Fort Wayne Observed

Polar Bear Caution?

The end of the year rains have swollen the rivers, creeks and ditches of northeastern Indiana.

This has implications for the annual Polar Bear Plunge at 2 PM in the St. Joseph River just east of the Parnell Avenue Bridge in Fort Wayne.

The fast moving current of the St. Joseph will be a problem.  Last year, Polar Bear veterans related to me that swift moving water in prior years meant that no reveler should venture out any more than necessary to quickly get one's legs and torso wet from a crouching position.

Travel on this New Year's Eve day took me across the St. Mary's River several times as well as across numerous streams and ditches.  All were rain swollen and many yards and fields were flooded.

Fort Wayne Observed: Year in Review

Here's a look back at what happened on Fort Wayne Observed in 2006:

February

• Mitch Harper takes over as editor of Fort Wayne Observed for Nathan Gotsch

• Fort Wayne Observed provides extensive coverage of the inaugural Allen County GOP Convention

March

• Gotsch invited to participate in OJR 2006, a conference for independent online journalists held in conjunction with the Online Journalism Review at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication

• Mitch Harper writes about carnage on US 24 and Fort to Port

April

• Fort Wayne Observed interviews Congressman Mark Souder just off the floor of the House of Representatives; Souder discusses immigration and the upcoming midterm elections

• Fort Wayne Observed alerts the community to a convicted sex offender headed our way from Vermont

• The News-Sentinel's Ryan Lengerich writes an article about Fort Wayne blogs

May

• Fort Wayne Observed provides extensive coverage of the 2006 primary elections

• Fort Wayne Observed breaks the story that former mayor Paul Helmke would be named President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

• Fort Wayne Observed provides audio of Helmke's hour-long chat with the Allen County Teenage Republicans

• Fort Wayne Observed is the first media outlet to report the death of former mayor Ivan Lebamoff; Mitch Harper discusses Lebamoff's legacy with longtime city councilman Don Schmidt

• Fort Wayne Observed celebrates its first anniversary

• Presumed presidential candidate Evan Bayh meets with bloggers, including Mitch Harper

• A discussion in the Fort Wayne blogosphere is the subject of an Indianapolis Star column

• Catching up with a porn star who hails from the Summit City

June

• Local artist Kat Rohrbacher's painting of the Allen County Courthouse is posted on Fort Wayne Observed and sells hours later to a FWOb reader for $1,000

• WOWO's Charlie Butcher talks with Fort Wayne Observed founder Nathan Gotsch about the state of local radio

• The News-Sentinel/Fort Wayne Newspapers is sold for $93 million; Fort Wayne Observed talks to longtime staffer Kevin Leininger about the sale

• Fort Wayne Observed profiles mayor Graham Richards and discusses his technological savvy

• Fort Wayne Observed covers the Indiana state GOP convention

July

• Mitch Harper interviewed on WOWO's Morning News about Fort Wayne Observed

• Fort Wayne Observed reader John McGauley covers the Three Rivers Festival parade for FWOb

• A Fort Wayne Observed item on an auction at the State Developmental Center leads to an article in the News-Sentinel's website; credit to FWOb was excised from the N-S's print story. A story about the auction subsequently appeared in USA Today.

August

• Fort Wayne Observed provides audio and photos from the NAACP's annual banquet

September

• Fort Wayne Observed provides videos [1 2] and photos from the Grabill Fair parade

• Mitch Harper writes about the poorly-designed interchange at I-469 and US 30/930 [subsequent post]

• Prosecutor Karen Richards talks to Fort Wayne Observed to clarify her comments in a front-page story in that morning's Wall Street Journal

October

• Fort Wayne Observed is the first to report that county commissioner Nelson Peters was running for mayor

• Mitch Harper on Graham Richard's legacy as mayor after he announced that he would not pursue a third term in office

• Fort Wayne Observed talks to city councilman Don Schmidt about who might be considering a run for mayor

• Congressman Mark Souder calls disgraced former colleague Mark Foley an "idiot" and a "pedophile" in audio posted exclusively on Fort Wayne Observed; he later says of the scandal: "I hope more isn't to come..."

• Fort Wayne Observed provides audio of former US Senator Dan Coats' remarks to the Allen County Right to Life

November

• Mitch Harper on voter turnout

• Fort Wayne Observed provides up-to-the-minute audio posts on Election Night

• The first-ever Fort Wayne Observed fall conference is held

• Fort Wayne Observed profiles WANE-TV's Mark Mellinger

If you call for a taxi tonight, doublecheck the number

Or you should block your identification.

Our telephone number is one digit different from a local taxicab provider.  Persons dialing a wrong number when seeking a taxi are the chief source of late night telephone calls received by us.

We hope that New Year's Eve taxi callers are fairly accurate when they call for a driver.

One caller on Christmas Eve was not. The name of a local professional person appeared in the caller ID on Christmas Eve.  I didn't know what would have occasioned a late-night phone call from the gentleman whose name appeared.  However, the reason was made clear when he slurred his request for a taxi.

New Year's Day Polar Bear Plunge

More than 100 intrepid souls will jump in the frigid waters of the St. Joe River tomorrow .  The Polar Bears will run down the boat ramp on Harry Baals Drive at City Utilities Park at 2 PM.

At least we think it's 2 PM. No one really sponsors the event anymore due to liability concerns so information is pretty sketchy.  There is no official news release.

Public safety entities always seem to be on hand for the event, however.

The boat ramp is located east of Parnell Avenue just south of the entrance to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and the Fort Wayne Turner's Club.

I took the plunge for the first time last year. You can read about that experience on an Indiana Parley post I wrote at the beginning of 2006.  The post features a photo of two gentlemen you may recognize.

My advice for those considering participating is to liberally slather yourself with petroleum jelly prior to taking the plunge.  It helps somewhat in lessening the shock of the water temperature.

The HUFF 50K Trail Run

The HUFF 50K Trail Run at J. Edward Roush Lake was a big success yesterday.

The warm weather sans rain was a great blessing.  Runners couldn't avoid the mud of the trail, however.  Casualties included one runner who was struck by a bounding doe within the first hour of the race.

The Men's Overall Winner was Terry Crompton, 45, of Iowa City, Iowa.  The Women's Overall Winner was Nancy Kleinrock, 46, of  Trumansburg, New York.  Many of the younger runners were amazed at the performance of two runners in their mid-forties.

However, many ultramarathoners reach their peak in their 30's and 40's.  The ultra long-distance nature of these events rewards the trained, tough, mentally strong - and wily - older runners.

Full results are linked to at www.HUFF50K.com.

Great photographs of the race will be available in a few days from photojournalist Andrew Hancock.

This year's race had runners from 27 different states.  The race director - who also happens to be the editor of Fort Wayne Observed - has set next year's race date as Saturday, December 29, 2007.  Online registration for the 2007 race is now open and can be accessed by clicking here.

Stopped at State Street

Photo by Everett White | used with permission

For more photography of Fort Wayne at night, check out the work of Fort Wayne Observed contributors White and Eric Fetcho.

Leaky library

The library has a leak and it's a big one.

Amanda Iacone of the Journal-Gazette reports this morning that the new main library of the Allen County Public Library has a problem. Over 800 gallons of fuel oil have leaked under the brand-spanking new structure.

And speaking of spanking, ACPL Director Jeff Krull told Ms. Iacone that "officials don't know how much the repairs will cost." One could hazard a guess that it won't be cheap.

Apart from figuring out how remediation of the spill will acually be handled, the next part will be figuring out who is going to pay for it. That is where the attorneys come into play. Attorneys for the library board and attorneys for the contractor and subcontractors are probably working feverishly to get a handle on the situation. The attorneys for the companies which have bonded the contractors are probably working feverishly, too. And somewhere in the mix will be the attorneys for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

From Ms. Iacone's story:

At least 800 gallons of diesel fuel has leaked underneath the still-under-construction Allen County Public Library downtown.

A pipe connecting a fuel storage tank to a backup generator leaked the diesel fuel into the ground below the library. Repairs are not expected to delay the grand opening of the library, which is set for Jan. 27, library director Jeff Krull said.

Krull described the spill as an inconvenience but not a big problem. The spill does not pose a threat to construction workers or those who park in the underground garage. Diesel fuel is not combustible, Krull said.

Officials don’t know yet what method will be used to clean up the spill or how much the repairs will cost, he said.

Supporters of the ACPL have pointed favorably during the construction process for the renovation of the main library that the Fort Wayne experience has been so much better in comparison to that of its Indianapolis brethren where the expansion of the main library in that city has endured huge cost overruns due to shoddy construction, a multiplicity of lawsuits related to the construction, and even criminal charges against one library official.

The most recent news from the Indianapolis-Marion County library is the dismissal this week of the library director who had been hired in the wake of the firing of the director who had presided over the original start of construction.

Historical note: When the main library and the Georgetown branch were originally built, the then library board also had to cope with leaks resulting from the design and construction.  Those leaks were due to rainwater leaking through roofs of the facilities.

Indiana's NewsCenter becomes Indiana's arrest center

Indiana's NewsCenter truly is the place to be.  Last night's newscast reported an arrest had been made in the case of a desecration of a nativity scene.   

What was unusual was the identification of the scene of the arrest.  The arrest took place at the Butler Road studios of Indiana's NewsCenter.

Evidently, a man had journeyed to the news studios to tell station personnel there that he had committed the act.  The Fort Wayne Police were called who then came to the Butler Road location to relocate the man to the lockup.

FBI credits FWPD with assist in arrest of Kentucky man

The US Department of Justice issued a press release on Wednesday regarding the arrest of a Kentucky man on child pornography charges.  The investigation began earlier this year in Detroit. A man who the FBI believe assisted the Kentucky man in exploiting a Michigan child was tracked to Fort Wayne where he was visiting relatives.

The Fort Wayne Police Department was credited with assisting in the investigation. From WHAS-TV in Louisville:

US Department of Justice press release.

A Russell Springs man has been arrested on child pornography charges.

Scotty Hopper, 42, was arrested on December 22 on charges of attempting to produce, receiving, distributing, and possessing child pornography Federal agents became aware of Hopper’s unlawful activities as a result of an investigation in Detroit. Law enforcement officials in Detroit received a complaint from a 16-year old girl that her computer had been hacked. The victim stated that a person had retrieved information, such as credit card and bank account information, personal photographs and other personal information from her computer. She also stated that the person then used this information to convince her to either take nude photographs of herself and send them to him or to pose nude in front of her web-cam for the other person to view and/or record. 

The Michigan investigation revealed that the person in communication with the 16-year-old girl is a citizen of Pakistan who maintained a residence and worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The investigation further identified the person communicating with the 16-year-old girl. 

In August of this year, law enforcement learned that the suspect was in Fort Wayne, Indiana, visiting his brother. On or about August 18, 2006, law enforcement officials coordinated efforts with the Ft. Wayne Police Department to conduct a search of the residence where the man was staying.  Law enforcement officials arrested the man who remains in custody in the Oakland Country Jail in Pontiac, Michigan for numerous child exploitation offenses.

Jon Myers to leave Economic Development post

Jon Myers, the northeast regional director of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, has announced he will be leaving his post in mid-January to return to the practice of law in Columbia City.

Mr. Myers made the announcement today. He indicated in the letter announcing his plans that Nate Feltman and Chris Pfaff of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation have been considering candidates for his replacement for the last two weeks.  Mr. Myers expects the transition to a new regional director will be a smooth one.

He reflected on what he termed the successes of the last year:

One recent example of our teamwork stands out.  I was reviewing our internal reports and realized that in the first 11 months of 2006, the IEDC completed 183 competitive deals. Of those projects, 43 came through the Fort Wayne office. Without your willingness to work with us as a team, it would have been impossible for four IEDC employees (Linda, Karen, Alan and I) to produce nearly a quarter of the projects in the State. Thanks for your help.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation was created by the legislature two years ago as a new entity replacing the Indiana Department of Commerce and several other economic development - related functions of state government.