The City of Fort Wayne was recently recognized with a 2006 ARCH Commendation Award for the redevelopment of the Firestone building at Jefferson Boulevard and Fairfield Avenue. The endangered landmark will be converted into a Starbucks coffee shop.

ARCH recognized the City for its commitment to

Leaders of several local trail groups have formed a Towpath Trail Task Force to promote the expansion of regional greenway connectivity.

Construction will begin this year on the Towpath Trail, a multi-use pedestrian/bicycle pathway connecting Aboite Township with the Fort Wayne and New Haven

City TV Comcast Channel 58 is airing a new program, “Building a Better Community,” focused on the City'€™s Division of Community Development.

The debut program examines the importance of historic preservation and helps viewers gain an understanding on certain myths about historic preservation.

The

National Public Works Week will be celebrated May 21-27. This year'€™s theme is “Public Works: The Heart of Every Community.” The City of Fort Wayne'€™s public works and utilities division is responsible for street maintenance, snow removal, leaf pickup, flood control, garbage and recycling

Mayor Graham Richard will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Lean and Six Sigma for Government conference May 22-23 in Vienna, Virginia.

Mayor Richard will share how Fort Wayne has saved over $10 million by using Six Sigma best practices to better serve taxpayers, reduce costs and provide

More than 3,400 volunteers will help clean the City'€™s neighborhoods, parks and rivers on Saturday, May 20 as part of the annual Great American Cleanup.

Nearly 150 groups will focus on cleaning a certain site in the City. Some of the highlights include cleanups at the following locations:
* North

The Maumee River Pathway of the Rivergreenway has been reopened. The section between the 2.75 mile marker and the 3 mile marker (just west of Coliseum Boulevard) along the Maumee River Pathway of the Rivergreenway was scheduled to be closed this week. Due to inclement weather, crews are not able at

Mayor Graham Richard today recognized 14 local companies for helping control industrial wastewater. The companies participate in the City'€™s Industrial Pretreatment Program and had 100% compliance in 2005.

Deputy Mayor Mark Becker, New Haven Mayor Terry McDonald and Allen County Commissioners Linda Bloom, Marla Irving and Nelson Peters will recognize area businesses for their 2005 contributions to Allen County's economic vitality at the 12^th annual Business Expansion Awards Breakfast. The event,

Mayor Graham Richard today was joined by the “Mayor'€™s Money in Your Pocket” partners to announce the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program brought $1.1 million back to working families in the community. For the second year in a row, more than $500,000 of the $1.1 million was directly from the

Mayor Graham Richard will attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors Energy and Environment Summit May 10-11 in Chicago, Ill. The topics will include climate changes, green buildings, municipal fleets, alternative fuels, hybrid technology, and energy and environment best practices.

Last year, the City

Mayor Graham Richard today met with the Green Ribbon Commission as the group held its first meeting to begin to develop a comprehensive energy and clean air plan for the community. Mayor Richard challenged the Commission to create an action plan that includes goals and performance measures to

Mayor Graham Richard has declared May as National Historic Preservation Month in Fort Wayne.Several organizations are hosting events which celebrate historic preservation and Fort Wayne'€™s historic heritage throughout the month of May. Brochures highlighting the events are available at several

New 2005 aerial photography has been added to the City'€™s GIS interactive map website, http://maps.cityoffortwayne.org. Residents can access the information free of charge. The maps were made available through a homeland security grant. More information can be found at the Indiana GIS

Crews from the City'€™s Water Filtration Plant will install flashboards at the St. Joe Dam on Monday, May 8. Flashboards are used to increase the amount of water that is available from the river during the summer months.

Crews will lower the river level north of the St. Joe Dam at midnight on

The City of Fort Wayne is using new computer software to reduce idle times on several vehicles in the City'€™s fleet. The new program, part of the City'€™s continuing Green City Initiative, is designed to reduce fuel costs and lower emissions to improve air quality.

The City of Fort Wayne and Matthew 25 tonight led an open house to demonstrate a new virtual medicine camera technology.

Health professionals and the Virtual Medicine Eye iTeam are working to provide real-time diagnosis for diabetic patients with possible retinal problems by using a retinal

The Public Technology Institute has selected Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard as the recipient of the 2005/2006 PTI Technology Leadership Award. Mayor Richard will receive the award at the PTI 2006 Congress for Technology Leadership April 30-May 2 in Chicago, Ill.

The City of Fort Wayne will create a fair housing services program designed to educate residents and housing program partners. The program is expected to make the home buying and renting process more practical and customer friendly. A request for proposals has been issued by the City. The program is

Mayor Graham Richard has appointed two new members to the Fort Wayne Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. The new members are Andrew Downs and Jomare Bowers-Mizzell.

Downs is the Director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. Downs previously worked as Chief of Staff, Director of the