May 18, 2013
Greg MorrisObama's troubles might save us from his heavy-handed, second-term agenda.
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May 4, 2013
Greg MorrisWhen was the last time you sold your home? Was it a smooth and pleasant experience?
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April 27, 2013
Jim BirgeAre entrepreneurs born or made? As a corporate finance attorney who spends most of his waking hours with leaders of high-growth
businesses, I’ve observed that entrepreneurs have certain shared traits: ambition, dynamism, curiosity and confidence.
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April 27, 2013
Mickey MaurerMy friend settled an old score with the once-racist swim club, but scars remain more than 50 years later.
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April 20, 2013
The Indiana chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth held its annual Corporate Value Awards dinner April 18. Three
companies were recognized for their success: Mainstreet Property Group, Grammer Industries and the Braun Corp.
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April 13, 2013
Mickey MaurerGet a second opinion, then head to Seattle.
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April 6, 2013
Good things are happening in the philanthropic community.
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March 28, 2013
Mickey MaurerI have a favorite excuse for failure in business: “It takes money to make money.”
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March 23, 2013
Greg MorrisI’ve been feeling a bit reflective lately as I just completed 22 years at IBJ a few weeks ago.
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March 16, 2013
Mickey MaurerWarren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., in his shareholder letter of March 1, 2013, took a page out of Bob Knight’s
new book “The Power of Negative Thinking,” a twist on the best-selling treatise of yore by Norman Vincent Peale.
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March 9, 2013
Greg MorrisI know we had snow last week, but spring is almost here. Daylight saving time is just kicking in. We’ve been cooped
up much of this winter, and it feels like it’s way past time to get up, get outside and MOVE! That means we’re
about to see more people outside taking advantage of our parks and greenways, something that far too many of us take for granted.
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March 2, 2013
Mickey MaurerQuentin Paige Smith died in January at age 94. If you didn’t know the Big Q, you missed a hell of a man—his own
man—unbowed by the evil racism of the pre-Civil Rights era. I wrote his biography for my book “19 Stars of Indiana—Exceptional
Hoosier Men,” and now I can tell you the rest of that story.
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February 23, 2013
Greg MorrisThis is a very scary week. I hope everyone has received that message loud and clear. The great sequester deadline has arrived.
March 1 is only a few days away. Not since last year’s end of the Mayan calendar has there been such focus on a date
that could preclude the end of days.
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February 16, 2013
Mickey MaurerThat irrepressible Mel Reynolds is running again. Janie and I were just laughing with Rose and Bill Mays about being duped
when we rallied our respective communities for an “Oreo” fundraiser on Reynolds’ behalf two decades ago.
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February 9, 2013
Greg MorrisYou’ve seen the news coverage. Starting in August, the United States Postal Service will discontinue Saturday mail delivery.
Forget the bills. Forget the junk mail. Who cares if you have to wait until Monday to get those items? In fact, studies have
shown that seven out of 10 Americans are fine with eliminating Saturday mail delivery.
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February 2, 2013
Mickey MaurerI am proud to relate that Pawel Fludzinski, Ph.D. recently published his first crossword puzzle in The New York Times. Pawel
has worked at Eli Lilly and Co. for more than 28 years with the last 20 years being in executive level leadership positions.
He has a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry, but never mind that: He shares with me a love for construction of crossword
puzzles.
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January 26, 2013
Greg MorrisI wrote a column recently complaining about all the new taxes bestowed on us this new calendar year. It was a lengthy list.
So, I don't want to sound contradictory when I tell you now that I want central Indiana residents to support a modest
tax increase in the future to expand mass transit.
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January 19, 2013
Mickey MaurerGuys love to quote “The Godfather.” It’s no wonder, with lines like “I’m going to make him an
offer he can’t refuse” and “Leave the gun—take the cannolis.” These and other memorable movie
quips are relevant today, just with new voices.
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January 12, 2013
Greg MorrisAs Brent Musburger said when he spotted Miss Alabama in the crowd at the BCS National Championship game— “Whoa!”
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January 5, 2013
Mickey MaurerEach January, I reflect on a few of the prior year’s columns. I am always curious about the topics and people I have
written about over the course of the year. I hope you are, too.
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December 29, 2012
Greg MorrisPut another year in the history books. It’s time for reflection and a look ahead to the new year. I went back and looked
at my column written this time last year—“From politics to hoops, my 2012 wish list”—and I would say
the results were mostly positive, with one big exception.
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December 29, 2012
Sheila Suess KennedyI am a capitalist. I believe in free markets, in what the economists describe as “transactions entered into freely between
buyers and sellers both of whom have the necessary relevant information.” I also recognize that markets cannot function
without “umpires” empowered to enforce rules of fair play and protect that level playing field to which we all
pay lip service. The most significant challenge to genuine capitalism, I submit, lies in the ability of some competitors to
bribe or otherwise influence the umpires.
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December 22, 2012
Mickey MaurerNow that the elections are over, please relax and enjoy this crossword puzzle and the political riddle it poses.
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December 15, 2012
Greg MorrisMy job takes me out of my office into the community on a regular basis. As I’m out talking with folks in the business
community, a common theme surfaces almost without fail on a weekly basis.
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December 8, 2012
Mickey MaurerI realized that my original vision of the American Dream was a nightmare. I learned that there is more to business than the
money earned.
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In my opinion the estridge companies are crooks. They filed bankruptcy on their 'track housing' side of the business two weeks before they closed on one of my clients' homes. When my client first interviewed Estridge as a builder 6 months before, they specifically ASKED about the solvency of their business, knowing that some builders were struggling. Estridge truly misrepresented their financial situation at that time. I suppose I am more unhappy with the whole system than I am with the builder because what the heck==you can file bankruptcy on 'track homes' but still keep building and make money off of 'custom built' homes??? How ridiculous! They are all homes. How can a company be allowed to bilk thousands of dollars from their subcontractors but still be allowed to build houses?? they should have been made to pay back all their unpaid contractors before being allowed to profit from building any more houses! This alone makes them and the system crooks in my eyes. I would never build an estridge home and I would not recommend for my clients either. If they were truly 'bankrupt' how could they afford to keep building homes anyway??? The whole system needs fixed.
I live a couple blocks east of the Angie's campus and my house is assessed for ~$160,000. If I could get that amount, let alone $384,000 (a 140% bonus), I'd sell in a minute. Either Angie's stockholders just got fleeced, or Angie's is getting about a 58% discount on their property taxes, if these properties are actually worth what they paid Mr. Oesterle for them. Which do you think is the case?
Perhaps the IMA board is really to blame! They agreed to hire Charles. They can't seemingly find donors among themselves, or bring in new blood that will support the museums operating budget with an expanded museum and money to provide curators with something to do (ie buy art). The headlines of disarray at the museum and mass firings are hurting the reputation of the museum for some time to come. If people on the board had misgivings, perhaps they shpuld have more forcefully opposed efforts that they have seemingly been unable to fund, like expansion and the costs it has created!
See, I told u Indyman and Dipsicle....this 8 days is overkill. It's barely worth a weekend....great job Tony George! Your dream has been fulfilled....he fans want the I r l back. Thats how good it was.....and that sucked.
I have been in training for a short time now but right off I can see that safety and quality are the number one issues, my experience as of late has been a positive one, the employees along with Jeff the plant manager and the operation supervisor as well as the engineers are a highly motivated group of people, what an asset for the area to have and for company's in need of a quality metal products.