Tuesday Tidbits

I hope you're all hanging onto your hats today. We got us some substantial winds outside, gusting up to around 40-45 MPH (lookout for branches down and other flotsam if you're out driving about, too).
Our Hoosierland weather for today brings us partly cloudy skies, continued windy conditions and today's high...well, we already had it this morning (around 43 degrees). From here on out, the temps drop throughout the day, going down into the 30s (wind chill will feel like the 20s), so plan your attire accordingly.

Now, let's see about getting that hot cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa to chase the chill away, as we see what's been going on elsewhere...
*** First off the towel rack is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
DECEMBER 5 -
---It's Bathtub Party Day

(some people have nothing better to do, do they?)
---It's National Sacher Torte Day

(looks like something chocolate to me...count me in)
---It's International Ninja Day

(not a national day, but I'd thought I'd toss it in anyway.
*** Next up, since it's TUESDAY, let's see all the FWPD calls we never heard about (and probably won't hear anything in the future, either)...

SHOTS FIRED ((113)) - ARMED ROBBERY((53)) CALLS - 11/27 - 12/03
((23,113 - vandalism by gunfire))
=======================================
NOV 27 -
17F144125 11/27/2017 04:50am 113 SHOTS FIRED 3700 WEISSER PARK AVE
17F144508 11/27/2017 10:07pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 400  DUNNWOOD DR
17F144162 11/27/2017 07:51am 23,113         3300 ENGLE RD
17F144475 11/27/2017 08:17pm 53 ARMED ROB 900 RIDGEWOOD DR
NOV 28 -
17F144561 11/28/2017 01:44am 113 SHOTS FIRED 1200 HUESTIS AVE
17F144807 11/28/2017 05:10pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 2200 NEW HAVEN AVE
17F144911 11/28/2017 08:55pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3900 MCKINNIE AVE
17F144956 11/28/2017 11:41pm 23,113         2800 KNODE CT
((NO armed robberies))
NOV 29 -
17F145173 11/29/2017 03:06pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 6300 TAYLOR ST
17F145393 11/29/2017 08:06pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 4000 HESSEN CASSEL RD
17F145067 11/29/2017 08:54am 23,113         13100 ANTWERP RD
17F145453 11/29/2017 11:28pm 53 ARMED ROB 3800 TRACE WAY
NOV 30 -
17F145484 11/30/2017 02:53am 113 SHOTS FIRED 200 WOODLAND AVE
17F145790 11/30/2017 07:39pm 58 SHOOTING 1100 MCKINNIE AVE & OLIVER ST
((NO armed robberies))
DEC 1 -
17F145872 12/01/2017 12:44am 113 SHOTS FIRED 200  HOOVER DR E
17F146279 12/01/2017 07:48pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 3500 TIMBERHILL DR & ROSEVIEW RD
17F146362 12/01/2017 11:30pm 58 SHOOTING         500 HIGH ST & ORCHARD ST
((NO armed robberies))
DEC 2 -
17F146378 12/02/2017 12:31am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2800 OVERLOOK DR
17F146415 12/02/2017 02:54am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2000 ARDMORE AVE  
17F146420 12/02/2017 03:29am 113 SHOTS FIRED 1700 REED RD
17F146704 12/02/2017 09:26pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 5500 WEBSTER ST
17F146741 12/02/2017 11:04pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 1800 CHARTWELL DR
17F146745 12/02/2017 11:24pm 113 SHOTS FIRED 5300 CURRY FORD LN
17F146386 12/02/2017 12:59am 58 SHOOTING 700 BROADWAY
((NO armed robberies))
DEC 3 -
17F146770 12/03/2017 12:33am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2500 WESTBROOK DR
17F146772 12/03/2017 12:37am 113 SHOTS FIRED 600  CURDES AVE
17F146779 12/03/2017 12:46am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2200 REED ST
17F146783 12/03/2017 12:47am 113 SHOTS FIRED 2700 BOWSER AVE
17F146810 12/03/2017 02:31am 113 SHOTS FIRED 3100 WELLS ST
17F147025 12/03/2017 05:59pm 58 SHOOTING         1500 ROOSEVELT DR & WINTER ST  
17F147064 12/03/2017 08:47pm 58 SHOOTING         2300 JACOBS CREEK RUN
17F146952 12/03/2017 02:35pm 53 ARMED ROB 1500 GOSHEN AVE
=========================
Also,  6 child neglect calls, 25 vehicle vandalisms, 130+ traffic accidents (property and personal injury and including "hit-skips"), 8 DUIs (from over 200+ traffic stops), 36 "man down" calls, 100+ domestic calls (including battery and w/ a weapon), loads of robberies, burglaries, and thefts (tis the season?). 4 stabbings, 4 rapes, 2 indecent exposure, 3 pursuits, and 12 narcotics calls.
(and a partridge in a pear tree...)
=========================
FIREWORKS CALLS - NOV 27 - DEC 03
NONE!!! AMAZING!!
=================================
*** Next up, more proof that SOME people have just got to go and spoil the holidays for others. Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20171205/fantasy-of-lights-hit-by-vandals

Apparently two kids on bikes did over $2000 worth of damage to the Franke Park "Festival of Lights", and that's got the people who run this (for the past couple decades) having to get it put back together.
Why people (read morons) HAVE to do this kinda shit pisses me off. It's the same mentality that keeps anyone living in OUR part of town from placing any decorations or lights on the lawns...they get STOLEN.

You can damn well bet that if anything like this happened to THEM, they'd be cheesed off, so why do they do such nonsense like vandalism? (because they can).
No civility whatsoever.
I hear that KARMA is still a bitch, and I hope these vandals learn it (the hard way) this season.
Lord knows they could use such a lesson.
*** Next, the North River report on the environment came out and here's the lowdown:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local-news/2017/12/04/fort-wayne-releases-environmental-reports-on-north-river-contamination-documents-included/

Yes, the N-S has included the documents for your reading pleasure (longer than WAR AND PEACE, too).
And yes, there are concerns there, but the city tells us it "shouldn't" cost more than $250K to clean up.
Now how many times have we heard a similar story when it comes to what projects are "supposed" to COST, hmm?
*** Next up, an update on our latest homicide. Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/20171205/few-clues-in-slaying-of-driver-in-van

Martell Dorel Milton, 25 is #37 for the year, and he does not have that long a rap sheet:
MARTELL DORAL MILTON
Male Black 5' 9", 222 lbs
===========================
02H01-1108-IF-009613
000021648086
MILTON, MARTELL D
08/01/2011 - New Haven City Court
IF - Infraction - Decided
9-24-7-4/IFC: Learners Permit Violation
9-19-6-17(a)/IFC: Improper or No Stop Lamp
02D05-1210-MC-002842
692258
MILTON, MARTELL D
10/23/2012 - Allen Superior Court 5
MC - Miscellaneous Criminal (Citation) - Decided
35-44.1-2-5(a)(1)/FD: Assisting a Criminal
9-25-8-2(a)(1)/IFA: Operating a Motor Vehicle Without Financial Responsibility
9-21-5-2/IFC: Speeding
02D04-1210-CM-005847
MILTON, MARTELL D
10/26/2012 - Allen Superior Court 4
CM - Criminal Misdemeanor - Decided
35-44.1-2-3(d)(1)/MA: False Informing
08D01-1407-CM-000200
Milton, Martell D
07/11/2014 - Carroll Superior Court
CM - Criminal Misdemeanor - Decided
35-48-4-11(1)/MA: Possession Marijuana/Hash Oil/Hashish - Possession
02D05-1505-IF-003256
727074
MILTON, MARTELL D
05/06/2015 - Allen Superior Court 5
IF - Infraction - Decided
9-25-8-2(a)(1)/IFA: Operating a Motor Vehicle Without Financial Responsibility
9-18-2-27(a)(1)/IFC: Oper Motor Veh w/ Registration Number to Another Veh
=====ADDRESSES=====
 3315 MONROE ST 
 Fort Wayne, IN 46806
 835 HAMILTON AVE
 FORT WAYNE, IN 46806
===================
Not really what one might call a "major player" in the city, but that doesn't mean he can't get killed on the SE side.
Hell, that can happen to ANYONE...and at ANY time.
Thanks for the "quality-of-life", Mr. Mayor.
*** Next, a double stabbing with more questions than answers (typical). Here's the story:
http://wane.com/2017/12/04/pair-shows-up-at-hospital-with-stab-wounds/

Two men were picked up at the Tennessee Mart at Tennessee Avenue and St. Joseph Boulevard and taken to a nearby hospital (one critical) from stab wounds, and were UNCOOPERATIVE with police as to what took place and where the stabbings occurred. This is becoming a pattern here in Fort Wayne with such people.
*** Next up, this story has just as many questions attached to it, but from a different perspective.
Here's the lowdown:
http://wane.com/2017/12/04/child-leads-police-on-chase-with-stolen-vehicle/

Okay, so a boy swipes his parents' car and goes on a multi-county JOYRIDE at 6AM???
WTF is going on with kids today?
((The driver – a 13-year-old boy – was apprehended and taken into police custody, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Department. )) This began in Adams county and ended when the vehicle’s tire blew out at the intersection of U.S. 27 and Tillman Road. Thank goodness for stop-sticks.
I can just imagine the litany of charges against this kid.
And to think all he had to do was go the hell to school INSTEAD.
*** Next, time to stop by our "Kitten Corner"...

Our "kids" were nicely behaved, with the exception of Gallifrey getting up on the counter and into the kitchen sink. What he finds so attractive there escapes me.
Violet is much  more content to follow me around and curl up with me on the floor in the evening.

He prefers a slightly higher vantage point, like the sofa, or he jumps into your lap and rarely settles down until he gets his neck rubbed.
This is when they're not chasing each other around, mind you.
Two distinct personalities, that is for sure.
*** Next up, let's check in with "Midnight and Company"...

The furry twosome played "who's on the patio?" yesterday.
Whiskers went MIA for most of the late morning, while Midnight stuck around and got some snacks.
He was in his "nest" most of the day, guarding the side street gate (always good to have a "watchman" available).

Of course, when it was time for the first and last meals, they were BOTH around and quite vocal...lol
You gotta love the manner in which they display affection. Nothing wrong with that.
*** Last back to the kitchen cabinets...what happened to the morality this nation used to have?

I mean, you have sex scandals out the wazoo. You have tweens stealing cars at 6 in the morning, people shot in moving vans, and a myriad of other things going on that simply should NOT be going on, if we indeed really gave a damn about our fellow man.
It's like such crimes are a part of "everyday life". Maybe in some 3rd world nation, but NOT in America.
Seems were surrounded by thieves, liars, killers, and the like...and while many decry these people and the acts they commit, there seems to be little motivation to reverse the course we're on in this country.

Sure, we toss some money at some stuff, create "new" programs designed to halt the rise of violent crimes, or traffic accidents, but still...we keep having this crap raining down on us like some monsoon.
Too many in places of power in this country are great when it comes to TALK, and yet are less than mediocre when ti comes to ACTION. We don't want to step on any toes and cause ill feelings, right?
Such inaction produces more harm than good...trust me.

And, the consequences of that inaction are much farther reaching than people would care to admit.
We need to seriously reevaluate the meaning of morality, what it USED to mean to us, and what we can all do to get us back on the moral track we, as a country SHOULD be on - setting a better standard for the world, instead of trying to emulate it.
Civil behavior...ethical behavior...moral behavior...such things won't hurt us, but only make us all better people.
That is what folks need to remember...and practice with the same enthusiasm displayed with immoral acts.
It's just a thought, but a good one, you have to admit.

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