Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County officials will hold a ribbon cutting for the expansion of the current jail at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 28. The $13.5 million project will add 120 beds to the facility.

The initial phase of the jail expansion features five cell pods with 38 prefabricated steel cells consisting of two- and four-man cells. The expansion will also include an interior recreation area, classroom and medical support area. A second phase of the project could add additional beds.

The Sheriff’s Department is expected to move inmates into the new facility in early July.

The public is invited to tour the new expansion as well as the current facility. On Friday, June 28, “Slumber in the Slammer 2.0” takes place with a guided tour and more from 6 to 10 p.m., with financial donations accepted. Activities continue on Saturday, June 29 with guided tours taking place at 9 and 11:30 a.m.

Reservations are required and a $5 per person charge is required with proceeds benefiting the Chaplain’s Division. Click here to sign up for either event.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Another year, another Hoosier Crossroads Conference All-Sports championship for Hamilton Southeastern.

The Royals won the All-Sports Award for the 2018-19 school year, in addition to a sweep of the Boys Sports and Girls Sports championships. Southeastern totaled seven conference titles during the season, winning in baseball, girls basketball, boys golf, girls soccer, boys swimming, girls track and field and volleyball (tied with Avon).

Fishers finished the season with three HCC titles, in boys cross country, girls swimming and boys tennis. Noblesville won the conference championship in girls cross country.

The HCC also announced the All-Conference teams for baseball and softball. The lists are as follows

SOFTBALL
Team Standings
Brownsburg 7-0, Avon 5-2, Fishers 5-2, Franklin Central 4-3, Hamilton Southeastern 3-4, Noblesville 3-4, Zionsville 1-6, Westfield 0-7.

First Team
Avon: Hayden Batton, Zoe Frossard, Nicole Large.
Brownsburg: Mackenzie Bedrick, Anna Carroll, Kelsey Endress, Marah Wood.
Fishers: Brooke Benson, Courtney James, Hannah Mays.
Franklin Central: Macee Roberts, Maddie Weaver.
Hamilton Southeastern: Nicole Lang, Abby Taylor.
Noblesville: Chloe Tragesser, Ella White.
Westfield: Avery Parker.
Zionsville: Lucy Garrett.
Honorable Mention
Avon: Madyson Day, Makaela Penning.
Brownsburg: Maicey Bedrick, Sydney Rodeghier.
Fishers: Caroline Bernhardt, Olivia Latimer.
Franklin Central: Raigan LeMar, Josie Newman.
Hamilton Southeastern: Ava Aguilar, Kaelin Wincek.
Noblesville: Julia Furiak, Emily Minett.
Westfield: Reghan Oland.
Zionsville: Callie Rheinheimer.
Coach of the Year: Keith Brown, Brownsburg.

BASEBALL
Team Standings
Hamilton Southeastern 10-4, Noblesville 8-6, Westfield 8-6, Zionsville 7-7, Fishers 7-7, Avon 6-8, Brownsburg 6-8, Franklin Central 4-10.

First Team
Avon: Austin Baugh, Cam Melvin.
Brownsburg: Kerrington Cross, Parker Gryskevich
Fishers: Kyle Brenczewski, Nick Lukac
Franklin Central: Matt Hall
Hamilton Southeastern: Cole DeWael, Michael Dillon, Greyson Droste, Tyler Schweitzer.
Noblesville: Cooper Miles, Cade Nelis, DJ Owens.
Westfield: Trey Anderson, Parker Bard, Bryce Dorton.
Zionsville: Justin Castettes, Jack Firestone.

Honorable Mention
Avon: Lucas Carrillo.
Brownsburg: Travis Bevington.
Fishers: Tristan Baker, Jon Vore.
Franklin Central: Cade Fitzpatrick.
Hamilton Southeastern: Jack DeWolf, Anthony Eggers.
Noblesville: Ethan Imel, Brady Walden.
Westfield: Zach Collins, Kyle Pepiot.
Zionsville: Cole Connor, Colin Price.
Coach of the Year: Jeremy Sassanella, Hamilton Southeastern

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board appointed Clint Wilson Wednesday night to fill the remaining term of Mike Bottorf, through December 31, 2020.  Wilson was approved by a vote of 5-0.

Board member Janet Pritchett chose to abstain, saying she has nothing against Wilson, but abstained out of “principle.”  After the board meeting, Pritchett chose not elaborate on what she meant by “principle,” but may say more later.

Wilson will be sworn-in as a member of the school board at the July 10th meeting.  Former Board President Bottorff announced his resignation from the board in late May.

There were 24 applications filed to replace Bottorff, and the board named four finalists that were publicly interviewed June 18th.  The other three finalists were Travis Brown, Peter Griffin and Jeff Lantzer.

During his public interview, Wilson told board members he has three children, with two enrolled in HSE Schools.  His family moved to Fishers six years ago.

He is an agent with State Farm Insurance.

Wilson’s involvement as a volunteer for the Youth Mentoring Initiative and participation in the Finance Academy motivated him to seek this board seat, he said during the interview session.  He has observed many of the challenges students face in school these days.

As an insurance agent, Wilson collaborated with other agents to establish programs bringing potential clients into the office to discuss what is needed in each individual case.

Even with the many positive parents in the HSE Schools, Wilson said students face challenges in dealing with social media.  He has found that students learn much differently compared to when Wilson was in school.  He says critical thinking is very important for students to learn.

The board seat Wilson assumes will be up for election in November, 2020.

The Council Connect meeting Wedneday saw its largest crowd since the the sessions began earlier this year, with more than 20 people gathering at the Reserve in the Hamilton Trace complex, a senior citizens residential facility.

Council President Rich Block and Vice President Eric Moeller answered questions from the audience for about 90 minutes.

Transportation and economic development issues took center stage, but one central issue was the lack of an up-to-date printed map of the City of Fishers.  The councilmen promised to look into that.

There were a number of senior citizens on hand and they asked about Fishers stature as a senior-friendly city.  AARP announced in early 2018 the naming of Fishers as Indiana’s first age-friendly city.

One citizen asserted that Fishers motorists’ behavior is not good, with speeding a regular thing along main arteries such as 116th Street .  The councilman pointed to the recent actions standardizing neighborhood speed limits at 25 miles-per-hour.  They promised to raise the speeding on main streets with the police department.

On the transportation issue, the councilmen said the bus running during rush hours between Fishers and downtown Indianapolis several years ago had plenty of ridership when gasoline prices edged up to $4 a gallon, but when prices went down to near $2.50 a gallon ridership declined to the point where the bus operation was cancelled.  The city will continue to study mini-transit operations to navigate within the city if that becomes feasible.

Questions were raised about a developer buying homes just west of the Chatham Tap restaurant along 116th Street, with development possible but none announced at this time.  Councilman Block responded that those homeowners received a very good price when selling those homes, and added all that property in not now within the Fishers city limits.

Another Council Connect session will be scheduled during July or August, with the date, time and place to be named later.

It is rare that a carjacking of any kind is reported in the City of Fishers, but police say an Amazon contract driver was reported carjacked at Minden Drive and Dorster Street, in the Zimmer Park area of Saxony, at around 10:15 Tuesday morning.

The suspect fled the scene, and no one was injured.  However, the suspect did get away in the Amazon driver’s vehicle, which contained Amazon shipments to be delivered.

Here are the details, as provided by the Fishers Police Department in a news release:

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On June 25th, 2019 at 10:13 AM, the Hamilton County 911 Communications Center received a phone call from an individual reporting he had been carjacked at gunpoint by an unknown assailant at the intersection of Minden Drive and Dorster Street. The suspect displayed a handgun and demanded that the driver exit the vehicle. After the victim exited the vehicle, the suspect fled the area traveling eastbound towards Olio Road. The suspect was initially a passenger in a black GMC full-size SUV, which followed the van as it fled the scene.

The victim is a contracted delivery driver for Amazon. The stolen vehicle containing Amazon packages, is a late model white Ford 250 Transit Van. The Ford 250 Transit Van has a light blue piece of paper displayed on the front dashboard. The suspect is described as a mid-twenties, slender build, black male wearing grey running pants, grey hooded sweatshirt, black beanie, and black shoes.

The suspect is no longer in the area. There were no injuries during this incident. If you have any information regarding this incident, contact Detective Edgar Holmes at (317)-595-3300.

The City of Fishers must work through the issues involved in rolling out the next generation of wireless technology – the 5G network.  Most cell phones now use 4G technology.

The Indianapolis metropolitan area has been chosen by the industry as a place where 5G will be installed first.  The question before the City of Fishers is this – does the city encourage wireless companies to move into neighborhoods, and how should concerns from individual subdivisions be considered as the new technology is installed around the city?

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness presided over a work session Monday afternoon with the Board of Public Works and Safety, all about 5G.  The board consists of the mayor and his two appointees, Jeff Lantz and Jason Meyer.

City Attorney Chris Greisl gave the board a rundown on the machinations leading up to the legal landscape of today.  Bottom line, as the law stands now, requests to install 5G towers in Fishers neighborhoods will be decided by the Board of Works.

Mayor Scott Fadness says the board could soon see 15-20 individual proposals from commercial providers at every meeting in the near future.  The question board members must decide is how to balance encouraging Fishers as a place where the new technology is welcomed and the aesthetic concerns neighborhoods may have with the look and placement of 5G towers.

For example, if a resident has a nice picture window that is blocked by the placement of a new 5G tower in the neighborhood, would that resident be able to ask the city to move the tower a few feet to preserve the view?

One major difference between 4G and 5G wireless technology is the need for more towers with 5G.  A 5G tower has a range of only 500-1,000 feet, meaning more towers are required.  4G towers cover a much wider geographical area.

Fadness expects Verizon to have the most interest in installing 5G wireless networks in Fishers residential areas.  AT&T has already built a fiber optic network in most Fishers neighborhoods, but Verizon has not.  A residential 5G network would allow Verizon to offer residential high-speed Internet and television service through a 5G network.

The mayor said he has received comments from Fishers residents about the possible health risks attached to 5G wireless technology, but referred at a May 12th New York Times story that points out a Russian disinformation campaign on 5G health risks.  The mayor also talked about that subject in a recent podcast interview with me.

The wireless firms expect this new 5G network to be the technology of the future that should last for decades, so it is not expected to by usurped by new technological advances in the foreseeable future, Fadness told fellow board members.

The board reached no decision at the Monday discussion.  The mayor plans to invite technical experts to talk with board members at a future board work session, possibly in August.

With the Internet streaming services all the rage with entertainment production and Wall Street, the question arises – what is the future of the film business?  Will the traditional movie theater survive?  I have a few thoughts.

The June 12th meeting of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board was wrapping up.  All the items on the agenda were completed and I was awaiting a motion to adjourn.

Something else happened.  The board Vice President (and acting President) Sylvia Shepler announced that she wished to read a statement.  The statement she read, on behalf of the entire board, was essentially an apology to the community the school corporation serves with a promise to do better in the future.

I must admit I was very surprised by this statement.  I have written a few commentaries about our school board, mainly about how board members have not always lived up to the high standards set by the teaching staff and students.  Basically, there have been cases where the board has botched the public handling of many controversies.

After listening to the statement and reviewing the written copy, I needed to think it through before offering my reaction.  Well, here it is.

I won’t list all the instances where, in my view, the board has not lived up to the high reputation the HSE Schools generally have around the state.  But this board statement could well be the start of changes that will improve the board’s reputation.

It is rare that an elected public body issues the kind of apology read at the June 12th school board meeting.  But the HSE Board admitted where it had gone wrong, how it had brought the criticism on itself, and understands its past errors.

I have sometimes been among those critics and must commend the board for issuing that statement.  It wasn’t just the apology, which appears to be very sincere, but most important is the promise to do better moving forward.

Any of us in need of improvement must clear an important hurdle first – we must admit the mistakes we have made.  Members of the HSE School Board have done that.

Now the test will be how the board acts in the future.  As a reporter covering the school board for more than seven years, I have had the opportunity to get to know each of the board members.  Personally, I might have a few differences with some of those board members, but in nearly every case, each ran for the office with the right reason in mind….to improve the education of each student in the HSE District.

The board has a major decision to make at the next board session June 26th – name a replacement for Mike Bottorff, who resigned his board seat in late May.  There are four finalists that were interviewed by the board in an open meeting June 18th.  It is very important that the board select the right person to replace Mr. Bottorff.  After watching the open interview session, any of the four would likely make an excellent replacement to fill-out the term, which ends on December 31, 2019.

So, HSE School Board, you have my compliments on admitting the mistakes of the past.  I would urge each of you to fulfill the promise of your statement – “We can and will do better.”

On June 28th, 2018, the newsroom of the Annapolis Gazette, a small local newspaper located in the state capital of Maryland, was a busy place.  Lots of people reported for their normal duty, covering the local news scene.

There was nothing normal about that day in Annapolis.  A gunman, unhappy about some of the stories the Gazette had published, walked into the newspaper office and starting firing.  When the shooting was over, five journalists had died, two were badly injured.

The names of the dead were: Rob Hiaasen, Wendi Winters, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith.  For those that survived the attack, they all went back to work and the paper did not miss an edition.  Volunteers from newspapers in the area pitched in to help the Gazette.

It is a reminder that journalism can be a dangerous profession.  We in America often think of reporters working in dangerous places outside the United States but we can no longer rule out the danger of doing journalism here at home.

I have been a volunteer journalist in Fishers for seven and a half years.  No one has threatened me during that time.  But I did make my living in journalism for about ten years, during the 1970s and early 1980s.  There were times threats were made.  That never changed the way I went about doing my work, but I did take a few precautions as a result.

David Dreier is chairman of Tribune Publishing.  (Tribune owns the Annapolis Gazette)  He is also heading up an effort to create a memorial for journalists that lost their lives just doing their jobs as journalists.  The proposal is to place the memorial on the National Mall in Washington DC.

Getting that done is a long process and can take 5-7 years.  Mr. Dreier is not asking for any government money to fund this memorial.  He is raising money from private sources only.

The process is just beginning.  I hope everyone reading this story will support this effort.  Not everyone can afford to make a financial contribution (if you do, that is fine).  The most important thing is to support the idea that this memorial is important.  I would hope this memorial will receive the support needed to make it a reality as the process begins.

To learn more about the memorial project, use this link.

If you spend much time driving in Noblesville, be aware 10th Street will be repaved over a 3-week period (weather permitting) starting Monday, June 24th.  According to my news gathering partner, the Hamilton County Reporter,  the 1.5 mile stretch of road will remain open during the project, with flag personnel managing one lane of traffic in the construction areas.

Resurfacing work will be split into two sections – north and south of State Road 32 (Conner Street). During construction, signs will notify motorists that parking on the road will not be permitted.

The roadway will be milled and repaved from Greenfield Avenue to Field Drive.