Melvin Simon, a tailor’s son who earned billions building shopping malls across the U.S. and later became a prolific
philanthropist in his adopted hometown of Indianapolis, has died. He was 82.
The Westfield City Council passed a smoking ban 7-0 last night that will prohibit smoking in most public places, including
outdoor arenas, stadiums and amphitheaters.
The financial condition of the city’s Capital Improvement Board, though improving, is still dire enough that employees
of the Indiana Convention Center could be subjected to more unpaid furloughs or layoffs.
Indiana University says it has set a statewide fall semester enrollment record with 5-percent more students than last year.
If President Barack Obama gets what he wants in his health care plan — covering all Americans and barring insurers from
denying coverage — some analysts say individuals could wind up paying higher premiums.
IHETS, the Indianapolis-based organization that helps the state’s schools and universities conduct Web and video
conferencing, is looking for a new executive director.
After two years of fruitless negotiations, the Crawfordsville steel mill has asked the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
to intervene. More than 700 jobs depend on Nucor and Duke striking a deal.
Indianapolis International Airport is looking for a new class of “airport ambassadors,” those helpful volunteers
in the red vests who help passengers and visitors get their bearings.
This week, three plays add up to a terrific start for the central Indiana performing arts season.
Just as it’s probably unwise to make too much nice out of a pre-game handshake, it’s also over the top to paint with too broad a brush the unfortunate incident that occurred at Boise State.
People listings are free, but photos that are used in the print edition will not appear online.
EnerDel, an Indianapolis-based producer of automotive lithium-ion batteries, has named a new president, the company announced
today.
Recently, I saw a newspaper story detailing the number and percentage of jobs lost over the past year for Indiana’s
metropolitan areas. This year-over-year story is appropriate, but it tends to hide the truth behind the numbers.
A little lobbying on your lunch break? A consumer group says health insurers WellPoint Inc. and Minnesota-based UnitedHealth
Group pressured their employees to speak to members of Congress against health care reform proposals that the companies disagreed
with, the Associated Press reported. In a letter to California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the group Consumer Watchdog maintains
that both companies violated state labor laws. The attorney general’s office said it is reviewing the letter. Indianapolis-based
WellPoint, in an e-mail to employees, asserted that proposed health care legislation could cause tens of millions of Americans
to lose private health coverage and end up in a government-run insurance plan. Other consequences, the e-mail said, could
include limited choice for customers, and increased premiums for those with private coverage due to new mandates and coverage
requirements. "We believe it is important and permissible to provide up-to-date information about health reform to our
associates," spokeswoman Cheryl Leamon said in an e-mail.
Health records are now flying around the
state. At least part of the state. The Indianapolis-based Indiana Health Information Exchange last week began sharing electronic
medical records with two similar organizations across a multi-regional network. Connecting with HealthLINC in Bloomington
and HealthBridge in Cincinnati creates the nation’s first exchange of medical information among such organizations in different
regions, Indiana Health Information Exchange officials said.
Now, for example, if a patient is admitted to
a hospital in Indianapolis, physicians at his or her doctor’s office in Bloomington will be able to access the patient’s medical
information via the Internet, including test results and radiology notes. Together, the three exchanges connect more than
15,000 physicians, 50 hospitals and 12 million patient records. Initially, the Indiana Health Information Exchange will send
medical records to HealthLINC and HealthBridge providers. Full interconnectivity, in which information will flow among all
exchanges, should begin in mid-September.
The Indiana Health Industry Forum will hold a day-long summit on health
reform today. Various panels will address different aspects of reform and its potential impact. Panelists include Dr. John
Fitzgerald, CEO of the Indiana Clinic, Dhan Shapurji, a director at Deloitte Consulting, Bart Peterson, Eli Lilly and Co.’s
senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, and Dr. Thomas Inui, CEO of Regenstrief Institute Inc. The
summit will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at University Place Conference Center on the IUPUI campus.
Indianapolis truck dealer Utility-Peterbilt leased its first hybrid medium-duty truck this summer after enduring months of
tire-kicking but no action from fleet buyers and plenty of interest from television-news types.
Indy Partnership CEO Ron Gifford is traveling with Gov. Mitch Daniels and a delegation of Hoosier business and community
leaders on a trip to Asia through Sept. 16. Gifford is blogging about his experiences as he works to bring
new jobs and investment to the economic development group’s 10-county Indianapolis region. Bookmark this
page and check back for updates.
The Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute’s board has hired Indianapolis Star business columnist John Ketzenberger to engineer a resuscitation.
Bright Automotive and EnerDel are well known for their development of components for hybrid cars, but the region has several
other players poised to be big players in the sector. In fact, few realize that North America’s largest producer
of electric motors for hybrid vehicles is based northeast of Indianapolis, in Pendleton.
They used to say that downtown Indianapolis rolled up the sidewalks at 6 p.m. No one says
that anymore. Now they say those sidewalks need to be clean. Sidewalk cleanliness is important on a day-to-day
basis for aesthetic reasons, but even more so when Indianapolis wants to put on its best face for major events
like the Final Four, the Indianapolis 500 and the Super Bowl.
