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U.S. 20 is one of our lesser-known t r a n s c o n t i n e n t a l highways. It starts at the Boston Commons, about two miles from the Green Monster of Fenway Park. The route then winds west to a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean at Newport, Ore. U.S. 20 runs through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and such cities as Albany, N.Y.; Erie, Pa.; Toledo, Ohio; Rockford, Ill.; Sioux City, Iowa;…
Drive less than 20 minutes from almost any crossroads in Indiana and you’ll come across a feature of the Midwest landscape we take for granted: farmland. The vast open space in abundance between our state’s urban areas remains dominated by the industry that once employed more people than any other: agriculture. And while the sights of barns, cropland and animals grazing in pastures are familiar to us all, we should remember that looks can be deceiving. Plenty of changes are…
Thoughts about this, that and the other: By the time you read this, the Tennessee Titans may have sprung the biggest upset of the NFL season, rendering some of the discussion moot. Remember, on any given Sunday. That’s why I always say that, in the NFL, every game is a big game. Therefore, that the Indianapolis Colts made it at least into December winning every one of those big games is an amazing accomplishment, especially when you recall the hand…
Comcast plans to increase cable TV rates an average of 5.1 percent in its suburban Indianapolis territory next year, even as SBC Communications threatens to roll out a cable-killing video service via phone lines. Annual rate hikes by cable companies have become as inevitable as sitcom reruns. Comcast last jacked up local basic cable rates a year ago, by 6.5 percent. Although the 2006 increase is more modest, SBC already is using it in an attempt to soften up consumers…
Five years ago, Wal-Mart had about a 2-percent share of the grocery market, according to Morningstar Inc. Today, the $31-billion-in-sales behemoth has 23 percent. Grocery-industry observers say fierce competition from the Arkansas-based company played a big part in the financial decline of Marsh Supermarkets Inc., which announced Nov. 29 that it was considering a sale. They said the onslaught was tough to absorb in a region that already had too many grocery stores for its population. “What went wrong?” asked…
Locally based advertising agency Young & Laramore won another national account in November, and with the announcement unveiled a strategy to eschew local and regional work to shoot for the industry’s biggest targets. Minnesota-based Red Wing Shoe Co. chose Young & Laramore to help it launch a line of casual footwear targeted at a mainstream men’s and women’s market. The 100-year-old shoemaker has made a name for itself with its hiking, hunting and work boots. Though terms were not disclosed,…
The big, bad wolf has been huffing and puffing against homebuilding stocks, and for a while it didn’t look as if he’d blow the house down. The outlook changed in early August, however, and the wolf now is seeing results. Residential real estate became the talk of the cocktail party circuit after the market topped in 2000. Over the next five years, the stories became more and more fantastic. Condos in south Florida doubling in price. Shacks in California tripling….
Despite natural disasters, war and oil shocks, the U.S. economy has had a good year, with the gross domestic product posting growth of 3.8 percent. Corporate profits will grow this year at a doubledigit rate. And yet the U.S. stock market, as measured by the Dow Jones industrials, has done next to nothing. Here’s one big reason: fear of inflation. It’s slowed the economic sprint and caused investors to reach for their worry beads. We all know Alan Greenspan has…
The dust has settled on Mayor Bart Peterson’s failed police merger. Meanwhile, local crime is surging, up 11 percent from 2002 to 2004. The next bellwether on how to turn the tide will be the 2006 Marion County prosecutor’s race. The contest, pitting Melina Maniatis Kennedy against incumbent Carl Brizzi, already is drawing the attention of community and business leaders, who say the stakes are huge: Rampant crime can cripple a local economy. “Where there’s crime-scene tape, there are not…
“To improve Sacramento, learn from Indianapolis” was the headline of a column in the Nov. 18 Sacramento Business Journal. It’s always nice to get a compliment and some good PR. Turns out a delegation of nearly a hundred Sacramentonians-or is it Sacramentites?-were here in October on a three-day study mission to learn how to become a great city. It was the seventh year in a row for them to make a learning visit to another community. Tom Stallard, head of…
Just in time for Christmas, Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. finally has its arms around its biggest acquisition ever, last year’s $305 million purchase of Galyan’s Trading Co., the 48-store chain that was based in Plainfield. Pittsburgh-based Dick’s rattled investors in August, reporting Galyan’s stores had posted disappointing sales after adopting the Dick’s moniker and store merchandise. In a single day of trading, Dick’s shares plunged $6.33, or 16 percent, to close at $32.90. In the ensuing weeks, investors continued to…
On its opening night late last year, Music Mill started off with a bang. The first concert at the northside venue was the Scissor Sisters, an energetic New York band whose self-titled debut album includes a disco-flavored cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” More than 400 people showed up for the Dec. 15 show. More than half of them were lastminute arrivals who bought their tickets the day of the show. “We got to find out on our first big…
You know, I understand the need to protect one’s intellectual property assets. I do. And I understand the frustration of those companies in the entertainment business that put out a product electronically only to have it instantly copied and distributed. But I think it’s going a little far for a recording label to load a piece of software onto a user’s computer that is supposedly only for controlling and playing a protected music CD, but actually hijacks parts of the…
In India, where cricket is the sport of choice, telling an employee he knocked the ball out of the park with his latest proposal most likely would confuse him. The communications gap and other cultural contrasts between the United States and a country such as India can be as vast as the 10-hour time difference. So, as local software developer Sigma Micro Corp. prepared to launch operations at what it refers to as an off-shore development center in the city…
As land is cleared for the final major sections of Carmel’s Village of WestClay, the developer of the Indianapolis area’s most-heralded example of new urbanism is discovering an age-old truth: Plans change. WestClay Uptown and the West Village, as they will be called, represent major changes to Brenwick Development’s plan and reflect changing demand from inside and outside the borders of the 686-acre development. Staying are WestClay’s guiding concepts-a mammoth subdivision designed in the style of a 19th century village…
But to understand, we need to do some work, to dig into some numbers. How is Indiana’s economy doing? In May 2000, we had 3.01 million jobs in the state, an all-time high, according to the Indiana Department of Work Force Development. This number bottomed out in July 2003 at 2.89 million (a loss of 4.3 percent). This September, we had 2.97 million jobs, so we had regained 65 percent of what we had lost. But we are still 45,000…
Area motorsports leaders are gearing up for another run at unifying the industry and assuring the region retains its status as one of the world’s leading motorsports markets. Organizers of the latest effort promise they won’t spin their wheels this time around. They’re casting a wider net-going statewide with a motorsports association-to attract more members and build more clout with the media, local and state lawmakers, and service providers, such as banks and insurance companies. The Indiana Motorsports Association Inc….
More than 45 million Americans lack health insurance. And more than half of them are employed or dependent on someone who works for a small business, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. It’s a big problem-especially in Indiana. Between 2000 and 2004, 5.6 percent of Hoosier workers lost employer-provided health care, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That’s a higher percentage than any state except Wisconsin. Legislation just introduced in Congress by Wyoming Sen. Michael Enzi, however, may…
After a year spinning classic hits, WKLU-FM 101.9 is itself a hit among Indianapolis adults, moving up a coveted ratings chart and into the No. 3 spot behind longtime radio powerhouses WFBQ-FM 94.7 and WFMS-FM 95.5. The station had hovered near the 20th spot among Indianapolis listeners ages 25-54 before its sale to radio entrepreneur Russ Oasis in October 2004. “That’s a fast turnaround,” said Tom Taylor, editor of industry publication Inside Radio. After switching from an eclectic format, WKLU…
For six years, he was a part-time resident of our city. Believe me when I say Indianapolis was full-time better for it. Not many folks here know this fellow named Bill Hancock, or the integral behindthe-scenes role he has played in the NCAA’s staging of its showcase event, the men’s basketball tournament and the Final Four. I’ll sum it up this way: The NCAA’s tournament manual is about 4 inches thick. Hancock, who served as the tournament director, could quote…
