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Lawrence turns down rezoning for vacant drive-in: Developer and city working on a compromise

A developer wanting to breathe new life into a long-vacant drive-in theater along Pendleton Pike is working to change the minds of Lawrence leaders who already have said no thanks. New York-based Norry Management Corp. is leading an effort to redevelop the 93-acre property for retail, office and industrial uses. But its plans faced a setback last month when a rezoning petition got a negative response from officials concerned about what might end up there. Lawrence City Council members voted…

EYE ON THE PIE: Where are the best-paying jobs?

Where is the best place to work if all you consider is money? Where are the wages and salaries plus benefits paid by employers the highest? We have data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that help us answer the question. The data refer to 2005, the latest year available, and do not include self-employment; thus, only jobs working for someone else are counted. And remember, these data are by place of work, not place of residence. Where are…

BULLS & BEARS: My past predictions were not all hot air

One benefit of writing a column is, the reader rarely remembers for long what the writer says. Maybe readers don’t remember what stock market columnists prognosticate because they think we’re windbags and change our opinions willy-nilly. For example, a month ago, I wrote the market was looking like it might pull back 10 percent and two weeks later wrote about the case for a market “melt-up.” Willy-nilly? I don’t think so, because both events could happen. But a year from…

SPORTS: Super Bowl has special meaning for diversity watchdog

As this is being written, it is uncertain which head coach will grasp the Lombardi Trophy. Those of us here certainly hope it is the Indianapolis Colts’ Tony Dungy. If not, however, Floyd Keith of the Indianapolis-based Black Coaches Association still can’t lose. Because the trophy then would be in the hands of the Chicago Bears’ Lovie Smith. As most of the world knows by now, Super Bowl XLI in Miami was going to be historic even before the opening…

Alternative commuting gaining traction, slowly: Discounted vanpool fees offered during I-70 project

Only road contractors, Ruth Reiman and the Devil himself are welcoming interstate reconstruction that could cause mass chaos for east-side commuters this year. For Reiman and her team at Central Indiana Commuter Services, the $175 million Interstate 70 project starting Feb. 25 might be the best recruiting tool since stratospheric gasoline prices a year ago. “I’m just waiting for them to hit the first lane closure,” said Reiman, executive director of federally funded CICS. CICS-rhymes with kicks-hopes to lure lone…

Steak n Shake trying out lighter menu options

But as more people seek out healthier food and become conscious of high fat and calorie counts in Steak n Shake’s staples,
some are staying away or not visiting as often. To fight back, the chain is working on a barrage of healthier menu options,
including yogurt shakes, chicken sandwiches and new salads. Perhaps a variation on the slogan that started it all in Normal,
Ill., in 1934 is in order: “In Sight It Must Be Light.” The first leaner…

Providers have new rules to take on Medicaid fraud: Many companies required to educate employees

A federal law that took effect Jan. 1 requires hospitals and others serving the Medicaid population to teach their employees how to detect fraud and report it to the government. Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage to the needy and is prone to abuse. In an effort to reduce abuse, the legislation requires companies that do at least $5 million annually in Medicaid business to educate all employees and officers on how to spot fraud….

Food vs. fuel debate is ignited: Price of ethanol-ingredient corn soars, squeezing margins for livestock, food

The ethanol gold rush sweeping Indiana and other states that grow its prime ingredient, corn, is threatening profit margins for livestock producers and portends higher prices at the supermarket. Perhaps no sector is more nervous these days than pork, where Indiana ranks fifth in production nationally. “Much higher feed costs are likely to eliminate the profit potential for pork production in 2007,” Chris Hurt, a Purdue University agriculture economics professor, said in his recent market outlook report. Corn, the primary…

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: It’s déjà vu all over again

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary It’s déjà vu all over again Every once in a while, I’m struck by the same-ness of things. My last column was filed from Florida, as was last year’s second column in January. This week’s is being written upon my return from a publisher’s meeting in Puerto Vallarta, as was last year’s first February column. That’s a little scary. Is my life getting to be that predictable? Remember my passport debacle from last year? This year in…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Awkward auction of Adesa leaves investors miffed

The discussions leading to the sale of Adesa Inc. were frenzied and wild. But was the final price-$27.85 a share in cash, or a total of $2.5 billion-as high as it should have been? A disgruntled individual investor says no, and is suing the Carmel-based autoauction firm in hopes of blocking the deal and collecting damages. The suit, filed in mid-January by the Delaware-based law firm Rosenthal Monhait & Goddess, seeks class-action certification. Moreover, two other Adesa shareholders-Royce & Associates…

Arts Council ready to play matchmaker

Leaders of the 20-year-old Arts Council of Indianapolis want to broaden the organization’s approach to arts advocacy. They
say they’d like to act as a cultural broker of sorts, making sure local artists are connected with possible patrons.

Architect of Colts’ success worked his way to the top

Bill Polian, the multi-sport schoolboy athlete from the Bronx, never had the advantage of an inside track. So he broke into
the National Football League the only way he knew how: by outworking and outsmarting the competition. By all accounts, Polian,
64 and now president of the Indianapolis Colts, is still at it.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Those from corrupt cultures more likely to ignore laws

Do we obey laws because we fear punishment? Or is it simply a habit we acquired to which we don’t otherwise give much thought? Either way, it is a good thing for our communities, our governments and our entire society that so many of us are, generally speaking, law-abiding. One can scarcely imagine the chaos that would be caused if 300 million people lied, stole and murdered our way through the day without giving it a moment’s thought. It’s good…

NOTIONS: Can you look at the world through others’ eyes?

For the past few months, I’ve served on a search committee for a large not-forprofit organization. We’re hoping to select and hire a senior public relations executive. During interviews for this position, many finalists have said the same thing: The organization needs to do a better job of “getting its message out.” This doesn’t surprise me. As head of a marketing communications consultancy, my phone rings frequently with prospective clients wanting help “getting our message out” because “we’re the best-kept…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Saving Hoosier lives depends on telemedicine technology

If you find yourself in need of advanced medical care, the Indianapolis area represents one of the best places to live. Superb resources at the nationally ranked Indiana University Hospital, St. Vincent, the Riley Hospital for Children and a whole host of other Indianapolis based medical facilities will effectively meet the challenge of providing worldclass health services. But if you live or work outside the capital city, securing life-saving services may be a different matter. The last national census disclosed…

Advocacy firms finding business in confused patients: Health care complexities creating new industry

Duane Etienne’s role as the leader of a local elder-care agency provides him the benefit of knowing how to navigate the intricacies of the modern medical maze more than most. Yet, the 65-year-old admitted he still had trouble deciphering the fine print on his parents’ insurance policies. “It’s just too complicated,” said Etienne, president of the local CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions. “I work this business every day, and it’s complex for me. But I’ve got people I can go…

Recyclers fear competition for funding

Indiana recyclers concerned that waste-burning firms could gain status as recyclers–and vie for state grants and loans they’ve
relied on for years–now have a potential competitor on the radar.

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Out of spotlight, state efficiency initiatives advance

A pair of state studies last year attracted little public attention, but were highly-if warily-anticipated by business and industry, labor organizations, trade and professional groups, educators, local government officials, and even state agencies. The legislatively created Government Efficiency Commission served up its recommendation, followed, after the election, by the Office of Management and Budget’s Government Efficiency and Financial Planning office Program Results: an Outcome Based Evaluation (PROBE) analysis sought by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. The Government Efficiency Commission offered some…

INVESTING: It’s early, but trends for ’07 are unfolding as expected

The trends of 2007 possibly have been established, and so far it looks as if these trends are playing out close to the script I wrote a month ago. At the beginning of the year, I expected big-cap growth stocks, especially Americanbased companies, to perform the best this year. I thought small caps would continue their slowing momentum against other assets, and that foreign markets, both emerging and developed, would not quite live up to the numbers they posted last…

City Securities aims to earn mega-deal: If approved, $450 million bond plan would pay off pre-1977 police, fire pensions

If Mayor Bart Peterson gets his wish, a $450 million bond issue finally will settle Indianapolis’ long-standing dilemma over underfunded police and firefighter pensions once and for all. It will also generate up to $9 million in professional fees. And locally based City Securities Corp. is laying the groundwork to earn a lion’s share-even though investment banking is dominated by giant companies in Manhattan. “I would assume that most of Wall Street has made a call,” said City Securities Vice…