Tougher smoking ban passes committee
An ordinance that would prohibit lighting up in bars, bowling alleys and nightclubs, and nearby outdoor seating areas as well, was endorsed 4-2 by a City-County Council committee Wednesday night.
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Articles
City strengthens building-permit process
The pre-permit review could add nearly three weeks to the current permitting process
Frequent GOP candidate Scott wants to face Carson
A Butler University professor who has run for Congress several times says he will seek the Republican nomination to challenge
Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indianapolis next year.
Taking Ostrom to Indiana forests
How rich that Elinor Ostrom, the Indiana University professor who won a Nobel prize for economics yesterday, got her nails
dirty researching how people in pockets of forests in undeveloped nations allocate their natural resources.
Stimulus spending likely helping teachers the most
Teachers appear to have benefited most from the effort to save jobs with the $787 billion recovery package, which sent billions
of dollars to states that were on the verge of ordering heavy layoffs in education.
Federal workers dodging layoffs
One of the best places to have waited out this recession was in federal government. Federal workers have pretty much gotten
a bye on pink slips at a time private sector employees have taken it on the chin.
West Lafayette delays switch to metered trash pickup
West Lafayette’s city council has delayed implementation of a new “pay as you throw” garbage collection system.
Stimulus to brighten city’s traffic lights
The bright lights of Indiana’s largest city are getting brighter—at hundreds of street intersections, anyway.
Green year for city hall, businesses
It’s been a year since Republican Mayor Greg Ballard launched the City’s Office of Sustainability. On Oct. 6,
Ballard and his sustainability director, Karen Haley, outlined accomplishments in the first year.
House OKs defense bill that funds Rolls Royce engine
Despite a vaguely worded veto threat by President Barack Obama, the House on Thursday easily adopted a major defense
policy bill that calls for continued development of a costly alternative engine for the Pentagon’s next-generation fighter
jet.
Daniels warns of more cuts amid revenue declines
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels warned Thursday morning that more state budget cuts could be forthcoming in light of a prolonged
drop in
tax collections. Indiana collected $3.3 billion in total revenue during the fiscal first quarter, 14 percent less than the
same period last year.
New jobless claims fall to lowest level since January
The number of newly laid-off workers filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since early
January, as layoffs eased a bit amid a fledgling economic recovery.
Controversial downtown project to get tax abatement
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission approved a 10-year tax abatement Wednesday afternoon for a controversial
public-private plan to redevelop a vacant downtown office building.
Senate bill doesn’t fund Rolls-Royce jet engine
The measure holds potential bad news for Indianapolis engine maker Rolls-Royce because it does not contain funding for a key
jet engine the company produces, but lawmakers are expected to restore funding when the Senate and House combine bills into
a final version.
IT consultant up for tax abatement
A city board this week will consider tax abatements worth about $47,000 over six years for Indianapolis-based IT consultant
Apparatus Inc., which is moving its headquarters to the former WFYI building at 1401 N. Meridian St.
Proposed Fishers medical park faces uncertain demand
Fishers development officials hope to create a huge cluster of medical and research facilities near Interstate 69’s Exit
10, near St. Vincent Medical Center Northeast, but local real estate experts disagree about the amount of potential demand
for such a development.
Why Indy seems slow to ban smoking
If Indianapolis is considered a model on fronts ranging from downtown revitalization to fiscal responsibility, why is it so
late to ban smoking? George Geib, who has been observing Indianapolis as a Butler University historian for 45 years, thinks
the reluctance can be traced to immigration patterns.
Indiana property owners to save more than expected
Property owners in Indiana are expected to save more on their tax bills in the next two years than originally predicted
because of caps on property taxes.
Council to hear plan for stricter smoking ban
A proposal that would prevent smokers from lighting up in all indoor public places in Marion County is expected to meet fierce
resistance from bar owners who oppose a stricter smoking ban.
Rolls-Royce and health care reform
Rolls-Royce, the British jet engine maker, isn’t taking a position on health care reform, but let’s drag them into it, anyway,
because Rolls-Royce’s business model might interest the crowd advocating for reform via market forces.