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Convention, Colts issues in play: With gambling plan off table, stadium funding gets elusive

Whether it includes taxes on players’ salaries, tickets and suite rentals remains to be seen. But early deliberations won’t include revenue from gambling, according to Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, who chairs the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. “There’s not going to be any gambling included in the bill,” Kenley said. “It’s not going to be funded through slot machines or pull tabs.” Sen. President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, also said he’d oppose any measure including slot machines or…

Two women succeed with their own HVAC company: The male-dominated world of sheet metal contracting has not always been hospitable to female workers

Kim Mann was 19 when she started in the sheet metal trade, installing heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment for the now-defunct Apex Ventilating. She did a five-year apprenticeship and worked on some major projects such as First Indiana Plaza and Bank One Center. The president of Apex at the time, Phil Meyers, gave Mann the chance to be a forewoman. “He stuck me with some of the old, tough men, which taught me something,” Mann said. “At that time,…

City should prepare for energy shortage:

Indianapolis city planners should begin planning for a declining energy future. “Peak oil” and natural gas (generally, the point at which worldwide production begins to decrease, and the resource subsequently depletes)-are well-documented and loom directly ahead. Yet local plans are silent on the subject. Long-term impacts on our economy and community fabric will be significant. Mobility and development patterns will be heavily affected. Politicians and the media need to inform the public and properly plan for this sobering eventuality. The…

An elegy to my departed bride, a butterfly at last:

Editor’s note: Over the past two years, columnist Bruce Hetrick has commented from time to time in this space on his wife Pam Klein’s battle with cancer. She died of complications from that disease March 5 at the age of 49. Here is the tribute to her that he delivered at the March 10 memorial service. Our next-door neighbors in downtown Indianapolis own a second home in Brown County, about an hour south of here. It’s a difficult place to…

JOHN KETZENBERGER Commentary: Let’s use the right tool for the job

Indiana is one of just four states that requires a two-thirds majority to be present in the House or Senate to conduct business. It’s a tool our constitution’s drafters granted the minority party in 1851 to protect it from a tyrannical majority. Too bad lawmakers lately have used the provision like a sledgehammer, smashing the legislative process to bits. Lawmakers aren’t the only ones choosing the wrong tool, though. Gov. Mitch Daniels took a few swings with his rhetorical sledgehammer,…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Settlement struck in case pitting Marsh vs. Marsh Guidant’s big option grants

Don Marsh is fighting enough battles in the bloody grocery business without also slugging it out with his own brother. Perhaps that’s why the Marsh Supermarkets Inc. CEO has decided to settle a lawsuit filed in August by C. Alan Marsh, a former vice chairman of the company who charged he was owed some $2 million in benefits stemming from his 1998 resignation. Attorneys for both the Indianapolisbased grocery chain and C. Alan Marsh confirm they’ve reached an agreement in…

Buckner relishes role as executive: IU great recalls lessons from Knight, Bird

Quinn Buckner has always sought out strong mentors, but he didn’t have to search for his most solid role models. From Bob Knight to Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh, Buckner has surrounded himself with some of basketball’s best minds. But he credits his parents with instilling in him the leadership skills and determination that have carried him through good times and bad. “Coach Knight was a great mentor to me at an early age,” said Buckner, who played for Knight’s…

BULLS & BEARS: Beta as a measure of risk only one factor to consider

The field of investing is constantly generating massive amounts of data that is readily compiled, measured and analyzed. Historical stock price movements are spun into charts, figures from financial statements are manipulated into ratios, and computer software allows the calculation of all sorts of esoteric statistics. Perhaps to no one’s surprise, the ease with which numbers can be mathematically massaged can often produce misleading results. As a wise prophet once said, “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like…

Convention, Colts issues in play: Hospitality: Hospitality officials say delays may scare off potential clients

Hospitality officials say delays may scare off potential clients Patience is one thing. Imprudence is quite another. The Indiana Convention Center’s largest customers are keeping a keen eye trained on Indianapolis these days, hoping for a sign that state lawmakers will find a way to fund a $275 million expansion that would give them room to grow. But the lack of progress more than halfway into the legislative session has some reevaluating their options. “I’m very disappointed at how this is…

Advantis Medical Inc. finds niche making orthopedic supplies

Advantis Medical Inc. manufactures custom trays and cases for orthopedic surgical devices. That core product line brought Advantis some $5.2 million in revenue in 2004, double the amount of the previous year, said Advantis President Jim Spencer.

Department store consolidation likely means loss of major revenue source for newspapers:

Shoppers and mall owners aren’t the only ones preparing for fallout from the planned merger of Federated Department Stores Inc. and May Department Stores Co.-the advertising world is bracing for the impact, too. Newspapers will bear the brunt of it, experts predict. Observers need look no further for evidence than the Sunday circulars or the midweek pullout sections preceding a big sale. Locally, Macy’s, formerly known as Lazarus, and L.S. Ayres are both among the top 10 advertisers with The…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Accounting rule tempers allure of granting options Taking the plunge Adjusting to new reality

In the go-go 1990s, companies dispensed stock options to employees like candy. And why not? Under accounting rules, they didn’t have to count them as an expense. It almost seemed like free money. “You really were hard-pressed, if you were a public company, not to use options,” observed Betsy Field, a Fishers-based consultant for the benefits firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide. No more. A new accounting rule will require companies to begin recording options as an expense on their financial statements…

Neighborhood watch groups helped trigger gains against violent crime:

Folks living inside the Indianapolis Police Department’s current district worry a new distribution of police after a merger means a return to more crime-particularly the violent crime they remember from the late 1990s. Violent crime in IPD’s district peaked in 1998, when 7,856 murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults were reported. It has dropped 27 percent in the six years since then. A decade ago, Waldine Anderson started a crime watch for her block on Indianapolis’ north side, between 46th…

Builders try retail approach: Estridge, Davis plan north-side home stores

Two locally based home builders are staking out retail storefronts in a bid to reach out to customers who might want to buy a new home while they’re picking up a gallon of milk or a pair of shoes. Carmel-based Estridge Cos. plans to open its HomeExperience store in Clay Terrace in late spring or early summer, while Indianapolis-based Davis Homes LLC in late April will move its showroom into a Krogeranchored shopping center at 96th and Meridian streets. For…

Unifying Indiana’s IT efforts: State’s new CTO plans to centralize computing

Indiana’s state Web portal, access-Indiana, won at least a dozen awards over the last four years. It was frequently lauded as a model of modern government efficiency-robust, reliable and user-friendly. But, according to new Indiana Chief Technology Officer Karl Browning, the reality was only skin deep. Certainly, accessIndiana is the handsome public face of state information technology. But beneath the surface, there’s a tangled mess of unconnected systems, each managed independently by a separate agency. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican,…

Library project set to resume: Firms play blame game over bungled work

Steel erection for the troubled Central Library expansion is finally expected to begin next month, library officials say. But they acknowledge the start of construction on the six-story addition won’t signal they’ve finished fixing defects on the underground garage or resolved who’s to blame for them. While officials say they’re confident it’s safe to build atop the garage that will serve as the foundation for the addition, they say it will continue to undergo repairs for another year or so….

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: How to enjoy wi-fi ‘hot spots’ on the road

I recently stayed at a charming hotel in California that dates back more than a century. At least, it was charming to me. It’s been retrofitted many times over the years as it’s struggled to stay no more than 30 years behind the times. It has two elevators, only one of which is completely automatic. The other still has its manual operations lever, and is apparently used only for freight. Most of the room doors still have the old key…

No upcoming sunset for Sunrise Cafe:

We at the Sunrise assume it was a slow news day. We are but a small, familyowned restaurant wondering why we merited such a writeup in the [Feb. 14] IBJ. The Sunrise Cafe here at 116th and Meridian was started in 1988 and is owned by Lisa and Jim Horsfield. We also started the Keystone store in 1985 with Scott Horsfield (owner of the Sunrise Cafe at 116th and Cumberland Road) and Ralph Webb (owner of the 86th and Keystone…

ATA chief joins list of creditors: Mikelsons’ Betaco files claim for charter helicopter lease

In what burned creditors of ATA Holdings Corp. might savor as a sky-high irony, the chairman of the bankrupt airline himself is holding out his creditors’ cup. George Mikelsons says the parent of ATA Airlines Inc. owes him $179,064 for a helicopter he leased the carrier through his Betaco Inc. firm. His claim was filed Feb. 11 in ATA’s bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. It’s one of many unusual claims that have…

SUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Keep Statehouse free of ‘March Madness’

Commentary Keep Statehouse free of ‘March Madness’ “March Madness” is upon us. Downtown will play host to 37 basketball games in 37 days. Visitors from all over the state and the nation will flock to our city and be dazzled by the ambiance and excitement we have refined over many years of hosting major events. Even the most profoundly addicted hoops fans should get their cravings satisfied. As we enjoy the month’s activities, we must be mindful not to take…