Ranking Indianapolis’ best mayor

Former Indianapolis mayors have a way of staying in the news.

Richard Lugar has climbed to the top echelons of the U.S. Senate. Bill Hudnut is quoted regularly from his
position at the Urban Land Institute, a Washington, D.C., not-for-profit that…

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Are unions making a comeback?

Weâ??re accustomed to hearing that unions represent a smaller and smaller proportion of the American work force.

Yet, government figures released last week show the first increase in union membership in 24 years, with
about 12.1 percent of workers in unions….

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Spending your government check

If you pay taxes, President Bush and leaders in Congress have agreed to send you at least $600 in the
hope youâ??ll spend it and pump more life into the economy.

They have their wishes, but Americans are independent sorts.

What would…

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Blame Daniels for the economy?

At this point four years ago, now-Gov. Mitch Daniels had started outlining a platform based on revitalizing
the economy.

The economy had been headed south since the â??70s and had taken another beating early in the decade. Voters
were only too…

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Has housing hit bottom?

F.C. Tucker Co. put out a release today saying the Indianapolis-area housing market stabilized last year.

Somehow, a 9.9-percent decline in sales and 2.1-percent drop in selling price doesnâ??t sound so stable.

Tucker President Jim Litten points out that the region still…

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Bud Wolf Chevrolet a goner

The Wolf family has thrown in the towel on its Chevrolet dealership at 5350 N. Keystone Ave.

One of the owners, Andy Wolf, says the closing was forced because property tax increases shocked customers
into pulling back from spending. Another reason…

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Home team vs. the Internet

Itâ??s been a tough couple of years in Bloomington for Roberts Distributors, the well-known Indianapolis supply
house for cameras and other photography equipment. So tough that the Bloomington store is closing.

Bruce Pallman, the second generation running Roberts, said the location…

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Does loss damage Colts brand?

Yesterdayâ??s frustrating loss by the Indianapolis Colts to San Diego was hard to take for fans whoâ??d pulled
for the team through an otherwise remarkable season.

Now Tony Dungy might finally follow through on years of ruminations about putting a bookend…

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Toyota’s quality problems

The luster on Toyotaâ??s reputation for putting out highly reliable vehicles is beginning to tarnish.

The Japanese carmaker is taking it on the chin for a series of quality issues, and the Tundra full-size
pickup truck made near Evansville is causing…

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Mortgages are getting cheap

Mortgage rates are falling. This week, rates on 30-year mortgages slipped below 6 percent for the first time
in more than two years.

Are the cheaper rates putting you in a mood to refinance or step up to that house youâ??ve…

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Taxing lawyers, docs, Realtors

Your lawyer probably isnâ??t complaining. Neither would your doctor, Realtor or accountant.

In all the talk about reforming property taxes, hardly a word has been said about shifting some of the
property tax burden to services.

That means some of the most…

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Will oil really hit $200?

Bloomberg carried a story today saying some of the hottest oil investments are options on the New York Mercantile
Exchange to buy oil for $200 a barrel. Presumably at least some investors think oil prices are going to
double.

Weâ??ve already…

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Feeling left out of the process?

The Iowa caucuses are over and the New Hampshire primary isnâ??t far away. Indianaâ??s primary arrives May 6,
long after a string of states could easily make ours all but irrelevant.

How do you feel about having little, if any voice…

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Get ready for radio shock

If you’ve memorized the local radio dial, you can forget a lot of it beginning next month.

As IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle wrote in this weekend’s paper, several stations are starting new formats.
We’ll hear plenty of promos as they try…

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