Hey Locals,

Sorry for the delay! We had this scheduled for tomorrow by mistake, so we're dropping into your inbox a little late this morning.

It may be freezing 0utside, but things are likely to heat up at tonight’s county council meeting, where the public is invited to weigh in on a potential casino in Fort Wayne. We’re attending and breaking down what to know in this week’s Above the Fold.

In Briefs, we talk about reducing barriers to city government and rehab housing. Plus, why Parkview Health is forgiving medical debt for more than 35,000 patients.

We also have a Local Spotlight this week, highlighting four shops in one stop at Huntertown’s Lima-Plank Mercantile – which is just as crafty and quaint as it sounds.

Don’t miss our To Do List tips for Winterval this weekend, like how you can win gift cards to Downtown favorites.

Now, let’s get started.

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

Casi-no?

County Council seeks public input at tonight’s meeting.

What's happening?

Allen County Council is holding a public meeting at the Memorial Coliseum tonight (1/20) at 6 p.m., where residents can share opinions on a potential casino in Fort Wayne.

You might remember from our reporting in December: This state-benefitting casino could take form in two ways, each with pros and cons: 

1. The state legislature could relocate an existing casino license from Southern Indiana.

• Pro: Doesn’t destabilize the market with a new casino license in Indiana.
• Con: Limits potential ownership of the casino to the company currently holding the license, Rising Star. 

2. The legislature could create a new casino license in Indiana, increasing the total from 13 to 14.

• Pro: Lets the open market determine the casino’s ownership.
• Con: Risks destabilizing Indiana’s casino market with increased competition and doesn't resolve Rising Star's outstanding license.

There’s also secret option number 3: A tribal casino opens on tribal land in the meantime and beats the state to the punch. (Though local tribe representatives have disputed any intentions to open a casino here.)

So what are locals saying for and against these casino concepts? And what’s the status of the proposal anyway?

We break it down for you in Thursday’s Above the Fold newsletter.

• You might have more ways to learn about city meetings and legislation soon, thanks to Fort Wayne’s new City Clerk John McGauley. McGauley was chosen by the county Republican Party to succeed controversial Clerk Lana Keesling, who has been holding dual offices as state chair of the Republican Party. Ironically, the clerk’s role is to ensure government transparency and act as a liaison between citizens and City Council, among other tasks, like managing parking enforcement. McGauley was County Recorder from 2007-2014 and has spent the last 11 years as an Allen Superior Court executive. He hopes to improve local government* as clerk by making resources, like meeting agendas, more accessible to citizens. He also seeks to keep improving Downtown parking with changes like meters that allow for more parking time.
• Parkview and a national nonprofit are partnering to forgive medical debt for more than 35,000 Parkview patients to address “system failure” in the healthcare industry. Undue Medical Debt uses donations to acquire and erase past-due medical debt for people who have debt making up 5% or more of their annual income, and/or have a household income at or below 400% of the current federal poverty guidelines. Parkview opted to donate its qualifying accounts to Undue this year, totaling about $64M, rather than sell the debt, noting it “remains deeply committed to lowering health care costs.” This follows multiple reports by The Guardian in 2024, investigating Parkview among the top 10% most expensive hospitals in the U.S. Undue’s President and CEO Allison Sesso notes: “Over one hundred million Americans owe medical debt. It’s the number one cause of bankruptcy.”
• Housing for people with addictions and disabilities might soon be more accessible, thanks to City Council approving an amendment to the zoning code last week. Council split, but ultimately passed the bill, which provides clearer definitions for structures, like sober living houses, rehabilitation facilities and treatment centers in the zoning ordinance, reduces barriers and aligns with federal standards. While Councilman Russ Jehl (R-2) contested building rehab facilities in neighborhoods, fellow Republican Scott Myers (R-4) noted that Council removed methadone clinics from the legislation; thus, concluding: “There’s nothing that people in the neighborhood should be worried about.”
• Fort Wayne will soon have about $10M to support projects in underprivileged communities, thanks to an allocation from the U.S. Treasury Department’s New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program. This is the seventh overall and fourth consecutive year Fort Wayne has received NMTCs, which help attract private investment to low-income communities. Previous projects supported include: Neighborhood Health’s Oxford location, The Landing’s revitalization, and the Vincent Village Homeless Shelter in Southeast Fort Wayne. Funds are managed by a city-sponsored community development entity, the Fort Wayne New Markets Revitalization Fund, and although the allocation is about $50M, only about 20% of that is ultimately available for use on projects. 
• Downtown is expanding its DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) to align with its new boundaries. This follows last week’s news that the organization expanded to include the Wells Street Corridor near Promenade Park and a portion of Broadway near Electric Works.

4 local businesses in 1 spot

Visit Lima-Plank Mercantile in Huntertown.

What's happening?

I (Kara) recently visited Huntertown and discovered something special: the Lima-Plank Mercantile at 14529 Lima Rd.

• Quick reminder: Huntertown is a fast-growing suburban city of about 11K people just north of Fort Wayne, along State Road 3/Lima.
• So what's at the Mercantile? Four local businesses focused on artisan goods, including: Well Made & More: Locally Handmade Goods, Well Grounded Coffee & Cafe, Pelkaclayart and The Process by Josh's Jungle (a year-round market for canned and fresh food, focused on featuring and using local products as much as possible).

Grab your reusable shopping bag, and head to my blog here for details and tips on what to buy.

Honor: MLK at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Breakfast on Jan. 22 at 8 a.m. at Indiana Tech’s Snyder Academic Center Theater. Breakfast is followed by a panel about the life and legacy of King’s work. ($30/ticket)

Read: this fun WANE 15 story about the local son-in-law of IU’s Football Coach, following their NCAA Championship last night.

Explore: a new exhibit highlighting the experiences of people impacted by the prison system at the ACPL’s Jeffrey R. Krull Gallery at the Main Branch, now through March 14. The interactive, multimedia exhibit blends visual art, poetry, and music through works by incarcerated and death row artists.

Play: an American version of the four-player Chinese game, mahjong, at the new Two Bamboo in Fort Wayne, which offers lessons, open play, and a boutique for all things American mahjong. 

Send: Dolly Parton an 80th birthday card with the Allen County Public Library’s free coloring pages for kids and families available for pickup or printing at home. Return them to the ACPL by Jan. 21 to send to Parton herself!

Listen: to local music by Whoa, Man! at The Fairfield on Jan. 23, 8-11 p.m. 

Get outside: for the 15th anniversary of Winterval on Jan. 24, beginning at 9 a.m., featuring ice-carving contests, carriage rides, crafts, and more (like Winter Cozy at Promenade Park). New this year: Follow @WintervalFW on Facebook for clues to find an inflatable penguin handing out prizes at the event (like gift cards), and watch for penguin rocks hidden around Winterval that you can exchange for prizes, too.

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Have a great week, Locals!

-Your Editor, Kara Hackett