Prices of an alternative fuel that’s had patriotic and environmental appeal–but not an economic one for motorists–have been
flirting this month with gasoline on an energy-equivalent cost basis. The sudden but often fleeting price appeal of fuel “E85,”
a blend of ethanol with a dash of gasoline, is due largely to gas prices soaring to nearly $4 a gallon.
Authorities are considering pursuing criminal charges against Christopher P. White and other executives at Premier Properties USA Inc. in connection with deepening troubles at the local development firm, sources familiar with the matter said. Possible charges include check fraud and criminal mischief stemming from a $500,000 bad check White deposited into an account with The National Bank of Indianapolis in January. Accusations also are flying over whether White and Premier paid payroll taxes and properly credited employee 401(k) and health…
Like most of the rest of the sporting world and to some extent beyond, I had awakened on that Sunday morning to the delightful news that, overnight in faraway Japan, Patrick had broken through to secure her first Indy Racing League victory in 50 tries. She now is something more than a pretty face and, to some, a sexual object who also just happened to drive race cars. She is a champion. Now this isn’t, as one gearhead suggested, along…
Liberty Mutual Group said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire publicly traded Safeco Corp. and take it private in an all-cash, $6.2 billion deal to create the nation’s fifth-largest property and casualty insurer. Boston-based Liberty Mutual and Seattle-based Safeco said the boards of both companies approved the deal, which is subject to approval by Safeco […]
The Indiana Convention Center, the Indianapolis Zoo, White River State Park and Murat Theatre have agreed to transfer their catering contracts to Connecticut-based Centerplate Inc., a move that clears the way for Centerplate to purchase locally based Crystal Catering. Crystal, central Indiana’s largest caterer, had held all those contracts. Jack and Dan Bayt founded Crystal […]
The Indiana Convention Center, the Indianapolis Zoo and White River State Park have agreed to transfer their catering contracts to Connecticut-based Centerplate Inc., a move that clears the way for Centerplate to purchase locally based Crystal Catering. Crystal, central Indiana’s largest caterer, had held all those contracts. Jack and Dan Bayt founded Crystal in 1987 […]
Shares of WellPoint Inc. were up slightly this morning, despite the company’s news that profit fell below expectations in the first quarter. Profit at WellPoint Inc. fell below the company’s already lowered expectations in the first quarter and company officials for a second time lowered their profit forecast for the year. The Indianapolis-based health insurer […]
Sponsors of Danica Patrick, who became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race with her Indy Racing League victory in Japan Saturday, have been quick to capitalize on the exposure.
AirTran Airlines quickly put huge photos of Patrick on…
The 1,500 local janitors covered under a new union agreement ratified Saturday will earn at least $9 an hour by 2012, less than similar pacts signed in recent months in Ohio. Like the Indianapolis contract, the Ohio pacts end in 2012. Under contracts negotiated by Washington, D.C.-based Service Employees International Union, the minimum for that […]
TIPPECANOE COUNTY Purdue trustees approve capital spending, operating budgets Purdue University’s trustees on April 11 approved a $1.04 billion capital improvement plan for the next 10 years and a $1.03 billion conceptual operating budget for the next academic year. The capital plan includes nearly $100 million in renovations and additions to Mackey Arena, and $80 […]
Two executives with longtime ties to The Steak n Shake Co. have joined a dissident Texas investor in his quest to overhaul
the Indianapolis-based restaurant chain. Shareholders who have agreed to work with Sardar Biglari include a former board member
the company once described as a “modern-day founder” of the restaurant chain, along with a former partner in Kelley & Partners
Ltd., the investment firm led by company patriarch E.W. Kelley before his 2003 death.
The first time Herb Simon ever met Jim Morris, it was to ask him for money. Fifty grand. To be fair, it wasn’t Morris’ money. It belonged to Lilly Endowment Inc. Simon was at the endowment, which Morris directed at the time, to ask for a grant to support the Jewish Community Center. He got the money. This past week, Simon had another request of Morris … to replace Donnie Walsh as president of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Again, Morris…
I recently visited the town of Concord, Mass., known not only as the site of the “shot heard ’round the world,” but also as home to many influential authors during the 1800s. Just outside town is Thoreau’s Walden Pond, and in Concord you can visit the homes of other writers of the era, including Emerson, Alcott and Hawthorne. If any of these literary transcendentalists were around today, it is doubtful they would care much, if anything, about the evolution of…
Michael Grueninger, president of Grueninger Travel Group, has learned since his company bought Ambassadair in 2005 from now-defunct
ATA Airlines that many travelers once enamored with dirt-cheap fares they can book online want something more than low price.
They are willing to pay for service.
OK, so maybe what follows isn’t the absolute best of the Indianapolis International Film Festival. After all, with 137 movies in the lineup, it would be a full-time job to screen everything being shown at this year’s event, which runs April 23-May 3. However, we did get our eyes on many of this year’s offerings and picked films well worth your festival time. Think of these widely varied films as strong anchors for your IIFF experience this year. Look for…
The first citywide union contract has been struck following negotiations between 1,500 janitors and five big companies that clean local businesses. The Service Employees International Union plans a ratification vote tomorrow at Central Christian Church in Indianapolis, the union announced this morning. Leslie Mendoza Kamstra, of the SEIU’s Indianapolis office, said she could not disclose […]
The Indiana Pacers are in a giving mood for tonight’s Fan Appreciation Night. The team is advertising that all lower level tickets will sell for $30, club level tickets for $20 and upper…
Manufacture a unique product and your company will enjoy stronger profits and stay ahead of the competition, right? Not necessarily, a new study has discovered. Rather, manufacturers that focus on customized products don’t always turn in profits as great as those that rely on mass production. That’s what Purdue University’s Dauch Center for Management of […]
Service Employees International Union Local 3 is backing local janitors as they restart contract negotiations April 16 with
five of the largest janitorial contractors in Indianapolis. SEIU now is taking direct aim at Lilly, health insurer WellPoint
Inc. and even some local hospitals, hoping they will pressure the janitorial contractors to come to terms.
Local governments plan to throw Steak n Shake Co. a life raft of incentives worth about $275,000 to help the struggling chain
keep its headquarters in Indianapolis. The company has quietly agreed to retain about 180 employees here in exchange for a
$200,000 state training grant and a five-year personal property tax abatement worth about $75,000.
