A van crashed into a fire hydrant early Tuesday morning on the northwest side of Indianapolis, prompting the closure of one lane of 16th Street near Lafayette Road for several hours. Police aren’t sure what caused the vehicle to veer from the road about 1:30 a.m. The impact ripped the hydrant from its mount, causing water to gush out and flood the area.
Kite Realty Group Trust is planning a Rivers Edge-like overhaul of two shopping centers it owns at 116th Street and Rangeline Road in Carmel. The Indianapolis-based real estate firm already has landed new tenants, including a natural and organic grocery store and a handful of restaurants.
A project to widen Interstate 69 at the 116th Street/Indiana 37 interchange in Fishers will restrict traffic to two lanes in both directions beginning in June.
Eli Lilly and Co.’s osteoporosis drug Forteo was used in the first successful human trial of an implantable device that delivers injectable drugs—showing promise for eliminating the need for regular shots. Massachusetts-based MicroCHIPS Inc. implanted wirelessly controlled drug-delivery devices in women with osteoporosis. The devices delivered daily doses of Forteo into the women’s bloodstreams. The device could be helpful for Lilly and its peers, who are trying to develop more biotech drugs like Forteo. Such drugs are typically made up of large proteins, which cannot be reduced to pill form and must instead be injected. Many patients resist taking injectable drugs and many do not fully comply with their prescribed regimens.
A Cicero-based developer plans to build a $15.7 million senior health care center at 16th Street and Arlington Avenue on Indianapolis’ east side. The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission approved the project Wednesday after accepting Mainstreet Property Group LLC’s offer to purchase the property for $912,500. Mainstreet plans to begin construction in July and finish by June 2013. The facility would include 100 beds for skilled care, short-term rehabilitation and assisted-living patients. The facility is expected to create up to 150 jobs, said Zeke Turner, Mainstreet’s CEO. Overall, the company owns or co-owns 13 senior health care centers in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, and has six more under development. It plans to break ground on as many as 12 centers by the end of the year, including a $13.3 million facility in Westfield, Turner said.
Marian University is looking to hire as many as 25 professors to help launch its College of Osteopathic Medicine, which is slated to open in August 2013. The school, which would be Indiana’s second medical school, would train 150 physicians each year. Marian, a small Catholic university in Indianapolis, wants to hire as many as three professors in each of seven disciplines: anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, physiology, pharmacology and pathology.
The city of Indianapolis approved the project after accepting Mainstreet Property Group’s offer to purchase the property at 16th Street and Arlington Avenue for $912,500.
An Indianapolis woman was killed by a semi Wednesday afternoon after she ran in front of traffic on northbound Interstate 69. All northbound lanes were closed for about two hours following the incident near State Road 37 and 116th Street. Witnesses said Linda Jackson, 44, ran in front of the truck. The crash is under investigation. Prior to the accident, police received several calls about a woman running in front of vehicles.
Merchants Pointe, a two-building office/retail development at 116th Street and Keystone Parkway, is getting a fresh start after major road construction drove away tenants and caused a previous owner to default.
The Town of Fishers this week unveiled plans to build a new outdoor amphitheater and multipurpose trail in its downtown district along 116th Street.
The city's planning staff is recommending denial of a variance request for a Jack in the Box restaurant proposed for Meridian Street just south of 16th Street.
A police chase ended in a multi-vehicle crash and minor injuries to two people Thursday night in Fishers. Six cars were involved in the crash near 116th Street and Allisonville Road. Police were responding to a call about a potentially suicidal female and located her near the Sam's Club parking lot on 96th Street. When an officer approached, she took off in her van, starting the short chase. No charges were immediately filed.
Brooks School Park and Cumberland Park in Fishers have been closed until further notice, the town of Fishers announced yesterday, due to plumbing issues. Fishers officials said a lift-station failure and sewage backup in the vicinity of 116th Street and Brooks School Road are causing the problems. Hamilton Southeastern Utilities crews are working to fix the problems.
A few years back, the Indianapolis-based American College of Sports Medicine created the American Fitness Index, ranking the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. To no surprise, the Indianapolis area has never ranked well—coming in 44th last year and 45th this year. But now, the College of Sports Medicine is piloting a program—in Indianapolis and Oklahoma City—that will try to do something about it. The college, which includes physicians, researchers and other health professionals, will interview leaders in both cities to identify key areas for action, then offer expert assistance to launch efforts to boost physical activity, and try to reduce rates of smoking, obesity and other maladies. The goal is to add four additional cities in 2012 and 2013 each, bringing the total to 10 communities that will receive tailored technical assistance. The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation and the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis are both supporting the pilot.
BioCrossroads’ Indiana Seed Fund has invested $300,000 in a startup company developing an absorbable stent to treat cardiovascular disease. Zorion Medical is chaired by former Eli Lilly and Co. executive David Broecker, who has moved to Indianapolis from Boston. Broecker, a Wabash College graduate in chemistry and mathematics, previously was president and CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company Alkermes Inc. Broecker also is CEO of BioCritica Inc., a locally based firm founded last May that acquired commercialization rights to Lilly’s Xigris, a drug to treat the blood infection sepsis. Zorion developed a stent that can be absorbed into the body—as opposed to existing stents made of metal. The biomaterial also can deliver drugs to help heal the artery.
Los Angeles-based CBRE Inc. says Indiana University Health is cheating it out of commissions related to several real estate deals in Indianapolis, Lafayette, Frankfort and Mooresville. Most notable is IU Health’s canceled plan for a $73 million administrative office building at 16th Street and Capitol Avenue, which would have been built near a $120 million neuroscience hub across the street from IU Health's Methodist Hospital campus. IU Health instead purchased the Gateway Tower plaza at 10th and Illinois streets to house administrative staff. Officials told IBJ in March the price was so good on Gateway Plaza—where the hospital system already rents 130,000 square feet—that they couldn’t refuse. Attorneys for IU Health declined to comment because the ligitation is pending.
The California-based St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises money for childhood cancer research, awarded a $145,566 grant to Dr. Jodi Skiles, a pediatric researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Her research, conducted in the United States and in Kenya, will focus on developing individualized dosing regimens of vincristine, a core anticancer agent used in many childhood cancers, which reaches toxic levels for some patients much more quickly than others.
Authorities are searching for a 76-year-old man who they said may need medical attention. William “Bill” Kolb was following family members home from Community Hospital North on Wednesday, heading toward 2200 N. Kitley Ave., when he took a wrong turn. Kolb was driving a maroon 2009 Hyundai Accent with Indiana license plate DY5227. Police said Kolb may be lost and confused. His phone was located northwest of East 16th Street and North Franklin Road about 7:45 p.m.
Getting onto and off of Interstate 69 at the 116th Street exit has long been a nail-biting experience, but traffic planners are about to propose reconstruction to unplug the bottleneck.
Locally based J.C. Hart Co. has broken ground on a $19 million apartment community at the northeast corner of 116th Street and College Avenue in the Carmel Performing Arts District.
A proposal for a roughly $100 million mix of retail, office and apartments along Springmill Road south of 116th Street was OK’d Monday night by the Carmel City Council after numerous concessions.
Indianapolis police are searching for the gunman behind an early-morning homicide on the west side. A man was shot about 12:30 a.m. Monday near 16th Street and Lafayette Road. He was taken to Wishard Hospital, where he died.
Say what? “Excessive hospitality” while promoting its drug Byetta got Eli Lilly and Co. dinged by the U.K.-based Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, a self-regulatory group. And what exactly counts as “excessive”? Seven pints of beer, two gins, two whiskies, seven whisky liqueurs and three large glasses of red wine—oh, and a taxi fare afterward, according to a summary of the case posted by the practice authority. The booze was purchased at an Indian restaurant for three Lilly sales reps and two diabetes nursing specialists. The occasion was the endocrinologist speaking about off-label uses of Byetta. The practice authority asked Lilly to look into the complaints of an ex-employee, but Lilly said there was no case to answer. The authority determined otherwise, which is why it gave Lilly its public flogging.
Indiana University Health has pulled a prominent practice of cancer physicians into its fold. Central Indiana Cancer Centers sold its five facilities to IU Health and transferred its 150 employees to the Indianapolis-based hospital system. The 16 physicians in the practice will remain independent, but they have signed a service agreement with IU Health. Financial terms of the deal, which closed June 1, were not disclosed. But it is a big win for IU Health, as Central Indiana Cancer Centers has a well-established presence in Carmel, Fishers, Greenfield, Greenwood and the east side of Indianapolis. Cancer services are key financially for hospitals because of the growing prevalence of the disease, and also because cancer patients often need surgery. IU Health now has more than 60 medical oncologists, not counting any of its radiation oncologists or cancer surgeons. Central Indiana Cancer Centers, established near Community Hospital-East in 1976, also had discussions with the three other major hospital systems in Indianapolis: Community, St. Vincent Health and Franciscan St. Francis Health. A partnership with a hospital became essential for Central Indiana Cancer Centers as hospitals have spent the past three years gobbling up physicians of all stripes—both primary care doctors and specialists. IU Health Physicians now employs more than 500 doctors and Community Health Network has more than 550.
City officials on Thursday unveiled a long-term plan to redevelop an industrial stretch northwest of downtown with the goal of attracting hundreds of residents and dozens of high-tech companies to the area. The ambitious urban renewal effort, dubbed the 16 Downtown Technology District, builds from a strategy discussed over more than a decade to turn the corridor between IUPUI and 16th Street into a life-sciences research hub. The idea is to create a trendy urban district where residents can live within blocks of work. The project could require $15 million to $20 million in public investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment. It is expected to take 10-20 years to complete. Officials said a final agreement is near for the redevelopment of the historic Bush Stadium site, which is wedged between 16th Street and the White River near Harding Street. The city is contributing about $5 million to the $23 million project, including tax dollars generated in the area and more that will be transferred from the consolidated downtown tax-increment financing district. Developer John Watson said he also is seeking a federal loan to help finance part of the project. Indianapolis also will invest another $3 million in public money to renovate Indiana Avenue from roughly 10th Street to 16th Street with new landscaping, walking paths, bike lanes and other streetscape elements designed to brand the area. That funding will come from initial proceeds from the sale of the city’s water and sewer utilities to Citizens Energy Group.
An Indianapolis man was arrested after the pickup he was driving crashed into the rear of a city street sweeper at about 2 a.m. Friday. Robert Venn, 26, was arrested on several charges, including leaving the scene of a crash while intoxicated and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction. Police say Venn slammed into the back of a sweeper near 16th Street and Waterway Boulevard, then fled the scene on foot. His passenger, 25-year-old Casey Bell, was trapped in the truck and suffered severe head injuries. Bell was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
A hit-and-run driver was sentenced to 18 years in prison Wednesday in Indianapolis. Roger Ordonez pleaded guilty to charges related to the crash that killed 81-year-old Lola Herman. Ordonez had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 when he ran a red light last October, slamming into Herman’s vehicle at West 16th Street and Martin Luther King Drive as she headed home after volunteering at Riley Hospital for Children.
