IBJ Staff

Severe weather swept through central Indiana last night, causing downed power lines, flooding and accidents. Thousands of homes and businesses were without power this morning, with Marion County hit hardest. Multiple weather-related collisions disrupted the morning commute and some vehicles were swept away as drivers tried to cross flooded roads.

Severe weather should be out of the Indianapolis area in time for today’s action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indy 500 practice was slated to rev at noon. Admission is $5 and children 5 and under get in free.

Scott [email protected] Taking science from the laboratory to the commercial market takes too much time and is littered with potential pitfalls along the way. That’s the message Bill Cook, one of the state’s most successful businessmen, delivered this morning at the fourth and final event of the 2008-09 Indiana Life Science Collaboration Conference Series at […]

Indiana legislators recently approved cell-phone restrictions for drivers under the age of 18, but some say those rules should apply to all drivers. In fact, several states are taking action to protect people from drivers on cell phones. Fox 59 will have more at 10 p.m.

Emmis Communications Corp. this morning reported a big fiscal fourth-quarter loss as revenue fell 20 percent from a year earlier. The Indianapolis-based radio-broadcasting and magazine-publishing company lost $158.5 million, or $4.29 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 28 on revenue of $68.5 million. That compares to a loss of $18 million, or 52 […]

Police have made an arrest in a purse-snatching ring that targeted older women in Indianapolis. Investigators believe Laritha Martin and five other female accomplices searched store parking lots for older women, followed them home and robbed them. Police say they found purses from multiple victims inside Martin’s home on North Carrolton Avenue. They are still […]

Officials from Citizens Gas and Indianapolis Power & Light are warning customers about a fraudulent utility-bill scheme in the Indianapolis area. Customers should not give money to anyone offering to pay a bill for them, or to anyone offering to provide matching energy-assistance funds, they said. If you receive an unsolicited offer to cover the […]

Three Indiana men were killed when a fuel-storage tanker exploded yesterday afternoon near Little Rock, Ark. The victims were all contract welders, employed by Kentucky-based C & C Welding. Two of the victims, Stoney Powell, 45, and Roy Mathis, 60, were from Wheatfield and the other, William Decker, 48, was from Scottsburg. Fox will have […]

The city of Indianapolis has selected seven local organizations to help launch neighborhood revitalization projects funded by $29 million in federal money, the city announced today. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Federal lawmakers approved the funds late last year to help neighborhoods recover from the effects of widespread foreclosures. The city’s Redevelopment Planning Council […]

Central Indiana home sales continue to lag last year’s pace, but the inventory of available houses is beginning to slip, according to the latest residential real estate report from Indianapolis-based Landrigan & Co. Realtors. According to the report, which uses figures from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, 1,848 homes were sold in April in […]

Illinois-based Allstate Insurance Co. is working to recruit 55 new agency owners in Indiana by the end of 2010, the company said yesterday. If successful, the recruitment push would boost Allstate’s Hoosier agent force by 25 percent, to 273. Allstate agents sell automobile, homeowners and other kinds of property insurance, as well as various financial […]

Military officials have not released the identities of five soldiers killed by an Army sergeant yesterday in Iraq, but two of the dead were officers from the Indianapolis-based U.S. Army Reserve 55th Medical Co., according to the Associated Press. The suspected shooter was a patient at a combat stress treatment center at Camp Liberty near […]

A story in Friday’s IBJ Daily quoted Mike Renninger, principal of Carmel-based consultancy Renninger & Associates, as saying he doesn’t foresee any bank acquisitions this year resulting from the stress tests. What it should have said is that larger, regional banks in Indianapolis likely won’t be a target.

Police in Lawrence Township are looking for the person or persons who broke into Skiles Test Elementary School early yesterday morning, vandalizing the building and ransacking dozens of classrooms. Police think the vandals were looking for small electronics or cash to steal. The school is in session today.

Noble Roman’s Inc. yesterday reported profit of $416,761, or 2 cents a share, in the first quarter, a 30-percent increase over the same period a year ago. The Indianapolis based franchisor of Noble Roman’s Pizza and Tuscano’s Italian Style Subs saw quarterly revenue slip to $1.9 million, down 20 percent from last year. Noble Roman’s […]

Health and safety officials released a new opinion poll this morning during a news conference at City Market showing support for a smoking ban in Marion County. The findings came from the Survey Research Center at IUPUI. The proposed ban would prohibit smoking in any workplace, including bars and bowling alleys.