The Indiana House approved two massive spending bills yesterday – a job-creation proposal that would funnel $1 billion toward local road projects and an education budget that would give schools a 2-percent spending increase. Some Republicans objected to both bills because they would each tap into reserve or trust funds to help pay for the […]
Investors are frustrated with the government’s latest bank bailout plan – and showing it by unloading stocks. The major stock indexes fell more than 4 percent today, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled 382 points. Financial stocks led the market lower, a sign of how concerned Wall Street is about the government’s ability […]
A longtime Wayne County judge has been named the new chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Judge P. Thomas Snow to the position today. Snow has been a Superior Court judge in the eastern Indiana county, which includes Richmond, since 1989. He will start as alcohol commission chairman on […]
The U.S. Postal Service announced today that the price of a first-class stamp will rise 2 cents, to 44 cents, on May 11. That gives plenty of time to stock up on Forever Stamps, which will continue to sell at the current 42-cent rate until the increase occurs. They will remain valid in the future […]
A Muncie plant that makes boxes for a variety of consumer products has announced that it will close, putting 154 employees out of work. Graphic Packaging International plant manager Rich Maday said the company announced the plans today. Work at the plant will be moved to other factories by the summer. Marietta, Ga.-based Graphic Packaging […]
General Motors Corp. said today it will cut 10,000 salaried jobs, citing the need to restructure itself with a government deadline looming and amid some of the worst sales in the auto industry’s history. The Detroit-based automaker said it will reduce its total number of salaried workers to 63,000 from 73,000 this year. About 3,400 […]
U.S. wholesalers cut inventories in December by the largest amount in 16 years, slashing stockpiles amid the deepening recession. The reduction means wholesalers ordered fewer new goods, leading to reduced production and potentially more job layoffs. The Commerce Department said today that wholesale inventories plunged by 1.4 percent, nearly double analysts’ expectations of 0.8 percent. […]
A new proposal would help fix Indiana’s depleted unemployment insurance fund by raising taxes on employers. The Indiana House labor committee voted 9-3 this morning to raise more money from businesses by increasing both the taxable wage base and tax rates. The state’s unemployment insurance fund currently pays out millions of dollars more than it […]
Two of the biggest forces in the entertainment business are joining up. Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. said this morning that they plan an all-stock merger of equals. The combined company would be called Live Nation Entertainment. Regulatory experts have said the deal could get delayed by an antitrust […]
U.S. wholesalers cut back on their inventories in December by the largest amount in 16 years, slashing stockpiles amid the deepening recession. The reduction means wholesalers ordered fewer new goods, leading to reduced production and potentially more job layoffs. The Commerce Department said today that wholesale inventories plunged by 1.4 percent, nearly double analysts’ expectations […]
By BREE FOWLER NEW YORK General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will cut 10,000 salaried jobs, citing the need to restructure itself with a government deadline looming and amid some of the worst sales in the auto industry’s history. The Detroit-based automaker said it will reduce its total number of salaried workers to 63,000 from […]
The Republican-controlled state Senate has approved a proposal to put limits on property tax bills into the Indiana constitution. The proposal passed on a 34-16 vote yesterday and now moves to the Democrat-controlled House. If the measure clears both chambers this year or next, voters would decide in 2010 whether to amend the caps into […]
Campaigning for action in the most dire terms, President Barack Obama said today in a townhall meeting in northern Indiana that if Congress does not quickly pass an economic stimulus package, the nation will slip into a crisis so deep that “we may be unable to reverse” it. “We can’t afford to wait. We can’t […]
Rising consumer demand for locally grown, organic produce is fueling a surge in the number of small Indiana farms, boosting their numbers nearly 80 percent over five years, a new farm census report shows. The number of Indiana farms under 10 acres soared from 5,436 in 2002 to 9,720 in 2007 – a 79 percent […]
Two drug companies, Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., spent hundreds of millions of dollars last year to raise awareness of a murky illness, helping boost sales of pills recently approved as treatments and drowning out unresolved questions – including whether it’s a real disease at all. Key components of the industry-funded buzz over […]
Military recruiters in eastern Indiana say their recruitment figures are on the rise, partly because recently laid-off workers are signing up with Uncle Sam. Some laid-off workers have visited the U.S. Army’s recruitment office in Richmond to inquire about military careers, said Sgt. Greg Lynch, an Army recruiter. “Yes, our numbers are up, and I […]
Rising consumer demand for locally grown, organic produce is fueling a surge in the number of small Indiana farms, boosting their numbers nearly 80 percent over five years, a new farm census report shows. The number of Indiana farms under 10 acres soared from 5,436 in 2002 to 9,720 in 2007 – a 79 percent […]
Ball State University plans to drill 3,750 wells, each 400-feet deep, to tap the earth’s nearly constant temperature for campus heating and cooling. The $66 million geothermal conversion project will eliminate the university’s coal-fired boilers, which currently produce 85,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, said Tom Kinghorn, Ball State treasurer and vice president of […]
A judge sided with Indiana regulators today and placed the financial assets of the estranged wife of indicted, parachuting money manager Marcus Schrenker into receivership, where bilked clients might recover some of their losses. The judge in suburban Hamilton County ordered the assets of Michelle Schrenker frozen and controlled by a court-appointed receiver. He issued […]
After weeks of debate, Congress is giving consumers four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting. The House voted 264-158 yesterday to postpone the shutdown of analog TV signals to June 12, to address growing concerns that too many Americans won’t be ready by the Feb. 17 deadline […]
