Dan Henke, the Fishers City Judge and former Fishers Town Councilor, will conduct an independent fact-finding investigation into an incident involving a “Defund the Police?” poster in a high school classroom.  According to school officials, the brother of Officer Noah Shahnavaz saw the poster in the class and that resulted in an apology from the school board, assuring the community the school district does not believe in defunding the police and the poster was a student project from the previous year.

Officer Noah Shahnavaz, a Fishers resident, died in the line of duty as part of the Elwood Police Department.

Judge Henke is providing his services at no charge to the school corporation.  Although serving as a part-time Fishers City Judge, Mr. Henke also has a private law practice.

According to HSE Schools, Superintendent Yvonne Stokes suggested the idea of an independent inquiry while she and other HSE administrators met with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart, Chris Owens of the Fishers Fraternal Order of Police, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, William Owensby of the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police and Rick Snyder of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police.

Once the fact-finding is complete, Judge Henke will submit a report to Dr. Stokes and the HSE Board of Trustees.

The filing deadline for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board was noon on Friday, and we have one new candidate submitting paperwork on the last day.  Edward A. Gedeon is running in District 1.

Three of the four incumbent board members, Janet Pritchett, Julie Chambers and Brad Boyer are all running for another term.  The District 3 incumbent, Michelle Fullhart, apparently believed eight years of board service is enough and has not filed as a candidate this time around.

Here is the list of candidates as of the Friday, August 26 deadline:

District 1

Brad Boyer
Jackie Howell
Tiffany Pascoe
Edward A. Gedeon

District 2

Juanita Y. Albright
Janet Pritchett

District 3

Dawn Lang
Carla V. Cork

District 4

Julie A. Chambers
Chad Curtis
Harry Delks
Ben Orr

The Hamilton County Election Office says candidates have until noon, Monday, August 29 to withdraw their candidacy.

In this election, voters cast ballots only for the district where they reside within the HSE school district.

To access the district map, use this link and on the right hand side of the page, click under “Current District Lines.”

When Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness wrapped-up a media briefing on the 2023 city budget proposal, he laid-out a reminder of what is coming in economic development – $1 billion in development.

The city has announced a new Andretti Motorsports headquarters in the southeast section of the airport, near Ritchey Woods.  That amounts to a $200 million investment in Fishers.

So, what about the remaining $800 million in developments coming?  Fadness teased that those economic development projects will all be brought before the City Council at the next regular session September 19.  The mayor brought this up because Fadness’ 2023 budget plan will be presented to the full Council at that regular meeting, but Fadness says the spending plan will likely be overshadowed by the big economic development agreements.

When something like this comes up, my mind harkens back to May of 1991, when I first moved to Fishers.  The 1990 census counted about 7,500 people residing in the Town of Fishers.  It was a much different place.

Many complain that they miss the Fishers of yesteryear.  Many years ago, I asked Mayor Fadness about those arguments.  He was clear about one thing – his view is that a city is either going forward or backward – staying in place is not an option because that translates into going backward.

There is no question Fishers has the foot on the floorboard with the accelerator at top speed.  If Scott Fadness chooses to run for another term as mayor and wins, I would suspect that accelerator will remain at high speed forward.

But as someone living in Fishers since 1991, it is hard to get my head around a number like $1 billion of investment in this community.  We should have more details in the coming weeks.

I have been writing a local news blog in Fishers for over ten years and cannot remember a time when the local police have released audio and video related to a specific incident.
But that’s what happened Thursday morning.

Fishers Police say there have been “inquiries” into what happened near 131st Street and Brooks School Road April 29th.  As a result, the department has chosen to release audio and video related to that incident.

The video, including audio of the initial police radio conversations and video from the police from that situation, has been released and posted on YouTube.  The video can be accessed at the link below.  Be aware, it is just under one hour in duration.

With the deadline for filing as a candidate for a seat on the Hamilton Southeastern School Board looming Friday at noon, we had one more filing Wednesday.

Carla Cork has filed for the District 3 board seat.

Here is the listing of candidates, as of 4:14pm Wednesday:

District 1

Brad Boyer
Jackie Howell
Tiffany Pascoe

District 2

Juanita Y. Albright
Janet Pritchett

District 3

Dawn Lang
Carla V. Cork

District 4 

Julie A. Chambers
Chad Curtis
Harry Delks
Ben Orr

In this election, voters cast ballots only for the district where they reside within the HSE school district.

To access the district map, use this link and on the right hand side of the page, click under “Current District Lines.”

The proposed 2023 Fishers City budget is $144.4 million, compared to the 2022 spending plan of $121.6 million. However, Mayor Scott Fadness is quick to point out debt service payments  will increase next year to $33.9 million, largely due to additional bonding related to road projects and the acquisition of HSE Utilities.  The 2023 operating and capital piece of the budget is shown as $110.5 million.

Under the mayor’s proposal, city employees would receive a 4% pay increase and a one-time inflation bonus in January, equal to 3% of their pay.  Elected officials will not receive the bonus.  City number-crunchers say the average employee bonus computes to $1,365.

The city’s share of the property tax rate will decrease a bit in 2023 under the mayor’s plan,  to 0.7115, compared to the 20222 rate of 0.7165 of each $100 of assessed valuation.

Under the mayor’s plan, the city’s cash reserve will grow from the 2022 $30.44 million to $33.1 million in 2023.  Fadness says the agreement to share income tax distributions with Carmel will be expiring, losing that revenue source.  He wants the extra cash in place for the new City Hall/Arts Center construction project, the new community center to be announced sometime this fall, Geist Waterfront Park and road projects.

The large increase in the cost of fleet vehicles, especially for police and fire, plus a 2-3 year timeline from order to delivery, has complicated the budget picture.  The mayor cited inflation in general as a budget challenge.

The city touted its contract with Community Health, providing health insurance and services to municipal employees, limiting any premium increase to 3% with no reduction in coverage or increase in deductibles or copays.

The city is also taking on the salaries of additional firefighters with a new station in place.

The Finance Committee has more meetings scheduled, setting the stage for the September City Council meeting when the mayor and his staff will provide a presentation of his 2023 spending plan.

The mayor provided a comparison of the Fishers City tax rate with other cities in Hamilton County

The future of Fishers Elementary School was the issue in a Tuesday evening work session with the Hamilton Southeastern School Board and the board will be narrowing down the options as action is expected in the coming weeks.

Superintendent Yvonne Stokes told board members the decision on Fishers Elementary impacts other decisions to come for the school corporation.  The board was presented with three options, each with a price tag of roughly $160 million. Stokes reminded the board it had instructed administrators to fashion  options that would keep the Fishers Elementary staff together either at the current location on Lantern Road or another location in the area.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Katy Dowling reviewed all three options.  One would call for a land exchange and the remaining two would call for the purchase of land for a new site.

Along with keeping the Fishers Elementary staff together, school staff  incorporated efforts at equity in program locations, building a new intermediate school for relief at Hamilton Southeaster Intermediate & Junior High.  The options also consider a reexamination of the feeder system, minimizing the need for future redistricting, providing families some predictability in their students educational paths.

Another consideration is providing a permanent home for the Focus Day program. (For more on the FOCUS program, use this link)

Board member Brad Boyer said his support of keeping the Fishers Elementary staff together was based on the current number of students, but administrators and other board members voiced safety and efficiency concerns, along with the ability to offer programs to the students at Fishers Elementary.

Board President Julie Chambers ended the work session saying she and Dr. Stokes would confer and the board will take up the issue at a regular board meeting in the coming weeks.

There are now 4 candidates in the District 4 race for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board. The latest addition was filed Tuesday by Chad Curtis.

Here are the school board filings for HSE as of 4:15pm August 23rd”

District 1

Brad Boyer
Jackie Howell
Tiffany Pascoe

District 2

Juanita Y. Albright
Janet Pritchett

District 3

Dawn Lang

District 4

Julie A. Chambers
Chad Curtis
Harry Delks
Ben Orr

The deadline to file candidacy for the HSE School Board is noon August 26.

In this election, voters cast ballots only for the district where they reside within the HSE school district.

To access the district map, use this link and on the right hand side of the page, click under “Current District Lines.”

Another candidate has filed for a seat on the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board.  Harry Delks, the current and long-time Facilities Director for HSE Schools, has filed to run in District 4.

It is presumed Mr. Delks would need to leave his post working for HSE Schools if elected.

Here is the rundown on the candidates for HSE School Board, as of close of business August 22nd:

District 1

Brad Boyer
Jackie Howell
Tiffany Pascoe

District 2

Juanita Y. Albright
Janet Pritchett

District 3

Dawn Lang

District 4

Julie A. Chambers
Harry Delks
Ben Orr

The deadline to file candidacy for the HSE School Board is noon August 26.

In this election, voters cast ballots only for the district where they reside within the HSE school district.

To access the district map, use this link and on the right hand side of the page, click under “Current District Lines.”

2022 celebrates the 10th anniversary of the annual Blues Fest at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater September 2nd & 3rd.  Here is the lineup, with links with more information about each act:

Friday, September 2 

4:15-5:15 p.m. / Jamiah Rogers

5:45-6:45 p.m. / Nick Alexander

7:15-8:45 p.m. / Grady Champion  

9:15-10:45 p.m. / Larry McCray  
 
Saturday, September 3 / Ladies in Blues  

4:15-5:15 p.m. / Veronika Jackson  

5:45- 6:45 p.m. / Nora Jean Wallace  

7:15-8:45 p.m. / Melody Angel  

9:15-10:45 p.m. / Joanna Connor  

No tickets are required for admission. Vendors will be on-site offering alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, food, and refreshments. Coolers, chairs, and blankets are welcome.  

Free parking is located in the Switch, Police, and Spark Apartment garages. Street parking is also available throughout the Nickel Plate District and downtown Fishers.