Archive for the “Breaking News” Category

As a former card carrying member of the Christian Right (who was once in good standing) I have an educated opinion on a clandestine open meeting of the leadership of that subculture.  That meeting took place over the weekend in Texas. 

This gathering of mostly Evangelical, political activist firepower sent a few strong messages across the fruited plain.

First and foremost, they sent a message to Rick Perry to immediately suspend his campaign for president.  Secondarily they sent a message to their compatriots to all back Rick Santorum for president, at least in the upcoming South Carolina race.  Thirdly, they sent a message to those advancing federalism ala Ron Paul’s principled libertarianism as a cure to America’s ills.  That former message is “fahgettaboutit.”

The call to rethink the embrace of big government solutions to every social ill — a GOP political pattern that began with the Rockefeller Republicans in 1964 — has been answered.   Read the rest of this entry »

Update:

A judge has put on hold his order that Indiana Republican Secretary of State Charlie White be removed from office because he was improperly registered as a candidate.

Marion Circuit Court Judge Louis Rosenberg issued a temporary stay Friday until a Dec. 29 hearing sought by an attorney for White.

Holy cow….

PDF is here.

Updated Sunday 1:30 pm:

The third victim is Ryann Tipton, a 2010 graduate of Northrup High School.

Ryann Tipton

Fort Wayne police were notified at 3:04 pm today  by  someone that saw a Facebook posting to do a welfare check on their friend, Bart Heller.

Bart Heller

According to this screenshot from Heller’s Facebook profile, he stated “someone call 911,” and come to 3229 Lima Road, and find three bodies, including his.

Reports on local news stations have yet to confirm Heller as one of the deceased, however Heller’s brother posted on his brother’s Facebook page confirming his brother was in fact one of the dead. That post as since been deleted.

Heller lost his St. Joe Center Road home to a foreclosure earlier this year. The Lima Road property where the shootings took place was purchased by Heller’s parents, Randall and Arbutus Heller of Coldwater, MI not long after the foreclosure. They acquired the house for “$10 and other valuable considerations” in March of this year from Steve Bolin of Fort Wayne.

One of Heller’s victims is Erin Jehl, pictured here.

Heller posed this image on Jehl’s wall back in October.

Last month, he posted this poem on Facebook, and tagged Erin and several other people to it.

Heller has two LinkedIn profiles, with one listing his employer as Strategic Solutions Group of Fort Wayne, and the other as an Independent Computer Networking Professional.

Allen County Recorder John McGauley filed paperwork for his exploratory committee with the Allen County Election Board today for the commissioners seat currently held by Nelson Peters.

Brown Leads, but Race Is Too Close To Call

Among 470 likely Fort Wayne Republican primary voters, Liz Brown has a 6-point lead over Paula Hughes (41% to 35%) in a poll with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 points, making it the narrowest of leads for Brown. Eric Doden has 15% and Fred Osheskie has 2%. Terrance Walker has less than 1%. Just over 7% were undecided (7.5%).

If the Republican primary election were held today, who would you vote for?

Packets were recently sent out to members of the Legacy Fund Task Force which contained recommendations for use of the city’s anticipated windfall from the I&M settlement. Of course, it included the now near infamous yet ridiculous suggestion of a drag strip, among others. However, it was missing an important element.

A group of 9 local and regional economic development agencies got together and drafted a letter to the Legacy Fund Task Force. Each of the groups went to their boards for approval, which collectively could be well over 150 business leaders in the area. All approved the letter, each director, president or respective chair signed the document, and off it went to the mayor’s office. Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Senator Dick Lugar, (R-IND) will announce later today that he is dropping out of the 2012 senatorial race. Lugar is a 1949 recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, and will replace outgoing president Rex Tillerson. Lugar will also announce his intentions to donate his family’s 604-acre Indiana farm to the scouting organization early next year.

“I was always enthusiastic about being a Boy Scout,” said Lugar. “This opportunity to serve for two years prior to retiring to South Carolina is a great opportunity for me to pay them back for what they taught me as a young man.”

Lugar wished the best of luck to Richard Mourdock who is running to replace him, stating, “Richard is a great person, a true conservative that should he win, will serve the citizen’s of Indiana well.”

Lugar spokesperson Mark Helmke said, “In the 30 years I have know Dick, I’ve never seen him so excited, and I know Dick.” Lugar plans on building his own Pine Wood Derby car to race against his grandson, who’s a Cub Scout, stating, “I’ve had one kick ass design in mind since I came in dead last 68 years ago. I’m going to show these kids what a real derby racer is.”

Richard Green “Dick” Lugar (born April 4, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Indiana. He is a member of the Republican Party and served as the mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1976 and was elected to the United States Senate in 1976 where he has been the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1985 to 1987 and 2003 to 2007. Much of Lugar’s work in the Senate is toward the dismantling of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons around the world.

“This news is sad and regrettable, but the only course of honor is for Mr. White to step down from his duties, at least during the duration of these proceedings until a verdict is reached.  It would be neither credible nor appropriate for the state’s top elections official to continue to perform his duties while contesting criminal charges, some of them under the very laws the Secretary of State implements. I have consulted with each of the other statewide elected officials and our judgment about this is unanimous.”

And this.

STATEMENT FROM CHAIRMAN ERIC HOLCOMB
ON SECRETARY OF STATE CHARLIE WHITE

INDIANAPOLIS (March 3, 2011) – Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb released the following statement on Secretary of State Charlie White:

“What we learned today is disappointing.  We think it’s appropriate Secretary of State Charlie White take a leave of absence from his official duties until the legal process reaches a conclusion.”

Tea party protestors have shown up at hotel in Urbana where House Democrats are staying. Media is there also.

Just in case you’ve missed the subtle hints over the last couple of days, The Gary Snyder Show (me) with co-host Ken Zuk have joined WGL, 1250 The River (Ft. Wayne). The Gary Snyder Show will air on Saturdays from 9-11 a.m. (for now), starting March 5th.  You can listen to The Gary Snyder Show at 1250 am (obviously), online at WGL 1250 am The River and we will post replays of the show here.

The show will continue to focus on local, state and national politics and sports, and as usual, in a way only we can bring them to you, plus the guests you want to hear from.  Our guests, right now, for our March 5th show include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Izod Indy Racing League drivers Graham Rahal and Alex Tagliani.  Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @GarySnyderShow and Facebook at Facebook.com/GaryLSnyder

The Gary Snyder Show on 1250 The River – Where politics and sports collide in Northeast Indiana!

Past guests include: Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the first two. Feel free to call and tell them how you feel. I will update this page as they come in.

• Phil Giaquinta – 260-385-6412
• David Niezgodski - 574-532-6691