Several folks have asked me during the past week when Fort Wayne Observed will return to its regularly scheduled programming. I look forward to doing so soon. I appreciate the many comments.
As a bit of a short return, I thought I might share a small amendment I drafted for tonight's Council meeting. [...]
The Pontiac Silverdome just sold at auction for $583,000.
Think of it this way: that's about the same amount of money that the City of Fort Wayne will spend in CEDIT taxes to subsidize the operations of the Public Safety Academy. Or, put another [...]
Justin Gillette leads the Veterans' Marathon at the half-way mark at one hour and sixteen minutes.
Columbia City's Sam Bird won the Half-Marathon with a time of one hour and ten minutes
Photo at left of the ultralight pilot flew over the [...]
The inaugural Veterans Marathon began this morning under perfect skies. Race organizer Gary Bird said, "We couldn't ask for better weather. We are so pleased by the large turnout in this initial year."
While the race has attracted [...]
An autumn day along Indiana State Road 124.
Photo credit: Fort Wayne Observed | Mitch Harpercemetery misspelled as cemetary
Fort Wayne Observed has previously noted the value of cable barriers in saving lives on Indiana highways.
Emily Hagedorn of the Louisville Courier Journal reports that Kentucky officials are citing cable barriers erected on northern Kentucky and southern Indiana highways as proven lifesavers. Ms. [...]
The administration of Governor Mitch Daniels has announced that it favors a high speed rail route running through Fort Wayne in its application for federal stimulus money for the project.
You may download the application by clicking here.
The preferred [...]
A view of eastern J. Edward Roush Lake in Huntington County taken from the Simpson Road bridge.
Photo credit: Fort Wayne Observed | Mitch Harper.
A truck overturned at US 224 and SR 5 on the southeast side of Huntington, Indiana on Monday afternoon. Firefighters, Huntington County Sheriff's officers and Huntington County Haz-Mat and Emergency Management personnel were on the scene.
The overturned trailer crushed a vehicle at the intersection. The driver of that vehicle was [...]
Former Indiana State Representative Dan Dumezich has posted a Facebook message at 3 PM urging those receiving it to tune into 93.1 FM in Indianapolis to hear his comments on the 2010 elections.
Mr. Dumezich is from northwest Indiana and has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the US Senate [...]
The Fort Wayne Truck Assembly Plant is one of three GM plants that will be adding an additional shift.
From Bloomberg News:
General Motors Co. will add a third shift at three U.S. plants that are taking on additional production from factories slated to close or be idled.
The facilities getting [...]
The sign shown below was displayed on a truck parked on a street just off Calhoun on the near south side yesterday.
It reads: "US Fort Wayne for Auction - Going Once! Going Twice! $old to China"
[...]The Jay Leno Show debuted last night on NBC. One of the most popular features carried over to his new 10 PM program from The Tonight Show is the Headlines segment.
And the first batch of headlines on Mr. Leno's [...]
The southside guardrail at West State Boulevard and Westbrook Drive sports a constant sheen and shine from constant replacement.
The bend shown above resulted from an accident on Labor Day afternoon. The Fort Wayne Police Department's P.J. Smith is shown investigating [...]
Yesterday saw a record turnout at the Waynedale community picnic.
Numerous non-profits, churches and businesses were present at the free community picnic to sponsor the event. Wayne Township Trustee Rick Stevenson and 4th District City Councilman Mitch Harper were [...]
After nearly 40 years of hospitality overlooking the skyline of Fort Wayne, the Summit Club is closing. Its passing is a coda to the a prior era's plans for downtown revitalization.
The mid to late 60's were a time of retail contraction downtown. But by 1970, the initiatives of [...]
The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Bob Von Sternberg reports that the Minneapolis to Fort Wayne flight operated by Pinnacle Airlines for Northwest had the worst on-time record in the United States for June.
The percentage of times in June the flight was late? 100%.
The flight will no longer exist after [...]
Riegel's Pipe and Tobacco store was missing its front window today. The venerable Calhoun Street business is the oldest downtown retailer.
Frank Bougher reported that the window was shattered early Sunday morning by a young woman employed by a nearby bar who had just broken up [...]
Denny Worman of Leo provided a bit of a clue as to his political intentions at the Harlan Days festival this past weekend. The photo above of Mr. Worman was taken in the Harlan Days merchant tent.
Mr. Worman is [...]
Shown above are signs posted today along Coldwater Road in Fort Wayne at Glenbrook Hyundai. That dealer, along with many others, was proceeding with "cash for clunkers" promotions despite the off and on again signals out of Washington about the program.
Many of the dealers [...]
Last February, FWOb wrote about the 2009 opening of the FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, a short drive east of I-69 on I-94. Firekeepers is located just off the interstate.
Now, the casino is nearing its opening date and is advertising heavily in nearby markets in anticipation [...]
Some City Council members will be sitting in at the City of Fort Wayne 3-1-1 Call Center to get a first hand view of how myriad citizen calls are handled.
Mitch Harper of the 4th District will be the first council member to be sitting in, donning headphones, and seeing how the computerized [...]
The announcement by Indiana state Senator Gary Dillon, MD that he would not seek re-election in 2010 has set off speculation about which candidates will seek to succeed him. Early speculation centers on State Representative Dan Leonard of [...]
Later today, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley will be visiting the White House to toss back a couple of cold ones with the President of the United States.
Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs "hinted the presidential cooler will likely [...]
"If you haven't seen it then it's new to you" used to be NBC's catchphrase to promote its rerun schedule. In that spirit, FWOb is posting the following video from State Farm Insurance promoting its iPhone Pocket Agent.
You may have seen it earlier this summer on the Political Equinox [...]
Last month, the BET cable television network debuted the new reality show Tiny & Toya. It features Tameka "Tiny" Cottle and Antonia "Toya" Johnson-Carter. Ms. Carter is recently divorced from rap start Li'l Wayne.
On the second episode of the show, [...]
The political news cycle is getting shorter and shorter in the age of Facebook, texting and Twitter.
Exhibit A is the case of potential Indiana US Senate candidate Dan Dumezich of Schererville in northwest Indiana. The former state representative has explored running for [...]
The latest Fort Wayne Observed poll has been posted in the left column of the weblog. It asks what car company is most likely to make the next car you purchase.
Ford Motor Company has been gaining US market share. GM and Chrysler will see if sales suffer in the wake [...]
Fort Wayne Observed has had as one of its goals from the start to provide a sense of place. This extends beyond Fort Wayne to the state of Indiana.
The cemetery shown above is representative of many of Indiana's small, rural cemeteries. Although the legend [...]
State Senator Marlin Stutzman spoke to the Conservative Breakfast Club in Fort Wayne on Monday morning.
He is running for the US Senate seat currently held by US Senator Evan Bayh. Mr. Stutzman acknowledged that Senator Bayh will have an overwhelming advantage in fundraising. However, State [...]
Don Hall's Tavern at Coventry began construction this week on the newest deck in the locally owned restaurant group.
The photos below show the progress of construction on the deck located on the north side of the [...]
H L Mencken and the Scopes Trial from FWOb on Vimeo.
The 1925 Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, was the first trial broadcast around the world on clear channel radio. The trial had the compelling topic of evolution vs. creationism and the presence of Clarence Darrow and [...]
The Indianapolis Star has reported today that former Fort Wayne Paul Helmke will be speaking in Indianapolis on August 15th on the campus of Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis.
From the story headlined: "Brady Campaign President Coming to Indy":
President of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence, Paul Helmke, [...]
Last evening's downpour before the Three Rivers Festival Fireworks resulted in water boiling up from the manhole at the intersection of Clinton and Superior Streets downtown. Stormwater flooded the intersection and drained north on Clinton Street toward the crossing in front of [...]
MONEY magazine and CNN have just released their listing of the Top Places to Live in America.
The City of New Haven, Indiana, was ranked "second" in housing affordability in one of the key measures of liveablity in the latest edition. [...]
Esquire magazine's John H. Richardson recently interviewed US Representative Barney Frank regarding Mr. Frank's introduction of legislation termed the "Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009."
Mr. Richardson talked to Representative Frank about those Republicans supporting his proposal and those against. Mr. Frank [...]
GM announced at noon today that Fort Wayne's Truck Assembly Plant has gained production for GM's heavy duty truck line.=
[...]The Allen County Council just voted 4 -3 to increase the wheel tax.
Members Darren Vogt, Paula Hughes, and Paul Moss voted against. Members Maye Johnson, Bob Armstrong, Larry Brown and Roy Buskirk voted for the tax increase. =
[...]Fort Wayne business owner Barry LaBov was on CNBC's Street Signs program defending the use us corporate aircraft in today's business climate. You may view the full video here.
The story focused on declines in business aircraft purchases that have hurt US manufacturers of small aircraft.
[...]A "JOA" or "Joint Operating Agreement" is a form of business organization allowing competing daily newspapers in a market to each continue publishing while combining all non-editorial functions such as printing, distribution, advertising and human resources. This was a specific carve-out from federal anti-trust laws that was created nearly 40 [...]
The contents of the well-known northside Acme tavern were auctioned today. The auction brings a close to an iconic Fort Wayne bar that had served many generations since WW II
The large oil painting of a baseball stadium that dominated the east wall of the bar's "family room" drew the greatest [...]
Saturday, May 9th, is the 55th anniversary of the death of Fort Wayne Mayor Harry Baals. He died while in office.
This is his modest granite grave marker in Lindenwood Cemetery:
Photo credit: Fort Wayne Observed | Mitch Harper. Photo taken November 2008.
[...]County Clerk Therese Brown, speaking for County Auditor Lisa Blosser, has announced that there will be a local government "Fiscal Summit" on July 21st. Auditor Blosser has organized the meeting with the object of having all local government taxing units meet together to discuss the overall tax burden on Allen [...]
PepsiCo has launched what it terms a friendly offer to buy its two largest bottlers - PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group.
PepsiAmericas is the second largest Pepsi bottler worldwide. It is the parent of the Fort Wayne Pepsi bottler on North Harrison just north [...]
Michelin North America has announced the permanent closing of a BF Goodrich tire plant which will cost the jobs of 1,000 workers. It is not the Woodburn facility, however, but the company's plant in Opelika Alabama. The Woodburn plant in Allen County, [...]
If research on major league teams is any guide, the Fort Wayne Tincaps are likely to have a winning April at home.
Tim Marchman writes in the Wall Street Journal that teams which opened new ball parks since 2003 have "posted a collective .603 winning [...]
There has been some communication that the New Haven Canal Days celebration may be somewhat scaled back for 2009 or even postponed until 2010. It is one of the earliest events in the area kicking off the summer festival season.
A postponement or even a downsizing may disappoint some who look forward to the annual [...]
The performance of The Messiah Easter drama by the Abundant Life Tabernacle is a striking presentation of The Gospels in two hours of rousing music, sweeping staging, and vivid colors.
There is one additional performance tonight at 7:30 PM at the [...]
The Wall Street Journal's Scott Patterson reports in today's edition that Lincoln Financial is facing a "liquidity crunch" as obligations come due.
Mr. Patterson writes:
Monday, Lincoln will have to pay down $500 million in debt. The company has said it will pay its obligation in full with internal cash. But it's [...]
US Representative Mark E. Souder declared "victory" today in the fight for US military veterans to receive VA medical care in Fort Wayne.
Representative Souder mde the announcement at a 2:30,PM press conference at the VA Medical Center on Lake Avenue. The VA will build a new and much larger oupatient [...]
This news is out of New Castle but it highlights the sometimes irrational tensions that exist when "Share the Road" isn't practiced.
From the Muncie Star Press:
Jeffrey H. Guffey, 31, told city police he was riding a bicycle when he shouted at the [...]
The US Postal Service announced today that it will be closing three of the five remaining Remote Encoding Centers. One of those being shuttered is the Fort Wayne Center on Coliseum Boulevard. It's set to close in October.
From the USPS:
[ ... ]
“The Remote Encoding Centers were designed as a temporary [...]
Indiana state legislators are considering doubling the state's taxes on the sales of alcohol in order to bail out the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board's looming $47 million dollar shortfall.
It might be hard to imagine, but the financial projections made in order to induce the [...]
Demolition continues on the ill-fated hotel project at W. Jefferson Boulevard and Ellison Road just west of Interstate 69 and US 24 in Fort Wayne. This was the scene yesterday afternoon:
Photo credit: Fort Wayne Observed
[...]Photographed at J. Edward Roush Lake, March 31, 2009.
The flowers were identified by a FWOb reader as 'Bloodroot.' The small and delicate flowers located in the lower left and lower right of the photograph were identified as 'Harbinger of [...]
The indie band Grand Duchy is to release its album Petits Fours on April 14th. One of the songs on the album is "Fort Wayne." This is not the song touting "Room for Dreams" as Fort Wayne's marketing slogan. However, one reviewer did call the new song "dreamy."
You can listen [...]
Fort Wayne had a strong showing at the Indiana Collegiate Press Association Journalism conference. Michael Sanserino, Editor in Chief of the Indiana Daily Student, was named Indiana Collegiate Journalist of the Year. The Wabash Bachelor, led by Fort Wayne's Patrick McAlister, was named "Best College Newspaper of the Year."
Mr. Sanserino is a graduate [...]
This fledling great horned owl was photographed Saturday at Fox Island County Park. Its sibling and parents were nested nearby.
[...]Bishop John D'Arcy's statement regarding the commencement visit of President Obama has landed him on today'se front page of The Drudge Report.
A link was provided to a news report which recounted the criticism of the visit by another Bishop in addition to [...]
The Public Television broadcast of The American Experience was a powerful presentation on the subject of the drive to create the polio vaccine. "The Polio Crusade" had numerous interviews, photographs and archival film and video which brought to life the fear [...]
Frank Suarez, the Public Information Officer for City Utilities, said the sewer collapse at Anthony Boulevard and Berry will not be repaired until at least the middle of next week. The statement as issued this afternoon:
To ensure safety for the 17,000 vehicles that travel North Anthony Boulevard each day, City [...]
Bishop John D'Arcy has issued a statement concerning the visit of President Barack Obama to Notre Dame to deliver this year's commencement address:
Concerning President Barack Obama speaking at Notre DameMarch 24, 2009
On Friday, March 21, Father John Jenkins, CSC, phoned to inform [...]
What is the value of the Fort Wayne Ballet? The question might be partially answered by a profile of former Fort Wayne resident Joseph Gorak by the New York Times' Cara Buckley in today's edition:
Joseph Gorak, 19, has just joined the [...]
Numerous Catholic websites and weblogs are focused today on whether Bishop John D'Arcy will be issuing a statement regarding the visit of President Barack Obama to give the commencement address to this year's graduating class at the University of Notre Dame.
Just days before the Friday announcement that President Obama had been [...]
A video of the Anthony Boulevard sinkhole may be viewed here.
The sinkhole opened up Sunday just south of the Maumee River near the Norfold Southern railroad tracks and east Berry Street. The railroad tracks follow the bed of the Wabash and Erie Canal.
The closure of Anthony Boulevard impacts public [...]
These black metal silhouettes of people were erected today on Barr Street on the east side of the Wolf & Dessaur Building / Lincoln Financial Headquarters / Temporary Allen County Public Library.
The representations are part of a Henry administration project to upgrade Barr Street.
The trade publication Pit & Quarry tells the story of last week's flooding from the point of view of the City of Fort Wayne's pump vendor:
On March 10, the wastewater treatment plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., faced shutdown due to cresting floodwaters. Under normal circumstances, the plant would pump [...]
The "sinking hotel" project at W. Jefferson Boulevard at Ellison Road is coming down. The project near I-69 had ground to a halt when county building authorities judged that the foundation of the hotel was unstable.
Last month, the Starbucks outlet at the Village of Coventry invited customers to predict when [...]
Seen Wednesday on Engle Road just east of Smith Road in Fort Wayne. The driver had safely exited the vehicle.
[...]St. Patrick's Day is upon us.
Time for runners to get prepared for the Shamrock Sprint of 2009. There is no entry fee to run the course of the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade. The Shamrock Sprint is more or less 600 yards.
The Sprint starts at 5:15 PM behind the Deer [...]
At last night's Fort Wayne City Council meeting, At Large City Councilwoman Liz Brown used part of her time for council members' remarks to mention the findings of the latest Internal Audit Department report.
The latest audit was of Fort Wayne Police Department Vice and Narcotics Bureau. One of the findings [...]
Fort Wayne Newspapers employees are subject to some severe belt-tightening. Employees have been informed that salaried employees will be subject to a 6% reduction in pay; full-time hourly employees will be have weekly hours cut from 40 hours to 37.5. 401K contributions have also been reduced from a match of [...]
Leo Morris, editorial page editor of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel - the "good evening" newspaper in town - comments on his morning newspaper counterparts in the last sentence of this recent post in his Opening Arguments weblog:
Hey, have you been looking for a reason to give an evening [...]
The Elmhurst girl's basketball team brought home the first state championship to the school Saturday on winning the Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 3A championship. Fort Wayne Canterbury girls won the Class 1A championship.
Elmhurst Coach Mark Redding was interviewed post game:
Video credit: IHSAA Sports
[...]Fort Wayne Rescue Ministries, Inc. has postponed for 60 days the appearance on plans for Charis House which had been scheduled today before the Fort Wayne Plan Commission.
Plans had been submitted for a transitional shelter for homeless women and children to be built on the west side of Wells Street just north of [...]
Spy Run Creek at Fort Wayne's Lawton Park taken at 8 P.M. on Sunday, March 8th, 2009.
Photo credit: Fort Wayne Observed | Mitch Harper.
[...]A waterfall formed on Smith just south of Yohne Road Sunday afternoon. Water overflowing from the ditch at the intersection found a new path. The stormwater formed a waterfall as it eroded sand at the edge of a sand pit. The sand quarry was filling with the stormwater as considerable [...]
I took a tour of potential flooding areas of the 4th Councilmanic District following the heavy Sunday rains. These areas included Fernwood Avenue in Waynedale, the new Bluffton Park apartments area, Avalon, Winchester Road, and the Belle Vista Neighborhood.
City water and sewer maintenance crews were doing a good job in addressing problems in [...]
Congratulations to regional athletes who participated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Indoor Track & Field Championships held over the weekend at Johnson City, Tennessee. Complete results may be found here.
Athletes qualified for competition at nationals from the [...]
The results are in from the first ballot. Steve Shine has been relected chairman of the Allen County Rpublican Central Committee.
The top two: Shine 211; Runestad 88. =
[...]Candidates have spoken in alphabetical order. Steve Shine is now speaking and it would be safe to characterize Mr. Shine's remarks as a "fiery" rebuttal.=
[...]Fort Wyne City Councilman Tom Smith, acting as chair of the Allen County Republican reorganization meeting, has just opened the business meeting. He is presently reading the rules governing the meeting.
Nominations for chairman will follow Mr. Smith's recitation of the rules.=
[...]Parkview Health has donated the use of its building at 2730 East State Boulevard and Beacon Street to be the new Northeast Outpost for the Fort Wayne Police Department. It replaces the cramped quarters the outpost occupied in the Fort Wayne radio shop at [...]
The Van Wert Times Bulletin's Ed Gebert reports on the release of Ohio January unemployment figures. Northwest Ohio counties saw substantial jumps in unemployment. Van Wert County unemployment for January stands at an estimated 13.7%; other Ohio counties in the orbit of the Fort Wayne regional economy saw similar increases.
Mr. [...]
Governor Mitch Daniels announced creation of a new website to track Indiana projects being funded through the Federal Economic Stimulus Package.
The site is: [invest.in.gov]
[...]Granite Broadcasting has just combined news operations of television stations in two more markets - Syracuse, New York and Peoria, Illinois. The closings are following the model of the WPTA 22 and WISE 33 news department consolidation in Fort Wayne.
The Syracuse action may be uncomfortable example for Granite Broadcasting news [...]
The Los Angeles Times' P. J. Huffstutter reports on life for Fort Wayne native Drake Hogestyn after his character got written out of Days of Our Lives.
Mr. Hogestyn has been played John Black for 23 years.
Reporter Huffstutter writes:
"There's an old expression: I could have been an actor, then I [...]
New WFFT 55 FOX news director and anchor Jim Blue will be landing in West Central. Mr. Blue wrote at his weblog:
We visited several of the city’s neighborhoods, finally settling on the Historic District downtown. I expect to move in to a wonderful apartment there very soon. I’m looking [...]
The most interesting area media story of the year so far is that the daily newspapers of KPC Media will switch to morning publication. The Auburn Star, Kendallville's The News Sun and Angola's The Herald Republican will now be morning delivery.
Name changes abound for the new publications. Among other changes, the word [...]
The stimulus package contains some money that will go to Indiana communities dealing with combined sewer overflow (CSO) remediation. Yet, it is a small percentage of the estimated cost to either separate storm and sanitary sewers or to augment certain combined sewers with structures that can sequester combined sewer and [...]
The best live music venue today in Fort Wayne is North Side High School. It is the site of the annual North Side Jazz Festival. There are many high school musicans from around the area playing this afternoon. Tonight's show with guest artist Scott Cowan starts at 5:30 PM.=
[...]Jim Blue, the incoming anchor and news director of WFFT FOX 55, has set up a new weblog specific to his new post in Fort Wayne. He thanked the Toledo Free Press in his first and, so far, only post. In a recent Toledo Free Press story by Barrett Andrews, [...]
This was part of today's Wall Street Journal story on the death of the Rocky Mountain News:
Founded in 1859, the Rocky is the more conservative of the two Denver newspapers, and the rivalry between the two has become part of the fabric of the community. Some local politicians concluded that [...]
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has just published an article about the demise of newspaper "joint operating agreements." The article by Cathering Tsai mentions that the Fort Wayne JOA under which the News-Sentinel and the Journal-Gazette operate their business functions is one of just a handful that are left.
The subhead of the article [...]
Fort Wayne Observed just told you about Publr.com, the Fort Wayne based micro-blogging platform.
FWOb has given it a test drive. Now you can see what it looks like at [fortwayneobserved.publr.com]. Right now, we're not yet [...]
