Despite the fact that there were 11 armed robberies between Friday and Monday, police spokesman Michael Joyner wants us to know that "crime has not increased" in Fort Wayne:
Police statistics show that the 45 reported armed robberies are only a slight increase over the same period last year. Spokesman Michael Joyner says it shows this rash is not cause for alarm, but that people should be cautious, regardless.
I mentioned here recently that I've been re-reading Robert Heinlein's juveniles. Here's someone else who is:
The other shoe has dropped, and Tiger Woods has given his "I take full responsbility for letting my family down" (I can't believe I got caught) speech. (I've heard about at least three mistresses; would that be a love pentagon instead of a love triangle?)
Sorry, kid, I think your old dad is just stringing you along:
I don't mean to make light of the problem of student homelessness, but neither do I appreciate numbers being used in such a way to make it sound worse than it actually is:
Those who get frustated at the lack of cooperation by Fort Wayne and Allen County public officials should count themselves lucky for at least not living in northwest Indiana. Here, a Gary Post-Tribune columnist is driven over the edge by all the initiatives that are brought forth with great fanfare, then sent to task forces to die:
Talk, talk, talk.
With all the important news today about Afghanistan and health care and Tiger Woods, here's a little story you might not have noticed:
PARIS - The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush has himself become the target of a shoe thrower.
While speaking at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, was nearly hit in the face by a shoe thrown by what appeared to be another Iraqi man.
Journal Gazette Editorial Page Editor Tracy Warner and I were on Northeast Indiana Public Radio's Midday Matters from noon to 1 p.m. yesterday, and the podcast is up now if you want to give a listen. I don't think I embarrassed myself too much. Tracy and I agreed on some things (the poor performance of the Henry administration so far, for example) and disagreed on others (such as the wisdom of the Renaissance Square purchase).
Gee, do ya think he could be right? Guy gets called by girlfried to come to a house to "see their baby," and as soon as he walks in the door, he is hit in the face and "stomped on" by two suspects who have the same last name as his girlfriend:
The victim told police he believes his girlfriend "set him up."
Might be time to rethink that relationship.
Even in today's "everybody wants to be famous just for being famous" culture, it's not sufficient to say White House crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi are reality-show wannabes desperate to get on TV.
I have three personal signs that winter is coming. The first is the seasonal closing of Zesto's, duly noted here recently. The second, sadly, happened yesterday: the first time I broke down and wore my overcoat to work. The third will be the first time I have to . . . well, I can't even bring myself to write it. Just catch the very first scene in the "Fargo" trailer.
I watched the New Orleans-New England game on "Monday Night Football" with the hazy notion of rooting for the Patriots, just because it would be cool for the Colts to be the only undefeated team left. But it turns out that rooting for New England is just about impossible if you don't actually live there, and the Saints aren't just good the way the Colts are good. They are scary good, and it would have been almost sacrilegous not to cheer on such skill.
On the occasion of the impending execution of murderer Eric Wrinkles, the Roman Catholic bishop for the Diocese of Evansville, where the crime took place, offers his thoughts on capital punishment and the protection of society:
I ask you, what more could be asked of a companion?
So, I guess a big, old French kiss is completely out of the question:
But the H1N1 outbreak, and the impending start of the seasonal flu, are testing the conventions of handshaking etiquette this fall in Maine.
In the business world, and during a gubernatorial race that seems to have half the state on the campaign trail, the custom is coming under scrutiny. Even Maine's Catholic churches are asking parishioners not to shake hands during the Sign of Peace or hold hands during the Our Father.
The Greene County newspaper has a story about the local increase of handgun carry permits -- 894 so far this year, compared with 694 in 2008 and 628 in 2007. That is a lot of people "packing heat," as the story not-so-cleverly puts it. The police chief offers some speculation:
Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, announcing the appointment of Gary Carter as new police chief -- the sixth in four years -- gets today's "Huh?" award:
Clay says he didn't demote former Chief Reginald Harris last week because of the crime wave, but that he expected Carter to end it.
Splendid doubletalk
Oh, thank goodness. We haven't had a task force appointed for anything in days and days, and I was beginning to worry that city and county officials had lost their taste for killing time achieving consensus with collaboration and compromise:
