Buy the Dome

Buy a piece of the RCA Hoosier Dome... auction beings March 10. I guess they're going to re-use a lot of gear in the new stadium, so little of real interest remains... some stadium seating, some rather worthless signage, and the turf. I could see buying some turf, I've got this spot the dogs use all the time for... well, you know... but I'm not paying $1,000 bucks just so the dogs can ... you know ... where Peyton Manning once stood.

Just what we need

Dunkin' Donuts will be building 13 new restaurants in northeast Indiana

The restaurant chain has signed a development agreement for 13 restaurants with HH Restaurant Group LLC, of Fort Wayne. In addition to Fort Wayne, restaurants will be located in Auburn, Warsaw, Syracuse, Kendalville, Wabash and Huntington.

They know enough to stay out of Ossian. Heyerly's rules.

Mellencamp Road

John Mellencamp's Seymour, IN high school class (class of 1970 -- holy cow, is he that old?) wants a street named after him in his hometown. They want the street named "John Mellencamp Way." But, you know, that's a lot of letters and signs cost money. I think "Cougar Lane" would be better... and I'm just so sure he would get a kick out of it.

C.J.'s Law

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh will hold a press conference call today to discuss "C.J.'s Law" The bill would require all new mobile homes to come installed with Weather Radios to warn families of imminent severe weather events. This is a Federal version of a similar Indiana bill which was passed into law. The radios cost about $30 each.

Since this week is Weather Awareness week, I'll make Senator Bayh aware that Walmart has a nice Emerson Weather Band Radio available for eight bucks.

The Avilla Incident

If you've followed the story of the Avilla man, Duane Squire, who drove off county road 48 up in Dekalb, you know how sad it is. Squire was driving with his autistic grandson and they went off the road into a field. There were witnesses, the witnesses called it in, the police came but were unable to find the car. They stopped looking when a dispatcher waved them off. The 66 year old man lived through the crash, but passed away later. His autistic grandson spent 22 hours in the frigid car and survived.

A sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene at 2:57 p.m. and began asking a dispatcher for help in finding the crash and a description of the car.

The dispatcher called Monroe back for more information at 3:03 p.m., just as she and her husband were passing the crash scene again on their way back to Auburn.

“We see the car just off the corner of the woods back there,” Monroe said during her second conversation with the dispatcher. Watching from C.R. 48, Monroe said she also could see a sheriff deputy’s car to the south on C.R. 19. She and her husband tried to guide the search, telling the dispatcher that the wrecked car was directly west of the deputy’s car.

Monroe and her husband accurately described the car as a dark blue, older model, four-door Oldsmobile or Pontiac.

As Monroe continued trying to help officers spot the wrecked car, one of the sheriff’s deputies broke in on his radio.

“I spoke to a Garrett (police) unit,” the deputy said. “The people that are back there have permission to be back there.

“No 10-50,” the deputy said, using the police radio code for a traffic accident. “They went back there on purpose.”

The dispatcher relayed the deputy’s message to Monroe.

“They didn’t wreck. They had permission to go out there. They’ve driven off the road on purpose,” the dispatcher told her.

Monroe did not accept the explanation.

“Several of us pulled off the road because we thought it was an accident,” she told the dispatcher. “He flew off the road at a high rate of speed ... no brakes applied or anything.”

Just one further note from the article:

Two deputies who abandoned the search for Squire’s crash are “devastated by it, because they’re very dedicated officers who work very hard,” said DeKalb County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jay Oberholtzer.

People can't be human and not make mistakes... for all the Police, Fire, and Emergency Workers -- you all don't get enough praise and I hope your personal lives are filled with family and church enough to help you cope with the images you see and when things go wrong.

Senseless

Vandals attack Hobart High School with stolen cars

Crack Down on I-69

State Police Cracking Down on I-69

The Indiana State Police caught nearly 9,000 speeders, performed nearly 3,000 truck inspections and made more than 1,000 driver arrests along Interstate 69 between Indianapolis and the Michigan state line during the past 10 months.

Since I travel I-69 daily, I have certainly seen a lot of stopped trucks and motorists.

Meat Recall

Meat recall hits area schools

At least 13 northeast Indiana schools and school districts have been affected by the recall of meat from a California slaughterhouse undergoing an animal abuse investigation.

• Adams Central Community Schools
• Bishop Luers High School
• East Allen County Schools
• Fort Wayne Community Schools
• Lakeland School Corp.
• Metropolitan School District of Wabash County
• Northern Wells Community Schools
• Northwest Allen Schools
• Tippecanoe Valley School Corp.
• Warsaw Community Schools
• Whitko Community School
• Whitley County Schools
• Wyneken Memorial Lutheran School

The recall was caused by a meat market which failed to follow new rules regarding the slaughter of cows that cannot walk.

UNI Shooting - Regarding Chandler Harnish

This mail was forwarded on to me by Sevens member Deb Blinn. Chandler Harnish led the Knights to the State Championship game in 2006 and he is now attending Northern Illinois University where there was a shooting yesterday which killed seven people. This email was sent by his Dad, Ron Harnish (who once crushed me like a bug when I called him out on Senior Hit Day) and forwarded on by Tom Neuenschwander, who helps coach Norwell Football:

As of 12:45 a.m. this morning, Chandler walked through our doors at home after an unbelievable experience. We were very pleased that Chandler called his mother about 20 minutes after the shootings at NIU. He was locked down in the football stadium area with some football coaches when he called. He told me later in the afternoon that he was actually about a two minute walk away from the shootings as they occurred.

I think it will hit him today with a magnitude of what really went down at NIU. He puts on a good show of mental toughness, but that can't last too long. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for Chandler and NIU. Hug your children. Please keep the Chaneys, Shutts, Krinns, Burkes, and Yagers in your prayers.

Ron

In addition, Tom writes

Please keep Haley Chaney and her family in yours prayers. Haley was injured Tuesday night in an automobile accident. As of the Bluffton paper last night she is still in critical condition at Lutheran Hospital with a serious head injury. Haley is the daughter of Tony and Angie Chaney.

Last, Norwell Football lost one of our TOP supporters on Monday. My dad [ Art Neuenschwander ] is now with God and will be watching us not from the middle of bleachers but high above us. I will miss not seeing him in his sit at 5:45 pm on game day to watch us warm up but I know he will be with me on the field in my heart forever.

Art (Doc) Neuenschwander was the local veterinarian for many, many years in Ossian and was very involved in all aspects of the area. He will be greatly missed.

Update: The Bluffton News-Banner also has an article on Chandler and the shooting.

Huntington Ethanol Plant a "Go"

NuFuels LLC is planning to build a $100 million ethanol plant on the East side of Huntington (pay site).

The long-awaited, much-debated ethanol plant planned for the east side of Huntington is back on track and could be under construction by spring or summer of this year, said Fort Wayne businessman Jerry Henry.

The $100-million project is "the biggest investment in the city of Huntington ever," he added. After it is completed, Henry hopes to build a biodiesel plant on the same 120-acre site, which he purchased a year ago for about $1 million.

But the project has drawn opposition from a group of residents concerned about the ethanol plant's impact on air quality, traffic and other factors. Henry said he expects the group, Huntington County Citizens for a Responsible Environment (CARE), to file a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the project, but that won't deter him from moving forward.

Hickory Hills will remain a Golf Course

IMI Erie Stone Quarry acquires Hickory Hills Golf Course

According to IMI (Irving Materials, Inc.) officials, plans are to lease out the property as a golf course.

Quarry superintendent Joe Langel said this morning that it is IMI's intent to have the property remain a golf course.

He cited two major reasons in IMI seeking to acquire the property.

"First, we felt the community wants the property to remain as a golf course, and secondly, we wanted a safety buffer," Langel said, referring to the closeness of the property to the stone quarry.

Langel indicated there was "very little chance" of IMI ever actually mining the property.

If they do ever mine the course, someone please let me know if they find a Top-Flite X-out... that'd be mine.

Edna Challenged

Edna Parker, living in Shelbyville, Indiana, is currently listed as the world's oldest person. She'll be 115 in April. But a new claim has popped up. Mariam Amash, out of an Arab village in Israel, has filed paperwork saying she is 120 years old.

I'm thinking a cage match can clear up the whole thing.

Strange Smell

Strange smell stinks up southern Indiana

That would be Kentucky.

Train-Car Accident in Bluffton

Thankfully, the 19-year-old woman was not seriously injured

The lead engine was just rolling into the crossing as Claghorn approached. At the last second, she tried to brake and steer to the right, but her 2007 Pontiac G6 fishtailed and then crashed into the rear steps of the first of two engines. The train was moving about 30 MPH at the time.

The impact spun the car off of Market St. into the snow-covered entrance to an alley that parallels Habegger Ace's long lumber shed just west of the crossing signal.

Claghorn then reportedly stepped out of her vehicle and collapsed into the snow a short distance from the crash site.

Treasures of King Tut

Where would you go to see the Treasures of King Tut? A Museum? An Art Gallery? Guess again, "The Treasures of King Tut" will be on exhibition at the Ft. Wayne Home & Garden Show, Feb. 28 through March 2 at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum. These are not the ancient artifacts themselves, but exact duplicates that you can actually buy -- who wouldn't want an $85,000 Royal Throne for their TV room?

A Piece of Indiana

Want to bid on repossessed homes in Indiana? Click on the city-area and then see pictures of the properties.

More info

Michigan State Murder

Police are investigating the blunt force trauma killing of a Michigan State Co-Ed, Rylan Cotter. She was found on a golf course in Chesterton, Indiana.

Police said Tuesday that Cotter left East Lansing, where Michigan State is located, early on Jan. 7. The junior international relations major from Okemos, Mich., was registered to start classes that day.

She traveled alone to a Benton Harbor, motel. About 15 hours later, someone saw her in her maroon, 1997 Oldsmobile 50 miles from Benton Harbor in Chesterton near where her body was found a couple days later, police said.

Very odd, to leave school on the day classes are set to begin. Prayers for her friends and family.

Fort Wayne Police Scanner

Did you know there was a Fort Wayne City Policy & Fire Scanner online? I didn't. It seems to work best using Internet Explorer (rather than Firefox or any other browser) and it may require you to run an active X control to allow it to function the first time. I used to have a nice scanner and then the Police went all digital on me... so this is nice. It may not make it through any work-type proxy servers, but it's nice for home.

Similarly, the Allen County Police & Fire Scanner is online is well.

via The Aboite Independent website.

If you're out of state, check out Scanner Buddy.

Indiana: The Enemy

Indiana Guard Pilots pose as enemy in Florida

Watch out, Florida, twenty Hoosiers are coming to conquer you... we'll be taking those beaches back home and leaving you with frozen mud.

More Snow on the Way

Winter Storm sets sights on Indiana -- up to seven inches... not too bad.