The “father of health savings accounts” isn’t satisfied. At 80, J. Patrick Rooney is gearing up for another health care reform
battle in Washington–five years after winning a colossal victory when Congress awarded health savings accounts tax-free status.
I grew up on the outskirts of Omaha, Neb.; Lafayette and Fort Wayne. Each time we moved, we wound up near the line where the suburbs met the farm fields. For a kid, this had advantages. You could ride your bike down miles of country roads, hike through newly plowed furrows or climb through construction sites after the Amish workers had called it a day. Mostly, you watched one world advance and the other retreat. The houses in our neighborhoods…
It took a year and a half. But Indianapolis-based Taliera Holdings LLC finally acquired its first beverage brand. Taliera, led by Indianapolis entrepreneur J. Smoke Wallin, acquired Texasbased Red Eye Brands this month. The company makes Red Eye Bloody Mary mix, as well as salsas and sauces. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Wallin said Red Eye holds less than 5 percent of the Bloody Mary mix market. He hopes to take the company to 10 percent three…
At times, “Looking Over the President’s Shoulder” (at Indiana Repertory Theatre through May 3) feels less like a play and more like a very good afterdinner speech. The speaker in this one-man show, penned by IRT playwrightin-residence James Still, certainly is worth listening to. He’s Alonzo Fields, an Indiana native who spent 21 years as a butler in the White House, serving four administrations. A humble, hardworking man, Fields has snippets to share – about Churchill’s nude swimming habits, Errol…
With Pope Benedict XVI on his U.S. tour, attention is being paid to just about every aspect of the Catholic Church…including its music. Not only is the playlist for the Pontiff’s stadium mass in Washington being scrutinized, but thoughts are…
In the face of tough economic times, many small businesses are cutting back on advertising and canceling direct mailings as they tighten their financial belts. But some are still looking to stand out by jazzing up a basic: business cards. That’s good news for local graphic design firms that specialize in business-card customization-an industry that generates an estimated $1.2 billion each year nationally. “Business has improved in this economic climate because creative cards are a cheap marketing tool,” said Don…
The sun was pretty close to shining in when the audience emerged from the midnight performance of “Hair” April 18 at Purdue University. But the nodoubt Red Bull-fueled crowd didn’t seem to mind. College students, of course, are used to keeping these sorts of hours. But even those of us accustomed to more traditional curtain times came out exhilarated. The drive-and the groggy Saturday morning-were well worth it. So why did Purdue’s student production of the 40-yearold, easily dated musical…
The topic of health care sparked the most spirited comments from business leaders interviewed by IBJ ahead of the May 6 presidential
primary. When asked whether they thought Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton would be better for business, executives in manufacturing,
exporting, computer technology, logistics and education largely demurred.
A little bit of history before I get to the specifics of American Cabaret Theatre’s production of “Victor/Victoria”: The movie on which it is based, concerning a woman who finds success-and romantic complications-pretending to be a female impersonator, proved a surprising cinematic hit for actress Julie Andrews and her director/husband Blake Edwards in 1982. Thirteen years later, again directed by Edwards, the movie was turned into a musical for Andrews, who hadn’t been on Broadway since “Camelot” in 1963. The…
There are many things I do not understand. I don’t understand why a golf gallery must remain “pin-drop” silent while a person hits a ball that sits stationary on a tee, yet fans can scream at the top of their lungs while a batter tries to hit a ball coming toward him at 95 miles per hour. I also don’t understand how economists take massive amounts of conflicting economic data, input the statistics into a model, and, presto, out comes…
The clock is running out on plans to build the Indiana Museum of African American History in White River State Park, but the
ambitious project may find a new home on nearby Indiana Avenue. Less than two weeks before the museum’s option on a two-acre
parcel of park land expires, backers were talking with IUPUI about locating the museum on unspecified university-owned land
along Indiana Avenue.
Jill Long Thompson says she knows it will be tough to unseat Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels in November, and she already has come out swinging. Just hours after squeaking out the Democratic gubernatorial nomination over Jim Schellinger last week, the former Indiana congresswoman verbally jabbed Daniels. “Four years ago he went through the state wearing […]
Few artists in history have changed the rules the way Robert Rauschenberg, who died Monday at age 82, did.
By incorporating found objects (a pillow, a stuffed goat…) into his paintings, Rauschenberg challenged contemporary art and artists to connect their work…
Officials with Sarah Fisher Racing today announced they signed a sponsorship deal with IUPUI, which will aid the team’s effort to qualify for and race in this month’s Indianapolis 500.
“The group at IUPUI has become great friends of mine over…
Two books I’m in the midst of reading combine to raise questions about the future of art and audiences.
The first, “Against Happiness,” posits that our society’s increased emphasis on smoothing over the rough edges of life (through pharmaceuticals and…
Encouraging new development-residential and commercial-is such a high priority in many communities these days that one would think both the private and public sectors would rush to break ground before the impulse passes. But as ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso often responds each Saturday during the season to the observations of others, “Not so fast my friend.” Before construction actually starts, all parties involved in a proposed project, if it is to be successful, must reach consensus on a…
Already draped in an ever-changing natural backdrop, the site for the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Art & Nature Park will
come to life in 2009 through eight pieces of art commissioned for the setting. But unlike traditional sculpture parks that
feature permanent artwork, the IMA’s $25 million outdoor gallery will change regularly.
Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Next week, a moving truck will pull up at the Carmelite Monastery on Cold Spring Road. The hired hands will load the simple possessions of the nine remaining nuns and their dog, Lucy. Then Sister Jean Alice, Sister Terese, Sister Betty, Sister Ruth, Sister Helen, Sister Marcie, Sister Rita, Sister Anna Mary and Sister Rachel will lock the massive wood door, climb into cars and…
Upon arrival in Katmandu, Nepal, we learned from our tour guide that the American Information Agency was bombed the day before, causing the peace corps representatives to be evacuated, along with the families of all U.S. Embassy staff. Maoist terrorists abducted 700 students and boycotted the city, closing down a dozen industries with a strike, killings and riots. The King dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. The royal massacre of the then King and…
Detroit keeps turning out bad news, what with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler losing market share and Volkswagenâ??s
announcement last fall that it would abandon the city and move its U.S. headquarters to Virginia.
Now Volkswagen is days away from unveiling…
