Us first

Things I read about in other Indiana cities are starting to remind me of Fort Wayne. In Indianapolis, for example, Lafayette Square is a mall said to be "struggling" (which I think is just a more polite way of saying "doomed"). It was the city's first enclosed mall, but it's losing three anchors and more than a third of its 1.2 million square feet of retail space. Its new owners say they're working hard on getting new tenants ard are optimistic, but people tend to stop going to declining malls, which just accelerates the decline.

And if you read the comments left at the story, you see a whole different set of issues not even addressed by the newspaper. That mall is full of gang-bangers and people would have to be nuts to risk their lives by going there, say some commenters. But, say others, crime statistics show otherwise, and it's just racist to claim the mall is full of lowlifes because the customers are increasingly nonwhite.

Sounds a lot like Southtown, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, the residents of Home Place are balking at the attempts by Carmel to annex them:

Financial burden to those facing annexation is a defined benchmark in Indiana's annexation statutes and thus irrefutable.

Simply, this unfettered spending and existing debt should not be imposed upon those who had no opportunity to cast their vote for or against the leaders "racking it up."

Aboite Township residents could probably recommend a good lawyer for the Home Place folks. Or those in other places. Just look at this long list of links about annexation fights at the Indiana Law Blog. Many of them, including the Carmel-Home Place one, are longstanding fights.

Fort Wayne, paving the way again.