The commercial space in the Fishers District development on 116th Street continues to fill-up with the official ribbon-cutting for Massage Heights. Owner Cristina Goebel, members of her staff, One Zone Chamber representatives and city officials gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon.
The Fishers Arts Council is set to unveil a new exhibit, “Embracing Black Culture: A Visual Arts Celebration.”
Students from Fishers High School and Fall Creek Junior High School will be displaying visual art, including paintings, drawings, photographs and poetry.
There will be a free public reception and performances on Friday, February 7th from 6-8 pm at The Art Gallery at City Hall. Meet the artists and browse both levels of the gallery to enjoy the visual art that embraces Black Culture. The second hour is devoted to performances by the students. These will include poetry, original songs and stepping. Finger food and soft drinks will be provided.
Less than an hour after issuing a news release saying the Hamilton County Commissioners have rescinded the appointment of Lisa Charles as the County Veteran Service Officer (CVSO), the commissioners now say they have “temporarily” rescinded the action .
According to the commissioners, a three-member committee recommended the appointment of Charles, with the understanding that residency requirements for the position could be waived. Indiana code IC 10-17-1-5 states that a county veteran service officer must be a resident of Indiana for at least five years immediately preceding their appointment. Charles moved to Indiana in 2018.
“We believe the interview process produced the most qualified candidate to help our county veterans,” Christine Altman, president of the County Commissioners said in the news release. “Unfortunately, we have learned the residency requirements cannot be waived.”
The three commissioners have asked Charles to continue working full-time in her current position while they sort out the details. Efforts are currently underway at the Statehouse that could change the residency requirements.
“We understand there is legislation going on downtown that could change these artificial residency requirements,” Altman says. “We will reserve the appointment of an official CVSO until we see what shakes out in the legislature this year.”
The Veterans Service Office has a full-time CVSO and two part-time positions. A military veteran and Carmel resident, Charles was an assistant to the Hamilton County Veteran Service Office prior to her appointment.
In a story published January 25th by the Hamilton County Reporter, Hamilton County Democratic Chairman Joe Weingarten accused the commissioners of not following state law in the appointment of Charles.
Hamilton County Reporter
The Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday approved allowing Hamilton County to hire an additional magistrate.
“Our judicial officers are in serious need of an extra set of hands to help speed up the trial process,” Schaibley said. “It is encouraging to see the swift action in the General Assembly to help provide Hamilton County with this much-needed resource.”State Rep. Donna Schaibley (R-Carmel) said the new magistrate would preside over minor offenses and hold preliminary hearings for more serious crimes. Schaibley said Hamilton County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, which makes it more difficult for staff to keep up with the workload.
The most up to date data from the Weighted Caseload Measure shows Hamilton County has just one judicial officer for about 29,500 people. Schaibley said Hamilton County superior and circuit court judges, commissioners, council and prosecuting attorney support adding this position.
House Bill 1145 now heads to the Senate for further consideration. To learn more, visit iga.in.gov.
by
Fred Swift
Hamilton County Reporter
(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com. This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com)
Less than two weeks remain during which candidates may file for the May 5 primary election. Thus far few contests have developed for the county offices at stake in this year’s election.
The major exception is the competition for three at-large seats on the Hamilton County Council. Thus far seven candidates have formally filed and another one or more are expected.
Why so much interest in the council? At least part of the reason is the factional split on some issues between the seven incumbent councilors.
All members like to consider themselves fiscal conservatives, but some are more conservative than others. This splint probably leads to the number of candidates interested in the three seats.
Those filed thus far are: Brad Beaver, Lyneen Burrow, Jeff Hern, Sue Maki, Rick McKinney, Steve Nation, and former Noblesville mayor John Ditslear, who filed his candidacy on Tuesday. There are indications that others may join the field.
In the meantime, no contests have developed for county commissioner where Mark Heirbrandt and Steve Dillinger are running for re-election.
Similarly, County Auditor Robin Mills is thus far unopposed.
Former County Treasurer Kim Good now has an opponent for the Treasurer’s position. Susan Byer filed her candidacy on Tuesday.
Incumbent Surveyor Kent Ward is alone running for another term.
No Democrats have yet filed for any county office.
Dozens of candidates for precinct committeeman and state convention delegate have filed in both political party primaries.
The parties will hold reorganizational meetings this year, and both parties have state conventions with the GOP gathering shaping up to be the most interesting. Attorney General Curtis Hill will be opposed by Adam Krupp and John Westercamp.
Hamilton County Reporter
In a battle of top 10 Class 4A teams, No. 4 Fishers took care of No. 6 Lawrence North 55-41 Tuesday at the Wildcats’ gym.
The Tigers played an outstanding defensive first quarter, taking a 17-2 lead by
the end of the period. Fishers continued to add to its lead, going up 34-14 at halftime
and 47-26 after three quarters. Lawrence North tried to make a comeback in the fourth
period, but the Tigers held off the Wildcats to get their 20th win of the season.
Lydia Stullken led Fishers with 14 points and eight rebounds, followed by
Katie Burton’s nine points and six rebounds. Hailey Smith added eight points
and eight rebounds, with Olivia Smith collecting five rebounds and dishing out
four assists. All eight players that took to the court for the Tigers scored.
Fishers is 20-1, marking the fourth time in program history that the Tigers
have reached 20 wins. Fishers travels to Franklin Central on Friday for its regular-season and Hoosier Crossroads Conference finale.
by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
Hamilton Southeastern got a wake-up call during the first half of its Senior Night game during Pike.
The Red Devils were tied with the Class 4A No. 5 Royals at halftime, but Southeastern woke up in a big way in the second half. HSE outscored Pike 23-2 in the third quarter and rolled to a 61-36 victory in the Royals’ final game of the regular season.
The Red Devils led 7-4 at one point during the first period before Southeastern went on an 8-0 run. Junior Lydia Self started things with a pair of free throws, then senior Sydney Parrish and sophomore Makayla Hinshaw both hit 3-pointers.
A layin from Jaelynne Murray cut HSE’s lead to 12-9, which is where the first quarter ended. Lauren Horton tied the game with a 3-pointer to start the second, but two seniors teamed up to get the Royals back on top: Bailee Poore scored off a Lauren Morris steal.
The game went back and forth for a while until Southeastern made another 8-0 run to take a 25-18 lead. Parrish scored five points, sandwiched between a Morris 3. But Pike came back again, and used its own 7-0 run to tie the game by halftime, 25-25.
“We were stagnant on defense in the first half,” said Royals coach Chris Huppenthal. “We tried to trap and their splitting our traps, getting to the basket easy. When we go up 25-18, they score three possessions in a row. Offensively, we weren’t moving the basketball. We had some opportunities to get the basketball inside and people weren’t able to make
the pass inside.”
The Red Devils scored the first basket of the second half, but after that it was all Southeastern. The Royals went on a 23-0 run that ate up almost the entire third
quarter and gave them a 48-27 lead.
Parrish, freshman Olivia Brown and Morris each hit a triple for the first nine points of the run. Parrish totaled 11 points in the third quarter. Senior Bri Baker helped the Royals continue to cruise in the fourth period, hitting a pair of 3s in the early minutes of the quarter.
“Olivia Brown comes off the bench and does a wonderful job for us,” said Huppenthal. “Bri Baker hit a couple 3s. The difference was that we just woke up. We’re not at a time of the year where you can sleepwalk through any part of the game. It’s Game 22 and we just got to do a better job preparing ourselves when we walk out of the locker room.”
Two seniors, appropriately, led HSE in scoring. Parrish finished with 24 points, including three 3-pointers, and reached double-double status with 10 rebounds. She also had six assists. Parrish now sits at 1,862 career points, needing seven more to match the Hamilton County girls scoring record. Morris added 10 points.
“It’s not easy being a high school athlete, going through four years of summer workouts and weight training and the season,” said Huppenthal. “It really, for all intents and purposes now has become a year-round commitment. You look at these five seniors have made that commitment. As a coach you really appreciate that about them, what they’ve done for the program. These kids are part of the legacy last year of winning a state championship, a big part of that, and that’s going to be something that they’re going to
be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives.”
Southeastern finished the regular season 20-2 and plays Carmel in the first round of the Westfield sectional next Tuesday. The Royals beat the Greyhounds 52-36 back on Nov. 29, but 4A No. 9 Carmel has been on tear as of late, winning 11 of its last 12 games.
“We know they can be dangerous,” said Huppenthal. “We know they can shoot the ball. We know their length. It’s just something that we’ve got to get ourselves ready for and again, we’ve got to be ready when we walk out of the locker room to play the game.”
A second Weingardt is joining a local accounting firm. John R. Weingardt has been named Senior Tax Specialist at Peachin, Schwartz and Weingardt. His father, John W. Weingardt, is a partner on the firm and serves on the Fishers City Council.
Peachin, Schwartz & Weingardt is located on Crosspoint Boulevard in Fishers.
It is no secret that we live in extremely partisan times politically. The Hamilton County League of Women Voters is planning an event at the Hamilton East Library in Noblesville Monday, February 17th, at 6:30pm aimed at educating voters on how to find non-partisan information.
The speaker is scheduled to be Bill Moreau, co-founder and president of the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc.–operating online as The Indiana Citizen–a nonpartisan, non-profit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed, engaged Hoosier
voters.
The League will also talk about its Web site – Vote411.org
The February 17th session will include information on referendums, absentee ballots, ID requirements, candidate forum videos and more.
Bank robberies are rare in the City of Fishers, but police report that one happened Tuesday afternoon at the Regions Bank branch near 116th Street & Allisonville Road.
Fishers Police say a suspect displayed a handgun to a teller and demanded money. The teller complied and the suspect fled the scene. There were no injuries.
An extensive search was conducted in the area of he bank, but the suspected robber remains at large. The suspect is described as a black male, 30-40 years of age, wearing a hat and a coat. Police released a photo from bank security cameras (see photo above).
Anyone with information regarding this robbery should call Detective/Sergeant Robbie Ruble at 317-595-3319.