AUGUST 5-11, 2013
In this week's issue, we have a number of pieces focusing on the city's approach to crime, including news that the tax-averse Ballard administration is willing to consider an income-tax hike to add more police officers. Also this week, Chris O'Malley takes a look at a recent stumble by City Securities Corp., which could lose its grip on the Indiana municipal bond market. And Scott Olson examines the flood of new downtown apartment projects and their possible effect on the retail market. The projects will add another 170,000 square feet of apartment-anchored retail, leading to a potential glut as existing downtown storefronts struggle to find tenants.
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City officials mull income tax hike to add police officers
Facing pressure to boost the police force and avoid further cuts in city services, Indianapolis leaders head into the next budget season with open minds about a tax increase.
Read MoreDelta Faucet builds innovation machine in Carmel
One of Indiana’s most innovative companies in the past decade doesn’t make surgical instruments or drugs or engines. It makes water faucets and toilets. Delta Faucet Co. has secured 589 patents in the past 20 years.
Read MoreNew retail downtown sitting idle
A flood of downtown apartments coming on the market is leasing up quickly, but much of the attached retail space continues to languish as some begin to wonder whether the residential boom will create enough retail demand.
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City Securities’ stumble opens door to rivals
City Securities Corp. has dominated the Indiana municipal bond market for decades, but the firm’s recent $580,000 settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could give issuers pause and competitors a foot in the door in the underwriting business.
Read MoreNew front opens in family battle over Mel Simon fortune
Bren Simon is pushing hard for a distribution from the estate now, citing as precedent an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling in another case that “as a matter of policy, beneficiaries should not be starved of distributions to which they are undisputably entitled.”
Read MoreMovie maker endured hardship in quest to capture ancient art of falconry
Eddie Brochin is only the second person to ever film the ancient hunting techniques of Mongolia’s eagle masters.
Read MoreGoldsmith: ‘Big data’ to reinvent government
While some Americans question the National Security Agency’s habit of amassing citizens’ phone records, former Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith urges city governments to dive into “big data.”
Read MoreLife sciences venture capital dips again
Venture capital surged in the first half of 2012, to $51.6 million in Indiana. But the pace of activity here fell off sharply in the second half of last year, and remained sluggish into 2013.
Read MoreMass-transit planners unveil proposed route details
Central Indiana’s mass-transit planners unveiled detailed route information for the first time Wednesday and say a series of open-house meetings in August will be the public’s last chance to request changes before final recommendations.
Read MoreLocal firms team up to buy North Meridian office building
REI Real Estate Services LLC and Perennial Investments say that together they'll invest about $1 million in hopes of getting the office building at 550 Congressional Blvd. fully leased.
Read MorePROXY CORNER: Eli Lilly and Co.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. discovers, develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products for humans and animals.
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Newcomer banks slice into ‘overheated’ Indianapolis market
Newer entrants are chasing market share with convenient hours, quick decisions and narrower niches of customers.
Read MoreIndiana state banks regaining pre-meltdown assets
Recovery doesn’t mean banks have escaped challenges.
Read MoreSmall-business lending is key to full economic recovery
Availability of credit is one of the most fundamental issues facing small businesses, and small businesses are one of the most crucial drivers of commercial real estate demand. Thankfully, both the financial markets and the economy are not where they were just a year ago, as they have strengthened considerably to the point where it […]
Read MoreDUNCAN: Dodd-Frank hems in many nonbank lenders
‘Dealer markups’ in jeopardy in push to protect consumers.
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EDITORIAL: Better transit for better achievement
A landmark Harvard University study on income mobility released late last month brought uncomfortable news for those who have come to view Indianapolis as a diamond in the Rustbelt rough. Unigov, downtown revitalization, amateur and professional sports, a stable economy—none of it apparently has done enough to help the poor.
Read MoreMAURER: Good jobs build civic pride
Businesses across a broad spectrum are adversely affected when a headquarters is lost. Our firms suffer when goods and services are no longer purchased locally. The mediocre occupancy rate in downtown office space is a direct result of vanishing downtown headquarters.
Read MoreSAXTON: Hospitals launch into downward spiral
The recent cutbacks sweeping central Indiana hospital systems are part of a larger epidemic affecting the entire U.S. health care system.
Read MoreRUSTHOVEN: The fish in this barrel reek
It’s nice when a fellow Hoosier hits the big time. Latest is Princeton’s Sydney Leathers, who exposed Anthony Weiner, ex-congressman and now New York City mayoral candidate, for continuing the “sexting” behavior that forced his House resignation.
Read MoreKim: New graduates shouldn’t repeat these mistakes
A college education is one of life’s most important and costly investments. But what should college graduates do after they’ve earned their diploma to protect and enhance their return on this monumental investment?
Read MoreHicks: Stamp out mediocrity in education colleges
Over the past two years, Indiana has replaced licensing and compensation rules for public schoolteachers that required degrees exclusively from teachers colleges.
Read MoreRACE: The public house and our changing cities
The long-standing tradition for pubs and inns dates back to the Romans. Wales, England and Ireland have been perfecting the pub for centuries.
Read MoreIn BriefBack to Top
CNO Financial gung-ho on share buybacks
The Carmel-based financial services company said that, during the second quarter, it repurchased $59.4 million of its securities, including 4.4 million common shares for $50 million.
Read MoreBattery maker EnerDel lays off 65 workers
Lacking production contracts, struggling battery maker EnerDel Inc. has once again downsized its Indianapolis-area work force.
Read MoreDon Marsh to keep $2.2M severance from grocery chain
Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued an order allowing Marsh to keep the severance paid by his former company, which attempted to recover the payments from him. The order ends a four-year court battle between the two parties.
Read MoreCentre Properties escapes foreclosure on 12 properties
Financial terms of the agreements, announced in a written statement, were not disclosed, but the mortgages involve tens of millions of dollars in debt on retail properties spread throughout the area.
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