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Government
NOTIONS: A heapin' helpin' of straight-and-narrow satire
March 5, 2007
Bruce Hetrick·mo ·pho ·bia, noun: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals -Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary Hi. Big Brother here. You know me: Mr. Government-Knows-Best, Mr. Run-Your-Life-For-You, Mr. Tell-You-What-You-Can-and-Cannot-Do.
I realize I'm not popular in these Hoosier parts. I know I've failed to mandate the use of motorcycle helmets. Failed to mandate
the use of safety belts in trucks. Failed to stop you from smoking up that old Chevy Malibu with your little munchkin ridin'
shotgun. Granted, after decades of...
MoreEYE ON THE PIE: What's wrong with property taxes?
March 5, 2007
Morton MarcusSo much is going on in the Indiana General Assembly that it makes my head spin, which makes me dizzy and unfit for driving
safely on the roads. That, plus the recent heavy snows, has made me a hermit. To re-enter society, I called Dr. Werner von
Fizzle, the only psychologist I know who provides at-home consultations. As he sat down, Dr. von F asked, "Do you have some
tonic vater?" I nodded and rose to fill his request. "And,"...
MoreRETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Battle brewing between big business and the Web
March 5, 2007
Tim AltomThe Web has always been viewed with suspicion by many people, but now it's become nothing less than the cause of copyright
lawsuits against Ellen DeGeneres for letting a guest dance the Electric Slide, against the Girl Scouts for doing the Macarena
a satire Web site about Barney the purple dinosaur for making fun of the big guy, and against the online deal-finder site
Black Friday for publishing prices from retailer Best Buy. Back in the old days, copyright holders...
MoreDST changes may create time trials: An extended schedule threatens calendars on electronic devices
March 5, 2007
Scott OlsonIt must seem like déjá vu to Hoosier companies who again must prepare their computer networks for the confusion caused by
daylight-saving time. Indiana's first-ever switch to DST last year triggered a mass adjustment of electronic clocks essential
for computers and other devices to spring ahead with the rest of the world. Now the ritual must be repeated, due to a 2005
federal law decreeing that DST start three weeks earlier and end one week later, beginning this year. The...
MoreEYE ON THE PIE: What is the truth about jobs in Indiana?
February 26, 2007
Morton MarcusIt seems I have to write this column every year. Our elected leaders and their appointees are once again telling us how many
jobs they have brought to us through their superlative efforts. Have pity on them. They know what they are doing, but they
don't know what's going on. Yet, you and I will go to the polls and judge them based on the number of jobs they bring to the
city, county or the state when we vote...
MoreNew NFIB boss knows politics: State chapter to devote more time to campaigns
February 26, 2007
Jennifer WhitsonKevin Hughes cut his teeth in the political world. Now he's taking a bite out of small business, as the new state director
for the National Federation of Independent Business. Hughes, 30, has never owned his own business, but he worked for six years
at the Ohio State Legislature as a legislative aide and for the Senate Republicans there. He also worked on several campaigns.
In 2004, Hughes took a job as the Midwest regional political director for NFIB in...
MoreCHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Snowstorms make you wonder
February 19, 2007
CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary Snowstorms make you wonder Television weatherpeople are weird creatures, and I mean that in the
nicest way. I know a few of them, and they are very fine individuals. But while most folks get anxious over "weather events"
like Feb. 13's snowstorm, TV weatherpeople get excited, downright giddy. Their eyes gleam with intensity. They become more
animated. Their nervous systems crank to high alert. They are like the veritable kid in the candy store. Weather events are...
MoreSTATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Tax reform is tricky, but legislators aren't giving up
February 19, 2007
Ed FeigenbaumThe coming week will bring intense action in both the House of Representatives and the Senate as the chambers complete committee
deliberations on bills in their respective chambers of origin. As of this writing, final floor action that would allow bills
to cross the Statehouse Rotunda would take place by early in the last week of February. Missing from this session seems to
be any real sense of urgency in moving measures through committee and on to the floor of...
MoreState GOP considering 2012 national convention bid: A successful Young Republican event in 2009 could help city land larger
prize, but competition will be stiff
February 12, 2007
Scott OlsonIt's a long shot-probably longer than the odds the Chicago Bears faced against the Indianapolis Colts-but the city could host
the Super Bowl in 2011 and the Republican National Convention the following year. City leaders hope to convince NFL owners
that the city is more deserving than Phoenix, Dallas and possibly New Orleans, which could be the sentimental favorite if,
in fact, it submits a bid. Indiana Republicans, meanwhile, are setting their sights on 2012 and are just beginning to...
MoreTough road to the top: 77 percent of university presidents are men. Will new hires at IU and Purdue change that?
February 12, 2007
Jo EllenAfter decades of Affirmative Action, women occupy fewer than one-fourth of U.S. university presidents' offices-this despite
females making up 58 percent of undergraduates, according to the U.S. Education Department. Women made decent strides between
1986, when 10 percent of college presidents' offices were occupied by women, and 2001, when 21 percent had women. However,
between 2001 and 2006, the number barely changed. In the most recent survey by the Washington, D.C.-based American Council
on Education, a public-policy advocacy group, preliminary...
MoreEYE ON THE PIE: Elected officials inherit problems
February 12, 2007
Morton MarcusOutside of Marion County, this is probably unknown. Even inside the county, few are aware of Mayor Bart Peterson's proposal
to issue $450 million in bonds because of shortfalls in the money available for police and fire pensions. These are obligations
to those who served before 1977. The issue seems too complex for most of us to get into. Also, it's something going on in
Marion County. Who cares? If it isn't the Colts, does it matter? Despite these feelings,...
MoreForensic engineering firm seeks defense work: New initiative hopes to help other local firms follow in Wolf Technical's footsteps
February 12, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerAfter 30 years in the forensic-engineering business, Wolf Technical Services Inc. has analyzed everything from deadly car
crashes to patent infringement. Now, Indianapolis-based Wolf is hoping to diversify into a new area: federal defense contracting.
It's a field local corporate leaders hope Indiana will tap much more frequently in the years to come. "We don't quite know
at the moment where this could lead," said Wolf Director of Client Relations Joseph Ward. "And that's the fun part." The 30-employee
Wolf's...
MoreSTATEHOUSE DISPATCH: This finally may be the year for property tax reform
February 12, 2007
Ed FeigenbaumBrace yourself for lots of action in the next two weeks, as the deadlines approach for bills originating in the House to be
passed to the Senate, and vice versa. While this is a long session of the General Assembly and one might assume this would
lead to more deliberative contemplation, the extra days do not seem to make much difference as deadlines approach. Some of
the larger issues that require more massaging and compromise tend not to be drafted...
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Earmarking taxes in vogue, but is it good state policy?
February 12, 2007
Patrick BarkeyI was taught economics, and in particular, the subject of public finance, by a faculty dominated by old Kennedy Democrats.
A lot of that teaching has rubbed off or has simply been forgotten. Much of it also could be dismissed as idealism, a sort
of ivory-tower thinking not relevant to the real world. Yet as I scan and digest the various tax proposals now in front of
the Indiana General Assembly, several of those old lessons keep coming to my...
MoreLawrence turns down rezoning for vacant drive-in: Developer and city working on a compromise
February 5, 2007
Jennifer WhitsonA developer wanting to breathe new life into a long-vacant drive-in theater along Pendleton Pike is working to change the
minds of Lawrence leaders who already have said no thanks. New York-based Norry Management Corp. is leading an effort to redevelop
the 93-acre property for retail, office and industrial uses. But its plans faced a setback last month when a rezoning petition
got a negative response from officials concerned about what might end up there. Lawrence City Council members voted...
MoreProviders have new rules to take on Medicaid fraud: Many companies required to educate employees
February 5, 2007
Scott OlsonA federal law that took effect Jan. 1 requires hospitals and others serving the Medicaid population to teach their employees
how to detect fraud and report it to the government. Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides health insurance
coverage to the needy and is prone to abuse. In an effort to reduce abuse, the legislation requires companies that do at least
$5 million annually in Medicaid business to educate all employees and officers on how to spot fraud....
MoreFood vs. fuel debate is ignited: Price of ethanol-ingredient corn soars, squeezing margins for livestock, food
February 5, 2007
Chris O\'malleyThe ethanol gold rush sweeping Indiana and other states that grow its prime ingredient, corn, is threatening profit margins
for livestock producers and portends higher prices at the supermarket. Perhaps no sector is more nervous these days than pork,
where Indiana ranks fifth in production nationally. "Much higher feed costs are likely to eliminate the profit potential for
pork production in 2007," Chris Hurt, a Purdue University agriculture economics professor, said in his recent market outlook
report. Corn, the primary...
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Those from corrupt cultures more likely to ignore laws
February 5, 2007
Patrick BarkeyDo we obey laws because we fear punishment? Or is it simply a habit we acquired to which we don't otherwise give much thought?
Either way, it is a good thing for our communities, our governments and our entire society that so many of us are, generally
speaking, law-abiding. One can scarcely imagine the chaos that would be caused if 300 million people lied, stole and murdered
our way through the day without giving it a moment's thought. It's good...
MoreSTATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Out of spotlight, state efficiency initiatives advance
February 5, 2007
Ed FeigenbaumA pair of state studies last year attracted little public attention, but were highly-if warily-anticipated by business and
industry, labor organizations, trade and professional groups, educators, local government officials, and even state agencies.
The legislatively created Government Efficiency Commission served up its recommendation, followed, after the election, by
the Office of Management and Budget's Government Efficiency and Financial Planning office Program Results: an Outcome Based
Evaluation (PROBE) analysis sought by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. The Government Efficiency Commission offered some...
MoreCity Securities aims to earn mega-deal: If approved, $450 million bond plan would pay off pre-1977 police, fire pensions
February 5, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerIf Mayor Bart Peterson gets his wish, a $450 million bond issue finally will settle Indianapolis' long-standing dilemma over
underfunded police and firefighter pensions once and for all. It will also generate up to $9 million in professional fees.
And locally based City Securities Corp. is laying the groundwork to earn a lion's share-even though investment banking is
dominated by giant companies in Manhattan. "I would assume that most of Wall Street has made a call," said City Securities
Vice...
MoreSPORTS: Overdosing on the Colts? Enjoy it while you can
January 29, 2007
Bill BennerThat sport, and not religion as Karl Marx once declared, has become the "opiate of the masses" is apparent in our fair burg,
where we all-or at least most of us-are overdosing on the Indianapolis Colts. The TV types are in full hyper-ventilation.
The scribes are cranking out words by the thousands. No angle involving the Colts and their upcoming Super Bowl date with
Da Bears in Miami will go uncovered. And, yes, some of the story lines will be...
MoreA lonely number for IPOs in Indiana: Calumet joins short list of Indiana companies to go public this decade
January 29, 2007
Scott OlsonA little-known refining and petroleum products company on the city's west side has the distinction of being the only company
in the state to go public in 2006. Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP filed its initial public offering last January.
It completed the process in June by selling 5.7 million shares of stock at $21.50 each, ultimately raising $122.5 million.
Shares since have nearly doubled in value, thanks in part to rising prices in the petroleum industry. While Calumet's decision...
MoreECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How to extricate ourselves from the property tax mess
January 29, 2007
Patrick BarkeyThere once was a time when everyone watched network news, and there was one newscast in the heat of presidential primary season
that I'll always remember. After watching a succession of unsuccessful candidates in post-election press conferences blaming
anything and everything-except themselves-for their poor showings, correspondent Roger Mudd had seen enough. Just once, he
said, he would like to see candidates stand up and say it straight-they lost because folks liked the other candidates better.
One of these days, someone...
MoreNeighbors examine the BioCrossroads' approach: Collaboration, not competition, now key for Midwestern life science industry
January 22, 2007
Peter SchnitzlerFive years ago, when the BioCrossroads initiative debuted, pundits compared its challenge to a foot race on a track crowded
with competitors. And they noted a handful of traditional biotech hub cities like San Diego or Boston enjoyed a huge head
start. Today, a better analogy might be a rising tide that lifts all boats. "The pie is getting bigger. It's not a zero-sum
game," said Walt Plosila, vice president and leader of the technology partnership practice for Columbus, Ohio-based...
MoreEYE ON THE PIE: You didn't know him and now he is gone
January 22, 2007
Morton MarcusA quiet gentleman died last week. It did not make the headlines. Ken Miller never did make headlines, but he was part of your
life and the lives of all Hoosiers for many years. If you thought of him at all, it was as taking your money, yet all that
time Ken was carefully saving you money and modernizing state government. For 14 years, Ken was Indiana's commissioner of
revenue. It was to his office that you sent your income-tax...
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Laura-the festivals and tastings are free. What does is strengthen the sense of community with activities. What are those empty lots doing for the Village? it's sad you can't see the good that this progress can do for the area. No one is requiring anyone to shop there. I guess you'd rather see a Dollar store move in or no, we'd rather see the property stand empty b/c change is out of the question.
Read down to the part about Brizzi. Someone needs to subpoena his "purchases" of Red RockPictures and Cellstar and his corresponding bank records, I mean c'mon, I'd like to see his alcohol usage records, too. http://diana-vice.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html
Wonder if my neighborhood can advertise our "retention" pond and act like it is a beach too?
a new record at the '11 salebration until they realized that it was a futile effort to get their crapwagon moter and crapwagon car up speed. And then they just quietly slunk off into the night and never spoke of it again. Nothing to see here folks.
millions for putting a company's bumper sticker on one of its Lolas. But you gotta take what you can get.