Bringing MotoGP–the world’s highest level of motorcycle racing–to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway could easily draw more
than 150,000 spectators and net an eight-figure windfall for track owner Tony George.
A federal judge in a high-profile fraud case has slapped a former Brightpoint Inc. manager with a $50,000 fine-a relatively modest sum, but one the manager says he lacks the resources to pay. Judge Harold Baer of U.S. District Court in Manhattan late last month assessed the fine against Tim Harcharik, the former director of risk management for the wireless phone wholesaler. Harcharik, 53, was the sole remaining defendant in a securities fraud lawsuit the SEC brought in 2003 against…
In the three months since being named president of Ivy Tech Community College, Tom Snyder
has read up on the school’s history and held meetings with 4,000 faculty, students and others to gain insight into the school.
He’s also made decisions about hiring, cost-cutting and student services.
When Bryan Anderson sold part of Autobase Inc. in 2004 to a venture capital firm, the owner of the marketing-software maker felt as though he had sent his unruly youngster off to boarding school to become more responsible. Three years later, after convincing results and a subsequent sale to Virginia-based Dominion Enterprises, Robinson’s offspring has turned into a much more mature and disciplined child. The financial backing of Boston-based VC firm Summit Partners and the guidance of veteran technology executive…
South-side developer J. Greg Allen is pitching a massive project along Pennsylvania Street downtown that includes hotel towers–one
28 stories, the other 17–to be built on property now used mainly for surface parking.
Indiana prosecutors worry about heightened suspicion of any charging decision they make as a result of the recent highprofile disbarment of a North Carolina prosecutor. Talk started months ago, but banter took a new surge following Michael Nifong’s nationally televised disciplinary proceeding June 16. He was disbarred for violating professional conduct rules in his prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. “Around the country and here, prosecutors are talking about the Nifong effect,” said Stephen Johnson,…
A cold snap wiped out at least half of Indiana’s honeybee hives over the winter. For some beekeepers, the loss was as high
as 80 percent. Fortunately, most don’t look to bees for their livelihood.
Beside a marble counter in the Appellate Clerk of the Courts office at the Indiana Statehouse, a one-room storage area known as “the vault” is the storehouse for paper case files. Each is bound by string and has case numbers written on an attached tag, and they only move to be carted between floors and buildings when a court needs to review a file. While the clerk creates an electronic docket at the appellate level, that system remains largely unconnected…
Tom Richardson credits fictional defense attorney Perry Mason and the climactic trials on the long-running television series for prompting him to become a court reporter more than 30 years ago. But the romance of participating in a high-profile court case or deposition and translating riveting testimony seems to be lost on the younger set. Industry experts say the dwindling number of licensed court reporters and the closure of a number of court-reporting schools have mired the profession in a severe…
The Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council is considering a proposal from Mayor Bart Peterson to raise at least $85 million annually for public safety through an increase in local income taxes. Since Democrats control the Council 15 to 14, the measure is expected to pass by the end of July and take effect Oct. 1. The tax hike would finally settle a 30-year battle that constantly pitted public safety’s immediate needs against its longterm pension obligations. Much of the revenue generated…
Once reserved for upper-crust weddings, ice sculptures-and their creators-have gone mainstream, finding their way to business
meetings, personal parties and hotel receptions nationwide. Of the 500 U.S. professional sculptors who design the icy artwork,
10 practice their craft in Indiana.
STARTUP MOBIUS LABS Software tester tries training, too Type of business: software testing Location: 9229 Delegates Row, Suite 290 Phone: 218-7709 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.mobiuslabs.com Founded: March 2007 Owner: Alan Wlasuk Owner’s background: Alan Wlasuk, 56, has a bachelor’s degree in math from Drexel University and a master’s in computer science from Ohio State University. About 20 years ago, the software developer founded two local enterprises for AT&T. Then 14 years ago, he created software-development firm Wlasuk, Delporte and…
The Vatican did something unusual last week. It issued a new set of Ten Commandments. Unlike the originals, these aren’t for everyone. They’re just for motorists. They weren’t delivered on stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God, either. They were issued at a news conference by the Vatican’s office for migrants and itinerant people. Why drivers’ commandments? Well, according to the Associated Press, the Vatican believes cars can be “an occasion of sin,” particularly when used for dangerous passing…
The Indiana Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments this afternoon in a case that asks whether a county can establish a special economic development area that includes land a municipality has started to annex, according to the Indiana Lawyer. The trial court ruled against Brenwick Associates LLC in a suit the developer brought […]
Analysts appear to be much more bearish-and accurate-in their outlooks since giant Wall Street firms were forced to eliminate conflicts of interest four years ago. In 2003, former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer ordered 10 big firms to separate investment banking divisions from their research arms, aiming to eliminate a conflict that often resulted […]
A local printing powerhouse is trying to regain the confidence of its employees and customers after the CEO and his secretary
were involved in a profanity-laced physical altercation at work.
Banker Steve Tolen is attempting to resuscitate the electric car. Tolen believes conditions are ripe for an upstart automaker
to launch a safe battery-powered vehicle capable of rapid acceleration, highway speeds and over 100 miles of distance between
charges.
This week: A trio of Indiana poets, a virtual artist at Big Car and the first edition of “Lou Empties the Notebook.” From June 24-27, the nation’s Poets Laureate (now there’s an awkward plural) will descend on Indy. And while this convention may not be as attention-getting as GenCon, it did inspire me to take a look at recent books by a trio of less-celebrated Indiana poets. Purdue’s Donald Platt calls one of his poems “Snapshot,” but that title could…
It was Friday evening, June 1, after 10 p.m. My wife, my son Zach and I were enjoying a late dinner at downtown’s Rock Bottom Brewery when all hell broke loose. We were seated indoors, near the front window. Many patrons were seated outside in the sidewalk section. I was looking toward the outdoor tables beyond Zach’s shoulder when I saw a skinny, shirtless young man zoom by on a bicycle. The bike was the size I rode when I…
In this era of hyper-scrutiny of corporate ethics, even messy personal lives can fell the career of a “well-loved and well-respected”
executive. Such appears to be the case with David C. Colby, whom WellPoint Inc. forced to resign as its vice chairman and
chief financial officer on May 30 for violating the company’s code of conduct in a “non-business” way.
