Hey Locals,

We’re celebrating three years of our newsletter this month with a special anniversary edition of Above the Fold filled with reflections on our work thus far and what's next for us in 2026. Speaking of that: Save the Date for our first Local Live event on March 10 in partnership with the History Center. Details below!

In Briefs, we have the latest on City Council's changes to public comment sessions and Downtown Fort Wayne’s long-awaited grocery store. Plus, an alter ego for the TinCaps this spring.

In our To Do List, we share ways to support local bands and theatre and maybe share some impromptu spoken word of your own at the ACPL’s Poetry Slam!

Don’t pho-get: In February, we’re partnering with Banh Mi Pho Shop on Fairfield to bring all paid subscribers to The Local a FREE Boba tea drink with the purchase of any food item ($5 or more).

Now, let’s get started.

NOTE: Links to Journal Gazette articles are marked(*) and may be behind a paywall.

Anniversary Edition:

Three years of The Local!

What's happening?

The Local is celebrating our third birthday this month and reflecting on everything that’s happened since we first dropped into your inboxes in February 2023. We’re excited (and proud) to have grown this community to 3500+ subscribers, and our work wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated paid members – including those who have been with us from the beginning. This Thursday, we’re taking a trip down memory lane with paid subscribers to reflect on why we founded this newsletter, what it’s become and where it’s going. We’d love your input, too! Hit reply to this email, and let us know what questions you have about The Local.

We also have a special event in March to meet you IRL at the History Center!

Join us on Tuesday, March 10, at 6 p.m. for The Local Live at the History Center. Our reporter, Rachel Horton, will moderate a conversation with local historians and experts, including History Center Executive Director Todd Pelfrey and authors Randy Harter and John Beatty. We’ll cover topics ranging from Fort Wayne’s geography and development to the city’s cultural influences. This event is open to the public, so spread the word. We look forward to seeing you!

• City Council amended municipal code last week, moving public comment to the beginning of first and third Tuesdays each month. Previously, comment was held at the end of (often lengthy) meetings on second and fourth Tuesdays – after bills had already been voted on and passed. Representatives across the political aisle supported changing times for public comment as a way to ensure citizens can speak to council before bills and ordinances are voted on. Council President Marty Bender (R-At Large) says it may also help streamline meeting schedules and save the city overtime pay for employees in attendance. The change comes after Bender unexpectedly canceled public comment at council’s first meeting in January. Councilwoman Rohli Booker (D-6) added an amendment codifying that two-thirds of council must vote to change the agenda in the future, as a "safeguard to restrict a president from unnecessarily changing the meeting,” WANE 15 reports.
• Downtown Fort Wayne might (finally) get a grocery store, thanks to Sweetwater Founder Chuck Surack of Surack Enterprises. Last week, Mayor Sharon Tucker announced the new grocery in her State of the City address, noting it’s expected to open in the first half of 2027 at the former Perfection Bakery building near the Pearl Street Arts Center and apartments. Surack tells The JG* the 30,000-sq.-ft. market’s cost and name are TBD, but it will be modeled after the Pontiac Street Market with a larger selection of items, including a bakery, deli, meat market and dry goods. The Perfection Bakery building also offers 40-50 new parking spaces nearby. Developers hope the grocery supports several major Downtown housing projects underway, including The Landing Exchange nearby – which city leaders also said might have a Downtown market on its first-floor (5,000 sq. ft.). We’ve asked Community Development for clarification as to whether a market is still planned for The Landing Exchange, and we’re waiting to hear back.
• The TinCaps are debuting a new alternate identity in 2026 to celebrate Fort Wayne’s railroad history. On Wednesday night home games May-August, the team will don jerseys and hats as the Fort Wayne Pufferbellies, honoring the city's historic Pufferbelly engines, like the No. 765, that helped make it an industrial hub. See the new gear and promotional video on the team’s website. Across the minor league, many teams use alternate identities as promotional strategies to celebrate their region’s history or geography. (Just ask the Reading Iced Coffees.)
• Do it Best Corp. is seeking a total of $250,000 in city and county funds to support its $12 million expansion at Electric Works, creating 180 new jobs with an average hourly wage of $46.82. However, it’s unclear whether the city and county will support it. In 2021, the county agreed to invest $2 million over the course of seven years to help Do it Best move its headquarters from New Haven to Fort Wayne’s Electric Works campus. Do it Best also received a $2 million match from the City of Fort Wayne. Since then, Do it Best has grown to more than 450 people at its Electric Works HQ and completed a $153 million acquisition of True Value, making it the world’s largest hardware cooperative. Two county commissioners supported the latest funding proposal for $100,000 with opposition from Commissioner Ron Turpin, who questioned whether Do it Best should receive additional grant funding. The county’s funding must now be approved by County Council. Plans also call for a $150,000 match from the City, which has not yet been publicly considered by City Council, The JG* notes. 
• Indiana’s state-funded “transparent, data-driven assessment of hospital pricing” shows Parkview Health and others are lowering their commercial prices year-over-year.* Following national reports and scrutiny, Indiana legislators in 2023 enacted a bill to help bring down healthcare costs for patients, and so far, it appears to be working. The bill (House Enrolled Act 1004) requires nonprofit hospitals, like Parkview, to keep prices below 285% of what Medicare would pay for the same services. A recent study shows the state’s five largest nonprofit hospital systems, including Parkview Health (and IU Health), reduced their commercial prices by almost 7 percentage points 2023-2024. As of 2024, Parkview’s prices are 262% of what Medicare would pay (down from 278% in 2022). Parkview leaders say they’ve implemented strategies to lower the total cost of care in 2025, too. They attribute cost savings to “several affordability initiatives,” including partnering with Undue Medical Debt to forgive debt for over 35,000 patients.

• Listen: to nostalgic tribute bands from the 60’s to 2000’s at The Embassy Theatre’s 20th annual Down the Line fundraiser on Feb. 21st at 7 p.m., featuring specialty cocktails from each decade. 
• Speak: at a free monthly Fort Wayne Poetry Slam spoken word event in the lower level of the Allen County Public Library’s Main Branch on Feb. 21, 3-6 p.m. “There is a sign-up sheet on the side of the stage for anyone interested to write their name down and share during the open-mic at the start or to perform for a prize book from a local author during the slam contest!” the website says.
• Re-examine: Shakespeare's classic Taming of the Shrew play with a production of The March for the Vote by an all-female cast at Purdue Fort Wayne College of Visual and Performing Arts. Showtimes start at 8 p.m. on select dates Feb. 20-28.(Rated G, $18/ticket)
• Meet: The Fort Wayne Zoo’s new baby Sumatran orangutan, Raya (Rah-yah) on social media. A news release says the birth “represents hope and celebration for a critically endangered species …. We invite our community to follow all Fort Wayne Zoo social media channels and website blogs to see and share all the exciting milestones Raya will experience in the coming months.”
• Vote: in ALT 99.5 & 102.3’s Bandemonium local music competition at Baker Street Centre, kicking off on Feb. 20. The event features 16 competing bands, including Los Electro, The High Freqs, To Breathe Again, WorldHunger?Now and more. 
• Dress up: for a free Riverfront Lunar New Year celebration at Promenade Park on Feb. 21, 3-5 p.m., including a costume contest, Random Dance Play, and karaoke in partnership with Fort Wayne Korea Festival. 
• Learn: about Paul R. Williams: Architectural Visions from Hollywood to Fort Wayne, in a free public lecture at the ACPL’s Main Branch Genealogy Lecture Hall on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. Williams was the first African American member of the AIA and a famed “Architect to the Stars” who designed a 1954 home on Nevada Avenue in Fort Wayne. 

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Have a great week, Locals!

-Your Editor, Kara Hackett