In the year after a presidential election, Indiana takes a year off.  So, in 2021, there are no elections.

Our next local election cycle comes in 2022.  There will be congressional elections in our state with newly-drawn districts.  Incumbent Republican Senator Todd Young will be seeking his second term.  There will also be a number of Hamilton County offices on the ballot.

But allow me to focus on one set of elections next year for seats on the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board.  In the 2022 election cycle, 4 seats (out of 7) will be up for election.  in 2022, each candidate must live in a district to run, and only the voters in that district can vote in that race.  In this case, only voters living in a particular district vote for that school board seat.

The HSE school board district map can be viewed at this link.

The incumbent school board members by district are:

District 1 – Brad Boyer

District 2 – Janet Pritchett

District 3- Michell Fullhart

District 4 – Julie Chambers

The other 3 members of the HSE board were elected at-large in 2020.

The question in the 2020 HSE School Board election is – which incumbents will choose to run for another 4-year term?  So far, no incumbents, to my knowledge, have officially announced their intention to run for re-election.  But it is still early.  The voting will be held in the general election held in November, 2022, a little more than one year from now.

One factor that must be going through the 4 board members up for election next year is the state of our politics today.  We are seeing some nasty situations at school board meetings.  I covered the school board in Columbus, Indiana from 1978 through 1982 and never witnessed anything like this.  I have covered the HSE board for nearly ten years and have never seen some of the behavior from the audience at board meetings that I have seen lately.

Things are so rough in Carmel, the board has suspended having any audience at board meetings after a recent set of incidents.  Other boards are trying to find a way to take public comments from parents without the meetings themselves spiraling out of control.

What I fear is that there are good people in the HSE Schools community that may decide not to be a candidate for school board because of the situation they are seeing today.  If you want to know more, read this story from the Indianapolis Star, co-written by two outstanding education reporters, Arika Herron & MJ Slaby, at this link.  (an IndyStar subscription may be required to access this story).

So, when the filing period comes around in the summer of 2022, will any of the incumbent school board members run for re-election?  Also, will any potential candidates shy away from a candidacy because of the atmosphere surrounding our schools and elections?

Indiana has consistently seen lower voter turnout compared to other states.  In 2020, Secretary of State Connie Lawson said about 65% of registered voters cast a ballot in the Hoosier state.  However, a study by the nonpartisan Indiana Civil Health Index, showed that in 2018, only about 65% of eligible voters in the state even bothered to register.

That means the number of eligible voters choosing to cast a ballot in 2020 was far below 65%.  Sadly, Indiana consistently ranks low compared to other states in voter participation.

Every election is important and local elections are much more important than most people think.  Most of our media is national now.  The shrinking of local news operations is one reason interest in local elections lag.

I do my best as a news blog writer doing this by myself to give local people some idea what is going on in local elections.  But, residents in Fishers and the HSE School District, take the time to understand each school board candidate next year.  And, if you feel strongly enough, become a candidate yourself.

Use this year of 2021 to consider next year’s election cycle.  A democracy is only as healthy as the people choosing to participate.

Road construction crews are preparing to move traffic on the State Road 37 project, including moving the right-in right-out from the east side of 131st Street to the west.  There will be nighttime periods when State Road 37 traffic will be down to one-lane north and south.

For more details on that, and the other road projects in and around Fishers, here is the weekly road construction update, as provided by the City of Fishers:

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STATE ROAD 37 IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

STATE ROAD 37 AND 146TH STREET
All left-turn lanes are currently restricted on SR 37 and on 146th Street with traffic moved to the interior lanes. Thru traffic and right turns on SR 37 and 146th Street will remain open. Drivers are encouraged to seek alternate routes for all left turn access. View an alternate route map here.

STATE ROAD 37 AND 131ST / 135TH STREETS
The westside of 131st Street at SR 37 is currently closed as work progresses on the interchange. SR 37 will remain open both north and southbound. SR 37 southbound left and right turns onto 131st Street will be restricted. Westbound left turns onto SR 37 will also be restricted on 131st Street. View the detour map here.

Prep for 131st Street Traffic Switch Timeline:

On Friday, October 22 between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., SB SR 37 will be restricted to one lane between 135th Street to 126th Street for removal of the barrier wall and conflicting markings. At the conclusion of this restriction, traffic will be placed on the newly constructed pavement going through the ramp system at 131st Street. Restricted access will remain for SB SR 37 on or off 131st Street for an additional couple of weeks.

On Sunday, October 24 or Monday, October 25 between 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., NB SR 37 will be restricted to one lane between 126th Street to 141st Street for the placement of barrier wall and pavement markings. At the conclusion of this restriction, traffic will be moved over to the newly constructed pavement to allow the east half of the interchange to be constructed. All access to/from 131st Street will be eliminated for NB SR traffic. View the detour map here.

The anticipated completion of the 131st Street work that will allow right in/right out movements for SB SR 37 and 131st Street is scheduled for Wednesday, November 10.

Please drive with caution through this area. To learn more about the State Road 37 Improvement Project and sign up to receive text updates, visit 37Thrives.com.

116th Street in downtown Fishers has fully opened to four lanes of traffic after the completion of the Nickel Plate Trail tunnel. Upon completion of the Nickel Plate Trail, slated for Spring 2022, pedestrians will access the trail via the tunnel to provide safe passage beneath 116th Street.

141st Street is currently closed at the Nickel Plate Trail for the construction of a pedestrian signal and speed table (roadway crossing) as part of the trail project and is anticipated to reopen by Saturday, October 23. View the detour map here.

NICKEL PLATE TRAIL
Paving of the northern portion of the Nickel Plate Trail is currently taking place, beginning at 131st Street and moving north of 146th Street over the coming weeks. The project is anticipated to take approximately six weeks to complete, pending weather delays. A speed table (roadway crossing) and pedestrian warning signal for motorists will be installed at 141st Street during this construction. Until paving is complete, this northern portion of the railbed remains closed and no trespassing is permitted. The northern portion is anticipated to be open for pedestrian use by the end of October.

Beginning on or after Monday, September 20, lane closures will be in effect for 116th Street between River Road and Eller Road for the rehabilitation of Bridge No. 160: 116th Street over the West Fork White River. One lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained at all times on 116th Street throughout construction. Lane closures are expected to be lifted by Tuesday, November 9.

In addition, River Drive West will be closed at 116th Street for the first project phase beginning on or after Monday, September 20. Residents are requested to utilize the signalized intersection at 116th Street and River Drive East for the duration of the closure.

Now that COVID booster vaccine shots have received government approval, the Fishers Health Department has announced how you can setup a booster appointment.

Beginning Sunday, October 24, the Fishers Health Department will be accepting booster shot appointments at this link.   If you have questions , check out the FAQs at this link.

Science fiction lovers have been waiting…now the wait is over.  The film Dune is in theaters and on HBO Max.  Does it live up to the hype?  Here is my review.

The Fishers City Council has a new member.  A Republican caucus has elected David Giffel to replace David George as the SouthWest District member.

The announcement came from a Hamilton County Republican Party  Facebook post Thursday evening.

Giffel has been serving on the Delaware Township Board.  David George recently announced the decision to resign his council seat.

Precinct officials in the SouthWest Council District voted to choose Mr. George’s replacement.

You have likely read accounts and watched television footage and analysis of what happened at the U. S. Capitol Building January 6.  A new HBO documentary film, Four Hours At The Capitol, takes a closer look by unearthing video not seen before and by talking with those there at the Capitol.  They all tell their own stories.  It is up to you to make sense of it all…if you can.

Here is my review.

The City of Fishers created an Arts & Culture Commission, which began meeting in 2019.  Since then, the commission has been bringing the artistic community of Fishers together.  It is expected to have some say on the new arts facility preliminarily planned to be a part of a new City Hall complex.

In July of this year, the commission handed out $43,000 in grants to local artists and art organizations.  Now, the commission is announcing a new partnership plan.

The new partnership will include local businesses, non-profit organizations, or individuals identified by the Commission as going above and beyond in supporting, showcasing, and advocating for public art or art programming in the Fishers community.

The editors at the Indianapolis Star and its focus (or lack thereof) on Fishers has been something I have watched over the nearly 10 years I have written this local Fishers news blog.  There have been stretches of time when the Star barely notices Fishers at all, and other periods where Fishers finds lots of attention from Indiana’s largest daily newspaper.

Lately, the IndyStar has been focusing on Fishers.  Perhaps it’s because we have grown into one of the largest cities in the state, with a population, as measured by the 2020 census, just short of 100,000.  Or perhaps Fishers is just making more news.

For whatever reason, two recent articles written by Star reporter John Tuohy indicate the newspaper is paying more attention to Fishers.  One deals with the 98 acres Fishers purchased recently with development in mind.  Tuohy also focuses on a dispute among members of the Fishers City Council about appointments to boards and commissions.

I have reported on the city’s purchase of the 98 acres along the White River near 96th Street.  Tuohy digs deeper, talking to the developer eyeing that area and also addresses opposition to that development from the Hoosier Environmental Council.

Democrat City Councilor Jocelyn Vare voiced her concern about the process used by the council in making appointments to boards and commissions back in January of this year.  She argued that there was little diversity among council appointees.

Since then, Howard Stevenson, an African-American attorney and former member of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board, has become President of the Fishers Plan Commission and has received high marks by local observers in his handling of that job.

Council President Selina Stoller formed a group to look at the entire committee system and council appointment process.  That proposal calls for the council president to make the final decision on appointments to boards and commissions.

Democrat Crystal Neumann, a member of the group issuing the report, criticized the proposal to have all appointments in the hands of the council president.  Republican Pete Peterson voiced his opposition to that proposal, saying the full council should continue to vote on the appointments.

Reporter Tuohy does a nice job of recounting the debate, which is not over.  The council  appointment process has only had first reading, meaning there could still be changes.

I appreciate all the nice comments I receive from people about this blog.  It is a labor of love for me, my volunteer work in giving back to the community in my retirement years.

But I am a one-man-band.  I can only do so much as a local volunteer journalist.  I welcome news coverage of Fishers from whatever news operations chooses to pay attention to our community.

By the way, kudos to M.J. Slaby, a very good reporter for the IndyStar that attends every HSE School Board meeting.  That is another way the Star covers Fishers.

I will repeat something I have said and written many times before.  SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR LOCAL MEDIA!  The Star offers specials where you can begin a subscription for as little as $1 a month the first few months.  If you watch local business, government and politics, subscribe to the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Consider subscribing to the Hamilton County Reporter and The Times, both local Hamilton County newspapers.  It does not cost much to subscribe to either or both.

I am sure I’ve left some news sources out, and I will hear about it if I did.  Just consider subscribing to you local news.  That is the only way those news sources can survive financially.  We need them.

Fewer than 3.5% of students have opted-out of taking the Panorama Survey conducted by Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools.  That’s according to Brooke Lawson, Mental Health Coordinator for HSE Schools.  The deadline for parents to opt-out of their children taking the survey was October 15.

Ms. Lawson talks about the Panorama Survey in this podcast.

Fishers is showing encouraging data in the latest COVID community update provided by the Fishers Health Department released Tuesday afternoon.

In a video message, Epidemiologist Josh Robinson says all measures are improving.  The Hamilton County unique positivity rate, Fishers testing site positivity rate and 14-day average case incidence rate are all headed downward, which is very good news.

“Overall, we are seeing the lowest number of weekly cases at our lookback period that we’ve seen in the last couple of months, which is a really positive sign,” Robinson said. “It looks like we may be on a downward trajectory in terms of new cases and we anticipate that our case incidence rate will steadily and slowly start to decline.”

Contact tracing and testing availability in Fishers both look good.  Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed availability is up to 29.1%, the best rate since early August.  Hospitalization occupancy rates are also continue a downward trend in our area.

“Overall, the Fishers community is looking like the cases are going down,” according to Robinson.  “Our vaccination rates continue to go up.  We continue to see uptake in new vaccinations.  We also continue to see an uptake in boosters.”

The Pfizer booster shot is available to those eligible.  The J&J and Moderna boosters are awaiting final approval.

Robinson expects a federal government decision in early November on a possible Pfizer vaccine for 5-11 year old children under an emergency authorization.

View the entire Josh Robinson video at the link below.