Amid all this joyless market watching, this much is clear: The financial markets and the economy are going to get worse before they get better. But market watching is never a healthy sport, especially since it tends to make us lose track of the real economy at times like these. Over the past couple of weeks, the real economy has shown a bit of resilience. And here in Indiana, really great news has been lost in the wake of the…
A year of computer snafus boiled over Oct. 13 when the St. Francis system declared WellPoint Inc. in breach of its contract
because of habitually late payments.
German manufacturer Getrag is without a primary customer for the transmissions it expected to make at a new factory in Tipton. Chrysler LLC terminated a financing options agreement with Getrag over the weekend, the company said. Indiana economic development officials hope Getrag can find a new customer soon for dual-clutch transmissions that were to be […]
The Heartland Film Festival kicks off tonight with the North American premiere (which I incorrectly stated was a World Premiere in my weekly e-mail) of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
Landing a major studio premiere is a coup for Heartland…
There have been a fair number of complaints about the new home of the Indianapolis Colts since its opening in August, from the temperature inside the stadium to traffic flow in concourses and…
The St. Francis hospital system threatened to terminate its contract with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana on Nov. 2-well before the contract expires next September, saying Anthem has been slow at paying claims and has not granted St. Francis terms similar to other area hospitals. If no deal is reached before Nov. […]
At some point, I will write about something besides the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of “Guys and Dolls in Concert” last weekend.
But that point isn’t here yet.
I blogged on one aspect of the show on Saturday. (Find it here, along…
A legal malpractice insurance carrier has agreed to pay $16.5 million to Indiana ‘s insurance department, settling a federal lawsuit stemming from the multi-million-dollar collapse of a health insurance trust. Alabama-based ProNational Insurance Co. agreed to make the payment to settle a bad-faith and breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by the department four months ago. ProNational was […]
Small businesses in Indiana stung by rising health care costs now can band together to broker better deals from insurance providers. The rule from the Indiana Department of Insurance took effect in late August and is the final piece of a 2007 health care expansion state lawmakers financed with a 44-cent increase in the cigarette tax. The pooling program is open to businesses with two to 50 employees and is meant to give them strength in numbers so, in essence,…
Area not-for-profits are beginning to feel the sting of the year-old credit crunch, which has escalated into a full-blown
financial crisis that’s battered investors and likely pushed the nation into recession.
If someone slips and falls in a parking lot, was it the fault of the property owner because he didn’t plow, or was the snow not deep enough in that area to prove a duty to plow? If a child darts in front of a car at dusk, were the conditions at that moment in the day enough for the driver to be able to see the child? Should the driver legally have had his or her headlights on, and…
Last week, I attended a press conference that pumped the upcoming Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase at Lucas Oil Stadium Dec. 6. The Showcase will feature Indiana University versus Gonzaga University in one game, the University of Notre Dame against Ohio State University in the other. Name wise, it’s a stellar lineup befitting the occasion: the first basketball games to take place in LOS. It’s safe to predict they will be the first of many. At the very least, an…
Eli Lilly and Co. has written a $6.5 billion IOU to acquire the cancer drugs of ImClone Systems Inc. Cancer drugs are now
the best-selling class of drugs in the world and one of the fastest growing.
Rising unemployment rates are making it harder for more states, including Indiana, to pay jobless benefits, according to Stateline.org. The non-partisan organization, which reports on trends in state policy, says unemployment insurance trust funds are in danger of insolvency in California, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin. It cites a study by […]
Eli Lilly and Co. promised to dole out $62 million to 32 states to settle claims that the Indianapolis drugmaker improperly marketed its bestselling drug, the antipsychotic Zyprexa. Indiana will get $1.6 million of the total, according to Attorney General Steve Carter. Attorneys general from the 32 states had claimed that Lilly illegally promoted Zyprexa […]
An Alexander Calder mobile hangs above. Bronzes by Henry Moore and William de Kooning stand handsomely on the ground. The walls feature works on paper by Picasso, Pollock, Rembrandt, Miro and more. Ball State University Museum of Art’s collection is well worth lingering over. But I’m doing a lightening round because the museum is closing at 4:30 and I’ve spend the better part of the afternoon immersed in another Ball State Museum of Art. The one online. In Second Life….
When Arcadia Resources Inc. moved from Southfield, Mich., to Indianapolis last fall, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. crowed with pride. In exchange for incentives worth more than $6 million, the state had landed the headquarters of a publicly traded life sciences firm with more than 5,000 employees. Even better, the company was ready to launch an innovative new product that promises to improve home health care while simultaneously reducing its cost. A year has passed, but investors still aren’t as…
Large Wall Street firms with a taste for bad debt aren’t the only institutions weathering a financial storm these days. In a classic case of trickle-down bad news, small businesses are suffering as well. But instead of facing a maelstrom, firms seeking expansion funds and entrepreneurs looking for startup cash are enduring a drought. Access to capital has dried up as spooked banks relentlessly tighten their loan requirements. That translates into greater scrutiny of business plans, bigger demands for collateral…
Former insiders of One Call Communications appear to be targets of a Justice Department criminal inquiry, according to a filing by the defunct company’s court-appointed receiver. Pittsburgh-based Meridian Group said it was served a subpoena Sept. 19 from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania to testify before a grand jury on Oct. 21 on matters involving One Call.
If you have continuously donated money and time to specific organizations, or if you want to save some money on taxes, or maybe a little of both, planned giving might be a way to continue both of those aims. However, there are a few things to consider, such as how to set up the planned giving, what the money can or can’t be used for, who can speak for your interests after you die, and obviously how much money will…
