New Bishop in FWSB

Article from the New Sentinel

Welcome to Fort Wayne, Bishop Kevin Rhoades from Harrisburg, PA.
More than likely he'll be trading in his philly cheese steaks for some coney dogs. He seems like a very highly qualified bishop, canon law background, former head of a seminary. I can't wait to see what he is going to do to improve our diocese. Seems like a lot of emphasis will be put on catholic identity and education, especially the five colleges.

$45,000 Letter, what a joke!!!!

From today's JG Letter costs city _45_000 | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.

I can think of a list of things that would have been cheaper and saved city utilities this chunk of revenue.

-Passenger pigeons with note saying "I promise not to screw up the electricity"
- Put it on the Tincaps jumbo screen, it's still a viable billboard since the Harrison has been built......yet
-Call Indiana Newscenter and do a press conference, they always need a good story, emphasis on need good story
- Editorial in the JG or the Sentinel
- Put the letter on the city's website
- Put an extra reindeer on the side of National City bank wearing a t-shirt that says "Viva I&M"

Anyone else have any cheaper ideas???

The lights are on but no one seems to be home....

Article published Sep 3, 2009
Consultant backs city's perspective on dispute with I&M

A utility consultant paid $95,000 by the city of Fort Wayne agrees with the city’s position on two major points of contention with Indiana Michigan Power Co.

Helping Fort Wayne prepare for the end of the City Light lease is much more difficult because Indiana Michigan Power Co. is not cooperating, Anand Gangadharan, the chief executive of NOVI Energy, a Novi, Mich., consulting firm, told the city’s Board of Public Works on Wednesday.

Gangadharan also backed the city’s position on its right to serve customers in the lease area after it ends.

He said he and his fellow consultants at NOVI Energy have been thwarted in their efforts on Fort Wayne’s behalf because they have not been allowed close access to the electrical transmission equipment. Instead, they’ve had to do the best inspection they can from behind fences and at a distance. He also said I&M has not responded to requests from the consultant for technical information.

“Is that normal?” City Utilities Director Kumar Menon asked.

“Not at all,” Gangadharan said.

Susanne Moorman Rowe, communications director for I&M, said the utility would allow such inspections, but I&M insists on escorting people around energized equipment.

“We said, ‘Just call us and schedule.’ They never called to schedule,” she said.

On another central dispute between the city and I&M, NOVI Energy also came down on the side of the city. I&M says that under state law, which assigns territories to utilities, it has the right to serve more than 60,000 customers located in the area of the lease – the area served by City Light power in 1974. The city says the lease gives it the right to serve those customers when the lease expires.

“I&M is refusing to acknowledge that the city still owns the distribution franchise,” Gangadharan said.

NOVI Energy was hired by the city in July to help develop a transition plan for the end of its 35-year lease with I&M. The consultant is being paid mainly for its technical analysis and assistance. It also is helping the city develop a request for proposals. Those proposals would come from utilities or utility operators, in addition to I&M, that could operate the utility if the city takes it back after the lease ends in March.

Gangadharan did not say exactly when the city might formally solicit proposals from companies that would operate a municipal utility. But he said it wouldn’t be long.

“There are plenty of qualified operators who can provide the same level of service,” Gangadharan said. “We are essentially hired to find those qualified operators, and we have begun the process.”

It's come to the point where I just can't stand to see the city spend more money on consultants. Every time a contract needs to be renewed or a big decision made, the city run to the bidding table to find someone else to tell them what to do. Between all the elected officials and city employees you would think that their would be a think tank big enough to do some work without all the outside help.
Even as far as this situation with I&M goes, why can't we send our own people over to talk with them, instead of playing the "he said, she said" game with a bunch of hack consultants. Has Fort Wayne government and business gotten so big that decisions can't be made with a couple meetings and a hand shake? I guess so, and I also want to point out the great job I&M did this past winter during the ice storm, they were incredible.
So the next time a decision like this roles around, grab all the six sigma trained employees and the city managers, and lock them in a room until they figure it out.

Student Loan Help Doesn't Help Student with Loans

It seems like on a steady weekly basis I read an article or catch a web ad for student loan assistance. These look like they could offer me some much needed help with my student loans. However, upon further investigation I find out that the help is only for those who are just now applying and going to college.

I attended rallies for both the republicans and the democrats last fall, and I heard the same thing from both parties...."Those with student loan debt will be helped", I took this as a sign that after graduation I would have some sort of avenue to get some financial alleviation, if at the least I was hoping for consolidation with out a steep raise in interest rate.

Turns out that the DC think tank that we elected can't figure out how to get me a few extra bucks. Instead it's much easier for them to help people who are just getting started with college. And let me just be clear I'm 23 I have a BA in Education and I'm in my first year of my career. Someone who is 18 and has only accomplished high school and someone who is 20 years into a career and stalling because of a lack of a diploma can both get more student loan assistance than I can.

So I propose that if you are a college graduate who has at least a 4-year degree from an accredited college, and you have started a career within the first year of graduating, and you have stayed in your home state to work. You should have half of you student loan debt forgiven by the US government. This would reduce our monthly debt, and cut our payment plans in half, making our ability to spend money that much more powerful.

Chances are that I am going to organize some recent graduates into a activist group and we're gonna tug on ears until we get some help.......anyone interested? I have all summer to do this.

Pirates are real?!?!?!?!?!

I'm sorry, but MSNBC really doesn't need to dumb it down for us this much. I understand that there are pirates in modern seafaring times. This women acts likes she is reporting on a UFO sighting or an Elvis sighting, quit with the funny and give me the news. And while I am complaining, who is the genius funny guy in the art design dept. that thought about using the jolly roger as the symbol for that backdrop. Jack Sparrow and the commodore of the queens navy are going at it in the south seas. speed boats with machete and AK-47 wielding Somalians are taking down corporate tankers.

Oh well, at least Blackwater will get a second chance at the security market with the new need for armed personnel on ships. Not that it is a real need, but with all this press people will demand it be done.

Are you ready for some baseball???

Finally I have been waiting forever for this, Parkview Field looks great, the Tincaps are coming into the game with a winning start (undefeated). I have tickets for Thurs and Fri, and for other games throughout the season. I just can't wait for everyone to enjoy themselves and put all the critics to bed on the Harrison Square initiative.

I'll be sitting in the home run porch for the season, can't wait to throw back a home run ball from a whitecaps game, woo.

Time for someone else to shine....

This opinion article was published this morning by the JG. I understand that the recent surge of Young republicans in the county has been beneficial for the GOP, but 15 years in a position is long enough to inflict change and establish a good party. The GOP in Allen County needs some new faces, especially after the political hail storms we have had over the past few years. So please, don't support Steve Shine, support change. I know it's a dead horse theme, but change in this case is a good thing.

Published: March 2, 2009 3:00 a.m.

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Shine has been a model for youth

Adam Welch

As a young Republican, I have read with interest the stories about the upcoming election for Allen County GOP chairman.

Since 1993, Chairman Steve Shine has done more than bring victories for Allen County Republicans. More importantly, and often unnoticed to the public eye, he has diversified the local Republican Party more than ever before.

Shine has reached out not only to minorities and women but also to young people. He encouraged the formation of the IPFW College Republicans, which began in 2006 and gave our group numerous opportunities to meet with him and other party leaders.

Shine wasn’t just the head of the Republican Party to me – he was a friend. He took our group under his wing and was willing and able to help whenever needed. He realizes that organizations such as the Young Republicans, the Teenage Republicans and the College Republicans are the future of the party, and he makes it a priority to let us be as actively involved as we want to be. None of these actions of friendship and encouragement granted Shine any direct benefit, other than growing the party to represent both diversity and inclusiveness.

But this diversity and inclusion doesn’t just end with the young of the party. Since 1993, our party has gone to places where we have never been before by putting forth a tremendous outreach to African-Americans, women, Hispanics and all other minority groups in the community. The Allen County Republican Party has formed a venue for anyone who wants an opportunity to express their Republican principles.

Life is often defined by those people who allow us to mature in our talents and achieve better and brighter things as time passes. While multiple people have played a key role in my time as a resident of Allen County, there is no doubt that Shine is one of those people who has changed my path for the better with the endless opportunities he provided both me and my peers.

Shine has often found himself in no-win situations, yet he has continued to work adamantly to do what he feels is best for both Allen County and the GOP.

In his 2008 State of the Party address, he talked about the importance of coming together on the issues that unite Republicans most, and that is what the party did, leading to a sweep in the 2008 election.

I hope these successes will be acknowledged by re-electing the man who has provided strong leadership for the past 16 years.

On behalf of many fellow young Republicans, I ask all Allen County precinct committee men and women to support Shine on March 7.

Adam Welch is a student at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne who is interning in Sen. Richard Lugar’s Washington office. He wrote this for The Journal Gazette.

Copyright © 2009 The Journal Gazette. All rights reserved. News service copy is used with permission. The information contained in the report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Journal Gazette or granting news service.