Home » Search

Search Results

66769 results for 'new'

To refine your search through our archives use our Advanced Search

Local Girl Scouts take lead in national consolidation: Larger councils to mean more opportunities for girls

Last year’s merger of five area Girl Scout councils into one central Indiana organization has gone so well that it’s being used as a model for others to follow. Local staffers are being flown around the country-at national Girl Scouts’ expense-to coach other councils on how to achieve the same results. The local merger was the first in a national drive to consolidate far-flung and often uneven Girl Scout councils, reducing their numbers by almost a third. With the local…

VIEWPOINT: Cookie-cutter schools: a fatally flawed idea

What would happen if Congress passed a law requiring every U.S. statehouse to use the exact same building design? And that every city hall, every fire station and library must be built from a canned design? Imagine being told that, from now on, every house in the state would have the exact same design, so homeowners could spend less on design costs. It sounds crazy to think one design fits all, but that’s exactly what lawmakers are considering for educational…

Financial crisis offers opening for banks’ market-share reshuffling

Market observers rank today’s credit crisis on par with some of the ugliest moments in U.S. banking history. News service
Bloomberg predicted fourth-quarter lending losses could make it “the worst earnings period for the financial industry since
the Great Depression.” Yet amid the carnage, financial institutions are sniffing around for opportunities.

Developer with environmental bent has $20M pipeline of projects

Expensive suits and luxury cars are standard issue for most developers, but not for the owners of locally based Casa Verde
LLC. Three of four owners sport beards. They build only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certified
projects. But don’t let the hippie image mask the company’s mission: Make green by building green.

A&E: At Herron Gallery, you win some with Wirsum

Usually, the only souvenir you can take home from a gallery exhibition is an artists’ catalogue. Visitors to “Karl Wirsum: Winsome Works(some)” at the Herron Galleries can also buy Karl Wirsum ball-and-paddle toys. Get the message? This show is supposed to be fun, folks. And it is-without diminishing the fact that it celebrates the work of an important artist-in some ways the Midwest’s answer to Andy Warhol. Like Warhol, Chicago’s Karl Wirsum makes significant use of flat, bright colors with…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Tax reform nudges state toward a la carte government

Most observers have viewed the 2008 legislative session as one almost singlemindedly devoted to property tax reform. While, of course, that is true, if you step back, a broader truism begins to emerge. This is not only a session destined to produce property tax reform, but one that begins the process of changing the role of government and how it intrudes into the lives of Hoosiers-or how it helps them, depending upon your perspective. Beyond property tax reform, this session…

Pedestrian bridge to state park still in the works: White River venues think hotel complex will be a boost

Developers of the $425 million hotel complex downtown still are working out plans for a pedestrian bridge spanning Washington Street that will connect it to White River State Park. Merrillville-based White Lodging Co. and Indianapolis-based REI Real Estate Services proposed a connector-either a bridge or an underground tunnel-in early designs of the convention hotel complex at the southwest corner of West and Washington streets. Although later site plans did not include the link, REI President Mike Wells said the developers…

Commentary: Isn’t a criminal record relevant?

I have a bit of a problem with the court system, and maybe one of you out there can help me with this. I wrote a column in December about my experience with jury duty. The case involved a daughter, a mother and a question of whether the defendant-the daughter-would be charged with auto theft (a felony) or criminal conversion (a misdemeanor). Briefly, here are the facts. The mother purchased a car and titled it in her name, but gave…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Smulyan latest exec to see vast paper profits evaporate

Back in late 1999, Emmis Communications Corp. CEO Jeff Smulyan was sitting on company stock worth more than $300 million. Today, he’s still sitting on the stock but it’s worth a mere $14 million. Ouch. But forget about throwing a pity party for Smulyan, 60, who founded the company 28 years ago, building it into one of the nation’s leading radio companies. “This company is what I love. I love Emmis,” he said. “I have no regrets.” Why did he…

Retiring baby boomers create openings for new grads

Students donning caps and gowns this May will find jobs aplenty, college career officers and others say. Some industries–like
health care, accounting, engineering, computer science and sales–are more flush with jobs than others. But students receiving
liberal arts degrees also are in high demand because of their well-rounded education.

HIGHWAY to HEALTH: Trucking firm Celadon drives down costs with innovative wellness plan

Truck drivers are accustomed to logging lots of miles on their 18-wheelers, but on their sneakers? They are at locally based Celadon Group, thanks to its “Highway 2 Health” wellness program the trucking firm launched in 2006. Prodding employees to lead healthier lifestyles is a way to help cut escalating health care costs. It’s a challenging task for any corporation, particularly for transporters whose workers are strewn throughout the country hauling freight on America’s highways. Sitting behind a wheel for…

SURF THIS: Digging the well now, or a yarn about … yarn

Back in the Dark Ages, before I started my company and before I was creative director at an advertising agency, I was a salesman. And my personality being what it is, I read a lot of books on sales. One of those that stood out was Harvey Mackay’s “Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” in which he emphasizes “building your Rolodex.” Of course, not a lot of us use a traditional Rolodex anymore, but the basic tenet remains:…

EYE ON THE PIE: Subprime mortgages meet subprime plans

I’m a clipper. I clip articles from newspapers, newsletters, magazines and Web sites. For example, back on March 12, 2007, I clipped an article in which the U.S. Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance said, “We monitor the markets all the time, and are hopefully pretty aware of market conditions. It seems to us that the situation [in the subprime mortgage market] is a manageable one, that we’re watching.” That was a relief. Treasury is watching and they believe “the situation…

INVESTING: World’s response to woes likely to make them worse

From one end of the world to the other, governments are drawing a blueprint. They’re doing exactly what you would expect given the recent fall in global equities. If the past is any indication, they’re going to make matters worse. That means the best way to make a bundle over the next 12 months might be to short-sell stocks-in other words, to bet against the market. The current problems began in August when the subprime problem erupted onto the national…

Speedway shows popular on Joost Web network

Shows provided by IMS Productions, the video production arm of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, are among the top draws for Joost, a high-profile Internet provider of television content launched last October.

Technology park could boost area’s biomedical efforts: First phase of Purdue project, featuring accelerator building for up to 25 startups, should be finished this year

The park is expected to be a major amenity for the area’s growing biomedical economic development efforts. Purdue Research Foundation paid $2.5 million in June to purchase a half-interest in 78 acres at AmeriPlex industrial park. The university ultimately anticipates filling it with as many as 75 businesses and 1,500 jobs. AmeriPlex owner Holladay Properties, a South Bend developer of industrial parks, owns the other half of the site. Dubbed Purdue Accelerator Park at AmeriPlex-Indianapolis, the project is intended to…

Demand for adult day care rises with aging population: Joy’s House, other local facilities expecting growth

Joy’s House on Broad Ripple Avenue provides day care services for 23 people. Often at or near capacity, the not-for-profit is raising funds to build a $1.6 million addition that will quadruple its current size. The cramped quarters, where activities include shooting balls in pint-size basketball hoops, underscores the need for extra space. And the participants are not children; they’re adults-the parents of baby boomers who’ve been thrust into the role of care giver. Adult day care centers steadily are…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: From economic perspective, immigration bill misguided

Few issues garner as much vitriol as the debate over illegal immigration. The dimensions of the debate are wide-ranging, but as with most aspects of public policy, they are heavily influenced by economic issues. Indiana has embarked on an immigration debate, so a bit of economics might be helpful. First, according to the most reliable recent data, Indiana is underrepresented by illegal immigrants compared with neighboring states. I have seen estimates of immigrants in Indiana of between 45,000 to more…

Brightpoint aims to stay ahead of wireless pack: Phone distributor looks to focus on add-on devices

If Brightpoint Inc. wants to keep its place at the top of the cell phone distribution business, its leaders know they can’t expect to rest on their laurels. That’s why the Plainfield-based company hired mobile industry veteran Bashar Nejdawi to spearhead an effort to expand Brightpoint’s so-called mobile enhancement business, selling add-ons that enhance a phone’s functionality, such as hands-free devices, battery chargers, phone cases and software. The company already offers such accessories, but has not seen substantial success outside…

New use may boost Lilly drug: Cymbalta could be next treatment for controversial illness fibromyalgia

It could be another Prozac moment. Eli Lilly and Co. is pitching its next star antidepressant drug, Cymbalta, for approval to treat the poorly understood pain of fibromyalgia. Regulators OK’d a drug specifically for fibromyalgia for the first time in June. The approval of Pfizer Inc.’s Lyrica sparked hope in fibromyalgia patients and advocates that more doctors will come to understand and diagnose the tricky condition, now that they have a medicine to treat it. That’s what happened 20 years…