U.S. employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy’s road to recovery will be bumpy. The Labor Department report, released today, showed that even as the recession shows some signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a […]
A central Indiana software company has laid off 35 employees just months after cutting about 125 jobs. The president and CEO of Muncie-based Ontario Systems said the company is in good financial shape and that the layoffs made yesterday were part of a realignment. Tony Reisz told The Muncie Star Press the layoffs differed from […]
Now that Indiana lawmakers have approved a new state budget, public colleges and universities can start calculating their tuition rates for next year. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education met today and recommended tuition increases of no more than 5 percent at Purdue University and Indiana University, no more than 4 percent at Ball State […]
Indiana Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer says it’s time for a comprehensive study on the way state tax dollars are distributed to schools. The two-year budget lawmakers passed on Tuesday gives slight overall increases to public schools. But against Democrats’ wishes, the funding formula does not ensure that all districts get as much money or […]
A federal agency has filed a lawsuit against shopping mall owner Simon Property Group Inc., alleging it discriminated against Hispanic employees at its Forum Shops at Caesars on the Las Vegas Strip. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the civil rights lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The suit claims the Indianapolis-based […]
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer don’t agree on much, but both said yesterday they were tired of trying to find ways to help the cash-strapped agency that runs Indianapolis’ sports stadiums and convention center. Daniels said he doesn’t want to see any more legislation to help the Capital Improvement Board […]
Gary officials are seeking nearly $25 million in federal money to tear down more than 900 abandoned houses and 200 empty commercial buildings in the city. U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh yesterday toured a city neighborhood of boarded-up and fire-scorched houses with Mayor Rudy Clay and a top federal housing official. Bayh said afterward that he […]
About 120 employees have worked their last day at a Baldor Electric Co. factory in central Indiana after the company consolidated its operations. Union officials say that the layoffs that took effect yesterday leave only 37 employees at the Columbus plant. Nearly 200 people worked at the factory when Fort Smith, Ark.-based Baldor bought it […]
A look at some features of a budget bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels tonight: – Spends about $27.8 billion over the two-year budget cycle. – Public schools will see an average state funding increase of about 1 percent in the first year and 0.3 percent […]
The Indiana General Assembly passed a two-year state budget today, narrowly averting a large-scale state government shutdown that would have begun just after midnight. The Democrat-led House voted 62-37 for the $28.7 billion budget late this afternoon, and the Republican-ruled Senate passed it 34-16 about two hours later. The bill was quickly signed into law […]
A former pastor accused of bilking thousands of investors out of millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme aimed at their Christian beliefs has been charged with securities fraud. The Indiana secretary of state’s office says warrants on 10 felony counts each were issued today for Vaughn Reeves of Sullivan and three of his sons. […]
The NCAA has rejected an appeal from former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. The Indianapolis-based NCAA said today that the NCAA Division I infractions Committee has upheld the violations stemming from more than 100 impermissible phone calls made while Sampson was coaching at Indiana. Sampson received five years of potential penalties when the […]
A 111-year-old home for troubled children in Indianapolis will remain open for at least one more year even though state officials plan to stop sending youths to the facility. The Indianapolis City-County Council last night approved $450,000 to keep the Marion County Children’s Guardian Home in operation with its director and a part-time worker as […]
Unemployment rates rose in all the largest U.S. metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month in May, the Labor Department said this morning. The unemployment rate in Kokomo jumped to 18.8 percent, up 11.7 percentage points from a year ago, the largest increase of all metro areas. The second-highest jump occurred in Indiana’s Elkhart-Goshen area. […]
A burst water main caused some downtown Kokomo streets to be blocked off and numerous businesses and offices to be warned about the safety of their drinking water. Indiana American Water crews worked overnight to repair the 12-inch line and did not immediately know what caused yesterday’s break. The company issued a warning for much […]
Federal authorities are pressing a probe of 10 associates of Bernard Madoff despite a sentence that means the mastermind of one of the biggest financial frauds in history will spend the rest of his days behind bars, The Associated Press has learned. A person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, […]
Leaders of the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-ruled Senate said last night that they were very close to agreeing on a new two-year state budget, and votes on the plan were expected today. Lawmakers must pass a new budget or a stopgap funding measure by midnight, when the current spending plan expires, or Republican Gov. Mitch […]
Indiana is running so short on prison space that it has just 26 beds available for its worst offenders. Inmates are already sleeping in beds stacked three high in one prison, and officials are considering renovating common areas like gymnasiums into cells. Department of Correction leaders thought their prison crowding problem would be alleviated – […]
Historic swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison today for a fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to potential imitators and to victims who demanded harsh punishment. Scattered applause and whoops broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to […]
