The Recovery Cafe is a one-stop shop for anyone recovering from anything.  Be it addiction, mental health, domestic abuse or a brush with the law, the Recovery Cafe is ready to offer a warm meal and an ear to hear your story.  The Cafe will work to get anyone needing recovery a referral to a place that can offer help.

A new Recovery Cafe is set to open in early 2023 at the Eller House, just west of Allisonville Road on 116th Street.  I spoke with the Fishers Cafe Executive Director, Joylynn Foli, and the Associate Executive Director Bryan Beasly, on the podcast linked below.

Contact the Fishers Recovery Cafe at this link.  The group is also looking for donations, which can be accessed on their Web site.

The National Weather Service is providing early warning of a winter storm headed our way that is expected to dump snow, wind and very cold conditions starting Thursday night through at least Saturday morning.  Forecasters say it is too early for a snow depth prediction but this early warning indicates this will be a big weather event for our area.

If, as predicted, we will have rain on Thursday, then a 30-degree drop in the temperature, and rain changing to snow, that could very well create a condition with intense cold, snow, and ice underneath that snow.  This is a dangerous combination.

Hamilton County Emergency Management issued a statement early Tuesday morning.  The statement is below, in its entirety:

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A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect through Saturday.

It is still too early for snow total predictions; however, we know it will be extremely windy, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Temperatures will plummet overnight on Thursday, leading to a flash freeze.

We are very concerned about the wind and frigid temperatures. Travel will become difficult to nearly impossible starting overnight on Thursday through Saturday. The main concerns are blowing and drifting snow that may create whiteout conditions.

Please take the time to make an emergency kit, be prepared for power outages, and consider an alternate heating source to operate indoors without electricity.

If you or someone you know uses powered medical devices, has mobility issues, or any other conditions that may make it hard for them if the power goes out, please ask them to sign up for Smart911.com. It allows them to register their information and helps 911 during an emergency. The service is free and uses the same level of security as banks. www.smart911.com 

“In all my years I have never known anyone that does as good a job as John does for our Fire Department, for our community.”

That’s how Fishers Fire Chief Steve Orusa started his presentation to the Fishers City Council recognizing John Mehling for 30 years serving his department.  That’s about as serious as the presentation went from there.

Orusa, saying it is traditional for himself to write something on John’s behalf, announced Mehling decided to write his own.  That line brought the house down in laughter.

Mehling is someone I have known since starting this local news blog as the media relations person for the Fishers Fire and Emergency Services Department.  Let’s just say his sense of humor is legendary among the media types dealing with him, and just about everyone in city government.

It was a special night of recognition for John Mehling at the Monday City Council session.  Congratulations, John, the honor is well deserved.

John Weingardt not only was elected as Fishers City Council President for 2023, he also confirmed for LarryInFishers he will seek another term on the council.

2022 Council President Todd Zimmerman said voting on next year’s officers in December will allow the January meeting to begin more smoothly.  Cecilia Coble will serve as Council Vice President in 2023.

The only dissenting vote on the new officers came from Councilor Jocelyn Vare, who cited council rules as requiring the vote for officers to be conducted in January for that calendar year.

John Weingardt was first elected to the Fishers Town Council in 2011 and took office for the first time in 2012.  He was elected to the City Council once a referendum passed making Fishers a second class city.  He has previously served as president for both the Fishers Town Council and City Council.

David Giffel currently represents the Southwest district on the Fishers City Council, and is seeking his first full four-year term.  Giffel was elected to take the council seat by Republican precinct officials when incumbent Councilor David George announced his resignation from the council.

“I am proud of the council’s work over the last year, and I want to continue to focus on strategic job growth, maintaining roads in our neighborhoods, and lower tax rates,” said Giffel in a news release from his campaign. “It is so important to me that the residents of Fishers maintain a high quality of life.”

Giffel has been supportive of economic development projects, such as the Andretti Motorsports headquarters.  He cites several  civic and charitable activities featuring his involvement since moving to Fishers in 1997.

Giffel will be a candidate in the Republican primary election set for May of 2023.

Update at 3:15pm Monday:  A Winter Storm Watch has been issued locally, from Thursday evening through Saturday morning.  For more details, use this link.

The Monday morning update from the National Weather Service is not encouraging for those planning Christmas travel.  The latest Special Weather Statement says the first big winter storm of the season will begin to move into our area Wednesday and continue into Christmas Day (Sunday).  Snow, wind and dangerously cold temperatures are forecast.

For more details, use this link.

Update as of 2:55pm Sunday – The National Weather Service now says a “significant winter storm” is expected to move into our area Thursday and continue through the upcoming Christmas weekend.  Read the entire statement at this link.

The forecast team at the Indianapolis National Weather Service office is not known to be hyperbolic when issuing statements.  The one released Sunday morning is worth notice.

The Weather Service says there is “potential for an impactful winter system later this week.”  It is too early for more specifics, but it looks like our first major winter storm of the season may hit us by Friday, although the timing is also not exactly known.

Hamilton County Emergency Management in Noblesville says now is the time for winter storm preparation.  The advice includes:

–Checking your emergency kit

–Replacing flashlight batteries

–Testing generators

–Test snow-blowers

–Find enough ice melt.

Those are just a few reminders in case the winter storm materializes Thursday or Friday this week.  Watch the latest news from the National Weather Service.

When the City of Fishers setup a map of home Christmas lights, I decided to check out a few and video record them.  The video linked below as my first attempt to provide some examples of what can be found around our fair city.

It is a bit amateurish but a small attempt at video recording some home holiday lighting at the link below.

The Consent Agenda of a Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting is normally a list of routine matters, basically detailed financial items and personnel actions.  But the December 14th Consent Agenda contained an item that appears to settle a legal dispute going back many years.

It all started in 2016 when that same Consent Agenda listed a 5 day suspension for employee number 10042.  The WTHR News investigative reporting team asked who that employee was, and it was disclosed Fishers High School varsity football coach Rick Wimmer, also a teacher, was the person suspended.  Mr. Wimmer has since retired.

WTHR asked for the facts surrounding the decision and never received a response that the television journalists believed were consistent with state law.  Public Access Counselor for Indiana, Luke Britt, ruled twice against HSE Schools, saying facts about the suspension must be disclosed.  Those opinions are advisory and HSE chose not to follow Mr. Britt’s advice.

The Reporters Committee For A Free Press, a nonprofit group that provides legal help for issues such as this dispute, provided attorneys to pursue the issue in court on behalf of the WTHR investigative reporters.  HSE prevailed in the county court and the state court of appeals.  The Indiana Supreme Court is not required to accept every case appealed to it, but chose to hear this dispute.

In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled in favor of WTHR, essentially saying HSE Schools must disclose a factual basis for Mr. Wimmer’s suspension in 2016.

The case was remanded back to the local court.  In that Consent Agenda item approved at the school board meeting last Wednesday, HSE agrees to pay WTHR $35,000.  The settlement agreement says HSE School officials admit no wrongdoing in settling this matter.

As to the disclosure of facts surrounding Rick Wimmer’s 2016 suspension, the settlement agreement does not address that.  I will let Bob Segall and his investigative news team broadcast that story when they are ready about that part of the issue.

One of the most talked-about docuseries ever offered by Netflix is now available.  All six episodes of Harry & Meghan are ready to be seen.  I have watched all six.  Here is my review.