Tuesday Tidbits...

Okay, so the really burning question for ME today is "Where the hell is the RAIN we were supposed to get, anyway?" The forecast was for rain around midnight, strong winds, and so on.  Never materialized (at least not down here on the SE side).
Our Hoosierland weather for today "says" we're supposed to get a bit of a cool-down, with a high of around 72 degrees. And, by the looks of what is passing for a sunrise this morning, we'll have partly cloudy skies. It's not my forecast.
There is a slight breeze outside (along with a rabbit out front by our curb strip - he was probably also thrown off by last night's forecast). Doesn't look to be a "bad" day, and yes, it can always be worse.
So, what say we all take a moment and get ourselves a nice morning drink poured as we look to this day and all it has to offer us, hmm?
*** First off of the patio table is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
April 26 -
---Today is NATIONAL AUDUBON DAY

(I like to think that's every day with our birds)
---It's also NATIONAL HELP A HORSE DAY.

(If we had the room, I would)
---And, it's also NATIONAL KIDS AND PETS DAY

(At least you don't have to buy a PET a car, or pay their way through college or worry about who they date)
---It's NATIONAL PRETZEL DAY

(make mine the Philly SOFT pretzels, still warm from being baked - ah, those were some great times)
---And, it's NATIONAL RICHTER SCALE DAY

(musta been a whole lotta shakin' going on there)
*** Next up, and since I've got the correct day of the week again, let's see about ALL those shots fired and armed robbery calls on our local police blotter that the media NEVER tells any of us about, because they're all in the hip pocket of the city "capos".

SHOTS FIRED / ARMED ROBBERY CALLS - 4/18- 4/24
=========================================
APR 18 -
16F049780 00:16:36 113 SHOTS FIRED 3300 COPPER HILL RUN
16F050050 15:40:49 113 SHOTS FIRED 300 PACKARD AVE W
16F050160 19:06:14 113 SHOTS FIRED 2500 ST MARYS AVE
16F050225 21:05:49 113 SHOTS FIRED 1300 GREENE ST
16F050233 21:18:37 113 SHOTS FIRED 2800 SCHELE AVE & MCCORMICK AVE
16F050235 21:21:55 113 SHOTS FIRED 1400 GREENE ST
16F050240 21:33:32 113 SHOTS FIRED 4700 HEATHERWIND DR
16F050278 22:55:54 113 SHOTS FIRED 3000 QUEEN ST
16F050291 23:11:41 113 SHOTS FIRED 3600 AVONDALE DR
16F050292 23:12:11 113 SHOTS FIRED 2500 ORMSBY ST
16F050294 23:15:44 113 SHOTS FIRED 400 GUMPPER AVE & AVONDALE DR
16F050138 17:53:17 53 ARMED ROB 6700 BLUFFTON RD
APR 19 -
16F050314 00:27:04 113 SHOTS FIRED 2700 CRESCENT AVE & CURDES AVE
16F050436 11:38:06 113 SHOTS FIRED 1000 FAYETTE DR
16F050486 13:27:10 113 SHOTS FIRED 6900 EMBERS CT
16F050694 21:06:34 113 SHOTS FIRED 400 GUMPPER AVE & AVONDALE DR
16F050394 09:52:11 53 ARMED ROB 500 PROSPECT AVE
APR 20 -
16F050857 10:08:10 113 SHOTS FIRED 3400 GAYWOOD DR & OXFORD ST
16F051184 23:24:26 113 SHOTS FIRED 3700 LAFAYETTE ST S
16F051193 23:56:26 113 SHOTS FIRED 2600 STARDALE DR
16F050765 01:08:41 53 ARMED ROB 4200 CLINTON ST N
APR 21 -
16F051374 13:51:29 113 SHOTS FIRED 600 TILLMAN RD E & HANNA ST S
16F051451 15:59:17 113 SHOTS FIRED 3000 OXFORD ST
16F051475 16:51:44 53 ARMED ROB 3900 CALHOUN ST S
16F051537 19:19:22 53 ARMED ROB 500 CREIGHTON AVE W & FAIRFIELD AV
16F051632 23:22:44 53 ARMED ROB 5800 ST JOE RD
16F051482 17:01:54 58 SHOOTING 500 CREIGHTON AVE W & FAIRFIELD AV
APR 22 -
16F051680 03:01:13 113 SHOTS FIRED 2500 LAKE AVE & CAREW ST
16F051670 02:17:07 53 ARMED ROB 4900 LIMA RD
16F052111 23:27:45 53 ARMED ROB 6500 ST JOE RD
APR 23 -
16F052178 01:36:56 113 SHOTS FIRED 1200 PEMBERTON DR
16F052402 14:11:42 113 SHOTS FIRED 3200 MCKINNIE AVE
16F052541 18:32:29 113 SHOTS FIRED 1300 COLERICK ST
16F052603 21:16:05 113 SHOTS FIRED 6000 KENT RD
16F052677 23:13:20 113 SHOTS FIRED 8100 WYOMING PASS
16F052685 23:35:59 113 SHOTS FIRED 3200 COUNTRY PARK LN
16F052167 01:21:08 58 SHOOTING 2700 EVANS ST
APR 24 - 
16F052750 02:21:04 113 SHOTS FIRED 4600 BARRINGTON DR
16F052756 03:08:44 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 WERLING DR
16F052760 03:29:16 113 SHOTS FIRED 4800 WINTER ST
16F052962 16:19:55 113 SHOTS FIRED 5900 BUNT DR
((NO armed robberies))
===========================
FIREWORKS CALLS 4/18 - 4/24
============================
APR 23 -
16F052600 21:00:16 44FW 2600 WAYNEDALE BLVD
16F052608 21:17:21 44FW 2700 ALLEGANY AVE
============================
It's THAT time of year...AGAIN (for idiots).
*** Next up,  our "king" might be running into even more difficulty trying to get this latest "white elephant" (aka the Northern annexation) to FLY.

Not as "easy" as some people downtown thought.

And City Council might be providing the means.
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Annexation-faces-unsure-council-12750196

How about that? The CITY rejected a "compromise" plan. Not willing to do things ANY way but THEIRS (read his majesty's). That's not playing nice. Is there a "transparency" problem afoot?
Two city council members are doing a presser today, that I'm sure will flesh out the details connected to this. Tonight's council meeting should be worth watching, too. More than a few residents of the proposed annexation area are slated to speak. Wanna bet that the DEMS on council will still want to go along with this, just because of the lockstep mentality?
*** Next up, could we have another homicide (this would be #9 for the year so far) on the city's (where else?) SOUTHEAST SIDE?

Well, here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2016/04/25/police-woman-found-dead-inside-her-home/

The woman was found in the house located at 3612 Lillie St (yep, that's the ghettohood, alright) yesterday around 1310 hrs. Police arrived and later crime scene investigators and homicide detectives had cordoned off the property.
The coroner is expected to release information, but as to when was not known.
I didn't hear anything about the woman being aged or infirm, but rather in her late 20s or early 30s. No other residents are mentioned, so she may have been living alone.
What is bothersome (and also par for the course down here) is one statement made by another resident in the area, who is older and has lived on that street for 12 years.

Not a chance in Hades.

Roosevelt Broadnax said: “The neighborhood is rowdy all the time,” said Roosevelt Broadnax, who’s lived on the block for 12 years. “I have learned to live with it. But it’s rowdy and it’s only getting rowdier.”
NO ONE should have to (just) "live with it", and THAT'S God's honest truth. Nor, should anyone be "forced" to MOVE because of the city's "lack of vision" regarding crime down here.
Neighbors said violence is prevalent in the neighborhood and it seems to be getting worse.
Same can be said for most ANYWHERE on the SE side. Hell, I said it was getting worse over a DECADE ago (to our then quadrant captain, Nancy Becher-Chamberlin).
Read my blog posts from when I first started it, and you'll see and read about how it has been getting worse.
At least I felt (back then) we were keeping all the crap "at bay".
Can't say that now, can we, Mr. Mayor?
*** Next, and since the weather IS getting near, it's time to read those COMMON SENSE stories that appear every year in the papers. Here's this one for the year:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local/crime/Lock-car-doors-and-secure-valuables--Fort-Wayne-Police-warn

Another sign I need to get...LOL.

This does not apply JUST to the ghettoesque parts of Fort Wayne (of which we're seeing more of, unfortunately)...it's EVERYWHERE in the city, because the thieves are driving around LOOKING for that opportunity that someone will (most likely) be providing them.
With both the mobility of thieves, as well as their ability to communicate one with another (yes, they STILL do have theft RINGS these days), it gives them an advantage when it comes to those "targets of opportunity", and basically, THAT is what such thefts are.
These crooks cruise around or walk around and they know what to look for. Don't make it easier for these bastards.
Our job is not to give them that chance, or to lessen it to the point of futility, so that they move on.
Thing is, they will invariably find someone NOT as adept as you in taking such care.
*** Last back to the patio chair...(and this might piss some people off, but I don't give a damn. The truth needs to be told AGAIN)...there is always a flurry of criminal (and, as a result, police) activity in predominantly black neighborhoods, and when it comes down to brass tacks, WHO (really) is responsible for such crimes?

If you said the BLACKS in those areas, go to the head of the class. "Whitey" has nothing to do with this, with the possible exception of white city leaders who have not actively sought out members of the BLACK community who can (and should) be doing something to STOP the crimes in THEIR own neighborhoods and committed by THEIR own people against THEIR own people.

Seems Fort Wayne has BOTH.

Add to this, the fact that government-sponsorship (with it's generational perpetuation) of the people in those neighborhoods, and you have a recipe for TWO aspects of human behavior that  is some of the most undesirable traits we, as a society can impose upon ourselves or to one another - APATHY and ANARCHY.
(those two tend to play well together, and that's not good for anyone)
Look around such areas of our city and tell me you see what we would consider NORMAL behavior by the majority of that minority. Not going to happen, because you either become part of the (growing) PROBLEM, OR, you sit back, shrug your shoulders, and let the crime and violence unfold around you, hoping it doesn't come into your life or through your door.
Neither way is the RIGHT way to handle this, and yet, that is exactly what is occurring in such neighborhoods.
When a society gives that "free-pass" to those who SHOULD be held accountable for their actions and behaviors, turns around and pretty much rewards them for doing so, and then permits these same people to constantly ask...no, make that DEMAND even more, there is something dreadfully wrong with that portion of our citizenry.
If people can be shown that if they start getting busy doing the RIGHT things in life, they won't have the time to devote to doing the WRONG things...it's that simple, but often overlooked for more "programs" and more money tossed at dead-end and non-productive ventures. (How's THAT approach been working out?)
And maybe...just maybe, a return to more traditional VALUES and MORALITY might be something that is sorely needed. God knows it certainly could not hurt, right?

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