Residents received an update on the State Road 37 project Monday night, and officials had a lot to talk about.  The intersection designs for 141st Street and 146th Street have both changed dramatically, the sequence of when intersections will be constructed is now up in the air and officials are working to keep the project within budget.

First, the two major design changes.

141st Street was originally designed to be a two-lane roundabout.  The new design calls for a single lane roundabout.

The 146th Street interchange with State Road 37 was originally planned to be a two-lane roundabout, but engineers are now drawing-up a traffic signal interchange, much like the one at Allisonville Road and Interstate 465 in Marion County.

The design changes come as a result of studying traffic projections for both 141st and 146th Streets along State Road 37.

The engineering team drawing up the construction plans is now saying the sequence of bridge construction, or which interchanges will be constructed in which order, is now unknown.  At one point, the team said it planned to construct the roundabouts over SR37 at 131st and 141st Streets first and at the same time.  That is no longer the plan.  During construction of the bridges, east-west travel at SR 37 would be blocked along those streets.

Construction of the bridges should begin in 2019.  Work is now projected to be completed sometime in 2021.

One reason the 141st Street roundabout has been reduced from two lanes to one lane is part of an effort to keep the project within budget.  Fishers City Engineering Department Director Jeff Hill says those designing the plan are doing everything in their power to keep the construction project within the approved spending.  The project is budgeted for $124 million, with the state providing $100 million – Hamilton County and the City of Fishers are chipping-in $12 million each.

There was an extensive discussion of drainage.  Expect more drainage work along State Road 37 in 2018, with some lane closures needed.

Speakers at the update session included Troy Woodruff of RQAW Corporation, Jeff Hill with the City of Fishers and Eric Farny of American Structurepoint Inc.

Four local members of the Indiana General Assembly held a town hall meeting Saturday morning in Fishers, and there were plenty of issues raised by members of the audience.  The seats in the Fishers City Hall Council Chambers were roughly 75% full of constituents, many with questions for their state lawmakers.

The back and forth became so heated at one point a lady in the audience walked out in frustration over what she viewed as the lack of response to questions posed to the legislators.

The first question centered on a recent State Board of Education vote to create new standards for high school graduation.  Teachers in the audience were clearly concerned about the lack of the state board’s consideration of educators, who largely testified against the new testing standards.  Senator Victoria Spartz showed a crowd a very thick book of regulations governing schools in the state.  Senator Jim Merritt said he is ready for a discussion about the board’s decision, but emphasized this comes as a response to employers in the state, who claim high school graduates lack basic skills after graduation.

The issue of doing away with gun permits in the state was raised by one audience member.  Senator Merritt, with a part of his district in Marion County, said he is very concerned about the violence in the City of Indianapolis and cannot see himself supporting the proposal to do away with gun permits, and Representative Todd Huston agreed.  Gun permits are often required once one crosses state lines.

The issues of voting, absentee ballots and mail-in voting were discussed at length.  Senator Spartz claims there is fraud in mail-in voting systems.  Senator Merritt says it’s taken him 27 years, but he is beginning to change his mind on voting laws due to low voter turnout numbers in recent elections.

The Save the Train organization was at the event with several members pushing to keep the Nickel Plate line, from Tipton to the north down south to 22nd Street in Indianapolis, a rail line.  The cities of Noblesville and Fishers are moving forward with plans to convert that rail line to a trail from downtown Noblesville south to 96th Street.  The state lawmakers said this is a local decision that should be handled by local officials.

Solar energy was raised as many in the audience opposed the measure passed in the 2017 session to lower the solar energy incentive when selling excess power back to a public utility.  Senator Merritt chairs a key senate committee on utilities, and argued the law was a way to “level the playing field.”  Merritt says he has always been focused on how state law impacts rate payers.  Senator Ruckelshaus said he voted against that bill.

Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt says all Indiana counties are experiencing issues with overcrowding in their jails, saying some of that prisoner population is now mandated by state law.  Merritt agreed with the county commissioner, but admitted he had no answers.  Huston believes the state needs to look at sentencing standards and community corrections as answers.

It should surprise no one that the subject of Sunday alcohol sales came up.  Merritt says he favors Sunday sales but wants the package liquor stores to continue their monopoly on selling cold beer.  Huston generally agreed that Sunday sales can be worked out.

Several audience members expressed support of a Hate Crimes Law in Indiana.  Ruckelshaus said he sponsored the last proposal that did not become law and will work hard to enact a Hate Crime statute in the upcoming session.  Merritt is concerned about the impact on law enforcement from any such law but plans to pay close attention to the issue during the 2018 session.

Merritt, a member of the Senate Republican leadership, says he expects the short session, which starts in early January, will end by March 14th.

Hamilton County Reporter

Less than 24 hours after winning a close game against a top-level team, Hamilton
Southeastern…won a close game against a top-level team.

This time it was Center Grove, which the Class 4A No. 5
Royals faced Saturday afternoon in the Forum Tipoff Classic at Southport.
Southeastern needed overtime to get past the Trojans, who are
getting votes in the 4A poll, but ultimately prevailed 65-63.

The Royals led for the majority of the game, first making a 7-0 run to go ahead
12-7 in the first quarter. Aaron Etherington scored five of those points. Southeastern led
by as many as nine points, 43-34, in the third period, before CG went on an 8-0 run
that carried it into the fourth quarter.

The Trojans led 53-52 late in the game, but a Noah Smith free throw tied it at 53-all,
and that’s where regulation ended. Center Grove led 58-56 with under two minutes
left, but the Royals used a 6-0 spurt to regain the lead and held it until the buzzer.
Smith and Nick Bowman made baskets, with Mabor Majak hitting a pair of free
throws in between.

Etherington finished the game with 23 points, with Smith scoring 16 and Majak
10. These three Royals were also the rebounding leaders: Smith had seven
boards, Etherington pulled six and Majak collected five. Bowman handed out five
assists, while Smith and Chris Grubbs both dished out four. Majak made two blocked
shots.

The Royals are 5-0 for the season and get a few days off before another big game:
Southeastern hosts Fishers Friday in the annual Mudsock contest.

By

RICHIE HALL
Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers has been re-established for over a decade now, but every once in a while, the
Tigers accomplish something for the first time.

On Saturday, the Tigers’ boys basketball team got a first victory over Carmel at the
Greyhounds’ Eric Clark Activity Center. Josiah Matthews made a steal with five
seconds to go and raced down the court to make an easy layin as time expired. With
that, Fishers had the win, 49-47, the only time in the game the Tigers held the lead.

“We hit some shots that went our way tonight, we executed pretty well,” said
Tigers coach Matt Moore. “You play to the last possession, anything can happen and
Josiah made a great play.”

“After Willie (Jackson) got that nice defensive stop, I looked up at the clock,”
said Matthews. “I knew I had enough time to finish at the rim.”

It was a remarkable comeback win for the Tigers. Carmel led 12-0 four minutes
into the fourth quarter, with Andrew Jackson scoring eight points, including two 3-
pointers, during the run. But Fishers scored the last six points of the period, including
baskets off steals by Matthews and Jeremy Szilagyi.

The ‘Hounds worked their way back to a 26-15 lead late in the second quarter before
Fishers scored eight unanswered points to cut the Carmel lead to 26-23 at halftime.
Willie Jackson started the run by making three consecutive foul shots after being
fouled while attempting a 3-pointer. Hicks then added a layin, and Matthews drained a
3.

Fishers tied the game up at 30-30 late in the third after Hicks made a 3-pointer.
Carmel worked its way back up to 34-34 by the period’s end, thanks to foul shots by
Luke Heady and Jackson.

A 3-pointer by Owens put Carmel up 39-33. Brendhan Russom cut that lead to
four with a basket, but two free throws from John Michael Mulloy kept the ‘Hounds
ahead 41-35. After that, Fishers ended the game on a 14-6 run. Szilagyi helped out with
a pair of 3s.

“He’s a guy that we just need to keep hunting shots,” said Moore. “He’s put in a
lot of work. He’s earned the right to take those shots. We got to do a great job of
getting him in position to make them and he made a big one there late to give us a chance.”

Matthews finished the game with 15 points, while Szilagyi and Russom each
scored 12.

As for Carmel, Mulloy scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Jackson scored
12 points and Heady made five rebounds.

“We competed,” said ‘Hounds coach Ryan Osborn. “We made some mistakes
late. We had two starters out tonight. We’re a little bit banged up in just about every
position and ultimately didn’t take care of the ball like we should. When we did take
care of the ball, we got shots. We shot at a pretty high percentage. But to have, I think,
16 or 17 turnovers in a game like this puts you on your heels a little bit.”

Fishers is now 2-3 for the season, and travels to Hamilton Southeastern on Friday
for the Mudsock game. Carmel is 3-2, and hosts North Central on Friday in a
Metropolitan Conference game.

This week, Adam leads a group discussion all about Star Wars

Hamilton County Reporter 

Hamilton Southeastern picked up another tough win
Friday night, edging out old rival North
Central 65-62 in an away game.

The Class 4A No. 5 Royals had been involved in a backand-forth
contest with the 4A No. 10 Panthers, and found themselves trailing by two with less than a
minute to go. But Southeastern’s Nick Bowman hit a 3-pointer within the last 30 seconds to put his team up by one.

North Central then turned the ball over right away. The Royals’ Noah Smith was
fouled, and he made both his free throws. The Panthers got the ball back with seven
seconds remaining, but couldn’t get a shot off and called timeout with 1.5 seconds left.
NC tried for one last shot, but the Royals challenged the shot and it was no good.

The Royals led 13-8 after the first quarter and 29-27 at halftime. Three players
reached double figures: Bowman scored 17 points, Chaz Birchfield scored 16 and Smith
had 13.

“Anytime you get a team that’s balanced, it just makes it so much tougher for teams
to defend,” said HSE coach Brian Satterfield. “We’ve generally had three or
four guys in double figures or close to double figures.”

Birchfield came close to a double-double with nine rebounds, while Aaron
Etherington and Mabor Majak each pulled six. Bowman dished out six assists and made
four steals. Etherington handed out four assists, and Smith had three steals.

“When it counted, we were able to knock down shots when we needed to,” said
Satterfield.

The Royals are now 4-0 for the season. They are back in action this afternoon,
taking on an unbeaten (5-0) Center Grove team as part of the Forum Credit Union Tip
Off Classic at Southport. Southeastern’s game starts at 3 p.m.

Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team got a big
Hoosier Crossroads Conference win over Avon Friday, 51-31.

The Class 4A No. 6 Royals led 20-14 at halftime, then jumped
ahead 38-21 after three quarters.

With the victory, Southeastern improved to 2-1 in the
conference and 10-2 overall. Pictured are Amaya Hamilton
(10), Malea Jackson (3) and Sydney Parrish (33) defending
an Avon player.

by

Craig Adkins

Hamilton County Reporter 

From the opening tip, it was obvious that it was going to be a knockdown, drag out
affair. That’s how it always is when Noblesville and Fishers get together on the hardwood.

Noblesville got the best of Fishers in the fourth quarter to notch their first HCC win
and most importantly, stopped their five-game losing skid. The Millers overcame a
very physical Tiger team by the count of 57-47.

Both squads seemed a little edgy in the first quarter, turning the ball over at will,
until first-year Fishers head coach Lauren Vail was forced to burn her first timeout
with 3:48 left in the first and her Tigers trailed 4-0.

Something must have sparked the Tigers in the huddle. Skylar Fulton swished a three
to get Fishers within 4-3. From that point, the teams fed off of each other to make for
quite an intense first eight minutes. Tiger Sophomore Tamia Perryman drove the lane
and banked a layup up and over the rim with seconds left in the quarter to knot the score
at 7-7 after one.

The Millers tried to push their lead once they got it back in the second quarter, but
Fishers just had a relentless pursuit on defense all night long and they weren’t going
to give in so easily.

Momentum shifted numerous times in the second, but it was mainly a pair of
Maddie Knight treys that got Noblesville back in front 17-15 and pushed their lead to
22-15 late in the quarter. After an Emily Kiser free throw, Mallory Johnson sank a
deep three from about 28-feet as the halftime buzzer sounded, giving Noblesville a 26-20
lead at the half.

Fishers came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, jumping out on an
8-0 run before the Millers came to. Fulton drained another three from the
right corner to bring it within one at 26-25 and Ali Gerka dropped in a three herself that
forced Noblesville to call a timeout with 5:27 left in the third.
Along with another outstanding outing from University of Michigan signee Emily
Kiser, the junior tandem of Johnson and Knight were huge sparkplugs for the Millers
exactly when they needed to be.

As if the second quarter didn’t have enough intensity, the third had six of the
game’s eight ties to keep the crowd at The Mill on the edge of their seats all night.
Johnson knocked down another three to tie it at 32. Gerka tied it at 34. After a Kiser
layup, Kennedi London tied the game at 36.

Cierra Tolbert put Fishers up 38-36, but Kiser again tied it at 38 on an offensive
rebound putback. Maddie Knight was fouled while shooting as the third period buzzer
sounded. Knight made both free throws and the Millers took a 40-38 lead into the fourth.

On a night when the physicality of Fishers would test Emily Kiser to the limits,
she did what she could to rise to the occasion. The 6’3 senior all-state candidate just
simply made things happen for Noblesvile in the final quarter, scoring in clutch situations
and making things that much tougher for the Tigers to come back.

The Millers started off the fourth on a quick 6-2 run, thanks to head’s up play from
sophomore Abby Haley, assisting on consecutive buckets by Kiser and Madison
Whetro, pushing the Noblesville lead to 44-38.

The lead grew even more when Johnson drilled another three from downtown
pushing the lead to nine at 51-42, forcing Vail and the Tigers to call a timeout with
3:48 remaining.

“I’ve gotta give a lot of credit to Noblesville,” said Fishers head coach Lauren Vail.
“They have had a rough stretch and for those girls to remain positive and to remain
together and to buy in and to come out and play the way they played tonight was
impressive,” Vail continued on Noblesville’s play on Friday night.

A pair of Whetro free throws gave the Millers their first double-digit lead of the
night at 53-42. Noblesville would wind up with their first HCC win of the season with
a 57-47 win Friday night.

“They had kids step up and obviously you know Kiser is a very good basketball
player, but when you have other kids knocking down three’s, that makes them tough to
beat,” said Fishers head coach Lauren Vail after her team’s loss at Noblesville.

Hungry for their first conference victory, the Millers were gave the Tigers all they
had. With eight ties and a total of five lead changes, it was inevitable that one of these
two were going to find a way to get the best of the other and push away for the win, but
it was a battle to the end before the Millers could push away for the win.

“Fishers is really good and Lauren has done an absolutely phenomenal job,” said
Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley complimenting Vail on the 7-4 start in her
first year at Fishers.

“They’re talented and we knew when we looked at them that we knew we had to do
a good job of taking Toni out of it and I thought our kids did a great job of doing
that,” Buckley referring to senior guard Toni Grace of Fishers who was held to four
points, all at the free throw line. Grace averaged 18.6 prior to Friday.
The Millers put an end to their five-game losing streak and got back on the positive
side of things.

“All the things we struggled with against that stretch, somebody punches us and I felt
like we just folded. And tonight, they came after us over and over and we had to keep
answering. Like I said, I’m just really proud of our fight and toughness tonight,” said
Buckley on her team’s grit in Friday’s win.

Fishers (7-4, 1-2 HCC) was led in scoring by junior Skylar Fulton with 14,
including four three-pointers. Ali Gerka added 8, all in the third and Kennedi London
with seven.

The Tigers host Pendleton Heights (6-5) next on Thursday, Dec. 14.
Noblesville (5-6, 1-3 HCC) notched their first conference win and were led by a
monster night from Emily Kiser, who netted 24 points and hauled in 21 rebounds (10
offensive). Maddie Knight joined her in double-figures, while Mallory Johnson
added nine and Madison Whetro chipped in eight.

The Millers will host Anderson (5-5) on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at The Mill.

The City of Fishers is looking to keep a close eye on vacant grocery store properties, and perhaps other vacant commercial space, with a proposed overlay zone.

For more details on this, read Linsdey Erdody’s story on the on Indianapolis Business Journal Web page at this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools have broken ground on the new Southeastern Elementary School, to be located on Cyntheanne Road just north of Southeastern Parkway.  The ceremony was held Friday afternoon at the construction site.

Those speaking included, HSE School Superintendent Allen Bourff, School Board President Matt Burke and Mike Holtkamp of Hagerman Incorporated (the construction contractor on the project).