube video of all the ceremonies at a link below.

HSE High School won the basketball game over rival Fishers, 42-38.

(The following is a commentary by Larry Lannan)

I have written in the past about the WTHR 13Investigates series of stories about how the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board is handling the disclosure (or lack thereof) of the information surrounding the suspension of Fishers High School teacher and varsity football coach Rick Wimmer.  WTHR has broadcast another story on this, which again points to my argument that local school officials need to settle this issue, because reporter Bob Segall is not giving up on this story.

One year ago, The HSE Board approved a consent agenda item, which included a long list of personnel actions.  One item on that list was a 5 day unpaid suspension for employee number 10042.  WTHR asked for the name of that employee and school officials disclosed it was Rick Wimmer.

WTHR 13Investigates calls that a secret suspension.  School officials defend this by saying there had been a previous decision to handle public disclosure of all such employee disciplinary actions by using an employee number, not a name.  The school board could have been more transparent when that policy was changed.  I attend nearly all school board meetings and recall no public discussion of changing this policy.  Had the board been more up-front in their change of this policy when it happened, board members would have a much stronger argument.

WTHR has received two advisory opinions from Luke Britt, the Indiana Public Access Counselor, telling HSE Schools to disclose specific facts surrounding this suspension.  So far, HSE school officials have only responded vaguely, pointing to general school policies that were violated.

According to WTHR, an attorney representing HSE Schools has argued in a letter to the television station that disclosing any more facts about this situation would violate federal laws related to the privacy of student records.  I am no lawyer, but have dealt with privacy issues in my days working for the federal government.  Any names of students could be sanitized and not disclosed in any response that would meet the Indiana Public Counselor’s advisory opinion in this case.  I am a bit puzzled about that assertion, unless there is something I am not understanding here.

As I mentioned before, not only is the 13Investigates team not giving up on this story, they are continuing to dig into it.  As a result of a WTHR Freedom of Information Act request, HSE Schools have disclosed that over $6,000 in school funds have been paid to a local law firm in order to deal with this Rick Winner disclosure issue.  That figure is from February to early June of this year.

This situation has already received some attention state-wide, but the spotlight s will once again be on HSE Schools as State Senator Mike Delph tells WTHR he is introducing a measure to clarify state law on what must be publicly disclosed when school personnel are disciplined.  Delph says in the TV interview that his proposal is a direct result of the HSE Schools handling of the Wimmer suspension disclosure.

If the HSE School Board is hoping the whole thing will go away because WTHR will shy away from the legal costs of a court battle, there is news on that front.  The TV station is partnering with a nonprofit group, The Reporters Committee For A Free Press, which provides legal help to journalists in situations where the organization chooses to become involved.  If this dispute can only be settled in court, this highly-regarded nonprofit organization will be able to provide a lot a legal help to 13Investigates.

I have been following this story for the past year and have written some commentaries about this as well.  Why am I so concerned about this situation?  Allow me to explain.

This has the potential to cast our local schools in a very bad light.  It is already a state-wide news story.  The involvement of the Reporters Committee For A Free Press, a national organization based in Washington D.C., has the potential to raise the profile of this dispute to the national level.

This is not good news for those of us that have lived in Fishers for many years.  We know this is an outstanding school system with outstanding teachers and administrators .  My daughters, now adults with college degrees, were educated grades K-12 at HSE Schools.  They received a great education that prepared them well for the university experience.

I have a great deal of sympathy for the argument school board members appear to be making that certain employee personnel facts should remain confidential.  As a former federal civil servant, I understand that perfectly.

But the law must be considered.  The Indiana Public Counselor has issued not one, but two separate advisory opinions saying facts about this specific situation leading to Wimmer’s discipline must be disclosed.  Public Counselor Luke Britt even went as far as granting an on-camera interview to WTHR to make his case that HSE Schools must disclose more facts about what led to this disciplinary decision.

If this is not settled, HSE Schools will be in the spotlight not about the high quality of the educational experience students are receiving here.  Instead, the story will be about why school officials will not disclose this information and how much money the school board is paying in legal fees to defend this decision.

As someone that loves this community, and believes we have one of the best school systems in the nation here in Fishers, I would hope our school board will take a long look at where they are and how they got here.  Let’s settle this situation with WTHR now.

You can access the latest WTHR story on all this, including viewing video of the story broadcast December 14th, at this link.

Hamilton County Reporter

The Fishers girls basketball team found itself on the wrong side of a comeback
Thursday night, as Pendleton Heights erased a double-digit deficit to beat the
Tigers in overtime, 57-56 at the Tiger Den.

Fishers led 16-4 after the first quarter and 34-22 at halftime. Toni Grace scored
nine points in the first period, while Ali Gerka hit a pair of 3-pointers, one in each
quarter, on her way to eight points. Kenedi London also scored eight in the first half.
The Arabians trailed 45-35 after three quarters, but outscored the Tigers 17-7 in
the fourth to force overtime. Grace made a driving layin to push Fishers in front
54-52 to begin the period, after which Pendleton used free throws to go ahead
55-54.

Grace again stepped up making a basket with 16 seconds left to get the
Tigers up 56-55. But a layin by the Arabians’ Lauren Landes with four
seconds to go clinched the game.

“Pendleton Heights knows how to win close games,” said Fishers coach Lauren
Vail. Thursday’s victory was the fourth one-point win for the Arabians’ this
season.

“This is their third win in overtime,” said Vail. “Those kids know how to win
down the stretch. They’re resilient. They hit big shots, they hit free throws.”

Grace led the Tigers with 16 points, while Gerka scored 13, totaling three
3-pointers in the game. Kenedi London added eight points.

“I told our kids, ‘We’re back in the gym tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.,'” said Vail.
“We have no option but to regroup. We got a big game coming up on Saturday
night and we just got to come in tomorrow morning and get back after it.”

The baton is being passed to a new leader at the local nonprofit organization HSE S.P.O.R.T.S.  Lynda Carlino is retiring at the end of the year and Scott Spillman is now assuming the position of S.P.O.R.T.S. Executive Director.

Scott Spillman grew up in Fishers and was the Sports Development Manager for Hamilton County Tourism before coming to S.P.O.R.T.S. and has served as the Assistant Central Region Director for Little League baseball and softball.

HSE S.P.O.R.T.S. runs most youth sports programs in the area served by the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District