Our town

When lawmakers and educators get to the serious discussion of whether IPFW should break away from IU and Purdue and become an indpendent Fort Wayne University, they might want to study a similar breakup in Florida, where the University of South Florida Polytechnic was given permission to split from the main campus. There, as here, it was felt the local community was slighted by the main campus. The change, however, did not go over well with students:

This is an excerpt from the lengthy post I did six years ago when Bob Dylan first blew through Fort Wayne:

Interesting:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A state legislative committee plans to discuss whether the joint campus run by Indiana and Purdue universities in Fort Wayne should become an independent school.

The General Assembly's Select Commission on Education is to review the governance of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne at its Sept. 4 meeting at the Statehouse in Indianapolis.

Hoosier public schools unclear on the concept:

Struggling Indiana public school districts are buying billboard space, airing radio ads, and even sending principals door to door in an unusual marketing campaign aimed at persuading parents not to move their children to private schools as the nation’s largest voucher program doubles in size.

This is a sad day:

Patty Martone has died, according to information provided by her family to The News-Sentinel.

I'm on City Councilman Mitch Harper's emailing list, and on Sunday, he sent out a storm-related message that included the following:

As many in Fort Wayne continue restoring power and assessing damages, let's plan for the future.  The city council needs to contract an independent risk assessment of the viability of underground power lines.  Like any good business, long-term planning for disasters is typically a good investment which uses dimes to save dollars.

Oh, one other blackout-related item. Naturally, the longer you go without electricity, the more you worry about the food in your fridge and freezer. I don't know why, but it was stuck in my head that, as long as you kept the doors closed, the food in your fridge was good for about 24 hours, and what was in the freezer would be OK for up to three days. Good thing I checked. Every site I looked at had the same thing:

Welcome to Mother Nature's Blackout. Have you find any oases of light and cool to get you through the last few days? Let us consider the Waffle House Index:

Its hurricane playbook explains how to reopen a restaurant and what to serve if there is gas but no electricity, or a generator but no ice. An important element is limiting the menu so the company's supply chain can focus on keeping certain items stocked and chilled or frozen.

So, OK, it was a little hot yesterday. Quit yer whinin':

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Thursday will go down as the hottest day ever for many Indiana locales, and the steamy temperatures will stick around for at least another day.

Hey, look at some of the "talent" lined up for the Three Rivers Festival:

• A Led Zeppelin tribute band.
• A Bruce Springsteen tribute band.
• A Michael Jackson tribute band.

Oh, and a third-place "American Idol" contestant. Can anbody say Podunk?