Nearly 200 districts and individual structures in Fort Wayne have officially been designated "historic" by one level of government or another. There could soon be one more, and it would be a worthy addition to the list.
At the request of the Harrison Hill Neighborhood Association, the city's Historic Preservation Commission will conduct a public hearing Feb. 24 that could lead to the 219-building south-side ...
Although there are plenty of reasons to celebrate this city and the man most responsible for its existence, the controversy that greeted last year's creation of an annual "Anthony Wayne Day" was as appropriate as it was inevitable — and not just because of a debate over some of the historical facts. Thanks to latter-day compassion and objectivity, the resettlement of the area's original inhabitants just ...
Customers of Fort Wayne City Utilities could soon be paying higher sewer bills.
In a proposal to be considered Tuesday by the Board of Works and City Council, new rates would be adopted to pay for capital improvements to the waste disposal system over the next five years. The current rates, which were adopted in 2014 and increased the average monthly household rate from $35.29 to $52.50 last year, are ...
Even though about 3 million more people supported Hillary Clinton at the ballot box, Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 by winning 304 electoral votes to Clinton's 227. A lot of people, especially Democrats and others from densely populated urban areas, think that's unfair. Residents of states that would be all but irrelevant if not for the Electoral College beg to differ.
A similar debate is ...
A former Allen County sheriff's dream of a $20 million training facility never really did come true, and now it appears to be officially over.
The County Commissioners on Friday are expected to agree to pay the South Bend-based Lochmueller Group up to $84,500 to analyze part of the 200 acres the county bought at Adams Center and Paulding roads in 2007 for other uses — including the relocation of some Highway ...
The fighting between Republicans and Democrats in the Indiana General Assembly was so bitter that members of one party refused even to show up in order to prevent action by the other.
That's not a description of the current legislative session or even Democrats' 2011 attempt to thwart Republicans' "extreme" agenda by exiling themselves to Illinois, preventing the quorum needed to get things done. The year was ...
The Allen County-Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board on Thursday agreed to buy the so-called "fast food block" west of the Grand Wayne Center for $6 million. The CIB, which oversees county food and beverage tax revenues, acquired an option to buy the property in late 2018 and will pay $200,000 to exercise the option.
CIB members stressed there are currently no plans to redevelop the property, which is home to ...
With the GOP's majority on City Council dwindling from 7-2 to 5-4 on Jan. 1, some predicted the first test of Democratic loyalties would come with the choice of whether to uphold Mayor Tom Henry's pocket veto of bill to weaken his administration's control over Fire Department discipline and promotions.
The reasoning appeared sound enough: The bill passed in December by a 7-2 vote, and an override decision ...
Electric Works may have found the long-sought anchor tenant that will allow the massive project to move forward and claim $65 million in promised public funds. If the developers get more time to finalize the details, that is.
In a letter sent Friday to local officials, RTM Ventures said it has secured a letter of intent from a company wanting to locate its headquarters in 200,000 square feet of the former ...
Are Indiana's teachers underpaid?
Gov. Eric Holcomb certainly seems to think so, recommending in his State of the State address Tuesday that the Legislature next year transfer $250 million from Indiana's surplus into teacher retirement funds, making an additional $50 million per year available for teacher pay. And the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute last August noted that more than 90 percent of public-school ...
When its new $20 million sewage treatment plant opened two years ago, it seemed Huntertown's long, expensive and often-contentious battle with Fort Wayne's City Utilities had finally been flushed away.
A dispute over sewers at the Allen County Fairgrounds proves otherwise. But is this a case of lingering hard feelings? Or an attempt by both sides to protect their legitimate interests?
The bureaucratic ...
It was called "Operation Vengeance," and its unapologetic mission was to kill the foreign military leader responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.
A description of last week's U.S. air strike that resulted in the death of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, leader of the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp Quds Force? Hardly, although you might think so given the number of people who seem to ...
When the Allen County-Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board approved a bond of up to $45 million for Electric Works in November 2018, it capped nearly a year of examination and debate over a public financing commitment totaling $65 million.
And yet, except for a column I wrote two months ago, the city's request for $37.85 million toward construction of four major downtown projects has received virtually no ...
The older I get, the more I seem to guard the vices I still have left. Maybe that's why I was so aggravated by the sign posted on the window of Riegel's tobacco shop when I stopped in last week hoping simply to enjoy a good cigar and some friendly conversation.
"The sale of tobacco to persons under 21 is forbidden by law," the sign warned. And it was no idle threat: It didn't take long for the clerk to turn ...
In May 2014 City Council eliminated union representation for most city employees, with all six Republicans voting to end collective bargaining and all three Democrats opposing the idea.
But the man who co-sponsored the controversial legislation says he would not even attempt it today, and for the most practical of reasons: Thanks to the November election, council's GOP majority — which subsequently had ...
Not every sin is a crime, nor is every crime sinful. Some actions, however, are both — which is why Pope Francis' decision earlier this month to lift the veil of secrecy from clergy abuse cases was both welcome and overdue even though it could have limited impact in the United States.
But in light of this week's Associated Press report of how more than 900 names have been left off diocesan lists of priests ...
Could another big "mixed-use" project be coming to the heart of downtown Fort Wayne?
Nothing's official yet, but don't bet against it.
A sign posted in the parking lot at East Wayne and Clinton street is advertising "future mixed-use potential," along with a rendering of what such a building might look like.
"Over the past two or three years there's been a lot of interest in that corner," said Rob Young, ...
"The '20s are going to be the decade of New Haven and east Allen County," predicted Steve McMichael, who on Jan. 1 will just happen to become the city's first new mayor in 20 years.
"I get to build on what Terry (McDonald) has done. We're in a great position," said McMichael, who in November was elected just the seventh mayor in New Haven's history by winning 65 percent of the vote against Democrat Darren ...
After winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive term by a 12,000-vote landslide, it's not an overstatement to suggest Mayor Tom Henry will begin the new year with a mandate that may be unmatched in local political history.
On the other hand, because he has already said the coming term will be his last, the Democrat is also something of a lame duck.
Look for both extremes — coupled with newfound ...
First New Haven did it. Then so did Huntertown and Woodburn. Now the movement to pass pro-life resolutions has gone county-wide.
The Allen County Commissioners on Friday unanimously approved a resolution stating that "human life begins at the moment of conception and continues, uninterrupted, until the moment of natural death . . . and that human life, including the unborn, must always be valued and protected, ...