When I see the word “crawl” a couple of things come to mind for me.

First, I envision myself on my hands and knees crawling.  As a guy in his 60s, that not as easy to do as it once was.

Another vision of crawl is traffic in and around Fishers crawling at a slow pace.

Needless to say, those things are not positive visions of the word crawl

Fishers is trying to change that view of the word “crawl” with the Arts Crawl, coming Friday, July 15th.

Here’s the city news release with more details on the event:

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Breathtaking art displays, engaging street performances and delicious food and drinks are coming to the Nickel Plate District once again. On July 15 from 6 to 9 p.m., the community is invited for the second installation of the Arts Crawl, a program the City hosts in partnership with the Nickel Plate District Business Council and the Fishers Arts Council. The free event features over 25 stops at local businesses that showcase local or regional artists and their exhibits.

“Now that we’ve created a vibrant downtown gathering place for our residents to enjoy, we’re constantly working to activate it in diverse ways,” stated Mayor Scott Fadness. “The Arts Crawl is such a unique event because it allows residents to visit the Nickel Plate District, connect with local businesses and enjoy some very diverse art exhibits.”

Maps are available at City Hall, at participating businesses and on the City’s website for those interested in planning their self-guided art tour ahead of time. Guests are also encouraged to download the Nickel Plate District mobile app to access a digital map during the event. The event is hosted in conjunction with the City’s AMP After Dark Concert series presented by Frost Brown Todd Attorneys, that takes place from 9 to 11 p.m. and features local singer/songwriter, Jennie DeVoe.

“Hosting the Arts Crawl prior to the AMP After Dark means that the community has an entire evening of free events to enjoy,” said Fishers Parks & Recreation Director, Tony Elliot. “We encourage residents to invite a few friends, arrive early and celebrate the talent we have right here in Fishers.”

Additional information about the Arts Crawl including a list of participating businesses, artists and a downloadable map can be found at www.Fishers.in.us/ArtsCrawl. Guests attending the event are encouraged to share photos with hashtag #FishersArts for a chance to be featured.

John Wechsler founded the co-working entrepreneurial operation Launch Fishers…he talked to Larry about it on our latest podcast.

Fishers City Attorney Chris Greisl told city council members Wednesday night that the Indiana State Board of Accounts has been complaining to lawmakers it no longer has the staff or budget to audit all government entities every year.  As a result, many local government entities are taking advantage of a state law allowing the hiring of private accounting firms to conduct the annual audits previously handled by state auditors.

City Controller Oscar Gutierrez told the council a private firm could provide annual audits that would provide different skill sets and knowledge base than the State Board of Accounts.

The city would need to receive state approval to do this, but Greisl assured councilors Fishers will follow the state statute to the letter, assuring approval.

Council members voted unanimously to “opt out” of the State Board of Accounts audits and hire a private auditing firm.  Then the council gave unanimous approval of BKD as that auditing firm.

BKD had been recommended as the firm to conduct city audits by the city’s 3-member Audit Committee, appointed by the council and Mayor Scott Fadness.  Council President John Weingardt (a CPA) and Council Member Eric Moeller (who works in the financial field) are both appointees to the Audit Committee.

Failure is a concept not often seen in a positive light.  Here are just a few famous quotes about that very subject:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison

“He only is exempt from failures who makes no efforts.”

Richard Whately

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”  

Richard Branson

“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”

John Wooden

People we see as big successes today suffered serious failure along the way, including people such as Walt Disney, Thomas Edison and Bill Gates.

Launch Fishers is sponsoring FailFest Thursday, July 28th, Fishers High School, 9:00am-5:3-pm.  It’s a way of celebrating the learning process failure provides to all of us.  Few, if any of us, are successful 100% of the time.

This year’s list of speakers includes:

Chris Baggott, Founder of ClusterTruck;

Kim Brand, President of 1st Maker Space;

Brandon Gorin, 2X Super Bowl Champion and Area Representative of Marco’s Pizza;

Eric Hiler, Founder of Dulead;

Matt Hunckler, Founder and CEO of Verge;

Jared Ingold, Owner of Vardagen;

Steve Loser, Assistant Principal at Fishers High School;

Robert McDonald, Co-Founder of Brandery;

Oscar Moralez, Managing Director of VisionTech Partners & VisionTech Angels;

Polina Osherov, Editor in Chief of Pattern Magazine;

Kris Parmelee, Co-Founder and CEO of Lectio;

Jonathan Polak, Partner of Taft Law;

John Qualls, President of Eleven Fifty Academy;

Teresa Sabatine, Founder of The Jump Network;

Cassie Stockamp, President of The Athenaeum Foundation.

More speakers will likely be announced before the event.

This is the third consecutive year Launch Fishers has setup the FailFest event in Fishers.

Early bird ticket pricing is available now at $69.00. Advance sale general admission tickets will be $99.00 and at-the-door sales will be $129.00. Tickets are now available at

www.FailFest.us

A Fishers faith-based group heard some sobering statistics Tuesday afternoon:

–Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 15-24 in Indiana.

–In 2014, 119 young people died in our state by suicide.

–Girls are more likely to consider suicide – boys are more likely to die by suicide.

Those sobering facts were shared by Mike Dunn, Crisis and Suicide Intervention Director for Mental Health America of Greater Indianapolis.  He gave an hour-long presentation to the religious representatives at a City Hall event sponsored by the City of Fishers Mental Health Initiative.

“95% of people who die by suicide had a psychological disorder at the time of death,” Dunn said.

Dunn went into detail describing why teens attempt suicide, and reviewed some of the warning signs.  He also emphasized that it’s time for the stigma attached to suicide to be removed, allowing a more open discussion, opening the door to more prevention to take place.

You can learn more on how to get help at this link.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has provided an update on overnight paving and patching along Interstate 69 and the work to upgrade Exit 210 set to begin afte July 4th.   The update from the state is below….

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Interstate 69 patching & paving

Milestone Contractors plans to begin tonight (June 28th) paving an asphalt overlay on southbound I-69 south of Campus/Southeastern Parkway (Exit 210) to State Road 37 (Exit 205).

Crews will also continue patching existing northbound pavement north of Exit 210.  The patching operation will continue north over the next several weeks to the end of the project limits, which is just past State Road 38 (Exit 219), before returning southbound on I-69 back to Exit 210.

Milestone is repairing pavement on about 15 miles of interstate before paving a new asphalt overlay on existing lanes.  Motorists may temporarily experience rough pavement after sections are patched and before sections are paved.

Weather permitting, patching and paving operations require alternating lane closures six nights a week on Monday through Saturday nights from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.  One lane of I-69 will remain open at all times, and two lanes will remain open during peak daytime travel times.

The speed limit on I-69 through the work zone is reduced to 60 mph and further reduced to 50 mph when workers are present.  Motorists should also be alert for trucks entering and exiting the highway through the construction zone.

After pavement is repaired and resurfaced, crews will start work to rehabilitate interstate bridges and build the additional travel lane.  Beginning soon after Independence Day (July 4), northbound and southbound I-69 traffic lanes between Exit 205 and Exit 210 will be shifted toward the outside shoulders to set temporary concrete barriers and begin construction of an additional travel lane in the median.

Campus/Southeastern Parkway Exit 210

Construction of the new interchange configuration is scheduled to begin after Independence Day (July 4).  Campus/Southeastern Parkway bridge construction will require overnight lane restrictions between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. starting on or after Wednesday, July 6.

The first phase will begin building the new ramps and will prepare for shifting traffic into a double-crossover diamond configuration later this summer, which is intended to improve traffic flow during widening of the bridge deck and construction of the permanent interchange improvements.

When I interviewed Gerry Dick of Inside Indiana Business for a Podcast posted May 11th (you can listen to it here) he talked about the success of Launch Fishers morphing into a state-wide movement.

Inside Indiana Business recently featured an interview with Elkhart Mayor Tim Neese about his city’s efforts to begin their own Launch movement (you can read more and see the interview video at this link).

Elkhart has been a city dependent on the swings of the RV economy for many years.  When RV sales are down, jobs are scarce around Elkhart.  When RV sales are booming, as they are now, employers are having difficulty filling job vacancies.

Elkhart has caught on to the success of Launch Fishers.  The idea is to provide coworking space and incubate new businesses that will expand locally and begin hiring their own employees.  The hope is to provide employment not so dependent on the volatility of the RV industry.

It’s interesting that Fishers is the place where the (then) town council took a chance, providing seed money for Launch Fishers.  Now Launch has outgrown its quarters in the  Fishers Library and moved to a more expansive facility.  It appears the rest of Indiana is paying attention to Fishers’ success.

When you plan a parade, the worst fear is rain and thunderstorms.  All that stayed away from Fishers late Sunday afternoon and the 2016 Fishers Freedom Festival Parade started right on schedule.

There may have been no rain, but the heat hovered around the 90-degree mark during the event.  There were plenty of water bottles among the crowd looking on and for those in the parade.

Here are a few pictures from this year’s parade.

The Mudscock Jazz Combo played a concert at the Fishers Freedom Festival June 25th….here’s my review…

A perfect, sunny summer day welcomed the first visitors of the Fishers Freedom Festival at Holland Park Saturday morning.  The opening ceremonies featured a raising of the flag and the introduction of the royal court.

The festival runs June 25 & 26, with the parade starting at 4pm on the 26th.  More information is available at this link.

Here is a recording of the live video stream of the festival opening ceremonies Saturday morning