In describing the planned Fishers development named The Yard, the most common phrase has been “culinary and entertainment.”  We have heard and read a lot about the concept of food and restaurants, including a part of the development for chefs to experiment, but the description of the entertainment aspect has been very general.

When The Yard received a unanimous favorable recommendation from the Fishers Plan Commission Wednesday night for a proposed rezoning, I talked to Attorney Steve Hardin of Faegre, Baker & Daniels, who represents the developers of the project,  about the entertainment side of the planned development.

Based on information provided by Hardin and Eric Wojak of developer Thompson Thrift, the entertainment part of the development will be a movie theater with a dining option. Wojak says work continues with the vendor and there are no further details available beyond that.

So, moviegoers and film lovers will await the details of what type of cinema, and dining, will be available at The Yard.

The Yard is planned near I-69 and 116th Street, near the IKEA building already under construction.  The new IKEA store is expected to open in the fall of 2017.

The proposed Yard culinary and entertainment complex took one step toward reality when the Fishers Plan Commission unanimously sent forward a positive recommendation that the Fishers City Council approve a rezoning request.  However, Commission President Warren Harling said he was voting yes “reluctantly.”

Harling looked back on his long history of seeing impressive, shining renderings of projects that never happen.  He expressed concern about a sunset provision.  He says the 5-year sunset provision in the current commitments from the developer are not strong enough for him.

But in the end, Harling voted yes along with other members of the commission to move the rezone forward.

A portion of the land planned for development is currently zoned as residential.  The residents of Springdale Estates have all agreed to sell their homes to make way for this culinary and entertainment center proposed by developer Thompson Thrift.  The rezone now moves forward to the Fishers City Council.

No one chose to speak during the public hearing.

In other plan commission actions:

–The commission approved a positive city council recommendation for a revised concept plan for Simpy Dental’s office on 116th Street, east of Olio Road.  Commission members added some additional provision requested by nearby residents during the public hearing.

There have been stories flying about Portillo’s opening a restaurant in Fishers.  The Chicago-based chain has inquired about it, but the city says there is nothing definite yet about the eatery opening here.

Fishers Deputy Mayor Leah McGrath told LarryInFishers Portillo’s had contacted the city about locating here, but “nothing is firm”

“It is premature to discuss it at this time,” according to McGrath.

The Indianapolis Star posted a story late Wednesday afternoon with the online headline, “Portillo’s Chicago beef and dogs coming to Fishers.”

Lindsey Erdody of the Indianapolis Business Journal posted a story late Wednesday night worded much more carefully than the Star story.  She writes that Portillo’s is “planning an Indianapolis-area location.”  You can access this story at this link.

So, is Portillo’s headed to Fishers?  There have been talks with Fishers officials, but nothing is set in stone at this time.

We will wait and see what develops.

The nation has only one national study of foundations for schools kindergarten through 12th grade, and the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Foundation has scored 4th in the nation in the latest educational foundation rankings.  This is the third year for this study, conducted by Stepping Up, a part of the Caruthers Institute.

The group reviewed eight key areas to make the assessments.  Those areas include assets per student and human capital.

HSE Schools Foundation Executive Director Freedom Kolb credits the community and its support of the foundation for this honor.

I would add that Freedom, her staff and her board of directors should take a bow as well for a job well done.

One thing you learn very early in the news business is that change is constant and inevitable.  Sometimes, the changes are welcome.  Other times, there are changes you hate to see.

Two people handling public and media relations for the City of Fishers are moving on to new challenges.  That is welcome for each of them, but it is a change I hate to see.

When you cover a city as a news reporter, you get to know the media relations people. Sometimes the relationship is good.  Other times it is not.

The two people leaving the City of Fishers are top-notch professionals in the field.  When you are dealing with media relations professionals it is very easy doing your journalistic duties.

First, Autumn Gasior will be moving on to pursue new opportunities.  When dealing with Autumn, it was always clear to me she knew what she was doing.  In the usual give and take that goes on, Autumn always knew how to answer my questions.  We had a certain level of trust that benefited my new blog readers and the city administration.  I have not experienced that in every journalistic experience during my years as a reporter.

Second, Casey Cawthorn is moving on to work for a large and respected media company in Indianapolis.  She has shown me her professional credentials in the way she has handled her job at City Hall. Casey is a very good writer.

Both ladies possess the talents needed to get the city’s message out and to answer those hard questions posed by pesky reporters like me.  They both did it with style.

Here is the part I want to express as clearly as I can.  Autumn and Casey are good people – plain and simple.  That’s why I am going to miss working with them on a regular basis.

I wish Autumn and Casey the very best in their new endeavors.  I am certain they will be very successful.

I trust that whomever replaces them at City Hall will be professionals and be good people as well.  Scott Fadness seems to have a knack for hiring the best people.

But as 2017 gets started I will miss Autumn and Casey.  Thanks for all you have done in service to the city that I have called home for 25 years.

When you find a news desert, what happens next?

http://www.indianaforefront.com/can-life-be-found-in-the-news-desert/

Whenever a major economic development project is hatched in Fishers, you can count on the Indianapolis Business Journal to be on top of it.  Now that the announcement has been made and The Yard culinary & entertainment development is coming to the area near IKEA (now under construction), IBJ reporter Lindsey Erdody tried to develop some additional details contained in a story published inside the latest published IBJ edition.

The piece tells the story of how the 21 families in the Springdale Estates neighborhood came together to negotiate the sale of their homes to the developer.

She talks to Ashlee Boyd, managing partner of the developer, Thompson Thrift.  She also quotes City Councilor Eric Moeller on how the city would approach requests for drive-up windows in that development.

Bottom line, you will know a little more about what is planned.  You will also know that a lot of details are just not known at this time, but are being negotiated now.

You can read Lindsey Erdody’s story at this link.  (Note: If you are not an online subscriber to IBJ, you may be limited on the number of stories you may access)

The nation was shocked by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.  this is the story of what happened and the aftermath from the point of view of his wife, Jackie, portrayed by Natalie Portman.

2016 is at a close, and it marks 5 years of my blogging about local news and events in Fishers.  As I have written numerous times in this space, when starting this venture in January of 2012 by attending my first Fishers Town Council meeting and writing about it, I had very low expectations.

This was started in reaction to changes in the news business.  I had subscribed to the Noblesville Daily Ledger and after it essentially shut down as a daily paper, I subscribed to the Noblesville Times.  Both covered Fishers news.  But both dailies succumbed to the decline of journalism we have seen in the last 10-15 years.

It is my belief that people want journalism now more than ever.  The problem is how to harness the progress in technology and deliver news while making a profit.

When I retired from by civil service job in 20011, it was clear there was no daily news presence in Fishers.  Current in Fishers is a weekly, but the news in that publication is several days old when you get it in the mail.  This is not a criticism of Current…….those people do the best they can as a weekly using the US Mail for delivery, but a weekly can only do so much.

So I decided to embark on a mission to provide timely news through the Web for people living in Fishers.  I could see there was little or no prospect of making such an operation profitable, so I have kept this a one-man-band volunteer effort.  I expected a few news and government junkies to read it.

Once I began measuring the number of page views and unique visitors, I was astounded. Both measures are in the thousands each month of 2016.  For a locally-focused news blog, those are incredible audience figures.  I thank each and every one of you for reading what I have to write.

In February of this year, I began a new experiment – podcasting.  One series was a failure, another is still ongoing and a third is still in the experimental stage.

I started with a daily tax podcast.  I have a tax background and thought such a podcast would draw an audience.  In only a few weeks, I could see the handwriting on the wall.  The tax podcasts had a very loyal, but very small audience, so it came to an end in March.

I replaced that series for an occasional podcast about the arts.  I would attend local events and write reviews about them.  I knew there would not be enough local arts events to keep the podcast going, so I’ve supplemented that series with reviews of television programs and events, as well as film.  I did some film reviews many years ago, so why not try again? The Arts&Fishers Podcast is building an audience, so that will continue into 2017 and we will see where it goes.

But the podcasts that continue to be popular are the interviews I conduct, mostly with local people.  Mayor Scott Fadness was very kind to be my guest on the first podcast.  I have tried to talk with a wide variety of people doing important things around Fishers.

I interviewed Fishers Police Chief George Kehl a few months before his retirement.  He made some very kind remarks at the end of that interview, basically reassuring me that people are listening to the podcasts and that people are reading my blog.  I like our new Police Chief Mitch Thompson, but I do miss George.

Here is one request I have for everyone listening to my Podcasts.  They are available on several platforms, but one of the biggest is iTunes.  You can search iTunes under “Podcasts by Larry Lannan” and find them all there.  If you listen on iTunes, please take a moment to comment and rate the podcasts.  That is a big help to me in making my podcast series more visible to others.

2017 will be an eventful year.  Yes, we will have a new president but I won’t get into that here.  Mayor Scott Fadness enters his third year in office.  He has been very aggressive in developing the city and I see no abatement in his efforts to economically grow the city.

We will have 2 new members of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board.  The school system will undergo a number of renovations, including to the administration building, and begin the process of constructing a new (as of yet unnamed) elementary school on Cyntheanne Road.

The Fishers City Council will likely get a new president.  Early indications are that long-time Councilor David George will preside over the body in 2017.

In closing, the one thing that keeps me going as a volunteer writing on this site and podcasting, points directly at you.  You take the time to read this blog, listen to my podcasts, and that motivates me to continue this endeavor.  Once again, thank you, and allow me to wish each and every one of you a happy and blessed 2017!

Here’s a look at interview podcasts during 2016