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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Here’s another tax break you may have overlooked

Financial advisors counsel clients on income, estate and gift taxes among other things. But they often neglect residential property taxes. That could well be a mistake. Property taxes are a significant cost of owning real estate – typically 1 percent to 1.5 percent of market value. So, they must be considered in making financial decisions. They can also be a significant cash-flow consideration for someone in retirement who has a lot of illiquid wealth-not just for your primary residence, but…

SPORTS: Time to honor a man who bleeds high school basketball

About a year ago, we had to move my wife’s father into an assisted-living facility and sell his home in LaPorte. That also meant going through his many possessions and determining what were keepsakes. My father-in-law, John Parker Jr., always has been a huge fan of Indiana high school basketball, and he spoke proudly of the many times he made the drive down to Indianapolis to witness the State Finals. Lo and behold, as we rummaged through boxes and drawers,…

Crown Hill development showdown looming

Debate over a developer’s plan to buy 71 acres of woods and wetlands on Crown Hill Cemetery’s northern edge for a retail-and-residential
project will come to a head this week when the Metropolitan Development Commission votes on the proposal.

Commentary Noblesville gets traction under mayor:

When it comes to the battle of the ‘burbs-at least those north of Indianapolis-Carmel seems to get all the glory. Not that it’s undeserved, considering the progress and growth that have taken place under Mayor Jim Brainard. But lest you haven’t noticed, Carmel’s rival to the northeast-Noblesville-has fired up its afterburners in the last few years and is making major strides on the development front. Some of the credit should go to that city’s first-term mayor, John Ditslear, who was…

INVESTING: Subprime lenders slammed as housing bubble bursts

Subprime is a funny term. The word prime connotes best of class, front row, all that stuff. Stick the word sub in front of it and it seems as if you are getting something a few rows back, but still better than average. Pertaining to the residential mortgage market, however, the word means something entirely different. Asset bubbles are created from something genuine (the Internet is indeed changing everything) and they are extended through the use of leverage. Now that…

Banks quick to embrace remote checking: Customers get on board as more institutions allow checks to be scanned, transmitted, deposited electronically

ATMs are still convenient, but not much of a novelty anymore. That distinction now belongs to remote-deposit capture-a high-tech advancement that guarantees a big payoff for banks and their customers alike. “From a technological standpoint, it’s the biggest thing happening in banking in 2007,” said Lee Wetherington, senior vice president at Brentwood, Tenn.-based software maker Goldleaf Financial Inc. Remote-deposit capture eliminates the need for businesses to physically deposit checks at their bank branch. Using the new technology, checks are scanned…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Ideas needed for fixing health care financing

It’s been 15 years since third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot briefly captured the nation’s attention with his crisp, witty promises to “look under the hood” to fix the problems in Washington. Since that time, some problems have gotten worse, some have gotten better. But in this era of political polarization and legislative gridlock, the idea of a new face coming to town to actually fix some of the problems we face today is as appealing as ever. What would such…

FUNNY BUSINESS: Indiana’s rural counties fall short of ‘progressive’

I notice that my home county, LaGrange, did not make Progressive Farmer magazine’s 2007 list of Top 10 Rural Counties in America. Then again, “progressive” is not a word that leaps to mind for a county that is about 40-percent Amish. Actually, none of Indiana’s 92 counties made the Top 10. According to the magazine, the best rural places to live in America are (in reverse order): 10. Polk County, N.C.; 9. Amador County, Calif.; 8. Garfield County, Okla.; 7….

State’s financial institutions leader quietly blazes trail: Appointment of Rice puts a credit union leader in top spot for first time; bankers group withholds judgment

Rick Rice’s ascension to chairman of the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions typically would be the type of lowkey government appointment that invokes nary a murmur of opposition. Why would it when current affairs facing the sevenmember panel are as harmless as allowing state-chartered financial institutions to charge patrons who wish to skip a loan payment? Yet, Rice’s selection in late January as head of the DFI board has the credit union community gushing with pride, and the banking industry…

Year after smoking ban, only 9 businesses have been fined

County health inspectors have hardly blown the door down on huffers and puffers a year into the city’s smoking ordinance.
The Marion County Health Department took 209 complaints and issued citations against only nine businesses for fines totaling
$1,000 during the first year of the law.

NOTIONS: How to save lives, money, and still win re-election

As a hearing-impaired, diabetic, migraine-suffering cancer survivor, father of a cancer survivor and widower of a cancer victim, I’ve followed my share of doctor’s orders. So I’ve taken two of Monroe’s tenaciousness pills, and I’m calling (well, writing) you in the morning. Since my late wife the non-smoker was diagnosed with a smoker’s cancer, I’ve shared our sad story to educate government officials and citizens about the dangers of secondhand smoke. But let’s skip the emotions this time, abandon impatience…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Will costs and priorities merge or crash?

In our first column of the session, introducing you to the assorted variables that would influence the policy outcomes of 2007, we cautioned you that the next few months would be focused upon money and priorities. Lawmakers and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels had a number of pet initiatives they wanted to see enacted and funded. But, after ensuring that programs and entities that had been shortchanged in the past biennium would be compensated and after bumping up education spending a…

New, stylish hotel brands are debuting here: Hyatt Place, Hotel Indigo to open locally this year

Two new hotel brands coming to central Indiana will introduce a trend that’s hot nationwide-so-called “lifestyle” lodging offering an upscale feel at an affordable price. Hotels geared toward younger travelers account for 50,000 new rooms nationwide, said Rob Hunden, a hospitality consultant with Chicago-based Hunden Strategic Partners. That’s just 1 percent of the 4.5 million hotel rooms in the United States, but the numbers are growing fast. Locally, two area AmeriSuites hotels will be converted to Hyatt Places and InterContinental…

EYE ON THE PIE: Repair shop teaches valuable lesson

This is a true story. For several weeks, we had a rumble, rattle or otherwise disturbing noise in the right rear of our van. One day, I did get out of the van and looked at the muffler and tailpipe. Finding no apparent problem, I continued to the shopping center. Within minutes, there was a significant thump from the right rear undercarriage. The rumble turned to a hard dragging, scraping sound. I found the right rear shock absorber hanging down,…

State Supreme Court turns away Lilly beneficiaries:

It seemed like a feel-good story for the ages. Heiress Ruth Lilly’s estimated $185 million gift to two fledgling arts groups made headlines around the globe when the news broke five years ago. Then events took a dramatic turn. The organizations-the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation and the Washington, D.C.-based Americans for the Arts-charged their fortunes should be far larger. They sued National City Bank of Indiana, alleging it bungled management of Lilly’s assets, costing them tens of millions of dollars. A…

Pledge blitz buoys Bowl bid

The team leading Indianapolis’ bid to host the 2011 Super Bowl is calling on the corporate community to get in the game fast.
More than a dozen business leaders are rushing to raise $25 million before May 23, when NFL owners are expected to select
a host city from hopefuls Indianapolis; Dallas; and Glendale, Ariz.

Rivals tangle over impact of new hospitals: Health care providers disagree on how head-to-head competition will affect costs

Once joined at the hip, the two main health care providers in Tippecanoe County-Arnett Health System and Greater Lafayette Health Services-have become fierce rivals. Each is building a new hospital and will compete to provide services for the 154,000 county residents, and tens of thousands more in surrounding counties. Lafayette-based Arnett, a multi-specialty medical practice, has 140 doctors at a dozen area locations, plus eight facilities in other parts of the state. Greater Lafayette Health Services, part of Mishawaka-based Sisters…

Bowland Solutions Assessing a niche: Online job reviews help firm build global client base

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who hates performance reviews more-managers or employees. But what if the timeworn paper-based annual assessment were replaced with a Web-based process that allows managers to consistently evaluate employees’ skills against company goals? Indianapolis-based Bowland Solutions has come up with just such an alternative, and it has helped the firm build a client roster that includes heavyweights like international banking giant HSBC, music purveyor Virgin Megastores, global pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline and Earthbound Farm, North America’s largest…

Physician assistants want OK to prescribe drugs: Bill would make Indiana last state to allow it

Indiana could see a wave of new physician assistants working here if lawmakers allow the medical technicians to prescribe medicine. So say the proponents of House Bill 1241, now being debated in the Indiana Senate. They claim Indiana, as the only state yet to grant the prescribing prerogative, forces doctors to hire fewer physician assistants and so loses health care workers to other states. That’s a particularly important issue in rural and some urban areas, where doctors are scarce. Because…

Indy Men’s Magazine to fold

Shrinking advertising revenue has persuaded the owners of Indy Men’s Magazine to stop publishing the free, glossy monthly after five years. Publisher Todd Tobias said the final, May issue will be distributed in late April: “As a monthly print publication, we’re done,” he said. Magazine parent Table Moose Media LLC is owned by Tobias, his […]