Fishers Police have released the name of the victim in an accident early Saturday morning. Sarah Burgett, 27, of Fishers died after being struck by a vehicle at 131st Street and State Road 37.  Police say Burgett was apparently trying to cross State Road 37 when the accident happened.

Below is the news release from the Fishers Police Department:

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On Saturday morning at approximately 5:30am Fishers police officers were dispatched to a crash involving a pedestrian and two motor vehicles. The crash occurred at the intersection of 131^st Street and State Road 37. Officers arrived to find a pedestrian had been struck by a 2002 Chevrolet Suburban. Immediately following the initial crash the pedestrian was struck again by a 2006 Dodge Caravan.

Paramedics from the Fishers Department of Fire and Emergency Services arrived a short time later and pronounced the victim deceased. According to evidence and witness statements, it appears the pedestrian was attempting to cross State Road 37 at 131^st and both the Chevrolet and the Dodge were traveling northbound on State Road 37 at the time of the crash.

“Indiana – The Musical” opened in Fishers on July 16th….here’s my review

The annual Fishers downtown Arts Crawl drew a good crowd Friday night with a gorgeous summer evening filled with music and a lot of independent artwork.

Describing it doesn’t do the event justice, so here are some pictures, and a video of one musical act.

The Indianapolis Airport Authority has voted to allow the City of Fishers to move forward with developing 211 acres of land at Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport, located near 106th Street and Allisonville Road, per a story published on the IBJ Web site.

Susan Orr of the Indianapolis Business Journal wrote the story.  You can read it at this link.

Here’s the video of Verizon’s donation to the Domestic Violence Network

The local Domestic Violence Network has $20,000 as a result of a donation by Verizon.  The announcement was part of the opening of a new “smart store” in Carmel, on Greyound Pass.

The donation will help domestic violence victims throughout the area.

Hamilton County Commissioner Christine Altman was there, and sounded a positive note on efforts to build a domestic violence shelter in Hamilton County.  The site selection and funding for the project are both being determined.

The “smart store” concept for Verizon in Carmel is the first in Indiana.  It allows customers to sample available technology.

I was tied-up with another project when news broke of a new medical facility in the Fishers part of Saxony.

Indianapolis Business Journal reporter Lindsey Erdody did a great job reporting this story, so I will defer to her and urge you to read her story at this link.

The media spokespeople for the local city government and the schools talk about the work they do…

Fishers Police announced the arrest of three suspects from New York, being held on Fraud charges, who are possibly tied to what police describe as a multi-state crime spree.

It all started when a Fishes officer saw a vehicle in the local Wal-Mart parking lot that appeared suspicious, followed the car and stopped it along I-69 on alleged traffic violations.  That led to the discovery of material in the car, leading to the Fraud charges.

Below is the Fishers Police Department news release with the details:

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Yesterday, while patrolling the 8300 block of 96^th Street, a Fishers police officer observed a white Chevrolet Malibu, with Georgia registration, driving around the Wal-Mart parking lot. The officer observed a male and female exit the car and walk into the Wal-Mart. A third passenger remained in the car hunched down in the backseat. A short time later the officer observed the male exit the store and several minutes later the female followed. The officer followed the Malibu as it exited the Wal-Mart parking lot and traveled northbound on Interstate 69. The officer conducted a traffic stop after observing the driver commit multiple traffic infractions and nearly causing a crash with another motorist.

During the traffic stop the officer discovered these individuals were in possession of multiple cloned credit cards and a card skimming device. Officers also met with Wal-Mart Loss Prevention and learned the suspects had committed ten fraudulent transactions using cloned credit cards. All three suspects were taken into custody and transported to the Hamilton County Jail without incident. 

This continues to be an active investigation and additional charges may be filed in the future. Anyone with information regarding these suspects is encouraged to contact Officer Greg Weesner at 317-595-3300.   

Media Personnel – Please direct any further questions, regarding this case, to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.

Suspect:       Clifford Cerisier

                        28 years old

                        Springfield Gardens, NY   

Charge:         Fraud Level 6 Felony (10 Counts)

Held:              Hamilton County Jail

Suspect:       Kevin Rivera

                        26 years old

                        Brooklyn, NY

Charge:         Fraud Level 6 Felony (10 Counts)

Held:              Hamilton County Jail

Suspect:       Chanique Richardson

                        28 years old

                        Brooklyn, NY

Charge:         Fraud Level 6 Felony (10 Counts)

Held:              Hamilton County Jail

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board heard a lengthy report from administrators on the final stages of finishing the College and Career Centers (CCAs) at the two high schools. The biggest issue discussed was tied to technology in presentation rooms.  The board was told the wireless connections are not working due to Apple’s constant upgrades and failure to support older systems.  School staff is testing a wired system that will allow the presentations in these rooms.

Superintendent Allen Bourff told the board when the buildings opened in August of 2015, the “punch list” of unfinished building items filled a large binder, and now the lists are down to two pages for each high school. The punch list for Fishers High School can be accessed at this link.  The HSE High School list can be found at this link.

The board approved changes in the custodial services contract with Executive Management Services (EMS) after the school administration notified the firm that, in the view of the school administration, it was in breach of contract.  A new contract will allow EMS until January 5th of 2017 to show it can perform up to the standards in the contract. The contract amendment is available at this link.

In other news from the July 13th board meeting:

–Lucas Oil Stadium will be the site of the next high school graduation ceremony.  The event will then go back to the Fairgrounds Coliseum after 2017.

–The school staff will now undergo criminal background checks every 5 years, with 20% of the school system employees undergoing the checks each year.  Board President Karen Harmer suggested that school board members also undergo periodic criminal background checks.

–Dr. Bourff told board members he has received the ISTEP results for the school corporation.  He would like to share how local students performed, but he indicated he does not know yet.  He did say the scores were not as high as last year in several grade levels, but he has no idea what that means, since no state averages are available and there are appeal processes yet to be determined.  Bourff said he has asked the state for more information, but so far the Indiana Department of Education is unable to provide any.  Bourff expects more specific information should be ready by September, but with the issues surrounding this testing cycle, Dr. Bourff said he wouldn’t count on any date provided.

Fishers City Council President John Weingardt is recommending that all 9 council members discuss proposed changes to the compensation of local elected officials.  Council members currently are paid $12,000 annually with no other compensation.

As a member of the City Council Finance Committee, Weingardt leads a subcommittee looking at elected officials compensation.  That subcommittee was due to report a recommendation on compensation to the Finance Committee.

Weingardt had suggested council members be reimbursed for expenses they incur when conducting council business, with a system where councilors would only be reimbursed for verified, specific expenses.

“I’m a little concerned that I’m making a charge up a hill that I don’t have folks behind me that are wanting to do this,” Weingardt told the Finance Committee.  “I think we need to talk about it here in this committee, or have, probably a better discussion at work session (with the full council) so we can talk about council salaries and what folks want to see out of this.”

The full council work session on elected officials compensation may happen in August.

In other items before the City Council Finance Committee:

–City Controller Oscar Gutierrez told committee members Mayor Fadness has told department heads to submit flat budgets for 2017, the only exceptions being increases in contracts with outside vendors up to 5%.  Gutierrez said public safety departments are asking for additional personnel.  The mayor will look at revenue projections before deciding on what to recommend to the council.

–The special census is winding down.  Gutierrez said the final figures are not yet available, but the numbers known now show the city’s population as at least 86,000.  That is enough to bring in about $2 million in extra revenue to the city and would allow additional liquor licenses in Fishers, according to the controller.  The 2010 official census population figure for Fishers was 76,794.