About: Scott Spaulding
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Posts by Scott Spaulding:
The Speech
1/19/09 @ 11:36 am
Full text of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, given on August 28, 1963:
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
Filed Under Featured, National Politics | 4 Comments
Help get high-speed rail in the stimulus package
12/8/08 @ 2:17 pm
From the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association:
Dear Concerned Citizen:
President-elect Obama has stated that he wants to have a major stimulus package ready to sign in his first week in office.
Improving Amtrak service and starting work on high-speed rail should be in that package, but they are not.
The Midwest High Speed Rail Association is working to get fast trains included in the stimulus package.
Please visit www.midwesthsr.org/stimulus and send a message to Washington today.
This campaign is sponsored by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association.
This message is being sent to you by Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association (NIPRA). Your support is vital to bringing efficient passenger rail to Fort Wayne. Please act today!
Feel free to forward this to any friends!
Thanks!NIPRA
Filed Under National Politics | 24 Comments
Early Voting Indicates Record Turnout
11/4/08 @ 2:34 pm
According to a local newspaper, early voting for this 2008 election numbers 30,440 voters out of a pool of 253,313 eligible in the county.
In the 2004 election, the early birds totaled 15,716 out of a possible 225,967 voters.
That’s roughly double the amount of early voting.
The turnout for the county in 2004 was 58.4%.
Neil over at Political Equinox is on point with today’s big question:
“Will the newly registered voters brave the LONG lines to vote or will they give up after seeing the wait?”
Filed Under 2008 Local Elections, 2008 National Elections, Featured | Leave a Comment
YLNI Candidates Night Tonight
10/27/08 @ 8:28 am
From YLNI newsletter:
Be informed about local candidates before heading to the polls Nov. 4 (or before for early voting happening now at the City-County Building).
When: Monday, October 27th (TODAY) starting at 6 p.m.
Where: Meeting rooms in the downtown branch of the Allen County Public Library. Parking is free with a library card.Open to the publicMeet candidates appearing on Allen County ballots that evening, and listen to their ideas on how they want to make northeast Indiana a better place to live, work and play as your elected official. National races get plenty of attention, but often local and statewide races can come down to just a few votes, so get yourself informed about the candidates’ positions at this important event. It’s designed for the political junkies and political novices alike. Your vote is your voice so come out tonight to find out more.
Filed Under 2008 Local Elections, Featured, Local Politics, State Politics | Leave a Comment
Is Police Co-Location Worth $10 Million?
10/1/08 @ 11:15 am
From WANE:
“It seemed like perfect timing: the lease on the FWPD’s building will be up in a year and the sheriff’s department’s been looking for a new home for quite a while.
But in the end, it all came down to money.
County and city leaders met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the cost of putting both departments into one building. It would run more than $20 million and officials say they’re $10 million short.
Both sides say they’re disappointed, but feel they’ve made the right decision for taxpayers.”
[...]
“County Councilman Nelson Peters says, “I think that it’s important to keep in mind those people that we represent - the taxpayers - who would effectively have to pick up that bill and ask the question as to whether a $10 million pricetag at this point is worth having city and county police in one building.”"
What say you, Fort Wayne Politics readers?
Would it be beneficial to the long-term health of Fort Wayne and Allen County to scrounge up $10 million in order to have both police departments located together at the City-County Building?
Should our elected representatives find a way to make it work or should they let each party go their own separate ways?
Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 19 Comments
Controller Roller To Roll Out Dec 31st
9/16/08 @ 11:24 am
As reported by Mitch Harper at Fort Wayne Observed and confirmed via City press release, City Controller Pat Roller will be leaving her position at the end of this year.
From the release:
“Mayor Tom Henry announced Sept. 16 that City Controller Pat Roller has informed him of her intention to step down from the position effective December 31, 2008. In a letter dated September 2, Roller thanked the mayor for the opportunity to work with him. Roller has served as Controller, the Chief Financial Officer position of the City, since January 2004. ”
[...]
“Roller said she is exploring several opportunities for the next step in her professional path. “I’ve learned so much from serving in this position,” said Roller. “I think it’s an invaluable opportunity for anyone to see firsthand how committed public employees are to working for the citizens and to making the most of the taxpayers’ dollars and their trust. I am impressed with those with whom I’ve worked and I am proud to have served.”
Mayor Henry said the City will be posting Roller’s position immediately.”
Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 7 Comments
The Marx-ist Struggle
7/22/08 @ 10:45 am
Phil Marx, of the blog My HUD House, has been featured in the most recent edition of Fort Wayne Reader:
Inner city blues
Blogger Phil Marx of My H.U.D. House chronicles his day-to-day struggles with drug dealers and his frustrations with the F.W.P.D.
Link (Fort Wayne Reader)
“Late one October night in 2006, a Molotov cocktail exploded on the back porch of Phil Marx’s house. Another burst in the back yard, while a third smoldered in the front.
Marx doesn’t live in Baghdad or Mogadishu or Kabul. He lives in Fort Wayne, in a house on East Suttenfield just a few blocks from the headquarters of the Fort Wayne Police Department. For almost 13 years, Marx has been waging a war with the drug dealers in his neighborhood who use his corner — and sometimes his front yard — as a place to do business”
Be sure to check out the full article!
Related FWP posts:
Marx Is Still The Best (2008-05-09)
Are You Reading The Best Blog In Town? (2008-03-11)
Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 8 Comments
Formal Complaint Filed Regarding Canyon Cliffs Ethics
7/16/08 @ 11:39 am
Planners’ conflicts alleged
Ethics commission will look at Bodenhafer, Neumeister
(
News-Sentinel)
“Sixteen opponents of a controversial housing development have filed formal complaints against two Allen County Plan Commission members, alleging a conflict of interest has influenced their actions in the past – and possibly in the future.
The Allen County Ethics Commission could consider the complaints as soon as next week, but not before the plan commission’s expected vote Thursday on developer Mike Thomas’ Canyon Cliffs project, which would build 28 homes on 139 acres near Cedar Creek, one of Indiana’s three designated natural scenic and recreational rivers.
Critics allege that Commission President Chuck Bodenhafer has a conflict of interest because he helped approve new development guidelines used in the project and because he owns the land on which the homes would be built. They say board member Ken Neumeister, a friend of Bodenhafer, has a conflict because as owner of Liberty Construction Co. he could profit from any future building activity.
Both men could be removed from their appointed, unpaid appointments on the plan commission if the ethics commission rules they violated the county’s conflict-of-interest policy.”
Filed Under Local Politics | 3 Comments
Boondoggle Road Slips In Before Referendum
6/24/08 @ 3:39 pm
$55 million Maplecrest extension approved ( News-Sentinel)
“Less than a week after a majority of members expressed serious doubts about the project, Allen County Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the extension of Maplecrest Road from Lake Avenue south to Adams Center Road
The 6-1 vote in favor of a $25 million construction bond should allow work on the 1.5-mile, $55 million project to begin next year, said County Commissioner Nelson Peters, acknowledging that “we worked hard to sell the project.””
Filed Under Featured, Local Politics | 27 Comments
Canyon Cliffs Moves To July 10
6/20/08 @ 9:10 am
Subdivison goes to full panel
July 10 hearing for Canyon Cliffs (
Journal Gazette)
Supporters and opponents will have another chance to debate the merits of a northern Allen County luxury home development proposed on the Allen County Plan Commission president’s property.
The plan commission’s executive committee could not come to a unanimous decision Thursday, so the project will be sent back to the full plan commission for another public hearing July 10.
Allen County Commissioner Bill Brown cast the lone vote against the 28-home subdivision proposed northeast of Coldwater and Chapman roads. Brown said he wanted the entire plan commission to review plans for the Canyon Cliffs subdivision.
