It STILL Never Gets Old...
And a Happy EPIPHANY to you all.
Today is the day I take down the Christmas decorations...or "Little Christmas" as Mom used to call it.
It's the day associated with the Magi coming to Bethlehem.
Here's the WIKI for the *411*:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday)
With that behind us, let's get busy being RIGHT (again).
When you're right, there does come a certain satisfaction...the knowing that for all the years you paid attention in school, listened to your folks, and even trusted your instincts, you can pretty much make some damn good conclusions based on what facts are presented, and by keeping one's eyes and ears OPEN.
And there are even times you wish to God you could be wrong, but you're not.
Such is the case with THIS:
*** We can now claim our FIRST shooting victim of 2011 (and we're ahead of last year, when the first shooting took place on 12 January).
Only this time, they say it's an "accidental" shooting.
Here's the link (reprinted below):
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110106/LOCAL/301069965
This happened on the city's NORTHEAST side (instead of the "usual" SE side we've come to know and love).
And the neighborhood LOOKS pretty normal...like a lot of those "good" neighborhoods I hear tell about.
(and how like OUR neighborhood USED to be in times past)
But, if you scratch the surface of this pristine area, you might find something else beneath.
Here's the FULL story on this event:
(( Published: January 6, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Police: Shooting death appears to be accident
Jeff Wiehe The Journal Gazette - Cathie Rowand The Journal Gazette
She leaned over and spit on the ground between sobs.
Then the woman with a blonde swath through her black hair went back to her phone, her other hand clutching the visor she wore to work at a fast-food restaurant.
She was outside her brother’s home amid a swarm of police cars and ambulances.
Soon, friends and family were rushing to her. She shouted to them before they could reach her.
"He dead," she said. "Robert dead. He shot. Robert dead."
This was the misery after an apparent accidental shooting Wednesday, one that claimed the life of a man who lived in an apartment at 1202 Lake Forest Drive, near Lake Avenue and North River, Maplecrest and Maysville roads.
Police were called to the ranch-style apartment at the front of the typically quiet northeast-side neighborhood, at 2:53 p.m.
Officers found a man dead from an apparent gunshot wound.
Detectives were questioning people at police headquarters late in the afternoon. Initial information from those involved indicated the shooting "was not an intentional act," officer Raquel Foster, city police spokeswoman, said.
No arrests have been made, and the name of the man killed has not been released. People at the scene identified the man as Robert Portee of Fort Wayne.
Hours after the shooting, a Facebook page was set up as a memorial for Portee.
"Please, Lord," said another woman at the scene. "It’s my nephew. It’s Robert. It’s Robert. Why, God? Why, God?"
Later, the same woman would walk in circles, calling various numbers on her cell phone and getting through to no one.
She talked to herself, hoping against hope that her nephew was all right, that it was just a bad rumor, that he was really OK, even though news had already traveled to others that he was dead.
Another woman crouched behind the brick wall of a carport and cried while a friend embraced her. The attempts to soothe the woman’s pain were futile.
"Robert, where did you go? Where did you go?" she said.
Several men at the scene were frustrated as they tried to get information about the reported shooting.
Some said police told them nothing about what had happened.
Officers brought a chair for one extremely anguished woman.
But her anxious pain wouldn’t allow her to remain seated.
Soon after sitting for a breather, the woman was back up.
"I don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to feel," she told those around her.
Then she fainted, dropping to the ground.
She spent the next half-hour inside an ambulance, eventually emerging with tears still staining her cheeks.
She was gathered into the arms of her friends and family.
She said all she wanted to do was go home.
As the sun dipped closer to the ground and the weather turned colder, the victim’s sister became angry.
She marched between the squad cars and ambulances. She marched across the lawns. She didn’t know where her brother was.
The hospital?
It didn’t matter where, that’s where she wanted to be.
The only thing she wanted was to see him.
"Why am I still here?" she yelled.
"He’s gone. They know he’s gone. Why are we still here? I want to go see my brother.
I want to go see him. I want to say goodbye." ))
Now, it's interesting to note that there was a BRANDON PORTEE that was a homicide victim LAST year (2 March)...whether they're related remains to be seen. Robert Portee was also a black male, in case the thought was crossing your mind.
And yet, this was a "nice" neighborhood, as the article states.
(not any longer, it would appear)
If you READ the story as posted (here) verbatim from the newspaper, you will see a lot of things.
On TV, one young white male was interviewed on WANE and stated "My mother says we're moving".
Yeah, that's ONE way to deal with things...run the hell away. I've seen THAT occur in MY neighborhood.
Look at the way the woman in the story REACTS...how she SPEAKS, how she's attired.
I've seen my share of a LOT of diverse people, and it always comes down to the "BASICS".
If you've been a reader here for some time, you ALSO know that' I've mentioned frequently that the "blight" that infested MY area "was coming to a neighborhood near you...soon enough".
Well, looks like it's HERE (or is that THERE?), and now the same problems exist in that area.
By the way, if you look at this picture of Robert Portee (from Faceboo - intersting read)) you might have to admit I'm correct when I said he was BLACK.
Funny thing, his "likes" include:
Getting Paid
Getting Tattoos
Getting High
(not anymore, Bub)
Sorry, but those particular "ideals" just don't seem to mesh all that well with any college-bound person or professional wanting to make something of himself.
Doesn't even sound like anyone that wants to TRY and make anything of himself. Guess he didn't have a "plan" in place, or didn't know how to be charitable to HIMSELF.
And, I reckon he made a few BAD decisions (most likely that LAST ONE, whatever it was).
But, it WAS "accidental"...so it's been said.
(and CAESAR was an honorable man, as well....sure)
I suppose the phrase "treat every gun as if it were loaded" didn't enter Mr. Portee's lexicon or vocabulary (makes a great case for getting GOOD grades in English, doesn't it?), and since we can no longer ASK him, the point in now moot.
I'll bet the residents are taking a good, HARD look at those "apartments" on their street TODAY.
(or they SHOULD BE)
As to the FWPD officers that had to secure and clear the scene...welcome to a (new) blighted area, people.
I would suggest doing a tour down HERE to get you all fully acquainted with the "nuances" you're going to be seeing.
But that's not all...there is another "sorta-kinda" related story that caught my eye:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110106/LOCAL/301069958/1002/LOCAL THIS story is about 25 "rent-to-own" houses that will be set out in WAYNEDALE (there goes THAT area).
There's already $5.7 MIL sunk into this new "project". (how's THAT for an ironic use of that word?)
Now, I'm not calling the people in Waynedale NAIVE, but they best get used to seeing things they haven't seen before with THIS housing gig.
Of course, there ARE "tax breaks" (really?), and has been on the Indiana Community and Housing Developments' "radar" for a while, but NOW, they get to go build them (and Lord knows what they will allow to move into them...But I already KNOW).
This project is backed by CANI (Community Action of Northeast Indiana), and the first thing that gets the hairs on my neck standing up are the words COMMUNITY ACTION, because I know (from recent experience) what is behind that facade.
The city couldn't get housing to sell (Renaissance Pointe) in another part of town, due to citizen outcry (bad rep) about more CRIME (and such other things that would disturb THEIR quality-of-life).
So, the city comes to WAYNEDALE, and decides to trash THAT area next.
Already have a few (small) apartment areas that see their share of crime (off of Bluffton Rd, near Engle), and they also include Willow Crack (I mean CREEK) Crossing Apartments...used to live there (and damn glad we left after getting broken into while we were both at work).
I miss that place about as much as I miss pounding my balls flat with a wooden mallet!
(sorry about the visual, but you see I have such FOND memories of living...excuse me...EXISTING there)
Interestingly enough, Glenn Beck (yesterday) made a reference to the downfall of DETROIT...and stated it was BY DESIGN.
I have stated HERE that the SE side of Fort Wayne was left to the "dogs" over the last two decades as well...BY DESIGN. And now, the sights are set on the SW side of Fort Wayne...and once again, we shall see that this will be perpetrated (such an appropriate word to use here) against the decent people in Waynedale...BY DESIGN.
After all, it's GOOD to have people dependant upon the government, don'cha think?
I didn't think you DID...and neither do I.
We must ALL depend on ourselves, first and foremost.
Then we can depend on ONE ANOTHER next.
We succeed or fail based upon our OWN merits...our OWN level of integrity, and our OWN willingness to challenge ourselves.
Anything less is governmental dependency.
And no one in ANY government could never hope to "take care of me" the way my PARENTS did before I could take care of myself.
Plus, I have NO desire to return to the "playpen"...I wish to move FORWARD in life.
As do all of you.
I think that's a pretty good starting point for any of us; to trust in ourselves...do for ourselves.
And a prayer offered now and then never hurt any person one bit, either.
That also...NEVER gets old.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.