Look for lane restrictions in the coming week on 141st Street west of SR 37, and on 116th Street around Municipal Drive.  Also note that the list of road construction projects is shrinking as we enter the fall season.

Below is the weekly road construction report for the week of November 7th, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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116TH STREET
On Thursday, November 10, there will be lane restrictions on 116th Street near Municipal Drive between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. as Duke Energy is performing utility work. 

Road Resurfacing has been completed. Restoration and final close-out items continue to take place in neighborhoods.

I have written before about the Indiana State Senate District 31 race that is being watched throughout the state.  Republican incumbent Senator Kyle Walker is facing Democrat Jocelyn Vare.  My mailbox has been full of direct mailings from both candidates.

It seems like Walker is all over television these days with a larger campaign war chest compared to Vare.

One thing Walker touts regularly is the list of endorsements he has amassed.  As an incumbent, that is understandable, but even for someone running as a sitting Senator, he has gained a number of them.

The latest is from the Hamilton County Professional Fire Fighters Local 4416 and the firefighters in Indianapolis as well.  In his latest news release, Walker’s campaign has listed a total of 20 organizations backing his re-election campaign.

Vare also has some endorsements, including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Indiana and former Indiana State Schools Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick.

There has been no public polling released, other than one early in the campaign which showed the candidates statistically tied with a lot of undecided voters at that stage.

This is a newly-drawn district including Fishers and a portion of Lawrence Township in Marion County.

Both candidates and their campaign teams have been out talking with voters, which is always a good thing.  Let’s see what the voters say once the ballots are counted

The Fishers City Council approved the financing package for the new arena, part of the Fishers District expansion, at last month’s meeting, and the Plan Commission is recommending approval of a rezoning needed to move the entire project forward.

The long-time owner of the property. east of I-69 and north of 116th Street, Sunbeam, requested the rezoning from “employment node” to “mixed use” commercial development, allowing the Fishers District expansion plans to move forward, along with the arena, also called an events center.

The arena will be the new home of the Indy Fuel minor league hockey team and is expected to host a number of other events, including local high school graduation ceremonies.

A public hearing was conducted, but no one chose to speak.

Wednesday night, the commission voted unanimously to provide a positive recommendation for the rezone proposal.  The measure now goes to the Fishers City Council for final approval.

The City of Fishers has announced that applications are now being accepted for various grant programs, including including the Fishers Arts & Culture Commission Grant and the Neighborhood Vibrancy Grant.

Below is a city news release with more details:

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The Fishers Arts Council is continuing events on the second Friday of each month.  In November, the art of Michelle “Shelley” Feeney will be featured at the Collaboration Hub Gallery, Friday, November 11, 6-8pm.  Her solo exhibit is her solo exhibit “By Train Light: Travels of Shelley Feeney.”

More than 30 pieces are on display in Shelley’s exhibit, in a variety of sizes and prices. The Collaboration Hub gallery is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, with the following exceptions: November 15, and 24-25.

I have covered six school board elections since starting this news blog, and I have never seen anything like this cycle.

The latest comes from a group called Fishers One, supporting four candidates in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board election.  The latest release from that group cites comments by the Shahnavaz family critical of school officials.

Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz died in the line of duty.  Officer Shahnavaz had many ties to Fishers and HSE Schools, and lived in Fishers at the time of his death.

In August of this year, Officer Shanhavaz’s brother was in a Fishers High School classroom and reportedly saw a “Defund the Police?” poster in the classroom.

In the Fishers One release, Laurie Shahnavaz, the mother of Officer Shahnavaz and his younger brother, is critical of school officials and their handling of the August classroom incident.

When the incident happened, HSE Schools issued a statement expressing regret that the poster, made by a student, was displayed in that classroom.

The statement went on to say the following:

Losing Officer Shahnavaz, a young alumnus of HSE Schools, who not only served his country selflessly, but was protecting others in his job as a police officer, was devastating. HSE has let the Shahnavaz family know how deeply sorry we are to have contributed to more heartache for them. The teacher involved has apologized as well, and is deeply remorseful for causing additional pain to her student and their family.

The school district added it in no way advocates defunding the police, and cited the service from the School Resource Officers in local school buildings.

The district later asked local attorney and Fishers City Judge Dan Henke to conduct a fact-finding report on the August classroom incident.  The report was submitted to school officials, and HSE leaders listed the implementation of several improvements, but did not release Judge Henke’s report, in any form, for the following reason:

As a product of his inquiry, Henke developed a written report. The report has a significant amount of student information. The district does not have consent to release the report with this information.  

So, based on the Fishers One release and statements from the school corporation, the parents of Officer Shahnavaz have one view and HSE School officials have another.

The past week I have been visiting family out of state, so my blog posts have slowed since I have had limited access to post stories.  Just arrived back in Fishers Tuesday evening and am catching up on a number of things one must handle when away from home a number of days.

I have a lot of catching-up to do on posting Fishers news on this blog so it may take a couple of days to fully get that done.

One last comment.  I could start a bonfire just with the political direct mailings we received while away.

Geist Waterfront Park is a project years in the making, and The Fishers Parks & Recreation Department is providing a sneak preview.  The park is not expected to officially open until spring of 2023, but the Fishers Parks and Recreation Department will hold a special preview Saturday, November 19, 4-6pm.

Major park construction should be concluded for the year by November 19.  The Fishers Parks Foundation is partnering with the city to have this special park preview.

Expect  food trucks, Fishers Parks games and activities, music, and more at Geist Waterfront Park, November 19th.

The Indianapolis Star did not need to layoff any journalists in the latest cost-cutting round from the corporate owner, Gannett, only because there were a number of open positions that went unfilled.  There is a reporter still on the job at the Star, Arika Herron.  She has a new piece that was posted online and is front-page, above-the-fold, in the Monday Star print edition.  It is worth your attention.

Ms. Herron begins the piece by describing her experience of following HSE School Board candidate Dr. Junita Albright around as she campaigns door-to-door.  But her story then goes into a deep dive into what is behind the battles we have seen in suburban school board meetings and now see in school board elections.

Her Star colleague, Caroline Beck, has a related story on how Political Action Committees (PACs) are impacting local school board races and the money available for candidates.

I will link both stories below, but be aware you must be an IndyStar subscriber to access these stories.  Online subscriptions are very inexpensive.  As I have written many times before on this blog, if you want good journalism to flourish, subscribe to your local news outlets.

Here is the link to Arika Herron’s story

 This link takes you to Caroline Beck’s story about PACs

Monday, October 31st, is Halloween Day, and be aware from some street closures for the annual Boo Bash celebration in Fishers.  But there are other road closures around Fishers during the week.

Here is the weekly road construction update as provided by the City of Fishers:

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STATE ROAD 37 IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

To learn more about the State Road 37 Improvement Project and sign up to receive text updates, visit 37Thrives.com.

116TH STREET
During the week of October 31, there will be daily lane restrictions eastbound and westbound 116th Street from Allisonville Road to Lantern Road between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for DPW to install Christmas lights.    

During the week of October 31, there will be daily lane restrictions westbound 116th Street from Holland Drive to Allisonville Road between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for overhead utility work to be completed. 

Road Resurfacing is currently taking place in Sutton Crossing as part of the 2022 Resurfacing Project. Several areas continue to be restored with topsoil and seed. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to water the seed for the seed to germinate.