Archive for the “City & County Government” Category

Fort Wayne, Ind. – Traffic Signals at two downtown intersections are not functioning this morning due to a pole fire at Broadway and Washington.

Temporary stop signs are in place at the intersections of Broadway and Washington and Broadway and Jefferson.

American Electric Power is working on the situation. At this time we do not know how long the signals will be out.

A Chicago blogger and former Fort Wayne resident by the name of T.R. Slyder, had this to say about the new name for the (former) Fort Wayne Wizards.

Wow. My hometown’s single-A baseball team just changed names for no reason. They used to be the Fort Wayne Wizards. Now they are the Johnny Appleseed homaging- Tincaps. Above is their logo. No seriously, that’s their logo. Way to keep it greezy, Fort Weezy.

I just hope their motto is: “Hide the Women and Children: We’re Coming to Your Town to Spread our Seed.”

AWB

Update: Okay, I was all wet. Yes, I’m admitting it here, I was wrong. Chad’s actually a nice guy and just moments ago, he sent me a very nice email.

My apologies for the unintended ommision AWB. An honest oversight on my part. Although, the statement that I don’t “like you” is innacurate. I don’t know you beyond your blog. As far as your disdain for baseball, the name, Harrison Square; it doesn’t really matter to me. We’re all entitled to our opinions and it’s your right to have yours, and not my right to judge. Thanks for the link BTW. Best wishes. - Chad

I’m now linking to his Blog as well. Go visit it.

Yeah, call me a schmuck.

I guess Chad Gramling doesn’t like me because I think Harrison Square is freakin’ farce. I suppose since he’s a baseball wing nut, (he wrote the book Baseball in Fort Wayne) it’s perfectly fine to feel that way.

Today he has a list of *all* of the discussions surrounding the absolutely stupid name of Tin Caps for the Fort Wayne Wizards. Well, all of them of course except yours truly, who back in September broke the story on the name (here).

Considering more of the HS/Hardball pundits hang their hats here, I’ve decided to swipe part of his post and recreate it here (with spelling corrected).

Gramling writes: I cannot believe the number of headlines and opinions that have been circulating about the renaming of the Fort Wayne Wizards to the Fort Wayne Tin Caps.

Discussion on Reaction to the Fort Wayne TinCaps Name:

• Added by AWB - FortWayneNews.com (35 comments)
  [HATE IT, IT SUCKS]
• Fort Wayne TinCaps! (7 comments)
  [LIKES] (Baseball Think Factory)
• Johnny Appleseed Would Be Ashamed (0 comments)
  [DISLIKES] (ScLoHo’s Really?)
• TinCaps (0 comments)
  [DISLIKES] (Ann’Re @ Home)
• The Something Aweful Forums (3 comments)
  [MIXED]
• TinCaps? Quirky, Yes, But Not Loving It - Yet (1 comment)
  [Willing to Give it a Chance] (News Sentinel)
• Fort Wayne Tin Caps Are You Serious? (4 comments)
  [Not Real Thrilled] (Decatur Indiana Community)
• Fort Wayne TinCaps (1 comment)
  [Not Real Thrilled] (Goateed Librarian)
• The TINCAPS???!!! God save us from Atlanta ad agencies (6 comments)
  [ABSOLUTELY HATES] (Common Sensibilities)
• TinCap Reaction (0 comments)
  (Rattler Radio - first to complain about capitalization!)
• TinCaps Not a Big Hit Right Off the Bat, But the Team Hopes it Will Grow on You
  (comments N/A)
  (IndianasNewsCenter - longest headline award)
• TinCaps? Just Give it Some Time (comments N/A)
  (Journal Gazette)

The rest of his post is here.

It’s still a stupid name. HS is still a stupid project.

AWB

http://www.fortwaynepotheads.com/

LMAO - AWB

AWB

Update: I’m moving this to the top of the fold for obvious reasons.

Not many people like the name. Anyway, welcome to Fort Wayne, home of the Pot Heads!

Also, I’d like to point out the rumor that started on the Pat White Show yesterday that “Tin Cap” was a name used for LSD is simply a rumor. I’ve looked on Google and there’s no reference to it anywhere, (see here).

If you’re interested in making your very own tin cap, click here for instructions.

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Hardball Capital used Sky Design from Atlanta to consult on the name. Funny, they didn’t use a local Fort Wayne agency, and there’s plenty of them here. That’s really playing local, Mr. Freier.

Freier is speaking now justifying the name by giving us a history of John Chapman. He’s not let the crowd know the name yet.

AWB

Tourney is preceded by week of Open Houses for area youth

The Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department’s youth centers at Jennings, Cooper and Weisser are participating in a citywide Safe Haven Prevention week October 10 - 18, pledging to stay in shape, in school, off drugs, and out of gangs. The week’s activities begin and end with great basketball games. The kick off game October 10th is at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum with the Indiana Pacers vs. the Chicago Bulls. Tip off is at 7pm.

Special recognition for five youth advocates will be held at halftime on the 10th. The people being recognized for youth basketball are Ron Holmes, Michael Ayers, Gregory Mitchell and Ron Stevenson. Denita Washington, of Lakeside Middle School, will also be recognized for her service to the Afternoons R.O.C.K. program.

The week ends with the annual Safe Haven Tourney between area youth leagues at Lakeside Middle School, beginning at 6pm October 17 and all day Saturday, October 18. The championship game begins at 8pm.

During Drug Awareness month, eight area youth-serving organizations have created special events to draw awareness to the Safe Haven network. This network includes the three Parks & Recreation Department youth centers, which have come together to form an association of multi-service centers. They provide prevention programs designed to reduce crime and restore neighborhoods, while also coordinating youth and adult services in highly visible, secure and accessible facilities. Established more than five years ago with a grant from the US Department of Justice, this network continues to serve the youth in the southeast quadrant of Fort Wayne.

Safe Havens are:

Jennings, Cooper, Weisser, East Wayne Street, Eagles Nest, Euell Wilson, Fort Wayne Urban League, and Old Fort YMCA.

In addition to basketball activities, the following sites are holding open houses as part of the Safe Haven Prevention Week (times to be announced):

Saturday, 10/11
Cooper Community Center
11am – 3pm
2300 Clinton & Creighton Ave. (427-6728)

Sunday, 10/12
Union Baptist Church
11:30 Services
2200 Smith Street (456-3421)

Monday, 10/13
Weisser Park Youth Center
5pm – 7pm
802 Eckart Street (427-66780)

Tuesday, 10/14
Euell Wilson Center
4pm – 6pm
1512 Oxford Street (456-2917)

Wednesday, 10/15
Old Fort YMCA
4pm – 6pm
2221 Reed Street (745-0541)

Thursday, 10/16
Jennings Recreation Center
4pm – 6pm
1330 McCulloch Street (427-6700

For more information on safe havens and how to get involved, contact Bennie Lewis, Manager of Neighborhood Programs for Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation.

You saw it here first folks.

City’s 2009 balanced budget includes an increase of less than 1% over  2008

Fort Wayne, IND— Mayor Tom Henry today sent City Council his 2009 budget document. The $134 million plan is just a fraction over the total for the 2008 budget, though expenses are anticipated to be much higher in some areas, such as natural gas, gasoline and diesel fuel. Employees are slated to receive a 1.5% pay increase, which is about half what the typical increase has been for many years. Due to favorable experience, the city’s share of insurance costs will remain flat for 2009. Total headcount has been reduced by five positions in the 2009 budget.

“The City will face numerous challenges in the coming years,” said Mayor Henry. “While this budget is sound and solid, we owe a debt of gratitude to prior administrations and Councils for managing wisely, allowing us to go into 2009 with a balanced budget, something not all municipalities in the state are able to do.”

Mayor Henry went on to say that the real concerns occur when it’s time to look at 2010. The recent legislation which reduced property taxes for citizens also reduced revenue for governmental units. By 2010, without strong action, difficult decisions will have to be made about services, programs and positions to cut.

“This budget represents a lot of dedication and hard work on the part of  Pat Roller, our controller, “ said Mayor Henry, “and on the parts of each division and department head who understood what challenges we’re facing and did all they could to keep the budget flat. City employees are working hard to do more with less. The citizens of Fort Wayne are well-served by the employees who are squeezing every drop of utility they can from the resources available.”

Source: City of Fort Wayne