Whenever the Martin Luther King holiday is celebrated each year, a  number of memories swirl through my head.  I was in high school when the civil rights leader was assassinated.  It was a tough time for America.

What many may not know is that just four days after Dr. King died, a congressman from Michigan, John Conyers, introduced a bill in the House calling for a national holiday tied to Dr. King’s birthday.  That was 1968.  The measure went nowhere for years.

Congressman Conyers tried every year to propose the same bill and for years it received little to no interest from most of his colleagues.

The idea never had traction until the early 1980s.  The Congressional Black Caucus produced 6 million signatures on a petition supporting the MLK holiday.  1983 marked the 20th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

The legislation calling for the MLK holiday finally made it to the floor of the United States Senate in 1983.  The History Channel Web site cites one moment on the floor of the Senate when North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms introduced FBI documents aimed at smearing Dr. King.

“As Helms pressed to introduce FBI smear material on King—whom the agency had spent years trying to pinpoint as a Communist and threat to the United States during the height of his influence—into the Congressional record, tensions boiled over,” per the History Channel account. “Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the senator from New York, brought the materials onto the floor, then dropped them to the ground in disgust in a pivotal moment of the debate.”

The next day, senators passed the bill authorizing the holiday by a vote of 78-22.  President Ronald Reagan wasted no time signing the measure into law.  The first Martin Luther King Holiday became a federal holiday three years later, in 1986.

This was the first time in modern American history that a private citizen had a federal holiday named in his honor.  It took a long time and much heavy lifting to make the MLK Holiday a reality.

We take for granted that everyone is in favor of this holiday, but it wasn’t always so and had many opponents that delayed the final decision.  All those that made this holiday a reality, honoring a man that argued for peaceful, nonviolent change in American race relations, should be remembered.

The King Center encourages people to make this holiday a day on, not a day off.  For ideas on how to celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday, go the the King Center Web site at this link.

I am close to my 11th year anniversary of writing this Fishers local news blog.  I do the best I can as a one-man-band volunteer journalist to provide straightforward local news coverage.  Sometimes, I have found it  necessary to offer a commentary and, very rarely, take a clear stand on a local issue.

There was one issue where I did take a clear stand and the Indiana Supreme Court has just ruled on that issue.  Let me explain some of the background.

(NOTE:  Television station WTHR was at the center of all this and has a good background you can find at this link)

It all started roughly 5 years ago when Fishers High School teacher and varsity football coach Rick Wimmer was suspended for 5 days.  The investigative reporting team at television station WTHR asked HSE Schools the factual basis for that suspension, citing that specific language in the state statute.

HSE Schools responded saying Wimmer had violated school policy and provided a ream of policies he might have violated.  WTHR asked for two rulings from the Indiana Public Access Counselor about this, and that office appeared to side with WTHR, saying more specific facts were needed to be consistent with the state statute.

When HSE Schools refused to disclose anything more, WTHR went to court.  The Public Counselor rulings are advisory, but a court can compel the local school district to provide more facts on the suspension.

Reporter Bob Segall and WTHR received support from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, taking HSE Schools to court, asking for the specific factual basis for the suspension.  The Hamilton County Circuit Court and the Indiana Court of Appeals sided with HSE Schools.  WTHR appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court, and those justices recently ruled unanimously that HSE Schools did not follow state statutes and must disclose a specific factual basis for the Wimmer suspension.

When this was being reported by WTHR, I wrote commentaries that the local schools should be more forthcoming.  It was my view then, and now, that taking this issue all the way to the Supreme Court is not a good image for our school district.  People talk often about transparency and this is the most clear case I have seen where transparency is tested.

Let’s just say I received some criticism about those commentaries.  No one publicly criticized me, but I had private discussions with some officials that were not happy with the stance that I took on what needed to be disclosed about the Wimmer suspension.

I’ve written this before and I will do so again here – I spent 28 years in the federal civil service.  Employee privacy is something I fully understand.  But in this case, admitting I am no attorney, the state statute language appeared clear to me.  ‘

I knew when this case went before the justices of the Indiana Supreme Court, whatever decision was made would impact public employees throughout Indiana.

So,  we now know HSE Schools must disclose a factual basis for the Rick Wimmer suspension.  The fact that Mr. Wimmer has retired as both a coach and teacher at this point in time makes no difference.

The Indiana Supreme Court decision remands this case back to the Hamilton County court system, so this is not entirely over yet.

In my view, Indiana’s highest court made the correct decision in this case.

Dealing with construction along State Road 37 has not been easy, and the project is not anywhere near completed yet.  However, there is one piece of good news for those living in the area of 131st St. & SR 37.

If you are traveling east on 131st street and approach State Road 37, you are now able to make a right turn onto the highway heading south.  Also, if you are traveling south on State Road 37, you may now make a right turn onto 131st Street heading west.  This change has been planned since December but was opened in recent days.

Here is the latest update on Fishers area road construction, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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The justices of the Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools must provide a “factual basis’ for the suspension of former teacher and Fishers High School football coach Rick Wimmer.  The court remanded the case back to the Hamilton County Court “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

The ruling, written by Justice Mark Massa, says HSE Schools, when responding to television station WTHR’s request for a factual basis, provided only general statements of Mr. Wimmer’s failure to “classroom management strategies” and did not act consistent with school district policies, but provided only large sections of school policy.

The court’s ruling states the HSE Schools response “provides no facts about Wimmer’s actions that led to his suspension. It only concludes that he violated a broad policy. It does not even say when he violated that policy. A reasonable person would not know what Wimmer did to merit discipline, only that HSE decided to discipline him because it decided he violated a policy.”

The decision goes on to state:

“The policy HSE references only compounds the insufficiency of its response. That policy is as broad as its name—’Staff Conduct.’ Id., p.42. It contains several requirements that could result in discipline if violated; for example, an employee could violate the policy by failing to ‘demonstrate behaviors which contribute toward an appropriate school atmosphere.’
Id. Any number of actions could violate that one requirement. Here, it is unclear which requirement Wimmer violated, let alone what he did to warrant discipline. No reasonable person could read HSE’s statement and policy and understand why HSE disciplined Wimmer.

“HSE’s ‘factual basis’ was merely a bald conclusion that Wimmer violated a broad policy. It did not contain facts about Wimmer’s actions that would allow a reasonable person to understand why he was suspended. HSE’s “factual basis” was insufficient.”

When Mr. Wimmer was suspended roughly 5 years ago, WTHR made two requests that went to the Indiana Public Access Counselor’s Office.  HSE responded to WTHR’s request for a factual basis for the suspension of Mr. Wimmer, only saying he failed to control the classroom and provided a section of school policy with a long list of possible violations.  The HSE District provided no other facts.

The Public Access Counselor’s office appeared to side with WTHR, saying a factual basis for the suspension needed to include more than HSE provided to the television station’s journalists.  Public Access Counselor opinions are advisory.

WTHR, with the help of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed suit seeking more details of the reason for Mr. Wimmer’s 5-day suspension.  The Hamilton County Court and the Indiana Court of Appeals sided with HSE Schools, leading to the oral arguments, September 16 last year, before the state’s highest court when WTHR appealed.

Rick Wimmer has since retired as a football coach and teacher at Fishers High School.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Superintendent Yvonne Stokes emphasized Wednesday night that her administrative team is monitoring COVID cases in each HSE school building.  Any decisions on closing a building and going to virtual classes will be done on an individual building basis.  Many school buildings in central Indiana have recently announced COVID closures and virtual learning, but HSE has managed to keep all school buildings open so far this school year.

Assistant Superintendent Matt Kegley told school board members Wednesday night that any virtual learning that may be needed this semester will look much like past virtual learning experiences and the district is prepared for that eventuality.

Dr. Stokes reviewed another matter before the board – the process for parents to challenge books available in school libraries.  She used her authority to take four books from library shelves for a 30 day period.  Those books remain unavailable and are being vetted by school officials. Dr. Stokes did not name the books that have been removed for review.

Dr. Stokes announced the district is receiving a $406,000 “Stop the Violence” grant.  The money will be used for a number of security needs, including evaluating threats.

Speaking of security, central office administrator Ryan Taylor, will be retiring from the school corporation.  The board and Dr. Stokes recognized him for his long service to the local schools, particularly in the area of security.

Julie Chambers assumed the gavel as President of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night, but there was some controversy over the other officers.

The first slate of officers proposed had Ms. Chambers as President, Sarah Donsbach Vice President and previous Board President Janet Pritchett as Secretary.  Then another officer slate was presented – it kept Ms. Chambers as President, but had Suzanne Thomas as Vice President and Brad Boyer as Secretary.

After some discussion, the board decided to initailly vote on the first slate, and that passed on a vote of 5-2, with Suzanne Thomas and Brad Boyer voting no.

So, when all was said and done, here are the HSE School Board officers for 2022:

President – Julie Chambers

Vice President – Sarah Donsbach

Secretary – Janet Pritchett

Sarah Donsbach could not attend the meeting in person, but joined and voted virtually.

The Fishers Health Department is making vaccinations and testing available on January 17, the Martin Luther King holiday, with many people out of school and work that day.

“With many schools and businesses closed for the holiday, this is a prime opportunity to complete your first round of vaccinations or get boosted so that you can protect yourself and your loved ones from this latest COVID surge,” said Monica Heltz, public health director for the Fishers Health Department, in a city news release. 

The Fishers Vaccination Clinic (12520 E. 116^th Street) will be open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Monday, January 17 for both walk-ins and appointments. Weekend hours will continue as usual, open Saturday 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and closed on Sunday.  Appointments can be made at fishers.in.us/vaccine. Fishers Health Department has given nearly 90,000 vaccines to date, and more than 9,000 vaccinations in the past 2 weeks as the new omicron variant contributes to rising cases.

The Fishers Testing Site (4 Municipal Drive) will be open from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. for drive-thru testing, along with priority testing for students and staff of K-12 Fishers-based schools from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. Tests can be scheduled at fishers.in.us/testing. The Fishers Testing Site has administered more than 97,000 tests since opening in April 2020.

For more information on the steps you can take on how to protect yourself and loved ones from the omicron variant, visit fishers.in.us/coronavirus. The FHD continues to support CDC recommendations for protection from COVID that include vaccination, masking up, and avoiding large indoor or poorly ventilated gatherings.

Jocelyn Vare announced previously her intention to run in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 31.  Vare filed the paperwork officially Wednesday to become a candidate.

The newly-drawn Senate District 31 takes in Fishers and Lawrence in Marion County.

Should Vare become the nominee, she is expected to face Republican Kyle Walker in the general election this November.

Vare is currently an at-large member of the Fishers City Council and a local business owner.

Hamilton County Republicans are about to get a new chairperson.  In a story posted Wednesday morning by the Hamilton County Reporter, Laura Campbell cited personal reasons for stepping down from her party post.  She remains a member of the Carmel City Council.

Hamilton County GOP Vice-Chair Will Riley is expected to call a party caucus to vote on Campbell’s replacement.

The Reporter reprinted a statement Campbell issued announcing her resignation:

I am resigning as Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party effective midnight on January 19, 2022. After the loss of both of my parents last year I gained a new perspective on how I want to spend my free time. Being party chairman takes up a large part of my free time and I would like to spend more time with my family.

I will be at next week’s GOP breakfast meeting and hope to see you there. Will Riley, Vice Chairman, will set the date for a caucus to elect my replacement.

Together we have made great strides in the party, among them: expanding the party’s reach and welcoming more diverse involvement in the party, growing our local clubs, and the successful grassroots efforts in 2020 that resulted in substantial wins for our candidates. Republicans are well-positioned for continued success this year in the midterm elections and I will work with the new leadership for a smooth transition.

Tuesday evenings in Fishers remain the time for a regular update from Josh Robinson, Epidemiologist for the Fishers Health Department.  He hasn’t had a lot of good news for us in recent weeks, and this week is no different.

“Emerging data indicates that the Omicron variant is 3 times as transmissible as the previously dominant variant, which was Delta,” said Robinson in his video post.

State health officials say 85% of COVID cases in Indiana have been identified as Omicron.

According to Robinson, this is creating a “massive jump in new cases here locally, and around the state.”

The latest state numbers show about 9,600 cases a day in Indiana recently.

Even though Omicron is less severe, it is causing more hospitalizations due to the sheer number of  total cases.

Vaccines do provide protection, particularly from “severe outcomes.”  Robinson cites these Indiana state numbers….of those with COVID, the vaccinated are less than 1% ( 0.65%  to be exact) hospitalized, and even fewer, 0.03%, of those vaccinated, have died.

Now for this week’s numbers:

The Hamilton County unique individual positivity rate increased to 37.1%, compared to last week’s 24.6%.

The Fishers testing site reported 39.4% positive COVID tests, compared to previous week’s 27.1%.

The case incidence rate (a 14 day rolling average per 100,000 population) went up to 249.2, compared to previous week’s 162.6.

Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed availability is at 7.5% in Marion and surrounding counties, a very low rate of availability.  39.6% of ICU patients have in the same counties are COVID positive.

The Fishers Health Department is setting aside certain days and times for students, parents and staff of HSE Schools to schedule test.  For information on that, and how anyone may schedule a COVID test, use this link.

In this week’s video update, Josh Robinson reviews how long to isolate yourself once you test positive.

You may access the video update at the link below.