The Last Day - Year-End Edition...
Well, here we are...the final 24 hours of 2013, and it's been one HELLUVA year.
You can take that EITHER way too, because, if nothing else, it's been a total E-TICKET RIDE (as they say in Disneyland).
I'll be tapping that keg in a moment, but let's see what our final weather report for this year has in store...
We've had a few snow showers in our part of the Hoosierland, not bad...YET.
It continues to be COLD, with temps hardly breaking into the 20s today (single digits tonight...brrrr). Scattered clouds and sunshine, with a steady breeze will be the order of the day, also. A good day to await the coming year, such as it will be.
So, let's sit back, pour a hot cup of whatever is your choice, and let's get this last show of 2013 rolling...
*** First out of the meat locker is some (hopefully)good news.

Last night, Adam Widener from WANE called me and is meeting with me today (1000 hrs) at our "Fortress of Reason" to go over a story idea I pitched last week.
This is in regard to the New Year's Eve "celebratory" gunfire we hear down where we live EVERY stinking year.
I first sent a letter to the editor of the J-G about 10+ years ago (still have that clipping too), where I likened the gunfire to a re-enactment of Pickett's Charge (of which I was a spectator and neophyte videographer for the 135th re-enactment in Gettysburg, and there was a LOT of weapons being fired during THAT event).
These days, it sound more like Iraq...or Afghanistan.
(Kabul on a "busy" Friday night of insurgency)
And if you dig back through my blog archives for all those December 31 posts of years past, I'm always letting you know exactly what goes on down here, seemingly UN-checked.
I may be featured on the news (today or tomorrow...perhaps), and it won't be the first time my mug has graced the airwaves of this city.
(now THAT'S a scary premise, is it not?)
Back on 14 April, I was on THE FORT REPORT with Kevin Leininger (and Rod Parker), talking about the crime problems we have in this city, and I've also been in the papers defending the police department when cries of "racial" profiling reared it's ugly head over a decade ago.
But, it's this manner in which "people" celebrate the new year that is most disturbing, especially when taken in context with all the homicides we've had this year. And although it appears we might not BREAK the record of 44, we TIED it, and that should have everyone (not only those in the SE) concerned, because this level and frequency of violence IS spreading outward FROM the SE quadrant.
I'll keep you apprised of what transpires today.
(( ** Editor's Update - 1145 Hrs -Okay...you asked for proof? 
Here's "da proof"... We aim to please at our "Fortress of Reason".
Adam Widener spent over an HOUR here, recording the spot which is supposed to be on tonight at both 6 and 11 (as well as the website). 

Why YES, he IS tall...and I'm STILL short.

Always nice to be "mic'ed up" a couple times a year. 
He asked some good questions and hopefully, I provided pertinent answers.  I feel it was a good interview and we seemed to hit all the "high points" and hopefully it will garner further discussion, because this IS a problem every year, and needs to be addressed. Oh, and he ALSO liked our patio (doesn't everyone?), to which I replied:
"We're not 'representative' of your TYPICAL SE side residents...unless you hearken back 25 or so years when people OWNED houses here"...lol) **))
Moving on...
*** Next up, as of Thursday, our new FWPD chief and new Director of Public Safety will be part of their SWEARING IN ceremony

And I can say with certainty,that I will ALSO be SWEARING...A LOT...LOL!
Here's the brief story with the usual blah, blah, blah:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20131231/LOCAL/312319958/1002/LOCAL
"Pomp and circumstance"? 

You're f$cking sh*tting me, right? (pardon my "French")
These two ought to be sneaking in the back door, instead of being touted as the alpha and omega to this city's crime problems.
Gonna take more than THESE good old boys to reverse the growing issues, and maybe THAT is the biggest problem...all the good old boys, who we can never seem to get rid off...they just move about from job to job, career for a lifetime (Hamilton), with MULTIPLE pensions (York) out the wazoo...
To me, it always comes down to  "if you have a problem, and the people in place aren't making the problem diminish, no matter what tactic they use, you change out the PEOPLE"...simple as that. You DON'T promote them in order to ensure they can't do AS MUCH DAMAGE as they have in the past.
But hey, we surely don't have REASON holding court downtown, so why concern ourselves, right?
Well, time WILL tell, and be the litmus test as to the efficacy of both men in their "new" positions.
(gonna need a larger rug to sweep all THAT sh*t under, that's for sure)
*** Next up, a person has been named AND charged in the SPORTS AND SPIRITS shooting.
Here's that story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20131231/LOCAL07/312319981

As one can expect, the suspect, one Seneca V. Lapsley, 32 is STILL AT-LARGE, even after police went to "his" house, where they found only his mother, who told police he was living at another house. When police went THERE to serve a warrant, a woman there said she saw Lapsley on Christmas day, wearing the same clothes in the photo police showed her. The woman also said that Lapsley saw the story on the news, and admitted the bullet holes in the windows were his fault, according to court documents.
I suppose the TWO PEOPLE he (also) shot were NOT his fault?
(he's such a good boy anyway...right?)

Zachary Huddleston, a former employee at the bar was one of the people struck, and also helped roust the combatants from the bar at the time. He remains in hospital in fair condition, upgraded from critical. The other person shot by Lapsley, Anna Rogue, a current employee at the bar (barmaid) may lose her pinky finger due to being shot in her hand.
Even though Lapsley and two others were supposedly patted down when entering, they still brandished guns when tossed from the bar.
It could have been a bloodbath, but thankfully was not, thanks to poor marksmanship.
(there is always a saving grace, if you know where to look for one)
*** Here's proof positive that some teenagers have played a little TOO MUCH "Grand Theft Auto":
http://www.wane.com/news/crime/juvenile-robs-business-evades-police-crashes-several-times
So, some snot-nosed teen punk breaks into a car repair/body place, steals a customer's car, goes on a brief joyride causing FOUR crashes (including a FWPD cruiser) and finally winds up in custody.

Explain to me  AGAIN how this is so much "fun"...I must have forgotten.
This happened at George's Auto Repair, located at 1624 Spy Run Ave, around 2355 hrs last night, when a silent alarm alerted police to a glass break at the business.
This kid also stole $100 bucks, 13 sets of keys, and cell phones in addition to a customer's car (which will need a lot MORE body work after this "bogus Journey"..
So what is a teen doing out at midnight, in the cold, with nothing better to do that steal a car (and sundry other items)?
Is life THAT hard? Is he THAT "desperate"? No, but he IS THAT STUPID.
One of the vehicles this punk struck on his ride was parked along the 600 block of Anderson Ave, pushing it into a driveway TWENTY FEET from where it was parked...how's THAT for ending the old year on a sour note?
Well, the kid was cuffed and stuffed, and faces a laundry list of both misdemeanor AND felony charges as a result of his "lack of vision".
Wonder what his PARENTS think about this?
And unfortunately, the juvey was NOT seriously hurt (damn...foiled again).
He SHOULD have gotten "the short cut" ride to the hoosegow, and if he were in Philly, that would mean tossing him in the back of the meat wagon without cuffing him to the "rail" inside the van, and then driving over some REALLY bumpy roads to the "round house"...that will tune them up nicely, without individual officer involvement.
Brutal?
No...just precautionary...lol.
*** Lastly today, we stand at the end of another chapter in the Book Of Years.
And we but turn another page...and begin anew tomorrow.

Now, I'm not one for all that "resolution" BS...except that every year, I RESOLVE to not MAKE a resolution...LOL.
I never make promises I don't intend (or cannot possibly ever be able) to keep, that's why when I say I WILL do something, I know I am able AND willing to follow through until it's conclusion...my word is my bond thing.
Perhaps it's part of that whole (as Clint Eastwood stated in Magnum Force) "A man's got to know his limitations" gig.
And that works for me, as through time, we ALL find out what we CAN do...as well as what we CANNOT do.
Knowing such things about ourselves (as well as others) makes us WHO we are, but conversely, if we NEVER test those limits, we never find out, and defraud ourselves whenever we ask OF ourselves that which we cannot deliver. That can lead to esteem problems, if not checked.
And, it can lead to APATHY...the ability to do absolutely NOTHING when required to do so.
I believe that a good basis in morality and ethical behavior can cause us to AVOID such pitfalls in our lives.
That can be one of the firmest foundations upon which to base one's life that has ever been devised.
So, maybe in the upcoming year, we can take such things to heart, or at least with a renewed vigor, and strive to DO more...to KNOW more...to HELP more...and finally, to BECOME more.
After all, life IS the ultimate learning experience, right?
Have yourselves a blessed and prosperous New Year, and we'll catch you all on the flip side, God willing (next year), kapeesh?

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