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NOTIONS: Painting on the fresh canvas of the winter solstice

I wasn’t looking forward to the Thursday afternoon meeting. The issues involved saddened me. And besides, this felt like a decision that could have been reached via e-mail, rather than a 60-mile round-trip drive for a half-hour conversation. But the other fellow said he liked to do things face to face-an old-fashioned notion, he admitted, but his preference nonetheless. So I climbed into my car, drove at breakneck Interstate speed, and covered the distance in 30 minutes. When I arrived…

TAWN PARENT Commentary: Do libraries need gun control?

My first job, at age 15, was shelving books in my neighborhood library. Those were the days of tidy card catalogs with brass-handled drawers and hand-stamped “date due” cards tucked into the back of books. There wasn’t a computer in the place. Times have changed. Libraries now enable people without other Internet access to go online to research health problems, tap into business databases, find information for school projects, locate needed social services, and even apply for jobs. A recent…

Ringing up big returns: After near collapse in ’02, Brightpoint wows Wall St.

Three and a half years ago, Plainfield-based cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc. was on the ropes. Shares were worth less than a dollar. The company had lost $53 million in 2001, and was on pace to lose another $42 million in 2002. Bankruptcy appeared imminent. But Brightpoint prevailed over the long odds against it. Today, company shares trade for about $30 each. Adjusted for stock splits, they’ve soared 125 percent in 2005, and nearly 8,000 percent since bottoming out in…

BULLS & BEARS: Beware mutual fund pitch touting eye-popping returns

Remember those mutual fund performance advertisements splashed across publications in huge, bold print? During the peak of market euphoria, some of the touted returns were unbelievable, and, it turned out, unsustainable. Those were the salad days, as mutual fund managers achieved rock star status as they were paraded before the cameras of CNBC. In early 2000, the Munder Internet Fund (formerly called the Munder NetNet Fund and an investor favorite during the “new era”) could run giant print ads claiming…

Malls fight for tax savings: Owners see appeals pay off; inconsistencies plague process

Shopping mall owners were ecstatic when their property tax bills dropped as a result of reassessment in 2002. Some of them are even giddier now. Three of Indianapolis’ enclosed malls-Castleton Square, Lafayette Square and Glendale-have since won large appeals and had their combined annual property taxes reduced almost $1 million. Pending appeals of the taxes at Circle Centre and Fashion Mall will be decided within months and could mean even more money in the pockets of mall owners. Before 2002,…

Duke, Bremner pairing bearing fruit for both companies: Venture surpasses goals with $100 million in projects

A year after forming a joint venture to pursue health care development, Duke Realty Corp. and Bremner Healthcare Real Estate are preparing to storm the Southeast, one of Duke’s stronghold markets, by opening offices in Atlanta and Miami, and by bringing on a new partner. Announced last December, Duke’s and Bremner’s joint venture this year locked up $100 million worth of projects, ranging from a medical office building on Michigan Road in Hamilton County to an outpatient hospital in Summit,…

Conseco could land upgrade by midyear: Analysts see positive signs for Carmel insurer

Conseco Inc. by mid-2006 may earn a coveted ratings upgrade from A.M. Best Co., an achievement likely to bolster the Carmel-based insurer’s sales, analysts said. Best probably will dole out the financial-strength upgrade in the second quarter, after the New Jersey-based firm reviews Conseco’s final 2005 financial results, said Jukka Lipponen, a Connecticut-based analyst for Keefe Bruyette & Woods. “We believe as management continues to deliver on its expectations and once Conseco receives the A.M. Best upgrade … investor patience…

Library cash crisis looming: Officials mull deep cuts, branch closings to balance books

After long delays, the city’s Central Library expansion should finally be finished by 2008. But to heat the building and keep its lights on, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library may have to shutter half a dozen of its 22 branches. IMCPL officials say the system faces dire financial woes. They project a $1 million shortfall in next year’s $36 million budget, and even bigger problems after that. By 2008, IMCPL expects to be short $6.3 million a year, or about…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is this thing a brace or badge of courage?

It’s amazed me for a long time how we create technology that shapes our world, then it returns the compliment by reshaping us. Steam power gave the business world the factory, which put a premium on people who could maintain and run factories, and made ordinary people servants to the clock. Modern computers have made the technogeek a valuable commodity and created a vast new business expense in hardware, software and upkeep. We think we are creating a new world,…

Company makes payment related to price-fixing case:

Irving Materials Inc. in November deposited $2 million into an escrow account to provide funding toward any eventual settlement it may make with the state of Indiana over price-fixing of ready-mixed concrete on state, local government and school projects. In June, Greenfield-based IMI pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to fixing prices on ready-mixed concrete in central Indiana between July 2000 and May 2004. IMI also has agreed that the four principals who pleaded guilty, Fred R. “Pete” Irving, Price…

Storrow Kinsella Associates Inc.: Landscape firm aims to improve urban settings Architectural training helps SKA in bid to transform communities

John Kinsella is proud of Davlan Park, a collection of grass, trees, plants and public art tucked away on a tiny patch of green next to the Mass Ave Starbucks. He smiles when he sees someone sitting on a bench or at a table, taking a break from the bustling commercial corridor. He remembers when the so-called pocket park was just neglected space. But that was before Storrow Kinsella Associates worked its magic. The 20-year-old landscape architecture firm, owned by…

States consider ‘vanity’ taxation: N. Jersey first to pass law; Indiana unlikely to follow

Tummy tucks are costing a few more bucks in New Jersey, but don’t look for a tax on cosmetic surgery procedures in Indiana anytime soon. The Garden State passed the first cosmetic surgery tax law in 2004. Since then, legislators in Arkansas, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Washington have introduced similar proposals, although none of the states has passed the taxes into law. Cosmetic surgery is perceived by some lawmakers to be an easy target for additional tax revenue…

GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Don’t underestimate value of teamwork

Any area of human activity can be improved by good teamwork. Teamwork requires leadership, by both those designated as team leaders and team members alike. In sports, as in life, the most valuable player is often not the person who calls the plays. Teamwork is explored in an interesting way in a 2002 book by management consultant Patrick Lencioni titled, “Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” The book is getting renewed attention because of the interest of sports leaders. Seven NFL…

BULLS & BEARS: A small book with big ideas could be rewarding reading

Would you spend $20 and 122 minutes to dramatically enhance your net worth? The money is for what I feel is the greatest book since 1949 on how to pick stocks. It will take you 120 minutes to read the book, and two minutes to finish this column. In 1949, Benjamin Graham, then a 55-year-old professor at Columbia University, wrote “The Intelligent Investor.” It was a sequel to his 1934 tome on investing titled “Security Analysis,” which has long been…

MSA condo interest builds: With sales up, developer hopes to begin site work in January

Two months after unveiling a new name, new floor plans and a new sales center for their development, the team in charge of building condominiums on the former Market Square Arena site is reporting more success than the first time around. Reservations have been taken for two-thirds of the units that need to be sold before the developer can fund One Market Square, real estate agent Kurt Flock told the Metropolitan Development Commission Dec. 7. Market Square Partners is considering…

ERODING FOUNDATION: Endowment’s assets fall with Lilly stock; heavy sale of shares dim chances for rebound

Endowment’s assets fall with Lilly stock; heavy sale of shares dim chances for rebound Wall Street is chipping away at Indianapolis’ most-venerable philanthropic institution. The value of Lilly Endowment’s primary asset-Eli Lilly and Co. shares-has dropped by more than half since 2000, forcing leaders to sell additional shares in order to give away hundreds of millions of dollars as required each year. Still, the privately run endowment remains a major Eli Lilly shareholder, with nearly 148 million shares of the company’s…

Republic Airways buffeted by U.S. Airways pilot turbulence: Locally based carrier gets favorable ruling in one dispute, but remains mired in separate $1.2B lawsuit

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. has landed a break from an arbitrator who ruled the Indianapolis regional airline is obligated to hire no more than half the 300 pilots employed by US Airways’ MidAtlantic regional airline, which Republic is acquiring. Regional carrier Republic can avoid higher personnel costs by not having to hire as many U.S. Airways pilots with seniority. The amount of the savings was not immediately available. But Republic remains a defendant in a complicated, $1.2 billion lawsuit that…

City, police union prepare for cop contract negotiations: FOP seeks 5 percent wage increase for IPD officers

Get ready for another round in local government’s most rancorous ongoing scuffle. The Indianapolis Police Department’s contract expires Dec. 31. The city and the police union are about to begin negotiations for a new agreement. Both sides sound optimistic about the chances for a smooth process. But that could quickly change when they get into the nitty-gritty of wage proposals and concessions. The parley over IPD’s last contract took two years. At its nadir, the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed…

De-stressing the holidays: Redefining ‘perfection,’ embracing simplicity are important keys

The holidays evoke picture-perfect images of beautifully decorated homes, homemade gifts and elegant, effortless entertaining. Everyone gets along fabulously and you get to relax around the fireplace and enjoy it all. The reality for many women, however, is that the frantic rushing around to get things done takes all the magic out of the season. Thankfully, there are simple things everyone can do to make the holidays less stressful. Don’t be a slave to tradition Re-evaluating traditions and setting realistic…

Backyard gushers: Prolific Plummer oil field profitable for Citizens as crude prices rise

They’ve also pumped up revenue for Citizens Gas & Coke Utility, thanks to the soaring price of oil this year. The utility’s oil revenue for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 nearly doubled, to $4 million from $2.26 million in fiscal 2004. Since 1969, the Oil Division has generated income of nearly $40 million. In fiscal 2005, income of the Oil Division rose 160 percent, to $2.6 million, vs. $1 million in 2004. Although $2.6 million is not a huge…