Hamilton County Reporter

In 2017, Prevail provided services to 3,478 individual victims of crime or abuse. This is a 15 percent increase in the number of people served in 2016 and the highest number of individuals served in one year in the history of the agency. Due to this increase in services, Prevail has announced an expansion of their Noblesville office in order to accommodate the growing community and support the increase in needs of the survivors they serve. None of this growth would be possible without the support of the community.

To celebrate this community support, come visit from 1 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 to see the expansion and learn more about Prevail’s programs and services, including tours of the entire agency with one of their dedicated team members. The official ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Natasha Robinson, Marketing and Event Coordinator at natasha@prevailinc.com or (317) 773-6942.

Hamilton County Reporter

On Wednesday, Hamilton County Superior Court 3 Judge William Hughes struck down a controversial sign ordinance recently passed by Hamilton County Commissioners.

The ordinance was challenged by Hamilton County Council candidate Rick Sharp and his attorney Timothy Stoesz.

Sharp alleged the ordinance causes him legal injury by prohibiting placing political signs anywhere in a right-of-way, as defined by the ordinance.

The ordinance also prohibited placing signs larger than six square feet on private property.

According to the ordinance, county workers and sheriff deputies were permitted to remove signs. Owners of the signs would then be charged a fee for reclaiming the signs.

A written opinion issued by Hughes stated, “Those restrictions and penalties either prohibit speech altogether or have a chilling effect on speech by, without limitation, authorizing Hamilton County personnel to remove such signs immediately and without notice, or requiring owners of signs to pay collection fees to the County to recover signs the County has removed.”

The Court also ruled Sharp is entitled to an award of his reasonable attorney fees.

Sharp was happy with the Judge’s ruling. “This ordinance would have produced a very chilling effect on both political and religious free speech. I am gratified that the judge agreed with our position that this was a case of overreach on the part of county government!”

Local school corporations need better ways to use technology in order to evaluate threat assessments on social media.  HSE Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff briefed board members on his recent trip to a national school boards conference.

Bourff said officials at the conference suggested school districts find ways to analyze social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and e-mails.  The analysis would look for “guide words” and phrases within the database for threat assessments.

The conference also emphasized equity, which was not just about how schools treat all students to promote their “maximum potential,” but equity was described as a “pro-active measure” to address future security issues.

“Resentment is bred by maligned treatment or inequitable treatment,”Bourff said.  “When you have resentment, such as we’ve seen in other districts, it evolves into violent behavior.”

HSE Schools has just hired an Equity Officer, Erica Buchanan-Rivera.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools reduced energy costs 6% from 2016 to 2017.  That’s what Bob Rice, the school district’s energy manager, told the HSE School Board Wednesday night.   That means the school corporation spent $244,000 less comparing 2016 to 2017. When adjusted for weather, the savings are even higher.

“We’ve also reduced the amount of CO2 that we are putting into the atmosphere by 3,800 pounds,” Rice told the board.  “HSE would have had to plant 19,000 trees to make that same impact on the environment.”

Rice added the school system’s energy savings from 2016 to 2017 would be the same as taking 600 cars off the road.

In 2018, Rice says the local school district is on track for a 5% energy savings over 2017.  The energy consumption is going down, even as the student population grows.  These savings were realized despite a utility rate increase.

It has been a very long time since I was in the second grade, but I do not recall anything like the energy project a group of Sand Creek Elementary (SCE) School students explained to the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night.

All ten second-graders memorized their presentations to board members, discussing the results of their energy project.  The group had a goal of reducing their own carbon footprint.

The class partnered with Bob Rice, HSE Schools Energy Manager and utility company Duke Energy.  Duke brought in the National Theater for Children to help present a school-wide convocation, engaging SCE about doing more to conserve energy. Along with Duke and Bob Rice, the students encouraged the community to sign-up to receive free energy kits for their homes. So far, 191 families have received a kit, resulting in a savings of more than 35,000 kilowatts within the local community.

Their own elementary school building also had an energy audit and following the results, the students planned a ‘Turn It Off’ Tuesday, and made a presentation during SCE’s STEAM Night.

For more details on all this, use this link.

Early voting is now underway in Hamilton County. Poll workers Charles Turean (right) and Steve Zell (center) check in Joanne White. White was the first early voter of this year’s Primary Election. (Photo provided)

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton County officials on Tuesday broke ground on a $13.5 million jail expansion. Participating in the groundbreaking ceremony were (from left) Councilman Steve Schwartz, Commissioner Steve Dillinger, Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt, Commissioner Christine Altman, Sheriff Mark Bowen, Council Paul Ayers and Councilman Jeff Hern. (Reporter photo by Jeff Jellison)

Hamilton County Reporter

Police say a CRV hit a stopped tanker truck on I-69 near State Road 38 Monday afternoon, and a local man is dead as a result of that crash.  Indiana State Police identify the victim as Roscoe Murray, 49, from Fishers.   The empty tanker was stopped in traffic for an INDOT construction zone.

The driver of the semi, Dereon Bond, 44, from Decatur, Illinois,. was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Anderson with minor, non-life threatening injuries.  The preliminary investigation by Troopers Justin Beamon and Coley McCutcheon determined that Murray was accelerating down the ramp from MLK Blvd. to get onto I-69 south bound, when he failed to see the stopped traffic ahead.

The crash had I-69 south-bound closed for nearly 3 hours at the 222 mile marker as troopers investigated the crash and crews worked to clear the roadway.

When the newly remodeled Fishers downtown Amphitheater is ready for events sometime in June, it will be outfitted with new sound and lighting systems.  The Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety Monday approved $195,000 for the new sound equipment and $114, 750 for lighting in the stage area.

The sound system was acquired for a discount of about 30% because Fishers agreed to be a beta test site.  Parks and Recreation Department Director Tony Elliot told the board this sound system has only been used on the east and west coasts up to now, so he expects visitors from throughout the Midwest to visit our concerts and evaluate this new sound setup.

Mayor Scott Fadness expressed concern about lighting away from the stage area, for the crowds attending the events.  But both items received unanimous approvals from board members.

In other Board of Works items:

–The board approved the purchase of a CCTV truck for over $215,000.  The truck will be fully equipped.  It will be used by the sewer and storm water operations.

–Changes were made to the speed limits along parts of 126th Street.  For more details, use this link.

–Approved dedicating right-of-way along State Road 37 from O’Reilly Automotive for the upcoming improvements on that stretch of road.

–Voted to replace network switches and wireless equipment that has exceeded their expected useful life.

The Fishers Redevelopment Commission had a last-minute addition to the Monday meeting agenda – the sale of the parking garage and residential units in The Switch Building downtown, from Loftus Robinson to J.C. Hart.  That sale required several changes to the project documents governing the property.

The updated documents spell out the rights and responsibilities J.C. Hart will have with the parking garage and The Flats, the residential section of the complex.  Loftus Robinson retains control of The Switch’s commercial space.

J.C. Hart is a property management firm with headquarters in Carmel.  The company develops and manages residential properties throughout the Indianapolis metropolitan area.

In other Redevelopment Commission items from the Monday meeting:

–The first of two public hearings was held, with no one choosing to speak, on the changes in the financing for The Yard project.  This was originally designed as a culinary project, and 100,000 square feet of space have been set aside for commercial development.  The change is the addition of residential units and a parking garage.  The second and final public hearing will be held on April 16th at the next scheduled Redevelopment Commission meeting.

–The commission approved provisions of a lease for the Braden Building, now completed downtown.  The lease is to run 10 years, From March 1, 2018, through March 1, 2028.

–The commission released its annual report for calendar year 2017.  You can find the report at this link.