First round vote was Brown 5, Olinger 7, Pillie 9, Morris 19, Brown was eliminated, 40 voters are here.

Second round vote: Olinger 11, Morris 21, Pillie 9. Pillie eliminated.

Third round Morris won with 26 votes. Olinger has 15.

Second caucus to appoint a candidate to fill vacant ballot for the 84th District was also won by Morris.

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NEW YORK — Unilever’s Omo detergent is adding an unusual ingredient to its two-pound detergent box in Brazil: a GPS device that allows its promotions agency Bullet to track shoppers and follow them to their front doors.

Starting next week, consumers who buy one of the GPS-implanted detergent boxes will be surprised at home, given a pocket video camera as a prize and invited to bring their families to enjoy a day of Unilever-sponsored outdoor fun. The promotion, called Try Something New With Omo, is in keeping with the brand’s international “Dirt is Good” positioning that encourages parents to let their kids have a good time even if they get dirty.

I can hear the conspiracy theorists already.

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My bike is a 2000 Schwinn Sierra GS. I’ve been doing a lot of hill climbing, so I’m thankful for the super-low 1st gear on the rear cog, which makes climbing those hills a bit easier. The tires are a bit fat, 26″ with an off-road tread design, so I get more resistance than the speedy Gonzales on their high speed road bikes.

Riding the Aboite Trails is a wonderful experience, and I was really surprised at the amount of use it receives. Today I passed maybe 9-10 people, some of the twice.

This morning was the longest ride so far this week, and I really pushed myself. 12.62 miles, average speed 18.36 – calories burned 739. Total so far this week. 32.77 miles, 2188 calories melted away.

Yeah, I’m bragging a little but this is making me feel physically great.

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Republican Headquarters Building

135 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802

• Total Space Available:
  8,100 SF
• Rental Rate:
  $8 /SF/Year
• Property Type:
  Office
• Property Sub-type:
  Office Building
• Building Size:
  8,100 SF
• Year Built:
  1860
• Zoning Description:
  CM5A
• Find Out More…

Last Verified  7/19/2010Listing ID  15576716

Highlights

• Downtown Fort Wayne on Main Street!
• Owner will remodel or finish to suit
• Recently renovated

• Suitable for Retail or Office Use

Description

Lease Rate Reduced! Now Only $8.00 per sq. ft. $2,700/mo. for first floor only. 2nd Floor will be remodeled to suit.

This two story building was recently renovated, adding a brick and mortar facade and remodeling the first floor office area. There is 4,050 sq. ft. per floor, with the footprint being 27′ x 150′. Parking is on street or in paid parking lot. The property is available for sale as well.

This downtown property is located within one block of the City/County Building and the Allen County Courthouse. It is also in the midst of downtown offices and within a few blocks of the new Harrison Square project.

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Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.”Well, it has felt as though AFA of Indiana has been shot at from all directions over the last week. It hasn’t always been exhilarating. At times, intense has been the adjective that could more aptly apply. It began when State Senator Mike Delph and I wound up on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper and subsequently in papers all across the state making comments that really irritated the political and media establishments.

Senator Delph’s comments pointed out that Senator Richard Lugar’s decision to vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan was out of step with Hoosier values. My comment was that Senator Lugar has become little more than a rubber stamp for this administration and, as such, he should retire or resign. Both of us pointed out that Kagan is woefully unqualified and little more than a liberal activist. Both Senators Bayh and Lugar claim that Kagan is “clearly qualified,” even though she has virtually no courtroom experience and no judicial experience at all.

Well, this did not go over very well with many people who revere Senator Lugar (and Bayh too, who also received our criticism for his subsequent decision to support Kagan.) One follow-up article in the Indianapolis Star criticized us for being the kind of people who only see the world in black and white without any shades a gray. I don’t know about my friend Senator Delph, but I took that as a compliment for having standards that are easily defined. I don’t really understand those who like to see everything short of murder as a negotiable shade of gray. Having a black and white, consistently defined worldview seems to me to make life so much easier. As my father once told me in a similar example, if you always tell the truth, you really don’t have to remember anything you’ve ever said.

As this week began, I had the privilege of spending time with author and Town Hall columnist Maggie Gallagher who is the president of the National Organization for Marriage. Before a rally on the steps of the state capitol, we stopped by the Greg Garrison Radio Show for a few minutes to talk about the importance of marriage protection, court cases and Indiana’s vulnerable position. You can play that segment from July 25 titled “Maggie Gallagher National” in the Garrison Audio section at this site:http://www.wibc.com/garrison/

After the show, we joined Curt Smith of the Indiana Family Institute for some speeches on the east side of the capitol. We were also joined by about 80 homosexual protestors who tried to shout us down with whistles and bullhorns as we (who had obtained the permit) attempted to speak to those who had gathered in support of marriage protection. It was an interesting display of what tolerance really means to the far-left.

Rather humorously, the homo-demands activists just can’t help themselves. They began their chants with “we love you Maggie” and “Jesus forgives you,” but it didn’t take long for the profanity laced comments and vulgar signs to emerge from the patron saints of tolerance. Though I do not do well speaking in the midst of such chaos, Curt and Maggie were quite poised. I tried (some) not to goad the protestors and respond to some of their foolish comments. (It is not easy to be silent when you also have a microphone. I couldn’t help but to react to such easy and juvenile “slow pitch softballs” with comments like, “If you are the majority view why won’t you let Hoosiers vote?” Or “What you folks don’t understand is that marriage and parenting is not about bigotry it’s simple biology.”) Numbers at a protest like this in the middle of summer really don’t matter much. The truth is that when people have been allowed to vote on marriage protection from California to Maine, Florida to Wisconsin, strong majorities still understand that marriage is unique by design. It is not merely about what any two or three people in a relationship may demand as a stamp of government approval. Marriage is between one man and one woman.

Later that Monday, I was at a South Bend City Council hearing for an ordinance that seeks to create special employment protections for cross-dressers and homosexuals. I was there to testify in a standing room only crowd for AFA-IN and the Alliance Defense Fund, who wrote an analysis of the ordinance for us showing its poor construction and legal dangers to employers and religious liberty.

The supporters of the gay rights ordinance definitely did their best with an A team list of speakers that ended with former Governor Joe Kernan’s testimony. However, at the end of the night, after four years of effort after a previous defeat, the pro-homosexual ordinance still lacked the necessary fifth vote to pass. Shortly after 10 PM, the vote was held back for another day. The council knew that the ordinance was vague and could mean a lot of new legal problems for businesses in a time when jobs are leaving South Bend. (If a person can choose their own sexual identity based upon how they feel any given day, and an employer is supposed to act upon that basis, the ordinance is always going to be a vague invitation for litigation.)

Most of the council also sees that this is really a political statement for a problem that barely exists. If the South Bend numbers mirror other cities, it is unlikely that they would ever have more than one discrimination case based upon sexual orientation or gender identity in an entire year. This battle occurring over two separate long committee meetings and hundreds of complaints surrounding an issue that divides the community, comes at a time when the city is facing real challenges.

It is somewhat surprising that the council would really want to revisit this controversial issue. The government’s attempt to embrace part of the homosexual political agenda at the expense of religious and individual liberty is never going to be something upon which the community agrees. Still, the residents of South Bend could expect this heated issue to return in as little as three weeks. AFA-IN will keep you posted on what may happen next, and what you can do to defend your values and liberties.

What Do you Think of This Issue?

AFA of Indiana is working on a project that looks into the benefits and cost of full-day kindergarten for Hoosiers. Is this expansion of public education worthy of the costs? Many legislators, the Supt. of Public Instruction, and the Governor seem to think so. Does this proposal increase the academic performance of Indiana students in any lasting measure?

Indiana Policy Review is asking this question along with AFA-IN. If you have a question you would like to ask researchers and policy makers to investigate concerning Full-Day Kindergarten, click on this link:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/338775/Full-Day-Kindergarten-Query

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A federal judge on Wednesday blocked some of the toughest provisions in the Arizona immigration law, putting on hold the state’s attempt to enforce federal immigration policy.

[...]

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton also struck down the section of law that makes it a crime for someone to fail to carry immigration registration papers and the provision that makes it a crime for an illegal immigrant to seek or perform work.

It’s illegal to employ an illegal, but it’s not illegal for them to work, illegally?

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It was a marathon session last night at city council. I will try to be brief.

First up, James Sturgio, the gentleman who watches over the city’s 20-year old self-insurance program. Good news almost top to bottom. “You have saved millions over the years” through being self insured, the corpulent New Yorker chirped. Fort Wayne has some of the lowest claims rates of cities of comparable size in the county, he boasted. Mr. Sturgio, who reports annually to council, lauded city hall insurance officials for resolving claims very quickly so that legal fees did not mount, as well as for strong risk management programs. “Absolutely spectacular” came out of his mouth once, “just spectacular” another time. He did, however, suggest an increase in the amount of money council sets aside to cover claims. “Every five, six, seven years” you have a bad year he warned. “Just being conservative.”

There was a lengthy discussion of an ordinance amending city code concerning ethics. It was mostly informational, Karen Goldner, representing the north central, authored it in order to make sure council members’ (and immediate family) conflicts of interest do not effect votes. Marty Bender, council president, and Tom Didier, member representing the northwest side of town, seemed confused by the ramifications, but were helped by fellow council members. Tim Pape, representing the south central, had questions, probably still has questions, but seemed generally comfortable with the measure that will set up a board to hear complaints. Mitch Harper, the gentleman from the west side of the city, suggested that the board might also be advisory, that is, give council to members who were concerned, but not sure, whether they might be in conflict.

Then, on to a lengthy, ad nauseum, discussion of an ordinance requiring appointees to report annually to council as to their participation on boards and commissions. Liz Brown, councilwoman at large, pushed the bill complaining that some appointees do not bother to attend meetings. Tim Pape called the bill a waste of resources, an unnecessary layer of unneeded government that would, in essence, accomplish nothing. Having been a board chairman of a city committee for many, many years each set of minutes carries attendance records and comments. The information is already there. One would think that would be enough. Mrs. Brown stewed during most of the discussion as if the council members around her simply “didn’t get it.” Tom Smith and Tom Didier teamed to water down the ordinance by giving an extension to anyone failing to provide said report, really an attendance report, to council. City hall failed to act, so he called the gentleman, chatted with him a bit, and, upon better understanding of the gentleman’s situation, suggested he resign. Which he did. There are, as Pape, a Democrat, suggested, better ways to handle problems than more legislation. Brown stewed. Much ado about nothing, and much, much too much time spent.

During the debate Tom Didier tried, in vain, to offer an amendment. He had voiced his concern over a section of the ordinance and, in rambling, general terms, tried to amend the ordinance. He was asked by Mr. Harper to reduce his thoughts to a sentence which he could not do. Again, he rambled along until others came to his rescue. “His” amendment passed.

Council then went from committee session to regular session, sort of like a mini-migration from winter pasture to summer meadows, from one side of the room to the other, but only to deal with the same matters handled at the “table.” When finally seated again, when the American flag was moved ten feet to facilitate the pledge, after the moment of silence, the matters discussed at the previous campsite were presented again for “formal” vote. Most passed with no discussion, some bills were clustered, they were that important.

The main event came in public discussion time. After all the bills had been dispatched the public was invited to speak. Up came representatives of groups opposing the sale of K-2, or Spice, in area convenience stores and filling stations. The stuff is supposed to be incense, but some folk are smoking it. Plenty of anecdotal information, not evidence, was presented to demonize the substance and to encourage council to be in the business of protecting us from ourselves. Council jumped happily in by introducing two measures to outlaw its local sale. Push back. A group of young men complained that the whole thing was media hype, that alcohol, tobacco and over-the-counter drugs were all much more dangerous, but council was not trying to outlaw them. The opponents were worried about their kids, the young men were worried about their privacy. They sounded the true libertarians. A man said one traffic accident had been attributed to K2, so the rush is on to outlaw the substance. Why not texting, why not cell phones, why not applying lipstick, lighting up in the car, or eating while driving? Another noted council was wringing its hands because people were using K2 other than per label instructions. A young man recited a litany of common products, such as spray paint, that are used in unintended ways, but not on council’s agenda to eradicate. Hmmm. Council’s foremost libertarian, Mr. Harper, is the author of the measure and he and council got an earful from the young men. Marty Bender graciously told the guys that they had given him much to think about. Other members nodded.

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Another packed night Tuesday on The Gary Snyder Show on FM 100.1 Talks from 6-7 p.m. as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann makes her return.  Congresswoman Bachmann will chime in on everything from being on Speaker Pelosi’s hit-list to her newly formed TEA Party Caucus in Congress.  My special guest-host for the evening will be Wendy Davis , candidate for Allen County Superior Court Judge – Criminal Division.  And finally, Matt Ward, newly signed Ft. Wayne Komets’ rookie, gives us a ring and will give talk a little Komets’ hockey.  All this and your chance to win 2 tickets to the upcoming

Politics (and sports) in Northeast Indiana may never be the same!

Help Congresswoman Bachmann get re-elected

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Give it up Tommy-boy.

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If after the negatives about Jackie and they still said they would vote for her over Donnelly, they were told positives about the libertarian candidate and then asked if they would be more inclined to vote for them instead of Jackie.

Donnelly is running scared. Why else would the the Dems try to drive people to the libertarian? To keep Donnelly in office. It’s also reported the DCCC did a major ad buy in CD2 for the last 3 weeks of the campaign yesterday.

For those of you here in the third that may not be familiar with Jackie Walorski, she’s currently a state house representative in Indiana district 21. The NRA graded her as an A+ for both voting in favor of and promoting gun rights, while Donnelly has voted to keep U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who the NRA rates an F, as speaker of the House.

Walorski also also supported the “castle doctrine” back in 2006, which allows Hoosiers the legal right to use deadly force to defend their homes, and a new law this year that prohibits employers from banning firearms in their parking lots as long as the guns are stored out of sight in locked vehicles.

Walorski’s has been successful raising cash. Her campaign raised $260,111 from April through June, while Donnelly raised $249,737 during the same period.

Here’s a link to her campaign web site: http://www.standwithjackie.com/

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Robert W. Snyder, Jr. 1947 ~ 2010 Bob left us on June 19th after a day of doing what he loved, sailing the BJ at Soldier Creek with good friends and family. Bob was born September 2, 1947, at Mitchel Field AFB, in New York, the only son of Charlotte and Robert Snyder. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he married Connie and they began their life together in Denver. After a few years in Denver, the couple moved to Minneapolis where their son Michael was born in 1970. After a brief stay living in San Francisco they finally made their home in Utah where they raised their son and enjoyed many friends and family. Bob is survived by his wife, Connie, son, Mike (Wendy), granddaughter, Bailey, and sisters, Jean Allstun and Carol (Gary) Davis. Bob lived his life to the fullest and always found a way to have a good time. He had a way of making friends with everyone he met and will be missed by all who knew him. Services will be held Thursday, June 24, 2010 – 11:00 a.m. at Camp Williams, 17111 S. Camp Williams Road (Redwood Rd), Bluffdale, Utah. Family and close friends are welcome from 10:00 – 10:45 a.m. prior to the service. Arrangements in care of Olpin-Hoopes Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to the family online at:www.olpinhoopes.com. In lieu of flowers and in memory of Bob’s humorous outlook on life, please feel free to make contributions to whoever may be running against Obama in 2012.

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Beggars and girl scouts.

Pitchforks and torches.

It was a full night at council and could have gone much longer, in fact, toward the end of the session it seemed like I was in the middle of a long, uncomfortable trans-Atlantic flight.

Councilwoman Liz Brown likes things tidy. She wants to clean up the city law books to remove questionable laws, including, begging. To her credit she authored revisions that would have corrected some onerous and highly questionable parts of an existing law, such as a provision that one can not beg within two miles of the city. But, after painful debate last night her revisions were all but trashed under a barrage of First Amendment questions and asides concerning unintended consequences. She was pained to listen to the discourse.

Would this revision preclude Girl Scouts from going door-to-door? How about little leaguers selling popcorn. Tim Pape ruminated about the constitutionality of the existing law. The back and forth was reminiscent of that recent marathon tennis match at Wimbledon, never-ending, some points well made. The problem is there is no problem. There are a few panhandlers in Fort Wayne, but few and very far between. They have freedom to do this based on the First Amendment, the one Council President Marty Bender finds so distasteful.

Defining the law so that it targets real offenders like a laser guided smart bomb is probably beyond the kin of our lawmakers and would be so much juicy meat for defense lawyers ready to defend some opportunistic street bum ready to profit from the heavy hand of government. One council member noted that aggressive bumming, putting an outstretched hand in your face or on your shoulder or into your pocket is already grounds for police response. The sense of council was to let it be. But, city attorney Joe Bonahoom will spend time researching the constitutional questions surrounding our current law, at your expense, and Mrs. Brown will search for other outdated laws to tidy up in the city code. Another council member later noted that Mayor Henry was once, when himself a young council member, gung-ho to do the same thing, clean the books of unnecessary or outdated laws, but was pointed in other more productive directions. Mrs. Brown is exceptionally bright, perhaps she, too, can find more productive avenues for service to the community.

David Ross, city engineer, brought a compromise to the table last night concerning the changes to Washington Center Road. Last week he had been sent back, literally, to the drawing board by council in response to well articulated demands from leaders of the surrounding neighborhoods. Ross came back with narrower lanes that would allow for a park strip between sidewalk and traffic lanes. He put a happy face on it, painted a picture of late night, coffee-driven research in dusty design books to find that innovate resolution. Voila, he found it and the neighbors, graciously, expressed their appreciation for a compromise that was brokered by, among others, Councilman John Shoaff.

Mr. Shoaff carried the discussion a bit further. He waved a nationally respected design manual in front of Mr. Ross and suggested that even more could have been done to benefit the surrounding neighborhoods, but noted that INDOT, the Indiana Department of Transportation, drives transportation change in Fort Wayne and is more concerned, he said, with traffic movement -fast and unimpeded – rather than the quality of life in the neighborhoods surrounding their projects. It is a mantra he injects every time he can and is appreciated by neighborhoods and residents who suddenly find themselves trying to protect property values in the face of guys with pocket protectors and bulldozers. Mr. Shoaff is slowly gaining traction with his message, but is frustrated that the city calls for and lauds traffic calming on one project and elsewhere promotes widening, more concrete and faster speeds… through neighborhoods.

The neighborhoods won a second match last night. The neighborhoods surrounding the intersection of Bass and Hillegas opposed a convenience store-filling station complex on that corner. They believed, among other criticisms, that Hillegas and Bass have been improved to improve traffic flow, but that strip development and a dozen curb cuts would significantly slow traffic. They had the backing of the city plan commission which unanimously opposed the Lassus Oil project. On the other hand, the county plan commission voted in favor of the project which entailed selling to Lassus Oil land owned by the county commissioners. One has to wonder. Council voted six against, two in favor (Bender and Goldner) and one abstention, Mr. Pape, due to a conflict of interest. A moment of levity occurred when the president of Lassus Oil, himself a Lassus, announced that he had surveyed the neighborhoods and some “75 to 80 percent” supported that station. The more than fifty attending residents laughed him nearly off the table and councilman Mitch Harper gently cautioned Mr. Lassus about using fuzzy statistics. The final vote the matter will be next week. Seems nearly a hundred emails were sent to each council member on the matter and, unlike their anger over receiving a lesser number concerning Calhoun Street, council members acknowledged receipt of the emails with some respect. Although Mr. Bender who famously and angrily changed his vote on Calhoun because of pesky citizen appeals, voted last night against the neighborhoods. That pesky old right to petition government seems to stick in his craw.

On a side note, the long range plan for the county called Plan-It Allen, was mentioned more than a few times last night on both sides of arguments. It is an existing document that is supposed to be the outline for future development and redevelopment in the city and county. Government drive with great citizen input it is, like so many other community efforts, called up to support arguments and forgotten when it gets in the way of a development. It essentially calls for less sprawl, more intensive development in the city and plenty of green space. Again, Mr. Shoaff frequently reminds council that it was a community effort and the voice of the people should be heard. Last night, it was noted the Redmond Rule, essentially, the right of citizens to discuss matters with council and their government, was observed more fully. Plenty of people trekked to the table last night and told council what they expected. Some council member were obviously uneasy, some applauded the citizen involvement. In all, it made for a long and bumpy ride last night. But that is, after all, the point of the First Amendment: we have the right to dialog with our government, not just to an expectation to sit in our place and listen.

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Via NWI.com

The department kicked off its tip411 program Tuesday. People can now send text messages to 847411 (tip411). People just need to make sure the first word of the text message is Valpo — so the message gets directed to Valparaiso police — followed by the message itself.

Police will be notified a text message has been sent to them, and they can view it on a website using their in-car computers or hand-held devices. Police do not know from which phone number the message came from, but they can reply via the website if they need to ask a question to the sender.

Maybe this is something the FWPD should be taking a look at.

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