Xenia Miller, the widow of Columbus industrialist J. Irwin Miller, died Tuesday at the age of 90, according to The Republic of Columbus. The Morgantown native supported causes ranging from downtown redevelopment to bringing to Columbus art by Dale Chihuly, whose tower of blown glass is a permanent sculpture in the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. […]
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is coming to Emmis Communications Corp. headquarters on Monument Circle, McCain’s campaign said yesterday. McCain is scheduled to appear Friday at 9 a.m. Is McCain venturing into enemy territory, considering Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan traditionally supports Democrats and has contributed to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? “Our lobby is […]
The debate over making Indiana employers responsible for illegal immigration will live to see another day. This morning, the House Public Policy Committee voted 7-4 to pass an amended version of a Senate bill that aims to crack down on illegal immigration by targeting their employers. Under the version passed by the committee, some language […]
The developing story in Kentucky about its new governorâ??s attempt to legalize casinos isnâ??t getting a lot
of play in Indianapolis, but the fallout could be huge if he succeeds.
Steve Beshear wants a dozen casinos to try to stop gamblers…
Brent Waltz, a Republican who unseated long-time state Senate Finance Committee Chairman Larry Borst in 2004, is under attack by a primary election challenger who claims Waltz lives outside his district. Waltz lives at his parents’ White River Township home in Johnson County rather than at a condominium he leases in Greenwood, according to a […]
At an aging building at 863 Massachusetts Ave., they pass through a metal detector and wait in line to show a clerk their
identification and copies of overdue bills. Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer sometimes helps. The Trustee’s Office received
an average of $6.9 million each of the last seven years, mostly from taxes, to provide poor relief-now known as township assistance.
But only about $2 million reached the penniless each year, with much of the difference covering administrative overhead….
My sons Zach and Austin came of voting age in 2006. That November, there weren’t many contested or competitive races where they lived (near Fort Wayne). Zach registered and voted, anyway. Austin didn’t bother. Zach and I gave Austin a hard time about that. Last September, Zach headed off to college in California, while Austin and his girlfriend, Karolina, began their freshman year at New York University. A few weeks after arriving in Manhattan, there was a campaign rally in…
Although he collects an average $6.9 million each year for poor relief, mostly from taxes, Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer
is rarely asked to explain his finances. Drummer’s budget is filed-unread-each year in the Indianapolis City Controller’s
office. The 66-employee Indiana Department of Local Government Finance reviews it, along with budgets from every other taxing
entity in the state. Year-end reports go to the State Board of Accounts, a 282-worker agency that conducts 2,700 to 3,000
audits of Indiana counties,…
While the world’s political climate is heating up, its economic climate is cooling down. Meanwhile, the real climate is finally getting the attention it really deserves, as the “tipping point” has been reached. Green is everywhere these days. New York Times For homes that no longer grow in value. If the personal consumption rates in China rose to the levels of the United States, annual oil consumption in the world would go up more than 100 percent! Oil consumption in…
The Indianapolis International Airport board today voted unanimously to make former Eli Lilly and Co. CEO Randall Tobias its new president. Tobias was appointed to the board by Republican Mayor Greg Ballard. Tobias resigned from a State Department job last year after being linked to a call-girl ring. The eight-member airport board is evenly split […]
I’m a clipper. I clip articles from newspapers, newsletters, magazines and Web sites. For example, back on March 12, 2007, I clipped an article in which the U.S. Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance said, “We monitor the markets all the time, and are hopefully pretty aware of market conditions. It seems to us that the situation [in the subprime mortgage market] is a manageable one, that we’re watching.” That was a relief. Treasury is watching and they believe “the situation…
People outside the legislative process finally are understanding that there is no perfect solution to the property tax reform dilemma, that it is not a zero-sum game, that there will be winners and losers, and that this is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue. What they still do not realize is how hard legislators are working to accommodate the legitimate concerns of homeowners, governmental units and schools, businesses, and agricultural interests, and how difficult it is to assemble a package…
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…
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership CEO Mark Miles will lead the city’s attempt to land the Super Bowl in 2012, according to a source familiar with the matter. The announcement of Miles’ selection is expected this week. The source, who asked not to be named, said Miles will oversee initial research as well as assembling the […]
While the rest of the state struggles to hold its own through the national housing downturn, the Columbus area is thriving. Bartholomew County, where Columbus is the seat, saw the median house price rise 8.7 percent, to $139,000, in the third quarter, according to The Republic, the city’s daily newspaper. Nationally, the median price fell […]
Judge to settle mayoral dispute MADISON COUNTY – A judge in New Castle has been appointed to oversee a challenge brought by five Anderson residents over the eligibility of Kris Ockomon to serve as the city’s new mayor. Ockomon, a Democrat, upset incumbent Kevin Smith, a Republican, in the November election. The five plaintiffs filed […]
Two bills in the Indiana Legislature would require utilities that operate here to supply up to 25 percent of their electricity from renewable resources such as wind, landfill gas, and plant and animal waste. Backers say utilities need more incentive to diversify from coal-based power generation.
Northwest Airlines flight 1829–stranded on a Detroit taxiway for seven hours with lavatories overflowing and the 198 souls
aboard without food or water–has now landed at the Indiana General Assembly. Two Republican lawmakers have proposed creating
an “airline consumer advocate” to resolve disputes on behalf of passengers who’ve endured poor service.
On the presidential campaign trail these past few weeks, the dominant exit-polling insight seems to be that Americans are hungry for change. Voters have told interviewers they’re weary of the direction we’re headed, tired of the politics of the past and eager to forego the status quo. And so the presidential candidates, Republican and Democrat alike, have jumped on the change bandwagon, ridden it from Iowa to New Hampshire, and tried to explain why they’ve been, are, or could be…
Lawmakers had their individual and collective eyes opened last summer by scores of organized and impromptu property tax rallies across Indiana. While many who carried a sign, marched in the streets, or wrote a letter to the editor about the situation simply thought their individual taxes were too high, a good number of them (and several of the organizers of such events) had a special goal: the elimination of property taxes. Even after the municipal elections woke up the few…
