20 January 2012

Friday Follies...
End of another week, and the beginning of a curious weather pattern here in the Heartland.
After a dusting of snow yesterday, and with temperatures remaining in the lower double digits, we are supposed to get 1-2 inches (Fort Wayne area) between 1400 - 2000 hrs. But wait, we're not finished yet...
After midnight, we might be getting an additional 2-3 inches on top of that.
Well, that should make grocery shopping tomorrow QUITE "SPORTY" out there on the roads.
It's not that we really HAVE to go - we've enough food stocked for a few weeks, but some essentials always need replenishment (milk, lunchmeats, cheeses), we just prefer to go when it's NOT CROWDED (you understand).
Considering I drove in weather like this (and sometimes worse) for a living in another lifetime ago, it's always good to "refresh" your memory and stay in practice. Trouble is, not everyone feels the same way...more about that later.
In the meantime, there's this:
*** You MOMS out there (as well a DADS) will find this story a bit disturbing in more than a few ways.
Here's the link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/wane-fw-mom--son-buying-spice-with-food-stamp-card
(good video, too)
See, here in Indiana, we recently passed a law banning that K2 "spice" crap (potpourri) that teens have taken to smoking (and getting damn sick as well as tweaking the hell out). This "synthetic" form of Mary Jane is still however finding it's way into the hands of those that aren't supposed to have it. It's still being sold at gas stations and convenience stores under NEW names and with slightly DIFFERENT ingredients in order to skirt the law.
We're NOT talking the kind of SPICE one finds in a Frank Herbert novel or movie, either...
Although the brains of those using it might LOOK about as barren and void of life as the dunes of Arrakis after a brief time.
(sand worms, anyone?)
Now this mom in the story was having her FOOD STAMP MONEY used to BUY such sh*t (by her son, who's in his TWENTIES).
And he claims addiction to the synthetic pot.
Uh, forgive me for being just a wee bit "insensitive" here, but WTH is he doing at home when he COULD (or should) be helping mom by working some JOB somewhere?
I mean, I was working when I was 16 at a restaurant (in Philly, Michelo's at Sheffield & Frankford Aves) several nights a week as a busboy, and doing so teaches one valuable lessons when it comes to EARNING a living, paying bills, and managing money.
But to swipe mom's DEBIT CARD for public assistance, and then say he was buying GROCERIES (lying) just compounds the problem.
Mom DID have the foresight to check the RECEIPTS from the store and caught sonny-boy's ass that way.
BTW, the spice is rung up as NON-TAXABLE GROCERY on the slip, so it can conform to welfare debit card guidelines.
I do find it troubling that the reporter that went to the same station was REFUSED a receipt when asked for one.
Didn't know a store could DO that...in fact, I don't believe they CAN.
I know I'd have someone with a shield and a gun with a warrant knocking on the door to THAT store.
*** This type of story always makes me smile...wonder why?
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120120/LOCAL07/301209924
It's nice to see good old-fashioned POLICE WORK pay off...isn't it?
Thank those on PATROL with sharp eyes who spot a perp vehicle from a robbery back on 5 January (in another town)...and then make the collar.
I love it.
The robbery occurred in Grabill, the man was from Fort Wayne (where else?), and he was arrested in Leo-Cedarville.
And the perp goes by a SINGLE name - VALANCE (isn't that like a type of CURTAIN???)
Anywho, Mr. "Valance", age 41, who lives in the 5400 block of Old Maumee Rd got to have the innards of his house "rearranged", courtesy of the local LEOs, who found a pellet pistol, clothes matching the description of the robber, and shoes with the same tread-pattern as those found on scene at the robbery site. Yep, we call that good policing for a REASON.
Bond was set at $20K...enjoy your stay, Valance...and NO curtains in YOUR cell...LOL.
*** More problems for the Broadway Joe's tavern.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120120/LOCAL07/301209923
Here we had three men, around 20 years old, who entered the bar around 2100 hrs. on the night of 15 January.
After one of the men jumped over the counter and shouted GIVE ME THE MONEY to the bartender, that's when a robbery decided to go wrong.
The bartender grabbed the gun, which discharged, but injured no one.
While this was going on, the other two thugs demanded patrons get on the floor.
The bartender gained control of the handgun, and it was then that all THREE robbers left the tavern...with NO MONEY and one gun lighter.
Obviously, they're all still at-large, so business owners beware of THREE men with TWO guns who might want to hold you up.
(how much you wanna bet they're BLACK, even if the story gives NO descriptions?)
If you check my archives from 28 & 29 November (last year) you find that one Antron Pearson was shot by police when he refused to drop a gun he was wielding AT Broadway Joe's.
And if anyone believes he didn't have a gun on him, well...the police were standing right NEXT to the piece alongside him (that had suffered a stovepipe jam)...I'm just sayin'...
He sure wasn't "clearing it for a friend".
EVIDENCE always trumps FEELINGS...remember that.
*** If you attempted to drive along I-69 yesterday...bet'cha wished you stayed the hell home, right?
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120120/LOCAL07/301209978
(this story involves ALL the accidents including the one mentioned below)
Yes...back to that nasty weather we had yesterday...and it was claiming novice and veterans alike on the roads.
The ONE major stack-up along the Interstate happened when a truck that was hauling all the accumulated METH TRASH from all the busts around here, of course, and it was being transported...(you're gonna LOVE this)...to MICHIGAN...(poetic justice of a sort - ROFLMAO!) when it succumbed to the hazardous road conditions and crashed.
Now, with about 180 BARRELS of assorted meth trash, it wasn't the chemical composition of the spill that concerned everyone.
It was all the WORK that was needed to RECLAIM the barrels, RE tag them and RE classify all the assorted flotsam.
And naturally, you don't want passing motorists to "borrow" any of that sh*t, do you...so you have to establish a good, healthy PERIMETER to keep the curious away.
The REAL problem came with trying to get the SECOND truck on scene for pickup...it had to travel I-69 (whcih was closed)...a real CATCH-22 indeed, but after 5 hours, all was back to relative normal.
In all, 37 crashes and 24 slide-offs were reported by the Indiana Stateys yesterday, and that was JUST along our portion of I-69.
***
And that brings me to our finale for this week.
I have seen my share of "stuff" along our highways over the years, and been caught up in a couple situations.
And that was when you DIDN'T have all the on board distractions you do today.
I cannot imagine how some people manage to remain ALIVE on the roads with some of the sh*t they pull WHILE driving.
I am always harping about we need MORE FWPD PATROLS down here in my part of the ghettohood.
And I do that with GOOD reason.
On ANY given day, we have speeders by the dozen, folks with blown out something (headlights, tail lights, license plate bulbs...you name it), scores of people talking ON THE DAMN CELL PHONE...overuse of the "ghetto door bell" (HONKING incessantly...for the uninitiated), along with some who (on purpose) SLIDE their vehicles into a turn or gun it so they slide up or down a street, and that's just in SNOWY conditions...
The list goes on, and even after YEARS of reports and complaints to our quadrant captain, this type of behavior NEVER slows down, let alone stops at all. But it's different in OTHER parts of town...THEY don't HAVE to deal with such chronic problems, because the police in THEIR areas don't have to go from one call to the next all during their shifts. THOSE officers have the time to actually PATROL, and LOOK for suspicious actions.
Granted, once in a while you'll hear an officer noticing something hinky, and he investigates...sometimes with an arrest, but just as often, without one.
See, we have a more "hands-off" policy down here (so it seems). Command staff has to deal with the minority communities, and THOSE factions always bitch about "being pulled over for driving while black", or unfair treatment because of race...
(gimme a damn break)
We're pretty much EIGHTY PERCENT black down here and whites ONLY account for UNDER 10%, so the ODDS of randomly pulling over someone (with probable cause) who MAY be black are better than anything you could EVER get at the lottery counter...OR at any casino anywhere!
A LEO's chances of "winning" are stacked in favor OF the player (the officer) and NOT the "house" (the suspect).
That's simple mathematics, and if more of these kids would stay in school, THEY could figure it out just as easily.
I'll be busy figuring out WHAT the weather will be doing for the next 72 hours, and I sure you might be doing likewise if you live in NE Indiana.
Regardless of Nature's "fury", DO have yourselves a great weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...
Stay SAFE out there, America.

7 comments:

CWMartin said...

Robert:
IDK where you go that the market is "not busy" on a Saturday. I swear ours would be packed at 3:00 am on a Tuesday in the 4th hour of a blizzard.

Valence, huh? Maybe He had a first name but wasn't at "Liberty" to say. (Hee Hee) Old Maumee road? There's another river-rat hole that won't have to wait for the spring floods for its annual cleaning.

Kid buying spice- probably figured it was no big deal since momma bought liquor with the thing.
Reporter buying spice- might work out better if you don't tell them you're a reporter. Just leave them your business card as you walk out. Don't want to deprive them of their "oh, crap!" moment.

Is there a way to report the indifference of your quadrant capt. to say the State Police? Just sayin'.

Bob G. said...

CWM:
Try the Avondale Scotts around 0800 most any Saturday (or even Friday)...usually empty (not even THREE lanes open...don't need 'em)

AND...you WILL be able to STILL have your car there when you're finished!
(wouldn't do Southgate Krogers on a dare, UNLESS I sat in the car AND was packing...AND had a police officer with me)

Yeah, that guy's name did make me think of Jimmy Stewart & John Wayne, but with THIS perp, the CURTAINS make more sense.
Doesn't surprise me that Old Maumee is a dumping ground for human refuse of the ambulatory kind.
Looks like it on the map.

Welfare mama didn't sound that ghetto. She sounded well-spoken (new trend?)
I think Megan Reust (WANE) should have gone in U/C and asked for a receipt.
Hell, I always get asked "in your hand or in the bag?".

Receipt goes in the bag, thank you.

As to the "indifference"...
The FWPD command staff is pretty much APPOINTED by the CHIEF...and HE is APPOINTED by the MAYOR (good old boy network)...so you can see what hoops one might have to jump through to even try and circumvent usual channels.

Everyone wants to TALK about the SE side and making it better (with more low income housing that will become a new slum soon enough...typical baseline ideas more stale that a week-old loaf of bread), but no one wants to DO anything...that's the main issue.

No rubber ever meets ANY road down here.
(metaphorically-speaking)

Personally, I'd go straight to the Indiana Attorney's General's office, the FBI, and/or the GOVERNOR if I knew I could really GET somewhere.

(subtle...as a brick through plate glass...yep, that's me...LOL!)

Anyway, thanks a lot for taking the time to convey your thoughts here today.
I do appreciate it very much.
Have yourselves a fantastic weekend (Scrappy's gonna love the snow).

Stay SAFE up there.

Slamdunk said...

Nice catch by the police. And, what is that bumper sticker: "Work harder, your welfare recipient needs you."

Enjoy the white weather this weekend Bob.

Bob G. said...

Slamdunk:
That WAS a gtreat collar.

Sometimes everything falls in step, and one officer with a keen eye and sharp mind is all it might take.

I remember that sticker, too.

Perhaps if EVERY lazy ass on the gov't dole was MADE to wear a t- shirt that said the same thing, more working folks would get pissed and DEMAND some REAL reform for a broken "system" from their legislators...
It does have the novelty of never having been tried in earnest BEFORE, right?

Thanks for taking the time today to drop by and comment.
(it's snowing now...again)

Have a safe weekend out there.

Disgusted said...

I see that 5430 Old Maumee Rd. has 6 RSO's living there. I wonder if there are any children living there also.
Business has really been slow at Broadway Joes since, as you would put, Fetti had a slow ride in a new cadillac. It needs to be closed down. It is what's drawing crime to the area. FWPD needs more officers like Joshua Franciscy.

Disgusted said...

That gas station that was selling the spice was the Downtown BP. I try to avoid it because there was always chicken bones by the pumps and people trying to get 5 dollas' to buy gas. The station should be reported to the state on the misuse of the EBT card. But then again, a real dope man would only give you fitty cent on the dolla' in dope for the pork chops. By the way, if you're in that neighborhood and need gas, go to the Clark on Broadway and Washington, they have a sign in the window stating " We Do Not Accept Food Stamps".

Bob G. said...

D:
Gonna answer BOTH your comments at once, so here goes...

It would NOT surprise me IF there WERE kids in the proximity of those RSOs...
I don't think that there is ANY place (especially on the entire south side) that does NOT have at least ONE of those pervs within ANY one mile radius.

I know "we" have about 45 within TWO mile's radius...not good for raising kids, huh?

And I agree with you about Fetti.
Sooner or later, they ALL get to ride in a new Caddy prior to that long dirt nap.
Joe's is attracting the wrong crowd for sure these days.

Be nice to send in some U/Cs and scope the joint out from time to time.

As for the BP...always make a longer drive out to Winchester & Bluffton to the one THERE (usually has a FWPD cruiser nearby or in the lot...LOL)
Someone SHOULD report the place for EBT "fraud"...I think they might have a case...and perhaps wise up OTHER businesses that are doing the nasty with welfare cheats.
I thought WANE would chase that one down.

And my hat's OFF to that CLARK station that DOES have the balls to post NO FOOD STAMPS...WTG!

Hey, thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Stay safe out there.