JANUARY 20-26, 2014
More than 20 school districts in central Indiana face a transportation crisis, due to a recently passed state law that is draining tax funds from their bus budgets. IBJ's Andrea Davis explains how they're trying to cope. Also in this issue, Anthony Schoettle regroups with organizers of Indy's bid for the 2018 Super Bowl to take their temperature on how bad weather this year could affect our chances. And on our editorial page, IBJ takes a stand on the effort to amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
Front PageBack to Top
New state law might idle school bus fleets
A state law intended to make sure cash-strapped public school districts pay their debt could have an unintended consequence: permanently parking the yellow buses that deliver students to class.
Read MoreHarsh weather at New York’s Super Bowl could hurt Indy’s 2018 bid chances
The game Feb. 2 and the week-long run-up to it will be fresh in the minds of the 32 NFL owners when they gather for their annual meeting in Atlanta in May to hear 2018 Super Bowl bid presentations from Indianapolis, Minneapolis and New Orleans.
Read MoreCarmel upstart fights nursing home moratorium
Nursing home companies went on a building spree in Indiana, and now most of them want the Legislature’s help reining in high operating costs brought by over-capacity.
Read MoreTop StoriesBack to Top
New grocer’s arrival adds to questions about Marsh
Because Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle wants to enter the Indianapolis market, you'd think it would initiate discussions to buy Marsh Supermarkets, which has been hanging a for-sale banner for years. But a Giant Eagle spokesman said there have been no discussions.
Read MoreAfter 9-year hiatus, Caplinger family opens new fish market
Veteran seafood operators Nick and Andrew Caplinger opened a shop in December at East 75th Street and Shadeland Avenue that boasts a wide variety of fresh fish.
Read MoreState revamps its revenue forecasting after big miss
Growing ranks of dropout workers have nagged the economy throughout its recovery, and now Indiana’s budget forecasters feel they can’t ignore the trend. They recently revised their outlook on state revenue downward, partly because so many Hoosiers stopped looking for jobs.
Read MoreWebsite operator for cities expanding
An Indianapolis company that manages websites and processes payments for dozens of cities and towns plans to raise $2 million to grow.
Read MoreDeal may extricate Pacers from costly TV-rights deal from ABA days
The NBA has quietly brokered a deal with the former owners of the American Basketball Association’s St. Louis franchise that sources say eventually could save the Indiana Pacers millions of dollars a year.
Read More21-acre Greenwood tract marketed for apartment development
Developer J. Greg Allen had planned to build condominiums on the site before the housing market crashed. He relinquished the property to his lender, BMO Harris.
Read MoreFocusBack to Top
Many small firms to opt out of health benefits in 2015
Many employers with fewer than 50 workers kept their health plans for 2014, but a growing number say they’ll drop group coverage at the end of this year.
Read MoreLilly needs more R&D successes to counter declining ROI on new drugs
Eli Lilly and Co.’s success at moving an experimental migraine medicine forward by using outside companies and capital is good news for this reason: The fundamental business of Big Pharma drug development is in bad shape.
Read MoreOpinionBack to Top
EDITORIAL: Marriage debate wastes our time
Among the many good arguments for not putting Indiana through an expensive and embarrassing battle over same-sex marriage, one gets little attention: amending the Constitution to prohibit it won’t matter in the long run.
Read MoreMAURER: What the boss doesn’t know
Does Chris Christie know all? Don’t tell anyone, but the governor I worked for didn’t.
Read MoreGIGERICH: The amendment would hurt the economy
There have been many heartfelt and thoughtful positions both in support of and in opposition to same-sex marriage. I have friends who are equally passionate and respectful on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate.
Read MoreRUSTHOVEN: Christie’s ego goes beyond healthy
Commentary on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s current troubles, after aides snarled traffic to punish a mayor who didn’t endorse him, has focused on the impact on his presidential aspirations.
Read MoreKim: Investors need not accept mediocrity of index funds
We’re old school investment managers and think having the objective of underperforming the market by a little bit is the very definition of mediocrity. We reject the notion it’s foolish to even try to outperform.
Read MoreHicks: Labor markets respond to choices, good or bad
There are many causes to income inequality, most significantly that labor markets value different skills in different ways.
Read MoreFix the real problem with charter schools
How many charter school authorizers should Indiana have? What is the right number? The answer is there should be no limits.
Read MoreNuclear becoming passé
The latest energy policy fad at the General Assembly [Merritt Viewpoint, Jan. 6] is small nuclear units (modular nuclear power). It was coal gasification until Duke Energy’s financial disaster at Edwardsport.
Read MoreIn BriefBack to Top
GOP sheriff candidate ramps up fundraising
This is a bit of an off year for local politics, but there may be a real race for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, based on early fundraising by GOP candidate Emmitt Carney.
Read MoreDeveloper donates 50 acres near airport for preservation
Holladay Properties says it's donating the land valued at about $4.3 million to the Central Indiana Land Trust.
Read MoreSwitch flipped on public station link
Eight PBS and nine NPR stations in Indiana have completed a fiber-optic connection that allows them to share programming more cost-effectively.
Read MoreScopelitis law firm opens two offices
Scopelitis Garvin Light Hanson & Feary, a law firm specializing in trucking and logistics, has opened offices in Philadelphia and neighboring Mount Ephraim, N.J.
Read MoreConference puts spotlight on big-data opportunities
Information technology consultant STLogics and a recently created big-data spinoff, Beyond Predictive, will host the Indy Big Data Conference on Feb. 11 at the JW Marriott downtown.
Read MoreMinority business group crosses state borders
The Indiana Minority Supplier Development Council has changed its name to Mid-States Minority Supplier Development Council, as it executes its national office's plan to consolidate to 24 councils from 36.
Read MorePROXY CORNER: Cardinal Ethanol LLC
Cardinal Ethanol LLC is based in Union City and operates an ethanol plant near that eastern Indiana city.
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