Numbers provided by the Fishers Health Department show about 18,000 unvaccinated people within the city limits.  Fishers is preparing to reach out to those individuals and provide an opportunity to get the COVID vaccine.

Of those unvaccinated in Fishers, there are two age groups that stand out.  One consists of those between the ages of 20 and 40.  The second group is the youngest, ages 12-15.

Mayor Scott Fadness tells LarryInFishers that his administration is putting together a “robust” program  targeting those yet to receive the shots.  Fadness described the COVID vaccination as a “path to freedom.”

Look for more on this project in the next 30 days.

Hamilton County is ready to take applications from local organizations impacted by COVID.  County government has American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to distribute and the portal is a way groups in Hamilton County may apply.  If you represent  businesses, nonprofits, or governmental units within Hamilton County, you are eligible to apply.

“This is about much more than simply replacing lost revenue,” said Amy Massillamany, Hamilton County Council President in a county news release.  “It’s about helping the people in our communities.  Sure, it’s about helping to keep the doors open, but by doing so, we are helping our neighbors receive paychecks and healthcare their families are relying on, now more than ever.”

The county has formed an ARPA committee.  The panel created criteria for those applying.  The criteria include groups who:

• Are in good standing concerning state and local taxes, any appropriate professional licensing and/or program (state and federal)
• Are in compliance with any appropriate and applicable local codes and ordinances
• Are locally owned
• Are in good standing with the Indiana Secretary of State
• Endured negative economic impact due to the COVID-19 public health emergency
• Show a decline in overall revenue from 2019
• Can supply a COVID impact statement that illustrates the connection between the negative economic harm and the COVID-19 public health emergency

The committee says it will giver priority to those businesses that are minority, woman or veteran owned and service organizations focused on providing direct, life-sustaining assistance, with a focus toward recovery and sustainability.

To begin the application process, go to the ARPA Committee Web site at this link.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board member Suzanne Thomas objected to the wording in meeting minutes  for the July 28th board meeting, but she was the only no vote when the board approved the minutes at Wednesday’s board meeting.  Here is the part of the minutes Ms. Thomas questioned:

“One speaker and several members from the community became unruly
and began shouting. The speaker at the podium ignored repeated requests by the board president to be seated.”

Thomas claimed it was not just the crowd that was unruly.

In another matter before the board, Ms. Thomas objected to paying Child Advocates for diversity training conducted for school district staff members that has already been conducted.  Superintendent Yvonne Stokes says this training is voluntary for staff members and has been offered since 2015.  The only complaint she received about this year’s training was that it would be better held in-person instead of virtually.  Stokes did say she would seek other vendors in addition to Child Advocates for future staff diversity professional education.  The board approved the payment to Child Advocates.

Board member Thomas objected to a proposed school policy referring to the Indiana open Door Law.  The policy language cites the Indiana statute that governs the Open Door Law, but Thomas said she wants a link to the law.  Board member Julie Chambers said the policy committee considered that, but links change all the time, leading the committee to recommend using the same language as in previous policy, but putting several parts of current policy in one place.  There was no vote on the polices concerning board meetings, governance and school transportation policies at Wednesday’s session, but is scheduled for a vote at the August 25th board meeting.

Also at Wednesday’s session, Dr. Stokes apologized for an internal staff document that has been making the rounds on social media.  The document addresses awareness to the staff of monthly observances.  There was no intention to leave out any religious events from this listing and the intent was to be supportive of students.  She apologized for any “angst” this caused in the local community.

Dr. Stokes also said there continues to be a need in the district for more substitute teachers, food service workers and school bus drivers.  Anyone interested in applying should contact the HSE Schools HR Department.

Board President Janet Pritchett announced that Brian Meyer, the school board appointee to the Hamilton East Library Board the past 12 years, has been appointed to another four-year term.  Ms. Pritchett said there were many good and qualified candidates that applied for this appointment and she appreciates the interest of each one.  There were several letters of support from Mr. Meyer’s fellow library board members supporting his re-appointment.  Mr. Meyer has committed to providing an annual update to the school board on the Hamilton East Library.  The Hamilton East Library system runs the Noblesville and Fishers libraries.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools started the school year with a policy of recommending mask wearing, with no mandate.  At the Wednesday afternoon school board meeting, Superintendent Yvonne Stokes told the board administrators are following the language provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and continue to monitor each school building for COVID cases and exposure.

Dr. Stokes said that if the school district does decide to implement a mask mandate, there will be evidence to justify that decision.  HSE School officials will make adjustments as needed based on the data at hand.

Plenty of e-mails have been flooding Dr. Stokes e-mail account about mask policy with varying views on the issue.   She emphasizes that everyone on her administrative team does care about all children in the school district.

According to Stokes, some HSE students have been in COVID quarantine settings.

“We are aware of the CDC guidance and we are currently deliberating the feasibility of us incorporating shorter quarantine time periods,” Stokes told school board members.

Fishers is beginning to feel the same impact of increased COVID cases seen in the rest of the state.  In a video update, Fishers Health Department Epidemiologist Josh Robinson cited the increase in the primary metrics as the reason for a risk level change.

The department has increased the community risk level from level 1 (green) to level 2 (yellow). The Hamilton County positivity rate is at 11.4%, which puts the county in red, the highest risk category.  The Fishers testing site has a positivity rate of 7.87%, or level orange.  The Fishers case incidence rate is at 19.54 (orange).

The area availability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) space is in green, the best availability level.  However, local hospitalizations, in general, are increasing, according to Robinson.

The Fishers Health Department has seen a dramatic increase in positivity rates from early July to early August, with biggest increase in the age group under 12, the sector not eligible for the vaccine. But Robinson adds that the increase in positive cases is being seen in other age groups as well.

Robinson warns the current trends point to the strong possibility Fishers may move the community risk rating level up to level 3 as early as August 17th or 24th.

“There remains a higher level of risk for contracting and transmitting COVID now than what we’ve seen the past few months,” said Robinson.

Over 75% of our eligible (12 & over) population in Fishers has at least one COVID vaccine dose, but still leaves about 18,000 eligible residents unvaccinated.  Also, Robinson says there are about 18,000 people under the age of 12 living in Fishers not yet able to receive a vaccination.

For those reasons, the Fishers Health Department urges the local population to follow CDC guidelines on mask wearing.

If you have any questions or want to setup a vaccination, contact the Fishers Health Department at 317-595-3211.

You can view the latest  video from Josh Robinson at this link.

It may have been 17 years ago, but the Indiana Pacer players involved in the incident often described as Malice at the Palace have never talked much about what happened that night in November of 2004.  But a new documentary shows the entire situation in a different light.  Here is my review of the Netflix documentary film Untold: Malice at the Palace.

Also, as a bonus, listen after my review for Adam Aasen’s interview of Jermaine O’Neal.

It has been months since the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety has been asked to consider the placement of 5G cell towers in local neighborhoods.  Verizon had paused its program late last year and has restarted the process in recent months.

Two proposed neighborhood tower plans were tabled by the board.  The first to be tabled was at the Lantern Overlook subdivision.  Residents speaking before the board said one proposed tower would be placed in a nature preserve.  One resident broke down into tears talking about how the tower would ruin the natural view from her home.

Mayor Scott Fadness urged Verizon to find a solution that meets the technology firm’s technical needs without impacting the Lantern Overlook homeowners.

“The current location, as proposed…from my perspective, is not suitable,” Fadness said. “It adversely impacts individual homeowners disproportionately for this neighborhood.”

The mayor says he is willing to work with Verizon for an acceptable compromise.  The city has approved most of the proposed towers, so, in the spirit of compromise, Fadness is asking  that the Lantern Overlook tower placement be reconsidered.

The board also tabled the proposed tower location in the Harrison Woods neighborhood.  Verizon is being asked to work with both Lantern Overlook and Harrison Woods HOAs and residents for a solution that works for all parties.

Several neighborhood tower location plans were approved with no public comment, with Verizon and the neighborhoods working out any tower placement issues in advance.  That includes Canyon Ridge, Cherry Hill Farms, Harrison Green and Lantern Farms.

As Mayor Fadness reminded everyone at the Tuesday morning board meeting, state and federal statutes limit what a city may consider on where 5G towers are place.

I clearly remember the first time I met Bob Jenkins.  I was working at the radio station in Martinsville, Indiana and one of our rural county schools, Monrovia, was in the high school football playoffs in the 1970s.  I was assigned to call the game play-by-play.  Bob had been assigned by Network Indiana to provide reports on the game periodically.

I recall we talked a while before the game started.  In a business where egos can inflate to very large levels, Bob was as humble and regular as a person could be.  Anyone meeting Bob would learn to like him quickly.

It was many years later that I left the radio broadcasting business and went into the civil service.  But for several years in the 1980s, I took a working vacation and filed radio reports on activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice and qualifying.

I recall a group of sports reporters that hung around the pits at the start-finish line where the race officials were measuring speed.  You had to be there in order to know the latest news.

Bob was almost always there and I enjoyed listening to the banter between him and the other members of the local sports media.  I wasn’t a regular, so I mostly listened, and learned a lot.

One could learn about auto racing by listening to Bob Jenkins.  He helped create NASCAR on cable TV as the anchor for the early broadcasts on ESPN.  He later worked the Indy 500 on race day for the world-wide radio network carrying the race and later for ABC Sports.  Bob accomplished so much in his career.

We both worked for Network Indiana for a few months in 1983, but he worked in sports and the newsroom where I toiled was on the other side of the building.  I rarely saw Bob during that time.

Bob Jenkins death was announced August 9th.  He had been fighting cancer for some time and I was hearing from his close friends that Bob didn’t have much time left.  But Bob left all of us a body of work to remember.  I am proud to have known him just a little.

My sincere sympathies to his family.

My first memories of WIBC go back to the early 1960s.  My parents bought my brother Tom & I new transistor radios, fairly high tech for that day and age.  That’s when I began listening to AM 1070, WIBC.

At that time, WIBC with the top rock station in Indianapolis.  Bouncing Bill Baker was on every morning while preparing for school.  But the station also did plenty of news and sports.  Sid Collins had a sports roundup every evening.

When WIFE-AM went on the air, replacing the old WISH Radio at 1310 AM, they took the rock audience with them and WIBC transitioned to more adult music.  But WIBC remained a top station in the Indianapolis market.

When I began my radio career in the late 1960s, WIBC had the best radio newsroom in the state.  It was a first-class operation from top to bottom.

As radio’s business model began to change, the owners switched the FM station on 93.1 to WIBC and transformed the AM 1070 signal to WFNI, a sports talk station.

Only a few days ago, an historic event happened.  The AM 1070 signal went silent.  The ownership says they are searching for another way to bring AM 1070 back, but the radio engineers I know say that will be a tough goal to reach.

The 6 towers that manage the 1070 directional signal have been located near Zionsville.  you can see the towers from I-65.  But you won’t for long.

Turns out suburban sprawl made the land where the towers are located just too valuable and developers made an offer to the radio station ownership they could not refuse.  So the towers are coming down and development on the property  is already underway.

Because the signal for AM 1070 is directional, so as not to interfere with other AM stations, finding a location to bring 1070 back will be difficult, but not impossible.  Emmis Broadcasting says they are trying and I believe the company.

But all those memories dating back to the early 1960s came back when I learned about the demise of AM 1070.  Only time will tell if it ever returns.

There is lots to talk about on the movie front.  I could not make this week’s podcast recording session, but Adam Aasen & Alec Toombs talk about Green Knight, The Suicide Squad, Untold: Malice at the Palace and the ScarJo lawsuit against Disney in this episode of the Grade A Movies Podcast.