You-review-it Monday
As you can see from the previous three posts, I spent most of the weekend on and around Mass Ave soaking up IndyFringe. It was great to see such strong crowds out. The festival continues through Aug. 31 and while…
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Toll-road workers reject unionization
The company that leases the Indiana Toll Road from the state said late last week that a vote involving 86 maintenance workers resulted in rejecting an organization attempt by the International Union of Operating Engineers and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. ITR Concession Co. LLC did not release vote totals. Meanwhile, the company is tussling […]
Charter Homes builder draws scrutiny for odd sales claims, multiple liens
Charter Homes owner Jerry Jaquess fancies himself a white knight for King Park, a neighborhood once known mainly for its
rampant crime, boarded-up homes and vacant lots. But as he’s constructed a slew of homes and carriage houses there, the local
builder has stirred up several lawsuits, dozens of liens and persistent questions about whether his business is legit.
Wet spring, slow economy slice into area golf business
On a typical Saturday at Smock Golf Course on the city’s south side, visitors are treated to a symphony of thwacks, pings
and the occasional plunk. In good or bad economic times, it seems, people in Indiana and across the country have always played
golf. But these days, the sound of that symphony has waned. Nationwide, the number of rounds of golf played through the first
half of this year is down 2 percent from last year. In Central Indiana, the situation is worse.
VIEWPOINT: How to win Uncle Sam’s gas-tax shell game
Between 1956 and 1991, Indiana motorists willingly paid “temporary” hikes in the federal gasoline tax, knowing the money was being used to build the 42,000-mile interstate highway system. In 1991, Congress declared the highway system completed-but the tax lived on and on, growing bigger and bigger. No longer needed to build the interstate, the current 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax-double what it was in 1990-now funds a “highway trust fund” shell game that shifts $866 million a year, and control over…
Billiondollar chance: OneAmerica foresees huge growth opportunity in long-term-care policies thanks to new tax breaks
That’s when new tax benefits kick in for an unusual kind of long-term-care insurance, called asset-based longterm care. The Indianapolisbased life insurer is betting those tax breaks send a wave of money flooding toward asset-based long-term-care policies, which one of its subsidiaries has sold for nearly 20 years. With people living longer and the 70 million baby boomers aging, the need to pay for long-term care, such as in-home elder care and assisted-living facilities, is sure to rise. “We see…
BEHIND THE NEWS: Banker ready to make Salin a force in state’s largest city
Alvin “Kit” Stolen is back atop an Indianapolisbased bank, albeit one many locals have never heard of. But Salin Bank & Trust Co. has big plans to get noticed-and get customers-here. After establishing strong market positions in south-central and northern Indiana, it finally has its sights on the center of the state. For now, Salin has just one Indianapolis-area branch, its headquarters near Keystone at the Crossing. But plans are in motion for two Hamilton County locations. And while bank…
Developers fear stricter IDEM cleanup rules
State environmental regulators are catching an earful for what some businesses complain is a rush to aggressive new rules
for remediating land contamination. Developers worry the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s proposals, which
could require comprehensive site cleanup, will discourage brownfield redevelopment, especially the reuse of tainted-but-valuable
land in urban areas.
EYE ON THE PIE: It’s time for Indiana to come clean
“How are you doing?” Ed asks in a voice that for years has called out over the grind of the machinery that applies water, soap and heated air to thousands of cars. “Well,” I say. “Nice,” Ed says. “It’s nice to be doing well. It’s what a lot of folks wish they were doing in Indiana,” he says, chuckling. “I’m not aware of new serious problems,” I say. “No, you wouldn’t be, since you can afford one of my car…
NCAA mum on date to reopen fire-damaged Hall of Champions
Almost a full year after a fire in a single exhibit closed the NCAA Hall of Champions, the wait for the college sports
museum’s reopening is becoming as prolonged and agonizing as sitting through a college football game during
a freezing November rain. The NCAA is apparently in no hurry to relieve the suspense.
NOTIONS: Got gold? Share the wealth with your Jason Lezak
Like hundreds of millions of other people around the world, I’ve been watching the Olympics on TV. Like most Americans among those viewers (especially NBC executives), I was pulling for swimmer Michael Phelps to win eight gold medals and surpass the record seven set by Mark Spitz in 1972. As everyone not buried under a rock knows by now, Phelps succeeded in his quest, but only by the narrowest of margins and only with considerable help from his teammates. Thus,…
Business heats up for new Godby: Firm re-emerges after selling to a national competitor in the late 1990s
When big publicly held companies snapped up local heating, cooling and plumbing companies in the late 1990s, Tom Godby thought he needed to get on board. “I didn’t want to miss that tidal wave of change,” he said. Godby was the sole owner of Godby Brothers Heating and Air Conditioning LLC, which had been in the Indianapolis market for three decades when Godby sold it to American Residential Services in 1997. But instead of being the industry’s new face, the…
Indiana auto insurance rates show uptick, report says: Despite rise, state still among cheapest in nation
Auto insurance rates are climbing nationally, led by increases in Indiana that topped all other states, according to a report released last month by Insurance.com. The online auto insurance agency said the lowest car insurance quotes, on average, jumped 3.4 percent, to $1,893 per year, from the first quarter to the second. Rate increases in Indiana nearly doubled the national average, rising 6.7 percent, or $94, to $1,501. Arkansas and Rhode Island followed, with 6.1-percent and 5-percent spikes, respectively. Sam…
INVESTING: Beware of advice as you seek wisdom on Internet
Most people abide by the doctrine that you cannot believe everything you read. That principle is all the more relevant today for anyone accessing the massive reservoir of information available over the Internet. The latest Web trend is the “blog,” where anyone with an opinion and modest technological know-how can instantly appear to be an authority on a chosen subject. Investors need to be particularly alert to “articles” that on the surface may pass as knowledgeable, yet upon closer inspection…
Citizens’ new name is a gas-in a way: Parent company of local utility adds ‘energy’ to its moniker to reflect diversity of operations
Citizens Gas & Coke Utility on Aug. 25 will announce a new name and logo that reflect the diversification of its energy businesses and the closure last year of its 98-year-old foundry coke plant. Citizens Energy Group will be the name of the parent, a utility founded 120 years ago. Two units-Citizens Gas and Citizens Thermal-will retain their names. But a third, Citizens By-Products, will be renamed Citizens Resources. “We’re entering a new era,” said Citizens President and CEO Carey…
No-bid contract lets local firm suggest sales or sale-leasebacks of city property
The Mayor’s Office has quietly agreed to consider selling some of the city’s more than 1,100 properties, including police stations, maintenance buildings and parks, in a bid to raise cash to help balance the budget. The city awarded the potentially lucrative no-bid contract to Venture Real Estate Services, a politically connected real estate firm led by John Bales.
Cautious contractors warm to Lilly-Covance deal: Drugmaker works to assuage fears of some local researchers worried they might lose lucrative work
When Eli Lilly and Co. announced Aug. 6 that it would more than double the amount of research and development work it outsources to Covance Inc., Dr. Alfonso Alanis got nervous. The CEO of contract researcher Anaclim LLC worried that more work for Covance would mean less work for local firms that provide drug development services to Lilly. Executives at other local firms, who asked not to be named because of confidentiality agreements with Lilly, also have fretted that their…
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why the 10-year alternative-energy goal is absurd
B e f o r e w r i t i n g about energy matters, I am going to have to make a confession. I am a closet environmentalist. I support a wide range of environmental policies and think it often makes good business sense to go green. But sadly, far too many supporters of environmental policy look at the world through green-colored glasses. One result is that it is increasingly difficult to take many environmentalists seriously. One verdant…
A burned cookie cost me a fortune Commentary:
It was the chocolate chip cookies. My wife, Janie, who for years has entered her award-winning baked goods in the Indiana State Fair, was upset because she failed to earn a blue ribbon last summer. Upon inquiry, she was informed that her chocolate chip cookies were slightly burned on the bottom. (I have always been one of her official tasters, and they looked OK to me.) She blamed her lack of success on an unreliable 25-year-old oven that had to…