In celebration of National Volunteer Week, the City of Fishers has announced the City of Service Awards. Three new community-nominated awards will be featured this year: Essential Worker of the Year, Non-Profit Staffer of the Year, and Community Servant of the Year. Winners were selected by the Fishers City Council through a blind process and will be celebrated throughout the week online at ThisIsFishers.com/CityofService and on social media.
This year’s award winners include:

• Essential Worker of the Year: Jesse and Debra McDaniel, American Red Cross
• Non-Profit Staffer of the Year: Jennifer Miller, Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County
• Community Servant of the Year: Anitha and Vani Sharma
• Fishers Non-Profit Volunteer of the Year: Jamison Vance, Mudsock Youth Athletics
• Fishers Parks Adult Volunteer of the Year: Wishes to Remain Anonymous
• Fishers Parks Youth Volunteer of the Year: Johna Coffey
• Fishers Parks Group Volunteer of the Year: Boy Scout Troop 199
• Fishers Police Department Volunteer of the Year: Art Hennig
• Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation Volunteer of the Year: Michael Zahm

The city says that In the year 2020, over 350 individual and group volunteers dedicated over 17,000 hours of their time and talent to our local community.

It is my opinion that the live-action short film category at the Academy Awards fails to get the attention it deserves.  This podcast is being posted one week before the Oscars are handed out in Hollywood.

I decided to screen all five films nominated in this category, and select the film I would select as the winner if I had a ballot (and I do not).  Three of these films are shot in the United States, two in the Middle East.

Here is my look at the nominated films in the live action short film category.

Thursday, April 22nd, will be a very important day for the Fishers area.

No, I am not writing about the opening of Shake Shack in Fishers District, even though lots of locals are very excited about that.

Thursday is the day the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District will announce the selection of a new superintendent, replacing the retiring Allen Bourff.  There are plenty of rumors about the new superintendent, but about all we know now is the person is likely to be a woman.

There are two things I will be watching at the Thursday evening event.

First, will the school board vote unanimously to approve the new leader for our local school staff?  I have talked to former board members who have assured me past decisions on hiring a superintendent were hotly debated behind closed doors (state law allows this to be hashed-out in private).  But even if the person some board members favored was not hired, all board members have a tradition of unanimously approving a new superintendent as a signal to the community of a vote of confidence while assuming the new job.

I have been hearing rumblings that this vote Thursday night may not be 7-0.  We will soon find out.

Secondly, the first public comments by the new superintendent will be a very important message to the school community in Fall Creek, Delaware and Wayne Townships (taking-in the entire city of Fishers).  With all the challenges our local schools face, her initial comments will be watched very closely.

It is expected the superintendent will be part of the transition until Dr. Bourff officially retires at the end of June.

Diane Eaton served many years on the HSE board and surprised many local observers by addressing the board Wednesday night, urging a delay in hiring a permanent replacement for Dr. Bourff and advocated selecting an interim leader in order to provide more time for the board in its search.  Ms. Eaton has since been on social media urging others to contact board members, arguing for a delay in the hiring process.

I would surmise there are already at least 4 votes on the board for the new superintendent to be announced Thursday or the event would not have been scheduled.

The most important responsibility for any public school board in the State of Indiana is to hire the school superintendent and then supervise the performance of that superintendent.  That is why the eyes of the local community will be on the HSE Schools administration building Thursday night for this all-important announcement.

It is very hard to get one’s head around the mass shooting at the southwest side Indianapolis FedEx distribution center that claimed the lives of 8 people, 9 if you include the apparent self-inflicted wounds of the alleged shooter.  Every family touched by this should be at the top of our concerns.  Imagine seeing your loved one leave for work on what appeared to be a routine day and not returning.

Many have centered on how to prevent these sorts of tragedies from ever happening again.  There is plenty to say on that topic, but  I will not dwell on that.  I will explore another aspect of this.

I understand that many police officers and other first responders at the scene of this shooting are having a difficult time handling this.  The descriptions of just how gruesome this scene appeared are awful.  We sometimes forget that people first on the scene see the worst of it and I hope they all receive the help needed.

I watched a CNN reporter recount on Sunday morning that he had been covering the protests in Minnesota over police shootings when he was sent to Indianapolis and covered the mass shooting here.  He has since returned to Minnesota and was asked how he is handling these stories.  He hesitated for a moment and honestly said it has been hard on him and other journalists.  Police have been throwing journalists to the ground and manhandling them in Minnesota as they try their best to cover a situation where the police and protestors look on reporters with suspicion.

I have been following the social media accounts of some local journalists and the enormity of this loss  of life at FedEx is beginning to weigh heavily on them.  I sincerely hope each of them gets the help needed to continue on.

The Indianapolis mass shooting has the obvious victims of these dead and their loved ones.  But there are many stories of collateral damage done to others.  I feel for every single person impacted by this horrible event.  There is not much more I can express at this time.

I have attended past town hall meetings hosted by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, but this one was a bit different.  He was at home, put two of his three young sons to bed, but warned that one son was still on the loose and could show up at any time on the Zoom meeting. (It never happened)

Such was the start of the mayor’s first foray into a virtual town meeting.  One thing is for certain, he packed a lot into the time he had and answered a long list of submitted questions.

During the first part of the meeting, Fadness shared the virtual stage with Public Health Director Monica Heltz.  They reviewed some numbers.  For example, the Fishers Health Department has conducted more than 60,000 COVID tests and completed over 20,000 COVD vaccinations.  The city concentrated on vaccinating local teachers and 800-900 local educators took advantage of that program.  It is possible the city may work with Hamilton Southeastern Schools to vaccinate students as the eligibility age of the vaccine is reduced.

The mayor responded to comments asking whether the city is providing another layer of government with the creation of a city health department.  Fadness says the county health department had a tax rate of 1.3 cents per $100 of property valuation, but city residents no longer pay that tax to the county, but instead pay a tax rate of 1 cent to support the Fishers Health Department.

The mayor said a tunnel underneath 116th Street in downtown Fishers will begin construction once school is out and will require a rerouting of traffic during construction in that downtown location. Fadness says the work should be completed in 60 days.

The Fishers Parks Department, which has been headquartered in the building at 116th Street and Brooks School Road for many years, will be moving to the new Hub & Spoke building on 106th Street near the Nickel Plate Trail.

On rumors that Chick-fil-A may be coming to Fishers, the mayor said talks with the company are ongoing but no plans are done nor has a location been determined.

Fadness says to look for announcements on economic development projects that will add a number of jobs to the city in the next 60-90 days.

Finally, the mayor is looking forward for Fishers to “come back to life” after more than a year of COVID lockdowns and restrictions.

This is just a summary of the many issues covered by the mayor in his first Virtual Town Hall.

Shake Shack is ready to open its first Indiana location in Fishers District Thursday, April 22nd.  The restaurant hours will be 11 AM – 9 PM Sunday through Thursday and 11 AM – 11 PM Friday and Saturday.

The Fishers location will feature the restaurant chain’s first Shack Track app-thru lane, allowing customers service via app or web and pick up by way of drive-up window, walk up window, curbside pick-up or in-Shack pick-up shelves.

“We are so excited to finally open our doors in Fishers District, our first location in Indiana,” said Andrew McCaughan, Chief Development Officer at Shake Shack in a company news release.

For its Fishers District opening, Shake Shack will be donating a meal to the Fisher’s Youth Assistance Program for every order placed on opening day. Fishers Youth Assistance Program (FYAP) was formed in 2014 to help strengthen youth and families through community involvement.

The Hamilton County Democratic Party issued a statement about the mass shooting at the Indianapolis FedEx facility, criticizing Republicans for passing a repeal of the state licensing requirement to carry a handgun.

Local Democrats point to a vote earlier this year in the Indiana House of Representatives,  passing House Bill 1369, which calls for repealing the law requiring a license to carry a handgun in Indiana.

“The Hamilton County Democratic Party vehemently rejects this legislation and urges the Senate Committee currently reviewing the bill to work in a bipartisan manner to identify common sense gun laws that could help prevent future tragedies,” according to the statement issued Friday morning .

The party says the thoughts and prayers of Hoosiers in Hamilton County are with the families of the victims this morning, but words cannot undo the permanent loss of life.

The blockage of east-west traffic on 146th Street at State Road 37 will continue over the weekend and should reopen Monday.  On State Road 37, watch for possible backups north of 146th Street as vehicles will be limited to one lane both north and southbound for the next 2-3 weeks.

Here is this week’s full road construction listing as provided by the City of Fishers:

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High school graduation ceremonies for Fishers and HSE High Schools will be held at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum Saturday, June 5th, but each high school will have two sessions in order to lower the number of people at each event.

Superintendent Allen Bourff told Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board members Wednesday night Fishers High School will hold graduation ceremonies at 9:00am and 11:30am, then HSE will have their events at 2:00pm & 4:30pm.

There will be no orchestra or choir, but recorded music may be used.  There will be no handshakes as graduates accept their diplomas.  There will be no procession to begin and end each event.  Each graduate will receive four tickets to the ceremony.

The speeches will be reduced to a brief address by the principal and remarks from valedictorian.

Last year’s graduation was delayed due to the pandemic and held outside.

In other updates from Dr. Bourff at the HSE Board meeting:

–The Fishers Health Department is working with school officials to provide COVID vaccinations to students, now that the age of those eligible for the vaccine has drawn lower.  No details have been worked out on how that may work.

–The first three days of school after spring break have resulted in 34 positive COVID tests at HSE Schools, which exceeds the last full week before spring break at 23 cases.  However, Dr. Bourff says that this week’s number is lower than had been projected.

Finally, the consent agenda is normally a list of routine items approved by the board at each regular meeting.  Wednesday night, board member Brad Boyer voted no on the consent agenda, a rare event.  When asked after the meeting why he voted no, Boyer responded that he had asked questions on some items contained in the consent agenda and did not receive “satisfactory answers” to those questions.  The consent agenda consists of board minutes from the previous meeting, financial claims and personnel actions.  When asked what specifically on that agenda caused him to vote no, Mr. Boyer declined to answer.

A school calendar and school start times had been set for the coming school year, but the pandemic and budget issues may bring changes.  The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board heard proposals from administrators on both issues Wednesday night.

First, on class start times, high school would change from 8:20am to 8:30am.  The intermediate and junior high school stat time would move from 9am to 9:15am.  Elementary start times would remain the same.

The new times will help in the three-tier bus scheduling system and reduce the need for bus drivers.  Bus drivers have been in short supply.

Assistant Superintendent Matt Kegley told the board block scheduling for the higher grades can help keep the amount of class time well within state requirements.

Kegley told board members the calendar adjustments deal with fewer flex days and more e-learning days.  Kegley pointed out the differences in e-learning and virtual.  E-Learning is doing assignments while not under the teacher’s guidance, while virtual learning is a class setting held virtually via Zoom.

The revised 2021-2022 school year calendar is available at this link.

The proposed 2022-2023 school calendar is available at this link.

The start time changes and calendars will be up for board approval at the April 28 meeting