After heading-up Launch Fishers for nearly ten years, local entrepreneur John Wechsler is preparing to move away from that role and start-up a brand new enterprise.  Wechsler, who was also instrumental in creating the state IOT Lab in Fishers, worked closely with Mayor Scott Fadness on those and other projects aimed at economically developing the city.

I spoke with John Wechsler and Scott Fadness on their collaboration which spans many years in this podcast.

After much discussion, and plenty of e-mails filling up the inboxes of school officials, the Hamilton Southeastern School Board voted unanimously to approve calendars for the next three school years.

Board member talked about the two options for school year 2023-2024 and opted for students to report for the first day of school on Wednesday, August 9th.  The school year would end after Memorial Day in 2024, with the last day of classes Wednesday, May 29th.  The only way to end the school year prior to Memorial Day would be to start classes a week earlier, August 3rd.  The board looked at removing two flex days in the calendar, but without flex days, snow days would require class days after Memorial Day anyway.

Here are links to the three calendars approved by the board Wednesday night:

—2022-2023

–2023-2024

–2024-2025

In other school board meeting news:

–The board approved a general obligation bond for building maintenance on several facilities totalling about $26 million.  HSE CFO Katy Downing told the board no tax rate increase will be required to fund this work.

–A three year building lease was approved for the high school academy.

–School bus driver trainees will now be paid $19.50 per hour.

–Director of Educational Technology Jeff Harrison briefed the board on plans to switch from Skylert to a new system already utilized by several school districts in our area, ParentSquare.

–Juneteenth is now a paid holiday for HSE workers.  Even though school is not in session on the date of Juneteenth, it will be a holiday for school district employees, including custodians, maintenance, mechanics, building techs, high school treasurers, and full-time central office staff.  As of today, this would include 147 HSE Schools staff members.

–There was some discussion about when to approve textbook and resource changes, giving parents an opportunity to review the resources.  The board is looking at having a vote in May, at a special meeting or part of already scheduled work sessions, providing time for ordering the resources for the coming school year.

–A school choral group , Fishers Sound,  has won every competition it has entered in 2022.  The choir is led by Therese Tazioli, and was honored by the board as part of the Snapshots of Success series.

I had my first opportunity to have a one-on-one podcast discussion with Dr. Yvonne Stokes, Hamilton Southeastern Schools Superintendent Wednesday morning, April 27th.  We covered a wide variety of issues, including the upcoming operating referendum, the options available in deciding the future of Fishers Elementary School and much more.

Here is the podcast, at the link below.

For members of the Fishers High School Marching Band, Tuesday started out as a normal school day.  Little did they know a big announcement awaited them.

Wesley Whatley, creative director of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade^® and head of the Parade’s Band selection committee, was there to make the special announcement inviting Fishers High School Marching Tiger Band to the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Macy’s Parade staff, working secretly with school officials, including band director Chad Kohler, surprised members of the marching band with the news Tuesday morning that they have been selected out of hundreds of nationwide applicants to be one of nine selected marching bands in the 97^th edition of the annual holiday tradition.

Members of the Fishers Creative Council appear to agree plans for the new Arts & Municipal Complex are a good thing for Fishers, but many have questions and concerns about local arts involvement, or lack thereof, in putting together the details for the building and its programs.

Tom Rich, past president of the Fishers Arts Council and currently a board member, pointed to a survey done on a local Fishers arts facility, two task forces, providing information to the city.

“Then, all of a sudden, on April 12th, we don’t get feedback opportunities, we get the opportunity to say, it’s all done,” Rich said.  He does not believe the “feedback loop” was ever completed.

“I support the city, and the (arts) center, but there are a lot of questions that I have,” said Rich.

Early presentations provided by Fishers officials say programs from the Indianapolis Arts Center (IAC) at the new complex will generate funds to support programming in Fishers, according to Creative Commission Chair Aili McGill.

McGill, also Executive Director of Nickel Plate Arts, said IAC Director Mark Williams indicates that more details of the programs to be offered in the new Fishers Arts complex should be known in about a year from now.

Jocelyn Vare, a member of the Fishers City Council and also serving on the Fishers Arts and Culture Commission, said Tom Rich’s concerns are also her concerns.  “The devil is in the details here,” Vare told the Creative Council.  “This (Arts Center) is an amazing opportunity that we all have been clamoring for years.”  She added there is time to work out the details with the local arts community.

There was a lengthy discussion among council members about what access local groups will have in the new theater.  For example, Fishers Music Works pointed out that after the first year of the outdoor Amphitheater, they were not given a chance to perform on that stage, and will return to the AMP this summer for the first time in many years.

McGill has heard from others that arts groups were consulted about the Arts & Municipal Complex, but “we did not necessarily feel consulted.”

Doug Whisman of Ji-Eun Lee Adademy  pointed out that Fishers describes itself as an entrepreneurial city, but he does not see the process here as entrepreneurial.  Whisman argues the city should have opened up the process to run the arts part of the new center to bidders.

The Creative Council was established by the Fishers Arts & Culture Commission and is made up of several local nonprofit arts groups.  The Creative Council meets and later provides its views at each Fishers Arts & Culture Commission meeting.

The next meeting of the Fishers Arts & Culture Commission is May 10th, 6pm, at Fishers City Hall.

The spring season brings a call for the Fishers Police Department (FPD) Teen Academy for 2022.    This year’s academy, the 20th, will be held at Riverside Intermediate School, July 11-15.  The Academy is one week of law enforcement-type training that police officials say will allow teens to better understand how law enforcement works.

Local Officers plan an overview of the roles and responsibilities of FPD Officers and insight into some of the specialized units and skills within FPD.  Topics will include how to make a traffic stop, how the K-9 Unit works within the agency, the role of the Fishers Dive Team, how Crime Scene Investigators process scenes, and how to safely navigate social media and the internet. Students will have some classroom instruction and practical role play training each day.

The academy will begin with physical fitness at 9:00 each morning.  Participants will then attend informational sessions followed by practical hands-on training to reinforce the lesson(s) of the day.  Each day will end with a social activity between officers and students, dismissal each day at 3:30 p.m.

The Academy is open to youth in junior high who have completed the seventh grade through students entering their senior year in high school.  Applicants must be enrolled in or planning to attend a junior high or high school in Fishers in the fall of 2022.  FPD Officers will complete a background check on each applicant.  There is no fee for the Teen Academy, but advanced registration is required.  Walk-ins will not be permitted.

There are a total of 40 spots available for this year’s academy.  Begin the registration process by submitting interest at this link, Fishers Police Teen Academy   Registration is a two-step process.  Step one is a pre-registration application and background check; once pre-registration and the background screening have been completed and an applicant has been approved for participation, applicants will receive an email from FISHERS, IN with final registration information and camp details.

            Registration will be open April 25, 2022, until May 20, 2022 (or until the camp reaches capacity).

The speech in recent days by Lilly CEO David Ricks before the Economic Club of Indiana raised more than a few eyebrows.  According to the story filed by WISH-TV reporters Richard Essex, Garrett Bergquist, Katiera Winfrey and Mary Gillis, Indiana is falling behind the rest of the nation in key areas.

“Our education attainment in the state is not good. The ability to reskill the workforce, I think, could improve. Health, life and inclusion, overall, I think, conditions rank poorly nationally in our state. And also workforce preparedness, also related to reskilling, is a liability for us,” Ricks said, based in the WISH-TV reporting.  “Hoosiers today have relatively low performance on national metrics of education.”

I searched my memory.  Where have I heard a message similar to Mr. Ricks’ comments?  Then it dawned on me.  It was May, 2019, and it was Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness in his State of the City address.

Let’s just say the mayor did his homework preparing for that speech.  He cited data showing Indiana is in the bottom ten among the 50 states in public health, quality of life, higher education, environmental health and mental health.  Fadness also cited another piece of data – as of May, 2019, Indiana had an 11% increase in mental health distress cases (that was before we even knew the term COVID Pandemic).

He also cited statistics comparing us with other metropolitan areas in our general geographic area and found the Indianapolis metro area has the lowest percentage of population centers with a college degree.

I do not believe Mayor Fadness was bad-mouthing Indiana or the Indy metro area.  He was making the case that work needs to be done.  He has always been aggressive seeking economic development in our city.  He hears all about the data cited in Mr. Ricks speech and his 2019 address when negotiating with private firms to locate here.

Indiana has been known as a generally low-tax low-services state.  But in my recent conversations with people in the private sector specializing in how companies choose locations for their work force, there is much more than low taxes and loose regulations to consider.

Lilly is headquartered in Indianapolis but much of its recent expansion has been in states outside Indiana.  The CEO was sending a message to the movers and shakers of our state – time is running out to fix these problems.  Many of these issues have been lingering for years with little or no action from our elected officials.

My understanding is that Fishers is working on a number of announcements in the coming months.  I have no idea what will be announced, but economic development is likely the center of the activity.

If Fishers can continue to compete with other states and metro areas, all the data cited in those speeches by David Ricks and Scott Fadness puts us at a distinct disadvantage on the national and world stage.  It is a compliment to Scott Fadness and his economic development team that Fishers continues to attract employers.

All I ask is that we listen to what these important decision makers are saying.  We are in a competitive world and we must compete in all important areas if we want economic growth.

There are some occasions when Fishers City Hall is filled with energy and enthusiasm.  Friday evening was such a time as the Fishers Arts Council handed out awards for artwork done by students at HSE and Fishers High Schools.

Students, parents and many others browsed the halls of the city government center with the students’ artwork.  This will be the final chance for the Senior Showcase to be featured in this City Hall.  The building is facing the wrecking ball later this year, with the newly-constructed combination Arts Center and Municipal Complex projected to be completed by March of 2024.

June of this year will be the last time Fishers Arts Council will sponsor an art display as City Hall, as preparations will begin to exit that structure.  The monthly art displays will move to the Hamilton County Community Foundation, located at 11810 Technology Drive.

Several awards were handed out Friday, with Grace Vandiver of HSE High School winning the Best in Show award.  Tom Rich handed out the certificates & checks, with Fishers City Council President Todd Zimmerman offering opening remarks.

Below is is listing of all winners:

NOTE:  The Arts Council sent some corrections which were made at 1:00pm 4/25

Below are a few examples of the art on display at City Hall through April 29.

Continue reading Senior Showcase of art draws big crowd at City Hall →

The Fishers City Council has formally created the Advisory committee on Disability.  There had been an informal group, now it is official.

Mayor Scott Fadness announced Friday the members of the new committee, charged with providing strategic direction and guidance of the annual March Disability Awareness Month celebration and the Fishers ADA Transition Plan, along with providing feedback on the City’s current services, policies, and practices.

Here are the appointees, along with bios written by the City of Fishers:

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Chrissy Pogue, Transition Specialist for Hamilton Southeastern Schools
Pogue’s responsibilities include working with both high school programs and overseeing Hamilton Southeastern School’s four transition programs. She has four job coaches on her team that help find volunteer and paid positions for students within the city. Pogue has been in this role for almost 11 years when it started with one transition program/classroom and an off-campus site. From there, it is has evolved into four different programs/classrooms servicing over 40 young adults. She enjoys helping families prepare for life after high school in whatever way is most meaningful for the young adult. Integrating all four programs within the community in various ways throughout the week and helping Fishers continue to be an inclusive city continues to be her goal every day. Pogue conducts parent trainings as well as training for other district employees throughout the year. She is currently on the board at Janus Developmental Services, co-facilitator for the Central Indiana Transition Cadre, and co-facilitator for the Inclusion in the Workplace Networking Group. She has been involved with the Fishers Disability Council since 2017, specifically within the employment subcommittee. Prior to her current position, she was a Life Skills teacher at Hamilton Southeastern High School.

Learn more about the committee and their full list of roles and responsibilities at this link.

There is construction along 116h Street east of the municipal complex with new structures on the way.  When the development was first announced, city officials made clear they wanted to preserve some of the older brick buildings as a tip of the hat to the Fishers many of us recall from years ago.

However, a story posted on the IndyStar Web site early Friday morning says some of those historic places are in such disrepair, they cannot be saved.  One building is the one that once housed the Nickel Plate Bar & Grille.

I had been hearing rumors for many months that the old Nickel Plate location, and a few others, were in such bad shape that there was no way to save them.  I was never able to get anyone to go on the record saying that, but Star reporter John Tuohy has CRG Development President Chris Reid going on the record about the historic buildings that will not survive the new development because they cannot be saved.

My wife Jane and I frequented the Nickel Plate Bard & Grille and were saddened when the establishment closed.  It is sad to see some history gone in Fishers, but if the building cannot be saved, then that’s they way it will be.

You must be an IndyStar subscriber to access the story at this link.  Once again, it is very inexpensive to buy an IndyStar online subscription.  Please, once again, I would urge you to support out local media outlets.  Without that support, we will not have local news.