The Fishers Junior High School Choir, under the direction of Cindy Baney, performs for the crowd in the video above

Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I, what people in 1918 called the “war to end all wars.”  From the vantage point looking back from 2018, we know that conflict did not end all wars, but it was a bloody engagement that cost tens of millions of people their lives.

The City of Fishers may not have any World War I vets left, but there are plenty of other military veterans that filled the City Hall auditorium Monday morning as the local observance of Veterans Day happened with lots of local officials on hand.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness had a busy week recently and found a note on his calendar at the end of the week to visit Allisonville Meadows.  Although the mayor was tired from a busy week of traveling, he decided to honor the commitment and found a room full of aging military veterans.  As he greeted each vet, one had trouble walking but found his way to the mayor and told him, “Thank you sir, you really didn’t have to do this.”

Fadness explained it was a moment when a politician is “absolutely leveled and humbled” by the veterans comment.

“Here I am, handing out a simple certificate, that says we recognize what you’ve done, and simply saying thank you, and he’s embarrassed for the recognition,” Fadness told the crowd.  “Just something about that stuck with me that is truly humbling for us elected officials”

Both Fishers Deputy Mayors, Elliott Hultgren and Leah McGrath gave remarks during the event.  El Ahlwardt, a Navy veteran, handled the duties as Master of Ceremonies.

The Fishers Junior High School Choir provided the music (see video at the top of this story).

Here are a few photos from the ceremony:

Continue reading Fishers Celebrates Veterans Day →

(Updated 10:05am November 17, 2018)

Election Day has come and gone locally and the Hamilton Southeastern School Board will welcome three new members and one incumbent set to serve a second term this January.

The newcomers include Brad Boyer, Janet Pritchett and Julie Chambers.  Michelle Fullhart will begin her second board term in 2019.

Thursday, I asked all four winners to provide me with an e-mailed statement on the election results and any comments on issues facing the board during the upcoming four-year term.

Michelle Fullhart responded that she has been spending time in Fort Wayne with her father who just had open heart surgery.  She expects to submit comments to me upon her return.

Julie Chambers wrote she is “honored” to have been elected and looks forward to working with everyone connected to the HSE Schools

” I’m confident that the new board will come together to make sure the transition is smooth and we can tackle each issue with our students’ best interests in mind,” wrote Chambers. “We all want to make sure our kids are receiving the best education possible and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Janet Pritchett is proud of everyone that worked hard on her school board campaign.

“I am more than ready to get back to work for the kids in our district and look forward to the next four years of doing so, ” Pritchett wrote.

Brad Boyer says he is looking forward to starting his new school board role.

“I think that we have the chance for a new beginning, a fresh start,” Boyer said. ” I hope that we will be able to create a bold, forward-looking, strategic vision for our school….We will be accountable, as will everyone in the school system.”

Once I have a statement from Michelle Fullhart, this story will be updated.

Now that the elections of 2018 are complete, think about this….the filing period for candidates in the 2019 Fishers City Election will begin in early 2019,

by

Richie Hall 

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

It was a successful day for both Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern at
the Fishers Shootout.

Both the Tigers and the Royals got two victories out of the Saturday event, keeping
them both undefeated for the season. It also gave both teams some momentum as they
each head into big Hoosier Crossroads Conference openers next Friday.

Host Fishers cruised past Valparaiso 61-34 in its morning game, then took care
of Lake Central 41-28 in an evening contest.

Southeastern, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, sailed past Lake Central 68-37, collecting
coach Chris Huppenthal’s 400th career win in the process. In the evening, the Royals
got Huppenthal win No. 401 by trouncing Valpo 73-22.

BALANCE FOR THE TIGERS
If there was a theme for Fishers’ victories on Saturday, it would be “balance.” In
both games, all but one player that took to the court scored for the Tigers.

Fishers took care of Valparaiso early, leading 15-3 after the first quarter and 31-12
at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Vikings in each period.

Sophomore Katie Howard led Fishers with 12 points, she accomplished that total
on four 3-pointers. Howard drained three of those 3s in the fourth quarter. Lydia
Stullken and Regan Newman both added 10 points.

The Tigers dominated the boards in that game, pulling in 44 rebounds. Stullken had
nine rebounds, as did Cierra Tolbert. Katie Burton cleared seven boards, while Skylar
Fulton and Tamia Perryman both grabbed six.

Perryman handed out seven assists and made two blocked shots, while Burton
dished out five assists.

In the evening game, Fishers led the Indians 8-4 after the first quarter. But the
Tigers were already on their way to a big lead, as Tolbert’s free throw with 2:48 left
in the first started a 9-0 run. Burton started the second period with back-to-back baskets,
then Stullken threw in consecutive baskets.
Fishers led 19-7 at halftime, then went through the second half unbothered. Burton
and Fulton were the Tigers’ leading scorers, each with eight points.
Perryman, Stullken and Tolbert all grabbed six rebounds. Perryman dished out
another four assists, while Stullken blocked three shots.

“This team has so many different players that can step up,” said Tigers coach
Lauren Vail. “We’re winning with our leading scorers having eight points, and
that’s great when you have balance like that. These girls just compete well for each other
and I thought that was evident today.”

ROYALS DOMINANT ON THE BOARDS
Both of Southeastern’s wins were lopsided, although the Royals arrived at them
in different ways. But the common thread for both of those victories was dominance
in rebounding.

Against Lake Central, HSE jumped out to a 24-8 lead in the first quarter, then were
up 38-17 at halftime. Southeastern then pulled ahead 57-26 after three periods.

Four players landed in double figures for the Royals. Amaya Hamilton scored 19
points and reached double-double status with 13 rebounds. Malea Jackson threw in
four 3-pointers on her way to 15 points, and also dished out four assists. Sydney Parrish added 13 points (including three 3s) and handed out six assists. Jackie Maulucci scored 12 points.

As a team, HSE outrebounded Lake Central 26-10.

That was just a warm-up for the Valpo game. The Vikings hung with the Royals
through the first half ot he first period, leading 8-6. But Southeastern got going
after that, making a 9-0 run to lead 15-8.

Molly Walton started the run with a threepoint play, Jackson scored on a short lob,
then Parrish made consecutive baskets.

Valparaiso got back to within 15-12, but that started a 13-0 run which straddled the
first and second periods. Parrish contributed eight points in that run. The Royals led
39-16 at halftime, with Hamilton scoring back-to-back layins to end the half.

Southeastern breezed through the second half, outscoring the Vikings 34-6. But the
big story was the rebounding. The Royals outrebounded Valpo 49-11, including 29
offensive rebounds – Southeastern had more offensive boards than the Vikings had points.

Huppenthal said he thought his team started the game “sluggish,” noting that
Valparaiso was getting offensive rebounds at the beginning of the contest.

“I thought we were a step slow getting to our spots when we were trying to press
them,” said Huppenthal. “And then we challenged them after I took the timeout,
‘We need to crash the boards, we need to crash the boards better.’ And even at halftime,
that was the focal point was, we need to continue to crash the boards as well as
pick up our intensity on defense. I thought our girls answered the challenge.”

Parrish scored 22 points and earned a double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds.
Hamilton got her second double-double of the day by scoring 13 points and clearing 10
boards. Jackson added 13 points, Walton hauled in nine rebounds and Maulucci had
five rebounds.

Fishers is now 5-0 for the season and is off until Friday, when it hosts undefeated
Westfield in both schools’ first Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season.
Southeastern is 4-0 and hosts Perry Meridian on Tuesday before traveling to new HCC
opponent Franklin Central on Friday for its league opener.

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:

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

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.