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SPORTS: Feel-good sports stories are out there-just look

No question about it, the feel-good that sport can create has taken a beating this summer. There was Barry Bonds breaking the Major League homerun record under the strong suspicion of steroid use, NFL star Michael Vick’s guilty plea on federal dogfighting charges, the betting scandal involving NBA referee Tim Donaghy, and the revelation of match-fixing in professional tennis. Just to name a few. It could really get you down if you let it. Yet, I’ve written this before-sport provides…

Weak dollar boosting state manufacturers

The sliding value of the U.S. dollar is boosting financial results for some of Indiana’s big exporters. The dollar recently
hit its lowest point in 15 years against an index of other major currencies, such as the euro, the Chinese yuan and Canadian
dollar.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Indiana needs to get energy-wise

As the 14th-mostpopulous state in the union, Indiana generates a gross state product that is 16th-largest of the 50 states. Unfortunately, despite significant investments in equipment and processes by manufacturers and public-policy efforts to encourage the attraction and growth of knowledgeand technology-focused industries, our economy remains energy-inefficient. In 2003, Indiana was the country’s sixthlargest consumer of energy per capita, according to the Indiana Energy Report. Ninety-seven percent of Indiana’s electricity is generated by coal. Indiana is the fifthlargest emitter of…

Pain of nurse shortages eases for hospitals: They enjoy fewer vacant positions, but still worry about coming boomer retirements

Good news. The shortage of hospital nurses isn’t quite as bad as it used to be. In the last five years, Indianapolis’ hospitals have chipped away quietly at the gap in nurse staffing that seized local and national attention earlier this decade. To achieve these modest declines in what hospitals call their nursing vacancy rates, they have revamped their recruitment and retention efforts at a time when nurses have more options outside hospitals than ever before. Nursing schools are working…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Deal-making buzz follows Cornelius to Bristol-Myers

Jim Cornelius had such success selling Guidant Corp. last year that analysts can’t stop speculating when he’ll pull off a mega-merger at B r i s t o l – M y e r s Squibb, the firm he now leads. How about pairing it, for instance, with Eli Lilly and Co., where Cornelius used to be chief financial officer? “We’re about the same size. Both Sidney Taurel and John Lechleiter are former colleagues and good friends. You can never…

Symons puts biz into Ch. 11, undercutting rival’s court win

Alan G. Symons’ company, Fast Tek Group LLC, lost a court fight with Fishers-based competitor Product Action International
LLC in February. So Symons pushed Fast Tek into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June–a move that clears the way for a
suitor to buy the assets without being saddled with the liabilities.

EYE ON THE PIE: Here’s where Hoosiers get it right

We don’t have to be obsessed with property taxes. All is not dreadful despite the clamor of some disaffected taxpayers. For example, La-Porte has two operating barbershops on the same street downtown. This warms the heart. Equally positive is finding an excellent housing stock in LaPorte, with many beautiful homes painted in a joyous, imaginative fashion. Can you believe the McDonald’s in Winamac opens at 4:30 a.m. and keeps its drive-through open 24 hours a day? That alone suggests a…

New Image Fine Clothing Inc.: Clothier looking for the right fit After four years as a sideline, business becomes full-time job

Growing up in Detroit, Andrew T. Porter had an early education in men’s fashion. The son of a minister, he recalls admiring the Sunday best of his father and members of the congregation. In his neighborhood, “there was a clothing store on every corner,” Porter said. “I always had an eye for putting things together. It came naturally to me.” Porter remained a student of fashion, even though he worked in manufacturing. When a friend who owned a Detroit clothing…

Hot topics:

Hanging out at the art world’s water cooler, but don’t know how to break the ice? Here are several topics IBJ has identified that will be on the tips of the tongues wagging in the local arts scene. Read and discuss amongst yourselves. What do you think of Max Anderson’s leadership at the Indianapolis Museum of Art? Since taking over in mid-2006, staff say Anderson is constantly beating this drum: The IMA is a top-10 encyclopedic museum; it’s time we…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Mike Hicks: It’s time for a little perspective on home foreclosures

A big financial crisis spreads the notion that the interests of Wall Street differ from the interests of Main Street. The “liquidity crisis” of the past few weeks, with its difficult jargon and complex financial instruments, is a prime example. Unfortunately, the notion that the tumult represents a failure of markets is exactly the wrong lesson to take away from this experience. In a nutshell, here’s why. In the past few years, mortgage lenders-ranging from the George Baileytype savings and…

INVESTING: How financial innovation facilitated subprime mess

Since the mid-1980s, a lucrative activity on Wall Street has been to pool financial assets and then issue securities representing an interest in these pools-a process called securitization. All sorts of assets are securitized, including auto loans, mortgages, leases, credit card receivables and corporate debt. Investors purchase the “asset-backed” securities and receive the cash flows generated by the underlying loans in the pool. Securitization was a tremendous financial innovation. Before securitization took off, financial institutions often would keep loans on…

Post-bankruptcy turnaround not taking off for ATA

More than 18 months after flying out of a bankruptcy reorganization that unloaded $1 billion of debt and costly aircraft leases,
the parent of ATA Airlines still finds landing a profit elusive. Indianapolis-based Global Aero Logistics posted a loss of
$46.1 million in the first half of 2007, according to documents it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ad agency scores national attention with MTV campaign: Bradley and Montgomery use Web’s social networks

Advertising agency Bradley and Montgomery launched an unorthodox campaign for cable television station MTV last month that is gaining the local firm-and its client-national acclaim. A friend of a friend led BAM officials to the New York-based music television channel, which was looking to promote the release of its show “The Hills” on DVD. BAM officials pulled video snippets from the show, enhanced them graphically, then uploaded the snippets to Web sites such as YouTube.comand Veoh.com. The resulting vignettes can…

NOTIONS: Musings from a cross-country drive

In the waning days of August, my son and I drove across America. With Zach’s jam-packed Honda sedan bearing everything a college freshman could possibly need, we left Indianapolis on a Thursday morning and arrived in Santa Barbara, Calif., the following Monday afternoon. In the 2,465 intervening miles, we got a five-day dose of what modern air transportation has denied too many for too long: a chance to think, to listen and talk, and to marvel at this nation’s diverse…

PROFILE TRINA BANNISTER: Tasty treat, traditions lead to new business

PROFILE TRINA BANNISTER Tasty treat, traditions lead to new business It all started with the sweet-potato pies. Each Thanksgiving, Trina Bannister’s grandmother Ruby would bake dozens of the sweet treats for her large extended family. Bannister and her sisters grew up learning her baking secrets. To honor her grandmother, who died about six years ago, Bannister named her new business in the Indianapolis City Market “Ruby’s Sweet Treasures.” She sells a wide variety of baked goods, from her signature pies…

Chakaia Booker tire art might replace Opie’s

As Julian Opie’s pop art sculptures get carted away this week, officials are in talks with New York City artist Chakaia Booker
about featuring her work in next year’s public art blowout. Booker’s shtick-sculptures created entirely from used tires.

MICKEY MAURER: No gala, but a glorious grand opening

In 2006, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. closed almost 200 transactions. Many recipients of the IEDC largess marked the opening of their job-creation activities with hightech galas featuring products rolling down gangways accompanied by the applause of dignitaries and well-wishers. Recognizing that attendance at these ceremonies was not an efficient use of time, the IEDC adopted the mantra, “We don’t cut ribbons, we just cut deals.” With rare exception, ribbon-cutting was left to the politicians. Last month, I participated in…

Help in form of guaranty funds: Local women work to cover insurance claims-when your insurance company can’t

You have an auto accident, but you have insurance. You’ve religiously paid your premiums, so when you arrive to pick up your repaired vehicle at the auto body shop, you are shocked to discover that your auto insurance company has gone under, the shop hasn’t been paid, and it won’t release your car. At this point, despair sets in, but is soon replaced with hope in the form of the guaranty fund systems in place to cover claims of insolvent…

Colts-Saints game sinks in TV ratings

The Indianapolis Colts rout of the New Orleans Saints last night likely led to a drop in television ratings for the National Football League kickoff game compared to the last two years. Twenty-one percent of all television households nationwide tuned into the game, but that’s down from last year’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Miami Dolphins season opener, when […]

Moody’s downgrades Conseco outlook to ‘negative’

Moody’s Investors Service has slapped Conseco Inc. with a downgrade of its senior debt to “negative” from “stable.” The change was sparked by “sub-par earnings” in the past year, according to Bloomberg. Moody’s also is concerned about a string of one-time charges the company has sustained. The Carmel insurer lost $65 million in the second […]