Students from the two youngest grades in Harrison Parkway Elementary, kindergarten and first-grade, made a short walk east down 141st Street to Ed Martin Toyota in support of the Million Meal Movement.  They filled the dealership’s showroom Tuesday.

Ed Martin Toyota made a $10,000 donation to the classes, so they could accomplish their goal of working with Million Meal to pack healthy, ready-to-cook meals for Hoosiers in need.  The food will go to the Delaware Township Trustee’s Food Pantry and other groups around Hamilton County.

HSE Schools encouraged each grade level at HPE to identify other ways to make a difference in the community and will be working on various service projects before and after their assigned meal packing time.

The Fishers Board of Works and Public Safety approved a nonexclusive agreement with AT&T Monday, allowing the communications giant to install small cell towers, paving the way for 5G technology to be available in the city.

City Attorney Chris Greisl told board members the city will establish an engineering standard and AT&T will attach the 5G small cells to city infrastructure, such as traffic signals, street lights, municipal buildings and park structures.  AT&T is looking to begin 5G installations in 3 areas of downtown Fishers.  The city will be talking with other 5G providers about similar agreements.

The board plans on scheduling a work session later this month to discuss the issue of handling city approvals of 5G small cell installations in residential neighborhoods.  Mayor Scott Fadness says he is looking for a healthy discussion at the board’s work session.

“From our conversations with the utility companies and telecom industry, they do desire to deploy a significant number of these (5G small cells) throughout our community” says the mayor.  “Some, more than others, have a strong desire to get into neighborhoods.  That decision still resides squarely with the Board of Works.”

The board will be setting-up the approval process for requests to place this 5G equipment within Fishers neighborhoods.  There are a number of small cell pieces of equipment required to furnish 5G service, because the range is small, only 500 to 700 feet.

In other board actions at the Monday session:

–$1.649 million in road and street improvement bids received the okay from the board.  The road projects include Allisonville Road 131st Street to 146th
Street, Brooks School Road Club Point to Fall Creek, Hague Road Railroad Tracks to
116th Street, New Britton Woods Subdivision, and Kincaid from 96th Street to
106th Street.

–The board approved a professional services agreement with NBBJ, a national architect and design firm, for the Nickel Plate Trail.  The board also adopted the Master Plan for the trail.  You can review the Master Plan at this link.

–The City Hall office furnishings are being updated and the board voted to buy $131,601.79 worth of the furniture.  For a breakdown of all the furniture, use this link.

Fishers Police launched an investigation after a Snapchat threat to Fishers Junior High School was reported.  Officers found the juvenile allegedly responsible for the threat, questioned the suspect and his parents, and found the threat not to be valid.

Here is the full text of the Fishers Police Facebook message posted Sunday night:

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Earlier today the Fishers Police Department was made aware of a threat, via Snapchat, directed at Fishers Junior High School. An investigation was immediately initiated utilizing Patrol Officers, Detectives, and School Resource Officers.

The juvenile responsible for the posting the threat was quickly identified, located, and interviewed. The juvenile and his parents cooperated with the investigation. According to information, gathered by Officers there does not appear to be any validity to the threat.

Quick reporting and quick action by Fishers firefighters contained a blaze at the Meadow Brook Assisted Living facility, 11011 Village Square Lane, near Allisonville Road and Easy Street.  The first reports came in at 8:16pm Sunday.

According to Fishers officials, the fire was quickly put out and residents were sheltered in place without injury.  Investigators remained on the scene Sunday night in an effort to determine the cause of the fire.

The damage was limited to the room where the blaze started.  There was damage in the hallway in that area of the building.

No residents at Meadow Brook are expected to be displaced as a result of the fire.

When I posted my story about the May 8th HSE School Board meeting, I addressed what happened, what surrounded the session and credited two school boar members, Mike Bottorff and Brad Boyer, for having the courage to change their votes.

But there are three ladies that need to be singled out as the ones spearheading the move toward a nondiscrimination policy the community could support.  Those three are school board members Michelle Fullhart, Julie Chambers and Janet Pritchett.

Fullhart is beginning her second term, or fifth year, on the HSE School Board.  She has been a consistent proponent of a nondiscrimination policy with a comprehensive list of those to be protected by that policy.

Chambers, a newly-elected board member, spoke-out at the February 13th board meeting when the nondiscrimination policy was before the board, and tied the issue into the city and school system’s efforts at improving mental health.  “How dare we say we are forward thinking,” Chambers said at that time.

Janet Pritchett, another newly-elected member of the board, has supported providing a list of those covered by the policy, including gender orientation and gender identity.

These three ladies never gave up on their mission to strengthen the school district’s policy on nondiscrimination.  Even though they were outvoted at the April 24th board meeting on this policy question, the three eventually persuaded two other board members to join them at the May 8th meeting when final approval was before the board.

Another person that should be recognized is Jennifer Chavez, a resident that spoke before the board February 13th and argued for students and staff members not be subjected to discrimination due to gender identity.

As I have written previously, as difficult as this was for the board members to handle, a nondiscrimination policy is only as good as its implementation.  Let’s hope members of the HSE Schools community come together to make this policy work.

Mothers day is special.  I do know my mom has no computer and no device allowing her access to the Internet.  So, just want to wish my Mom a happy Mother’s Day, even though she will likely not see this (unless someone shows her with their own smart phone).

My mom raised six children, and as the oldest, I watched her raise all of us.  To this day, I do not know how she did it – but somehow, she did, and successfully.

So, Happy Mothers Day to all mothers, especially my own.

And, I cannot forget my wife Jane, and how she was (and is) the perfect mom to our two daughters.

Much love for my wife Jane, my mom and my wonderful mother-in-law Helen.

The first Farmers Market at the Fishers Nickel Plate Amphitheater last Saturday had rain falling most of the morning, so that depressed the crowd.  Today, May 11th, it was a cool, but bright and comfortable day with temperatures in the 50s.

That led to a big crowd perusing the many vendors on hand.  Even I walked away with something.

The Saturday morning event will continue through October this year

Here are more pictures from the May 11th Farmers Market:

Continue reading People Flock To The Fishers Farmers Market →

Yes, I am once again taking a point of personal privilege on this post, but there is an important connection to the work I do on this blog.

My wife Jane and I are celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary today, May 11th.  When she said yes, it wasn’t a close call on where we would live.  Jane had just built a house in Fishers and I had a tiny apartment in the Irvington area of Indianapolis’ east side.  I moved to Fishers.

Remember, in 1991, Fishers was still a very small town with a population of less than 10,000.  I was hesitant to move there, but Jane assured me this was an area that was poised for growth.  As usual, my lovely wife was right.

When I retired from the federal government in late 2011, I had this crazy idea to start a news blog aimed at local Fishers news, because most of the news outlets in the Indy metro area were largely ignoring Fishers.  We had a weekly paper and a few monthlies centered on feature stories, but virtually no daily reporting.

So I took the plunge and started the blog in January of 2012.  Now that I am in my 8th year of blogging, allow me to give credit where credit is due.

This blog would not be possible without the support of Jane.  She doesn’t edit individual stories (maybe she should) but she has provided the general support and counsel needed.  There were times that I thought this was all too much for one person and perhaps I should call it quits.  Jane is the one that encouraged me to continue because no one else was doing what I was trying to do.

When it was time to downsize after our daughters graduated from college, it was Jane that said we could not look outside Fishers for our new home.  How could I continue LarryInFishers.com if no longer living in Fishers?

You have no idea how many really stupid ideas I considered.  The reason I put them aside was because Jane frankly told me how bad those ideas were.  As usual, she was right.

So, as I continue my 8th year of blogging, I salute my beautiful wife Jane on our 28th wedding anniversary.  Without you, LarryInFishers.com would never have started and wouldn’t be continuing today.

The road construction gets a little longer the deeper we get into the season.

Below is the latest update from the City of Fishers, covering the work week starting Monday, May 13th:

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MUNICIPAL DRIVE

The northwest side of Municipal Drive is closed for storm sewer work for the new Flexware Innovation and Fishers Ellipse, LLC. buildings. The closure is on the north side of Municipal Drive from the Nickel Plate District Amphitheater west to the Fire Station parking lot. Motorists can still access Municipal Drive from Lantern Road. The closure is expected to last for another 2 weeks.

STATE ROAD 37

Drainage work for SR37 is in progress. Construction vehicles will be using the construction entrance on Lantern Road, between 126th Street and 131st Street, and may cause some short delays.

116TH STREET

There is a temporary lane restriction on eastbound 116th Street between Municipal Drive and Commercial through Friday, May 17. The restriction will be in effect between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

136th STREET & CYNTHEANNE ROAD

Temporary lane restrictions are in effect between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. near and at the intersection of 136th Street and Cyntheanne Road. Restrictions are due to utility work for roundabout construction. For more information on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

ALLISONVILLE ROAD

126th Street at Allisonville Road closed on Monday, April 22 for approximately 30 days. Detour routes are down 131st Street and 116th Street to Lantern Road. Homes along 126th Street can be accessed from Lantern Road. Allisonville Road will remain open. For more information on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

Southbound and northbound traffic on Allisonville Road has moved onto the newly constructed pavement as part of Phase 3 of the project. The posted speed limit remains 30 mph.

126TH STREET

Work has begun on intersection improvements for 126th Street and Parkside Drive. View the Fact Sheet to learn more about this project.

Traffic will be switched this week to the south. There will still be one lane of traffic in each direction while construction is being completed.

96TH STREET

Utility relocation is beginning on 96th Street as part of the road widening project, resulting in periodic lane restrictions over the coming months. For more information about the 96th Street road widening project, view the Fact Sheet.

(While this list encompasses numerous project updates, it does not list all DPW projects throughout the city. The most recent projects are detailed, however please keep in mind that all construction activities are weather permitting. We appreciate motorists’ patience and caution while driving through construction sites)

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

Republicans got all the attention in Tuesday’s local primary elections. But, Democrats say they will make a limited effort in the November general election campaign. Democratic County Chairman Joe Weingarten said this week that he is “95 percent certain” his party will have a candidate for mayor in Carmel. But, he is not ready to identify the candidate.

Weingarten had good news for Noblesville candidate Chris Jensen and renominated Mayors Scott Fadness of Fishers and Andy Cook in Westfield. No opposition in November for them. Democrats have until next month to fill their ticket for the fall election, but no prospects, the chairman says.

He said an announcement on a Carmel candidate may be made May 14 after a scheduled County Election Board meeting. At that time Democrats will seek further investigation into an allegation that a bribe was offered to Carmel mayoral candidate Fred Glynn to drop out of the race for mayor.

Incumbent Mayor Jim Brainard, who says no such offer was made, defeated Glynn in Tuesday’s election. He is seeking his seventh term in the city that has never elected a Democrat to public office.

The outcome of the GOP primaries on Tuesday were widely predicted. With few exceptions, incumbents prevailed for most offices a stake. And, in Noblesville what mayoral candidate Mike Corbett called the “establishment” was quite successful if there is indeed an establishment. The term is hard to define, especially in the case of our county’s growing cities.

Since incumbent officeholders are established in office, one could assume their successful re-election would be a victory for the establishment. The only incumbent to lose in Noblesville was city councilman Rick Taylor. Of course, mayor-to-be Jensen is not an incumbent, but had the support of retiring Mayor John Ditslear.

The most surprising loss of an “establishment” incumbent was that of Carmel City Councilor Ron Carter. He has been the longest serving, most loyal supporter the Brainard administration had. Carter has worked hard on city projects, spending his own time that is not required in the job description. Still, he lost Tuesday to a relative unknown, Dr. Tim Hannon, who makes his first venture into politics this year.

It’s hard to explain. Sometimes in politics, as in other pursuits, a person just wears out his welcome.