Larry Lannan’s analysis of biggest stories affecting Fishers

LarryInFishers.com

During the final days of December, I have been mulling the question of how to handle the top Fishers news stories for the year of 2020. In the past, I have ranked the top 20 stories, from number 20 or 25 up to the top news story at number one.

In 2020, that just doesn’t work because we have never had a news year that compares in any way. The novel coronavirus has upended the lives of most people in the world, and Fishers is part of that world.

COVID-19 is so pervasive in most of the news stories in 2020 I cannot do the normal ranking. So, here is what I will do in this piece. I will begin with the ways COVID has impacted the lives of those of us living in Fishers.

Then, I will simply list the other news stories in the past year that were important, but not COVID-related, in no particular order, because the coronavirus was by far the biggest story of 2020.

I was covering a Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting early this year when the news broke that the NBA was “suspending” its season after a COVID outbreak in Oklahoma City. It didn’t take long to see the impact on all of us as the days rolled along in March and April.

I recall my last in-person podcast with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, asking him what the experts he consults were telling him in April about just how bad the coronavirus crisis would be. The mayor pulled no punches in saying this will be bad and it is up to all of us to behave in a way that will limit the spread of the virus.

Sadly, many of us have not behaved so well.

So, what stories in Fishers were related to COVID? The start was the decision by Mayor Fadness to create a city Health Department. He did so after discovering that county health officials had no plan in April to implement a COVID testing regime. The mayor was convinced having COVID testing available would be key to promoting health and commerce in his city. So, had it not been for the novel coronavirus, it is unlikely Fishers would have its own health department.

The testing began in late April, free for Fishers residents and available to businesses for a fee. The mayor recently said on a Zoom podcast recording that Fishers had conducted more than 29,000 tests so far.

COVID has crippled HSE Schools’ ability to conduct in-person classes. When the pandemic first hit in the spring, all classes went all-virtual. Later, a plan was developed to allow grades K-4 to have in-person classes, set up a 50 percent in and out of in-person classes and virtual for grades 5-8.

Then, the coronavirus numbers spiked in October and November. Substitute teachers were in short supply and the in-person classroom sessions could not be staffed. Classes went all-virtual again.

A new school board will take office in January (more on that later) and will need to decide what to do about the virtual classes now in place through Jan. 15.

That’s just an overview; there are many more aspects. This is just the way of saying COVID was by far the biggest news story of 2020.

Now, let’s look at some other important news for Fishers in 2020, in no particular order:

• The racial issues sparked by the death of George Floyd were felt in Fishers. There were several demonstrations dealing with race in the city during 2020. The City of Fishers offered a program, Interrupting Racism, to any Fishers resident wanting to attend the seminar. This city program was in the works long before Floyd’s death.
• 

  Bourff

  HSE School Superintendent Allen Bourff announced his intention to retire at the end of June 2021. He and his wife plan to remain residents of Fishers.

• The HSE School Board will swear in three new board members in January. Sarah Donsbach, Sarah Parks-Reese and Suzanne Thomas will take office at the first board meeting in 2021, scheduled for Jan. 13.
• The City of Fishers landed some economic development projects. INCOG, a biopharma firm, plans to locate in a building yet to be constructed near Interstate 69 and 116th Street. The former Roche Building facing I-69 will now be the headquarters for Round Room. Also, the major development in downtown Fishers, along 116th Street just west of the municipal complex, continues its construction with part of the development set to open in 2021. This includes a new headquarters building for First Internet Bank.
• The State Road 37 construction continues, with the interchange at 126th Street complete. The cost of the project rose from the initial estimates, but Mayor Fadness says the extra money can be borrowed with no impact on the city’s property tax rate. The Hamilton County Council voted to provide its share of the extra cost.
• 

  Coble

  Cecilia Coble was elected President of the Fishers City Council. She is the first woman to assume that post.

• The Fishers Test Kitchen opened as part of the Fishers District development. Many new restaurants opened their doors in that project in 2020.
• A September fire at Sunblest Apartments resulted in no injuries but many families were forced to find other arrangements for a home.
• Finally, I announced in late March my intention to end the news blog after eight years of writing about news in Fishers. It is hard work to cover news as a volunteer and I just wanted to focus on reviewing films and other arts events in the area. Then COVID hit and I felt a responsibility to cover news a bit longer with so much important news breaking almost daily. Then I contracted the novel coronavirus, testing positive in late October. When you have no energy to do much of anything because the virus sucks all the energy from your body, you have lots of time to think. I made a decision to continue with the Fishers local news blog because it is the right thing for me to do at this time. So, I am still writing.

On a personal note, 2020 had its high point for me. I became a grandfather for the first time on Aug. 11, 2020. My grandson Dakota is a tremendous gift and I love every moment spent with him. So, I look back on 2020 as a very mixed bag personally.

With vaccines being developed for COVID, 2021 holds much promise for better things to come. I sincerely hope that is the case.

Last, but not least, my sincere thanks to all my readers of this blog and listeners to my podcasts. I am a volunteer, not in any of this for money. I continue my volunteer work due to the many comments received from you, the public. The number of readers and listeners is growing and that is what keeps me going.

Happy New Year, Fishers!