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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: Looking back at 2004 and beyond

MICKEY MAURER Commentary Looking back at 2004 and beyond Every January, I like to reflect on some of the prior year’s topics. This year, I am especially nostalgic. You may be reading my last column. I have accepted a two-year hitch with the Daniels administration as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and our editors at the Indianapolis Business Journal feel writing a column poses a conflict of interest with my new responsibilities. I agree. Last summer, I reviewed…

INVESTING: Dow constructed his averages to do technical analysis

As a technical analyst I am fascinated by history. I was a history major in college, so my interest here predates my addiction to financial markets. The predictive ability of technical analysis depends on people acting in ways similar to what they did in the past. Which means technicians spend a lot of time studying the past. Long before fundamental analysis became the standard by which investors attempt to figure out future prices, technical analysis was being used to give…

Code sharing may help ATA: But analysts say Southwest Airlines unlikely to favor chairman’s international destinations

During ATA Holdings Corp.’s annual meeting in 2003, George Mikelsons told shareholders low-fare carriers must strike up alliances to weather the industry storm. He proposed code sharing that would allow passengers buying a ticket on ATA or a partner airline to fly on both and connect to potentially hundreds more destinations. Airlines would share the revenue. “If we don’t act to regroup ourselves,” ATA’s chairman warned at the time, “we’re going to be the Jonahs of aviation, swallowed by the…

Readers say transportation should top city’s agenda: Growing traffic delays, struggling IndyGo system, possible rapid transit system among issues facing planners

The average Indianapolis motorist sits in traffic delays more than nine times longer than he or she did 20 years ago: 37 hours a year vs. just four hours in 1982, according to a recent study by the Texas Transportation Institute. Growing delays have not only brought inconvenience and lost productivity, but also have earned the metro area “nonattainment” with federal air-quality standards. That raises the specter of expensive vehicle-emissions testing. IBJ Daily readers ranked solving congestion/public transportation issues as…

Ivy Tech president secured: After 21 years in charge, Lamkin signs first job pact

Ivy Tech State College trustees last month approved a first-ever employment contract for longtime President Gerald Lamkin, giving him a 9-percent pay raise and relative job security until his intended retirement in mid-2007. Such deals are increasingly common in higher education, trustees said, and the timing was right for Ivy Tech as the school takes over control of the state’s community college system and expands it to all 23 of its campuses. Formalizing Lamkin’s future now-after 21 years in the…

BULLS & BEARS: Some New Year’s wisdom from uber-investor Buffett

With the new year and in a reflective mood, here is a collection of quotes I find convey useful investment wisdom. All the quotes, except the last by Peter Lynch, are extracted from the speeches or writings of Warren Buffett, some of which contain thoughts ascribed to his mentor Ben Graham. Enjoy. “I will tell you the secret of getting rich on Wall Street. You try to be greedy when others are fearful and you try to be very fearful…

SPORTS: Visions of trophies, titles and a new stadium in ’05

Back, by little demand, my annual list of wants and realities for the New Year (please do not clip and save). Want: Same as last year, and the year before, and the year before. That Peyton Manning leads the Colts to a Super Bowl victory and validates his MVP status (for those who still believe he’s not as good as he is). The euphoria over the Horseshoes’ Super Bowl triumph then forces the General Assembly’s hand, and the stadium-Convention Center-expansion…

Indians stock sale pushes price to record high: 16-percent increase comes on heels of strong financial year for AAA franchise

The Indianapolis Indians’ stock value is going up like a long ball off the cleanup hitter’s bat. On the heels of a year that saw strengthening profits for the AAA minor-league affiliate, six shares of Indians stock sold in December for $15,200 each as reported in pink sheet filings. That represents a 16-percent increase from the last sale 18 months ago. “This is significant because these shares don’t trade that much, and six shares comprises close to 1 percent of…

STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: It’ll be full speed ahead as legislators start term

Words once uttered by a man who certainly qualifies as an honorary Hoosier-Mario Andretti-will probably prove prophetic as we watch Indiana’s new governor and General Assembly over the next four months. “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough,” Mario once said. That may well be the mantra of Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels and the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. While writing the initial column previewing the legislative session is always a daunting task, it…

SUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Simon redesign is something to celebrate

SUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary Simon redesign is something to celebrate What a nice way to start 2005, with a new, improved design of the Simon headquarters. At the start of a new year, it seems appropriate to reflect. The chain of events that led to the redesign of this important building marks a turning point in the “coming of age” of our city and its approach to the built environment. Urban design and design criteria for our downtown have been topics…

COBRA strikes with revised set of guidelines: Deferred compensation plans also subject to changes

Human resource workers may have little time to ease into the new year as they prepare for legal changes that erase some deferred-compensation loopholes and clarify COBRA notification. Last spring, the U.S. Department of Labor issued new guidelines for health care coverage obtained under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. In the fall, Congress took aim at deferred compensation. HR people not familiar with changes to both could stumble into problems, according to some Indianapolis attorneys. The Department of Labor…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Payoff from Guidant sale disappoints some analysts New Warsaw public company More big Conseco pay

Guidant Corp.’s sale to Johnson & Johnson is valued at an eye-popping $25.4 billion, the largest price tag ever for an India n a p o l i s – b a s e d company. Even so, for shareholders the merger doesn’t create the euphoria often associated with mega-deals. Guidant shares barely moved on the first day of trading after New Jersey-based J&J announced the $76-a-share pact. Analysts say part of that is because investors already had factored expectations…

ADESA pushes virtual business: Carmel firm expands Internet car auctions

As rituals go, bidders at wholesale auto auctions have a lot in common with scouts for baseball teams who troll the fields for prospects. These old salts of their trades often can be spotted in baseball caps that cast a shadow over droopy-but-keen eyes. A toothpick twitching in the corner of the mouth belies a mind focused intently on its prospect-whether it’s a pitcher on the diamond or a Pontiac puttering down an auction lane. “You pick up paint damage,…

Chronic underfunding frays public safety, penal systems: County faces big questions about jail overcrowding, lack of funds for police, prosecutors and public defenders

In 2005, the city of Indianapolis will spend $277 million on public safety. Marion County will lay out another $186 million. It’s not enough. While $463 million may sound like a lot of money, it has to pay for every aspect of local public safety. Every uniformed cop on the street. All the judges, public defenders and prosecutors in the courts. Jail guards and probation officers, not to mention forensic researchers, city firefighters-even dogcatchers. Decades of neglect have left the…

Weight center waits: Bariatric surgery hospital had been scheduled to open in mid-2004

Michigan-based Forest Health Services LLC launched plans in 2003 to build a two-story inpatient bariatric hospital at Intech Park off 71st Street and then applied a year ago for a license to operate it. The hospital would treat people with severe weight problems. Workers completed most of the construction on the 37,000-squarefoot building last spring, but little has happened since. A letter filed last January with the Indiana State Department of Health said Forest Health anticipated a June or July…

NOTIONS: Do national brands make city grand or bland?

Bruce Hetrick is on vacation this week. In his absence, this column, which appeared on Jan. 28, 2002, is being reprinted. Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, died this month. Most folks remember Dave for his TV commercials. I recall hometown pride, because Dave learned the restaurant business from a Fort Wayne chicken establishment I frequented in my youth. Over the years, I helped build Dave’s fortune one “single everything, no onion” at a time. Wendy’s ads-especially the ones before…

Federal grants are flying to Indiana airports: Record money a boon for capital improvements

Indiana airports landed record federal grants of $61.9 million in fiscal 2004 for everything from building taxiways to extending runways to transmitting weather data to pilots. The $17 million, or 38 percent, increase from 2003 could bode well for economic development in cities with growing airports, such as Columbus. “About 65 percent of our traffic here is business during the week. The more accessible we become, it’s bound to have an impact,” said Rod Blasdel, manager of Columbus Municipal Airport….

‘Works’ proposal would overhaul Unigov: Yesterday’s system isn’t keeping up with current makeup of Marion County

Three decades ago, before Republicans conceived the local government consolidation they called Unigov, Indianapolis was the sleepy burg folks drove through on their way somewhere else. Once city and county government began working together, Indianapolis enjoyed dynamic growth. Today’s vibrant, modern metropolis is consolidation’s direct legacy. But in 35 years, Unigov has ossified. Most Marion County residents now live outside the old city limits. Yet the tax structure maintains the fiction they don’t. Old city residents shoulder the burden of…

EYE ON THE PIE: Let’s explore options to finance stadium

Phinneas Phogghorn, Indiana’s third U.S. senator, was home for the holidays and in fine voice at the Dixie Donut Shoppe. “Rubbish,” the jewel of Jeffersonville intoned to his assembled admirers. “Unadulterated rubbish is all I can say about the view held by too many Hoosiers that a stadium for the Indianapolis Colts is not for the benefit of all the people of Indiana. The Colts are more than a mere symbolic representation of the state in the minds of football…

Mayor seeking broader control: Indianapolis Works proposal gives Peterson more authority over suburban budgets

Some parts of local government are financed by the city. Others are the bailiwick of the county or the townships. For years, the split didn’t much matter. Today, it means everything. While they held sway during the first three decades of Unigov, Republicans could iron out financial wrinkles behind closed doors. But the 1999 election of Mayor Bart Peterson, a Democrat, provoked a turf war. It escalated in 2003, when Democrats won their first-ever City-County Council majority. Now Democrats dominate…