Tag: Fort Wayne

Purdue Fort Wayne Men’s Volleyball Team Loses in Five Sets Against Ball State.

By Gavin Greer

Purdue Fort Wayne’s mens team fell in five sets, 2-3 against #11 ranked Ball Sate last night. Set scores were 20-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-10 and 8-15.

This matchup was a rematch of last year’s MIVA Championship which saw BSU winning their first MIVA Championship since 2002.

PFW put up another great performance against a ranked opponent this week. Their first ranked opponent this week was Ohio State who the Mastodons played on Thursday.

PFW dominated in kills against BSU. PFW had 61 compared to BSU’s 48. PFW’s Jon Diedrich led all players in kills with 28. This performance tied his career best mark for kills. Bryce Walker and Carlos Mercado added to the teams kills total with Walker having 13 and Mercado scoring nine kills .

Another area that PFW had the edge over BSU in, was assists. The Mastodons had 58 while BSU had 45.

PFW’s Zach Solomon led all players in this stat with 47 assists. The next closest to this total was BSU’s Jakub Wiercinski who had 39.

The only statistic that BSU had the upper hand in was blocks. They had 26 compared to PFW’s five. Wiercinski led all players in this area with 11.

With this win Ball State improved to 7-5 on the season. This win got them back to .500 in MIVA play with a 2-2 conference record. Their next match will be at Lindenwood on Feb. 24.

With the loss PFW suffered their first back-to-back loss of the season and fell to a record of 10-4. They are now 1-3 in MIVA play.

They will look to get back into winning form on Wednesday as they face off against McKendree at 8 p.m. on the road.

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Purdue Fort Wayne Women’s Basketball Team Wins at Home Against Northern Kentucky

By Gavin Greer

Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball team defeated Northern Kentucky today at home 65-59. This win gives PFW a two-game win streak.

The Mastodons performed well today against Northern Kentucky. The team shot 43.6% from the field, 33.3% from deep and 76.9% from the free throw line. PFW held Northern Kentucky to a poor shooting performance where they shot 39.2% from the field, 21.4% from three and 69.6% from the line.

Northern Kentucky only played eight members of their team in this game with two of the players playing five minutes or under. The remaining eight women had to play 23 minutes or more.

PFW had a more even distribution of minutes between the members of their team. The Mastodons had 11 players see action today, with only two women seeing more than 30 minutes of play.

PFW’s players having a chance to rest throughout the game allowed for the team to be fresher in the closing minutes. Northern Kentucky’s players would have been more fatigued which could explain their poor shooting.

Northern Kentucky out rebounded PFW 39 to 20 but this stat did not affect the outcome for PFW.

Northern Kentucky’s Lindsey Duvall led all scorers with 21 points. She is averaging 17.4 PPG. PFW was led by sophomore Audra Emmerson who had 19 points. This was a big game for her, as she is averaging just 5.4 PPG.

With this loss Northern Kentucky fell to 15-12 on the season. Their next game is at home against Detroit Mercy on Thursday. They sit at 5th in the Horizon League.

With PFW’s win they move to 12-16 on the year. They sit just behind Northern Kentucky at 6th in the Horizon League. Their next game will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at Milwaukee.

The Mastodons have two games left on their schedule before they begin their Horizon League tournament play.

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Purdue Fort Wayne Men’s Basketball Loses at Home Against Northern Kentucky

By Gavin Greer

Purdue Fort Wayne men’s basketball were defeated 50-63 last night at home against Northern Kentucky. This loss extended PFW’s losing streak to four games.

PFW’s latest loss saw the team struggling again to connect their shots. PFW shot 35.3% from the field, 21.7% from the three-point range and 69.2% from the free throw line. In comparison, Northern Kentucky shot 46.0% from the field, 47.8% from three and 75.0% from the line.

Both teams shot 23 threes, but PFW scored six less of this type of shot. This was a big reason why Northern Kentucky was able to hold a lead for 88.5% of the game.

Northern Kentucky controlled the boards in this matchup gathering 36 compared to PFW’s 27.

Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick led all scorers with 22 points. Warrick is averaging 18.8 PPG. PFW was led in scoring by Jarred Godfrey who had 14 points. Godfrey is averaging 17.4 PPG.

Godfrey not only led the team in scoring, but he also led the Mastodons in rebounds with five and in steals with two.

With this win, Northern Kentucky improved to a 12-5 record which has them in a three-way tie for 2nd place in the Horizon League.

Northern Kentucky’s next game is tomorrow at 3 p.m. where the team will be on the road against Cleveland State. This is an important matchup up as both teams are part of the three-way tie for 2nd in the Horizon League.

With their loss PFW’s record fell to 15-13. They sit at 9th in the Horizon League

PFW’s next game is at home, tomorrow at 2 p.m., they will face off against Wright State.

This game will be PFW’s final home game of the season. PFW’s four seniors, Jarred Godfrey, Bobby Planutis, Ra Kpedi and Damian Chong Qui will be honored during the game.

The Mastodons have three games remaining on their schedule before they begin their Horizon League tournament play.

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Purdue Fort Wayne’s Men’s Volleyball Team Suffers Loss Against Ranked Ohio State

By Gavin Greer

Purdue Fort Wayne lost tonight in four sets against #10 ranked Ohio State. Set scores were 25-23, 16-25, 32-34 and 19-25.

The Mastodons fought hard tonight against a difficult opponent but were unable to get over the hump. Late in the third set, PFW looked like they could pull away to take a 2-1 set lead, but they eventually lost the lead in the set and Ohio State closed out the set before going on to win the match.

Jon Diedrich led all players in kills with 20 for the Mastodons. Teammates Mark Frazier and Bryce Walker were not far behind with Frazier getting 14 and Walker totaling 11.

Ohio State’s kill leader was Jacob Pasteur who totaled 19 kills.

Two areas that PFW struggled in tonight, that ultimately led to their loss, were serves and attacking.

PFW had 4 aces but totaled 20 service errors. Ohio State doubled PFW’s ace total by scoring eight aces and only errored on 12 serves.

While not as big of an area of concern, PFW did have struggles in attacking. PFW had 24 attacking errors while Ohio State had only 19. Ohio State also had a better hitting percentage where they hit .289% compared to PFW’s .264%.

Although PFW is struggling in MIVA play, they have had a successful season so far. In total the team is 10-3 with two of their three losses coming against MIVA rivals. PFW can improve to .500 in MIVA play in their next game if they can beat Ohio State.

With tonight’s win Ohio State extended their win streak to four games and improved to a 10-3 record. Their next game will be on the road Saturday against Loyola Chicago.

The Mastodons next game will be Saturday at 7 PM at home against #11 ranked Ball State.

PFW Mens Volleyball 2023 Stats

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Purdue Fort Wayne’s Softball Team Loses Big Against Miami Ohio

By Gavin Greer

Purdue Fort Wayne’s softball team loses 0-12 against Miami Ohio, in a game that was called after the top of the 5th inning.

The Mastodons had lost five straight coming into today’s matchup, but this loss was the teams biggest. They allowed their largest run total of the season, and the team did not have a single hit. The only time PFW made it on base was through two walks and one error.

PFW pitcher, Gracie Brinkerhoff, allowed eight runs in three innings pitched. Her ERA for the day was 13.33. Alanah Jones relieved Brinkerhoff, and allowed four runs to be scored in one inning. Three runs were from her pitching and one runner was left from Brinkerhoff. Her ERA was 15.00.

Miami was great from the plate hitting four home runs as a team and totaling 12 hits. Allie Cummins had a game to be remembered as she hit 3/3 with all her hits being home runs. The team did all of this while only batting in four innings.

PFW needs to improve at the plate if they want to see any success this season. Through six games, the team’s batting average is .121, they have only gotten on base from hits 16 times, and they have only scored one run. Through these six games their opponents are batting .327, have 49 hits, and have scored 39 times.

PFW’s pitching has been bad too, as a team PFW’s ERA is 6.54. The team has only thrown 11 strike outs so far this season.

With the win Miami moves to 3-2 on the season. Their next game is Friday Feb. 24th where they will have a double header. The first against Bellarmine and the second against Murray State.

PFW drops to 0-6 on the season. Their next time out is also a double header. This double header will be on Friday. They will first play Rhode Island at 12:30 and then Georgia State at 5:30.

PFW Softball Stats

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Purdue Fort Wayne Women’s Basketball Team Falls at Home against Cleveland St.

By Gavin Greer

Purdue Fort Wayne Women’s basketball team extends their losing streak to three games in loss against Cleveland St.

Although PFW were behind all game, they fought back in the fourth quarter to make it close. The Mastodons outscored CSU 25-16 in this quarter.

PFW was led in scoring by Shayla Sellers who scored 21 points. She also picked up four rebounds and one assist.

CSU’s Destiny Leo led all scorers with 31 points. She is currently scoring 18.6 points per game.

CSU dominated in rebounds throughout the game gathering 52 compared to PFW’s 30. They also had the edge with offensive rebounds by bringing down 19 compared to PFW’s 9.

Amele Ngwafang and Brittni Moore had great rebounding games. Ngwafang grabbed 19 boards and Moore collected 13.

PFW’s highest rebounder was Aubrey Stupp who had 7.

Another area where the Mastodons struggled, was their shooting. They shot 36.9% from the field and 18.2% from deep. CSU had better shooting percentages in both areas, shooting 41% from the field and 27.6% from deep.

PFW needs to improve their shooting because this has been a problem in recent games. It is hard to win games when your opponent is shooting far better than you.

CSU moved to 24-3 on the season. They remain in the lead for the Horizon League. Their next game will be at home Thursday against Northern Kentucky.

With the loss, PFW moved to 10-16 on the season. They now sit at 6th in the Horizon League. Their next game looks to be against an easier opponent, as they will play the 5-21 Wright State Raiders. This game will be played Thursday at 5 PM at home.

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Plans for New Tunnel to Reduce Sewage Overflow in Rivers

Written by: Rachel Abraham, Kristine Lindal, Ali Rairigh, Emily Yager

Fort Wayne, Ind.—City Utilities will begin construction of the $240 million Three Rivers Protection and Overflow Reduction Tunnel project in 2017, according to Kelly Bajic, city utilities professional engineer, to reduce the amount of sewage discharged into the St. Marys and Maumee Rivers during storms.

According to a city 3RPORT and Tunnel Works release, the project responds to a federal mandate for the city to reduce combined sewer overflow from 100 billion to 100 million gallons by 2025.

Matthew Wirtz, deputy director of engineering for the city, said during heavy storms, the sewage system overflows and raw sewage mixed with rainwater flows into the river.

According to Bajic, the tunnel will have a capacity of 31 million gallons, although it will primarily be used for conveyance and not storage.

Wirtz said once the tunnel is constructed, the majority of the flow currently discharging into the river will drop into the tunnel.

The 5-mile tunnel will begin south of Foster Park and run to the existing sewage treatment plant on the Maumee River. According to Wirtz, they will drill 150 to 250 feet into the bedrock where the tunnel will run underneath downtown and around Foster Park. The tunnel will convey flows to the wet weather ponds located north of the Water Pollution Control Facility, according to Bajic.

Wirtz said the construction will take 4 to 5 years because they will have to bore the hole underground, come to the surface and connect the existing sewers.

According to Bajic, 13 drop shafts will be constructed to convey the flow from the near surface sewers down into the tunnel.

“The tunnel itself will be done in a few years, but then getting all the rest of that stuff done will take a couple more,” Wirtz said.

Robert Gillespie, associate professor of biology at IPFW, said he and a team of students have been helping the city monitor river water quality during intense events. According to Gillespie, there are some great students who are eager to work on the tunnel project, helping the city accomplish what they couldn’t do on their own.

Gillespie said once the tunnel is completed positive impacts on water quality could be seen after only one season.

Wirtz said in addition to improving river water quality, the tunnel will reduce street and basement flooding and help move water from homes to the treatment plant faster.

“We’ll still have problems in really large storms, but the more normal, small storms will provide much better protection,” Wirtz said.

“It’s trying to fix something that’s been a problem not only in our community but in a lot of midwest communities,” Bajic said. “There’s a lot of different communities that have combined sewer systems, so it’s not just Fort Wayne.”

According to Bajic, the project is currently in the design phase and the next step for the project is getting documents ready for the bidding process by the end of Fall 2016.

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Jefferson Pointe is Home to All Your Holiday Needs

Photo credit: Riley McCullough

December is a month full of shopping, eating and most of all, holiday cheer. With the holidays and end of the year happening simultaneously, most people find themselves overwhelmed with things they need to get finished rather than enjoying the holiday season.

Having a place that offers it all, shopping, eating and cheer, is something that many people would cherish in this fast-passed world we live in. Luckily for Fort Wayne, that place exists: Jefferson Pointe.

Jefferson Pointe offers a wide variety of over 60 retail stores, boutiques and restaurants for all your holiday shopping and eating needs. But, Jefferson Pointe also offers a complete holiday atmosphere like no other.

Brett Gauger, resident of Fort Wayne, said visiting Jefferson Pointe this time of year is “enchanting.”

Katrina Newman, property marketing manager for Jefferson Pointe, said planning for the holiday transformation begins six months in advance, but the actual transformation of the shopping center does not begin until the end of October.

Newman said besides the typical holiday lights and décor, there are three main holiday aspects at Jefferson Pointe: live reindeer, photos with Santa and their title-holding Christmas tree.

The live reindeer are at Jefferson Pointe every Saturday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. They are located between Simply Mac and Victoria’s Secret. Newman said guests are encouraged to bring their own cameras for when they meet the reindeer.

The reindeer are also at Jefferson Pointe for extra hours on Christmas Eve from noon to 2 p.m.

Santa is located in the play area next to Barnes and Noble. Newman said Santa is ready to meet and take pictures with visitors Monday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. After meeting Santa, there are photo packages available for visitors to purchase.

Santa, like the live reindeer, is also at Jefferson Pointe for extra hours on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There are four miles of lights that wrap the trees at Jefferson Pointe, and Jefferson Pointe is home to the tallest synchronized tree in Indiana.

“The tree is 48 feet tall, and the star on top of the tree is 4 feet tall,” Newman said.

The tree features nightly shows from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Newman said these shows occur every half hour.

“There are six different shows with different songs each show,” Newman said.

This year, Newman chose to add something new. According to Newman, each show is performed with three Christmas songs followed by Star Wars’ theme song. Newman said she decided to incorporate Star Wars’ theme song because of the new Star Wars movie release on Dec. 18.

“My family makes it a priority to stop and watch,” Gauger said. “After shopping, we will grab a hot drink from Starbucks and enjoy the show.”

This is the third year for the synchronized Jefferson Pointe Christmas tree. Each year Newman said they continue to add more holiday aspects that add to the overall holiday atmosphere. Newman said this year new lights were added to both the tree itself and the surrounding trees.

“The tree is definitely making its way to become a Fort Wayne holiday icon,” Gauger said. “It would not surprise me in the years to come that the JP [Jefferson Pointe] tree is as recognizable as the Santa on Main.”

The tree is lit on the second Saturday of November at 7 p.m. Newman said they choose to light the tree early in order to not make visitors choose which lighting ceremony in Fort Wayne to go to.

Newman said this year’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony was “packed.”

“We are up substantially,” Newman said. Only a week into December, numbers are already showing a 26,000 visitor increase for December 2015 compared to December 2014’s visitor count. Newman said this increase in visitors is great not only for the holiday offerings but for the stores in general.

Amanda Prindle, employee at Jefferson Pointe, said she thinks this upcoming weekend will be the busiest of December.

“The weather has been great, and it is the final countdown for shoppers,” Prindle said. “Shoppers and tree-goers will flood JP [Jefferson Pointe] this weekend, I am sure of it!”

Newman said the tree will switch from synchronizing Christmas music to synchronizing “party” music to celebrate the new year beginning Dec. 26. The Christmas tree stays lit through Jan. 10.

Whether it is shopping, eating or snapping photos with Santa, Jefferson Pointe is the place that accommodates your holiday needs. Jefferson Pointe is located between Illinois Road and West Jefferson Boulevard in Fort Wayne, Ind. For more information about store hours or directions, please visit: jeffersonshopping.com.

 

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Tasting Wine the Simple Way, the Only Way

BarrelWineTanks

Pictured above: Wine barrel where the wine is aged and wine tanks where the wine is made at Two EE’s winery. Photos by Sarah Goodman.

The “pop” of a cork coming out of a freshly opened bottle of wine is enough to get most wine lovers excited about pouring themselves a glass. But is simply sipping wine enough to get a fulfilled wine drinking experience?

“Actually, tasting wine is so much more than a lot of people think,” Eric Harris, owner and wine maker at Two EE’s Winery in Huntington, Ind., said. “It’s a simple process but most just drink wine, not actually taste the different elements of it.”

Agreeing with Harris, Gary Skeel, owner of Wine Down Tasting and Tapas in Fort Wayne, said the proper wine tasting process is a simple one that many people do not practice.

Skeel said the appropriate wine tasting steps are the “five S’s: sight, swirl, smell, sip and savor.” Harris said the same five steps as the most substantial parts in properly tasting wine.

“Sight is a very important step,” Harris said. “You have to visually inspect the wine to insure that it isn’t flawed.”

Skeel said if a wine has a brown tint to it, chances are that the wine has gone bad. Another indicator of wine being flawed is if the cork falls apart or breaks easily when opening the bottle.

The next step in wine tasting is swirling the wine. “Swirling wine in the glass allows the wine to open up,” Skeel said. “Red wines need to open up more than whites do, so you don’t always need to do this step with white wines.”

“I always make sure to swirl my wine before tasting it,” Brittainy Ellis, a wine enthusiast, said. “Swirling the wine lets me see if the wine is a big bodied wine and how intense it will be on my palate.”

According to Paul Gregutt, author of the online magazine article, “How to Taste Wine” from winemag.com, Swirling the wine can reveal which wines are riper, more mouth filling and dense.

After swirling the wine in its glass, smell the wine’s aroma. “Surprisingly, smelling the wine is something that people often skip,” Harris said.

There are three types of wine aromas that are identifiable according to Madeline Puckette, author of the online blog, “Learn How to Taste Wine & Develop Your Palate” from winefolly.com.

There are primary aromas that carry fruit, herb, and floral notes, secondary aromas that come from the yeast of the wine and finally tertiary bouquets that smell like oak, vanilla, spices or nuts.

Skeel said the smelling step in wine tasting is vital because it can help you determine if the wine is sweet or dry. People who enjoy sweet wines will typically want to smell fruity aromas compared to those who enjoy dry wines, who will want to smell more nutty and oak scents.

After smelling the wine, take a sip, absorbing the flavor and structure. “Tasting is something that we do naturally,” Harris said. “But actually thinking about the different flavors of the wine is key to knowing if you really like it or not.”

Savoring, or thinking about what is tasted, the wine is the final step. This is when it is determined if the wine is one that is enjoyable, as well as if it is balanced.

“Balance is everything when I’m drinking wine,” Ellis said. “If the wine is out of balance to me, then I don’t really enjoy it.”

“Acidity, body, mouth feel, bitterness and sweetness are all things that determine if a wine is balanced or out of balance,” Harris said. “If all of the key elements aren’t in harmony to whoever is tasting the wine, then the wine is out of balance.”

Overall, the key to wine tasting is finding wines that are enjoyable. If all of the proper steps are covered while tasting wine, then finding wines that are enjoyable should be no problem, Skeel said.

Now that the proper steps for wine tasting have been identified, experiment with various types of wine to discover the right one. Cheers!

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House Fires: They Can Happen to Anyone

Above: The Fort Wayne Fire Department offers home fire inspections and suggests that families have a plan in case of a house fire. Photo by Erin Martin.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – When Maddie Clay’s mother had woken pre-dawn hours on Nov. 21, 2014 to retrieve the family dog from downstairs, she saw smoke coming from the basement’s utility room and she immediately headed back upstairs to the 11 people sleeping there.

The night before, Clay’s father was finishing up a project that involved staining a door and when he was done, he set the rag down that he had been using for the night and headed upstairs. No one could have expected that mixed with the dry air, that same rag would spontaneously combust near a piece of plywood in the utility room and create a fire in the Clay’s basement.

“A fire can happen any time of year at any time of day, but there does happen to be an increase in house fires in the winter because of people turning on their heat and gas in their homes or even building a fire in their fireplace if it hasn’t been properly cleaned,” said Captain Dave Meadows of the Fort Wayne Fire Department and Safety Education Division. “Preparing for a fire is extremely important to plan for your safety, and your family’s safety too.”

“Once my mom woke up my dad and he became aware of what was happening, he woke up the house with a shout to get everyone up and within 30 seconds everyone had their coats and were by the back hallway,” said Clay.

With no initial plan or meeting place, the Clay family quickly had to decide what to do right then and there which led to the decision to meet in the cul-de-sac of their addition while a family member called 9-1-1.

“Make copies of important documents and pictures or keep the originals and place them in a fire safe box that you can keep in an accessible place,” said Cpt. Meadows on what to do in preparation for a house fire.

Brooks Huffer, a second-generation captain of the Warsaw Fire Department, has had his experience with house fires. “Keep an eye on your appliances – dryer, washer, toaster, and especially any heaters or your furnace,” said Huffer. “They are likely to catch fire if the lint trap is not cleaned out, crumb tray emptied periodically, and so on.”

Clay’s family did not have a fire extinguisher nor had they checked their smoke detectors recently. Both Cpt. Meadows and Cpt. Huffer suggested having a full fire extinguisher on hand, as well as checking your smoke detectors once a year.

“New smoke detectors are wireless and send corresponding signals to the other smoke alarms in your home, meaning if one goes off they will all go off making it difficult to ignore,” said Cpt. Meadows.

Cpt. Huffer said young children sleep deeper, making it more difficult for them to be woken up in the case of an emergency.

“Children 15 years old and younger sleep through 85% of smoke detectors because they do not hear them which is why it is extremely important for families to come up with escape plans,” said Cpt. Huffer.

Both captains expressed families should create multiple plans and practice them for different situations such as an instance where the door is too hot to open or climbing from a window. In cases where they are separated, family members must know where to meet – by a mailbox, a specific tree, or even at a neighbor’s house.

“If it’s predictable, it’s preventable,” said Cpt. Huffer. You can call the Fort Wayne Fire Department at (260) 427-1478 and ask about a home fire inspection or visit http://www.fortwaynefiredepartment.org/ for more information on how to prepare for a fire.

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