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BRIAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Downtown needs a grand, artful facility

On Sept. 1, 45 competitors from nearly 20 countries arrived for the seventh quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Through the middle of September at venues around the city, these talented men and women will compete for one of the richest artistic prizes in the world. In a few short months, the American Pianists Association will undertake its biennial competition for the Cole Porter Jazz Fellowship. Again, a cadre of some of the instrument’s most accomplished American performers will come…

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SPORTS: Are security searches all we retained from 9/11?

I pulled up the column I wrote five years ago this week. It was published five days after 9/11. This is how it began: “When you have a tragedy of such immense proportions as the one visited on America last week, it renders the world of sport to the status of the trivial, the trite, the absolutely, totally inconsequential.” But I also expressed the belief that it would be sport that would aid us in our recovery. “Yet as meaningless…

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Colts plan to let sponsors decorate portions of stadium

The Indianapolis Colts are giving sponsors a chance to help design the interior of Lucas Oil Stadium. The newly announced sponsorship packages, which parcel out naming and design rights for 12 parts of the stadium, are expected to generate up to $10 million a year for the franchise.

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NFL Combine is likely here to stay: Organizing firm moves headquarters to Indianapolis

Local officials have lured another sports-related company here and taken a huge step in assuring the NFL Scouting Combine stays in the city long term. National Football Scouting and sister company National Invitational Camp, which operates the Combine for NFL team owners, moved its headquarters in August from Tulsa, Okla., to Indianapolis. NFS and NIC moved into the Pan Am Plaza office building, across the street from the RCA Dome, where it has held the Combine since 1987. NFS also…

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SPORTS: This sports writer’s open letter to Jim Irsay …

Well, here we go again. Another season of high hopes for your Indianapolis Colts or, as many consider them, “our” Indianapolis Colts. They feel we’re all in this together. That includes you, the folks you’ve assembled there on West 56th Street, and everybody here in the local universe who supports the product by buying tickets, leasing suites, purchasing gear, being a sponsor, providing copious coverage, or simply being a fan in front of the TV. Yes, at the end of…

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Pepsi considering mammoth warehouse on west side: Sources say firm’s been scouting sites since spring

A firm representing PepsiCo Inc. has been scouting sites on Indianapolis’ west side for a mammoth warehouse and distribution facility, and sources said the beverage giant is leaning toward a site near its Gatorade bottling plant. Local real estate brokers said Chris Clayton, a broker with the Cleveland office of Dallas-based Staubach Co., visited sites and put out a request for proposals for the project in early April, calling for 1 million square feet of industrial space with the possibility…

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Racing toward a new type of learning center: Decatur, Panther team up on educational facility

Mention a career in motorsports to most youngsters and they imagine whizzing around the track like NASCAR’s Tony Stewart or Sam Hornish Jr., points leader of the Indianapolis Racing League. But a partnership between Indianapolisbased Panther Racing LLC and Decatur Township Schools wants to introduce students to more practical professions within the sport by providing the resources in a hands-on learning environment. The result is the Panther Education Center, set to open next fall near the racing team’s headquarters at…

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SPORTS: Behind the ‘rock’: Confessions of an IU football fan

Ah, it’s almost that time again. For the pomp. The pageantry. The Bloody Marys and brats in the parking lot. There are few things I look forward to more than college football season. And that would include Indiana University’s season. Especially IU’s season, in fact. File it under perverse pleasure. Somehow, I find ecstasy in the continuing agony of IU football. Time and again you get punched in the gut only to respond, “Sir, can I have another?” It’s easy…

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SPORTS: A grim look at what the city’s future could hold

I was having a fitful time trying to sleep. For some reason, the word “priorities” kept running through my mind. Then, suddenly, I felt as if I were awake, standing in downtown Indianapolis. I caught site of a calendar in a storefront window. I blinked and shook my head. It read August 2026, but the city didn’t look 20 years more modern. If anything, it looked 20 years older. It was as if time had passed by the Indy I…

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New Sports Corp. boss adjusting game plan

Tom King thinks its time to run the not-for-profit Indiana Sports Corp. with a for-profit mind-set, a change that could radically alter the organization credited with implementing the city’s amateur sports strategy.

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SPORTS: Sports took back seat on trip to Castro’s Cuba

It was one of the worst from the perspective that so many of the things I take for granted here-clean water, dependable electricity, food you could trust, communications tools and, most of all, freedom-weren’t to be found there, at least not consistently. But that perspective also made it one of the best experiences because it reminded me of all the wonderful things we have here in America, starting with freedom. It was heartbreaking to travel around Havana and imagine how…

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Dispute over retail at Hamilton Proper boils over: Some homeowners bucking HDG Mansur management

Tensions between the developer of Hamilton Proper and some of its homeowners spilled into public view at the Fishers Town Council meeting Aug. 7, with the council president becoming so agitated he broke his gavel. Another councilor, Charles White, opened the meeting by complaining about the council’s July 17 decision to reject an application by HDG Mansur, the developer of Hamilton Proper, to build an 11-acre retail project on the periphery of the subdivision. White had been absent for that…

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IRL losing momentum again

Smoke coming from the Indy Racing League’s business model indicates it’s leaking oil. Two IRL teams recently folded and at least two more are in serious financial distress. Television ratings and race attendance is either flat or trailing last season.

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INVESTING: Lessons to draw from the new slide in transport stocks

One of the staples of a bear market is the futile attempt investors make to rationalize why they are staying invested. (This happens, of course, until it is far too late to do anything about remaining in the market). After the June 14 market low, one of the common rationalizations I heard was that the Dow Jones Transportation Index was nearing an all-time high. But like visions of a dying man wandering in the desert, it turned out be another…

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Let’s throw energy into public safety: We ignore crime at our peril

When yet another media story appears about jail overcrowding, it’s tempting to look away, to focus instead on rising gas prices, out-of-control health insurance costs or other pressing problems confronting your company. But make no mistake: Crime is a business issue. And it is escalating. Major offenses reported to the Indianapolis Police Department through April were up 22 percent over the first four months of 2005. Probably fueling that increase are the growing numbers of inmates being released early from…

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SPORTS: Fervently hoping that Gatlin, Landis are innocent

Until proven otherwise, I like to believe the best about people. This past May, I emceed a luncheon at which an engaging young man named Justin Gatlin was the featured attraction. He came to Indianapolis to help promote locally based USA Track & Field’s national championships, and he arrived in our town within hours of tying the world record in the 100 meters. I couldn’t have been more impressed with Gatlin, wrote glowingly about him in this column, and encouraged…

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SPORTS: Twenty-five attractions for the true sports fan

Time to reprise the list (besides, I’m on vacation): The top 25 must-see’s, must-do’s to be a true, bona fide, no-doubt-aboutit Indiana sports fan. 1. The Indianapolis 500. OK, it’s not quite what it used to be. But it still is the largest single-day sporting event in the world. And few moments in sport can match the flying start of the race. 2. A basketball game in Hinkle Fieldhouse, either high school or the Butler Bulldogs. Hinkle remains the mecca….

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Farming for tourists on the rise: Wine trails find followers

Whether you prefer a Chardonnay or Merlot, or you’re simply trying to recall the opening lyrics to “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,” one thing is certain: Indiana wineries are hardly withering on the vine. The Hoosier State now boasts 32 wineries and should add two more by the end of fall, according to the Indiana Wine Grape Council at Purdue University. Moreover, the winemakers are helping drive the state’s fledgling agri-tourism efforts. “Nobody wants to tour a hog farm, but…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: In defense of daydreaming

In addition to standbys like Little League and Girl Scouts, our children have the opportunity to learn sailing at Geist Reservoir, strut their stuff at the Jewish Community Center’s Broadway camp, or try medieval fantasy drawing at the Indianapolis Art Center. With such an appetizing array of choices, it’s hard to resist serving our kids a heaping plateful. Most of us want to give our children advantages we were not afforded, and “Mixed Media for Preschoolers” certainly qualifies. Besides, who…

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Speedway’s first cycling race draws national attention: Lance Armstrong-backed event could go annual

The Race 2 Replace bicycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at first appeared to be just another local fund-raiser. Now, the Lance Armstrong-backed event put on by the professional cycling team he co-owns appears to be rolling up enough momentum to have a significant economic impact on Indianapolis. IMS President Joie Chitwood is calling the Aug. 12 race a “historic day at the track.” Race 2 Replace promoters said the IMS’ first-ever bicycle race is poised to become an…

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