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EYE ON THE PIE: Cost-of-living is with us, not in the stars

“I saw your column last week about the cost of living and I think you are a fool.” That was among the kinder messages on my mental answering machine, the one that records the thoughts I imagine readers have after reading my columns. All I had done was explain that the major differences in living costs in different places are related to housing. Housing prices reflect income levels, the benefits of living in different places, and the limitations on building…

Arts groups target young audiences: Research, events focus on luring new patrons

When you’re trying to lure 20-somethings to your door, it apparently helps to offer booze and cheap seats. Those are common themes of new programs at several local arts organizations concerned with cultivating new audiences and patrons to replace the aging baby boomers. Two cases in point: Jagermeister, a liquor usually happily forgotten by the over-30 crowd, is a sponsor of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming Happy Hour concert series. At Phoenix Theatre, audience members on the first Thursday of every…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: King for a day on fixing the property-tax system

Well, I’ve finally been caught. Despite my best efforts to appear decisive and get straight to the point, one of my readers accused me of being just another equivocating, twoarmed economist in a recent column I wrote on taxes. You know the type. On the one hand this, and on the other hand that, never sticking their necks out and reaching a conclusion. That person will be back in this space this week, doing his best to pretend not to…

Education, work force key hurdles to new economy:

Having recently returned to Indiana after a 15-year absence, I see a region filled with both challenges and opportunities. The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the organization I’ve returned to serve as president and CEO, is focused on long-term economic prosperity for our region. To this end, our people are our most valuable resource. Unfortunately, central Indiana faces a significant challenge in making our human capital match our goal of a knowledgebased, 21st-century economy. Indiana ranks 46th in the educational attainment…

Startup fills growing drug-trial niche: Indianapolis-based Anaclim focuses on recruiting minority patients

A new Indianapolis company plans to attack the chronic shortage of minority patients in drug trials armed only with 11 employees and the wisdom of a couple Eli Lilly and Co. executives. However, the founders of Anaclim believe they’ll find ample success by focusing exclusively on the growing push for diversity in the $10 billion contractresearch industry. Anaclim, which occupies a mostly empty office at Intech Park, could double its staff quickly and start raking in eight-figure revenue within three…

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…