We are in the holiday season, between Christmas and New Year’s, meaning road construction is not very busy at this time.  However, be on the lookout of construction going on at 131st & Cumberland, as well as 106th at Geist Road.

Added lanes of traffic are being added along I-69 in the Fishers area.

Below is a full list of construction projects ,covering the work week beginning Tuesday, January 2nd.

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131ST STREET   

There will be periodic lane restrictions at the intersection of 131st Street and Cumberland Road while utility relocation work is completed.

106TH STREET

Crews will be landscaping the center of the roundabout at 106th Street and Geist Road throughout the week, weather permitting. Temporary lane restrictions may be in place as work is completed.

I-69   

Milestone Contractors has opened additional travel lanes on Interstate 69 between State Road 37 Exit 205 and State Road 38 Exit 219. I-69 is open to three lanes in each direction on the heavily traveled stretch of interstate.

As part of a $92 million design-build contract, Milestone has added a third lane in each direction to the median, repaired and resurfaced existing pavement, and rehabilitated bridges and drainage structures on 15 miles of I-69 in Hamilton and Madison counties. Construction of an additional auxiliary lane between the 116th Street entrance ramp to I-69 South and the I-69 South Exit 204 ramp to 106th Street will continue through next spring.

I-69 South will be temporarily reduced to two lanes to allow space for the State Road 37 and 116th Street entrance ramps to safely merge while construction continues on the southbound auxiliary lane between the 116th Street and 106th Street ramps.

Crews plan to close lanes on I-69 South and State Road 37 South beginning on Friday, December 8th to modify pavement markings in the area to establish this winter traffic pattern. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT ateastcentralin@indot.in.gov or 1-855-463-6848.

STATE ROAD 37  

The Meeting Presentation from the December 11th State Road 37 Project Public Meeting, along with additional information about the project, are available here.

The State Road 37 improvement project is a $124 million joint project between Fishers, Hamilton County, Noblesville, and INDOT. Questions or concerns may be directed todrivefishers@fishers.in.us.

OUTSIDE OF FISHERS   

Cyntheanne Road between 146th Street and 156th Street will be closed through the end of December to replace the bridge over Keiser Drain. Please contact Hamilton County Highway Department at 317-773-7770 with any questions.

The Indianapolis Star does not spend a lot of ink in its business section…that is likely a tip of the hat to the weekly publication, The Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ).  Local business is the main focus of IBJ, so the Star has chosen to concentrate on other local news.

The Star may not emphasize business reporting, but the newspaper does have a reporter assigned to the business beat and his name is James Briggs.  Reporter Briggs has just published a piece at IndyStar.com about the ordinance just passed by the Fishers City Council governing vacant grocery stores.

The city is basically telling Kroger that those shuttered Marsh stores Kroger recently bought, in an effort to prevent competitors from using the space for another grocery, must receive city approval before being utilized for anything except another grocery store.

Briggs calls this action by Fishers “a smart strategy.”  He argues that the city will now have more control on the types of business that will go into those old Marsh locations.

A Kroger spokesman has voiced opposition to the action by the Fishers Council.  However, Briggs says in his article – “….if you have an interest in maintaining high standards in your community, then it’s hard not to have at least some respect for what Fishers did.”

You can read James Briggs story on the IndStar Web site at this link.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter 

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com) 

Each year at this time the Reporter attempts to recap the top news stories of the past year in Hamilton County.

The Number One story of the year was the double murder-suicide that occurred earlier this week in Noblesville. Todd Moon shot and killed his parents, Donald and Joyce Moon, before killing himself.

Chalfin

The second big story of the year was the alarming and continuing increase in deaths due to drug overdose and addiction. By year’s end the number of county residents succumbing to powerful and illegal drugs will likely exceed 40 with 36 cases now confirmed and eight more awaiting toxicology reports, according to Coroner John Chalfin. The toll may well be higher because deaths in Marion County hospitals are not routinely reported to Hamilton County authorities. As recently as three years ago there were only 18 such deaths confirmed in the county. The coroner says he believes there is a lack of understanding of how serious problem in becoming. He has found the deadly mixing of heroin and fentanyl is the greatest problem. He says law enforcement, courts and health officials are working hard to fight the problem. Chalfin has recommended legislation that would improve more accurate reporting of fatal overdose cases. Public service agencies are looking for ways to curb the epidemic, but the cases keep coming. It’s part of a nationwide crisis with no immediate end in sight. Most, but certainly not all victims, are younger adults.

Number 3 is the ongoing efforts to save the Nickel Plate Railroad or at least part of it. Few issues have held the public’s interest for a longer period of time. During the year the railroad line’s owner, Hoosier Heritage Port Authority, essentially evicted the Indiana Transportation Museum from the rail line by handing over operation to the Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad which is a new organization formed by the County Tourism Bureau. The Nickel Plate Heritage group plans to have trains on the tracks next year from Noblesville north while cooperating with Noblesville and Fishers’ wishes to see the tracks south of Noblesville converted to a walking and bike trail. At year’s end the Noblesville Parks Board agreed not to renew ITM’s lease at Forest Park.

Number 4 is the continuing dynamic growth and development in the county. The new Riverview Outpatient Hospital at Westfield and the much publicized Ikea superstore at Fishers, the huge Midtown Redevelopment Project along the Monon at Carmel and the Blue Sky headquarters and Federal Hill Commons in Noblesville, are only some examples of the development during the year. There have also been hundreds of building permits issued for new homes and business buildings along with dozens of road improvements and other infrastructure projects.

Number 5 is the designation of Hamilton County’s cities as the best places to live in America. Carmel, Fishers, Westfield and Noblesville have all been listed during 2017 by national publications such as Money Magazine, Forbes and SafestCity.com. Local communities have been selected because of low crime, good schools, low unemployment, reasonable housing costs and low taxes among other criteria.

Number 6 story involves the retirement or planned retirement of many prominent public officeholders. State Sen. Luke Kenley and Superior Court Judge Wayne Sturtevant retired, and State Rep. Kathy Richardson, Judge Steve Nation, County Councilman Paul Ayers and County Clerk Tammy Baitz have said they will end their service when terms expire next year. In addition, Sheriff Mark Bowen ends his time as sheriff due to term limits. Rarely have so many officials planned to call it quits at one time.

Number 7 was the end to a 12-year Home Place struggle to keep from being annexed by the city of Carmel. The unincorporated Home Place area founded more than 100 years ago, was the last un-annexed portion of Clay Township. Residents who opposed a city tax rate and possible redevelopment in the area, decided against an expensive appeal to the state Supreme Court in order to continue their legal battle against annexation.

Number 8 was the decision by the Indianapolis Colts to move their training camp to Grand Park at Westfield. The move is believed to be a big win for the Westfield area which may see an increase in visitors who in turn will spend their money at local restaurants and motels, not to mention the publicity that always follows the Colts’ activities at camp.

Number 9 is the Carmel High School girls swim team’s national record of 31 consecutive state championships, not only in swimming, but in any sport. The CHS boys team also won this year making it their 17th championship. Making the record especially remarkable is that in landlocked Carmel, most all swimming is learned and practiced in a pool, not in a lake or ocean.

Number 10 is the fire that heavily damaged the former Stevens Spring Company factory at Cicero. The February blaze resulted in evacuation of a nearby apartment complex and brought fire investigators to the scene. Cause of the fire was never ruled anything other than accidental.

Rounding out the list of top stories for 2017 is the only fatal plane crash in the county during 2017. On Aug. 31, Norman Lavine, 78, Carmel, alone in his plane, crashed on takeoff from Metropolitan Airport at Fishers.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern advanced to the semi-finals of the C o l u m b i a
C i t y / H u n t i n g t o n Tournament with two wins on Thursday.

In their first game, the Class 4A No. 2 Royals beat Norwell 68-41. Southeastern
outscored Norwell 21-3 in the first quarter to put the game out of reach. HSE had balanced
scoring as six players had seven or more points and every player that played scored.

Noah Smith was the scoring leader with 11 points, with Chaz Birchfield and Chris
Grubbs adding 10 points each. Aaron Etherington led the rebounding with six boards,
followed by Smith pulling five. Bowman also had four steals and Grubbs blocked
three shots.

Southeastern held off Scecina 68-61 in its quarter-final game. Sophomore Mabor
Majak scored 14 points in the first half to pace the Royals, who had five players score
at least nine points.

Majak had 16 points to lead the HSE scoring, followed by Birchfield with 15,
Bowman with 12, Etherington with 10 and Grubbs with nine. Majak was outstanding
on defense with eight rebounds and four blocks. Birchfield and Etherington both
grabbed six rebounds, Birchfield dished out four assists and Bowman made two blocks.

Southeastern, now 9-0 for the season, will take on Huntington North at 2 p.m. in
a semi-final game.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern’s girls dropped a 46-42 game to Springboro (Ohio)
Thursday at the North Central Tournament.

The Class 4A No. 6 Royals led 9-4 after the first quarter and 22-17 at halftime.
Springboro took a 30-29 lead by the end of the third period and held off
Southeastern in the fourth.

Molly Walton scored 11 points for HSE, with Malea Jackson adding 10
points. Walton grabbed six rebounds and Shelby Ford handed out four assists.

Southeastern is 13-3 and will play the host school, 4A No. 1 North Central, at 2
p.m. today in its second game of the
tournament.

2017 is drawing to a close, so here are some sound bites from my most popular podcasts during the past year.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) High School will have a new head football coach in 2018, and school administrators plan to recommend Adam Morris to fill that job.  The HSE School Board will vote on the recommendation at the next board meeting.

Morris has been an assistant coach at Noblesville.  He served as head football coach for Muncie Central High School, and was the youngest head football coach in the state of Indiana at that time.  He was a defensive lineman at Ball State and played on the 2008  undefeated Cardinal squad.

“Adam is excited to become a Royal and work with our students both in and outside of the classroom” said HSE Principal Matt Kegley in a release posted to the school’s Web site.  “Adam is an energetic and engaging teacher and coach who comes highly recommended.  We share his excitement and look forward to him joining our staff.”

The job opened-up when Scott May announced he was stepping down from the head coaching position at the end of the 2017 season.

Morris will be teaching Physical Education and Health at HSE High School.  He and his wife Jessica live in Indianapolis and have one daughter, Jayde.

At this time of year, it is good to take a look back and begin counting our blessings.  I have too many blessings to count.  With all the family and friends I enjoy being around on a regular basis, life is very good for me.

I would especially like to express a holiday greeting to all the readers of this blog and listeners of my podcasts.  When I began attending Fishers Town Council meetings in January, 2012, I had fairly low expectations on how the enterprise would do.  Perhaps a few government geeks like me would read it and maybe I would provide a service to those folks.

What has happened over the past six years has been a big surprise to me.  Reviewing my analytics on the number of people visiting this site reminds me of how many local people rely on my news blog for the latest on what is happening in Fishers.  It is quite humbling for this retired civil servant that spent about 10 years in journalism early in my working life, to see those analytics numbers on the number of accesses to this site.

After nearly six years of writing this blog, I did begin to explore winding down some of my volunteer activities (as you can see, there are no ads here, this blog and the podcasts are a labor of love).  When I wrote a short piece saying that this news blog could come to an end, I was bombarded with messages asking me to continue.

I knew how many people were reading and how often people were checking my blog, but I never knew how much people cared, until that moment.  I had no choice but to continue this blog and my podcasts.  I appreciate all the messages received urging me to continue.

One last thing – I am blessed to have a wonderful wife and two outstanding daughters.  I can assure you there would be no LarryInFishers.com without the full support of my lovely wife Jane.  She even covered an important event when I was under a contractual obligation to be out of town.

Thank you Jane, Allison & Mary for brightening my life for yet another Christmas season.  And thanks to all of you for reading and supporting LarryInFishers.com.  2018 looks to be another busy year for Fishers.

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter 

(NOTE: This is a commentary written by Fred Swift of the Hamilton County Reporter. The views expressed are those of Fred Swift and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com.  This opinion piece is posted here as part of a partnership between the Reporter and LarryInFishers.com) 

The recent hysterical demands for political correctness in dealing with our nation’s historical figures is getting close to home. Neighboring Madison County has now succumbed to this righteous indignation by giving up plans for a statute of former President James Madison for whom that county is named.

Never mind that Madison was instrumental is getting our Constitution adopted and responsible for composing the Bill of Rights. The current problem for Madison, 200 years after the fact, is that he was a slave owner.

The political correctness craze also demands men from history who engaged in brutality to American Indians, disloyalty to their wives or were insensitive to industrial employees should be dishonored generations after their misdeeds. Never mind that they may have contributed greatly to our current way of life.

If we pursue this line of revisionist thinking further we find examples right here in Hamilton County.

William Conner was complicit in removing the Indians, including his own wife, from central Indiana.

General Phil Sheridan, for whom Sheridan is named, thought the only good Indian was a dead Indian.

And Cicero, the ancient Roman politician, was a slave owner. (The town, however, was probably named for a local boy who perhaps had the fortune or misfortune of being named for the martyred Roman.)

In addition, Washington, Jackson and Clay townships are named for slave owners.

And, then there’s the question of whether the Strawtown monument to Chief Straw is an honor or a political no-no.

Should we discredit these men by changing the names of communities or removing monuments because of things they did many years ago, deeds that are now regarded as dishonorable?

Of course not. They made history for vastly different and more honorable pursuits and should continue to be remembered for them.

And, thank goodness nobody will be after us to remove the portrait of Alexander Hamilton’s from the courthouse. He was not a slave owner.

Local film critic Christopher Lloyd fills us in on the best in film for 2017.  Adam & Larry review two films – Star Wars: The Last Jedi…and 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.