Feb 27 a block

Feb 27 a block

Good evening ... i'm hunter petroviak thanks for joining us..if you're homeless and in van wert... there's nowhere for you to stay.a group called 'haven of hope' is trying to change that...?but at monday's city council meeting... van wert council members voted against the shelter.fox 55's chris mullooly is live in van wert.... so chris..

A lot of this has to do with permits and some building codes?that's right hunter...everyone i spoke agrees...van wert needs a homeless shelter...the problem..

Some who live near the location on north market street say is the trouble it may bring...and the city's next decision.... could leave heaven of hope with one option.

3 "we dont have any next steps... we don't want to sue the city of van wert, but we might not have a choice"its a big step... but one kurt tomlinson says might be the only direction...depending on the answer from van wert city council.all having to do with this.haven of hope... set up as a mens homeless shelter... the only one in the area"if we can help people out by giving them a safe place to stay so they can get their feet under them connected to services thats a win win"the group bought this building in october...."that got the people who didn't want it in their backyard talking"andy mcmahon is executive director for haven of hope...and says he approached city administration before they bought the building to see if there would be any problems... he says the city said 'no'.so they purchased it.homeowners nearby the buildnig came to council...and complained of its location...so when they appealed city administration's decision... mcmahon says the councilmembers said no... then..

The process started over again..

This time... with city council wanting to hear first from the zoning board to make a determination."the zongin board members said city council already decided this we're not gonna make a decision different than city council"the zoning board suggested no... and the council... after almost an hour and a half of public comment... in a four to three vote... said no."the original vote city council did wasn't againt havent of hope it was we want to hear wht the zongin board says"jon tomlinson is city council president...he says there's a lot to be discussed between the correct zoning for the building... and problems with neighbors... but does have a prediction."when its all said and done i believe haven of hope will be operational on north market street" i spoke with two council members who voted 'no' on monday.they say there are a lot of factors behind the decision... some of it being the concerns of neighbors.... others being whether the shelter should be 'semi public' arguing it should be more of a 'boarding house' and should seek other variance.

They all agree though.

The lack of availability for those who are homeless... is concerning and needs to be addressed.reporting live ... chris mullooly... fox 55 news.

The snow is finally winding down but now we have some cold air to deal with.meteorologist alida donnelly is tracking some frigid wind chills for your friday we now have the names of the victims who were killed in a triple shooting on barnhart avenue.

The coroner's office says 21 year old "mon ong" died from a gunshot wound to the chest..23 year old "brooke wendel" died from a gunshot wound to the head.the shooting happened around 12-30 wednesday morning, in the 24-hundred block of barnhart avenue.ong and wendel are the 7th and 8th homicide victims in allen county this year.

A warsaw man is arrested for attempting to kill his wife.

Deputies say "juan ramirez garcia" stabbed his wife "martha ramirez" on saturday morning.court documents say ramirez was covered in blood with multiple stab wounds to her face, head, and chest.she was airlifted to the hospital.

Court documents also say their daughter woke up to her parents screaming and found her mother covered in blood.

Garcia faces several charges including attempted murder and battery.

Several threats to shoot up two fort wayne community schools surfaced on facebook this week.they sent parents into panic mode until police determined they weren't credible.the posts have fort wayne community schools and law enforcement working together to get a handle on the problem.fox 55's jentill neal tells us what they're doing and how you can help.

Jentill?hunter, when anybody wants to know what's going on this is the first place they typically go to, but everyone has to keep in mind not everything you see is true.

That's why fort wayne community schools and police don't want you to share post like this.take a look.

Last week parents and students were alarmed when this came across their timelines.> 22:13:50-22:13:50"it actually was before he went to school.

I found out before he was getting ready to go to school.

So i told him to stay home because i'm not taking any chances.""a post saying spread the word i'm shooting up kekionga.

I'm tired of being bullied."this came after another threat regarding southside high school last week.montgomery is especially concerned since she has children at both schools."you hear everyday about the shootings on tv and everyone's like we never thought this would happen."fort wayne community schools alerted parents that the threats weren't credible - but by then they had already spread far and wide.

16:41:21-16:41:59"we hear lots of rumors.

They aren't always involving a threat.

But we hear rumors and so we want to do our best to make sure that when we share information with parents, it's valid information.

We are not going to cause undo anxiety or panic.

We want to keep a safe learning environment.

Part of keeping a safe learning environment is making sure the building is calm."district spokeswoman krista stockman says whenever the district hears something.

They work with police right away.> 16:37:49-16:37:55"the only way we can address the issue to see if it's a real threat is through investigating."fort wayne police sgt.

Jim seay says these kind of threats are always taken seriously and lead to time behind bars once they find out who's behind the post.>"it can range from 1 to 6 years with a ten thousand dollar fine."

Fort wayne community schools has a place on their website called let's talk.

That's a portal where people can go in and send information.

The newest feature is one where you can report a threat.

So they should report it right away, but your first step should be reporting it to police not social media.

Reporting live jentill neal... fox 55 news.

Members of fort wayne's planned parenthood teamed with a group of teenagers advocating for how they think sex education should be taught in schools.

Fox 55's mallory beard gives us more details.

The "indy teen council" group partnered with volunteers from fort wayne planned parenthood today in indianapolis.they engaged with indiana legislators for "youth advocacy day."discussing pressing matters of sex education and reproductive care.

Kyle vannelli//youth advocacy day"it's important to me to participate in an event like this because it helps get us out in the community and understand what's currently being talked about among our legislators."the teenagers regularly speak to high school students across the state about consent, domestic abuse, and age approprite ways to handle sexuality.

Today they talked to legislators though, since their vote makes a difference on what's taught in schools.leslie montgomery//y outh advocacy day "much of the legislation impacts young people.

Young people, historically in this state, have not gotten the opportunity to have some solid sexual education."the group is funded by planned parenthood, whose volunteers rallied at the indiana statehouse last year for reproductive rights.

This event allowed for a conversation.

Leslie montgomery//youth advocacy day "and this is an opportunity for us to provide for young people so that they can make healthy decisions for themselves."some students are forced to face the battles of adolescence alone.

That's why these students showed up to the statehouse stairs to discuss the problems firsthand.

Victoria carr//youth advocacy day"around my school: health, sex ed was not available and i wanted to learn more."the indy teen council used its presence to show how important reproductive health and proper sex education is.but most of all, they used their voices.

Victoria carr//youth advocacy day"i am here, my voice needs to be heard, and things need to be changed."in fort wayne... 3 wayne...in fort be changed."

Things need to be heard, and things need to be changed."in fort wayne... if you decide to drink for saint patrick's day or the n-c- a-a tournament, state police want you to know they'll be watching for you if you decide to drive.there's a statewide effort to crack down on dangerous and impaired driving.

State troopers will have extra patrols and you can also expect to see sobriety checkpoints.you're urged to plan a safe way home and never drive impaired.if you suspect somebody is driving drunk, call 9-1-1.in march of 20-19 there were more than 400 alcohol-related crashes across the state.

The fort wayne home and garden show returned to the allen county war memorial coliseum today.the annual event will occupy the coliseum through sunday with over 600 exhibits showing best practices for home and garden care.a portion of ticket revenue will go towards habitat for humanity to build a show home to show to qualified habitat families during the 20-20 build season.

Coming up...sot: ""what was he thinking, i wonder?"

A man steals a hearse with the body in the backplusan elderly couple falsely accused of robbing a bank.and later in the second half hour..mayor henry honors a young girl with an incurable disease.his gift to her..

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