FEB. 20-26, 2026
Owners of independent music venues are pulling back the curtain and speaking candidly about their financial struggles. IBJ’s Dave Lindquist reports that the move is intended to give audiences a chance to support small stages before it’s too late. Also in this week’s issue, Taylor Wooten recounts what happened to proposed state legislation that would have usurped Indy’s billboard regulations. And Lindquist also shares a peek at items from Jim Irsay’s massive pop culture memorabilia collection that soon will be auctioned.
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Small music venues want audiences to be aware of financial struggles
Owners of independent music venues are pulling back the curtain to speak candidly about their financial struggles, a move that gives audiences a chance to support small stages before it’s too late.
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GLP-1 fight plays out in statehouses, courthouses
While major drugmakers tussle for market supremacy, they are also taking on compound pharmacies that have not stopped selling obesity drugs despite the end of the shortage of such drugs.
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Q&A: How a welding company ventured into specialty golf equipment
Michael VanDeventer and Ted Roark of Roark Custom Golf Works talked with IBJ about the company’s foray into golf clubs and what it means to lead a family business into the 21st century.
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Lawmaker kills Indy billboard legislation
Lobbyists for billboard companies have recently sought to deregulate the space through state legislation, rather than fighting with local officials who have so far been unwilling to give in to their requests. The debate has spanned several years.
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Jim Irsay’s memorabilia will be unified for final time at upcoming auctions
More than 300 items are displayed on Christie’s website to provide a peek at one of the most significant collections ever assembled by one person.
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Mike Epps predicts champions will emerge from his boxing gym
In addition to buying a cluster of homes in the Kennedy-King neighborhood, actor-comedian Epps purchased a former auto body and paint shop to house his his boxing gym.
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Derek Schultz: Former Carmel High School star does it all for Miami of Ohio, which has started 26-0
The mid-major darling has already become the story of the sport this year.
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Indiana House adds $50M in regional tax credits to IEDC bill
The bill requires the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to set aside $50 million in tax credits — out of the agency’s total allotment of $300 million — for specific regional items. It also establishes rules for the state’s new drone-testing site.
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Large package of farmland hitting auction block near Lebanon’s LEAP District
The largely agricultural area has been in the spotlight for several years since state economic development officials began assembling thousands of acres of land for the district.
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Coworking company COhatch says deal in place to stay at Circle Centre amid rent dispute
Hendricks Commercial Properties earlier this month sued Columbus, Ohio-based COhatch, claiming the firm has failed to pay nearly $180,000 in rent at its downtown Indianapolis location.
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Fishers-based Spokenote rolling out mass-customization video product
The tech firm launched by entrepreneur John Wechsler in 2022 is about to launch a product that represents a significant pivot from the QR-code product it started with four years ago.
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Butler launches deaf education master’s program based on listening, spoken language
Indiana and the nation have a chronic shortage of deaf educators, and many programs that train them are being eliminated or merged, compounding the problem.
Read MoreBrad Boswell: Building for families: How HB 1001 impacts Marion County schools
Frequent student movement has measurable consequences for schools. Midyear enrollment changes affect class sizes, staffing assignments, transportation routes and per-pupil funding calculations.
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Editorial: Lawmakers are smart to stay out of local battle over billboards
This is clearly the type of decision that should be made locally.
Read MoreNate Feltman: An Indiana conversation about America’s future
A starting point for regaining our ability to disagree civilly is a healthier legislative branch.
Read MoreScott B. Tittle: More hospital services at risk if state ignores the real data
Protecting access to care requires accurate data, sound policy and a willingness to confront the financial realities facing hospitals today.
Read MoreMartin Pollio: Updating Ivy Tech’s statute matters for state’s workforce
Senate Bill 254 reflects extensive input from educators, employers and policymakers who understand Ivy Tech’s unique role in Indiana’s talent pipeline.
Read MoreDr. Anthony Bashall: Indiana should restore GLP-1 coverage for state employees
Despite GLP-1’s incredible impact on health, Indiana is choosing to penalize people with obesity and remove access to a very effective, evidence-based treatment that improves their health.
Read MoreJeff Wheeler: Don’t discount jobs created by data centers
Indiana is a state of builders, and we should welcome projects that help put food on the table of our skilled tradespeople and their families.
Read MoreMandy Haskett: Cignetti models coaching in the classic Hungarian sense
Somewhere along the way, we lost the meaning — and many leaders now use coach to describe behavior that does the opposite of development.
Read MorePete the planner: The answer to ‘Why me?’ is ‘Because you chose it’
Welcome to the dad talk you didn’t ask for.
Read MoreCecil Bohanon and John Horowitz: America still wrestles with clashes between federal, local power
National rules often clash with regional preferences.
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Jack’s Donuts in Greenwood to close permanently
The shop at 3115 Meridian Parke Drive opened in 2017.
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Baptist group acquires Johnson County golf course site for seminary, recreation
The Indianapolis-based organization, which serves the Chin community, purchased the 110-acre site with plans for it to become a national destination for church members in 27 states.
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Mayor Sue Finkam: Bill impacts city’s ability to control land use, costs
We’re also concerned about the possibility of inviting congestion onto city streets.
Read MoreRep. Doug Miller: Local communities must help lower housing costs
Rolling back regulations will help more Hoosiers and families achieve the American dream.
Read MoreMayor Scott Fadness: HB 1001 degrades rights of current residents
It preempts communities from having a say in how, and at what pace, they want to grow.
Read MoreTodd Huston: Regulations have driven up cost of homeownership
House Bill 1001 is the next step to unleash the housing market.
Read MoreNathan Gotsch: Beware assuming anything in Indiana politics
Establishment candidates in this era must work twice as hard.
Read MoreGeorge Gemelas: The state of nuclear power in Indiana: One year in
The crown jewel was scoring an actual new nuclear startup.
Read MoreStar Parker: Voting should be treated as a special privilege
Isn’t the point that freedom is not free?
Read MoreKaren Celestino-Horseman: Voting rules could disenfranchise women, elderly
The Save America Act is a solution to a barely existent problem.
Read MoreClaire Fiddian-Green: Independence requires civic engagement, so get busy
Our country’s founders believed that a republic couldn’t work without engaged citizens.
Read MoreDeborah Daniels: Law enforcement must build trust to be effective
ICE agents have proved themselves to be heavily armed bullies.
Read MorePierre M. Atlas: Congress has dodged doing its job on immigration
It seems Congress has prioritized partisan point-scoring over working together.
Read MoreJennifer Wagner Chartier: It’s hard to argue with kids delaying adult behaviors
They just might not be like us. And that’s OK.
Read MoreDana Black: Trump serves up historically odious racist trope
But let us be clear: Trump posting that racist image was done to distract us.
Read MoreJim Shella: Trump’s redistricting stratagem could backfire
“Virginia and Maryland still have redistricting efforts pending.”
Read MoreDr. Richard Feldman: Trump isolating U.S. from world health system
We will lose our role as the major influencer in international health policy.
Read MoreCurt Smith: Fighting blood cancer is easier with a group effort
More people suffer from this malady than you might guess.
Read MoreBrad Rateike: To preserve maximum influence, stay in the boat
Your ability to influence where the boat goes largely depends on whether you’re still on it.
Read MoreBill Taft: Don’t stifle charter schools’ ability to innovate
Three schools show how the decentralized nature of charter schools frees them to address a wide variety of contexts.
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