Coliseum Manager Comments On Violence
(Monday, November 29, 2004) - Randy Brown, General Manager of the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum commented last week on the recent Pacer-Pistons fracas in Detroit. Brown says “I wasn’t there, so I can only speak for Randy Brown, not as a member of any of our organizations that I do represent, or as manager of the Coliseum. But there’s a role for players, and a role for fans. The fans need to stay in the stands; the players need to stay in the playing area. When one violates the other’s territory you’re asking for trouble.”

Saying, “I’ve answered this question quite a few times in the last several days,” Brown was asked by the Allen County Commissioners to comment on the matter at their November 24th meeting.

Book Review
PARTNERING WITH PARENTS IN YOUTH MINISTRY
by Jim Burns and Mike DeVries
Gospel Light, 0-8307-3229-2, PB, 146 pages

During a current time when family relationships seem to be on the rocks in
America, this exciting new book offers some radical ideas and approaches to both
youth ministry and family unity. Burns and DeVries are the President and Vice President of Youth Builders, an organization dedicated to educating church youth leaders (lay and professional) on how to reach teens in meaningful ways for Christ.

The authors offer a program that allows youth leaders to minister directly to teens,
but additionally to offer counseling and guidance for parents of teens. The parents become the primary youth workers with assistance from the church. Youth ministers, in effect, come alongside the parents to offer support, advice, perspective and help in rearing positive and God-honoring teens. This reader-friendly book would be a great addition to church libraries because it has practical ideas for innovative youth retreats, parents' retreats, and even parent panels and discussion groups. Its target readership would be parents, youth leaders and anyone addressing issues related to family unity.

Hannah Rexroth is a professional writing major at Taylor University Fort Wayne.

Offenders Tracked Electronically
(Tuesday, November 23, 2004) - The Allen County Community Corrections Department is implementing a GPS program that will provide electronic tracking of the exact locations of criminal offenders. Administrator Steve Poulson tells the Aboite Independent, “It just provides better public safety for the community, and allows us to know that the offenders are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” According to Poulson the system is not easily tricked.

Poulson says this system provides passive tracking, that is the tracking points are stored in the portable unit until the offender goes home, and then downloaded at the end of the day. It’s then transmitted to the server. Active tracking which would follow an offender’s every move in real time will be coming in the future.

The tracking device itself is a belt-worn unit; there is an ankle bracelet as well. The lease cost is five dollars per day per offender. Allen County will begin with 12 units.

According to Poulson, GPS tracking is for serious offenders, in fact, GPS tracking is allowed in Indiana only on violent offenders. The Corrections Department staff will monitor 24 hours a day, and once a violation is determined will immediately notify Home Detention Officers.

Book Review
SOUL PASSION
The Intentional Life Trilogy, #1
by Ramesh Richard
Moody, 0-8024-6460-2, 187 pages, PB, $14.99

If nothing else, Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life has opened
the door for a new tidal wave (and title wave) of self-help and self-awareness books written from a biblical perspective. However, Soul Passion, despite obvious good intentions, sorely fails to reach the emotional heights of Warren's book. Richard's prolonged analogies become tedious as the author repeats numerous explanations; obviously, he worries the readers will not understand his points. Even worse, many of his anecdotes and lessons apply only to small segments of society, leaving the reader saying, "No, that's not me" or "I couldn't care less about that." The target reader seems to be male, highly educated, who is involved in the business world. (What about the rest of us?)

Richard does give his book his own distinctive characteristics. He uses an architect's
mind to design a recurring "renovation" theme that is meant to parallel a Christian's personal "life and purpose renovation." He focuses almost exclusively on the fast-paced world of business and decries its meaningless lifestyle. The repetition in the writing and the narrowness of the scope make this a book too limited for most readers.

Laura Johnson is a professional writing major at Taylor University Fort Wayne. She is editor of the campus literary magazine and a reporter for the school newspaper.

Healthy Holiday
(Friday, November 19, 2004) - The Fort Wayne Department of Parks & Recreation is hosting a ‘Healthy Holiday Recipe Makeover’, Saturday November 20th. Special Events Coordinator Robin Robinson tells the Aboite Independent, “We’re inviting the public to come in to the Avant Garde Gallery where we’ll have professional dieticians and nutritionists that will speak to people one-on-one, and change their recipes that they bring in with them into a healthy more nutritious holiday menu as opposed to the more traditional fatty holiday foods that most people eat.” Robinson says, “It is open to the general public and it is absolutely free. We’ll also have live entertainment, demonstrations by the owner of the Great American Spice Company. He’ll be giving a demonstration on how the spices can replace the fat. We’ll have samples of recipes made up so people can actually taste what we’re suggesting, and we’ll also have recipes that they can take home, as well as door prizes.” According to Robinson participants can learn how to cook traditional delicacies without ruining their diet.

This event has been planned for the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and since most people won’t start cooking until next week, it gives them a chance to do their shopping in a more healthy way.

The ‘Healthy Holiday Recipe Makeover’ event will also honor a special group of children and adult volunteers for their summer gardening work. These “Gardening Angels” participated in a pilot natural gardening project at two inner city sites, and were sponsored by Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation, HealthVisions, and the Allen County Purdue Extension Office.

The Avant Garde Gallery is located at Lafayette & Douglas, and the ‘Makeover’ event is open to the public from 11am to 3pm, November 20th. Demonstrations are scheduled between 1pm and 3pm. For more information phone (260) 427-6003 or visit www.fortwayneparks.org, and go to ‘Move To Improve’.

Beanies For Baghdad 2004
(Friday, November 19, 2004) - The Special Needs group at Homestead High School is sponsoring another ‘Beanies For Baghdad’ program. Tanya Hack, Special Needs Instructor tells the Aboite Independent, “The week of Thanksgiving we’re going to be collecting Beanies For Baghdad, and then our students in the Special Needs class will count them, package them and then ship them to Baghdad.” She says, “Last year we sent 2000 to the Army, and they passed them out. They sent us pictures of the soldiers passing out the beanies over there in Iraq in the hospitals, in the orphanages, and in schools.” So we’re going to do that again as another service learning project for our special needs program at Homestead High School.” The Beanies can be new, or used in good condition, and donors can even use them as a tax deduction.

Mayor Graham Richard & City Chief Tim Davie

(Wednesday, November 17, 2004)

6 p.m. Fort Wayne African American Cancer Alliance event at Weisser Park Center (802 Eckart Ave, Fort Wayne), includes food, fun and information on cancer prevention and awareness.

Final Tax Payment Due

Robert Lee

(Tuesday, November 16, 2004) - Allen County Treasurer Robert Lee is reminding all Allen County taxpayers that the reconciling bill for 2003 payable 2004 property taxes is due tomorrow, Wednesday, November 17, 2004. Allen County taxpayers have received three property tax statements in calendar year 2004. The extra tax cycle was necessary to catch up from the delays associated with the court ordered reassessment of all properties in the state in 2003. Following this reconciling bill, Allen County will return to regular property tax cycles with due dates of May 10 and November 10.

Allen County property owners were sent a tax bill due May 10, 2004 that was the final reconciling bill for 2002 taxes payable in 2003. The first billing for 2003 taxes payable 2004 was a provisional bill due August 31, 2004. That provisional bill was based upon 45% of their total 2003 property tax liability. The current bill, due November 17, 2004 is
the final reconciling bill for the remainder of their 2004 property tax liability, less the amount paid under the provisional bill. All late enalties (10%) will apply to this reconciling bill.

Allen County taxpayers can pay their tax bill using one of the following methods:

Mail - Please use the address label to the left of the payment stub. The payment is on time if postmarked by the due date.

Local Banks - You can pay your on-time property taxes through the due date at most Allen County banks. You must have your property tax statement when paying at a bank.

In Person - Please, bring your property tax statement when paying in person to the Allen County Treasurer’s Office, Room 100 City-County Building, Fort Wayne, IN. Business Hours are 8am to 4:30pm.

Tax Payment Debit - The convenience of having your tax payment automatically deducted from your checking account. Contact the Allen County Treasurer’s Office for an application.

Credit Card - On-time, property tax credit card payments are only accepted, at this time, through Official Payments Corporation. by calling 1-888-272-9829 jurisdiction #: 2402 or at web: www.officialpayments.com

Important notice: A convenience fee, based on the amount of the payment, is charged by Official Payments Corp. for each credit card transaction.

Breakfast With The Birds & Night Hike
(Tuesday, November 16, 2004) - Fox Island offers a couple of special programs this week where we can learn more about our feathered friends. Tomorrow morning beginning at 7 o’clock there’s a general program on bird watching. According to Assistant Director of Environmental Education Christian Schult, it’s geared toward beginner adult bird watchers. On Friday night, November 19th, there’s a ‘Night Hike’, and this one will focus on owls. It begins at 7pm. Schult say don’t bother to bring a flashlight, “we won’t be using them”, but “dress for the weather, these are outdoor activities, and we go rain or shine, unless there’s lightening.”

Allen County To Take On-Line Payments

John McGauley

(Monday, November 15, 2004) - Paying with plastic has been a way of life for most of us for many years; even McDonalds now accepts credit cards. You may not find a 99-cent menu, but Allen County officials at least want to offer the same convenience to government patrons, and according to information officer John McGauley, the Allen County website is being configured to take credit card payments for certain services beginning with GIS.

According to McGauley, “The hope is that eventually that we can do that with other things, such as applying for permits, paying all manner of fees and purchase of services on-line.”

County Attorney Bill Fishering says, “We are hoping to be able to accept property tax payments with MasterCard also. The State’s been able to do that in certain areas such as driver’s licenses and things like that. So this is the first step. We’ll get it up and running and try and expand it to other county services so that we become more community friendly as far as on-line ability of things that are otherwise available by coming to the City-County Building.”

“Really, the sky’s the limit; we really haven’t even scratched the potential there.” - John McGauley

Book Review
TWELVE LIES YOU HEAR IN CHURCH
by Tim Riter
Cook/NexGen, 078144005-X, 181 pages, PB

Reviewed by Dr. Dennis E. Hensley

Let me say at the outset that this book has excellent, thought-provoking content, but it also takes some theological stances that will raise red flags among certain denominations.

Tim Riter has been a youth leader, senior pastor, retreat leader, author, husband, dad and grampa for many years. His writing is a combination of personal experience stories and solid biblical teaching. He is not afraid to tackle issues head on, as in his chapter "Only Good Things Happen to Good People," when he says best-selling rabbi author Harold Kushner is wrong in his teachings about God's love and God's power. He also is blunt in telling Christians to be responsible and spiritually mature. (Quit blaming your parents and your upbringing for your current conditions.)

Riter talks about personal accountability, individual righteousness, God's will for our lives, and personal passion for ministry. He backs his claims with scripture references. It's good teaching.

However, Riter may be too liberal for some readers. For example, on page 136 he says that a man who can drink a beer and then stop should not buy his pal a beer at the football game if the pal has a drinking problem. Many Christians don't believe any Christians should be drinking alcohol, so this example will not set well with them.

The book also is not edited well. It has endless numbers of split infinitives, it uses that instead of who to refer to people, and it often forces nouns to become verbs, as it "God gifts each believer differently" (p. 113). Overall, however, it tackles modern problems and offers wise insights.

Dr. Dennis E. Hensley is a professor of English at Taylor University Fort Wayne.

Lutheran Tops!
(Friday, November 12, 2004) - Few things are more satisfying than being the best. Lutheran Hospital CEO Tom Miller took the wraps off the new Heart Pavilion yesterday with the announcement that an independent group, Health Grades, has recognized Lutheran for being the number one hospital for overall cardiac services and heart surgery in Indiana, and in the top 5 percent of all cardiac surgery facilities in the country. Miller tells the Aboite Independent, “If there’s anything that we want to be known for, beyond compassionate care, is the fact that the work that we do from a quality standpoint is the best in this country.” According to Miller, Health Grades looked at all 5000 hospitals in the country and rated them based on 12 criteria.

Tom Miller

Patients no longer have to travel to Indianapolis or Chicago for quality healthcare services. Miller says, “Today they only have to drive to Fort Wayne. You know, bigger isn’t always better. And I do believe that a community-based hospital, and there are great teaching hospitals in this state, but a community-based hospital has a closer relationship between the doctor and the patient, and hopefully as a result of the relationship you actually can see things going on better, and I think we do a good job, and I know our physicians and nurses are dedicated to providing the best care in this community.”

Construction of the new Lutheran Heart Pavilion began just a year ago, and the facility will open next month. Chief Operating Officer, Joe Dorko says, “We will be handling all of our cardiovascular services in the Heart Pavilion. It will provide inpatient and outpatient services. There are four operating rooms here that will be primarily designated for cardiovascular work as well as some vascular work.”

According to information provided by Patti Hayes, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development, Lutheran performs over 10,500 Cardiac/Vascular surgical/procedures annually. This includes cardiac cath procedures such as electrophysiology (EP), cardiac catheterizations, Pacemaker implants, cardiac biopsy, arteriograms, angioplasty and stent placements as well as open heart, thoracic and vascular surgeries. In addition, there are more than 300-thousand Heart/Circulatory outpatient procedures annually. This covers all outpatient visits like EKGs, pacemaker checks, echocardiograms, stress tests, and many more outpatient visits for cardiac needs.

Hanson Aggregates To Cross Sandpoint Road
(Thursday, November 10, 2004) - It was just about a month ago members of the Allen County Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a request by Hanson Aggregates to extend its limestone mining operation in the 5500 to 6100 blocks of Smith Road at Sandpoint Road. To do that however requires the closing of Sandpoint Road to thru traffic. Yesterday, the Allen County Commissioners gave their unanimous approval to vacate a portion of the road right of way. The change has the blessings of area utility companies, fire departments, the airport, Fort Wayne Community Schools, and the Allen County Highway Department among several government offices. One nearby resident attended the public hearing and spoke against the proposal. The requested vacation begins approximately 1050 feet east of Smith Road and ends approximately 966 feet east and 434 feet north; east of 5112 Sandpoint Road, and west of 5810 Sandpoint Road. The right of way is 65 feet wide and approximately 1100 feet long.

Commissioners Welcome Newcomer
(Thursday, November 11, 2004) - The voters have spoken, and as of January 1st, Nelson Peters will be the new Allen County Commissioner succeeding the retiring Ed Rousseau who has served 16 years in that position. All three Commissioners, Rousseau, Linda Bloom and Marla Irving extend to Peters a warm welcome. Irving tells the Aboite Independent, “We’re real excited; we’re getting him some background information, and he’ll hit the ground running along with Commissioner Bloom and myself.”

Linda Bloom says she’s known Nelson Peters for 25 years, and she’s looking forward to working with him.

Commissioner President Ed Rousseau says Peters brings a lot of experience to the position from working in government offices both in the City and the County.

Rousseau says, “We’re real happy for him. He worked very hard and certainly deserves to have been elected to the job.”

Marla Irving	Linda Bloom	Ed Rousseau

Opposed To Park Development
(Wednesday, November 10, 2004) - Forty people turned-out at the Aboite Township Fire Station for a public meeting Monday evening to suggest uses for the new Buckner Farm Park on Bass Road just west of I-69. This was the second of five such meetings, and the consensus at this one (if there was a consensus) is “less is more”. A majority of the comments and suggestions for development favored keeping the nearly 200 acres natural, as they are now, as opposed to lighted sporting fields or a water park. Aboite Township Trustee Barb Krisher pointed out there’s a definite need for more Little League and youth soccer facilities, etc. She also wondered about the advisability of the new City Park competing directly with the County’s Fox Island Park, which is both natural and wetlands.

Among the other comments:

- “There needs to be a balance.” “Somehow there will always be a balance of nature.”
- “There’s a moral imperative that there be protection (of nature) there.”
- “This is a unique, therapeutic area. A place in Allen County where you can go to breathe fresh air.”

- “We’re changing sociologically, and we will adapt, but what are we becoming?”
- “Let’s try to develop our families and teach our heritage.”
- “We’re changing the way we live, is that what we want? Think about the trends we’re fostering.”

- “Kids don’t have to have a ball in their hands to have fun.”
- “There’s no need for lighting, when the sun goes down the kids need to go home and study.”

- “Let the Real Estate developers provide (sports) facilities as they build subdivisions.”
- “We want to be able to enjoy the birds, and see the stars without light pollution.”
- “There needs to be a place for seniors recreation.”

Opportunity For College-Bound Adults
(Wednesday, November 10, 2004) - Taylor University Fort Wayne is offering three Adult Information Sessions, and the first one is tomorrow evening at 6:30 in Witmer Hall. Deb Morse, Adult Enrollment Counselor tells the Aboite Independent, “We like to provide opportunities for people who may be interested in taking college courses to come and find out more about it in a casual setting. So, Thursday evening I will be here as well as Program Coordinators from our MBA program and our Transition to Teaching program, and we’d be happy to answer just basic information about our programs, about the admissions process, what it’s like to go back to college as an adult student, all of those anxiety kind of questions that sometimes adults have.” Morse says Taylor welcomes students who choose to take classes simply for personal enrichment as well as those seeking degrees.

According to Morse, “Anyone can come to the Adult Information Sessions; we just call them adult sessions to let the community know that we do have opportunities available for the older students. But if a traditional age student wants to come get information, that’s terrific.” Morse says, “There’s absolutely no obligation. It’s just an opportunity for people to obtain information and get to know us a little bit better. If they’d like a tour of campus and to learn about our new facilities, our new programs we would just welcome anyone to stop by.”

Additional sessions will be offered Tuesday, December 7th, and Thursday January 6th.

Ground Breaking Next Week
(Tuesday, November 9, 2004) - The official Ground Breaking won’t take place until next Wednesday, but site preparation has already begun for the new Fort Wayne Fire Station #18 at Liberty Mills and Homestead Road. A second new Fire Station, #19, is also being built at the same time at Scott and Covington Roads. A single ground breaking will be held for both, at Liberty Mills and Homestead November 17th, at 11am.

Salvation Army Needs Volunteers

Major Mark Turner

(Monday, November 8, 2004) - The Salvation Army is in need of volunteers and workers to ring bells and perform many tasks in order to provide ‘Christmas’ to hundreds of Fort Wayne families. Major Mark Turner tells the Aboite Independent, “We always need volunteers. The fact is, on Saturdays mostly volunteers man all of the kettles, but through the week we have few volunteers, and most of the people are paid because we simply can’t find the volunteers to ring those bells. We can’t even find enough paid people to ring the bells.” According to Turner, it’s very helpful when a church or civic group will organize a number of volunteers to take turns at the kettles.

For those who would like to help, but perhaps can’t handle the cold, Turner says there are some kettles that are placed inside at J.C.Penneys and at the new Marsh supermarket.

In addition, there are countless volunteer opportunities besides ringing the bells and staffing the kettles. “Helping with the Angel Tree, picking up packages, running out coffee and hot chocolate for some of the bell ringers, sorting Christmas toys, sorting Angel Tree gifts, and then helping with the food and the toy and the Angel Tree distribution.” To volunteer or apply for a bell-ringer job, phone (260) 744-2311, or send an e-mail to john_woods@usc.salvationarmy.org.

“There’s many locations that go unmanned everyday, and we lose thousands of dollars.” - Major Mark Turner

Book Review
WRITTEN IN STONE: The Ten Commandments
and Today's Moral Crisis
by Philip Graham Ryken

Crossway, 1-58134-490-2, PB, 240 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Ralph C. Schaafsma

As the title implies, this book examines the Ten Commandments in relationship to contemporary moral values and the Gospel lessons of Christ. Although many biblical illustrations are used, this is not a stuffy theological treatise. Instead, each commandment is examined and shown to be something that man cannot live up to, worthy though it may be. As such, man is driven to the redemption work of Jesus. The author succeeds in showing that the worthiness of the commandments has not changed over the eras of time (thus explaining why they weren't the Ten Suggestions). Rev. Ryken tested these presentations on his own congregation before publishing them in book form.

The strength of this book is in its ability to reflect man's need to have commandments as guides and also a Savior to provide grace when man fails. At times the author's Presbyterian theology comes through, but not enough to cause anyone to quit turning pages. All pastors, teachers and serious students of the Word will find this to be personally edifying, as well as helpful as an evangelistic tool.

Rev. Ralph C. Schaafsma is senior pastor of Clearwater Community Church
in Ohio.

Courthouse Tours Sunday
(Friday, November 5, 2004) - This Sunday being the first one of the month, the Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust will offer public tours of the only national historic landmark in northeastern Indiana. According to Executive Director Mary Lee, “The Courthouse is full of stained glass skylights, marble, murals, sculptures, coffered ceilings with gilded carved plaster, and terra cotta tile floors with intricate designs.” The tours are offered from 1pm to 4pm. A donation of $2 per person is suggested.

Fundraising With Flowers

Michelle Wedaman

(Friday, November 5, 2004) - If your neighborhood association or not-for-profit organization is looking for a nice moneymaking project, Michelle Wedaman of Sand Point Greenhouses suggests fundraising with flowers. Wedaman oversees the Sand Point wholesale program, and can provide materials, expertise, and a wealth of marketing support. Sand Point has been a privately owned professional greenhouse serving the Fort Wayne area since 1919. Wedaman says, “Quality plants are the cornerstone of our retail operation, along with fun garden accoutrements including statuary, furniture and other items. And while people have long thought of Sand Point as a destination place for high quality plants, it’s really exciting as we develop the wholesale program to include schools, and other not-for-profit organizations.

According to Wedaman, “Increasingly organizations, and many schools as well as associations have to do fundraising to support their own efforts for the basic tools and materials that they need, or for any of the special projects that they want to do. So we have found flowers to be an ideal medium for fundraising.” She says, “We’re able to custom fit to the needs of the group to do some really fun things that complement what marketing and outreach efforts they have already, and help them develop new ideas as they put together their projects. When you talk about the neighborhood associations, the ability to have local flowers that they can work with, and local landscape designers to assist them and designers to help them put together their external projects in the neighborhoods, it’s a fun way that we see ourselves being able to assist development and revitalization of the central city neighborhoods, which are doing great things as far as beautification and reclaiming the city’s spaces and common areas.”

Sand Point is located at 4322 DeForest Avenue, (that’s just off Bluffton Road). Michelle Wedaman can be reached directly at (260) 410-0657 or at mwedeman@sandpointgh.com.

Allen County Election Smooth

Pam Finlayson

(Thursday, November 4, 2004) - Despite a large turnout, very few voters in Allen County experienced any difficulties at the polls. Pam Finlayson, Director of the Allen County Election Board says the day went very smoothly. The number one problem in her office was keeping up with thousands of phone calls from people inquiring where to vote, or verifying their registrations. She says, “We were so overwhelmed, we were fighting that all day.” According to Finlayson, “The precincts were very busy all day, but we really didn’t have any unusual problems.”

Finlayson says, “Turnout was heavy, but I haven’t been able to relate it to total registration numbers yet. There were a lot of changes made in the process, which we found gratifying. We had a lot of people show up and vote in person because the conditions were taken off absentee, so it was basically early voting, and I think what the people said was, ‘We like it’. ‘We like to have that flexibility.’” “The people who came in here really appreciated the flexibility to make sure that they got to vote.”

“We were all quite pleased with ourselves, our canvas board, and all of the staff in here. I think the precinct workers operated under a lot of pressure and I think they performed quite well.” - Pam Finlayson

Furnace Safety
(Tuesday, November 2, 2004) - As cooler weather moves in, more and more furnaces are being activated for the first time this season. Aboite Township Fire Chief Chuck Dwyer tells the Aboite Independent it might be a good time for homeowners to get their heating plants checked-out.

Dwyer acknowledges that heat exchangers can also breakdown with age, and says “That’s where we have some issues with carbon monoxide, and the older furnaces will sometimes crack and allow fumes to get into the vent system.”

Pesky Potholes Patched
(Tuesday, November 2, 2004) - Allen County has 1400 miles of roads, roughly twice the number the city of Fort Wayne has, and more than any other county in the State. Despite that, according to Director Mike Fitch, “The Allen County Highway Department does not have a severe pothole problem. He says, “I think the reason for that is we try to address the potholes before we get the calls. We have crews out, and when they have a call come in the dispatcher gives them that information and they either patch the hole that day or the next workday. We have been keeping logs of our pothole complaints, and we average about five a day.” According to Fitch, “It’s usually during the spring and fall of the year when we start getting into the freezing and thawing cycles.” Apparently a complaint was registered earlier this year about a problem on the northeast corner of Homestead and Aboite Center Roads. Fitch says that technically wasn’t a pothole.

According to Fitch, “Every day we have zones that people are required to travel and check. All of our main roads are inspected daily. A lot of the pothole issues are smaller potholes in subdivisions around drainage structures where water might stand. We work with the associations when we get calls to fix those that day or the following day.”

Children’s Hope Thanksgiving Food Drive
(Monday, November 1, 2004) - Children’s Hope Hospitality House is having a Thanksgiving Food Drive. Children’s Hope is a non-profit organization that provides food, lodging and safe haven for families of critically ill children in Fort Wayne’s local hospitals. Executive Director, Elizabeth Kehoe tells the Aboite Independent, “Smith Airfield Service along with National City Bank and some other organizations are doing a food drive for Children’s Hope. We try to supply families with food, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, all those things so they don’t need to go out and buy them. We have them here in the house so families can come in and fix a meal and not have to worry about spending money out at restaurants and so forth. These groups are really generous in organizing this drive for us, and food is going to be donated for our pantry at the National City Bank offices. We’re also going to be collecting at Smith Airfield and by the end of the month we’ll be hopefully supplied for the winter. Kehoe says any non-perishable food items will be greatly appreciated.

For those who would rather contribute plastic, Kehoe suggests mailing grocery store shopping cards to Children’s Hope Hospitality House, 7922 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Fort Wayne, IN., 46804. Donations can also be dropped off day or night at Children’s Hope, which is located at the east end of the Lutheran Hospital campus. The donation barrels are located at National City Banks all around the Fort Wayne area. Kehoe says, “The food drive will continue through November, and around the week of Thanksgiving we’ll bring the food back to the house.”

Voting Terror
(Monday, November 1, 2004) - Four years ago the greatest threat to election officials may have been a hanging chad. This year there’s concern that terrorists might try to disrupt the democratic process. Pam Finlayson, Director of the Allen County Election Board, says we’ve been doing precautionary planning ever since the May Primary, and “We’re all ready.”

In addition to back-up power Finlayson says, “We’ve always had emergency ballots in readiness, that’s our choice of last resort, because we’re not a ballot county, we’re not used to handling voters in that manner. We also would prioritize, if it’s a true emergency you’re going to have to prioritize. The most important thing Election Day is getting the voters voted. If you don’t have everything you need to get the ballots counted Election Day, that’s not as high a priority as getting the ballots from the voters. And then you have until the following Monday actually to get those counted. So we have given it a lot of thought.”

According to Finlayson, to date there has never been any threat. She says, “Quite frankly, I find Allen County to be a civil, wholesome, good community to live in. The people that we seem to work with are quite rational. I just find Allen County a rational place to work and live. All these people are moving through our office every day, and calls are flooding in, we’re taking the messages and doing our callbacks, and citizens of this community are just a pleasure to work with.”

Book Review
Nazareth's Song
By Patricia Hickman

Warner Faith Books, 0-446-69233-6, 320 pages, $12.95

Reviewed by Darlene Divine

Novelist Patricia Hickman brilliantly relates the struggle, pain and tension the backwoods town of Nazareth, Arkansas experiences during the Great Depression in Nazareth's Song. Rev. Jeb Nubey must learn how to overcome his past while shepherding the tiny flock of the Church of the Dell. Unfortunately, politics, greed, and deceit begin to attack Jeb's honorable intentions when the town banker, Horace Mills, asks for the inexperienced minister's help.

The author sheds light on Jeb's weaknesses and stretches his character throughout the book. As Jeb develops into a responsible and discerning preacher, he finds that he must choose between the smart yet somewhat fickle schoolteacher, Fern Coulter, and the stylish but spoiled banker's daughter, Winona. The plot climaxes when Jeb is pressured by Winona to make drastic changes in the Church in the Dell, as well as to send away Jeb's three young charges, the Welby children.

Jeb is able to learn from his past mistakes. He reaches out in special ways to the stubborn people of his congregation. All of the people of Nazareth, and especially the Welby children (Ida May, Willie, and Angel), hold a special place in Jeb's heart.

Although Jeb is the most interesting character study in this novel, there is a wide variety of unique supporting characters who add local color and vibrancy to the plot. In fact, the novel starts rather slowly because it spends so much time defining the town and characters, but as individuals blossom so does the story, and it truly captures this difficult era of American history.

I would recommend Nazareth's Song to anyone who likes to curl up with a solid story. The book shows how God's love can forgive a man's shaded past, overcome the hardships of the Depression, and touch the lives of all walks of people.

Darlene Divine is a communications major at Taylor University Fort Wayne and a contributing writer to the school newspaper, The Express.

Vote On Amendments

Sandra Flum

(Friday, October 29, 2004) - There are three Constitutional Amendments proposed on the ballot this year for Indiana, and all three of them have passed two legislative sessions and are now in the hands of the voters. Two of them deal with succession to office; the third is a tax measure. One spells out who takes over the Governor’s position if both the Governor and Lt. Governor are incapacitated or deceased. If voters approve, the order of succession is: Speaker of the House, President Pro Tem of the Senate, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Secretary of State, and Superintendent of Public Instruction. Allen County Legislative Liaison Sandra Flum tells the Aboite Independent, another amendment deals with holdover offices, of which Allen County has none. That’s not the case in about half of the Indiana counties however. The new measure allows the legislature to set a uniform date for elected officals to take office.

The third amendment deals with property taxes and allows lawmakers to exempt from taxes all or part of the value of a homeowner’ principal residence, business equipment and inventory. Current law provides for no flexibility. Flum says, “It’s important for us to be flexible in competing with neighboring states on a variety of issues, and taxation is certainly one of those areas where we compete with not just neighboring states, but across the United States and around the world, so taxation is one of those issues where the General Assembly would like to be more responsive.”

Homestead/Ernst Gets The Green Light
(Thursday, October 28, 2004) - Allen County Highway Director Mike Fitch has finally been successful in his attempt to get all the right-of-way necessary to complete reconstruction work at the intersection of Homestead and Ernst Roads. According to Fitch, agreement has been reached with the last of the property owners at that location, and he expects the improvements to be completed probably by mid-Summer.

Among the changes yet to be made are widening of the intersection to include left-turn lanes, more improvements north and south of the intersection on Homestead, and then installation of a traffic signal.

Early summer photo of Homestead/Ernst intersection.

VNHH Seeks Volunteers
(Thursday, October 28, 2004) - The Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home at 5910 Homestead Road is seeking volunteers. Coordinator Ann Blue tells the Aboite Independent, “I’m hoping to recruit maybe upwards of 15 or 20 this fall, and get them through an extensive 19-hour training program either late this fall or early in the winter.”
Blue says the volunteers can choose from many service options.

Blue says, “Many of the volunteers are people who for the most part have already been through a hospice situation, and they understand hospice, they’ve probably been through it with a very close family member, they’ve gone through their grieving process, they have healed and they have come back to us, and they have said this is where I want to put my volunteer hours, this is a place where I feel I can help, I can pay back other families that are going through this.”

According to Blue, being a Christian is not a requirement for volunteer work. She says, “I think we have a real strong Christian element in our volunteer group. I’m seeing the Christian ethic and I’m hearing it, and it’s coming out to me. And I think the Christian belief has given these people a very strong footing for the work that they do. They connect and bond very quickly with other Christians that are going through this. We are a non-profit agency, and I’m very proud of that. I think that sets us apart here in the local area too.”

To volunteer, call (260) 435-3222 and talk directly with Ann Blue, or visit www.vnhh.org.

“Volunteers are like angels that have been placed here on earth, and I’m very honored and humbled to work with all the volunteers. It takes a tremendous maturity, a clear understanding of hospice and what is happening, and then a strong desire to help. And it comes straight from their heart.” - Ann Blue

Bringing The Basics, Tomorrow
(Wednesday, October 27, 2004) - Tomorrow evening at 7, Comcast channel 58 will air a special live presentation called ‘Bringing The Basics To You’. It’s a presentation by the City of Fort Wayne, and according to Public Information Officer John Perlich, “Will focus on services provided by the Street Department, including leaf pickup, pothole repair, street paving and snow removal.” According to Perlich, this would be an excellent opportunity for Aboite Township residents to become acquainted with those services.

Perlich tells the Aboite Independent, “The program is live; it will run from 7 until 7:30 Thursday night, and we encourage residents or anyone interested in watching the program to call in with questions at any point.” Perlich will be joined by Brad Baumgartner, the Street Commissioner, and also Bob Kennedy who is the Associate Director of Public Works and Utilities, and before that was the Street Commissioner, so they have a lot of background and a lot of expertise to pass on to the community.

According to Perlich, in the days ahead, “People with questions can contact the Mayor’s Office at 427-1111, and they will make sure that the question gets to the right department and that the question is answered.”

Living Healthier Wrap-Up
(Tuesday, October 26, 2004) - Tomorrow being the 4th Wednesday of October means it’s time once again for another Living Healthier presentation. This month’s gathering concludes the series, which began in April, and will feature a panel discussion led by Dr. Peter Hanley, Dr. Stacie Wenk, and Barb Minger. The presentation begins at 6:30 in Kachmann Auditorium on the Lutheran Hospital Campus at 7900 W. Jefferson. For more information visit www.livinghealthierseries.com.

“It’s only through knowledge and understanding that people can empower themselves to do better.” - Dr. Peter Hanley

Sign Up For Salvation Army Christmas Assistance

Major Mark Turner

(Monday, October 25, 2004) - Sign-ups for the Salvation Army Christmas Assistance Program begin tomorrow. According to Major Mark Turner, “Last year we had 1195 families come in for help for Christmas season. A lot of families are out of work, others there’s illness, others have been downsized and their income isn’t what it was, they’re trying to get back on their feet and they’re in school and various things. This year it’s going to be a little more complicated than it has been in the past. Each day there are letters of the alphabet for which Christmas applications are being accepted. We’re going to try to keep the lines down, and keep it a little more orderly than we’ve done it in the past.” Turner tells the Aboite Independent, “One of the things we try to do at the Salvation Army is to screen everyone. We need proof of income, proof of expenses, social security card for everybody in the household.”

Those who wish to apply should sign up on the following days based on the first letter of their last name.

Tue. Oct. 26 A-F	Wed. Oct. 27 G-M	Thr. Oct. 28 N-R	Fri. Oct. 29 S-Z
Tue. Nov. 2  A-F	Wed. Nov. 3  G-M	Thr. Nov. 4   N-R	Fri. Nov. 5   S-Z
	Mon. Nov.1 Anyone	Mon. Nov. 8 Anyone

   
Apply at the Salvation Army, 2900 N. Clinton, Fort Wayne, IN from 9:30am to Noon, and 1pm to 3pm. 60 applicants will be interviewed at each session.

Southwest Water Flushing Continues
(Monday, October 25, 2004) - City Utilities will continue to flush water lines in portions of southwest Fort Wayne today through Wednesday. Customers on Brooklyn Avenue from Bluffton to Covington Roads, the northeast area of Indian Village, Riverside Terrace, and Quimby Village could experience low water pressure and rusty water while flushing takes place each day from 8am to 5pm. Customers should avoid doing laundry during those times.

Book Review
THE SELF-CONFIDENT WOMAN
Building a Strong Foundation for Healthy Relationships
by Janet Congo, M.A.
Chariot Victor, 0-7814-3869-1, PB, 216 pages, $10.99

The Self-Confident Woman is written for women who feel inadequate, unloved, or undervalued. Many of our cultural myths imply that women will attain happiness if they work harder, have more material possessions, are prettier, are nicer to others, and know the right people. However, Janet Congo teaches that Jesus values us for who we are-highly significant women and of great value-apart from what we accomplish.

Using her experience as a counselor, Janet outlines a 30-step action plan that will help to increase women’s personal and relational confidence. A few of the steps include how to say “no,” set boundaries, master anger, deal with ugly pasts, and face people-pleasing tendencies. Her goal is to help transform dependent women into interdependent, confident women. Readers will find action steps at the end of every chapter to help them reflect on how to accomplish their goals.

This book is recommended for church libraries that want to assist women who struggle with relationships and the cultural myths that distort a woman’s value. However, interdependent, confident women may be offended at the implied theory that all women struggle with these issues, and they will not find the significance in this book.

Michelle Weidenbenner is a wife, mother, and active freelance writer in Fort Wayne,
Indiana, where she studies writing at Taylor University.

Vote Early (But Not Often)
(Friday, October 22, 2004) - The election still may be a little over a week away, but already many people are voting. According to Pam Finlayson, Director of the Allen County Election Board, “Our in-office voting is up by about 30 percent.” She says, “I think the change has come about because of the new law that was passed and went into effect in January. Basically, in-office voting is really early voting; there are no conditions, and really, it does pretty much take care of all situations.

According to Finlayson, “The word has gotten out that it’s available”, and people are taking advantage of it. Absentee balloting is also up about 8 percent, but not as much as the anticipated 30-percent. Presently there are about 11,400 absentee ballots out that are starting to flow back in.

Economic Revitalization Wanted

John McGauley

(Friday, October 22, 2004) - Instead of piecemeal, the Allen County Commissioners want to take a sweeping approach to economic revitalization. Information Officer John McGauley tells the Aboite Independent, “In the next month or two, the Commissioners are going to ask Allen County Council to declare all of the unincorporated areas of Allen County an Economic Revitalization Area,” the only exception being those areas that are zoned residential. McGauley says, “That is a useful tool specifically as it applies to attracting information technology businesses here, logistics businesses, and distribution businesses to the County; now that State law allows tax incentives to be given to companies in those categories.”

According to McGauley, “This incorporates, really to the large extent, the majority of the square miles of Allen County, and is kind of the reverse of the way this works traditionally. Traditionally, someone will come in with a project and say ‘we want to build here or expand here’, then that declaration of an Economic Revitalization Area comes, and it usually just applies to that property or that business. We’re coming along kind of in the reverse here, and declaring the entire County qualifying as an Economic Revitalization Area. That way, when somebody comes in and wants to build a business that fits within these categories we’re ready for them.”

“This will allow us to be faster and more competitive.” - John McGauley

County To Buy Houses For A Buck
(Thursday, October 21, 2004) - The Allen County Commissioners have approved an agreement involving HUD, the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Project Renew, a local non-profit organization that rehabilitates homes in the inner city. According to Commissioner Marla Irving, under the plan, the County purchases the homes for one-dollar from HUD, and turns the property over to Project Renew, saving the organization thousands of dollars that would be owed in a market-value transaction.




These homes are from people who have defaulted on federally backed mortgages, such as FHA or VA loans. According to Commission President Ed Rousseau, “Project Renew struggles financially sometimes because the houses that they basically work on are in the enterprise zone area which are kind of inner-city, industrial projects. They have a process of rebuilding some neighborhoods where we need to have rebuilding in the most earnest way, and so this is one way that they can get some houses and possibly get some funding to renew their efforts in the inner city.”

“Basically, in a nutshell, we are a pass-through from HUD to Project Renew, because HUD cannot sell as a governmental agency to a non-profit group like that.” - Marla Irving

County Employee Insurance Costs Stable

Chuck Bodenhafer

(Wednesday, October 20, 2004) - What a change from a couple of years ago! This is very, very good news for us.” So says Chuck Bodenhafer, President of Bodenhafer Insurance & Investment Group. In his recent presentation to the Allen County Commissioners, Bodehafer says, “There’s no big secret about healthcare costs increasing. We’ve had clients within our organization who have had increases as high as 89 percent, so when we have a situation that the claims are going so well for Allen County, it’s just like a real Godsend. We have very low claims. Other governmental agencies that we’ve been proud to serve have increases that are averaging way above ten percent, the highest being 16 percent, and the lowest being 5 percent, so most everybody is getting increases in their costs.”

According to Bodehafer, in addition to the low number of claims, two other factors will work to keep costs down. Beginning January 1st, all benefit information will be accessible to employees online, personally protected with individual passwords and security firewalls. Bodenhafer says, “We also changed the prescription benefit manager so we can elicit ever further discounts and savings as well. So we’re tweaking, constantly trying to obtain the best plans, benefits and providers of those services; that will be a definite enhancement as well.” According to Bodenhafer, “ This year’s shortage of flu vaccine should not be a factor in next years cost, because traditionally flu, in an of itself, would not be enough of a factor to increase our costs that much over and above normal.”

“We’ve had to tweak benefits over time, and change some benefits, but we’ve only passed on an increase in premium costs to the employees once in 22 years” - Chuck Bodehafer

Pre-Schoolers Learn About Spiders
(Wednesday, October 20, 2004) - Each month the Fox Island Nature Center hosts a pre-school program with a different theme. Tomorrow’s event will explore spiders. Environmental Educator Sarah Hendricks tells the Aboite Independent, “We’ll probably do a story, and a craft, and have a snack and take a close-up look at creepy crawly spiders.” She says, “Usually spiders are pretty fascinating.”

The hour-long Pre-K Discovery program at Fox Island begins tomorrow morning at 10, and costs $3.00 per child. There’s also a second program at 2pm. As always, be sure to dress for the weather. For more information call (260) 449-3180.

City Seeks Input on Buckner Park
(Tuesday, October 19, 2004) - Several meetings have been scheduled throughout the area to gain public input on the development of the new Buckner Farm Park. The first is tomorrow evening at 6:30 with the Southwest Area Partnership at Study Elementary School on Brooklyn Avenue. According to Sarah Nichter, Parks Department Manager-Information & Development, “Buckner is almost 200 acres of undeveloped property.”

Nichter says, “It’s very exciting to see a new piece of land being developed into a park, and we need public input, and will consider all ideas.”

Another southwest meeting will take place November 8th, at the Aboite Township Trustee’s Community Room at the Fire Station on Aboite Center Road. That will also get underway at 6:30pm. If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings, your comments can be mailed to the Parks & Recreation Department, 705 E. State Boulevard, Fort Wayne, IN., 46805. Parks Director Diane Hoover can also be reached at (260) 427-6001.

Burning Not An Option
(Monday, October 18, 2004) - Last week the Aboite Independent published a schedule of leaf pick-up in the City of Fort Wayne. But what are Allen County residents supposed to do with their leaves. One thing not to do with them is burn them says Aboite Township Fire Chief Chuck Dwyer.

Dwyer says, “The fire department does not go out unless we’re called out on leaves, and I would like for the people in Aboite to understand that. We don’t go looking for that type of situation, but once we’re called, then we must respond.”

Trees Planted
(Monday, October 18, 2004) - Some 32 volunteers turned out Saturday for a tree planting at Indian Trails Park. Coordinator Louise Larsen says about 40 trees were planted, and she’s already looking forward to next year’s event.

Of course there’s still work to be done yet this season. There are 60 more trees to plant, and Larsen says, “If anybody feels like doing more mulching and things, I’m getting a donation of mulch from my electrical utility. They’re giving me mulch because they’re working on trees in the area, taking them down, and there will probably be other loads of mulch brought over on other days, so if any people just want to come and spread mulch, I’ll be happy to have extra help through the rest of the month actually.” You can contact Larsen to volunteer at 432-7314.

Book Review
THE BEST THING I EVER DID FOR MY MARRIAGE
by Nancy Cobb and Connie Grigsby
Multnomah, 1-59052-199-4, PB, 261 pages, $12.99

The authors of this book are actually just compilers and editors
of 50 vignettes told to them by women about incidents in their lives
that had major impacts (positively and negatively) on their marriages.
Some chapters are anonymous, whereas others identify the writers.

Although short, each story is bluntly honest. The chapter titled,
"When Another Man Enters the Picture" tells of a happily married
Christian couple of 14 years. The wife, a mother of three children, finds herself
in a half-year affair with her neighbor because he is a good listener and a
caring person. However, when this Christian man goes to a retreat and
faces his sin, he comes home and breaks off the affair. His lover is
devastated. Ultimately, she confesses everything to her husband. He lets her stay,
but the affair almost ends their marriage. This chapter concludes with a
list of warnings for women regarding getting involved with someone other than their
husbands.

This book does not "male bash." In "Politically Incorrect," the
female writer tells women to lose weight and keep it off. She says that men are
visually oriented, and it's not their fault. So, love them by staying
attractive.

(That's fabulous advice, by the way.)
This book has a gritty reality to it, but a lot of inspiration and
hope, too. Even a good marriage would benefit from the lessons found here.

Reviewed by Dr. Dennis E. Hensley

Leaf Collection Underway

Click map for city website and larger map.

(Thursday, October 14, 2004) - The City of Fort Wayne has begun its annual leaf pick-up and is seeking the cooperation of residents to make the process as safe and efficient as possible. Information Officer John Perlich says, “We’re in the north section of the City for this week, and then we’ll move to the central part of the City the following week, and the south the week after that. Then there will be three pick-ups in each area, north, central, and south. Our plan is to be finished by December 17th, and last year we finished on time and collected around 20-thousand tons of leaves. We hope, with cooperation from the weather, that we’ll be able to finish on time again, and collect probably as many or even more leaves than we did last year.” There are several things residents can and should do to expedite the process, and whether they choose to rake or bag the leaves, they should be kept separate from regular garbage.

Perlich reminds us, “City ordinance prohibits the burning of leaves for a number of reasons including both health and safety.” In addition he says, “Because young people have a tendency to want to play in the leaves, that sometimes can lead to safety problems with vehicles driving through an addition or down a street and not seeing the kids in the leaves. So please try to make sure that if the kids are going to play in leaves, that they’re close enough to the house where they won’t be in any danger.”

To follow the daily pick-up schedule go to www.cityoffortwayne.org, or call the ‘leaf hotline’ at 427-2302.

Canterbury Collects Tons Of Food
(Tuesday, October 12, 2004) - Students at Canterbury School are contributing to society by helping to stock the Food Pantry at the Associated Churches Food Bank. Middle School Computer Teacher, and Project Coordinator Anita Bates tells the Aboite Independent this is the 11th year for Canterbury involvement in the food drive. Last year, Middle School students alone brought in some 11-thousand pounds of non-perishable food items. This year she expects the total to reach 15 to 17-thousand pounds, and points out that the need in the community continues to increase as well. She says Middle School students are the best providers; they really work at the project, some sacrificially.

l-r: Nakao Mauch, Pastor Vernon Graham, Grant Schouweiler, Anita Bates

“As a mother I can’t think of anything worse than not being able to feed my children or have them go to bed hungry because there wasn’t enough to eat.” - Anita Bates

Vernon Graham is the Executive Pastor for the Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County, a group of 116 Christian congregations and churches that work together on a number of projects to make this a better place to live. He says, “In 1979 the Associated Churches came together to form the Associated Churches Food Bank system, and each year on October 16th, which is World Food Day, or basically the month of October, schools from throughout Fort Wayne and Allen County collect food to help the hungry. Canterbury annually leads the way. Last year they collected over 16-thousand pounds of food in a Fun Run and a week of collecting food. The Associated Churches has 29 sites throughout Allen County so that a person who’s hungry or a family that’s hungry can go to a neighborhood or a small town Food Pantry or shelter which are found mostly in churches.”

Graham says, “You can see what a wonderful opportunity it is, and how extraordinary these young people are in their reaching out and wanting to make the world a better place, even now at their young age. I praise the Lord because I think it shows the parents have been a tremendous influence, the church has been a tremendous influence, and certainly the need is dictating that we all do something so that Fort Wayne will be a better place for all of us to live.”

“We get so much rhetoric about young people this, and young people aren’t interested in that, but yet what I’ve experienced here at Canterbury and throughout the Allen County Community is that when you give young people an opportunity to respond they certainly do, and this is just one of many examples of how the kids throughout the community respond.” -Pastor Vernon Graham

New Fire Stations Coming To Aboite

FWFD station #19 at Scott and Covington

(Monday, October 11, 2004) - While residents of Aboite Township have volunteer fire and ambulance service second to none, the annexation of about 30-thousand people here January 1st, 2006 means the City of Fort Wayne will take over a portion of that responsibility. Information Officer John Perlich tells the Aboite Independent two new city operated fire stations will be under construction next month. One will be located at Liberty Mills and Homestead Roads, the other at Scott and Covington Roads. The advertisement for bids has been published, and a pre-bid meeting was held last week.

Perlich says, “We’re looking forward to being able to serve the residents of Aboite and feel that fire protection, and police services and all the other essential services that we will be able to provide will be a big asset for that area.”

FWFD station #18 at Homestead and Liberty Mills

Book Review
SOUL CHAT: Dad Talks to the Bride
by R. V. Seep
WinePress Publishing, 1-57921-524-6, PB, 199 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Ralph C. Schaafsma

This book is a heart to heart chat between a father and his daughter as he prepares her for the covenant relationship of marriage. These so-called "chats," however, are actually long, rambling, sentimental, and often of more value to dads than daughters. The book is sincere in its effort to provide biblical advice to a new wife, and several of the personal illustrations and life lessons are entertaining and somewhat insightful.

Whereas most brides-to-be would consider this book maudlin and sappy, it will bring good memories to mind for dads and may provide some ideas for dads to use in having a final chat with a daughter before turning her over to the new man in her life.

Rev. Ralph C. Schaafsma is Senior Pastor of Clearwater Community Church of Ohio.

Government To Set Ozone Example
(Friday, October 8, 2004) - This year’s ozone season came to a successful end in Allen County as of September 30th, meaning that we were able to meet attainment guidelines. Tony Burrus, Allen County Safety and Environmental Director, tells the County Commissioners, an appointed Task Force continues to work behind the scenes to keep the County from encountering future problems.

According to Burrus, “One of the recommendations for next year’s season is to address the Public Agencies and to have them adopt policies to reduce their activity during ozone days. Such as not filling up when possible during an ozone alert day, not utilizing drive-thru restaurants and/or bank windows during those days, and not mowing lawns or properties on ozone days.” Burrus says, “We set the example, and come back with some other ideas, as well as develop some public awareness and media alert days; that is what we are going to undertake next year, and then expand upon those in the future.”

County Gets GIS Award

John McGauley

(Thursday, October 7, 2004) - The Allen County iMap System which runs the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has received an award for excellence from ESRI, which is a nationwide vendor that supplies GIS systems all over the country. County Information Officer John McGauley tells the Aboite Independent, “ESRI recognized our county for doing it right, for taking a program that was really in its infancy in the last year or two and turning it into fully functional system that produces good results, selling data to users all over the county, and bringing back some of the taxpayer investment, and really excelling among its peers.” According to McGauley, there are many different uses for this GIS data.

McGauley says, “Certain pieces of this data are available for sale. The fees vary pretty widely depending on what you’re looking for. It can be as little as 30 or 40 bucks for entire neighborhood’s worth of data. But it really depends on what you’re looking for.”
According to McGauley, This is a rather prestigious award, “There are over a hundred-thousand sites worldwide that ESRI services with GIS equipment and software, and we were one of 150 that got this award this year. That’s amazing, we’re in a class by ourselves.” To learn more about the available GIS data, contact the Allen County Department of Planning Services at (260) 449-7607.

Uniform Savings

Bruce Little

(Wednesday, October 6, 2004) - When it comes to saving money, there’s a lot to be said for volume buying. With that in mind, Allen County Purchasing Director Bruce Little has put together an agreement with Aramark Uniform Services to provide uniforms to County employees under the same contract conditions and pricing structure accorded to the City of Fort Wayne. Little says, “This comes as a big advantage for the County.”

The new contract will go into effect January 1, 2005 and continue through December 31 2007. Little is still crunching figures, but tells the Commissioners, “For Building Maintenance and Service Station employees alone this will translate into at least $15-hundred savings a year. For the Highway Department that figure will probably be even greater.”

Lutheran Air Flying High
(Monday, October 4, 2004) - The Lutheran Air helicopter, which first took flight in May, is providing a great deal more service than initially expected. Lutheran CEO Tom Miller tells the Aboite Independent, “We’re almost double what we anticipated doing when we set the program up.”

Miller says, “When you consider that we serve 23 counties, what hasn’t been provided in this community is focus toward cardiac care and bringing those patients in and getting them from the outlying hospitals to the cath lab within 30 minutes, and we’ve been very successful at that.”

Buckner Farm Park Opens
(Saturday, October, 2, 2004) - The City of Fort Wayne has officially opened Buckner Farm Park, a 197.8 acre facility just west of I-69 on Bass Road. Parks and Recreation Director Diane Hoover says a portion of the land was acquired in 1969, and a more recent purchase of the Flaugh Farm (about a year-and-a-half ago) allows access to the property from Bass Road, and was made possible by a Federal grant through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. According to Hoover, portions of the Park will be developed, but present use is very passive with trails.

City Councilman Tom Hayhurst notes the new park borders on Bass Road, which is the northern boundary of Aboite Township.

Tom Hayhurst

Voter Registration Deadline Monday
(Wednesday, September 29, 2004) - Monday is the deadline to register for those who want to vote in the November 2nd Presidential Election. Alan Tio, a Chief Deputy in the Allen County Voter Registration Office tells the Aboite Independent, “All registrations must be postmarked by that date in order to be processed for the November 2nd election.

He says the Voter Registration Office is open Monday through Friday 8 to 4:30, so folks can register here through Monday. You can also register at any license branch in the area, however folks should note that if you’re depending or registering at the license branch, they’re beginning new hours next week so they’re going to be closed on Monday. So the last chance to register at the license branch will actually be Friday.” It’s also possible to initiate the registration process online, at www.allencounty.us.

John McGauley

Parent Internet Safety Meeting
(Tuesday, September 28, 2004) - There’s a ‘For Parents Only’ meeting tonight in the Homestead High School Community Room. Joe Martin, a security specialist at IBM will lead an Internet Safety Meeting. Lynne Lain, School Counselor at Covington Elementary tells the Aboite Independent the hour-long program will begin at 7pm, and is a presentation of Northeast Indiana InfraGard, a group of professionals who volunteer their time to educate the public about technology concerns.

DSANI Buddy Walk
(Friday, September 24, 2004) - The Down Syndrome Association of Northeast Indiana holds its annual Buddy Walk tomorrow at Foster Park. Co-Chair Julie Tutwiler tells the Aboite Independent, “There are a couple ways for people to get involved. Obviously the number one way is to come out and walk with us, and if they can’t do that, they can make a pledge by calling us at 471-9964, or they can go to our website which is www.dsani.org, and go to the Buddy Walk section, and then that will link them to another site where they can make a pledge on line. They can make a general donation or a donation in the name of someone. But obviously our number one choice is for them to come out and walk with us.” This year’s event is even more special for Tutwiler, her son Griffin, who has Down Syndrome has been chosen, and his photograph will appear in a video to be shown in Times Square New York to kick-off the Buddy Walk there. Griffin is a first grade student at Haverhill Elementary.

(Thursday, September 23, 2004) - The Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home is sponsoring a workshop entitled “How Men Grieve, and How Others Can Help”. It takes place tomorrow at The Chapel. Michael Handlin, Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home Bereavement Coordinator tells the Aboite Independent the presentation will be made by Neil Chethik of Lexington, Kentucky, an expert, and author of the book “Fatherloss’. According to Handlin, “This topic is important because so little is written about it.”

Al Denson

Jason Stiffler

(Monday, July 26, 2004) - Jason Stiffler is a hero. As reported in the July 12th edition of the Aboite Independent, the 20-year old Bluffton man was seriously injured while serving in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan in 2002. Since then his life has been one of frustration trying to cope with paralysis, both in his body and in his government. That is until recently when he stopped at Fort Wayne Lincoln-Mercury to look for a van. There he met sales manager Jess Kincaid who started the ball rolling not only for Stiffler to get a handicapped-accessible and operable van, but also to receive an outpouring of gratitude and gifts from area merchants and individuals.

After receiving the keys to the van Saturday, Stiffler told the gathering, “I’m overwhelmed. I want to thank everybody for showing up and donating today. I really appreciate all these great gifts that were donated to me, and I can’t express in words how I really feel about everything. It’s really great.” Since returning home, Stiffler has gotten the attention of government officials at the highest level, including Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi, and says he has hopefully spared other soldiers the frustration he’s endured.

Jacki Stiffler

l - r: Jess Kincaid, Jason Stiffler, Jacki Stiffler

Kincaid concludes, “We all would like to contribute, not only to Jason, but to every serviceman that’s anywhere in the world going through the things they’re going through now. Jason provided us with the opportunity to say thank you, and feel like we are part of the team. I don’t always know a lot about different government agencies, and how these things work, but I do understand this: We the people can contribute. We the people can take control, can help, and can change the direction of the Country and direction of the world just by our participation. I know that people would love to have that participation, but we don’t always know when, or where, or how. This one small cause has given a number of us an opportunity to know when, and where, and how we could affect Fort Wayne, Indiana, the United States and the world by contributing and showing our support.”

From our point of view, Jason Stiffler is a hero, and is more than worthy of our respect and thanks. But because of Jason’s sacrifice, others here at home have been given an opportunity to become heroes as well. Those who have contributed, and those who have cared also deserve our praise.

“He is a hero, he fought for this country, and he did his job, but he still feels like he needs to be over there to help. And it hurts him a lot to know he can’t be there anymore, because he is injured. I’m just so happy and glad that there are people out there that care.” - Jacki Stiffler


Published exclusively on the Internet, the Aboite Independent is read world-wide. Jason Stiffler has a word of encouragement to share with other soldiers wherever they might be. We’ll share his thoughts with you in an upcoming edition.

“I don’t let it get me down.” - Jason Stiffler

LHN Growing Again?
(Saturday, June 19, 2004) - It appears Lutheran Health Network is growing again. Dukes Memorial Hospital of Peru, Indiana has expressed interest in becoming a member of the Triad Hospital organization. According to Dukes officials, “After a long and thorough search of national health care organizations, Dukes Memorial Hospital is pleased to announce its intent to negotiate an agreement to affiliate with Lutheran Health Network as a member of the Triad Hospital organization. The next step is for Dukes Memorial Hospital and the Triad organization to reach a concrete agreement as to the terms of the process. Dukes and Triad will be negotiating with each other in exclusivity during this period.

At the end of that period, a series of public hearings will be conducted to advertise the specific details of the affiliation. The choice of Lutheran Triad as the primary affiliation candidate was made by an Affiliation Partner Selection Committee, comprised of Miami County Commissioners, Miami County Councilmen, the Dukes Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees and Dukes Memorial Hospital management.”

Michael Funk, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dukes Memorial tells the Aboite Independent, “What that means is we are going to be working exclusively with them for the next 90 to 120 days doing due diligence in preparation for what we hope is a definitive agreement on their purchase of Dukes Memorial Hospital.” And he says, “We are very optimistic and excited about the opportunity to be joining both Triad and Lutheran Healthcare Network, because of their reputation, and because of the types of things that we have seen in making site visits to various facilities that they operate.” Given the benefits of the proposal, Funk says, “I would like it to be sooner rather than later, but we have basically agreed that October1, is a good approximate date.”

Parents Are Stupid
(Thursday, May 13, 2004) - 'Parents are stupid.' A comment made more than once by a panel of teen experts addressing drug use in Southwest Allen County. In all, nine young people sat on the panel to air their views on drug use, and to answer questions from about 40 people attending the final NAND (No Alcohol No Drug) parent meeting of the season.

One of the panelists, who spoke with the Aboite Independent on condition of anonymity, went even further in his criticism of today's parents.

This young person who was a former user, and is now clean, then took the time to summarize some key points made at the meeting.

•Are drugs in Southwest Allen County a problem?

"Big time, huge problem."

•What's the drug of choice?

"Marijuana, alcohol is probably the biggest."

•At what age does drug activity begin, and when does it really take off?

"For me it was 7th grade, a lot of people start off experimenting that early, but really when it picks up is around 9th grade, 10th grade, as soon as you get in High School, boom it's everywhere."

•Why do young people do it?

"They're bored. There's not a lot of youth sponsored activity in Fort Wayne that kids in this area really get into. In fact, the running thing in school is, 'Man, I wish there was something to do in Fort Wayne. Well there's not, so let's go over to such-and-such's house and we'll get bombed'."

•What are the warning signs, what should parents be looking for?

"Kids who are withdrawn into themselves, may be a change in friends for the worse, a loss of trust, you find them lying to you more often, it's actually a big red flag, that's my number one thought."

•How can we shut off the supply of drugs, where do they come from, and is there a way to prevent kids from getting them?

"Drugs can be gotten anywhere in this area at the very least, all over the City as a matter of fact. A lot of times it's from older people, and I'm not quite sure how you'd shut that down, it's so widespread."

•What is the best way to combat drug use in a young person's life?

"You have to be involved, you have to have trust, your kid has to be involved in extra-curricular activities, may be something just to keep them interested in life, to keep them going, and the lines of communication absolutely have to be open."

•You have been able to turn your life around, how did you do that? What steps did you take? What brought you to a realization that you had to change? What made that change come about?

"I've got to hand it over to Allen County Juvenile Court and the good people at the Indiana Department of Corrections. They managed to toss me around enough, and I managed to get into just enough trouble that I realized that my life was worth something, and I shouldn't be sitting in a prison cell for the rest of my life. At that point I turned around and started hitting 'Anonymous' meetings, and I've been clean and sober ever since."

The panel of young people also offered a number of other suggestions to parents, among them:

a) Know your child.
b) Set standards, and follow through with punishments.
c) Be awake when your kids come home from activities.
d) Be involved in your kid's life and activities.
e) Be understanding, give your kids an out.
f) If necessary take away their passion (car keys, video games, etc.).
g) Leave no doubt that drugs and alcohol are not acceptable in your household.

Several of the students went on record as favoring random, mandatory drug testing, and also recommended more frequent, unannounced school searches with drug dogs.

Taylor University of Fort Wayne - Professional Writing Program
Doc Hensley: The Man Who Turns Ordinary Folks into Successful Authors
By Clement Arlington

Dr. Dennis E. Hensley

If you've ever said, "Man, I could write a book on that," you're not alone. Many people at one time or another have given thought to writing a book or at least a magazine article. Most folks give up on the idea, however, due to lack of encouragement, writing training, or understanding of how to go about the marketing procedures of freelance writing.

But that's not so of more than 250 people in Fort Wayne. These folks, ranging in ages from 15 to 72, have enrolled in professional writing classes being offered at Taylor University Fort Wayne and within six months have started selling articles, poems, short stories, and even book manuscripts.

"We don't waste time teaching literary theory," explains Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, director of the Taylor professional writing major and himself the author of more than 40 books. "We get right into the pragmatic aspects of how to write professionally, how to get your name in print and how to start earning money as a writer."

Hensley does this by actually bringing editors, literary agents, and successfully published authors into his classes to explain how the business of professional writing works. He also uses his many connections in the world of publishing to land writing assignments for his students.

"I show my students exactly how the writing business works," explains Hensley, "and then I start opening doors for them. Once they get their first break or two, they can take it from there."

How successful is the program? Hensley came to Taylor in the fall of 1997 and began the professional writing program with only two students enrolled. Today, there are 60 full-time writing majors in the program and more than 100 others who take classes on a part-time basis, either for college credit or just to audit the courses to learn the material.

"Each summer we run a one-week writers' camp where we accept 30 students for five days of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. classes in writing," says Hensley. "We allow anyone with at least an eleventh grade education to enroll. We usually draw about 20 high school students from all across the country and then ten other people of every age from 20 to 70."

Hensley, known around campus as "Doc," also teaches evening courses that meet once per week on such topics as "Screenwriting," "Fiction Writing," and "Freelance Writing." During the day, courses are offered in "Basic Reporting," "Public Relations Writing," and "Business and Technical Writing." During January, two and three-week intensive specialty writing courses are offered on such topics as "Crime and Mystery Writing," "Writing for the Teen Market," and "Writing for Religious Markets."

Hensley holds four university degrees in communications, including a Ph.D. in English from Ball State. He has written more than 3,000 newspaper and magazine articles for such publications as Reader's Digest, The Writer, Essence, and Success, among hundreds of others. He is a recipient of the "Indiana University Award for Teaching Excellence" and the "Dorothy Hamilton Memorial Writing Award."

Though the Taylor program is only six years old, it was voted the nation's leading professional writing program in 2003 by The Christian Communicator magazine. To date, Taylor's students have had more than 700 of their manuscripts accepted for publication, and several students have won national writing contests.

"I came here three years ago from Ohio as a freshman in the writing program," says TUFW senior Heather Neilson. "Since then I have had my reviews, devotions, articles, interviews, and short stories accepted by national magazines and I've even landed a book deal with Zondervan Publishers. It was my dream since grade school to be an author, and Taylor has already made that dream come true."

Similarly, Fort Wayne resident Melanie Spence says, "I'm a wife, mother, grandmother, and full-time employee, so I can take classes only part-time. Nevertheless, even though I've taken only three writing classes at Taylor during the past 18 months, my publishing success has been amazing. I won the national short story contest sponsored by Writer's Journal magazine in December of 2003, I've had a dozen of my book and movie and music reviews published in Church Libraries, my devotions have sold to The Secret Place, and several of my interviews and feature articles have sold to various other national magazines. And what's so incredible is, I had never sold an article in my life before enrolling at Taylor!"

"Doc" Hensley is not resting on the program's laurels. Already underway are plans to offer a one-year "Certificate in Professional Writing" and to develop writing classes that can be taken online from Taylor.

"I've enjoyed a long and enjoyable career as an author," says Hensley, "but now my joy comes from helping others become published writers."

Persons interested in more information about the writing courses and programs at Taylor University Fort Wayne may call the Office of Admissions at (260) 744-8600 or the Department of English at 744-8647.

Hodge Patel. Click picture for video.

"In 2003, Senator Bayh was contacted by the mayor and by the chief and was asked to help support a project here with funding with Fire Act Grants for communications and technology in the amount of $237,000. Several calls were made between the City and the Senator, and then the Senator in turn made contact with the folks at FEMA repeatedly urging them to provide this important funding to the 220,000 citizens here, the residents in Fort Wayne, that they can have access to better fire protection as well as the opportunity for better police protection. So, Senator Bayh then is proud to be working with the City of Fort Wayne, with the mayor and fire chief to make sure that the citizens here in Indiana are receiving their tax dollars back, and that they are safe."

Fort Wayne Fire Chief Tim Davie says purchase of the video conferencing equipment will enable firefighters to remain in their stations while training. It will reduce the instructional time to about one-third the present commitment, and improve the department's already impressive 2003 emergency response time of 4.6 minutes. It will also provide an additional communications resource in times of trouble.

Fire Chief Time Davie. Click picture for video.

"So in the event that we have an emergency here in the city, we can come together immediately to discuss things with each other face to face through video conferencing and strategize how we're going to handle these situations. So, we're very excited about it, it's new for the City of Fort Wayne, it's gonna be a great tool for the fire department and it's just the basis for right now to build upon bigger and better things. We're really happy that Senator Bayh's office took part in this as well as the 9th floor and the mayor, fully supporting this initiative in providing matching funds; 'cause without the matching funds we would not have been able to secure the grant. And so it' s just a great thing for the City of Fort Wayne and the department."

Mayor Graham Richard. Click picture for video.

Mayor Graham Richard says this is a wonderful resource for the community and is part of an on-going effort by his administration for greater government efficiency through technology.

"This is part of an on going process that we're asking every day, what can we do to deliver the services better, faster, with less cost. And so it came out of those discussions from one of our technology teams. And we continue to do this even more as we face the budget crunch that we continue to see because of the national recession. Revenues are down, we will have to do this even more as we expand to handle the Aboite annexation."

The 70/30 matching grant money will soon be available; in the meantime the City of Fort Wayne is already meeting with vendors, the first step in the bidding process for the purchase of the equipment. Chief Davie says he'd like to see the first phase of the program operational in the first quarter of this year.

Located at the north end of the Lutheran Hospital campus, the Hospitality House can host six families with all the comforts of home, and then some. In addition to the six sleep rooms, each with private bath, there's a group kitchen with a well-stocked pantry, a green room with fireplace, a library/meeting room with computer stations, children's play room, television room and meditation area. While located within easy walking distance of Lutheran Hospital, the Hospitality House is open to families who have children in any Fort Wayne hospital.

Kehoe is the only full-time employee, but the facility will be staffed 24/7. The building will be locked from 5:30pm to 8am, and guests will have key-card access. According to Kehoe, a lot of high school students want to do volunteer work, reading books to children or playing board games with them; a plan to help brothers and sisters of the ill from feeling neglected. Other weekend volunteers will prepare crockpot meals, bake bread, cookies and so forth. Kehoe is planning once-a-month Saturday sessions to give volunteers an overview of operations, along with training and preparation.

Children's Hope Hospitality House is a member of the National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses. In planning this facility, board members visited a number of other similar homes to see what works and what doesn't

Kehoe expects the home will soon have to expand, and it's been designed with plans for an additional six sleep rooms. She says the facility is primarily designed for families or parents who have children in the hospital, perhaps for weeks at a time, and who have to travel 60 miles or so from home. Here, in addition to lodging, they can get away from the hospital, get a shower, take a nap, get something to eat and share their experiences with other families. In addition, it's a place where grandparents, children, other relatives and even friends can come to visit.

Residents will be admitted by medical professional or pastoral referral only. The cost is 5-dollars per night, and that includes everything. Kehoe says if that's a hardship for anyone, a sponsor will be found. Residents will be allowed to stay for seven consecutive nights, and if no new families are on the waiting list they can return for another week.

Presently the greatest need is to stock the pantry. If you can help, Kehoe requests individual small packaged foods rather than items that have to be bulk-stored in large containers. Volunteers and money are always welcome. Last year a Kids Helping Kids basketball tournament raised 23,000 dollars, and another, bigger one is planned for this coming March 5,6,7 at Spiece Field House. It's expected to attract teams from all over the state. Proceeds from a late summer golf tournament will also support the House.

Kehoe says this is "real exciting, after so many years of work and fund-raising, that it's a reality; and it's been a great dream for many people, and a lot of community support. It will be so nice to be a place where people can feel comfort."

For more information go to www.childrenshopefw.org.