INDIANA PARLEY

Visit Fort Wayne Observed

2006-11-04T07:55:00.000-05:00

Visitors to this page may be puzzled by the lack of regular updates. Don't be.

Since early this year, I have been editor of the Fort Wayne Observed weblog.

www.FortWayneObserved.com

You will find the news and commentary of Indiana Parley at that site. FWOb also works to provide a sense of place about the Fort Wayne area as well with references to local history, art, and highlights of people and institutions in the community.

Nathan Gotsch founded Fort Wayne Observed in May of 2005. It has grown to be the leading weblog in Fort Wayne. I accepted his invitation to edit the weblog with the idea that Indiana Parley could also be maintained. That proved to be a tough task and most content you have expected on Indiana Parley is found on Fort Wayne Observed.

We were able to provide you with extensive election night coverage for the 2006 Primary.

Be sure to check out Fort Wayne Observed for election coverage on November 7th!

US House passes earmark reform bill

2006-09-14T19:24:00.000-04:00

US Representative Mark Souder of Indiana's 3rd District announced that he voted for the US House of Representatives to adopt a change to its own rules to make the earmark funding process more transparent.

Mr. Souder was a co-sponsor of the change.

It is long overdue. It may help ameliorate the anger of fiscal conservatives who have watched a Republican Congress become more and more profligrate with taxpayers' dollars and taxpayers' future dollars. A Republican Congress which was elected as a champion of doing the public's business a different way in 1994 had become, with each passing year, a disappointing collection of special interest funders.

The House leadership had bottled up this change for too long. A well deserved thanks goes to leaders like US Representative Jeff Flake and others, including, notably, Mike Pence, for working assiduously for this change even when they have borne rebukes from the House leadership.

Additional thanks should go to The Club for Growth for demonstrating to Republicans not interested in making the process more transparent that there were electoral costs that could be exacted.

The complete text of US Representative Souder's press release follows:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Mark Souder voted today for House adoption of H.Res.1000, legislation that changes the rules of the House of Representatives in order to shed light on the earmark funding process. The Souder-cosponsored bill passed the House by a majority of 245-171, and it takes effect immediately.

Earmarks are funding set-asides requested by Members of Congress for specific projects, usually in their congressional district or state.

"As the House began looking at reforming Congress in January, one of the major sticking points was whether to open earmarks to public scrutiny," Souder said. "A lack of required transparency had cloaked much of the process in secrecy and permitted abuse of the system. Since I first came to Congress, I have voluntarily disclosed the funding requests that I've made and the amounts that our area have consequently received. Today's rule change is an important accomplishment. It will bring the House into line with my own policy, and it will help reduce the potential for corruption."

"Earmarks play an important role in ensuring that Hoosiers' taxpayer dollars are returned home rather than ending up in Washington or a bigger city or state," Souder continued. "For example, we've gained important flood control funding through the earmark process."

"I believe that we need to pass more reforms," Souder added, "but-when combined with passage last night of a new, Google-like database of federal grants-we are taking some positive steps."

Under the new House rule, before legislation may be brought to the House floor for consideration, the bill must include a list of all earmarks along with the names of Members of Congress requesting the earmark. (The new rule applies to all three types of earmarks: authorizing, appropriations, and tax earmarks.) As a result of this rule change, the public will now have the opportunity to see the full list of earmarks included in a piece of legislation, and who sponsored each one.

Last night, the House passed S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. Souder was a cosponsor of the House version of the bill (H.R. 5060), which will establish a public database to track federal grants and contracts. The bill will now be sent to President Bush, who is expected to sign it into law.

Former Governor Ed Whitcomb to appear

2006-08-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

Former Indiana Governor Edgar Whitcomb (1969-1973) will be an honoree at the Indianapolis Air Show next Friday. The Air Show will be held at the Mount Comfort Airport on the east side of Indianapolis next Friday.

The former governor is a private man who has sometimes been described as reclusive. The Indianapolis Star reports:

[ ... ]Gen. Merrill McPeak, retired Air Force chief of staff, will talk about the time he lost both of his wings during a maneuver and almost became an "unguided missile," Graham said.

NASA astronaut and U.S. Air Force flight surgeon David Wolf also will speak at the symposium, Graham said. Wolf, an Indianapolis native, conducted four space walks during three separate missions.

Retired U.S. Air Force Cols. Edgar Whitcomb and James Kasler will be this year's honored guests.

[ ... Whitcomb] will be selling copies of his book "Escape from Corregidor," in which he wrote about being captured twice by the Japanese during World War II, to raise money for Riley [Hospital].

Who's the person on the left?

2006-08-09T09:26:00.000-04:00

Ruth Holladay was formerly a feature columnist in the Indianapolis Star. She abruptly left the Star's employment this summer.

Soon after, Ms. Holladay started a new weblog. The intitial entries have been somewhat unkind to her former employer.

Yesterday, the News-Sentinel's Leo Morris commented at his weblog on a story in another Indiana newspaper which cautioned employees about writing negative things about their employers in their weblog.

That other newspaper in which that story appeared is the Indianapolis Star. IP can only speculate on what would have prompted Star editors to make that story assignment.

Indiana Parley also notes that the Ruth Holladay weblog is now sporting a new header complete with portrait. IP assumes the portrait is of Ms. Holladay. However, IP has provided you with two photos for comparison. You be the judge.

The photo on the left is the one at the top of Ms. Holladay's weblog. The photo on the right is the one that appeared in Ms. Holladay's most recent Indianapolis Star columns.

Artist Don Gummer, Indiana native, subject of show in Massachusetts

2006-07-19T14:54:00.000-04:00

Sculptor Don Gummer grew up in Indiana. He attended the John Herron School of Art Indianapolis.

ArtDaily.com has reported that the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams is sponsoring the exhibit.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Massachusetts presents the exhibit Don Gummer Early Work throughout this summer. Don Gummer's monumental work, Primary Separation, stands outside the T. William Lewis Building on Marshall St. The work was first designed by Gummer in 1969, and has existed up to now only in maquette form: this is its first full-scale realization. In conjunction with the installation of this massive suspended granite boulder, MASS MoCA is featuring an exhibition of Gummer's early maquettes and drawings projects.

Don Gummer is an American sculptor. His early work concentrated on table top and wall-mounted sculpture, but in the mid 1980s he shifted his interest to large free-standing works, often in bronze. In the 1990s he added a variety of other materials, such as stainless steel, aluminum and stained glass. His interest in large outdoor works also led him to an interest in public art

Mr. Gummer's wife is also someone of some note in the performing arts. He is married to Meryl Streep.

If not Mellencamp, then Black Potatoe

2006-07-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

Dan Quayle walked out of a John Mellencamp concert this weekend which was being held as part of the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Stateline, Nevada.

The former Vice President might be interested to know that there was another musical event held in New Jersey this weekend that has some tie-in to him.

That is the Black Potatoe Music Festival which ran from last Thursday through Sunday. The Festival is now in its 10th year and is organized by the founders of the Black Potatoe music label.

How did it get its name?

Here is the explanation from Jim Beckerman at NorthJersey.com:

The Black Potatoe Music Festival in Clinton is a four-day celebration of roots music, named in honor of a root vegetable.

So far, so logical -- but what's with the extra "e" in potato?

[ ... ]

"We added the extra 'e' after Dan Quayle," says Black Potatoe founder Matt Angus, referring to the notorious incident in which the former vice president showed a classroom full of grade-schoolers how to spell America's favorite side dish.

"We said if Dan Quayle could be vice president of the United States, we could run a [festival]," Angus says.

But it's the music-industry bigwigs who really get his blood boiling -- the "pay-to-play" promoters who tell bands they need to sell 100 tickets to friends before they'll be allowed to open for a national act, or the festivals that aren't interested in musicians, however brilliant, unless they're signed to major labels.

That was the reason Angus, himself a musician, created the Black Potatoe Festival 10 years ago, as an offshoot of his Black Potatoe record label.

Editor's note: Know that Indiana Parley believes Mr. Quayle was unfairly maligned due to a misspelling on a card handed to him at a student spelling bee. His verbal miscue was not unlike that of other tired candidates. The difference is that then mainstream press gave it a disproportional amount of coverage compared to the coverage given the verbal missteps of other candidates.

Indy-based Angie's List in the Wall Street Journal

2006-07-17T12:07:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal's Steve Stecklow wrote an article published July 15 about one-line referrals for handyman services.

He mentioned Indianapolis-based Angie's List as one of the providers. Bill Oesterle, Mitch Daniels' campaign chairman, is chief executive of Angie's List.

Mr. Stecklow noted three notable online contractor referrals:

Finding a reliable home contractor has always been a dicey proposition. Horror stories of botched jobs and endless delays abound -- and they have fed a dramatic expansion of Web sites that promise to match customers with professionals recommended by ex-clients.

Angie's List, which began in 1995 with a single call center in Columbus, Ohio, now has e425,000 paying members, up from 250,000 six months ago. By early August, the site will list contractors in 60 U.S. cities, up from 27 at the end of last year. At ServiceMagic.com, visits now approach 2.5 million a month, 20% more than a year ago. Several other contractor-referral sites, including GetVendors.com, serve smaller geographical areas.

Mr. Stecklow then test-drove ServiceMagic.com. He hired a contractor based on the ratings on ServiceMagic.com to install two storm doors. He wasn't particularly pleased with the result. He's now hoping to get the job done through a contractor recommended by Angie's List. However, he's not so sure the pre-internet way of getting contractor referrals might not be best.

So this is where I stand. I now have two new storm doors, one upside-down in the front of my house, the other in the basement. I'm out $130 (although Ms. Taylor says another check from the contractor is in the mail). And, after more than a month, I'm back to the beginning -- I still need a contractor. I tried Angie's list on Monday, but the site was down. A spokesman says, "That's not typical." I'm now considering the prehistoric solution: asking my neighbors for recommendations.

Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising. The other day, I came across a message from a contractor in an online discussion group, alt.building.construction. He said he had tried several referral sites to get jobs with little success. "If you think about it, what kind of person looks for a contractor on the Internet?" he wrote. "Not the brightest bulb on the tree, that's for sure."

Specialized license plates aren't so special

2006-07-10T11:14:00.001-04:00

Mary Beth Schneider of the Indianapolis Star wrote about Indiana specialized motor vehicle license plates in a story published in the Monday, July 10th issue.

She wrote about various groups which have petitioned the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for approval of new plates but which have been turned down. Some of those groups are not pleased. As for the number of such license plates issued each year, Ms. Schneider wrote:

About 4.7 million standard license plates for cars and trucks were issued in Indiana last year. Only about 313,000 were specialty plates. But the plates can be an important source of money for the groups that get the state designation, raising thousands of dollars and in a few cases more than $1 million.

There are two ways to get the plates: through the legislature and by directly appealing to the bureau and the governor. Plates have a fee of up to $25, plus a $15 fee that is divided between the BMV and a state highway fund.

The weblog Taking Down Words noted the story in a post earlier today. I would like to add a few reflections on this topic.

The advent of the specialized license plate can really be traced back to the early 1980's. Prior to that, the Indiana State Police command was vigorous in advising the Indiana General Assembly to not establish a specialized plate program. After all, license plates are used to identify motor vehicles. A multiplicity of designs and numbering schemes makes it difficult to report the plate number on a vehicle that has been involved in a traffic violation or been used in the commission of a crime.

This was also the position of Governor Otis Bowen's administration. Governor Bowen was mindful of the public safety arguments advanced by the ISP. However, he was also mindful of how specialized plates would affect the Indiana legislature.

Governor Bowen had served as House Speaker from 1966 until his election as Governor in 1972 and was familiar with the pleas of legislators to allow legislation to create specialized plates. Doc Bowen was consistent in heading off those attempts as a distraction from dealing with the substantive problems of Indiana which were before the legislature.

Legislators could easily satisfy a constituent by sponsoring a specialized license plate bill. It was that rare sort of legislation. It didn't offend anyone (usually) and, since it was self-financed, didn't cost any tax money.

Governor Bowen knew that the first specialized plate would beget more specialized plate requests. Legislators who sponsored the first plates insisted that wouldn't be the case; but that "approval was important for ____________(insert name of special interest here). We won't approve any additional ones." Well, of course, the floodgates opened once the first ones were approved. In recent years, the number of requests got so numerous the legislature created an application and approval process which was centered in the BMV.

Even legislators realized the flood of requests was too much. The original idea that specialized plates were a way to satisfy constituents without giving offense gave way to the realization that the monster which had been created could never be sated. As the General Assembly began saying no to some groups, legislators found out that the specialized license plate effort could, indeed, make people mad.

The whole specialized license plate debate is a distraction and not a core function of government.

Governor Bowen had the right idea about the whole thing.

Dan Quayle cited in story on buy-out firms

2006-07-06T11:08:00.000-04:00

Former Vice-President Dan Quayle is Global Chairman of Cerberus Capital Management LP.

The Wall Street Journal has taken note of the dozen former high ranking governmental officials who have taken positions with a variety of buy-out firms. Former Senate Democrat leader Tom Daschle is the most recent to join up. The article also cited Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and the Carlyle Group's history of hiring former President George H.W. Bush, former Secretary of State James Baker and former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci.

About Mr. Quayle, the Wall Street Journal's Tennille Tracy wrote:

Because former politicians hold so much influence within the Washington Beltway, it seems logical that private-equity firms also want them to act as de facto lobbyists on regulatory matters. Such a move would make sense because buyout firms, while holding increasingly high profiles, still lack a trade organization to represent them in government affairs. Venture-capital firms, on the other hand, have the Arlington, Va., National Venture Capital Association to speak on their behalf.

Most private-equity firms deny any suggestion that their politicians-turned-financiers serve in that capacity.

"The notion or suspicion that they are lobbying on behalf of their firms is completely false," Mr. Ullman said. "It's just not necessary, and they have reputations they want to uphold as well."

Despite such protestations, it's probably safe to assume that these hires engage in some activities that could be construed as lobbying. Former Vice President Dan Quayle, for example, now chairman of Cerberus Capital Management LP's advisory board, said on his official Web site that he meets regularly with "American politicians and regulators with respect to issues affecting Cerberus' investments." Neither Mr. Quayle nor his spokesman responded to requests for comment about these activities.

Regardless of whether they sign up former politicians, hire formal lobbyists or form a trade organization, private-equity firms have plenty of reasons to be involved in Washington's affairs these days. The Securities and Exchange Commission's attempts to regulate hedge funds are continuing. Also, Congress could always consider legislation concerning capital-gains taxes or Sarbanes-Oxley requirements that might affect their operations.

WSJ on the possible power shift in Statehouses

2006-07-06T10:06:00.000-04:00

Reporter Chris Cooper, writing in today's Wall Street Journal, reported:

With several statehouses controlled by razor-thin edges, the potential for
swings in power may be greater at the state level than in Congress, where
the struggle for control gets more attention.

[ ... ]

Democrats appear to be in the better position [to gain legislative seats
nationwide]. With modest gains in a handful of states, they could take a
majority of legislative chambers. Republicans have prevailed since 2002,
when they won a slim majority for the first time since 1952.

Republicans control both houses in 20 state capitals, compared with 19 for
the Democrats. Nebraska's one-house legislature is nominally nonpartisan,
but dominated by Republicans. The two parties split chambers in 10
states.

The Indiana House of Representatives is not specifically mentioned in the story. However, Democrats are hoping to eke out a majority. Indiana Republicans are beginning to feel more confident in holding their majority in the wake of the announcement that Honda has chosed Indiana as the site for a new assembly plant.

It may be that voter concerns over the Toll Road lease will cool by November as the lease has been okayed by the Supreme Court, the lease has been executed, and money from the lease begins to be allocated toward long-delayed transportation projects.

Van Wert native blames Ohio's government for losing Honda

2006-06-29T08:54:00.000-04:00

Aaron Baker, writing at his weblog, laments that his hometown of Van Wert, Ohio, didn't get chosen by Honda for its new assembly plant.

Mr. Baker is a summer intern in the office of U.S. Representative Mike Pence of Indiana. He is also the incoming student body president of Indiana Wesleyan University of Marion (IN).

However, there is no mistaking that he remains a Buckeye - a Honda-driving Buckeye, no less.

Yesterday it was announced that Honda is coming to Indiana. Honda was considering Van Wert, my hometown, as a potential site. I believe my town did everything it could, at least after Honda started considering my town. But I don’t think it had much to do with location or city politics. Rather, I feel the decision was set in motion months before Honda even started looking.

So who do I blame? I blame my state legislature, my governor, and bad economic policies.

Where did Ohio go wrong and Indiana go right? Let’s start with tax increases. Ohio raised taxes and what kind of message does that send to executives? Ohio raised taxes to deal with a difficult period in the economy. Instead of lowering expenditures and taxes, allowing the market to recover naturally, Ohio showed no fiscal self-control and my town is heartbroken for it today.

I’m devastated that Van Wert didn’t win. It would have meant everything to a small town’s local economy. However, I’m happy for Mitch Daniels, it’s really his administration’s win.

Indiana Newspaper Mixes Up Identity of Car Crash Victim

2006-06-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

The Bloomington Herald-Times reports on the pain caused by the newspaper's misidentification of a person killed in a motor vehicle accident in Lawrence County, Indiana. Yesterday, the newspaper identified the victim as Shirley Wright, a retired professor at the Indiana University Law School in Bloomington. Unfortunately, the Herald-Times did not have the right Shirley Wright.

Understandably, both families are upset. From the Herald-Times:

EDITOR’S NOTE: H-T police reporter James Boyd wrote Thursday’s story about a fatal accident Wednesday in Lawrence County. Today’s stories correct that account and explain how we got it wrong.
The voicemail messages on my work phone ranged from sadness to rage Thursday afternoon, and I deserved it all and everything in between.

The story details how the reporter did not follow proper standards and protocols which would have avoided the mix-up. The story's description of how the reporter's reliance on the mistaken beliefs of the living woman's former colleagues compounded the reporter's mistake was reminiscent of how beliefs of the friends and family members of the victims of the Taylor University tragedy contributed to the misidentification by the coroner and hospitals of two Taylor students.

Fortunately, such instances of reporters causing heartache are rare. Even so, perhaps there might be some who would call for higher standards to be imposed on editors and publishers to avoid such errors in the future.

After all, one can become an editor or reporter without any particular training. There is no test before one becomes a reporter.

Hat tip: INGroup and Indiana Legislative Insight

Schurz officials visit Aberdeen, South Dakota

2006-06-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

Officials from South Bend based Schurz Communications went to visit their acquisition in South Dakota Monday. Schurz bought the Knight Ridder owned Aberdeen News American from McClatchy Newspapers.

The report by Emily Arthur in the Aberdeen News American said that COO Scott Schurz and three other Schurz executives met with newspaper employees and toured the facility.

"We like to buy well-run companies in interesting communities," Schurz said. "If you look at our history, you'll see that we don't purchase a newspaper just to make a lot of changes. ...The large majority of decisions we believe should be made the community level."

More: Reporter Arthur and colleague Angela Mettler were featured in Fort Wayne Observed's original reporting on how the Aberdeen News American reporters reported on the sale of their own employer.

Headline of the Week

2006-06-13T07:57:00.000-04:00

IP's Headline of the Week comes from WISH TV 8 in Indianapolis:

Of course, minorities are no more likely to drown from drowning than anyone else.

Every victim of drowning drowns.

Fortunately, WISH TV anchor Karen Hensel, formerly of WANE TV 15 in Fort Wayne, explained things a bit better in the introduction to the actual video report. Ms. Hensel said, "Minorities are at a higher risk of drowning than their Caucasian counterparts."

Supreme Court Appoints Full Time Circuit Judge Pro tem in Huntington County

2006-06-12T17:11:00.000-04:00

The Huntington Herald-Press reports that the Indiana Supreme Court has appointed Huntington attorney Tom Hakes as Circuit Judge Pro tempore for the remainder of 2006.

Current Huntington Circuit Court Judge Mark McIntosh has been ill with pancreatitis since early March. Mr. Hakes is unopposed for election to a full term at the November election.

Dead Boy Misidentified in Maryland, a State that has Medical Examiner System

2006-06-06T08:23:00.000-04:00

Today's news brings word of another misidentification of a child killed in a car crash. This time it's in the state of Maryland. This time there's a medical examiner system.

Maryland has a full medical examiner system of appointed officials.

Indiana Parley can't wait to see what Tracy Warner and Leo Morris will have to write about this.

From the story:

A child who died in a car crash was misidentified as his younger brother, a mistake that his relatives discovered a week after the accident, state police said Monday.

Troopers confirmed that the boy who died in the May 29 crash was 7-year-old Christian Marshall and not his 4-year-old brother, Justin.

Justin, his other sibling, McKenna, 2, and his parents, Sheyna Marshall, 29, and James Marshall, 28, all of Washington, D.C., were seriously injured in the crash. One of the Marshall children was pronounced dead at the scene.

The misidentification occurred, police said, when James Marshall, the only parent able to talk with authorities after the crash, was told that the child killed in the crash had been sitting in the right rear of the car. Marshall said he was certain Justin had been sitting behind him.

British Operator of the Indy Airport Bought by Spanish Toll Road Lessee

2006-06-06T08:02:00.000-04:00

It has just been announced that Spain's Ferrovial Group has purchased a controlling interest in BAA, the British firm that operates many airports around the world, including Indianapolis International.

Ferrovial is a partner of Australia's Macquarie Bank in the lease of the Indiana Toll Road.

Australians are Feeling a Little American Xenophobia

2006-06-05T20:46:00.000-04:00

An Australian newspaper calls attention to what it describes as a rising level of American concern over foreign investment. It says Australian interests such as Macquarie Bank were slow to recognize the phenomenon.

The story cites Macquarie's role in the lease of the Indiana Toll Road and goes on to quote Governor Daniels, State Representative Jeff Espich, and U.S. Representative Mark Souder.

According to a congressional source observing the legislative process and intimate with intense business lobbying to try to tone down the legislation - in which Australian representation has been mostly absent - Macquarie has been playing "catch-up" on the issue.
"The issue of 'critical infrastructure' could still be a problem for them," the source said.
In a hearing on Homeland Security on May 24, Indiana Republican congressman Mark Souder asked specifically if lease deals such as Macquarie's would be subject to foreign investment review under the present legislation governing CFIUS - the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the equivalent to Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board.
He was told by witness Clay Lowery, assistant secretary for international affairs at the US Treasury, that the legislation only related to acquisitions.
While Mr Souder said he welcomed foreign investment, his line of questioning - which included queries on the leasing of Indianapolis's airport - indicated that perhaps leasing deals needed to be included in new legislation too.
"I'm thrilled to bring in the investment to Indiana," Mr Souder said. "I'm just wondering what kind of process goes through lease management, because these are - particularly an airport - a major airport would be a critical infrastructure."

220 Year Old Afternoon Paper Moves to Morning

2006-06-05T20:09:00.000-04:00

As those in Fort Wayne are painfully aware, afternoon daily newspapers are becoming an endangered species. No afternoon daily - no matter how long its heritage - seems immune.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, New Hampshire, has been an afternoon newspaper for 220 years. However, the managing editor announced this week that the 220 year streak is coming to end; the Daily Gazette is going to mornings.

The change reflects a trend among newspapers over several decades, according to data from the Newspaper Association of America.
In the early 1980s, 75 percent of America's daily newspapers were published in the afternoon. Conversion of papers from afternoon to morning publication escalated in the 1990s, and by 2000 the number published in the morning dominated. The shift from afternoon to morning publication schedules has continued since then.
The Gazette will continue to have complete coverage of local news, sports and business. Whether it's the results of local college or high school sporting events, a decision by a city council or school committee, or overnight breaking news, we'll be delivering the same stories we do now, just a lot earlier in the day.

The newspaper allows its readers to comment directly online for each story. Some folks didn't like the decision. Reader Susan Mew wrote:

Kind of sad that the Gazette needs to follow the pattern set by every other newspaper and lose one of its "hometown" characteristics. I've been seeing the Gazette delivered in the afternoon for over 50 years, so of course, it will be a big change. If that's what needs to be, all will need to adjust. I for one certainly have more time to read and relax in the evening

The last two comments posted had a different angle on the change. Nick wrote:

"Yeah, what took so long??? Hey earth to Gazette readers...The whole world went to AM about 10 years ago!!!"

Josh advised the editor:

You know this will drive people to use the online version instead don't you? Print is dead and this is just another attempt to put up a speed bump to slow down the natural move to online.

Praise for Tracy Warner

2006-06-05T19:27:00.000-04:00

Journal-Gazette editorial writer Tracy Warner gave a calming perspective on Monday night's Indiana NewsCenter 7 P.M. broadcast.

Linda Jackson led off the newscast with the story of Allen County Sheriff Jim Herman's appointment of Ken Fries as Chief Deputy of the department. Chief Fries is the Republican nominee for Sheriff of Allen County. He replaces the long-time Chief Deputy Bill Smallwood who is retiring from the Allen County Sheriff's department.

Ms. Jackson showed videotape of the appointment ceremony along with reaction from Ken Fries and his Democratic opponent in the fall election, Sergeant Tina Taviano.

Ms. Jackson then turned to Mr. Warner for his insight. It was a good thing she did for it was clear from the tone of her questions that she thought there some earth-shattering fallout to be had from the day's news of the appointment.

Mr. Warner explained that Mr. Smallwood's retirement was long-anticipated. He also said that there had been a long-held expectation that Sheriff Herman would name the winner of the Republican primary to serve as Chief Deputy and that the appointment was not unusual in historical terms, either.

Ms. Jackson then asked him whether there wouldn't be repercussions, friction and conflicts within the department since there were supporters of both candidates who had to work together until Election Day. Tracy Warner was at his best in explaining that the two candidates had worked together for a very long time and that both had been campaigning for over a year.

In other words, Tracy Warner explained that the Sheriff's race featured two professionals.

Senator Bayh on the Fence About Estate Tax Repeal

2006-06-05T09:52:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal's lead editorial today excoriates the Joint Committee on Taxation's (JCT) for its fiscal analysis of the death tax repeal bill up for a vote in the Senate this week.

The Wall Street Journal called the JCT's numbers "dubious" and "phony" and said the analysis is "clearly frightening some Senators." The WSJ continued:

Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana, for one, says he favors repeal in principle, but is nervous about potential revenue losses.

There's just one problem with the JCT's calculations: They aren't anywhere close to reality. And the JCT's own number prove it. Mr. Bayh and his Senate colleagues deserve to know this full story before they cast their votes.

The WSJ went to say that the JCT numbers might provide cover to what it termed "fence-sitting Democrats."

Blogger Baker Summarizes the First Week on Capitol Hill

2006-06-05T09:24:00.000-04:00

Van Wert's Aaron Baker has a few observations following his first week serving as a summer intern on Capitol Hill for Indiana's U.S. Representative Mike Pence.

For those of you who question my survival skills: rest easy, I’ve completed my first week in D.C.

[...]

I spent a lot of the week getting used to the Capitol. The staff finally cut us loose, and we explored nooks and crannies available only to staffers. We poked our head into Pelosi’s office. Her not-so-sunny California boy cocked his peculiar head at us, past the stargazer lilies that too well matched his pink shirt. Democrats… But I definitely got to see lots of stuff typically off limits to visitors.

Mr. Baker is a student at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.

Tracy Warner - Writing in the Shallow End

2006-06-01T13:21:00.000-04:00

I had started to write a post this morning that it wouldn't be long before some Indiana editorial writer would use the tragic occurence regarding Taylor University to write an editorial calling attention to Indiana's elected coroner system.

It is an easy target for an editorial writer. Dust off a few shibboleths; don't do much historical research, and away one can go in high dudgeon and righteous indignation.

I saved my intial post as a draft because I am trying to wean myself away from blogging this week while Nathan Gotsch has taken over the duties at Fort Wayne Observed. I should have gone ahead and posted it because it didn't take Tracy Warner of the Journal-Gazette very long to fulfill my prophecy.

Mr. Warner is at his most self-righteous in calling for a medical examiner system in Indiana.

First off, the story about the Grant County Coroner mistake is about the identification duty of the coroner's office. WTHR-TV of Indianapolis had a very good story about the duties of the Indiana's coroner system this morning in an interview with Dr. John McGoff, the former coroner of Marion County.

As Dr. McGoff explained, the three main functions of the coroner are 1). identification; 2.) determining the cause of death: and, 3). determining the manner of death. This is also covered at the Indiana State Coroners Training Board site.

The first function is not necessarily a medical function. There are good, standard procedures taught by the Training Board. A coroner may require a call on medical expertise in carrying out that task but he or she may also call on other identification professionals in carrying out that duty.

The second and third functions of determining the cause and manner of death is a legal determination informed by proper medical and scientific expertise. Even a coroner who is a medical doctor is not going to be performing autopsies unless that coroner is also a forensic pathologist. Of all the medical doctors serving as coroners in Indiana only one is also a forensic pathologist. That is not unusual, however; trained and experienced forensic pathologists are few and far between. There are only 20 in the whole state.

Dr. Jon Brandenberger is a great coroner for Allen County. In interest of full disclosure I should point out that I serve with Dr. Brandenberger as an officer of a foundation and that I am part of the steering committee of Drive Alive, the program intiated by Dr. Brandenberger to prevent teen driving deaths.

That being said, most of the deaths referred to the coroner's office in Allen County are routinely handled by Coroner office personnel such as Richard Alfeld and Patt Kite who have many years of police investigative experience. And Dr. Brandenberger does not perform autopsies.

Mr. Warner writes that Grant County Coroner Mowery was a career politician - having served as Mayor, Grant County Sheriff and Marion Police Chief. Contrary to Mr. Warner's assertions, serving as Sheriff and as a Police Chief would be seen as a pretty good qualifications.

Mr. Warner goes on in his blog post to say that Indiana ought to have a medical examiner system. Well, Mr. Warner, Indiana already has provisions for a Medical Examiner system in the Indiana Code.

How do I know? Because I drafted the legislation, introduced as a bill in the Indiana House of Representatives and got it passed in 1981. I did so in conjunction with Dr. John Pless, the longtime forensic pathologist at I.U. Medical Center and with the support of then Allen County Coroner Bud Ahlbrand, M.D. and a large number of rural county coroners. That legislation led to a very robust debate which resulted in today's Indiana Coroner's Training Board and the current situation where all coroner's autopsies in Indiana ARE conducted by forensic pathologists.

The original Medical Examiner legislation (which is still in the Code) created five medical examiner districts in Indiana. Why five? Because that was the total number of forensic pathologists in the state at the time. The numbers of forensic pathologists has not particularly exploded in Indiana since then.

The Medical Examiner legislation was designed to be an "overlay" system that wouldn't supplant county coroners but would provide the availability of additional expertise

Unfortunately, it was never fully implemented due to local wrangling in Marion County over the construction of a county-owned autopsy site, among other issues. However, the purpose has been achieved along with provisions that no one can serve as a deputy coroner without passing the rigorous training program of the State Coroner's Training Board. The training is not charged back to the counties; the Training Board takes on that expense.

The elected coroner is a state constitutional office. (Indiana Constitution Article 6, Section 2). It can not be easily changed. Many witht experience in the area of law enforcement would agree it should stay that way. Just a few weeks ago, I participated in a discussion where a deputy prosecutor was adamantly defending the idea of an elected coroner with another local elected official who had no law enforcement experience.

Mr. Warner is guilty of other sins in his post including a lack of knowledge about the history of ambulance service and a gratuitous slur of funeral directors.

The times they keep a-changing but Mr. Warner seems all too often to write as if he has failed to keep pace with change in the last 25 years.

Tracy, open a book or make a telephone call. We'll all be the better for it.

MORE: Andrew Kaduk at Just 4 the Record writes in a post that the Journal-Gazette's reporting seems "mean-spirited" in its coverage of Grant County Coroner Mowery.

Canadian Blogger Trashes Janette Luu's New Show in Toronto

2006-06-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

Janette Luu, the veteran WISE-TV reporter, left Fort Wayne for a move to a much bigger television market in Toronto. She was an exceptionally well-liked reporter during her time in Fort Wayne.

Well, one review is in about her new show "Canoe Live" in Toronto and it's not kind.

Here's just a small excerpt of what the blogger termed a "craptacular":

Why in the name of everything that's holy would a Toronto station that wants to connect with Toronto viewers, hire a host from Fort Wayne, IN who's never lived in Canada before, let alone Toronto? I'm sure Janette Luu is a lovely person and I have no doubt that her parents love her very much. I still have no idea, though, what the hell she's doing hosting a show mere weeks after a number of other very talented, very hard-working and very Canadian hosts got laid off in March.

Nicole Manske Update

2006-06-01T00:54:00.000-04:00

Nicole Manske, the former News Channel 15 reporter in Fort Wayne, will soon be moving from her reporter's spot at WISH-TV in Indianapolis to go to Charlotte, N.C. for the Speed Channel's Speed News.

Joe O'Gara is a reporter for NUVO, a weekly Indianapolis newspaper. He spoke with Ms. Manske about her move in her latest edition. NUVO asked her about her introduction to auto racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2004. NUVO reported:

During her first month at the famed 2.5-mile oval, she discovered that she really enjoyed the sport of auto racing.

“For me, auto racing has an element the other sports don’t have: an adrenaline rush. I fell in love with everything about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the smells and the sounds, even when there’s no one else in the place.”

Service with a Smile at the Green Frog

2006-05-31T13:28:00.000-04:00

Beth Henry waited on us last night at the Green Frog.

She was covering a lot of tables ably. She found the time, though, to sit down at our booth for a few moments and answer a few questions about the Frog.

The first question refers to the recent JG review by Ryan DuVall. She talked about the customers, the history, and the fun she encounters working at the Green Frog.

You can listen to the talk with Beth here.

Green Frog: An Interview with Tom Henry

2006-05-31T13:02:00.000-04:00

Last night's Indiana Parley post promised you additional coverage of the Green Frog Inn at Spring and Sherman in Fort Wayne.

Tom Henry, former Fort Wayne City Council member and husband of the Green Frog owner, Cindy Henry, was at the establishment yesterday when we stopped by.

We asked Mr. Henry three questions during the interview. Among other things he tells Indiana Parley visitors about the contents and origin of the Tom Henry salad on the Green Frog menu and his views on nepotism.

You can hear the Tom Henry interview here.

Indiana Parley will feature another interview from the Green Frog a bit later today.

How did we like our food? My steak sandwich was tender and delicious and the strawberry shortcake was a great dessert. My wife had what she called a "perfectly cooked" hamburger and a slice of "very good" three berry pie. I appreciated that the fries were still warm and not covered in salt.

Service was friendly, prompt and professional. The ambience is something to hold onto in an era of cookie-cutter suburban casual dining chains. The Green Frog is a true neigborhood bar and Fort Wayne is lucky to have it.

Whatzup and the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette recently had reviews of the Green Frog. You can see Ryan DuVall's review from the Journal-Gazette at this link.

Some Passengers the Fort Wayne Airport Can't Lure Back

2006-05-31T09:52:00.000-04:00

The Board of the Fort Wayne Airport Authority just voted on a new initiative to lure lost airline passenger travel back to Fort Wayne. It involves giving passenger airlines an incentive to lower fares and increase the number of passengers using Fort Wayne International Airport.

Studies show that a large percentage of northeastern Indiana flyers drive to other airports such as Indianapolis to obtain lower fares and better connections.

However, there is one class of "passengers" that the airline can't lure back with this incentive program - the dead ones.

Fort Wayne area residents who die some distance from Fort Wayne - say Florida - most often have to be flown into Dayton or Indianapolis rather than Fort Wayne.

There are two reasons for this. One is that there are fewer large jets flying into Fort Wayne. Caskets cannot be accomodated in the freight holds of smaller aircraft. The main reason, though, is the collapse of the traditional "hub-and-spoke" system for air carriers. Caskets or shipping containers cannot be accomodated in the freight holds of smaller aircraft.

This means that area funeral directors need to drive to distant airports to transport the remains back to northeastern Indiana. This adds to expense and can also delay when families may wish to schedule calling hours and service times.

Today is the Day: Update on Knight Ridder Bid Process

2006-05-31T07:54:00.000-04:00

Ownership of the News Sentinel and the majority interest in Fort Wayne Newspapers is on the auction block today. You'd think that might rate a front page story in either of the Fort Wayne's two daily newspapers.

You won't see that, though.

Heck, you won't even see Tracy Warner or Leo Morris comment on this fact on their respective weblogs unless one of them sees this post and feels compelled to write something.

This doesn't disturb Indiana Parley or Fort Wayne Observed very much. However, it should effect the editors and managers at the newspapers themselves.

Why? The reason is that the decision to largely ignore the topic affects the credibilty of every other story the newspapers will cover in the future.

Editors and managers are probably correct in their apparent judgment that the average reader doesn't care very much about the interior workings of the newspaper business. However, the community's opinion leaders do care.

These opinion leaders are not just folks in the business, academic and political communities in Fort Wayne. There are quite a few other people whose views are respected by family and friends. These are long-time subscribers who have always believed in the importance of the newspapers as institutions serving the community.

Today is the deadline for bids to be received by McClatchy for the remaining 6 Knight Ridder newspapers unwanted by McClatchy in its purchase of Knight Ridder.

The Duluth News Tribune reports on the prospective buyers for that newspaper. The Duluth story indicates that Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Company, based in California, is expected to bid on all of the remaining 6 dailies.

However, Gloria Irwin, who wrote a story published in today's Akron Beacon Journal, talked with independent newspaper analyst John Morton who casts doubt as to whether Yucaipa's bid would include the News Sentinel. She wrote:

Yucaipa, a private equity firm based in California, is allied with The Newspaper Guild, the union that represents employees at some of the newspapers.

``I doubt whether Yucaipa will be interested in those that don't have a heavy union concentration,'' Morton said.

Of the six, three are unionized. They are the Beacon Journal, the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota and the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota.

The nonunion newspapers are the Aberdeen American News in South Dakota, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader in Pennsylvania and the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel in Indiana.

The Green Frog Gets a Visit from Indiana Parley

2006-05-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

Indiana Parley visited the Green Frog on Tuesday night.

Reviews have recently been published in the Fort Wayne print media.

Since IP has consumed several braunschweiger sandwiches at the Green Frog over the years; I thought I was qualified to offer IP's own review. There will be more tomorrow.

Tomorrow the Deadline for Knight Ridder Bids

2006-05-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

Many of the other remaining "orphan 6" Knight Ridder newspapers are buzzing about which prospective buyers have made a site visit. However, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel is not one of those buzzing "orphans."

Reports are saying that tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31, is the deadline for submissions to McClatchy for any or all of the remaining orphan KR properties. You can view the stories at the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader and the Akron Beacon Journal.

The following is from the Aberdeen American News:

Bidders for the paper, as well as the five other Knight Ridder papers still up for sale, are expected to submit offers by Wednesday, McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt told the Sacramento Bee. There's no date set for when the identity of the buyer will be released to the public.

MORE: Editor & Publisher reports that Securities and Exchange Commission filings by Knight Ridder indicate the sale of KR to McClatchy will close by June 27.

Blogger Began Pence Internship Today

2006-05-30T18:36:00.000-04:00

Aaron Baker is a native of Van Wert County in Ohio. He is the incoming Student Government President at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.

He started a summer internship in the Washington office of Indiana Congressman Mike Pence today. Oh, and he is a blogger, too.

Mr. Baker wrote a post in his weblog about his introduction to life in Washington, D. C.. He found that the United States seat of government is not quite the same as Van Wert. A sample from that post:

Sunday I went to church with Andrew, to a non-denominational church with heavy ties to the Church of God. I really liked the service which reminded me very much of chapel at Indiana Wesleyan. Having finished Conceiving the Christian College and Indiana Wesleyan’s history, I decided it was time to go book shopping. Andrew directed me to Dupont Circle, where I found Kingfish, the story of Sen. Huey Long. I purchased it and we moseyed to the fountain, where break dancing was occurring. I read for a few hours under a shady maple, noting the diversity sitting around the manicured privet hedges. My concentration was broken as I saw feet entering my personal space. A hand reached down and offered me a paper handout. I unknowing took the thing, knowing that I shouldn’t have as soon as I heard Andrew politely decline. Yes, I received an advertisement for an “alternative life style” club.

Souder in Spain Talking About the Toll Road

2006-05-30T14:50:00.000-04:00

Indiana Daily Insight is reporting that 3rd District U.S. Representative Mark E. Souder has traveled to Spain for the week:

U.S. Rep. Mark Souder (R) is in Madrid, Spain this week, meeting with officials of Spanish government and business, including the top exec of Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, part of of the Statewide Mobility Partners consortium awarded the Indiana Toll Road lease. The International Development and Management Institute is paying for the bulk of his visit.

GOP State Convention Goes to 1 Day in 2008

2006-05-30T12:29:00.000-04:00

In the immediate preceding post, I wrote that the Indiana State Republicans will go to a one-day Saturday state convention in 2008.

Indiana Democrats moved to a one-day convention format a few years ago. This allows a greater number of delegates to attend the convention without interference at work.

Once the nominations for Governor and Senator were removed from the conventions in the 1970's it was probably inevitable that the week-day conventions were going to go away. Fewer offices being contested with lower stakes has contributed to the decline in interest.

The Republicans also were somewhat up in the air as to the dates for the convention until relatively late. The Indiana Convention Center would try to fill up its schedule with regular conventions and events paying full rental. Once a point had been reached on the calendar which made it unlikely a full-price convention would be booking a date, the State Republicans would then be presented a list of remaining open dates in June - at a discounted rate - from which they could choose a date to set for the convention.

This has become a less than optimal way of scheduling the state conventions, particulary in a presidential election year. The task of coordinating schedules with the requirements of the national party conventions becomes somewhat easier when the state convention dates have been set as far in advance as possible.

State conventions used to be held out at the Fairgrounds prior to 1972. Many of the oldtimers tell tales of how hot the State Fairgrounds Coliseum would get in "the old days." The Fairgrounds Coliseum is now air-conditioned, so we are unlikely to revisit those times.

However, who knows? A Saturday convention could take on some of the aspects of the old two-day Fairgrounds conventions. Delegates might arrive early on Friday night and candidates may then decide to host less-formal hospitality suites as they used to do before the advent of the all-under-one-roof hospitality receptions orchastrated by the State Committee.

We might even get a year when the air-conditioning goes out at the Fairgounds Coliseum in the midst of a contested convention. Nah, that's dreaming. The air-conditioning going out at the Fairgrounds is pretty reliable, I understand. And the possibility of contested offices at the state party conventions? Well, increasingly, that seems remote, too.

An Announcement Regarding Indiana Parley

2006-05-30T11:03:00.000-04:00

This announcement is somewhat overdue.

Many of the regular readers of Indiana Parley have been wondering why the site has become a quieter place. Many visitors may have missed the news that I was tapped in February to become the editor of the weblog "Fort Wayne Observed" by its founder, Nathan Gotsch.

Mr. Gotsch is back guest-editing that weblog this week and that has given me a chance to have a breather from those duties. Mr. Gotsch has termed it my "vacation." However, please know that I am not on a real vacation; I am in Allen County and getting caught up with a myriad of tasks.

On top of that, I am the race director for the VEEP Triathlon to be held this coming Saturday morning at the J. Edward Roush Lake in Huntington County. (Those interested can still register online at www.VeepTri.com).

When I first took over at Fort Wayne Observed, I thought that I might be able to maintain both weblogs. That was a little more difficult than I had fully appreciated. I also wanted to ensure that the two weblogs were somewhat differentiated, too. Fort Wayne Observed has a narrower geographic focus and is more journalistic in nature.

Indiana Parley has always had as a goal to have a larger geographic scope. It is also a place for a greater emphasis on opinion in contrast to Fort Wayne Observed.

Simply due to the nature of news and my geographic location, Indiana Parley did not cover or comment on as many statewide or regional stories as I had originally intended.

I wrote "regional" as I have an interest in the Maumee Valley, the history of the Northwest territory, and northwest Ohio economic, transportation, watershed and political issues. I think political leaders in northeast Indiana ought to have that same interest in northwest Ohio issues, too.

So, what is the announcement?

That Indiana Parley remains open for business. The postings may be less frequent than you saw before my addition of the FWOb editorial duties in February. Keeping up the standards set by Nathan Gotsch at FWOb and becoming used to the new goals we had for that weblog were time-consuming.

I did not want the two weblogs to become so overloaded with cross-posting that reading one was almost like reading the other.

This site has been used to post some of the audio reports that were later featured on Fort Wayne Observed. That's because the AudioBlogger service allows instant posting of audio interviews even when I am some distance from a computer. You can expect some of that to still be the case.

However, I will use Indiana Parley to feature some more involved reports that aren't exclusively of northeast Indiana nature.

One example will be extensive coverage of the Indiana State Republican Convention on June 19th and 20th. While I am mentioning the Indiana Republican State Convention - I might as well mention a bit of news in that regard - the 2008 Indiana Republican State Convention will be a one-day convention held on a Saturday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Thank you for your continued readership.

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Primary Election Coverage is On!

2006-05-02T16:50:00.000-04:00

Thank you for visiting Indiana Parley for Allen County primary election coverage.

There will be interviews with candidates this evening. I intend to have coverage from both major Allen County party headquarters and more.

Thank you for your patience today; the AudioBlogger service had major national technical problems for most of the day. That is now apparently solved. You can click on the AudioPost arrow below to hear the welcome post.

As we go through the evening, please check back often for new AudioPosts.

I will not have the ability to put a headline or text with the post until sometime late tonight or tomorrow morning so just click on each AudioPost as it appears.

So, clicking on an AudioPost will be a little bit like opening a surprise package. Sometimes a Marla Irving may pop out; sometimes a GiaQuinta or a Paddock; perhaps even a print or electronic journalist. It's pot luck here at Indiana Parley.

However, know that each post will appear immediately at the conclusion of each interview. If it's new to you; it's been news to us. So stay tuned.

Ed. note: AudioPosts will be timestamped with a non-daylight savings time; AudioPosts did not spring forward.

Wall Street Journal's George Melloan, Greenwood Native, Retires

2006-04-25T12:49:00.000-04:00

Today's Wall Street Journal carried the final "Global View" column written by George Melloan. He is a native of Greenwood, Indiana.

Mr. Melloan has written the "Global View" column on the WSJ's Op-Ed page since January of 1990. He has worked for Dow-Jones for the last 54 years.

Mr. Melloan touched on his Hoosier roots in his final paragraphs today.

Let me thank again those of you who have been generous with your time in sending me your thoughts and criticisms. A tiny few readers have expressed their disagreement in barnyard terms, but, having grown up on an Indiana farm, I long ago became familiar with that kind of discourse.

International Toll Road Giant Anticipates Further Growth

2006-04-24T13:55:00.000-04:00

Wall Street Journal writer Alessandra Galloni writes in the April 24, 2006 edition of the newspaper that Spanish toll road and airport giant Abertis Infraestructuras SA is merging with the Italian company Autostrade SpA.

The new company will have a market value of over 28 billion dollars. The largest shareholder will be a holding company controlled by Italy's Benetton family, the maker of casual wear and colored sweaters. Benetton as an apparel maker has been famous for its shocking ads like the one shown here.

Ms. Galloni writes:

The deal will give the combined company more firepower when pitching for concessions to run roads, airports, parking areas, and telecom infrastructure around the world. The industry is considered stable because income from toll roads tends to grow slowly but steadily, with substantial sales and profit growth from obtaining new concessions or installing systems like automated toll collecting. Big-ticket projects like airports rely on government spending and don't shift as quickly along with the rest of the economy. Abertis and Autostrade said the new company plans to spend about 15 billion euros to expand the business across Europe, North America and South America.

News-Sentinel and Indiana Pundit Online Straw Polls

2006-04-20T18:06:00.000-04:00

The New-Sentinel has an online straw poll at which you can cast your vote for the Republican and Democratic nominee for Sheriff, and for your choice in the race for County Commissioner between Bill Brown and Marla Irving.

The Indiana Pundit has announced that the online straw poll at its weblog will be closing this weekend. You can still cast an online vote there in the same races highlighted by the News-Sentinel as well as the County Commissioner contest between Linda Bloom and Roy Buskirk and the race for 4th District County Council between Cal Miller and Fred Warner.

The poll boxes on Indiana Pundit are located to the right side of the webpage.

Berne Native Heads Effort to Curb the "Ugly American"

2006-04-19T08:10:00.000-04:00

Keith Reinhard, a Berne (IN) native, is heading an effort to improve the way Americans are perceived in foreign nations. Mr. Reinhard is head of "Business for Diplomatic Action."

The Wall Street Journal's Scott McCartney wrote last week:

Mr. Reinhard, a prominent advertising executive who created slogans like "You deserve a break today" and "Two all-beef patties..." said he started looking for ways to polish the image of the U.S. when he heard President Bush express dismay shortly after Sept. 11 that "people did not like us" in other parts of the world.

Believing this was potentially a major business issue for U.S. firms selling goods and services abroad, he launched a research effort inside his advertising agency, a unit of Omnicom Group. A polling firm sent questionnaires to people in 130 countries asking how America was viewed and what Americans could do to make a better impression overseas, and task forces from Omnicom studied results and interviewed business executives around the world.

Last year, the group distributed guides to college students traveling abroad. This year, the effort has moved to the business traveler.

Reinhard, chairman emeritus of the advertising giant DDB Worldwide, Inc. , writes:

Anti-Americanism is a growing trend that, unless checked, is certain to have wide-ranging and long-term negative effects on U.S. business endeavors, to say nothing of the damage to our reputation as a people, our future economic competitiveness, and the threat to our national security. While it is true that much resentment of our country currently centers on our foreign policy, much does not. Other root causes include the perception that we are arrogant and insensitive as a people, that our culture has become all-pervasive, and that the global business expansion on the part of U.S. companies has been exploitive.

At Business for Diplomatic Action, we are committed to the task of mobilizing U.S. corporations to undertake a variety of coordinated public diplomacy actions that will begin to restore America's declining reputation.

Reinhard was raised as a Mennonite. Reinhard spoke to a Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) conference in 1999:

Advertising magnate Keith Reinhard recalled his Mennonite roots in small-town Berne, Indiana, where he learned lessons that influence his work at the helm of the largest advertising agency in the U.S. He regaled his audience with witty stories and visual examples from the world of marketing, including his own creation of two McDonald's hamburger legends -- "You deserve a break today," and "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun."

Crossing the border from the Mennonite church to Madison Avenue was not hard, said Reinhard.

"I never questioned whether advertising was a suitable calling," he said. "Advertising is about selling, and selling is good. Nothing much happens in the world if nothing is sold."

Judge Robert Hines Has Died

2006-04-19T00:02:00.000-04:00

Judge Robert Hines has died in Florida. Judge Hines, who had retired from the Allen Superior Court, lived an admirable life.

He had the finest judicial temperment of any jurist I have ever met. He was a kind man and also a courageous one.

He was an advocate for the developmentally disabled because he knew of the need from his own family experience.

A gentleman...gone.

I've Posted on Indiana Pundit, Too

2006-04-18T23:43:00.000-04:00

Aside from the editing duties here at Indiana Parley and Fort Wayne Observed, I will sometimes write a comment on another weblog that turns into a post.

The editor of the Indiana Pundit weblog has posted some of my ruminations on political yard signs over at that site. You can read what I had to say here at this April 18th post.

Note: Once you are at Indiana Pundit you may need to scroll down the page to see my post.

The Asher Agency - Head of State

2006-04-18T12:40:00.000-04:00

The Asher Agency, a Fort Wayne based advertising and public relations firm, is back in the news with reports that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and First Lady Cheri Daniels will be appearing in television ads aimed at reducing child abuse. The advertising will be produced by the Asher Agency.

The South Bend Tribune reports:

The public-service announcements were produced with $250,000 raised from the sale of Kid's First license plates.

In 2005, the Asher Agency was awarded a $10-$12 million dollar contract to handle the placement and planning of statewide media buys for the State of Indiana. From INside Indiana Business:

Agencies for which Asher will be placing media will include the Hoosier Lottery, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, the Indiana State Fair, Indiana Tobacco and Cessation, Indiana Department of Revenue, Family and Social Services Administration, Indiana Department of Insurance, and the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, among others. Working with each state agency, Asher will plan and execute media buys that will include broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor and print advertising. Asher’s contract with the state will begin August 8, 2005 and run through August 7, 2006, with an option for a one-year renewal.

Founder Tim Borne was a Democratic candidate for state representative in 1968 and a 1972 candidate for state senator against Phil Gutman.

The agency received substantial State of Indiana business after Evan Bayh became Governor in 1989. Much of that advertising spending was related to Indiana tourism and then new Indiana State Lottery.

The agency has handled political accounts for both Democratic and Republican candidates. Two area Republican candidates whose advertising campaigns have been managed by Asher are Allen County Commissioner Marla Irving and Fort Wayne City Council member John Crawford.
Commissioner Irving's campaign finance report filed Monday showed that she had spent $25,794 with the Asher Agency so far this year.

Allen County Right To Life PAC Seeking to Defeat Garton

2006-04-15T18:30:00.000-04:00

The Allen County Right to Life Political Action Committee has sent out a fund-raising appeal. The letter doesn't seek donations to be given to an Allen County candidate. The letter seeks funds to support the opponent of Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton of Columbus.

The letter urges its Allen County recipients to back candidate Greg Walker in the state senate Republican primary election.

The letter (available as a PDF here) states:

"In June of 2004 our letter to you said that "Our objective has to be to elect a majority of pro-life Republicans to the State House and to elect a pro-life Governor. Only then will we begin to put a stop to the taking of innocent lives in the abortion clinics and the anti-life decisions in the courts and other state offices." Little did we expect our cause would lose in the Senate. Yet Senator Garton, widely considered to be the most powerful state Senate leader in the nation, did not get this pro-life legislation passed.

There is a way to hold Senator Garton responsible. He is being opposed in the May 2 primary election by a strong pro-life candidate, Greg Walker.

Area Blogger Gets "Magic" Internship with Pence

2006-04-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

Aaron Baker is a Van Wert County (OH), native who attends college in Marion, Indiana, at Indiana Wesleyan. Mr. Baker also writes a weblog. He got some excellent news recently.

He let his weblog readers know this week that he got a coveted Washington, D.C., internship this summer in the office of U.S. Represenative Mike Pence.

Indiana Parley congratulates him on the internship. If his initial enthusiasm is any measure, he'll do well. Mr. Baker wrote, regarding his announcement:

I've an internship! I got the magic call this morning that I have an internship with U.S. Rep. Mike Pence.

Baseball and Dan Quayle

2006-04-14T12:36:00.000-04:00

It's the start of the baseball season. Tuesday, the Arizon Diamondback's General Manager Bob Melvin was asked by a reporter for MLB.com about his most memorable opening day moment.

He replied that it involved Vice-President Dan Quayle throwing out the first pitch.

"I caught [then vice president] Dan Quayle's first pitch in Baltimore, and he wanted me to get down, and I wouldn't do it," Melvin said. "I didn't want to embarrass myself and not catch it, so there was a little bit of an issue there that stalled things for a bit."
In case you're wondering the pitch was slightly off to the right.

McGauley and Lopshire to Hold Joint Fundraiser

2006-04-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

The Twist? Stacey Lopshire is the Niece of John McGauley's Democratic Opponent

John McGauley and Stacey Lopshire have announced they will be holding a joint fundraiser on April 27th at the home of Allen County Commissioner F. Nelson Peters.

Mr. McGauley is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Allen County Recorder. Ms. Lopshire is a candidate for Allen County Assessor.

This wouldn't be so unusual except that Ms. Lopshire is the niece of Herb Summers, the only candidate running for the Democratic nomination for Allen County Recorder.

Mr. Summers is the son - and Ms. Lopshire is the granddaughter - of the late Walter Summers, who held several elective offices including State Representative and Allen County Assessor.

True Blue: Democrat Website Analyzes the 3rd District

2006-04-13T16:18:00.000-04:00

A Democratic leaning website, "Down with Tyranny," has analyzed the Congressional races in Indiana. The writer has a hope that perhaps Indiana could turn its delegation from "red" to "blue."

The writer had an interesting take on the 3rd District which seemed to have as much to say about the Democratic front-runner, Tom Hayhurst, as it did about incumbent Mark Souder.

The races in the other districts would need a major Democratic tsunami for any changes from red to blue. CD 3 in the northeast of the state (from Goshen to Fort Wayne) is represented by Mark Souder, another entrenched rubber-stamper (though not as far off the cliff of insanity as Sodrel or Pence-- but almost). There appear to be 4 Democrats vying for the opportunity to challenge him: Kevin Boyd, a progressive pastor who looks GREAT on the issues, Tom Hayhurst, whose slick website smells DCCC all the way (no positions on issues), and 2 guys with no websites Thomas Schrader and Edward Smith.

Bridget Bobel On NBC'S "Deal or No Deal"

2006-04-13T15:25:00.000-04:00

The April 12th broadcast of NBC's game show "Deal or No Deal" featured 25 Miss USA 2006 contestants and Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley.

Miss Indiana, Bridget Bobel, a Peru native, was among the 25 Miss USA contestants holding briefcases on the stage of the "Deal or No Deal" set.

"Deal or No Deal" features Howie Mandel as host.

The other Miss USA contestants selected were: Haleigh Stidham(AL), Kimberly Forsyth AR),Tamiko Nash (CA), Ashlee Greenwell(DE), Cristin Duren(FL), Catherine Warren(IL), Tara Conner(KY), Christina Cuenca(LA), Katee Stearns (ME), Tiffany Kelly (MA), Danelle Gay(MI), Kristi Capel (MO), Lauren Scyphers (NV), Jessica Boyington (NJ), Onawa Lacy (NM),Samantha Holvey(NC), Kimberly Krueger (ND), Allison Machado(OR), Tanya Lehman(PA), Leeann Tingley (RI), Lacie Lybrand (SC), Soben Huon (UT), Amber Copley (VA), Jessica Wedge (WV).

Miss Indiana Bridget Bobel Cheers the Troops

2006-04-13T11:06:00.000-04:00

Bridget Bobel is representing Indiana in the MISS USA pageant. Miss Bobel, a Peru native, is a former staffer for the Majority Caucus in the Indiana House of Representatives.

She is now in Baltimore where the pageant finals will take place April 21st. A Baltimore television station reported on a trip the MISS USA contestants took to the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to cheer departing members of the U.S. armed forces. The televised story can be seen here.

Miss Bobel handles herself very well during her brief time on camera. The television segment, though, is a bit over the top. I was struck by the length of this local television news segment and the enthusiasm of the reporter. It is not something seen in most Indiana television markets.

Ms. Bobel remarked:

"We just really appreciate our troops going over and serving our country," said Miss Indiana Bridget Bobel. "They're fighting for our freedom and the freedom of so many other people," she added.

Related: Miss Bobel has been the subject of prior postings on Fort Wayne Observed and Indiana Parley. The following are links to those posts:

February 16, 2006 - Resolution in the Indiana General Assembly
November 11, 2005 - Selected as Miss Indiana

DeLay Tags Pence as One of Three to Lead

2006-04-13T10:39:00.001-04:00

The Washington Times reports comments by soon to be ex-U.S. Representative Tom DeLay as to who may be worthy to succeed him in his role as leader of House conservatives. Indiana's Mike Pence is one of the three.

Asked who might be the House's "next Tom DeLay," the former majority leader, once considered the most powerful Republican in Congress, named three Republicans: Rep. Adam H. Putnam of Florida, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina.

When told of Mr. DeLay's remarks, Mr. Pence said simply, "I accept the compliment."

Mr. McHenry said, "I'm blown away ... I'm so excited that Tom DeLay would say that about me."

Overlooked by Mr. DeLay were more than 100 other conservative-voting House Republicans, some of whom are known beyond their home districts and even their states.

Mr. McHenry is the youngest member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Covering the Death of Indy Car Race Driver Paul Dana

2006-04-03T20:59:00.000-04:00

The Miami Herald's Sarah Rothschild wrote about how tough it can be to be covering the racing beat.

Covering Paul Dana's death last week seemed surreal. As I immersed myself in writing several articles for Monday's paper, I barely had time to digest that he died during a pre-race crash.

I had met Paul for the first time on March 2. The rookie reporter and the rookie race car driver. We chatted for a few minutes as he walked to a photo shoot. The topic: Northwestern University, where we both received journalism degrees. We bonded over our similar backgrounds and he told me how he started as an auto racing writer as the first step to pursuing his driving career. I presumed the coming months would allow me to develop a stronger rapport with him.

Fort Wayne Air Guardsman Quoted Regarding TARS

2006-03-31T15:28:00.000-05:00

That would be the Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System (TARS pod) on Air National Guard F-16's. Its use is described as "provide high-quality still imagery to ground commanders to help them achieve their tactical objectives."

This is from a release prepared by Major John S. Hutcheson of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. He writes:

"Many of the images being used by the ground guys for mission planning are Falcon View satellite images that are often dated," said Lt. Col. Kerry Gentry, commander of the 332nd and member of the New Jersey Air National Guard. "A lot can change over time in terms of new construction of buildings and roads. We can provide our JTACs and other ground forces up-to-date, high-resolution images they need to execute their missions."

Just how good is the resolution? The TARS pod is the equivalent of a 36-megapixel camera, said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Fisher, 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and a guardsman from the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, Ind.

To put that in perspective, most handheld digital cameras range between two and five megapixels. The resolution of the TARS images, however, is only one of its advantages.

"The camera in the TARS pod has the ability to rotate in order to shoot at angles you can't get any other way from the air -- doorways, windows, sides of buildings," said Tech. Sgt. Stephen Holt, noncommissioned officer in charge of imagery operations with the 332nd EFS. "This type of imagery of entry and exit points can be invaluable to a ground commander planning a raid on a house or other building."

Lyn Nofziger Has Died

2006-03-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

"There are many things in America worth conserving. But I am one of those conservatives who believes the most important of those things is liberty. Without liberty, without individual freedom, what is left to conserve isn't worth all that much." -- Lyn Nofziger

Lyn Nofziger, a top aide to Ronald Reagan from the Governorship of California to the White House, has died.

Mr. Nofziger was one of the key and constant figures in the rise of Ronald Reagan. He has suffered from cancer. Mr. Nofziger, who maintained a weblog, appears to have made his last entry in late November.

Lyn Nofziger was always irreverent and that irreverance was reflected in his weblog. He wrote on the main page:

I'm Lyn Nofziger and this is my website.

If you're looking for a female exhibitionist with a digital camera you've come to the wrong place.

On the other hand, if you want some conservative opinion laced with exasperation, an occasional limerick or other piece of doggerel, or are interested in the books I have written you're in the right place.

Sowell Says Wabash College's Rogge an Inspiration

2006-03-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

The eminent economist and social commentator Thomas Sowell has cited the late Wabash College Professor Ben Rogge as an inspiration.

Sowell's comments were made in an interview with Jason L. Riley of the Wall Street Journal published on the WSJ editorial page on Saturday, March 25th.

Riley wrote: The idea to apply economic concepts to racial issues came, says Mr. Sowell, from the late Benjamin Rogge, who taught economics at Wabash College in Indiana. "I was at Cornell, and Ben Rogge came on campus to give a talk called 'The Welfare State Against the Negro.' I happened to be out of town, so when I got back I wrote him a letter that said I heard you gave this talk and that you're going to write a book on the same theme. I said it's really amazing that no one's thought of this before because there's so much material out there. At this point [in the late '60's] I had no thought that I would ever touch it myself."

The two became friends over the years and "it occurred to Ben that he was never going to write that book. And so Ben Rogge took his manuscript and simply handed it to me and said do with it whatever you can. I was flabbergasted. I don't think I ever used anything directly from his manuscript. But the fundamental idea that you could apply economics to racial issues - that was the inspiration."

Canadian Humorist Stuart McLean to be in Goshen

2006-03-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

A man the Elkhart Truth calls the 'Garrison Keillor of the North' will be coming to Goshen, Indiana, on April 29th for a benefit comedy concert. The program featuring Canadian humorist Stuart McLean will take place at the Goshen College of Music.

The full story also contains a video clip of McLean. From the Truth:

...McLean tells stories that revolve around Dave, a former rock-band road manager now the proprietor of the world’s smallest record store, The Vinyl Café; Morley, his wife; and their children, Sam and Stephanie.

The Truth reports that McLean's CBC radio show, The Vinyl Café, has 700,000 listeners each week. The show has been carried by the Indianapolis public radio station WFYI FM 90.1 since the beginning of the year.

Indiana Policy Review and The Simpsons

2006-03-13T08:38:00.000-05:00

A Simpson-Watching Law Professor Asseses Our Constitutional Literacy

By Nicole Garnett

Here is something bound to keep late-night comics busy: A recent poll revealed that Americans apparently know more about the television cartoon series “The Simpsons” than about the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Only one in four respondents could name more than one of the rights protected by the First Amendment; only one in 1,000 could name all of them. Yet more than half of the respondents could name two members of the Simpson family, and 22 percent could name all five. The poll also found that more Americans can name three American Idol judges than three First Amendment rights.

These results have produced much tongue clucking in certain circles, as polls of a certain genre (that is, those designed to reveal that Americans are dumb) often do. A spokesman for the McCormick-Tribune Freedom Museum, which conducted the poll, observed, for example, that “part of our mission is to clear up these misconceptions … It means we have our job cut out for us.”

I confess that I am a Simpsons-watching law professor. I not only can name the members of the Simpson family (and of the supporting cast), but, if pressed, I could come close to reciting the First Amendment verbatim. (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”)

I must admit that the poll doesn’t trouble me too much. Most Americans have a healthy understanding of their basic liberties: The fact 38 percent of the respondents mistook the protection against self-incrimination for a First-Amendment right (it actually is protected by the Fifth Amendment) is a case in point: Most people know that the police cannot make you talk.

Similarly, I doubt that many Americans fail to realize that our Constitution protects the freedom of the press, guarantees the right to free worship, and permits us to complain to — and about — the government.

Nor are Americans shy about exercising those rights vigorously.

Consider the response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kelo vs. New London, which permitted a city to condemn private homes and transfer them to a private developer as part of an economic development project. The opinion set off a popular firestorm that has left state and federal legislators scrambling to craft new laws that would limit the power of eminent domain. By the end of current legislative sessions, it is likely that many states will have imposed legislatively the very restrictions that the Supreme Court refused to impose judicially in Kelo.

Of course, my non-Simpson-watching colleagues might argue that the reaction to Kelo is yet more indication that the Americans are unsophisticated — after all, the decision was not inconsistent with prior legal precedents.

I take a different, more hopeful lesson from the public reaction to Kelo. Americans understand the basics: We know that property rights are important and also that we have the right to petition our elected leaders to take steps necessary to protect those rights.

Of course, many people probably don’t know that the constitutional protection of property rights is insinuated in the Fifth Amendment (along with the privilege against self-incrimination — go figure), but we know enough to guarantee a healthy democracy. And that is hardly a cause for concern.

Nicole Stelle Garnett is a professor at the Notre Dame School of Law. She is an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation.

Indiana Parley publishes this column with the permission of the Indiana Policy Review.

Robert Rouse: The Project

2006-03-13T07:28:00.000-05:00

Robert Rouse of Fort Wayne publishes a weblog called Left of Centrist and is a peace activist. He can be found on the first Saturday of each month among a band of sign-carrying anti-war protesters on the sidewalk of the Courthouse Green along Clinton Street. "Support Our Troops" stand opposite the protesters on the east side of Clinton.

He made a change in his weblog design over the weekend. The most notable changes being a change to a red (natch) background and a header with a photo seemingly like an eye peeking through a keyhole. Mr. Rouse added this note:

I realize I failed to post anything yesterday - the "On this date in Beatles History" you see below had the date changed for continuity. I've been a little busy with a project (details of the project coming in the next week), but I'll try to make up for it by staying a little more on target.

Well, the project is still under wraps. However, it's not what IP thought it was. Indiana Parley speculated that the 'project' is a protest on Monument Circle next weekend which will include various anti-war groups from around the state. It's not that; it's something closer to home.

The Indianapolis Star had reported today:

Members of at least 10 groups have joined forces to host a statewide rally for peace on Monument Circle from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday [March 18].

[...]

Speakers will include former U.S. Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr., D-Indianapolis; author and attorney Sheila Suess Kennedy; writer and columnist Pamela Taylor; and Bill Stant, Green Party candidate for Indiana secretary of state.

Sponsors include Progressive Indiana; Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center; Veterans for Peace Chapter 49; Indiana Peace and Justice Network; Bloomington Peace Action Coalition; Earth-Solar Technologies; Plowshares; Code Pink-Fort Wayne; Common Bonds; and SAGE (Student Advocates for Global Equality at IUPUI).

ChiTrib Features St. Meinrad Monastery

2006-03-12T10:22:00.000-05:00

Fort Wayne blogger Amy Welborn points her readers to the Chicago Tribune travel feature on St Meinrad's Academy in Ferdinand, Indiana.

Ms. Welborn publishes the nationally recognized weblog open book.

The monastery, with its Byzantine-Romanesque buildings that include an 87-foot-high domed church, is one of the largest communities of Benedictine sisters in this country. In 1867, four nuns of the Benedictine St. Walburga Abbey in Eichstaett, Bavaria, were lured here to educate the area's many Catholic immigrants by the dense forests that reminded them of their native land.

Des Moines Register on the Buzz in New Castle for Alford

2006-03-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

The game is over and Indiana University doesn't advance in the Big Ten Tourney. Yet, those who follow the Big Ten won't stop talking about I.U. until a new coach is named.

Folks in Iowa are wondering if they'll be losing their coach. The Des Moines Register went to New Castle, Indiana, to chronicle the buzz about Steve Alford possibly returning to Indiana to coach the Hoosiers.

Alford began his college head coaching career at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana.

Mike Pence a "major surprise" in Michigan Straw Poll

2006-03-12T09:27:00.000-05:00

The Republican Michigander weblog reported on a 2008 Presidential "straw poll" conducted among attendees at the Livingston County Lincoln Day Dinner. The weblog's author found unexpected support for U.S. Representative Mike Pence.

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence was a major surprise. There is a significant Pence 2008 movement, but it is nearly exclusively in the blogging world. The most common question asked about him was "Who’s Mike Pence?" However, those that knew him, was liked him.
He is the chair of the Republican Study Committee in the house, which is the conservative caucus. The Republican Study Committee last week introduced a balanced budget based on the 1995 Contract With America. If the bloggers are successful in drafting him for president, he could be a strong dark horse candidate with the current overspending in Washington.

Representative Pence is from Indiana's Sixth Congressional District. The district includes Adams and Wells Counties as well as parts of southern Allen County.

Livingston County, Michigan, is located just north of Ann Arbor. The county seat is Howell.

Pulliam Profiles Mark Souder for Indy Star

2006-03-10T23:33:00.000-05:00

Contents of this post have been moved to Fort Wayne Observed here.

The comments of Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard were determined to comport more closely with the readership of FWOb.

Commenters may wish to leave a comment on the new post by linking above.

Poll Results

2006-03-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

Results for the "straw poll" conducted on Fort Wayne Observed and Indiana Parley can be viewed by visiting "Primary Straw Poll Results."

Oyez! Oyez! The Polls are Now Closed

2006-03-07T12:42:00.000-05:00

The online polls conducted jointly on the weblogs Indiana Parley and Fort Wayne Observed are now closed.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

The results will be posted this afternoon.

Again, we note that the polls are not scientific. At best, the poll results represent only those persons who braved the wilds to reach either of the two weblogs.

Voters were able to cast a vote every 24 hours. Serial voting may tend to exaggerate differences in vote totals between candidates.

Be careful in operating heavy machinery after viewing the poll results.

Bloggers' Notes

2006-03-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

A Recommendation of a New Weblog; Another Fort Wayne Weblog Goes Blank Temporarily

Indiana Parley likes to recommend new weblogs in the area that feature voices that you may not hear any other way. That's why I urge you to view the weblog "J. Long Nation."

The author has a great post on what it's like to work at a fast-food restaurant. He has some pointed comments about the cordiality of dashboad diners.

The post is really a good "slice-of-life" example of what happens when a blogger writes about his or her own experiences in the world. Ignore some of the spelling glitches; the author will get that more polished over time. (Ditching the the closing line could be one of the first improvements he makes.)

The other item is about Fort Wayne Indiana etc. As I write this, the site is down. Some of the area bloggers tend to read much more into these shutdowns since Fort Wayne Observed went invisible in January. The absence of Fort Wayne Indiana etc. is temporary, I've been told. And, no, when it comes back there will be no announcement that another local weblog has been subsumed into the Fort Wayne Observed/Indiana Parley universe of weblogs.

11:14 AM - A reader has just pointed out that another local weblog "Reverent & Free" is also down.

12:05 PM - Fort Wayne Indiana etc. is back up at this site: http://fortwaynenews.blogspot.com/

Drudge and the Indy Airport

2006-03-06T08:40:00.000-05:00

Matt Drudge Discovers Red Coats Have Taken Over the Indianapolis Airport

The Drudge Report is trumpeting the 'developing' story of how a British company has the contract to run the Indianpolis Airport. The story begins "Move over Portgate."

What has gotten Mr. Drudge all fevered on this Monday, March 6th? The contract between the Indianapolis Airport Authority with BAA Indianapolis LLC, for the management and operation of the Indianapolis International Airport (formerly Weir Cook Airport).

BAA Indianpolis LLC is a subsidiary of BAA "the world's largest airport company."

The contract is years old. Mr. Drudge is welcome to write about it. However, it is not a stunning revelation.

Copy of Knuth Letter to State Election Board

2006-03-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

Indiana Parley has obtained an unsigned copy of the letter as sent by Allen County Democratic Chair Kevin Knuth to the Democratic Co-Chair of the Indiana Election Board.

The letter is available as a PDF image by clicking here.

Mr. Knuth also prepared a media release today. IP is not reproducing the release in this post. It does not become an official part of the Election Board record as will the letter.

However, Mr. Knuth states in the release:

At the time of the event, Knuth questioned WOWO General Manager Mark Deprez about WOWO’s involvement in what appeared to be a political event.

In his email response to Knuth, Deprez stated that the event was being put on by private citizens. “Campaign finance reports now show this is not the case. It appears that WOWO was misled,” Knuth said.

If the event is determined to have been a political event, WOWO would fall under Campaign Finance guidelines, which would limit how much promotion they could have done legally.

2005 Glenn Beck Grand Wayne Appearance for GOP Questioned

2006-03-03T10:45:00.000-05:00

Democratic Chair Kevin Knuth Sends Complaint to State Election Board

WOWO Radio 1190 reported this morning that it is one of the subjects of a complaint filed by Allen County Democratic Chair Kevin Knuth. The complaint questions the underwriting of the 2005 appearance by radio personality Glenn Beck at the Grand Wayne Center.

Glenn Beck appeared at a rally in the main room at the Grand Wayne Center which was free and open to the public. That rally was heavily promoted by WOWO Radio.

Prior to speaking at the rally, Mr. Beck was the featured speaker at the Allen County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner which was held in another hall of the Grand Wayne Center. Tickets were required for the dinner. The dinner and a preceding reception were considered a fundraising event for the local party.

WOWO reports on its website:

Wowo Radio and the Glenn Beck Rally for America have been named in a formal complaint to the State Election Board. Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Kevin Knuth says it involves money donated by "The Northeast Indiana PAC for Better Government" for the Rally held last May at the Grand Wayne Center.

Knuth says if the Board deems last year's rally as a political event, the station might be in violation of campaign finance laws, for providing promotional nnouncements believed to be in excess of the $2,000 legal corporate limit.

The Rally was organized by Republican Vice-Chair Cathy Hawks, separate from the Party.

WOWO Management is making no apology for supporting Glenn Beck's appearance.

Photo: Glenn Beck as photographed at a 2003 Rally for America held at the War Memorial Coliseum. Photo from the Glenn Beck website and credited to WOWO Radio 1190.

That's Why They Call It a Bill Board

2006-03-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

Bill Brown, principal owner of Summit City Electric, is seeking the Republican nomination for Allen County Commissioner. Billboards touting his candidacy went up in Fort Wayne during the last week.

This is a photograph of his billboard at Jefferson and Barr across from the downtown YMCA. The Brown billboard is stacked on another for Indiana Michigan Power.

But for the I&M logo in the lower right, the lower billboard also looks like a political candidate's sign. It has a great photo with something that could serve as a political slogan, "I am Here When You Need Me."

New Candidate for GiaQuinta Seat

2006-03-03T08:52:00.000-05:00

Robert Enders Seeks Libertarian Party Nomination

Robert Enders, age 26, of Fort Wayne has announced his intention to seek the 80th District State Representative spot now occupied by the retiring Ben GiaQuinta.

Mr. Enders made the announcement on his weblog, Blog of the Enders.

Libertarian Presidential Nominee Harry Browne Dead

2006-03-02T21:47:00.000-05:00

Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party nominee for President in 1996 and 2000 has died at his home in Tennessee.

Who Were Those Folks in Last Night's "Neighbors" Section?

2006-03-02T11:13:00.000-05:00

The front page of Wednesday's News-Sentinel had a story on volunteers from Fort Wayne who traveled to Biloxi, Mississipi recently to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. The group's visit was coordinated by the Diocese of Biloxi.

One of the fellows prominently featured in a photograph illustrating the article should be familiar to those who frequent the Allen County Courthouse. However, the article by Kevin Kilbane did not identify the day job of Craig Bobay, a parishioner of St. Jude Catholic Church. The fellow pictured in jeans and a blue t-shirt standing on a metal roof is often referred to as "Your Honor" during the workweek.

Craig Bobay is Magistrate of the Allen County Circuit Court.

Featured in a separate story was 20-year active Junior League member Kathy Roudebush. The Fort Wayne attorney and community volunteer worked for the Indiana House of Representatives Majority Staff before attending Indiana University Law School at Bloomington.

Interview with Kent Hormann, IPFW Sports Information Director

2006-03-01T21:44:00.000-05:00

We spoke with Kent Hormann moments after the last minute 55-54 win by the IPFW Mastodons at the War Memorial Coliseum. The victory gives IPFW 10 wins for the season.

Interview with IPFW Athletic Director Mark Pope

2006-03-01T19:26:00.000-05:00

Mark Pope, Athletic Director of IPFW, gave an interview prior to the start of tonight's IPFW Men's Basketball Game.

Tonight's game was the last of the season. It marked the conclusion of Coach Dane Fife's first year. Coach Fife is the youngest NCAA Division 1 men's basketball coach.

Sunny Side Up

2006-03-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

Indiana Pundit notes today that County Commissioner candidate Bill Brown is now up with his own billboards to compete with those of incumbent Marla Irving. Pundit then adds his own two cents about the worth of billboards in political campaigns.

Mr. Brown may have wished that he had received the accompany gift from Acme Printing before he locked in his billboard design. Yet, it will probably come in handy to give him that youthful and bronzed look as we head out of winter into the spring campaign season.

Indiana Parley received a copy of the notice today in a promotional email from Acme Printing.

Mr. Brown may wish to use sunscreen - or a hat - when he redeems his certificate.

Photo: Bill Brown shown at right. Photo by Indiana Parley. © 2006.

Travels with Graham

2006-02-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

Fort Wayne Mayor Gets Around

Mayor Graham Richard has been traveling quite a bit lately to speaking engagements.

He was in Goshen last Friday to speak to the annual Goshen College business forum. The following is from the Goshen News story by reporter Tara Lane:

Calling himself one of the “faith of the frozen chosen” — an Episcopalian — Richard said he appreciates the service of private, not-for-profit organizations that are faith-based, such as Goshen College.

A former teacher, Richard said a commitment to building partnerships must include closing the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” and those who have earning power and those who don’t.

“We need to be sure that those who don’t have earning power have learning power,” he said.

One way Fort Wayne city officials use partnerships to boost learning power is through the redevelopment of the former Southtown Mall property. He said ground will soon be broken to build a 125,000-square-foot facility that will consist of numerous colleges offering courses in the same facility.

Richard said the partnership with the colleges will provide “state-of-the-art training” which will benefit everyone.

Another way Fort Wayne officials have used partnerships and worked to create a globally competitive city is though the use of fiberoptic broadband services. Richard said the broadband services help connect small businesses, schools and households. He said that with the services, individuals are able to take college courses they may not have had access to previously. Richard said 87 schools and about 110,000 households and businesses are able to use the service.

Richard also spoke about “Net Literacy” a program that originated in central Indiana but is now used in many other communities as well. The program relies on middle and high school students to volunteer to teach computer skills to low-income senior citizens and people who aren’t used to computers or the Internet.

He said the program “builds linkages with people who might not have those capabilities.”

Richard said that business practices including Lean and Six Sigma have been used in the city of Fort Wayne to increase productivity and decrease waste.

“Lean” thinking provides a way to do more with less — less human effort, equipment, time and space. The Six Sigma philosophy works on reducing waste and focuses on increasing satisfaction while simultaneously increasing profits.

Photos from the County Republican Convention

2006-02-26T13:54:00.000-05:00

An online photo album of pictures taken at yesterday's Allen County Republican Convention can be found here.

Photo of Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita and Margaret Ringenberg, an Indiana "Living Legend" featured in Tom Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation." Both are pilots.

The Story Outside the Republican Meeting

2006-02-26T11:28:00.000-05:00

There was another story going on outside the Allen County Republican Convention.

Protesters of Bush Administration policies were carrying signs peacefully on the sidewalk outside the main entrance to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Blogger Robert Rouse of Fort Wayne was photographing the people on the sidewalk for a report on his weblog Left of Centrist. According to Mr. Rouse' first-hand account, a security officer for the Coliseum approached him to have him stop taking photographs.

The rest of his report can be found here.

Indiana Parley and Fort Wayne Observed support Mr. Rouse's right as a citizen to take photographs on public property. Indiana Parley and Fort Wayne Observed further support the ability of weblog journalists to conduct reporting as any reporter for the traditional media.

Mr. Rouse has done original reporting on his weblog in addition to opinion and commentary.

There is an implication by some of those who have left comments on his site that the security officer's actions were tied to the fact that there was a Republican meeting at the Coliseum. Indiana Parley doubts that there was any more connection other than overzealous security staff. However, IP will be asking additional questions of the Memorial Coliseum.

If Mr. Rouse had wished to enter the Republican meeting I believe he would have been welcomed and offered a donut.

However, the actions of the Coliseum security personnel and of a Fort Wayne police officer (as reported by Mr. Rouse earlier in the week when he took photographs of a shooting in his Lakeside neighborhood) highlight an important issue. That is the right of citizens and of new media in a world where technology is rapidly changing the way news is reported.

Photo above: Coliseum sidewalk photo taken by Robert Rouse. Photo copyrighted by Robert Rouse.

State Senator Dennis Kruse

2006-02-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

State Senator Dennis Kruse gives his views on the Allen County Republican Convention and the 2005 session of the Indiana General Assembly.

(The Kruse audio post was slightly truncated due to time limitations.)

Allen County Council President Paula Hughes

2006-02-25T13:52:00.000-05:00

Allen County Council President Paula Hughes talks about the convention and efforts at consolidating government.

Photo: City Council member John Crawford, Hughes, and City Council member Don Schmidt.

Post Convention: Steve Shine Gives His View

2006-02-25T13:33:00.000-05:00

Allen County Republican Chairman Steven R. Shine reflects on the Convention at its conclusion. He also comments on his Democratic counterpart, Kevin Knuth.

Photo: Douglas Foy and Steve Shine view the candidate presentations. Mr. Foy is the Allen County Republican Executive Assistant.

Sheriff's Candidate Ken Fries Opens Up

2006-02-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

Sheriff's candidate Ken Fries opens up about the Republican confab. The four candidates for Allen County Sheriff each spoke before the crowd. They then responded to questions from the audience. Here what Lt. Fries had to say by clicking the audio post button below.

The other three candidates are Guy Griffith, Mike Foster, and Mike Keesler.

Matt Kelty on How the Commissioner Candidates Should Have Responded

2006-02-25T12:20:00.000-05:00

Indiana Parley caught up with former state legislative candidate Matt Kelty right after the candidates for County Commissioner completed their presentations and the question and answer session that followed.

The question and answer session provided the most drama of the morning. County Council Member and candidate for re-election Cal Miller asked the candidates whether they supported having a single countywide vote on a consolidated government plan or two votes - one for those within the Fort Wayne city limits and one for those in the unincorporated areas, Cities of New Haven and Woodburn, and incorporated towns.

Indiana Parley would say that none quite answered the question directly. Mr. Kelty, a Fort Wayne architect, gave his opinion on how the candidates missed the mark.

Photo: Kelty pictured during a meeting at Allen County Republican Headquarters in January, 2006.

State Representative Matt Bell

2006-02-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

Indiana State Representative Matt Bell spoke with Indiana Parley early in the convention day about the current legislative session.

Photo: Derek Pillie with State Representative Matt Bell. Mr. Pillie is the District Director for U.S. Representative Mark E. Souder.

Ongoing Reports from the Republican Convention

2006-02-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

Indiana Parley is off to the Allen County Republican Convention at the War Memorial Coliseum.

We will be reporting from the floor. Expect to see Audio Blog posts during the day.

When you see a new Audio Blog symbol, click on the icon to hear interviews and reports from floor. Later on, we'll wrap explanatory text at each post.

The Straw Poll

2006-02-25T08:19:00.000-05:00

Indiana Parley has teamed with Fort Wayne Observed to bring you a straw poll on the top contested Allen County races in the May Republican primary.

There may not be a straw poll at the County Republican Convention this weekend - but you will find one here.

Just go to the right side of the screen and cast your votes for the two county commissioner spots and the Sheriff's office. Allen County residents can cast votes both commissioner seats. While candidates must live in a specific district, the elections are county-wide.

You may vote once every 24 hours. The same poll is listed at FortWayneObserved.com. Results shown are an aggregate of votes cast at both IP and FWOb.

As with any of these online polls, this poll is not scientific and should not be relied on to purchase stocks or diagnose medical conditions. After voting, please use caution operating heavy machinery.

Editor's Note (February 25, 6:55 PM): An alert reader of Indiana Parley pointed out an error in the alphabetical listing of candidates for the office of Sheriff. A new poll has been posted with the names in proper alphabetical order. However, the staff of Fort Wayne Observed and Indiana Parley were unable to transfer the votes already cast for Sheriff to the new poll.

At the conclusion of the poll on March 7, the results in the Sheriff's poll to the time of the correction (approximately 6:50 PM on February 25) will be added to the results of the currently posted Sheriff's poll. We regret any confusion due to this correction. We appreciate the reader for bringing the error to our attention. We actively encourage readers to email us regarding any typographical or other errors.

The results as of the time of the correction were: Foster (8); Fries (27); Griffith (9); Keesler (7).

Coming Up: What WISH TV Left Out

2006-02-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Indiana's Positive Experience with New Technology for Elections

Later this weekend, Indiana Parley will be bringing you background information on the experience Indiana has had with the company providing the new technology for voter registration.

It's the history that WISH-TV could have told its viewers.

Separately, we hope to bring you an interview later today with Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita.

National Journal Releases Congressional Ratings

2006-02-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

Souder's Conservative, But Not The Most Conservative Indiana Congressman

The well-respected publication, National Journal, released its Congressional Ratings today.

U.S. Representative Dan Burton (R-5) was ranked as Indiana's most conservative Congressional member with a 92%. U.S. Representative Julia Carson was ranked as the least conservative at 16.3%.

Most to least in order: Burton; Mike Pence (89.3); Mike Sodrel,(88.3%); Souder(82%); Chris Chocola (77.5%); Steve Buyer (76.8%); John Hostettler (63.8%); Peter Visclosky (28.5%); and Carson.

Senator Richard Lugar had a composite score of 52.8%. U.S. Senator Evan Bayh had a composite score of 29.3%.

The composites were based on an average of percentages for economic, social, and foreign policy issues. Rankings were different for these individual issue blocks.

For example, Senator Bayh was ranked as the most liberal member of the Indiana Congressional delegation with a score of 10%.

Congressman Souder was the second most conservative member as ranked on economic issues at 94%. Only Mike Pence was higher at 97%. No other members were above 90%. However, Souder was ranked as the fourth most conservative on social issues.

WLZQ FM 101.1 Added to Links

2006-02-24T14:37:00.000-05:00

Q101 Has Story on Teen Alleged to Have Killed Mother With Sword

WLZQ Radio served the communities of Columbia City, Warsaw and North Manchester.

The main story today concerns a rural Cromwell teen who allegedly stabbed his mother to death with a sword near the eastern shore of Lake Wawasee.

Welcome to Fort Wayne

2006-02-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

New Resident goes to the Pine Valley BMV

Fort Wayne Observed has the story on Krista, a new resident of Fort Wayne, who chronicled her experience with Hoosier Hospitality at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.