by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

With all the health news focused on the national pandemic crisis, there has been little to no attention given to the continuing number of fatal drug cases. Here in Hamilton County, Coroner John Chalfin says the cases of extreme drug overdose are probably running slightly ahead of last year.

As of the end of October there were 22 confirmed fatalities from opioids often mixed with other dangerous drugs for what could be called recreational purposes. There are seven more cases that were likely from the same cause, but toxicology reports have not yet been received.

This would bring the 10-month total to the same as all of last year when there were 29 confirmed deaths in the county attributed to the practice of taking deadly drugs.

The use of Narcan, a drug designed to revive an overdose victim, has slowed the fatalities, but Chalfin warns that Narcan cannot always save a person if he or she has consumed too much of a mixture of harsh drugs.

Sometimes four or five drugs of unknown origin are mixed.

Of course, some other drug deaths are attributed to accidental overdose or suicide. Toxicology tests are conducted here, too. But, the test results are taking longer, up to a month or six weeks, to be received, Chalfin said.

Chalfin suspects some drug deaths are unknown to local authorities because an overdose victim’s family will sometimes take the person to a Marion County hospital where an overdose death does not have to be reported to anyone in Hamilton County.

The ages of persons taking opioids and other dangerous drugs can vary considerably. It was once thought to be a bigger problem among young males, but the coroner says he has found victims into their 40s and 50s, both male and female.

Musicals are a bit of a lost art in Hollywood, but director Ryan Murphy is utilizing his big contract to provide content to the streaming behemoth Netflix and bring back the big-production musical, with his latest offering, The Prom.  it is set in small town Indiana and a controversy over a girl wanting to bring her same-sex partner to the high school prom.  Some big-name stars, trying to resurrect their careers and public reputations, come to the Hoosier Hinterlands.  So, what do I think of the The Prom?  Here is my review for your listening pleasure (or displeasure, depending on how you view it).

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern dropped a 71-63 home game to North Central on Friday.

The Panthers led 16-11 after the first quarter. The Royals cut that advantage to 27-25 by halftime, but North Central made a third-quarter run and led 45-38 by the end of the period. The Panthers held on to their lead in the fourth, edging out Southeastern 26-25 in a high-scoring quarter.

Three Royals players reached double figures. Vinny Buccilla scored 14 points and earned a double-double by dishing out 10 assists. Dalton Retzner added 12 points and also had six rebounds and two blocked shots. John McCall scored 10 points and collected eight rebounds.

Southeastern is 2-2 and plays at Fishers next Friday in the Mudsock game.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor 

Hamilton County Reporter

FISHERS – Finally back on the court after two weeks, Hamilton Southeastern got to play its first home game on Thursday.

It was also Senior Night for the Royals, as well as their first Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season, as Southeastern hosted Avon. The Royals got off to a great start, then held off the expected Orioles comeback to win 68-60.

Southeastern never trailed in the game, even during a close first quarter. The Royals were engaged from the start, as Alex Totton drew a foul while scoring the contest’s first basket – just five seconds in. Totton made the subsequent free throw and HSE was up 3-0.

Avon’s Nick Walker made a 3-pointer to tie the game, but the Royals took the lead for good on back-to-back layins from Vinny Buccilla and John McCall. The first quarter was played at a torrid pace, and ended with Southeastern ahead 24-19. Totton scored nine points in that period, nailing two 3-pointers after his game-starting and-1. McCall helped out with seven points and Sam Jacobs added four.

The Orioles’ Dominique Williams scored the first basket of the second quarter, a putback to get Avon within 24-21. The Royals took over after that, going on a 14-0 run. Dalton Retzner made back-to-back layins, and Totton hit back-to-back triples. That run carried Southeastern into halftime, where it led 42-31.

The Royals’ balance was in full effect by halftime. Totton had 15 points, with McCall at nine and Sam Jacobs adding seven points.

“One thing that we always keep trying to talk about is having that balance, because if you have that balance, then they can’t really key on certain guys, and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing every night,” said Southeastern coach Brian Satterfield.

The game slowed down in the third quarter, but the Royals remained in front. A 9-2 run put them ahead 51-34 with less than a minute to go in the period; four different HSE players scored during that run.

But Avon went on a run of its own, scoring 15 straight points to get within 51-49 with just over five minutes to play. Southeastern scored six quick points to get back ahead 57-49; Retzner made three of four foul shots and Totton threw in his fifth 3-pointer of the game.

“I thought we started out pretty well, but then they made their run,” said Satterfield.
From there, the Royals kept their lead between five and nine points. The nine-point lead came with 2:09 left, when Totton made a pair of free throws. Two more foul shots from Jason Stutz with 1:13 left got Southeastern up 66-59, and the Royals were able to hang on from there.

“We keep talking about toughness with this group and I thought they withstood it, they were able to make plays down the stretch, and that’s the most important thing,” said Satterfield.

Four HSE players reached double figures in scoring. Totton’s five 3-pointers were part of his 20 points, Jacobs and McCall both scored 11 and Retzner added 10. Buccilla collected eight rebounds while Loudon Sundling pulled six. Buccilla dished out four assists and Retzner made two blocked shots.

Southeastern is 2-1 for the season and is back home again tonight to host North Central. Satterfield said the stretch is going to be tough, but back-to-back games are certainly better than not playing at all.

“We knew that this was going to be tough, but with all the things with COVID going on, we just wanted to get the game in, especially since we haven’t played in a while,” said Satterfield. “Didn’t get to play last weekend, we just wanted to get in there and get some game action in. We know it’s going to be a challenge, but at least we’re getting the opportunity to play.”

Construction along the State Road 37 corridor began more than a year ago.  The interchange at 126th Street is complete and open.  146th construction is ongoing.  There is more construction to come.

A program to assist businesses impacted by this construction, 37Thrives, continues.  I last spoke with Kerianne Rich from IMAVEX and Ashley Elrod, Director of Public Relations for the City of Fishers, a year-and-a-half ago, before construction started, on what was planned for those impacted commercial operations.

Now that we are well into the State Road 37 project, I brought Kerianne and Ashley for an update on the 37Thrives program in this podcast.

Certain members of the staff around Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools will begin meeting December 16 as a budget study task force, with the goal of finding $5 million in spending cuts during the 2021-2022 school year.  The state funds local schools based on enrollment, and local student enrollment is down this school year.

HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Cecilie Nunn told the school board Wednesday night that districts around the state are seeing a drop in enrollment, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board unanimously put its seal of approval on the purpose and guiding principles for the task force.  That includes reviewing and considering all programs, exploring innovations in delivering programs and using attrition if a reduction-in-force is necessary.

The task force is scheduled to update the board monthly and submit its final recommendations to the superintendent in February, with the board receiving the final task force report for a vote March 24.

In another budget-related action, the board voted to freeze the automatic, incremental pay raises built into the system and allow a 1% increase in the pay scale for administrators and support staff.  This is effective January 1, 2021.

Below is a listing of those serving on the budget study task force:

A leader in the Indiana General Assembly representing Fishers has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.  Speaker of the Indiana House, Todd Huston, is in quarantine in his home with mild symptoms, according to a story published on ibj.com by reporter Lindsey Erdody.

You can read the story at this link.

The recount in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School board at-large election in Delaware Township has been completed and Sarah Donsbach appears to still be the winner.

Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams says the recount resulted in 3 additional votes for incumbent Amanda Shera, 2 more votes for Donsbach and 5 fewer votes for Tony Bagato, who finished third in the balloting.  In the original certified count, Donsbach was shown as the winner in Delaware Township with 20 more votes than Shera.

Attorneys representing the candidates will be working on an agreement to be submitted to the Recount Commission, then the document with the recounted results goes to Superior Court Judge Jonathon Brown.  The court will then approve the final recount report.

When Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools made the decision to have all-virtual classes as of November 19, the reason for that board vote centered on the lack of substitute teachers.  Administrators told the board there were simply not enough adults to handle classrooms when teachers were ill or on quarantine due to exposure to one or more individuals testing positive for COVID-19.

The virtual classes will continue at least through January 15.  New board members will be sworn-in at the January 13 meeting and a decision is expected on whether to remain all-virtual after January 15.

That decision will be heavily influenced by how many substitute teachers are available.  School officials were using every available person to cover classrooms needing a sub, including principals, assistant principals, counselors and central office administrators.  Many teachers offered to give up their preparation periods to oversee classrooms without the regular teacher available.

But even with all that, HSE Schools were coming up short on providing enough substitutes. Superintendent Allen Bourff told the board his staff has been processing applicants as quickly as possible.  Background checks are required, with the fee and amount of time needed to complete the check dependent on how many states must be checked in the process.

Some substitute teachers are retirees and many are hesitant to cover classrooms during the pandemic.  Dr. Bourff told the board 54% of available substitute teachers have not been in a classroom during the pandemic.  However, 46% of the subs have substitute taught at least once during the pandemic, many of them subbing more than once.

Dr. Bourff encouraged people in the local HSE community to apply for a substitute teaching position, saying that would be a big help in bringing students at the lower grade levels back to in-person learning.

Board President Michelle Fullhart asked Dr. Bourff to comment on local social media posts asserting that the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association, the local teachers union, is responsible for the district going to all-virtual classes.  The association has input into district decisions per state law, but Dr. Bourff made clear the teachers’ union never forced the school corporation into any decision.

When HSE Schools begin construction on the new Wayne Township elementary school, it will have a name.  The school Board voted to name the new building Deer Creek Elementary.

The name is a tip-of-the-hat to the original name for the nearby music center, originally named Deer Creek but in recent years has been named after a commercial sponsor.

There was a discussion of having a virtual ground-breaking ceremony.  There was a board discussion and many, with the pandemic in mind, would be willing to forgo the traditional ground-breaking event.  There was no board vote on that issue.