It would be a sad day in our civic history if the Indiana Pacers packed up and left for a place with
more financial firepower. But there’s a limit to how far the city should go to keep the team from leaving home.
Carl Brizzi’s once-promising political career is coming to an end. He won’t become a mayor or a congressman or
win election to any of the posts that seemed within his grasp when he was an up-and-coming Republican.
After the 2008-2009 school year—the first of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce’s four-year Common Goal program, the overall
graduation rate among public schools in Marion County had jumped from 69 percent to almost 74 percent.
Sports may be overemphasized in our society, but there’s no doubt they’ve been good to Indianapolis.
After a legislative session short on fireworks but absent any major achievements, it’s fair to ask how long “do
no harm” will pass for progress in the Indiana General Assembly.
Much work remains before the city’s water and sewer utilities are sold to Citizens Energy Group, but the general outline
of the deal makes sense and deserves support—not political posturing—as final terms are hammered out.
Gov. Mitch Daniels should step through the door he cracked open last month and throw
his hat in the ring. Voters would benefit from a new voice.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but in the case of the Marriott Place hotel complex, foresight was just as clear.
Europe, not the United States, has the best growth prospects, an Asian executive told Gov. Mitch Daniels during a trade mission
last fall. Why? America’s escalating debt.
Central Indiana is much better at churning out transportation studies than implementing a real transit system, but there’s
reason to take seriously the report released Feb. 10 by the Central Indiana Transit Task Force.
The National Football League has trademarked “Super Bowl”—along
with “Super Sunday” and “NFL”—and is notorious for the lengths it will go to in order to protect
its brands.
If the General Assembly
wants to create some good news in this budget-conscious short session, it will continue our wise investment in Hoosier health,
and go one better by passing a statewide smoking ban.
We like the Indiana General Assembly’s no-nonsense approach to this year’s short legislative session—at
least it looks good on the surface.
More than once, we have used this space to rail against legislation that would further restrict alcohol sales in Indiana. So we are happy to be patting lawmakers on
the back for advancing a measure that would begin to ease the onerous limitations on when Hoosiers can buy booze.
The company’s return to profitability under CEO Sardar Biglari can’t be overlooked. But neither can strong signals
that Steak n Shake’s CEO is using the venerable restaurant chain as a cash machine to finance his
bigger goals.
Mayor Greg Ballard is on the right track with his plan to ask the City-Council to raise fees on businesses in order to
improve code enforcement. But the push-back he’s receiving from
the business community is understandable.
There’s no shortage of opinions about what our city and state need to do to prosper in the 21st century. But much
of what comes across is screamed in blogs or in stinging press releases issued by political parties whose only purpose is
to paint the opposition as out of touch.
There’s something refreshing and inspiring about individuals who set ambitious goals and throw themselves into
meeting them.
It’s hard to fathom how Indianapolis lost the Indianapolis Tennis Championships—an event with 90 years of history—without
anyone in the city sounding an alarm.
This week’s issue features stories about two local businessmen. Both are native Hoosiers in their late 40s who showed
entrepreneurial instincts at a young age. But the similarities end there.
