Political sparring in the narrowly divided Indiana House has sidelined legislation to help fix the state’s bankrupt unemployment insurance fund – but lawmakers say the critical issue will be revived. The proposal would have significantly raised taxes on employers to help balance the fund. The account pays out millions of dollars more than it collects […]
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s president is leaving the Terre Haute engineering school to become provost of the California Maritime Academy. Gerald Jakubowski had announced his resignation, effective June 30, from Rose-Hulman on Monday, but did not then give a reason. The maritime academy near San Francisco is part of California State University system. Jakubowski told […]
The legions of fund-raisers colleges hired during the boom years have a new mission for these tough economic times: Go easy on the hard sell. Talk about financial aid, not shiny new buildings. If prospects can’t give now, lay the groundwork for when the economy recovers. Victoria Gorrell, the head fund-raiser at Kalamazoo College in […]
The Indiana Senate has passed a bill that would give taxpayers a break if the state’s surplus is at least 10 percent of the budget. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels supports the proposal, and the GOP-led Senate approved it 34-16 yesterday. But don’t expect tax credits any time soon. Indiana is struggling to keep its budget […]
A bankruptcy judge yesterday tentatively approved Delphi Corp.’s request to stop paying for its salaried retirees’ health and life insurance, but he left the door open for some former employees to be excluded from the move. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in Manhattan ruled that the auto parts supplier has a right to change the […]
Engine-maker Cummins Inc. plans to cut 985 employees worldwide by the end of this week, including 460 in Indiana. The Columbus-based company said last month it would cut “at least 800” by the end of February. The new reduction announced today includes 225 salaried and 235 hourly workers in Indiana. Earlier this month, Cummins offered […]
The Indiana Senate yesterday approved a bill that would revoke the business licenses of companies that repeatedly hire illegal immigrants. The “three-strikes” proposal would revoke business licenses from companies who knowingly hire illegal workers three times. The bill passed 37-13. Opponents of the legislation say immigration is a federal issue, and that the bill could […]
The Indiana Senate has approved a bill to eliminate local township advisory boards, but not eliminate township government completely as Gov. Mitch Daniels had proposed. The bill that passed yesterday 28-22 would eliminate three-member township boards that adopt the annual township budget and act as the township’s fiscal and legislative body. Those duties would be […]
Americans’ already battered confidence in the economy went into free fall this month, sinking to new lows as consumers grow more fearful over massive job cuts and shrinking retirement accounts. The dismal news came just hours after major retailers, including Target Corp., Home Depot and Macy’s Inc., reported depressed fourth-quarter results as shoppers focus on […]
More than 50 Indianapolis police officers will no longer be allowed to work off-duty at a metal recycling business that is under investigation in the alleged purchase of stolen scrap metal. Raids by police and federal officials on six Indianapolis OmniSource scrap yards yesterday marked the culmination of a yearlong investigation. No one was arrested […]
Republican state lawmakers were never keen on House Democrats’ idea to take $500 million from a trust fund and spend the cash on local road projects. But the GOP-controlled Senate made the message clear yesterday as it approved a proposal to protect the fund by putting it into the Indiana constitution. Sen. Mike Delph (R-Carmel) […]
Legislation to require Indiana’s investor-owned utilities to buy surplus power from businesses and municipalities that install wind turbines or solar panels is advancing in the General Assembly, and supporters predict it will be approved. With interest in renewable energy growing nationwide, supporters say passing a so-called “net metering” bill would spark more solar, wind and […]
The major stock market indexes have staggered to their lowest levels in more than a decade, pulled down by investors’ rapidly waning confidence. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed today at their lowest levels since 1997, succumbing to growing worries about a recession that has no end in […]
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute will soon be searching for its third new president in five years. The engineering and science school announced today that Gerald Jakubowski was resigning effective June 30, three years after he took the job. No reason for his departure was announced, and the school said its board of […]
The U.S. policy of shunning communist Cuba by imposing a strict trade embargo has failed to prod the island nation toward democracy and should be re-evaluated, according to the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way […]
President Barack Obama said today he would begin distributing $15 billion to the states within two days to help them with Medicaid payments to the poor. The money will begin reaching the states Wednesday from the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus program, Obama told the nation’s governors during a meeting at the White House. […]
European Union regulators have approved the blood thinner prasugrel, Indianapolis-based drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. announced this morning. The European Commission granted marketing authorization for prasugrel, which will be sold in Europe under the brand name Efient. Lilly spokeswoman Carole Copeland said the drug will be launched “in the coming weeks,” with a separate rollout […]
Marvin Harrison’s reluctance to take a pay cut could mark the end of his career in Indianapolis. Colts president Bill Polian told reporters yesterday at the NFL’s annual scouting combine that the team was trying to rework Harrison’s deal to lower the receiver’s salary cap number from approximately $13.4 million, the highest number of any […]
The nation’s deepening recession has boosted business at Indiana’s pawn shops as people shed possessions – particularly electronics – for cash to pay bills. At Ace Pawn Shop in Bloomington, manager Chris Banul said business is up and he’s seeing more high-end items brought to the shop for collateral, or sold outright, as the economy […]
The nation’s deepening recession has boosted business at Indiana’s pawn shops as people shed possessions – particularly electronics – for cash to pay bills. At Ace Pawn Shop in Bloomington, manager Chris Banul said business is up and he’s seeing more high-end items brought to the shop for collateral, or sold outright, as the economy […]
