Chris Sikich joins Larry to talk about stories he has written about Hamilton County in the Indianapolis Star

If you have visited Fishers City Hall lately, you know the area in the front of the building has been under construction.  There has been an added component to this project….a change order has been approved allowing for the demolition and rebuilding of the front steps at City Hall.  The action includes electrical lighting.  This will increase the cost by just over $137,000, and the extra money will come from the city’s cash reserves.  The change order was approved at the May 23rd meeting of the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety.  The work is scheduled to be complete in mid-July.  You may access the change order at this link.

The board also approved an agreement between the city and the Geist Lake Coalition (GLC) over the July 4th Blast on the Bridge (BOTB).   In 2015, the City and GLC jointly worked together to plan and execute BOTB.  For the 2016-18 events, the City will plan and manage BOTB.  The city is moving in that direction for the July 4, 2016 event.   The final draft agreement proposes a three-year partnership such that the City will plan and run BOTB and absorb all costs related to these responsibilities….Geist Lake Coalition will take on the cost of the fireworks; and the City will provide a grant to GLC each year of the agreement at $15,000/year pending budget appropriation by City Council.  You can read the agreement at this link.

When you, or someone close to you, suffers a heart attack, you want the best possible emergency services available.  For the second consecutive year, Fishers Fire and Emergency Services earned the American Heart Association’s EMS Gold Award.
Fishers’ local EMS operation was awarded this honor because of quality measures implemented in the treatment of patients experiencing severe heart attacks.

You can read the entire news release from the Fishers Fire Department below.

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For the second year in a row, Fishers Fire and Emergency Services has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline^® EMS Gold Award for implementing quality measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks for the second year in a row.

Every year, more than 250,000 people experience a STEMI, or ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction. STEMI is a type of heart attack caused by a complete blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires rapid treatment. To prevent death, it’s critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either surgically opening or by giving clot-busting medication.

Fire Chief Steven Orusa believes, “We are blessed in the City of Fishers to have such an effective continuum of care for our heart attack patients.  The highly trained men and women of our fire department combined with strategically located heart hospitals make a difference in patient outcomes.  This partnership provides the citizens of Fishers with one of the highest survival rates in the country.”

Emergency Medical System providers are vital to the success of Mission: Lifeline. EMS agencies provide access to 12-lead ECG machines (devices that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat and can help medical personnel determine if a heart attack has occurred), and follow protocols derived from American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines. The correct tools and training allow EMS providers to rapidly identify the STEMI, promptly notify the medical center, and trigger and early response from the awaiting hospital personnel.

“We are pleased to be recognized for the quality of our care, but our reward is in the successful recovery of our patients and the continued dedication in the reduction of those who don’t.” said EMS Division Chief Steve Davison.

Agencies that receive the Mission: Lifeline Gold award have demonstrated at least 75 percent compliance for each required achievement measure for two years and treated at least eight STEMI patients for each year.

The Fishers Department of  Fire and Emergency Services is dedicated to making our unit among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program is helping us accomplish that by implementing processes for improving STEMI systems of care with the goal of improving the quality of care for all STEMI patients,” said EMS Chief Steve Davsion. “We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in emergency medical care for STEMI patients.”

The Geist Christian Church Chancel Choir and the Fishers Community Chorus combined for a performance of John Rutter’s Requiem.  Here is Larry’s review

Once again, the list of road projects is long in the Fishers area for the work week starting Monday, May 23rd.

Note the road closures for the May 21st Geist Half Marathon.

The listing is below, provided by the City of Fishers….

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CURB REPAIRS

A contractor will be repairing curb ramps in Bluff and Links at Grey Eagle through the coming weeks. Please anticipate periodic lane restrictions in those areas.

FALL CREEK TRAIL

Fall Creek Trail reconstruction work continues; the pedestrian bridges and section of sidewalk along the trail have been removed. Pedestrians should not use the trail within the sections that have been removed. In addition, there will be periodic lane closures along the project throughout the week of May 16th. Please travel with caution, construction barrels have reduced the existing northbound lane width.

GEIST HALF MARATHON CLOSURES

The Geist Half Marathon will be running its course route on Saturday, May 21st. During that time various road restrictions and partial road closures will be in place to ensure participant safety. Please visit their website for a complete list of affected roads.

I-69 AND CAMPUS PARKWAY

Milestone Contractors plan to begin mobilizing cranes and other equipment and setting a temporary concrete barrier wall along I-69 at Campus Parkway Exit 210 beginning Wednesday, May 11th. Work will require alternating lane closures on northbound and southbound I-69 between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Lane closures may recur each night through the end of the week depending on weather and progress. Questions about this project should be directed to INDOT at eastcentralin@indot.in.ugove or 1-855-463-6848.

I-69 TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS

INDOT is overseeing an overnight closure on multiple traffic lanes on I-69 overnight this week to continue demolition of the 106th Street overpass bridge. Weather permitting, lane closures and rolling slowdowns of traffic will begin after 9 p.m. and are expected to end before 6 a.m. the next day. Construction schedules and traffic restrictions are subject to change, and questions should be directed to INDOT at indot.carsporgram.org, 1-800-261-ROAD (7623) or 511 from a mobile phone.

PAVING

A contractor will be paving streets on Lantern Road from 131st Street to Harrison Parkway and Conner Knoll throughout the coming weeks. Please anticipate periodic lane restrictions in those areas.

STATE ROAD 37

Various geotechnical work has begun along the State Road 37 corridor. Work will take place starting at the 126th Street intersection.

96th STREET AND CUMBERLAND ROAD

The Hamilton County Highway Department has closed 96th Street and Cumberland Road for 100 calendar days in order to construct a roundabout at this intersection. Anyone with concerns about this project should call 773-7770. Please visit www.Fishers.in.us/DriveFishers to view a detour map. The tentative completion date for this project is June 30, 2016.

96th STREET AND LANTERN ROAD

Contractors will begin clearing the right-of-way around the intersection of 96th Street and Lantern Road. Lane restrictions are only expected for eastbound 96th Street, east of Lantern Road at this time, but please drive carefully through the entire work area.

106th STREET INTERCHANGE

• INDOT has begun work on the 106th Street interchange. A lane shift is currently in place on I-69 and 106th Street is closed as construction continues. Additional details about this project will be released through INDOT and shared on the weekly construction update. Please be advised the speed limit from 82nd Street to 116th Street has been reduced to 55 mph and there are lane shifts on I-69. Please travel with caution and pay close attention to signage in the area.
• The eastbound ‘thru’ lane of 106th Street at the intersection of Hague Road remains restricted until early May. Stay tuned for updates on this project.

116th STREET

There may be short-term lane restrictions on eastbound 116th Street between USA Parkway and Exit Five Parkway while utility work is being completed.

126th STREET

• Continuing the week of May 23rd, there will be intermittent lane restrictions for westbound traffic just west of Promise Road. These restrictions will allow the contractor to construct the entrance into Granite Ridge subdivision. Advance warning signs will be in place including a directional arrow board, as needed.
• Temporary lane restrictions will be in place on 126th Street between Cyntheanne Road and Atlantic Road in order for should work to be completed. Please drive with caution in the area.
• Please drive with caution around 126th Street and Reynolds Drive. Contractors will be working off of the road, lane restrictions not expected.

Many years ago, I covered a county council meeting in a southern Indiana county, where the local sheriff and the president of the council were clearly at odds over a specific budget item the sheriff very much wanted approved.  The council president was very much opposed to that specific spending item.  All was civil during the meeting.  It was after the session ended when things became more intense.

The sheriff and council president began to raise their voices.  They weren’t screaming, but the exchange became loud.  There were gestures.  The two men were clearly very angry with each other.

When I went back to the radio station and wrote my story, I described the conversation as a “heated exchange” between the two.  The next day, the sheriff and council president were contacted by me for a followup and both could not understand why I would call their conversation a “heated exchange.”  Everything was fine, they assured me, all is well and their budget dispute was settled.  Too bad that was before the days of YouTube and viral videos.  Such a video record would have verified my account of their exchange.

That came to mind when I read a story posted Friday morning online at the Indianapolis Star Web site.  Reporter Chris Sikich describes an unannounced visit to the Lockhart Cadillac dealership in Fishers at 126th Street and State Road 37 by County Commissioner Steve Dillinger.  Sikich uses the phrase “heated exchange” in writing about what happened next at the auto sales complex.

The money is in place to begin the engineering work on the State Road 37 project to transform traffic signals along the highway in Fishers to roundabouts with underpasses underneath, similar to Keystone Avenue in Carmel.  Based on Sikich’s story, Dilinger had the “heated exchange” with a Lockhart manager days after the May 3rd primary election.

I won’t go into all the details, but suffice it to say that Lockhart, along with Honda of Fishers (both located along State Road 37 in Fishers) donated campaign money to unsuccessful County Commissioner Candidate Bill Smythe.  His opponent, incumbent Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt, was and is a big supporter of the SR37 roundabout project.  Smythe opposed it, and organized a coalition of businesses along the highway to oppose the roundabout proposal.  The business coalition failed, as the Hamilton County Council approved funding for the the roundabouts, allowing the project to move forward.

The description of that “heated exchange” at Lockhart differs a bit depending on which side is telling the story.  Sikich points that out in his article.

The IndyStar features a number of points we’ve covered on this blog before….that Fishers wants to work with area businesses on the construction phase and the final design of the roundabouts. Mayor Scott Fadness and Bill Smythe are both quoted in the story.

Mayor Fadness does not want businesses along SR37 to suffer or fail during this construction period.  When large highway projects have been under construction in Carmel in recent years, businesses along the highway have paid a price.  A few of them even failed.

Part of the final action by the Hamilton County Council provided at least $250,000 to market the businesses along the highway in Fishers.  The city may match part or all of that.

I expect State Road 37 to be an issue locally in the coming years, all the way through the final construction phase.  Stay tuned.

To read the Indianapolis Star article, use this link.  (NOTE:  If you are not an IndyStar subscriber, you will be limited in the number of online articles you may access each month)

Fishers Police Captain Ed Gebhart noticed something when addressing a group of his patrol officers…they were all on their cell phones just before the meeting started.  He wondered whether he could harness that cell phone technology in a way to help his officers and the public.  He reached out to John Wechsler, founder of Launch Fishers, who hooked him up with a weekly meeting of app code geeks, which led him to Auri Rahimzadeh.

Their collaboration over a year and a half led to the FishersCrimeWatch App.  It works like this….you see something that is not an immediate emergency, but looks suspicious.  You can send a picture and a short text message to police immediately through this app.  That allows a police officer to read your message and look at your picture.  That is immediate, invaluable information to an officer in deciding how to follow up on a lead like that.

“Thirty of our police officers have been trained and will begin using the tool on patrol today. So much time and effort has gone into it and I’m thankful of Auri’s partnership and commitment to serve the community,” said Captain Gebhart.

“We must be vigilant in constantly evolving and always seeking ways to be better for our community. This app is a smart solution that will lead to improved community for our residents, and I could not be more proud of FPD for this achievement,” said Fishes Mayor Scott Fadness.

Rahimzadeh donated his time to write the code for this app.

Here’s a video of the news conference (sorry about the wind interference on the sound

Fishers Police Captain Ed Gebhart had an idea for a new law enforcement phone app…Aurie Rahimzadeh found a way to make it happen….here is their story

The typical heroin user in Fishers is a 29-year-old white male, according to Fishers Assistant Police Chief Mitch Thompson.  He briefed city council members on heroin and the drug scene in Fishers during a May 16th city council work session.

Local police officers normally encounter heroin along Interstate 69.  “If we didn’t have I-69, we would have very little contact with heroin at all,” Thompson told the council.

He described heroin is the most addictive of drugs, with one dose typically resulting in addiction.

Thompson provided the latest data from the department’s annual narcotics assessment. In 2015, there were 3 overdose deaths in Fishers….2 due to heroin and one due to a combination of heroin and cocaine.  He provided another statistic to provide context…during the period of 2010-2015, Fishers experienced 45 suicides “by other means.”

Marijuana is the most encountered drug by Fishers Police, Thompson said, although his officers are beginning to see a decrease in that drug.  Next most encountered drug locally is heroin, followed by prescription opiates.

The numbers police have from Hamilton and Marion County addiction treatment centers from 2013 to 2015 show alcohol addiction as number 1, followed by marijuana, with opiate addiction (heroin is included in that mix) coming in third.  In 2013-2014, those treatment centers show a 98% increase in opiate addiction treatments….2014-2015, there was a 161% increase on top of that.  Thompson said Fishers Police are not seeing that kind of increase in their contacts.

Fishers Police officers are now being trained in using Narcan, the antidote drug for heroin overdose.  That program should be implemented within 30 days, according to Thompson.

City Councilman Brad DeReamer said he had asked that the heroin issue be added to the work session agenda.  He talked to a group of recovering heroin addicts and asked them what government can best do to help.  According to DeReamer, they cited the treatment center, their halfway house and the Hamilton County Drug Court.

“Jail doesn’t do anything,” said DeReamer.

Mayor Scott Fadness told council members he is concerned about addictive behavior. Heroin is the drug now, and it could be something else next year.  The core of the problem, the mayor says, is the addictive behavior.

Fadness says whatever the city does, it will be “substantive” and “systemic.”

“We do everything based on the numbers, based on what we’re seeing.” said Fadness.  “Anything we’re going to do, we’re going to make it of substance.”

The Fishers Police Department is continuing its series of “Coffee With a Cop” events on Wednesday, May 25th.  It starts at 9:00am and goes to 10:30am at Panera Bread on 96th Street.

This is being billed as a chance to sit down and drink some coffee with a local police officer.  There will be no speeches and no agenda, just a chance to talk and ask questions, according to local officials.