131st Street continues to be closed at Allisonville Road, per the City of Fishers’ latest construction update.

Watch out for lane restrictions at 136th & Southeastern Parkway as well as drainage work in the area of State Road 37.

Here’s the update from the city, for the work week starting November 12th:

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ALLISONVILLE ROAD
131st Street is closed to all traffic at Allisonville Road for up to 30 days for utility and reconstruction work. Detour is south to 126th Street, where left turns will be permitted over to Lantern Road.

Traffic has switched to the west of Allisonville Road onto new pavement from Fawnsbrook Drive to 131st Street. Work has begun on the east side of the road, and one lane is open in each direction.

For more info on this project, view the Fact Sheet.

136TH STREET & SOUTHEASTERN PARKWAY
Temporary lane restrictions will be in place while paving and striping is completed around the roundabout.

106TH STREET 
106th Street from Hague Road to the Crosspoint Boulevard/Lantern Road roundabout is now open, with lane restrictions. This is still an active construction site, so please drive with caution. 106th Street from Eller Road to Allisonville Road and from Allisonville Road to Hague Road remains closed for the 106th Street Infrastructure Project. This project is still on schedule.

STATE ROAD 37
Drainage work for SR37 has begun. Construction vehicles will be using the construction entrance on Lantern Road, between 126th Street and 131st Street, and may cause some short delays. There are no scheduled lane restrictions or closures along SR37 at this time.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor 

Hamilton County Reporter

We’re less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving, which means that the first boys basketball games are on the horizon.

Official practices for boys basketball began on Monday, and contests can begin on Nov. 19, which is the Monday before Thanksgiving. Three schools will start their seasons on Tuesday, Nov. 20: Carmel hosts Zionsville, Fishers welcomes Lawrence Central and Hamilton Southeastern will travel to Muncie Central.

Three more schools will play their first games the night before Thanksgiving, on Wednesday, Nov. 21. Hamilton Heights heads over to Lebanon, Noblesville will host Shortridge and University welcomes Park Tudor.

Westfield’s first game is Saturday, Nov. 24, when the Shamrocks host Kokomo. Guerin Catholic will start on Tuesday, Nov. 27 by welcoming Herron, and Sheridan begins its season on Saturday, Dec. 1, when the Blackhawks travel to Anderson Prep.

Here are boys basketball schedules for Fishers & HSE High Schools:

Fishers

Nov. 20: Lawrence Central, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 24: Ben Davis, 1:30 p.m.
Nov. 27: Muncie Central, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30: at Noblesville, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 1: at Mount Vernon, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 8: at Columbus North, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 14: Hamilton Southeastern, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 20: at Lafayette Jefferson, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 22: Columbus East, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 27-28: at Lebanon Tournament
Jan. 4: at Pike, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 8: at Arsenal Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 11: at Brownsburg, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 18: Avon, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26: Franklin Central, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 31: at Westfield, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 2: at Fort Wayne Snider, 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 5: Anderson, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 8: Pendleton Heights, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 15: Zionsville, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 20: at Kokomo, 7:30 p.m.

HSE

Nov. 20: at Muncie Central, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 27: at Pike, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30: Avon, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 1: at Fort Wayne North Side, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 7: North Central, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 8: Culver Academies, 5 p.m. at Southport
Dec. 14: at Fishers, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 21: at Pendleton Heights, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 27-28: West Kentucky Hoops Classic, at Caldwell County High School
Jan. 4: Lawrence Central, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 5: at Warren Central, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 11: Westfield, 8 p.m.
Jan. 12: at Anderson, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 18: at Zionsville, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 19: Mount Vernon, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 25: Noblesville, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 31: Franklin Central, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 5: New Castle, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 8: at Carmel, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 15: at Brownsburg, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 21: Lawrence North, 7:30 p.m.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor 

Hamilton County Reporter

ANDERSON – The Fishers girls basketball team is off to its best start in four years.
The Tigers improved to 3-0 Wednesday by defeating Anderson on the road, 67-48. Fishers got off to a fast start, opened up a nice lead by the third quarter and held off a late comeback by the Indians in the fourth period.

The Tigers scored the first nine points of the game, and the first seven of them were from the free throw line. Skylar Fulton got the first basket of the contest on a jumper with just over four and a half minutes left in the first quarter, and that put Fishers up 9-0.

Anderson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Tigers’ lead to 9-6, but putbacks from Regan Newman and Tamia Perryman finished the period, and put Fishers up 13-6. Lydia Stullken and Katie Burton made layins to move the Tigers ahead 17-6 – an 8-0 run. All eight players that took to the court for Fishers scored on Wednesday.
“That’s the thing about us,” said Tigers coach Lauren Vail. “On any given night we have kids that can do that, that can help us out and come up late with points or rebounds or whatever it might be.”

At halftime, Fishers led 23-14. The Tigers started the third quarter with a 17-2 run, giving them a 40-16 lead. Perryman scored six points, while Audra Emmerson added five on two nifty shots: She made a no-look flip into the basket to begin the period, then later drained a 3-pointer.

Fishers enjoyed a 48-26 lead late in the third. The Indians’ Staisha Hamilton ended the quarter with a 3, and that actually began a 12-0 run for Anderson that cut the Tigers’ lead to 48-38. Fulton and Burton each made layins to end the run, and that gave Fishers the momentum to stay well in front. Emmerson helped out with another 3.

“I think our kids settled down and played our style of basketball,” said Vail.
Emmerson scored 16 points for the Tigers, while Perryman added 10 points and nine rebounds. Cierra Tolbert had nine points and eight rebounds, with Stullken grabbing five.

After three games on the road, Fishers will finally play at home on Saturday. The Tigers will host their own Fishers Classic, taking on Lake Central at 12:30 p.m. and Valparaiso at 3 p.m.

“It’s nice to see teams from outside of our area,” said Vail. “They always bring a little something different. Valpo’s very long and Lake Central is just very disciplined and they run a lot of sets. It’s good for us to play that competition.”

The Fishers Plan Commission welcomed a new member, voted a unanimous favorable recommendation for a proposed senior citizens housing project and tabled an ordinance proposed by Brad DeReamer dealing with Homeowners Associations (HOAs) and developers.  That was all at the Wednesday night session at City Hall,

First, the ordinance.  City Councilman and Plan Commission member Brad DeReamer proposed an ordinance for Fishers, similar to one already enacted by the City of Carmel, that would require Common Area Inspections by a third party when subdivision sections are completed and the developer transfers control of the common area to the Owner’s Association.   DeReamer argued that HOA’s have been left with big expenses when developers fail to complete projects in the neighborhood’s common areas, citing several examples, some in his home neighborhood of Britton Falls.

When several Plan Commission members appeared lukewarm about his proposed ordinance, DeReamer told fellow Plan Commission members that in several neighborhoods within his council district, it is the view of the residents there that “the developers are running the City of Fishers.”

After a lengthy discussion, the commission sent the proposed ordinance back to the city planning staff for more study.

In other Plan Commission news:

Howard Stevenson, a former member of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board, was sworn-in as the newest member of the commission.  Stevenson replaced Kent Nelson.  Nelson resigned his seat after moving to Arizona.  Stevenson will also serve on the Fishers Board of Zoning Appeals.

Finally, the commission voted unanimously to send a favorable recommendation to the Fishers City Council to approve the Planned Unit Development for the Ritchey Reserve, proposed senior citizen housing project to be constructed at 7877 E 106th Street, if approved, would be developed by Real America, a firm headquartered in Fishers.

Here is a full list of the election results for Hamilton County, courtesy of my news-gathering partners at the Hamilton County Reporter:

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

In the craziest off-year election in history, more than 138,000 Hamilton County voters went to the polls yesterday, creating anxiety on the part of many who could not imagine what such a large turnout would mean.

In the end, Republicans won all but one minor office (a township board seat in Fall Creek Township), but margins were closer than usual, leading Democratic Chairman Joe Weingarten to express satisfaction with the progress his candidates had made.

In most countywide races, Republicans won with about 60 percent of the vote, but that was down from the 70 percent or more that is normal in the county.

Leading the way was a relative newcomer to politics, Chuck Goodrich, who will take the seat formerly held by retiring State Rep. Kathy Richardson. Dennis Quakenbush won the sheriff’s race with slightly more than 60 percent of the vote.

The Noblesville School referendum proposing a $50 million bond issue passed with 58 percent of the vote. And, in Hamilton County, voters approved a state constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.

Most school board members were re-elected in non-partisan voting.

A little-known change in the state law nearly cost some township officials their positions. Township officials are no longer included in straight-ticket voting. With more than 46,000 county voters pulling a straight Republican ticket, and only 20,000 voting straight Democratic, all incumbent township trustees and board members suffered greatly. All township officials are Republicans, and all but one managed to win despite the change in the law, but by much smaller margins than were seen in other races.

Election officials said the voting went well despite the record-breaking turnout. Nearly 33,000 residents voted early this year, and another 9,800 voted absentee.

Based on the vote count from the Hamilton County Election Office, it appears a Democrat has been elected to the Fall Creek Township Board.  Rachna Greulach edged out Greg Dewald to win the third and final board seat.  Republicans Brian Baehl & Jason Meyer both won re-election to the board.  Here are the final vote totals:

(R) Brian Baehl              11,810

(R) Jason Meyer            11,795

(D) Rachna Greulach   10,675

(R) Greg Dewald            10,554

(Top three win board seats)

Fall Creek Township Trustee Doug Allman was unopposed

In Delaware Township, Republicans swept the offices, but the vote count was a little close for the third board seat.  Here are the vote totals for the board:

(R) Marilyn Schenkel                 5.955

(R) David Giffel                             5.422

(R) Ed Pierce                                  5,397

(D) Dayna Colbert                       4,849

(D) Mary Ray                                  4.694

(D) Bianca Zaklikowski             4,599

Incumbent Delaware Township Trustee, Republican Debbie Driskell, won an easy victory over Democrat Daniel Greenhalgh.  Driskell tallied 57% of the votes.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board, encompassing the entire City of Fishers, unincorporated areas of Delaware & Fall Creek Township, as well as all of Wayne Township, will swear-in three new board members in 2019 and return one incumbent.

Michelle Fullhart won a second term by garnering 70% of the District 3 vote, compared to Jennifer Reardon McSoley’s 30%.

In District 1, local businessman Brad Boyer won a three-way race, collecting 44% of the vote.  Josh Richardson received 34% of the votes cast, Ben Elsbury received 22%.

In District 2, Janet Pritchett won another three-way race, winning the board seat with 48% of votes cast.  Frank Whelan, in his second bid for a board seat, finished the evening’s tally with 29% and Matt Molter had 23% of the vote.

In District 4, in the contest between two attorneys, it was a close vote count.  Julie Chambers won 51% of the vote, Brad Banks 49%.  The candidates were separated by only 268 votes among a total of 9,674 cast.

Here is the final vote count in each race, according to the Hamilton County Election Office:

District 1

Bradley Boyer                      2,650

Joshua Richardson           2,042

Benjamin Elsbury             1,302

My wife Jane and I are lucky that we are retired and head to the polls in the middle of the day, when voting lines tend to be shorter.  We did that today at our polling place, which was once Ben & Ari’s and is now the Alderman Auto Dealership.

The poll workers were friendly and smiling, even though they began their work day at 5am and will not leave until all is complete, sometime after 6pm today.

The United States Senate race has been the big statewide story in Indiana.  The President of the United States has visited Indiana more than once and former President Barack Obama spoke at a rally in northwest Indiana.

I tend to concentrate on local elections, and in Fishers the most important one is the decision to elect four members of the local Hamilton Southeastern School Board.  With four seats up for grabs and only one incumbent running, there will be a significant change in the make-up of our local school board.

In past years, I have followed the election results from the county office in Noblesville, but I am under contract to speak early Wednesday morning in Greenwood, so I may not have the election results all set late tonight, but I should have the results very early Wednesday morning by the time most people are up and getting ready for their day.

I have seen a big increase in the number of people reading my blog and listening to my podcasts during this election season, so thanks to those of you reading LarryInFishers.com and listening to my LarryInFishers.com podcasts.  You are the reason I continue with this volunteer endeavor.

Colin Lennon though he had retired, but the next thing he knew, he was in charge of a locally-based charity, Mustard Seed, that provides furnishings for people facing serious challenges and in need of home furnishings.  Here is my conversation with Colin Lennon