If you missed celebrating your pet on National Dog Day August 26th (or even if you did celebrate it) you have another opportunity September 19th in Fishers.  The Nickel Plate District, behind City Hall, will host the Dog Day Afternoon featuring Woofstock from 2:00-7:00pm.

Admissions is $5 per person.  Those 10 and under, pets and military service men and women (with a photo I.D.) are free.  All proceeds go to the Hamilton County Humane Society.  There will be plenty of food, entertainment and activities for all.  The event features the annual Parade of Paws and many educational booths..

When Scott Fadness assumed his post as the first mayor of Fishers this year, one of the issues at the top of his priority list was to deal with mental health issues.  As his Mental Health Task Force moves closer to a set of actions to be taken, the mayor reminded the group at the August 27th meeting why their work is so important.

In the last 2 weeks, the mayor said 5-7 people attempted suicide in Fishers, with about half those cases involving juveniles. The task force is working on how to intervene at an early stage and prevent suicides and other issues arising from the lack of mental health services.

The group is made up, in part, of city officials, city public safety leaders, local school representatives private foundations and private sector health providers.   The members of this panel have been putting their heads together with regular meetings throughout 2015.

The task force reviewed the many recommendations for action contained in their preliminary findings.  Fishers residents should expect to see an announcement of the recommended actions by the task force in 4-6 weeks.

Bringing such a large and diverse group of people from throughout the Fishers community is quite an accomplishment for Mayor Fadness.  He clearly believes directly addressing mental health in Fishers will make this a better community for all of us.  Let’s see what the final document recommends and what actions are taken as a result of this effort.

In a unanimous vote, a joint session of the Fall Creek Township and Fishers Boards of Zoning Appeals voted to deny a zoning variance requested by Geist Nursery, located in the area of the Windermere neighborhood, 9890 Mollenkopf Road. The business asked the boards to allow events on their grounds, such as weddings and other special events.

Both boards were required to vote on the zoning variance request because part of the Geist Nursery grounds are contained within the city of Fishers and the rest of the land is located in Fall Creek Township outside the city limits.

Out of 19 people speaking at the public hearing, 14 opposed the variance.  The most common concerns centered around noise late at night during the events and added traffic.

Fishers Police have one man under arrest and are searching for another in connection with a robbery at Chase Bank in Fishers near 116th Street & Alisonville Road, just before 1:00pm on Monday, August 24th.  Mark T. Williams, 27, of Indianapolis, is in the Hamilton County Jail facing felony robbery charges.  Police are searching for a second suspect. Here’s a description of that suspect from the Fishers Police Department News Release:

“Witnesses described the second suspect as a black male in his late teens or early twenties. The suspect appears to be approximately 5’8” tall with a medium build. During the robbery the suspect wore a yellow traffic vest, blue athletic shorts, tennis shoes, and a St. Louis Blues (NHL) ball cap.”

Chase Bank workers told police a suspect slipped a note to a teller demanding money. The teller provided the cash, and the suspect left the building and entered on what the employee described as a silver Dodge passenger car.

Police later saw what appeared to be the getaway vehicle, tried to stop it, but the driver of the car would not comply.   The vehicle crashed near 62nd and Binford Boulevard. Two men ran from the vehicle.  Williams was apprehended.  The second man got away.

No one was injured.

Anyone with information regarding the second suspect or any part of this robbery is asked to contact Fishers Police Detective David Finn at 317-595-3300.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Members heard some shocking news about a dramatic shortage of substitute teachers, at the August 24th meeting.  The board was told local schools could use about 100 additional substitute teachers.

The qualifications required to substitute teach may be lower than you think.  Most can qualify with 30 hours of college credit.  That’s roughly equivalent to one year of a full time college student course load.

If you have any interest in becoming a substitute teacher, HSE Schools would like to hear from you.  You can get started by using this link to begin the application process.

Most subs are paid $65 a day.

Imagine raising $1 million for a charitable group over ten years.  Imagine that records have only been kept 10 years, so the total is likely much higher.  Then imagine all this money has been raised at the elementary school level.

All the above has been true in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School system elementary buildings.  Parents in those schools have been raising money for the American Heart Association.

Parents from the following schools were recognized during the August 24th HSE School Board session, for raising these total amounts of money for the Heart Association:

Harrison Parkway Elementary School: $312,078

Fall Creek Elementary School: $187,795

Geist Elementary School: $180,383

New Britton Elementary School: $102,153

Thorpe Creek Elementary School: $91,460

Teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School System will receive a raise in pay this school year after the HSE School Board ratified a new one-year contract with the HSE Education Association.  Janet Chandler, President of the Association, told LarryInFishers most of the school district’s teachers will receive a 2.17% raise in salary under the new pact.  Teachers with more experience, higher in the step pay ladder, will receive a 2.71% increase in pay. Beginning teachers will see their pay go up by 6.12%.  Chandler says beginning teachers have not seen any raise in a number of years.  Teachers in the district have already ratified the contract.

In other school board news from the August 24th session….

Superintendent Allen Bourff introduced Sneha Shah to the board.  She will be leading the political action committee charged with advocating for the school tax referendum projected to be on the May, 2016 election ballot.

The board approved a new policy that conforms with state law, allowing staff members in HSE Schools, but living outside the HSE school district boundaries, to allow their children to attend HSE Schools.

The board discussed goals discussed at their recent retreat, dealing with student academic opportunities, student services and the operating referendum next year.

The good news is the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety approved the city’s share of building an upgrade in the area of Reynolds Drive and 126th Street, just east of State Road 37.  The bad news is that the project cannot be bid until the summer of 2019.  City Director of Engineering Jeff Hill told board members the plan is to move the access to 126th Street from the Reynolds Drive area further east to Parkside, near the Primrose Day Care.  The city will be responsible for 10% of the costs for this project, estimated to be $145,500, with state and federal funds handling the rest of the funding.  The board approved the contract needed to move forward with the project.

The board also approved a contract for road improvements on Cyntheanne Road between 136th Street and Southeastern Parkway.  The city will be paying 20% of the cost in this project.  This road work is currently scheduled to be bid in July 2016.

The Hamilton County Surveyor’s office is petitioning the city to relocate Thorpe Creek so that damage to 136th Street does not continue to occur. Sinkholes within the road edges are forming due to erosion of the creek causing the road shoulders to sluff off into the creek.  The board approved the petition request.

The board approved Capitol City Fencing’s bid of $182,500 for the removal and replacement of the existing deteriorating cedar fencing along the 116th St corridor. The fence is located on the north and south sides of 116th street adjacent to Sunblest and Sunblest Countryview neighborhoods. It was installed in the late 1990’s when 116th Street was widened to 4 lanes. Age, rot, and deterioration have substantially increased maintenance costs and brought about the need for the replacement.  Because this fencing is on the city’s right of way, it is the city’s responsibility, according to Mayor Scott Fadness.

Mayor Fadness asked for an update on the road work on 131st Street between State Road 37 and Cumberland Road.  The mayor said the road appears a bit “disjointed.”  Jeff Hill said the work is about to wrap up on that project.  Hill said the road is “disjointed and odd” at the entrance to the apartment buildings and commercial areas.  Hill said the future conversion of the 131st Steet and Cumberland Road intersection to a roundabout can lead to some improvements elsewhere on 131st Street.  The mayor indicated he would like to look at road impact fee credits being used to shore up that part of 131st Street tied to any new commercial developments planned in that area.

 
The Pasta Bowl is set once again this year.  It’s a drive to get donations of pasta boxes for distribution to the many food pantries in the area.  You can contribute pasta by dropping your pasta boxes in a donation bin.  You may begin to see some bins in the coming days but all should be in place by September 8th.

Part of the drive will be held at the Mudsock Football Game featuring Fishers High School taking on its crosstown rival Hamilton Southeastern on September 11th,  but you will also find bins located in the following places:

Area Meier stores (the sponsor of this year’s drive)

Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation Buildings

Fishers Fire Stations

The Fishers YMCA

Fall Creek or Delaware Township Trustee’s Office.

This year will also feature competition between Fishers and HSE High Schools to see who can collect the most pasta.  This is the 3rd year for the Pasta Bowl food drive.  The goal is to collect 20,000 pounds of pasta.

Sometimes, you get very good ideas from your readers.  I have one reader that got on a roll Friday night.  The issue was school start times.

Here in Fishers, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School System starts school early in the later grades.  For example, High Schools, Junior Highs and Intermediate levels all start classes at 7:35 in the morning.  The elementary buildings start classes at 8:55am.

According to the latest scientific studies, 7:35am may be too early to start school.  That’s according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control released in early August and a policy statement issued last year by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

My reader sent me tons of articles based on these findings.  The bottom line is this….the science indicates start times for middle school to high school should be no earlier than 8:30am.

The reason for the recommendation by the experts is the impact early start times have on student achievement.  Earlier start times lead to less sleep….less sleep leads to reduced performance in schools.

It should be noted that a group of students made a presentation to the HSE School Board some time ago citing the American Academy of Pediatrics data and asking that school start times be changed.  The board listened but has so far taken no action.

It should be noted here that changing start times is not as easy as it may sound.  The entire school transportation network is based on starting school at the times we have now. Fishers is a growing suburb with major traffic jams during rush hours in the morning and evening, which makes school bus scheduling a vexing problem.

That is one major reason the school board cannot act quickly to address these scientific findings.  However, with the evidence mounting that late start times are better in the later grade levels, one wonders if the HSE administration and school board may consider changes in the future based on all the data we see now.

In the meantime, my reader will certainly keep me posted on Twitter about the latest on students and sleep.