Tales From the SOUTH Side...

And another day just like yesterday awaits us this morning. Again we'll be seeing temps around the low 70s, and that means COMFY FOR BOB...lol.

No rain expected, and so much sunshine, we'll be "walking" on it, as the song goes....and don't it feel good?

The robin is on her nest in our tall shrub, the cardinals have been fed (yes, they actually WAIT for me every morning to dump the birdseed outside), and we're ready to set off and take our journey around the crotch of Fort Wayne, commonly known as the Southeast side.
So, let's get cracking, and take this show on the road.
*** First up, the update to yesterday's story about the 21st HOMICIDE in the city (which really happened on the SW side...where I said crime was spreading for the last couple YEARS).
Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130604/LOCAL07/306049961/0/FRONTPAGE


Packard and Wayne Sts.

 As I briefly mentioned yesterday, the victim WAS a teenager (18) named Jacquese Dandridge (any bets on his ETHNICITY?), and there was another teen arrested later that night...he's 16 and no name released because of his age - that needs to change.

Yes, THIS is an AIRSOFT pistol.

The victim DID attempt a robbery with an AIRSOFT pistol, which can easily be had from most any big box store, or especially ONLINE (where I tend to get ALL mine).
The shooter's wound to the foot was self-inflcited (accidently), and I said just that to Wifey before this part of the story broke...right again.
The shooter has not been charged as the prosecutor's office is still deciding if the shooting was in SELF-DEFENSE.

Yeah, the guy sitting on the porch minding his OWN business was actively TARGETING youth in this city when they came to ROB him...c'mon...wake the hell up here and do your damn JOBS.

A GOOD guy with a gun stopped a BAD guy with a gun (even if it was an AIRSOFT)...wonder if Chief York is enjoying his own words that he's been eating?

We had a former neighbor named Al Hapner (ex-Marine) who lived at the corner house across the side street, and whenever HE sat out in his beach chair, he ALSO had a gun with him -  a snubby .38 revolver under HIS seat...he showed it to me, and this was way back in the late 1990s!
So, I suppose HE was ahead of the curve with the manner in which OUR neighborhood devolved into a ghettohood.

I cannot wait until the mother of the victim starts the "media circus" with her crocodile tears, and "he shot my baby" claims.
Maybe your "baby" shouldn't have picked on someone he didn't know...and then try to rob him with a damn airsoft pistol.
See, that's the thing...when I was growing up, we always kept "strangers" at arm's length, because we were TOLD to do so.
Trying to ROB them, let alone talk to them or get into a vehicle with them was simply NOT on our childhood or teenage agenda.


Try screwing with THEM!

 And that's the message I like to send to the "locals" around here...you DON'T know me, so it's in your best interest to NOT f$ck with me, or try to rob me, because you WON'T like the outcome.
You want to get to know me?
Then you're going to have to demonstrate your ability to allay any and all concerns I might have regarding who YOU are...FIRST.
Around here, just trust your GUT more than you trust those living around you, and that's a FACT.
Moving on...
*** An early morning robbery on the (where else?) SOUTHEAST side nets cash AND "free" smokes!
Here's the story link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/robbers-grab-cash-cigs-from-gas-station
No, the picture is not typical of a "donut-run" by law-enforcement...not around here, anyway. Maybe in Philly...lol.

I prefer powdered JELLY.



(be NICE to have a DUNKIN down here, though...MORE police presence...lol)

The BP station at S. Anthony and Tillman was hit around 0100 hrs this morning by two gunmen (again...any bets on the ETHNICITY of the robbers?).

They got away with about $300 bucks and an undisclosed amount of ciggies (betcha they were probably NEWPORTS).

After a search of surrounding areas, police found a man matching the description of one of the robbers near the Southtown mobile home Park on Decatur Rd, about two tenths of a mile from the robbery scene. Although not charged, detectives did detain him for questioning (good idea).

According to the story, investigators did not release suspect descriptions.

But I HOPE they got some SURVEILLANCE VIDEO from the store.

I'd wager the perps live at the government-sponsored housing nearby.
*** THIS story caught my eye, simply because it makes TOO DAMN MUCH SENSE.
Did you know that CRIME CAN STUNT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?
Here's the link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/crime-can-stunt-growth-of-economic-development?ref=scroller&categoryId=20000&status=true

Yep, another instance of ME being...well, RIGHT again.
Those following this blog have read that I've seen first-hand how CRIME can (and will) affect any and all BUSINESS down here on the SE side.
And, I've also mentioned that the LACK of amenities can be DIRECTLY attributed TO such crime...crime that not only takes lives, but sucks the life blood out of businesses around here.
We already lost a whole damn MALL because of crime, and adding in other smaller businesses that closed in addition to the stores Southtown Mall once had, we're WELL over 150 businesses GONE...never to return anywhere down here.

Now, you DO have a few steadfast owners like the ones running Connolly's DO-IT-BEST behind Southgate Plaza (a gnice, friendly place to go).

And there's also YEOMAN'S Service Center (down the street from our Fortress).

They even have their own website, found HERE:

http://www.yeomanservicecenter.com/

Those two businesses share a similar spirit with me...this is OUR part of town...WE will stay...the CRIME must go.

And then there's Albright's Meats on S. Cliinton (great people working there - not far from the Pizza Hut in Southgate Plaza) - a relatively NEW business (been here less than 10 years), and has filled a much-needed niche here, ever since Jim Didier was shot and killed, and HIS store closed (on E. Pettit) well over a decade ago.
But the number of newbie businesses to stores lost is negligible, and those that DO remain, such as the Walgreen's and CVS stores are ALWAYS at risk for robbery, and not for Oxy by some strung out white guy either. Same goes for all the liquor stores we have down here, along with every single convenience store.
It's interesting to note that OUR part of Ft. Wayne has the GREATEST NUMBER of such convenience stores...and the highest number of liquor stores.
Guess you keep the ethnics fat (on EBT cards), drunk and stupid (thanks, Dean Wormer), and they'll behave?
Nah...they'll just commit more CRIME.
The story makes the SAME assessments regarding business and crime that I have, and I'm NOT on the board or a trustee of Fort Wayne's "The Alliance".
Perhaps I should just be their damn PRESIDENT?

Makes you wonder most days.

The story talks about STATISTICAL DATA...information that cannot be refuted, but instead used as a barometer to determine the best places to open a business...and by the looks of things, the SE side isn't quite in THAT category...gee, I wonder WHY?
Hell, we don't even have a damn MUSIC store...or BOOK store...or HOBBY shop...or TOY store...or...well, you get the picture.
We DO have Menards (when you have to replace a door that's been shot up), and a K-Mart (where America shoplifts), AND that huge, honking Wal-Mart next to Menards, where police always seem to be dispatched to for...yes, even MORE shoplifters.
This is all aside from what goes on the parking lots like vehicle break-ins or car thefts.
I will continue to state with my dying breath that: "You get rid of the CRIME down here, and businesses WILL return, but NOT before."
And perhaps that is something our illustrious (?) police chief might consider addressing, as well as ALL the ethnic community "leaders".
Stop worrying so damn much about GUNS and start worrying about the PEOPLE, because THERE is where the REAL problem lies.
*** Another house shot at on the SE side...oh wait, it's the SAME house?
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130604/LOCAL07/306049939/0/FRONTPAGE

A house in the 4800 block of Gaywood near E. Maple Grove Ave (a few blocks away from our Fortress) was targeted by at least TWO people over the weekend. This occurred after 0100 hrs this past Saturday morning.

I saw the police call on my SPOT-CRIME email I get every day (it's a great site to monitor crime in YOUR area).

Now, this same house was shot at back on 2 May and a man on the porch was also shot at (told you...drive by shooters...COWARDS)
THIS time, the shooters wounded a 51 year old woman in the house, hitting her in the upper shoulder.
She was reported in serious condition, and her name was not released.
Over eleven shell casings were found outside in both 9mm and .40 caliber.

THIS part isn't functioning for the "locals".

You see, even sleeping on a couch in the living room can have dire consequences whenever people with underdeveloped pre-frontal cortexes get a hold of booze, drugs and guns...regular people should NOT have to live this way, right Mr (Fort Wayne IS a safe city) Mayor?
*** Lastly today...I really hate to always be the bearer of BAD news, but truth be told, there is very little down here that's GOOD news

Aside from our property and the manner in which Wifey and I maintain it and make it enjoyable for ourselves , we've got little else.
It's the whole "island of reason in a sea of chaos" thing with us.
And it doesn't have to BE that way. Hell, it didn't USED to be that way.
But, years of neglect, lack of responsibility and accountability by those who now INFEST this area, the loss of businesses, rising crime, and the city's blind eye and deaf ear to the REAL issues down here all have contributed to the reputation this part of Ft. Wayne has been working at for years.
And whatever the city TRIES to do to improve the SE (and soon the SW and NE parts of town) will be another band-aid on a compound fracture, because  suits downtown REFUSE to see the ACTUAL problem, while offering solutions all the while that will never fix anything.

Helluva way to make a city prosper, isn't it?

What the mayor NEEDS to do is take a REAL walkabout down here...with department heads, economic developers, law-enforcement and such, and get a REAL feel for what's been going on under all their primate noses. And then DO SOMETHING POSITIVE to change things...not just decry how bad things are, but WORK at repairing everything that has been ignored over time.

You want to revive the SOUTH part of town?
Great, make a REAL effort to do so, and stop with all the lip-service, because in a day when gas prices tickle the $4 a gallon mark again, and the dollar is worth about 38 cents, TALK becomes REALLY CHEAP, and actions will always speak louder than words.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.