A bill that would impose a statewide ban on smoking in enclosed public places in Indiana ignited sometimes emotional debate before an Indiana House committee yesterday. The lengthy hearing before the House Public Policy Committee pitted health advocates, business leaders and people who said their lives have been torn by secondhand smoke against opponents of […]
Federal health regulators are looking into evidence that an Eli Lilly and Co. drug used to treat blood poisoning worsens the risk of bleeding and can lead to death in certain patients. The Food and Drug Administration said today a recently published study showed that the Indianapolis-based company’s drug Xigris increased the risk of dangerous […]
Unemployment rates rose in 98 percent of U.S. metropolitan areas late last year, with manufacturing layoffs driving the largest annual increases in Indiana’s Elkhart-Goshen region and Dalton, Ga. The Labor Department said today that jobless rates climbed in 363 of the largest 369 metropolitan areas in December from a year earlier. Elkhart-Goshen’s unemployment rate soared […]
General Motors Corp. will offer buyouts to all of its hourly employees as the troubled automaker continues to slash costs. GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the buyouts will mainly target GM’s 22,000 retirement-eligible hourly employees, though any union employee can take the offer. News of the buyouts first broke on Monday, when a union official […]
General Motors’ U.S. vehicle sales plunged 49 percent in January while Ford’s sales dropped 40 percent, starting 2009 at an abysmal pace for the auto industry as lower sales to fleet buyers like rental car companies weighed down U.S. automakers’ results. Japanese rival Toyota’s sales dropped 32 percent for the month, and Honda’s sales fell […]
By DAN STRUMPF AP Auto Writer NEW YORK General Motors Corp. will offer buyouts to all of its hourly employees, a spokesman confirmed Tuesday, as the troubled automaker continues to slash costs. GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the buyouts will mainly target GM’s 22,000 retirement-eligible hourly employees, though any union employee can take the offer. […]
Indy Racing League officials say five engine manufacturers are still in competition to provide new engines for the IRL. The companies still in discussions with the Indianapolis-based league are Honda, Audi, Fiat, Porsche and Volkswagen. Honda has been the sole supplier of Indy V8 engines since 2006. New specifications are not expected to be finalized […]
A plan from the mayor of Franklin to rejuvenate the downtown area includes raising by 3 or 4 feet several blocks that were heavily damaged by flooding last year. Mayor Fred Paris acknowledges that the plan is nowhere near final, but says by elevating the southwest part of downtown, the city would create a scenic […]
Ford Motor Co. said today it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter as auto sales slumped, but it has no plans to seek federal aid unless economic conditions worsen. The second-largest U.S. automaker said it burned through $5.5 billion in the quarter, less than the $7.7 billion it used in the third quarter. The […]
Starbucks Corp. plans to slash 6,700 more jobs during a new round of store closures and other cuts, the company said yesterday as it reported that its profit dropped by more than two-thirds in its fiscal first quarter. The gourmet coffee chain plans to close 300 underperforming stores around the world – including 200 in […]
Rahal Letterman Racing has pulled out of the 2009 IndyCar Series because it cannot find a sponsor to support its program. RLR becomes the latest racing team to be affected by the reeling economy. The team won the Indianapolis 500 with Buddy Rice in 2004 and brought Danica Patrick to the IndyCar Series. “At this […]
Orthopedic implant maker Zimmer Holdings Inc. today said its fourth-quarter profit dropped 37 percent due to slowing sales and the cost of buying Abbott Spine. Warsaw-based Zimmer said its profit decreased to $167.5 million, or 75 cents per share, from $263.8 million, or $1.12 per share, in the prior-year period. Revenue fell 4 percent to […]
Greenwood officials are putting plans to build a new city hall on hold until they know whether the city will add an unincorporated area with about 40,000 residents. The Johnson County community just south of Indianapolis currently has about 47,000 residents. Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson told the Daily Journal of Franklin that city leaders don’t […]
Indiana legislators say they are trying to fix a situation in which landlords facing foreclosure on their rental properties sometimes give tenants little or no notice that they need to find a new place to live. Lawmakers want to give renters a heads up before they are kicked out of their homes. So the Indiana […]
Steel Dynamics Inc.’s stock price jumped today after it beat Wall Street’s expectations of its fourth-quarter results, though the steelmaker posted a loss because of one-time charges. The Fort Wayne-based company reported a loss of $82.7 million, or 45 cents per share, in the quarter compared with profit of $97.9 million, or 50 cents per […]
Federal officials want to talk to Indiana Department of Environmental Management officials about plans to dissolve the agency’s enforcement office and other proposed enforcement changes. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Bharat Mathu said in a letter to IDEM that his office wants to talk about the changes to determine their impact on federal programs. Environmental […]
A Republican lawmaker has defied Gov. Mitch Daniels and filed a bill to slow the rollout of Indiana’s new welfare intake system, but the leader of the GOP-controlled state Senate is skeptical the legislation is needed. The bill by Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, would stop the Family and Social Services Administration from automating welfare intake […]
Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America’s first black president today, declaring the nation must choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of more than a million packed the […]
Evansville-based Berry Plastics Corp. is planning an $80 million expansion of its thermoforming operations next year. The company says the site of the expansion has yet to be determined, but it expects the project to add more than 150 jobs to its work force. Berry, which ranked first on IBJ’s 2008 list of the largest […]
Gary officials are asking a state board to increase property tax caps that limit annual tax bills for the city’s homeowners and businesses.City officials went before the state’s Distressed Unit Appeals Board Monday, seeking an exemption from the caps imposed by the General Assembly last year.Gary officials say the city may lose $30 million under […]
