DECEMBER 21-27, 2009
This week, find out what Indiana lawmakers are preparing to do -- or not do -- about the state's insolvent unemployment insurance tust fund. Also, check out how a Perry Meridian high school teacher spends his Sundays. IBJ Publisher Chris Katterjohn one-ups Barbara Walters and shares his Top 11 personalities of 2009. And get two perspectives on the new Barbie exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis: A&E guru Lou Harry and Style columnist Gabrielle Poshadlo weigh in.
Front PageBack to Top
Setbacks in diabetes market batter Roche
Roche Diagnostics Corp., once the darling of the U.S. diabetes-device market, is now licking its wounds. And
it’s mulling whether to keep fighting on all fronts or to pull back.
Prosecutor Brizzi a big player in real estate
Carl Brizzi partnered on a bank branch, took an ownership interest in an office building and flipped condos.
Read MoreUSA Track & Field CEO doubles budget, pushes reforms
Doug Logan is shaking up the sport and hopes to add more events, which could pay off for Indianapolis.
Read MoreTop StoriesBack to Top
Freight Masters files bankruptcy after losing business from Chrysler, Boeing
The minority-owned logistics firm is also involved in a legal battle with a Washington state firm over the loss of its Boeing
business.
Math teacher has spent 25 years working Colts sidelines
Steve Taylor loves to tell his NFL war stories. There’s the time he taunted Baltimore Ravens linebacker
Ray Lewis and the many times he’s been flattened by an overzealous tackler. Then there was the thrill of his Indianapolis
Colts’ clinching a trip to the Super Bowl.
First Indiana Future Fund off to a slow start
More than half of the venture capital fund’s original investors took a pass on its $58 million successor, the newly launched
INext.
Buyer of prized Durham Duesenberg alleges fraud
A Virginia businessman is suing Tim Durham, alleging he and other defendants manipulated the September auction of a 1930 Duesenberg
that sold for $2.9 million.
Opera directors create $40,000 challenge grant
Indianapolis Opera board Chairman Garry Fredericksen says in a recent appeal for donations that the company is in a “battle
for survival.”
FocusBack to Top
Legislators face unemployment insurance fund sinking into red
Indiana lawmakers are preparing to punt on 2009’s must-solve business issue in the hope of a federal bailout. However, it’s
anybody’s
guess how Washington will respond.
Property tax caps stand good odds in the 2010 legislative session
Lawmakers are likely to pass property tax legislation, which would send it to a voter referendum in November and potentially
into the state constitution.
FEIGENBAUM: Expect uncertainty in the 2010 General Assembly
About the only certainty for the upcoming legislative session is that it will be over in March.
Read MoreOpinionBack to Top
EDITORIAL: Bold moves show results
There’s something refreshing and inspiring about individuals who set ambitious goals and throw themselves into
meeting them.
KATTERJOHN: My Top 11 personalities of 2009
I saw where Barbara Walters did her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009 shtick on television recently. So with a nod
to the venerable newswoman, here’s my list of locals who got my attention
this year.
MARCUS: Kindle depresses elf in Santa’s workshop
Elvin has been one of Santa’s elves for decades. Normally a jolly fellow, he called me last week with desperation
in his voice.
PAYNE: How we can improve our ‘talent dividend’
We Hoosiers are starting to treat education with a sense of urgency and as something
worth achieving. This response to our city’s, state’s and country’s education crisis is reassuring, because the
stakes couldn’t be higher.
HAUKE: Unusual times mean tough money decisions
One of the strongest messages the broad market is sending us today is that investors are looking for liquidity.
Read MoreHICKS: Elf productivity leads advances in North Pole economy
St. Nicholas has developed an amazing forecast recordâ??he knows who is naughty and nice.
Read MoreALTOM: Here are some technology glitches to put behind us in 2010
If you’re not involved in one of these massive failures, you can take solace in the much smaller
problems you have every day.
Focus of NCAA story was all about money
Simultaneously disturbing and telling is how I found “Big Dance may get bigger” in the Dec. 14 edition of the
IBJ.
Losing tennis event is a sad moment
As a local business owner and someone who grew up just off of Dean Road, where the first U.S. Open Clay Courts were played,
I am very saddened that the Indy Tennis Championships is leaving our city.
In BriefBack to Top
Racing industry trade shows won’t conflict in 2010
The Performance Racing Industry Show has set its 2010 dates for Dec. 9-11. That means the International Motorsports Industry
Show held in Indianapolis will have Dec. 1-3 to itself.
Brownsburg hires Texas city manager as town manager
Dale Cheatham, who starts work Jan. 4, was city manager of The Colony, Texas, a growing community of
40,000, for eight years. Before that, he spent four years as city manager of Watauga, Texas.
Bills in General Assembly would ease costs for casinos
The Indiana General Assembly is taking its first steps toward restructuring Hoosier gambling law.
Read MoreJudge fines woman waging Web war against plastic surgeon
Judge Sarah Evans Barker declared a Massachusetts woman in contempt of court for failing to remove her negative Internet
postings about an Indianapolis cosmetic surgeon.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway puts golf course under microscope
Changes are coming to the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which owns the facility,
has no intention of selling it.
Indy Power Systems technology cited by Discovery magazine
Founder Steve Tolen started out to make an electric car and wound up with a device to blend and regulate power among different
types of electric batteries.
NFP of Note: Huntington’s Disease Society of America – Indiana
Huntington’s Disease Society of America believes in a future free from Huntington’s Disease and is committed
to building a community of compassion that enriches the lives of families affected by HD through education, research and care.