MAY 19-25, 2014
One of Mayor Greg Ballard's keys to stengthening Marion County is to attract high-earning residents who can bolster the tax base. But new research shows that the number of people living in low-income areas of the eight donut townships has grown sixfold since 2003. IBJ's Kathleen McLaughlin examines the challenges facing the suburban townships. Also this week, Andrea Davis details how cash-strapped school districts are concocting unusual ways to raise money. And in A&E Etc., Mike Lopresti revisits the saddest day in Indy 500 history with A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford.
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Aging suburbs facing long road back
Poverty is encroaching on the outer townships of Marion County, adding to their handicap in the competition with doughnut counties, where houses are newer, and sidewalks, sewer connections and bike paths come standard.
Read More1960s-era city zoning code gets overhaul
City planners hope a proposed overhaul of the Indianapolis zoning code that’s just a few weeks from its public unveiling will make the city greener and more bike- and pedestrian-friendly while easing the path to high-density, mixed-use development.
Read MoreLilly’s latest sales strategy: the soft sell
Eli Lilly and Co. thinks it has a secret weapon to return to growth. No, it’s not a new blockbuster drug—although Lilly will most likely have several new products hit the market this year and next. Rather, it’s an unorthodox, softer approach put into play by its U.S. sales force.
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Grab-and-go meals on menu for Patachou owner
Local restaurateur and entrepreneur Martha Hoover wants to open kiosks offering healthy meals on the go in public places, including along the Monon Trail.
Read MoreSparks fly as high-tech RV-maker parts ways with CEO
Charles Hoefer Jr. charges in a lawsuit that he was fired as CEO of Global Caravan Technologies as part of a conspiracy by other company insiders to defraud him of “rightful majority ownership."
Read MoreAngie’s List namesake extends company brand with nationwide how-to segments
Chief Marketing Officer Angie Hicks-Bowman spends an hour and a half each month recording consumer-advice segments hat are downloaded by more than 100 television stations around the country and incorporated into their own consumer news segments.
Read MoreStrapped schools are wheeling and dealing with municipalities
State-mandated tax caps are putting additional pressure on public budgets—and spurring local governments to take unusual steps to help their cash-strapped schools.
Read MoreBMO Harris shaking up rules of game for car loans
BMO Harris Bank’s dealer compensation change—to a flat-fee based on a vehicle’s purchase price—brings to light how consumers have for years unknowingly footed a payment to dealers through higher interest rates on their car loans.
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Credit unions back to normal following unusual 2012 high
Net income growth among nine big credit unions serving the metro area moderated in 2013 after record earnings for the industry locally and largely across the nation in 2012.
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EDITORIAL: Another Indy building block
There’s little glamour in the tedious work of streamlining and rewriting a grossly outdated zoning code.
Read MoreMORRIS: Financial success is a bad thing?
Income inequality isn’t a non-issue, but the rhetoric surrounding it discourages meaningful discourse.
Read MoreKENNEDY: The luck of the (economic) draw
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz recently testified before a Senate committee on the issue of America’s growing inequality. His observations were sobering.
Read MoreGROSS: Toward a more welcoming Indiana
As co-president of Indianapolis Parents, Families, Friends & Allies of Lesbians and Gays, I hear stories of heartbreak as mom after mom tell me about their children leaving because they do not feel welcome in Indiana. We as moms want to be together as a family during important times. However, because our children are moving out at such a feverish pace we miss out on so much.
Read MoreSkarbeck: Understand accounting–or pay the consequences
Throughout history, good accounting practices have promoted trust in government and capitalist systems, while inadequate accounting has led to financial chaos and even revolutions.
Read MoreHicks: Hoosiers voting to pay for better public services
I have long argued that Hoosier taxpayers are willing to spend more in places where they can see results. The results of the recent election suggest I am right about that.
Read MoreNo place to hide
I am definitely a free speech advocate, even if the opinion being expressed is reprehensible [May 5 Lopresti column].
Read MoreIndiana on right track
Shaw Friedman writes in his [April 29 Viewpoint] that “tax cuts undermine prosperity” and laments the move to cut business taxes over the past decade of Republican leadership. I suspect that the governmental entities’ prosperity will be undermined but maybe not the entire state’s.
Read MoreLoves Uber, Lyft
I needed to get downtown the other day. My Uber driver was friendly, had classical music going, and it turned out I was going to one of his favorite places!
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Art museum trimming reliance on endowment
In its proposed budget for the next fiscal year, the Indianapolis Museum of Art will draw less than 6 percent of the endowment for operations. That’s down from nearly 8 percent in recent years and 6.6 percent in the current budget.
Read MoreIreland and Indiana share low-tax strategy
Richard Bruton, Ireland’s minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation, visited Indianapolis this month to check in with companies that have operations in his country.
Read MoreLuxury Clearwater apartment complex on market
82 Flats, which opened last year and is 95-percent occupied, could fetch $35 million for its developer, Cityscape Residential, formerly known as Hearthview Residential.
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