Investment losses overshadowed an increase in premiums written by Indianapolis insurer Baldwin & Lyons Inc. last quarter, dropping its profit to $100,000 despite operating income of $7.8 million. The company posted investment losses of $7.7 million, which it attributed to global market woes. Its 1-cent-per-share profit compares to $1.34 posted in the fourth quarter of […]
Entertainment giants Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. are talking merger, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal. If it goes through, the merger would combine two powerful forces in the music industry. Ticketmaster has a stranglehold on event ticketing, and Live Nation dominates concert promotion. The companies’ […]
Defense contractor ITT Corp. plans to locate a new avionics repair and testing facility at the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center southwest of Bloomington, creating more than 220 jobs within six years. ITT’s Electronic Systems business, based in Clifton, N.J., will invest more than $10 million to develop a regional electronics repair and evaluation hub […]
Eli Lilly and Co. has won the unanimous backing of an advisory panel to introduce the first rival to the blood-thinner Plavix, the world’s No. 2-selling drug, Bloomberg News reported. Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 9-0 today in Silver Spring, Md., that Lilly’s blood thinner prasugrel should be approved to reduce […]
Nineteen small businesses from across the state, including two in Indianapolis, received inaugural Economic Development through Entrepreneurship awards today. Sponsored by the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s 10 regional small-business development centers, the awards recognize client companies that are both established and emerging. Indianapolis-based Safis Solutions LLC, which provides regulatory-compliance and quality-assurance management to pharmaceutical and […]
Indianapolis police have released new details on the man they suspect injured five people in a nightclub shooting early Sunday at Ritter Avenue and Brookville Road. Investigators are looking for Anthony Moore, 28, also known as Anthony Leroy Bobbitt. They believe Moore fired a semi-automatic handgun into a crowd at the King of Clubs Lounge, […]
A new lawsuit claims African-Americans aren’t treated fairly when it comes to hiring and promotions within the Indianapolis police and fire departments. More than 30 minority officers and firefighters signed on to the suit, which claims current promotions criteria leave black officers stuck in low-ranking jobs longer than white officers. A group of white officers […]
The Marion County Sheriff’s Department hopes a new GPS tracking system will help improve safety and response times. Officials will unveil the new technology this afternoon. The system is designed to track all MCSD vehicles. The system is also expected to increase the efficiency of dispatchers, and enhance the safety of deputies and the public […]
The Indiana House Ways and Means Committee has endorsed a bill to fund local road projects. The bill, which was approved on a 15-8 party-line vote, would give $800 million from the lease of the Indiana Toll Road to cities, towns and counties. Democrats say the bill would create thousands of new jobs, but critics […]
Cummins Inc. this morning reported its fifth consecutive year of record sales and profits, then promptly lowered its expectations for 2009. The Columbus engine maker expects sales this year to be about 20 percent lower than the $14.3 billion recorded in 2008; it said earnings before interest and income tax expenses should amount to about […]
Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences was a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy fourth quarter for parent Dow Chemical Co. Although Dow today reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.6 billion on sales of $10.9 billion – down from a $472 million profit and $14.2 billion in sales the prior year – its agricultural sciences segment posted record […]
The Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain hopes to add more than 50 new franchise locations in the Indianapolis area as part of a nationwide expansion. The Massachusetts company today announced plans to sell new franchises in major cities including Indianapolis, Houston and Atlanta. Only 10 of its 2,700 locations worldwide are in Indiana. The privately held company […]
Enrollment at Indiana University’s eight campuses for the spring semester reached a record of 97,155 students, an increase of 3,754, or 4 percent, from last spring’s total, the university announced today. IU East in Richmond showed an almost a 10-percent increase over the previous spring semester. IU Bloomington’s enrollment increased 3.3 percent and IUPUI’s rose […]
More than 600 people who work for two recreational vehicle companies in northern Indiana’s Elkhart County are being laid off because of the troubled economy. Keystone RV Company in Goshen announced it is consolidating operations and downsizing its work force by about 350 employees through April. Keystone plans to close several of its plants, including […]
Indianapolis police are still looking for a man who opened fire in a nightclub parking lot early yesterday, injuring five people. The incident happened at about 2:30 a.m. at King of Clubs near Ritter Avenue and Brookville Road. Officers say some patrons were gathering for a birthday party when a fight broke out. According to […]
NBC sold out its 69-spot advertising inventory for yesterday’s Super Bowl, pushing total ad revenue for the event to a record $206 million – not bad in the middle of a recession. The Super Bowl is a premier advertising event with an U.S. audience of 100 million viewers, many of whom watch closely during game […]
Two unemployed Hoosiers have earned $1 million for creating the Super Bowl’s top-ranked commercial. Joe and Dave Herbert of Batesville won the third-annual Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” challenge and earned high marks from viewers. Their ad features a man predicting free Doritos for his co-workers, then breaking a vending machine with a crystal ball. […]
Thousands of southern Indiana residents are still without power following last week’s winter storm. Vectren reports 20,000 outages as of last night, mostly in the Evansville area. More than 100,000 customers were left without electricity as a result of the storm. Vectren officials say most power should be restored by Thursday, though isolated outages could […]
Gov. Mitch Daniels today recognized three Indiana Department of Transportation workers who found more than $100,000 in an old tire along Interstate 70. The workers were picking up trash east of Indianapolis two weeks ago and found a wad of bills in an abandoned tire. They reported the discovery to state police, who believe the […]
Home sales in central Indiana continue to slide, declining 18 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period the previous year, the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors reported today. Units sold in the 13 counties tracked by the trade group dropped to 4,966 in the three months ended Dec. 31. All counties showed […]
