Hamilton County Reporter

Westfield’s offense was in high gear in the first half, and that led the Shamrocks to a stunning sectional semi-final win Friday night.

Westfield beat No. 7-ranked Fishers 42-14 in a Class 6A Sectional 4 semi-final game at Riverview Health Stadium. The ‘Rocks jumped ahead 28-0 by halftime and sailed through the second half to set up a sectional championship clash at Carmel next Friday.

The Shamrocks scored their first touchdown in the first quarter, with Mason Piening catching a pass from Camden Simons, then running it 64 yards into the end zone. That was merely a preview of the second period, where Westfield exploded for 21 points.

Patchett punched the ball in from the one-yard line just two minutes into the quarter. Micah Hauser was next, streaking 51 yards into the end zone with 7:47left. Finally, Dane Wheeler grabbed a 22-yard pass from Simons and took it in for a touchdown. Sean Sullivan made all four extra-point kicks, and Westfield had its big halftime lead.

The Tigers got on the board with 3:55 left in the third quarter. Geoffrey Brown blocked a Shamrocks punt, and Joey Slimak recovered it, then blasted off 95 yards for the touchdown.

Westfield responded 41 seconds into the fourth quarter, as Patchett scored on a four-yard run. But Fishers got that one back just as quickly, with Marcus Roux tossing a three-yard TD pass to Jeffrey Simmons. Jack Phillips successfully kicked the extra points after both scores.

The Tigers would get no closer, however. Hauser finished the scoring late in the fourth quarter with a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Sullivan kicked the extra points for both of Westfield’s second-half touchdowns, making him a perfect 6-of-6 for the game.

Simons had an efficient game, connecting on 8 of 14 passes for 156 yards. Wheeler caught five receptions, and Piening had the other three catches. Patchett led the rushing with 85 yards.

David Frey led Westfield’s defense with nine tackles, while Benji Welch and Carson Voorhis both had seven stops.

Roux completed 16 of 31 passes for 171 yards. Dylan Scally led the Tigers’ rushing with 88 yards.

Westfield improved to 6-4 for the season, while Fishers finished the year
7-3.

As you may well know, if you have followed my writing in this space, I only sustain this local news blog in Fishers, Indiana because other news outlets have not been paying enough attention to Fishers.  That’s what I thought when I began this blog in 2012, and that is sadly what I still believe today.  LarryInFishers.com is totally a volunteer operation, consisting of me and only me.

Journalism is in trouble at the local level in America, but at the national level, there are major earthquakes rumbling throughout sports reporting.  Yes, sports has journalists.

Sports Illustrated (SI) has had the reputation of being the Cadillac of sports reporting, since I was just a young kid reading about sports (trust me, that was a long time ago).  Sadly, those days are gone.

SI has gone through some ownership changes, with the latest laying off about half the entire editorial staff at the magazine.  The owners have stripped SI of it’s soul, it’s writers and photographers.  Sports Illustrated is gone as we have known it.

The latest casualty is Deadspin.  This started as a wild and irreverent sports blog in 2005 where you could tell the small staff of writers were having fun and readers loved it.  It was bought and sold a few times until something called G/O Media  decided to buy it.

An edict came down from on high at the company, ordering Deadspin editor Barry Petchesky to no longer write about anything political…stick to sports, Deadspin was told.  Petchesky refused to follow the order, was fired and most of the rest of the writing staff left with him.

G/O Media says Deadspin will not go away, it will still be around.  Yes, the same way Sports Illustrated is still around.

For years, newspaper reporters & editors called the sports pages the “candy store” of journalism.  For many years, it probably was.

That was before the major issues of our day began to bleed into the sports world.  That’s why Deadspin could not be true to itself and follow the owner’s edict to stay away from politics.

National sports journalism is on the wane and that is sad for all of us.  But, there is hope.

The best hope I have found is The Athletic, a Web site that charges a monthly fee but does not pester you with advertising.  It has hired many excellent national sportswriters (many are former SI writers).

But The Athletic’s biggest strength is its local stable of writers.  Bob Kravitz, Stephen Holder and many others cover pro and college sports in Indiana.  From all indications, The Athletic is doing very well.  If you are a sports fan, get a trial subscription.  I suspect you will be lured into the subscriber status.  In my view, it’s that good.  (Full disclosure, nobody at The Athletic paid me to write that, I just believe it to be true)

So, journalism is in some trouble, in sports and in local coverage.  For local news, I’m still around for free if you are interested in what’s going on in and around Fishers.  Allow me to add that the Hamilton County Reporter, with which I have a news-gathering partnership, does a nice job covering Hamilton County Sports.  You see some of the work produced by Spots Editor Richie Hall and others at the Reporter on this news blog.

I suppose there is hope.  Just subscribe to newspapers and news services.  Journalism is hard work, labor intensive and deserves your support.  Without that support, journalism goes away.  Do you really want to live in a nation with few or no independent news sources?

A piece of machinery used to crush corn cobs may have caused a Friday morning fire at Beck’s Hybrids headquarters, located in the northern Hamilton County community of Atlanta.  The Jackson Township Fire Department says crews found heavy smoke and fire upon arrival to the scent and requested a 2nd Alarm.

The fire was located in a building that is used to process corn cobs from waste products to a bedding product used for animals.  Although the blaze is still under investigation, preliminary indications are that the machine used to crush the cobs or a conveyor belt may have caused the fire that spread to a sophisticated dust collection system located inside the building.

No injuries were reported.

Hamilton County Emergency Management provided a drone utilized throughout the fire which allowed the Incident Commanders information to  monitor heat conditions and target hot spots.

Several fire departments from three counties assisted in fight this fire.

Be aware of a closure this weekend on 116th Street close to City Hall.  Also know that I-69 will be subject to major lane restrictions in and and near Fishers Saturday and Sunday.

Here is the complete listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

================

116TH STREET 
116th Street between Municipal Drive and Lantern Road will be closed Friday, November 1 beginning at 7 p.m. through Monday, November 4 at 5 a.m. Detour on Hague Road or Commercial Drive. Access will remain open to businesses along the closure route, and Municipal Drive will still be accessible for early voting. View the detour map for more information.

INDOT CLOSURES
There will be one lane open on I-69 Southbound from 116th Street to 82nd Street on Saturday, November 2 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The left two lanes of I-69 Northbound at 106th Street will be closed on Saturday, November 2 at 7 a.m. until Sunday, November 3 at 5 p.m.

LANTERN ROAD 
Lantern Road is closed to through traffic, beginning south of 116th Street to Fishers Pointe Boulevard, as part of the Downtown Infrastructure Improvement Project to improve the sanitary sewer underneath Lantern Road. Access to Lantern Road remains open from the north (via 116th Street) for local residential, business, and Fishers Elementary School traffic. The closure for this portion of the project is expected to last approximately 90 days. Check out the project Fact Sheet to learn more.

The intersection of Lantern Road and Fishers Pointe Boulevard is expected to reopen by Monday, October 28.

Fishers Police Officers will be supporting the Cherish Center by putting away their shaving equipment for the month of November.  This is a voluntary program to raise money for Cherish Center and awareness about the struggle cancer patients, and others, endure.

“We all have loved ones, friends, and co-workers that have been touched by cancer,” said Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart in a department news release. “As a police department, we are always seeking new ways to engage with the community and No Shave November will help us reach that goal.”

Beginning November 1st, when you see a Fishers police officer please know that the scruffiness is purposeful and temporary. Feel free to join the department as officers raise awareness for a good cause and reduce the stigmatism that is often associated with physical and mental health disease.

For more information on the Cherish Center, use this link.

When Lash Lounge went looking for a new location, the business made a decision to be a part of downtown Fishers.  The beauty salon will offer services such as eyelash extensions and lifts, eyelash and eyebrow tinting, and facial threading.

The salon will host an official Grand Opening celebration on November 13 from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Fishers location, 8395 E. 116th St., Suite 153, which will be open to the public. From now through the grand opening, the salon will offer introductory specials.

“Our passion is helping women love what they see in the mirror and to face the world with confidence,” says co-owner, Allison Lewis Lodhi in a company news release. “As the pioneer in the industry, The Lash Lounge’s vision is to be the beauty market leader in lash and eye treatments.”

This will be the second Lash Lounge in Indiana, with the first located in Carmel.

Anyone doing business in downtown Noblesville knows finding a parking place can often be challenging.  Many people visiting the Hamilton County Seat are there from other places in the county, visiting county offices and courts.

My news-gathering partner, the Hamilton County Reporter, has a front page story in the Wednesday edition on plans the Hamilton County Commissioners have to construct a new downtown Noblesville parking garage with 430 parking spaces and the design will allow an additional 150 spaces to be constructed later, if the county chooses to add a fourth floor in the future.

The garage would be located east of Eighth Street on both sides of Clinton Street. The commissioners indicated Clinton Street will remain in place and be covered by the structure’s first floor.

Documents released by the county Monday say the project will be a public-private partnership with the intent to fulfill parking needs for county employees and make current county-owned property available for an economic development project.

The commissioners said they have been contacted by developers who have an interest in the county-owned parking lot located on the east bank of the White River south of State Road 32. That location currently serves as a large parking lot for county employees.

Although commissioners would not identify who, they say one developer would like to bring 200 market rate apartments, along with first-floor retail and parking to the riverfront property.

Commissioner Christine Altman said funds used from the potential sale of the of the county-owned riverfront parking lot would be redirected towards funding the parking garage.

In addition to the new parking garage, the county will ask Noblesville to transfer ownership of the public parking lot, located on the north side of Logan Street just south of Eighth Street, to Hamilton County.

Altman and Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt both described how State Road 32 (Conner Street) represents a dangerous physical barrier between county offices and available parking. Moving parking north of the courthouse and Judicial Center eliminates the need for pedestrians crossing one of Noblesville’s busiest roadways.

Officials hope to break ground on the new garage in the spring of 2020 with completion in the fall of 2021.

The outdoor season for the Fishers Farmers Market is over for 2019, but the holiday market is about to get underway.  Starting Saturday, November 2nd, through December 28th, you will find the holiday market, indoor iteration, 9am-12noon, at Holland Park.

20 vendors will have plenty of holiday-related items for sale.  Here are some of those vendors:

• Aahaa Chai
• Artisano’s Oils & Spices – every other week
• Blackhawk Winery & Vineyard
• Circle Kombucha
• Dragonwood Honey & Maple
• Garcia’s Gardens
• Generations Pie Company
• Gluten Free Creations
• Grace & Truth Farms
• Grandpa’s Beef Jerky
• Groomsville Popcorn
• Harvest Café Coffee and Tea
• Hidden Acres Farm LLC
• Johnnie Raber Family Farm
• Lazy Labs Bakery
• Louise’s Sweets
• Marta’s Goody’s
• Masters Home Preserves
• Mathoo’s Eggrolls
• Our Garden Soap
• Pig’s Tail Charcuterie (November 9 & 23 and December 14 & 28)
• Tailored Toddies
• The Bearded Baker

On November 30, the market will participate in the citywide celebration of Small Business Saturday, Shop Fishers. The first 50 market shoppers will receive $5 in Market Bucks to spend anywhere at the market. Several vendors will also have their own Small Business Saturday deals, including Aahaa Chai, Grace & Truth Farms, Harvest Café Coffee and Tea, Lazy Labs Bakery, and Louise’s Sweets. Learn more at this link.

It was a beautiful, sunny October day last Sunday when civic education was at the center of a major fund raising activity for the “We the People” programs at both local high schools.  Top Golf was the location and a good crowd was on hand for golf, a silent auction and some food.

We the People is a competition among participating high schools to test the civic knowledge of students on the We the People teams.  Both Fishers and HSE High Schools have had trips to Washington DC in recent years, earning the opportunity to compete in the national finals.

Janet Chandler says the money raised will be used for travel expenses in out-of-town competition, books and research materials for the teams and other related items.  As of this writing, the total amount raised was not available, since the silent auction funds continue to come in.

Mayor Scott Fadness made an appearance at Sunday’s Top Golf event

Several cities in Central Indiana have moved their official Trick or Treat hours to the weekend due to a rainy and windy weather forecast for the evening of October 31, but Fishers is not changing plans.

The official Trick or Treat hours for Fishers remain 6pm-8pm on October 31st.

Fishers Police Spokesman Tom Weger says his department is aware of the less than ideal weather forecast, but adds that “conditions are not likely to be dangerous.”

But city officials will keep an eye on the forecast as Haloween draws closer,

“We will keep watch of the weather and be prepared to make adjustments in the event the weather forecast changes” according to Weger.