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NOTIONS: On Valentine’s Day, wishing you less war, more love

AT T E N T I O N READERS! We interrupt your regularly scheduled life to bring you this special emotional bulletin. For one day-and one day only-you’re encouraged to ease off the throttle of an existence so anxietyridden that Americans last year ordered up 42 million prescriptions for sleeping pills just to bring themselves down from their insomnia-inducing days. So if you’ve been violently protesting cartoons portraying Muhammad as, well, violent, you can use this day to ditch that…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Consumer spending spree gives spark to Simon stock

It’s becoming almost ho-hum for Simon Property Group Inc. Another year, another round of eye-popping returns for the company’s shareholders. The Indianapolis-based mall owner, by far the nation’s biggest real estate investment trust, just closed the book on 2005, a year when funds from operations-a key measure of REIT performance-zipped up another 13 percent. Simon shares last year rose 18 percent. Including reinvested dividends, the stock in 2005 returned 23 percent. It was the fifth year in a row the…

City’s cultural districts take artful approach: Five areas use $250,000 in grants on original public art projects

Two wall-size murals now welcome people to Massachusetts Avenue. An abstract sculpture that looks like an Alexander Calder tribute sits on a bridge in the Canal District. A towering blue and green obelisk marks the north end of Broad Ripple on College Avenue. The works aren’t part of an elaborate conspiracy by a renegade public artist. They’re the result of two years of careful planning by the city’s Cultural Development Commission. In 2003, the commission designated five areas of the…

Roll the cameras: State cranks up efforts to court film industry under new task force

North Carolina offers a 15-percent tax credit to filmmakers to help offset production costs. The credit recently helped sway a national retailer to shoot an in-store commercial there instead of in Indiana. While the $600,000 production hardly compares to a multimillion-dollar motion picture, losing it was a big deal for local companies that didn’t get the work. Holli Hanley of Grand Illusion Lighting Inc. in Zionsville, which rents lighting equipment to production companies, lamented the loss. “Everyone in the entire…

Arts group gets serious: Harrison Center mounts its first-ever capital campaign

Perhaps you’d find a live “elf” directing visitors from inside an inflatable lawn Christmas decoration. Maybe young women dressed in wedding gowns would be playing basketball in the gym. Or possibly, one of the featured works of art would be a 3-foot-tall crocheted cigar in a display case, made with yarn, wood, screws and “six cans of cheap beer,” according to its creator, Paul Baumgarten. But behind the scenes of controlled mayhem, Harrison Center Executive Director Joanna Taft and the…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Let the private sector operate the Toll Road

Watching the tug and pull of partisan politics in full bloom in our state capital brings to mind that old saying about making laws and making sausage. You don’t really want to see how either one happens. But as our elected leaders posture and fight over the table scraps of new revenue that can realistically be said to be squeezed out of what has historically been an overcommitted state budget, another, more hopeful, vision comes to mind. It’s a vision…

EYE ON THE PIE: Good ideas merit communication

Finally, the Daniels administration is getting around to explaining the tollroad-leasing proposal. On Feb. 3, it released Volume 1, Issue 1, of “Major Moves Help Desk,” a newsletter to tell its side of the complicated toll-roadleasing story. Perhaps a newsletter is pretentious, but it is a move in the right direction. The idea of leasing the toll road is an attractive one, but I have felt in the dark about why this lease and its many details are best for…

‘Lighting’ the way for women in the trades: Pair overcomes obstacles with tenacity, hard work and attention to the smallest detail

If women have a tough time breaking into the construction trades, then Melanie Goldman, president of Goldman Electrical Contracting Inc., and Carla Partin, a union journeyman electrician, have managed to beat the odds. Both women have encountered obstacles in this mostly male field, but both were determined to succeed. Goldman, 32, runs the electrical company she owns with her husband, Bill. She has heard men say many times “Just have your husband call me,” but she doesn’t let that pass….

Urban malls improvise: Lafayette Square, others struggle in changing retail world

Lafayette Square Mall on the city’s northwest side has all the marks of a decaying urban mall: Most major national retailers have fled, a church occupies a former department store space, and the surrounding neighborhood has fallen out of favor among shoppers and businesses. But is the mall destined for a date with a bulldozer, as has happened with old malls in other cities? Not everyone thinks so. Lafayette Square still has good access from Interstate 65, apparently committed ownership…

Stilwell Architectural Design & Custom Remodeling: Second time the charm for remodeling company Owner polished business skills after his first firm folded

Joe Stilwell knows how stressful homeimprovement projects can be. So when his remodeling and design firm is on the job, he can find himself tackling more than his supervisory duties-sometime acting as marriage counselor, pastor and even dog walker. “We become part of this family for four to 10 months,” he said. “We need to know if we should let the pets out.” Client Paula Ruppert can attest to his expertise. She and husband Michael hired Stilwell Architectural Design &…

INVESTING: Fraud sparks furor only when stocks are slumping

My wife and I recently saw the movie “Fun With Dick and Jane.” It’s the story of a CEO who cooks the books at a tech firm, and all the employees lose their jobs and are wiped out. I walked away thinking Wall Street could win best supporting actor in the film. As the credits rolled, the producers of the movie thanked recent corporate evildoers, such as Kenneth Lay from Enron and Bernie Ebbers from WorldCom, for their inspiration. Coincidentally,…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Broad support but long odds for property tax reform

The rubber is starting to meet the road in the Indiana General Assembly as the calendar turns past the midway point, and House bills move to the Senate (and vice versa, although that half of the equation is decidedly less intriguing). Some senators are not happy with the House’s sending them at least one key measure, House Bill 1001, that is less a work in progress than a utopian statement of sorts about future tax policy. While lawmakers last year…

Developer casts eye beyond downtown: New company led by Brian Knapp to look beyond condos in metro area

A former Simon Property Group Inc. executive known in recent years for downtown condominium developments is launching a new development company that puts him closer to his retail roots. Brian F. Knapp, president of Dinmont Development LLC, recently created Diverse Development Co. LLC to focus on real estate beyond downtown’s borders. He’ll continue to serve as Dinmont’s president at least until its current projects are completed. Those projects, both joint ventures with locally based Hearthview Residential Inc., are the 40-unit…

Eateries await smoking ban: Some restaurant owners face tough decisions

It’s 2:30 p.m. on a Tuesday and the lunch crowd has dwindled enough to give Giorgio Migliaccio time to relax and light up a cigarette at the downtown pizzeria that bears his name. But come March 1, Migliaccio and the majority of other restaurant owners in Marion County no longer will allow smoking. A city ordinance will ban the practice in establishments that allow patrons younger than 18. “I think it will be very hard for the addicted to not…

Omni Severin seeks lot for expansion: Downtown parking garage, grand ballroom on drawing board

The Omni Severin Hotel has confirmed it’s negotiating to buy the surface parking lot immediately east of the hotel, which it wants to redevelop into a parking garage capped by a 12,000-square-foot ballroom. Tourism officials love the idea, but some parking lot managers say it’s unnecessary. “We’re buying it for a reason,” said Chris Ratay, the hotel’s area director of sales and marketing. “This would allow us to have our own parking facility.” Today, the hotel’s valets run across the…

Ex-Winona owner under fire: Leland Medical Centers CEO faces fraud accusations, questions about his own bankruptcy

Accusations of fraud and other misconduct are piling up against the former owner of Winona Memorial Hospital. Two companies recently joined Winona’s creditors in questioning money transfers made by Texasbased Leland Medical Centers Inc., which owned the nowdefunct Indianapolis hospital from 2002 until a short time before it closed in 2004. Meanwhile, lawyers sorting through the liquidation of Winona still have no explanation for why Leland took $3.6 million from the struggling Indianapolis hospital before it slid into bankruptcy and…

Hospitals still find room to grow in Hamilton County: More competition doesn’t crowd the market, experts say

Clarian Health Partners made a big splash last December in Hamilton County when it opened a 154-bed medical center, but competitors in that market are showing they know how to flex development muscles, too. The county’s three other hospitals all have planned, started or completed expansion projects in the last few years, and those who know the market see plenty of room for more health care. “If you’re in the hospital business, it’s hard to fail in a market like…

SPORTS: Here’s to the last champion of single-class sports

Somewhat overlooked at the time because it was (A) girls softball and (B) took place in June, Turkey Run’s 11-7 victory over Center Grove nonetheless remains a lasting testimonial to those who believe the size of the dream should not be diminished by the size of the school. A year later, the dream died for all time when the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s board voted to divide team sports championships into classes according to enrollment. That decision-later affirmed by…

Speedway waits to renew deal with Formula 1: New date puts Grand Prix up against World Cup soccer, IRL and NASCAR races

The long-term future of the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis may hinge on a littleknown American driver and a soccer match several thousand miles away. Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials said they will keep a close eye on attendance for the July 2 race before deciding whether to negotiate with Formula One brass for a new contract to bring the race back. This is the final year in a two-year contract extension F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone signed with IMS President Tony…

Byrider banging out dents from franchisees: Repairs precede used-car chain’s planned expansion

Its image dinged by regulatory actions against J.D. Byrider used-car franchisees in Ohio and Kentucky, Byrider Franchising Inc. is busy culling problem operators ahead of a planned 2006-2007 expansion. The Carmel-based “buy here, pay here” chain with 123 stores in 28 states also said it has spent millions of dollars on vehicle repairs, customer service improvements and more sophisticated underwriting software to reduce loan delinquencies. There were 127 franchised stores operating in 2004, plus another 13 companyowned stores, according to…