Tuesday Tidbits...

Welcome to the Christmas Eve EVE edition of my humble blog.
We're winding down the hours until the "Big Guy" arrives, and I DON'T mean the entry unit leader of the Emergency Response Team in Fort Wayne...LOL
More about them in a minute, along with other "stuff", but first, how's about a look at the local atmospheric conditions?
Our Hoosierland weather today will seem like yesterday...all over again, but with some more rain.
That's right
Temps up into the upper 40s, off and on rain showers, mostly cloudy skies...sure looks a bit LESS than festive, doesn't it?
Hey, Christmas is more in the HEART (than the skies) anyway, so who needs a perfect weather forecast?
Now go get your cup and fill it up with your favorite morning beverage as we set out today on a ship of hope in a sea of confusion.
*** First off of the dock is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
December 23 -
--- Today is (you're all gonna love this one)..NATIONAL PFEFFERNEUSSE DAY.

(wha???)
Yep, if you're of German or Danish descent, or hail from the Netherlands, you might be familiar with this.
If not, here's some help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeffern%C3%BCsse
Tiny spice cookies...told you this month was laced with all kinds of sweet treats.
Believe it or not, Archway makes a version of these...not bad at all.
--- And it's NATIONAL ROOTS DAY, which doesn't mean it's the one day a year that you need to clear out the root cellar (does anyone even know what those are anymore?) but rather a day to celebrate your personal heritage and lineage, and I'm sure Ancestry.com is loving this.

So take some time to dig up some ancestors (but NOT in the LITERAL sense - that could well get you arrested).
--- It's also "FESTIVUS", another one of those CONTRIVED "holidays" that was created to shut up the atheists among us, due to the SECULAR nature of this celebration...lol.

Here's the lowdown:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus
You got Seinfeld to blame for this one, folks...
It's a parody...that people take SERIOUSLY... (some days we are SO screwed).
*** Next up, MORE crime in the Summit City.

---- Our first tale takes us to a standard arrest warrant stop that went less than perfect.
Here's the story:
http://wane.com/2014/12/22/suspect-accidentally-shot-during-drug-bust/

They ain't "Betty Davis Eyes".

Michael Houston was supposed to be busted for drugs at a house located at 314 Branning Ave.

Another (nice) board-up.

He got more than bargained for, when an officer's weapon accidentally discharged, striking Houston in the thigh. After taken to hospital and released, we was re-arrested.
The officer is on paid admin leave (per protocol).
--- The next story has to do with a police standoff at a downtown apartment.
Here's the story link:
http://www.21alive.com/news/local/SWAT-Police-Deployed-286603281.html
For FIVE hours, police tried to get a man who had a shotgun to come out.

And after those 5 hours, police made entry ONLY to find the apartment EMPTY.
No suspect was found, and is believed to be armed and at-large.
That sure wasted a lot of time, money, and resources, didn't it?

Can you say "oops"? I know I can and what I did when I said it.
--- Our next tale has to do with Fort Wayne's 15th homicide.

Here's this story:
http://wane.com/2014/12/22/person-in-critically-injured-in-shooting/
Well, you can CHANGE the name of the place (from Eden Green to "The Villages at Hanna"), but you can't change the human flotsam that infests it...can you?
And now a man was shot dead in one of the apartments there (here we go again).

The SAME sh*t - different day.

This took place around 1830 hrs last evening in the 2100 block of Eden St.
The victim's name has not been released (bet he was black), and he died after being taken to hospital.
Naturally, and as usual, the man DID NOT LIVE in the apartment (do they EVER?), but police believe he was involved in an argument that led to the shooting...
(and doesn't it ALWAYS with these people?)

Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Police have been talking to potential witnesses and nearby residents to get more information (good lick with that one).
A new name  for an apartment complex does NOT change anything about the people or the area they live in. Andrea Bocelli can see this kind of stuff coming.
When will other people figure that one out?
--- This story goes to show that it's not ALL about black crime, but also Latino crime (which IS on the rise, despite what you might hear).

And here is the story link to back this up:
http://wane.com/2014/12/22/feds-to-announce-major-drug-arrest/
Now, the media makes this out to be a MAJOR drug bust in Northern Indiana, and it probably IS, but this is nothing new to Fort Wayne. Heroin has been coming here for YEARS, along with other "street pharms"...and from MEXICO...by LATINOS.
(now who'da thunk that?)
But at least FIVE of these players have been taken off the street, and are in the hands of the FEDS (who would probably never deport them if required, but relocate them to a state where they can get a driver's license and amnesty.
Still, a haul of over a MILLION AND A HALF BUCKS worth  of "horse" that these  perps brought to town isn't chump change.

The NOT-so-fab five - LOSERS, every stinking one of them.

Eduardo Martinez, 29 of Fort Wayne was one of the five people who were all arrested on Wednesday, December 17, following an investigation that used wiretaps on two of his cell phones.
 According to United States Attorney, David Capp, authorities intercepted a phone conversation where they learned Martinez was negotiating with Gisela Leyva Gamez, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona to arrange for a delivery of heroin to Fort Wayne.

Always nice to make a GOOD collar like THIS one.

The delivery took place on December 17 at a garage at a home on West Butler Street in Fort Wayne.
The location was under surveillance and when agents saw a white pickup truck making the delivery, the moved in and arrested the two men in the truck, Cesar Rosales, 40 of Wilmington, California and Juan Rosales Suarez, 41, of Memphis, Tennessee.

Nice job by all those involved. THAT is some good police work.
Just for the hell of it, I'd have I.C.E. check them all out, along with "relatives" and friends HERE in the Summit City. Bet'cha find some interesting things there.
--- In a related story, we're told that heroin use is on the RISE here.

Again, no surprise to me...I mentioned such things a couple years ago.
( *my archive post from 1 October 2010, for example).
Here is the WANE story link:
http://wane.com/2014/12/22/heroin-use-on-the-rise-in-allen-county/
So this HAS been going on for MORE years than many think...as to WHY it wasn't addressed sooner? You'd have to ask the current AND former FWPD chiefs and try to pry some answers from THEM.
*** Last back to the pier today...Wifey is supposed to fly back home to the Summit City and "The Fortress"  sometime later tonight, so, we'll have the lights on (just like Motel 6...lol)

And, I've got my share of prepping to do before she gets back...cleaning, wrapping gifts, hanging stockings (with care, mind you), and making her arrival worth it, because she will be dog-tired from about nine hours of combined flying, terminal pacing, baggage checking, airport food (decent food, hideous prices) flight connections, and so on.
I ain't exactly "the welcome wagon", but I will do my best.

And she'll ask me "Did you miss me?"
I'll nave to answer "Sure, why wouldn't I ?"
You only have to worry about me NOT missing you if I'm AIMING at you (and especially at close range).....lol..
But that's just "me".
It'll be nice to have her back, though...it can be rough traveling so far away to attend to a sick loved one.
It's stressful, and much is unknown, and quite often, the fear of that unknown is what bothers us the most.

When we begin to realize that fear can be both paralyzing AND motivating (depending on how you respond), and then decide to GET motivated to do what is required (under duress), we become more than what we used to be.
And getting help from a loved one at such a time can be as good a reason to motivate oneself as any.
Been there, experienced that...more than once, too.
Let such things be our guideposts as we enter the Christmas season...that we are not alone, and that help is always closer than we think. All we have to do is ask...and receive.

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