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ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ Commentary: A news event that hit close to home

I’ve been writing professionally for nearly 20 years and this is the hardest column I’ve ever had to write. Originally I planned an end-ofthe-year piece with some snappy one-liners and tongue-incheek observations about local and state issues. Thursday, Dec. 22 at 9:45 a.m. that changed. I was in the Capitol on my way to one of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ weekly media sessions when my cell phone rang. It was a phone call from my producer telling me that 18-year-old James…

INVESTING: These foreign markets are ripe for investment

Because I spent part of the Christmas weekend packing for a vacation that will take my family out of the country, I was thinking about the foreign investing landscape a little. China is still the most overused buzzword to come down the pike since “Internet,” but there is a lot more depth to the overseas picture than just China. As good investing should always be about finding the best risk-adjusted returns possible, I want to spend some time digging into…

New ATA shares harder to land: Public offering not expected as airline exits bankruptcy

You probably wouldn’t want to buy shares of the first discount airline in recent years to file bankruptcy reorganization-not unless you’re a short-seller or a relative of Norman Vincent Peale. Not in this airline climate. But even they won’t have a chance to buy shares being issued in ATA Holdings Corp. after the Indianapolis airline emerges from Chapter 11 as early as next month. ATA was delisted from Nasdaq shortly after it filed for bankruptcy in October 2004. Old shares…

SPORTS: The good, the bad and the hoped for in sports

Even with some disappointments sprinkled in (Ron Artest, Purdue football and no state teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament), 2005 was an outstanding year for sports in Indiana. But 2006 will be even better. In that vein, we look back, and we look ahead: Best local sports stories of 2005 1) The passing of the funding mechanisms at the state and local levels that led to the Sept. 20 groundbreaking for Indiana Stadium. While Reggie Miller’s retirement from the…

AGENDA INDIANAPOLIS 2006: City made progress in some areas, but top priorities require more work

The wheels are beginning to turn on a multi-county transit plan, now that the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority is mostly in place. The authority, charged with coordinating and, ultimately, administering a regional transit system, was formed at the end of 2004, about the time IBJ asked readers to rank the most pressing issues facing the city. The results of the survey, published last January, revealed public transportation and congestion issues as the largest concern, followed by the need for…

What’s up his sleeve?: New park director plans ice skating, street performers

He can do card tricks with the verve of a Brooklyn street hustler. He knows how to levitate. And for his biggest trick yet, he wants to transform White River State Park. It’s no short con. It doesn’t involve sleight of hand. Meet Bob from these increased attractions.” In addition to the Eiteljorg, the Indianapolis Zoo, White River Gardens, Indiana State Museum, Victory Field and NCAA Hall of Champions call the park home. At least one community activist, and one…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Short legislative session may be eventful, for a change

We’ve all become lulled into assuming that the so-called “short” session of the Indiana General Assembly in the even-numbered years is the political equivalent of the practice of medicine: First, do no harm. In election years, lawmakers are reluctant to do much beyond that which they must do to protect public health, safety and treasury. The short session originated as a vehicle for handling emergencies arising between the odd-numbered-year budget sessions, and many legislators-particularly those seeking re-election-didn’t see much cause…

Diversity is theme at IU med school:

Health care disparities and access issues are among the topics to be discussed this month when the Indiana University School of Medicine hosts its fourth annual Diversity Week. The week, which runs from Jan. 15 to Jan. 20, will include daily presentations at noon in the Emerson Hall auditorium on the IUPUI campus, according to school officials. Events begin Jan. 15 when IUPUI hosts its 36 th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner at the Indianapolis Marriott downtown. The keynote…

Drug costs on chopping block: M-Plan introduces pill-splitting program

Indiana’s second-largest insurer, M-Plan Inc., welcomed some of its customers to the new year with a pill-splitting program that can chop prescription drug costs in half. The Indianapolis-based health maintenance organization became part of a growing crowd of insurers endorsing a money-saving concept long practiced by doctors and patients. However, pill splitting still stirs a healthy dose of concern over safety in some corners of the pharmaceutical world. “I’ve had arguments with insurance companies about this for years,” said Skip…

In the new year, building on the successes of 2005:

This past year was one of the most active and successful in our city’s history. We pushed through legislation to fund an expansion of the Indiana Convention Center and build a new multi-purpose stadium, both of which will be tremendous boons to our region’s economy, pumping in more than $2.25 billion in investment and creating more than 4,200 permanent jobs over the next 10 years. In addition, through the leadership of the governor and legislature, a one-of-a-kind regional funding solution…

TOM HARTON Commentary: On defense, Republicans get divisive

After Republicans Scott Keller and Lance Langsford broke party ranks at the Dec.19 City-County Council meeting and voted for cop consolidation and an expanded human-rights ordinance, fellow Republican Jim Bradford e-mailed them and questioned whether they were true Republicans. Lately, it’s Bradford and other Republican hard-liners who don’t seem like the Indianapolis Republicans of old. Republicans mayors Richard Lugar, William Hudnut and Steve Goldsmith provided pragmatic, progressive leadership here in the 1970s and ’80s and ’90s. Lugar and longtime Council…

2006: Making Indianapolis a family affair:

What’s the most pressing issue facing Indianapolis now and in the future? Depending on a pundit’s passion, answers can range from maintaining a professional sports team to supporting the cultural and arts community, from improving the quality of public schools and parks to making affordable housing available, from low taxes to a state-of-the art public mass transit system. Yet each of these areas, while they may reflect an interest group’s unwavering and at times irrational fixation, taken at face value…

BULLS & BEARS: Start the new year with quotes on investing

Once again, I have selected a few quotes on the topic of business and investing to start the new year: “There is nothing like higher prices to attract more buyers. In department stores you mark merchandise down to move it. On Wall Street you mark it up.” -Michael Metz, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. stock analyst “Speculative bubbles frequently occur during periods of financial innovation and deregulation … lax regulation is another common feature … there is a tendency for business…

Big sale finishes hot year: Firm buys 6 office buildings at Keystone at the Crossing; price lags other mega-deals

A record year for sales of local office properties is ending with a bang, as a half dozen buildings at Keystone at the Crossing change hands. Philadelphia-based Berwind Property Group purchased a six-building portfolio, including the high-rise office towers at Keystone at the Crossing, from Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association. The deal, which closed Dec. 22, includes buildings totaling about 1 million square feet at 8500, 8888, 8900, 8930, 9100 and 9200 Keystone Crossing, developed by locally based Duke Realty…

Mayor slashes city spending, combines local police forces:

It was the roughest year yet for Mayor Bart Peterson-at least until 2005’s final weeks. In the spring, the I n d i a n a G e n e r a l Assembly defeated the majority of his proposed Unigov overhaul “Indianapolis Works.” So Peterson, a Democrat, spent the summer slashing local spending. State legislators left the door open on one major Indy Works provision: Peterson’s controversial plan to merge the Indianapolis Police Department with the Marion County Sheriff’s…

ATA struggles to survive:

ATA Airlines in 2005 was gutted into a shell of its former glory. On the upside, it ended the year with a $100 commitment from New York finance firm MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners. That could set the stage for the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, 16 months after it filed. But the price of restructuring was high for Indianapolis. The company, which just a year ago was the busiest carrier at Indianapolis International Airport, will discontinue…

The entrepreneur is in – literally: Venture Center program offers select firms expert advice

The return on investment couldn’t be any better. TGX Medical Systems CEO Michael Good brought Joe Muldoon on board in April to help his company land some venture-capital funding. A few months later, it had a check for $1.5 million in the bank. The cost of Muldoon’s help: zilch. As the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Indiana’s Venture Center, Muldoon spent seven months this year giving a handful of young, high-growth Indiana companies free advice on everything from budgeting to fund raising….

Hoosiers set to observe daylight-saving time in 2006:

Indiana lawmakers beat the clock during the waning minutes of the legislative session to narrowly adopt daylight-saving time. The DST bill passed the House by one vote, and only after failing to obtain a constitutional majority the first time it was voted upon. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican who included the divisive issue in his campaign, intervened to muster more support. House Speaker Brian Bosma held the voting board open for several minutes during the second vote until Rep. Troy…

EYE ON THE PIE: Cost of living depends on how you live

“You can find warmer,” I said, “but I’m not sure you’ll find nicer anywhere.” “Well, if you don’t want to go, I could go myself,” Myrtle pouted. “I could be a muse anywhere; it’s a transferable skill and I don’t need a license to practice. I’d just find some nice writers or artists in another place, or even offer inspiration over the Internet.” “How much do you make a year, Myrtle?” I asked. “None of your business,” she said curtly….

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Patrick Barkey: Multiplying economic gains isn’t easy as it may sound

It’s an old, but primal, oath that doctors are supposed to take before they set out into the world of medicine: “Do no harm” to the patients they serve. Perhaps a few of us in the economics profession should do the same. Because some of our ideas-or more accurately, characterizations of our ideas-may be doing more harm than good. Of course, it’s great to see ideas that come out of your own specialized area of expertise find their way into…