I’ve seen the picture of the proposed ginormous art installation for downtown, and I think I speak for many of us when I say … Well, come to think of it, I better not say that, seeing as how many of us do not use that kind of language. In case you missed it, here’s the deal: There’s a movement afoot to erect a large, circular, steel, Dairy Queen curlicue over at 11th and West streets-a $10 million large, circular,…
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been interviewed by reporters from both the Kansas City Star and the Baltimore Sun. Both were pursuing the same angle: Indianapolis as a pro football town vis a vis Kansas City and Baltimore, and support for the notion that our citizenry in general and Colts fans in particular are “just too darn nice.” My response to both was, well, yes, our folks and fans are nice, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing…
The Columbia Club, the tradition-rich enclave where the city’s business elite have gathered and cut deals for more than a
century, is facing declining membership, the departure of its longtime general manager, and looming financial challenges–including
a $5.5 million loan that comes due this summer.
With some hesitation, I take you inside the men’s rest room at the Statehouse. There, I found a new member of the General Assembly combing his hair over his otherwise empty scalp and asking, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, which is the fairest tax of all?” The mirror responded, “The sales tax is the fairest of them all.” Startled, both the legislator and I looked around, only to hear another mirror say, “No, the income tax is fairest of them…
DOING GOOD PATTY JONES Different kind of donation Patty Jones’ free time isn’t all that free. Last year, she took on more than 100 assignments as a member of Indianapolis Ambassadors. And that’s just for starters. She also volunteered for dozens of activities at Greenwood Christian Church, was treasurer of her neighborhood association and served on the board of Joy’s House, a provider of adult day services. “We all have talents and mine help organizations,” said Jones, 45, owner of…
State officials are advancing plans to privatize a state-run hospital for the mentally ill and now are looking for a not-for-profit
to build and manage a new facility in Indianapolis.
Dear God, please hear my prayer. We need a little divine guidance here (or at least a few thunderbolts of common sense). I pray today not for relief from the usual litany of woes (You hear enough about those). I ask, instead, that You help us past a nagging distraction so we might move on to more pressing concerns. As You know (because You know all), there’s a lot weighing on us in these little Edens called Earth, America and…
In today’s Internet age, companies are going well beyond reading résumés and contacting references to check out job candidates. More and more would-be employers are turning to the Web to conduct background checks on prospects. MySpace and Facebook are two hugely popular social networking sites where college and high school students often post risqué photographs and provocative content about drinking, recreational drug use, sexual exploits and other personal conduct. But what some job seekers might mistakenly consider relatively private information…
J. Greg Allen & Associates has made a name for itself building suburban subdivisions, office buildings and retail complexes.
Now, the developer is poised to tackle a pair of projects downtown.
WellPoint calls for expanded government health insuranceWellPoint Inc. this morning called for expanding government programs and public-private partnerships as part of a plan to provide health insurance coverage for the uninsured. The Indianapolis insurer supports broadening state health care programs that cover uninsured children. WellPoint also advocates expanding programs that cover children in families earning […]
The IUPUI Solution Center soon will expand into cyberspace, launching a free Web site not-for-profits can use to network and find consultants. Its new Nonprofit Solutions Initiative will run the site and provide a database of consultants grouped by 25 areas of expertise. The site also will offer advice on how to work with them. The Solution Center, launched in 2003 with the help of a Lilly Endowment Inc. grant, helps bolster small businesses and not-for-profits. The new initiative, which…
Reeling in 45-inch northern pike during annual fishing excursions to the upper regions of Canada is one type of bonding experience Don and Greg Goelzer cherish. But the camaraderie the father and son share really is rooted in the 25 years they have spent working side by side at Goelzer Investment Management Inc., the downtown advisory firm Don founded in 1969. In the quarter-century since son Greg arrived fresh from college, the two have helped grow the firm’s client base…
Indianapolis-area women are making their mark in the ownership and management of residential construction businesses, following decades of working behind the scenes. Women account for 47 percent of privately held firms in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That number is growing, and the greatest growth is in construction. The National Association of Home Builders Women’s Council reports that the number of women-owned businesses in the building industry has risen 30 percent since 1997. “One of…
The cost of a pollution-control project at Indianapolis Power & Light’s Harding Street generating station has soared over
budget by $60 million, or 38 percent, and the utility wants its 465,000 customers in Marion County and nine others to help
foot the bill.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is considering whether to revoke Wolfgang Puck’s exclusive catering contract after the company’s
slow service marred an important event in November.
What a mixed bag 2006 was. For every yin, there was yang. Yin: The Indianapolis Colts claimed home-field advantage in the NFL playoffs. Yang: They then lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers when mouthy M i ke Va n d e r j a g t gagged on the gametyin kick. Yin: The city hosted a simply extraordinary Final Four at the RCA Dome and welcomed to town a genuine Cinderella, George Mason. Yang: The games were one-sided, and, speaking of…
The Arch welcomes visitors to St. Louis. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge ushers in the masses. And soon the Circle Gateway
Truss could greet travelers entering downtown Indianapolis.
Gov. Mitch Daniels created a firestorm in 2006 with his solution: Privatize the Indiana Toll Road. The 75-year lease of the 175-mile road in northern Indiana, to an Australian-Spanish consortium, closed June 29. The deal that gave the state a $3.8 billion check to finance other highway projects under Daniels’ Major Moves program not only lives on in controversy, but also could be the defining legacy of his administration. Daniels recently proposed privatizing the Indiana Lottery. And his team already…
The brutal murders of seven family members, including three children shot dead in their east-side Indianapolis home, cast a dark cloud over the city last summer. Yet the June slayings only served as a harbinger of a wave of violence that later claimed 15 lives in a 10-day span. The crime spree rattled city leaders so severely that Mayor Bart Peterson declared an emergency normally reserved for a natural disaster. 2006 no doubt ranked among the most deadly years in…
The concrete columns of the Indianapolis Colts’ new $675 million stadium began rising out of the ground in early 2006. Soon thereafter, the new venue had a name. In March, California-based Lucas Oil Products agreed to a 20-year, $121.5 million naming rights deal. Meanwhile, city and team officials in 2006 began discussions they hope will lead to attracting the Super Bowl to Lucas Oil Stadium in 2011. The Lucas Oil pact is one of a flurry of sponsorship deals the…
