Sycamore Hills Blaze Destroys Barrister's Home

The home of Harry Foster, a prominent local attorney, was destroyed by fire yesterday. Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly two hours on Saturday afternoon to no avail. No human lives were lost in the Sycamore Hills blaze, but two pets were lost in the fire.

Intersection of Bass and Scott re-opens

Hats off to the Allen County Highway Department on two separate counts on this project:

1. This intersection was scheduled to be closed until the end of December to complete this construction. Bringing it in 30 days early is outstanding!

2. The results - I was amazed as I approached Scott Road's "t-intersection" with Bass Road today. Before the improvements (including hill cuts), one had to nose nearly into the eastbound traffic lane of Bass to see oncoming traffic. And you couldn't see very far due to hills in each direction. Now you can easily see a good half mile in either direction before you even get near the intersection!

Grateful thanks to public servants for a job well done!

A Windy Night in Aboite

Shot in my backyard earlier this evening:

Aqua Indiana: "Bend Over Aboite"

From The Journal Gazette:

Aqua Indiana customers will begin paying 50 percent more for their water and sewer utilities next month.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the company’s 75 percent rate increase request last month. The higher rate will be phased in, with a 50 percent spike taking effect in October and the remainder of the increase in June.

Bill Etzler, vice president and regional manager of Aqua Indiana, said customers won’t see the new rate on their bills until November, and because of billing cycles, the full effect won’t be seen until December for most customers. According to the state, the full increases will mean an extra $19 a month for the average sewer customer and an extra $14 a month for typical water customers.

I think it's time for the city of Fort Wayne to take over water and sewage in Aboite as they did last year in northern Allen County.

Obama Office Opens in Aboite

The Barack Obama Campaign has opened a satellite office in Aboite Township. The office is located in The Shoppes at Scott Road at the corner of Scott Road and Illinois Road. Their address is 10369 Illinois Road. Stop by and see them today and help out in any way you can!

Whereinthehellis Aboite?

That question has come up time and again from my blogger buddies from out of state, so I thought I'd take some time and tell you all about it. Since we're expecting a major snowstorm this evening, I don't really have any other plans. . .

Aboite Township is located in southwest Allen County, and was incorporated by the city of Fort Wayne on January 1, 2006, after a long protracted fight. The township's population is roughly 30,000. Clicking on the satellite picture below will take you to a detailed demographic breakdown of Aboite:



Some brief stats:

Males - 48.8% Females - 51.2%

Median resident age - 36.9 years

Median home price - $150,206

Median household income - $74,874

Median property tax - $1,403
Clicking on the following map will provide you with even more demographics for Aboite:


Thanks for visiting our little piece of America - drop by and see us anytime!

Does Aboite have the Blues?

One might think so, after Tom Henry captured 57% of the vote out here. In actuality, Aboite Township suffers from neither a bad case of "the blues" or an episode of "scarlet fever". There's a solid reason why "The Aboite Factor" didn't automatically swing the local mayoral race to the GOP. It's a phenomenon that I first noted last year during the congressional match-up between Mark Souder and Tom Hayhurst, and it carried through to this election cycle: Aboite is comprised mainly of independent voters.

In 2006, the general consensus was that Tom Hayhurst would have his ass handed to him by voters here in Aboite. Yet he carried the township. Indeed, Hayhurst was actually winning the district on that election eve until the results began coming in from Kocsiusko and Elkhart counties, where the rural voters get little information outside of their biased local rags and WOWO radio.

One of the indicators that I had noted from that cycle held true in this one, but fell apart on the lower portion of the ticket: yard signs versus large corporate-sponsored signs. Souder and Kelty both had the "in yer face" large signs placed in front of businesses and corporate owned properties, while local home-owners signs, although smaller in physical size, greatly outweighed them by sheer numbers.

The sole exception was Chris Stewart, who entered the council rate at a late date due to Charles Langley exiting the race. Homeowners rallied behind Stewart as evidenced by their yard-sign support; yet Harper prevailed in that race. Given equal campaign lengths, Stewart likely would have won as he ran a FAR better ground game during his short run.

Take Aboite for granted? Do so at your own peril.

Is it a GOP lock? Obviously not.