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JOHNSON COUNTY High gas prices lift bus use by more than 20 percent Access Johnson County, the county’s bus system, has experienced record ridership levels this year. In April alone, the mass transit system sold 7,163 rides-that’s nearly 1,000 more than during the same period a year ago. Overall, rider numbers are up more than […]
Small towns with a heart Spurning sprawl, more towns upbeat on downtown From Andy Griffith’s Mayberry, the small town evolved into the likes of Avon, Ind. The tree-shaded bungalow on Oak Street within walking distance of the town center became the vinyl-clad, single-family home planted in a former cornfield with a contrived name ending in […]
MONROE COUNTY Bloomington gets a debate, but not the presidential one Indiana University in Bloomington failed to land the presidential debate it hoped for, but it will host a gubernatorial debate between incumbent Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson and Libertarian Andy Horning. The debate is slated for Oct. 14 at the […]
Development funds about to be freed Shelby County has been locking up nearly three-fourths of its economic development funds the last 16 years. But the end is in sight. By July 2009, the county will have paid off its mortgage on the Shelby County Jail. Because the county has been paying off that debt with […]
WellPoint Inc. prides itself on working to hold down the rising cost of health care. But to hear one of its former vice
presidents tell it, the company retaliated against him when he worked to do just that. In a lawsuit against
WellPoint, Dr. Randy Axelrod claims his former employer forced him out when he tried to curtail a drugmaker’s
controversial pricing strategy that was costing WellPoint money.
The signs for Leading Edge Commercial Real Estate Services are hard to miss on the south side. And soon, they could be popping up all over central Indiana. The 3-year-old, Greenwood-based brokerage firm has grown from three employees to 14 and now is looking at adding two new offices, including one on the north side. The firm has more than 120 listings, up from about 60 at the start, mostly for office leasing and sales of smaller commercial properties. The…
I’m not big on those classification schemes that put people into categories. You know what I mean, schemes such as, “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who classify others, and those who don’t.” I’m not sold on Myers-Briggs, for example. I consider it a parlor game with no significant predictive value. All classification schemes leak around the edges, so I avoid them for the most part. However, there is one categorization to which I now subscribe:…
I have two friends who are train fanatics of the worst kind. These guys aren’t just dazzled by the sight of a large train; they furtively seek them out. One friend has made it his life’s ambition to ride every rail line in Great Britain. The other scours eBay for rail schedules from the 19th century. Both of these wonderful men have exceptionally tolerant wives. I am a bit concerned my 4-year-old is turning into one of these creatures. He…
Riding a stretch of near-perfect weather, this year’s Indiana State Fair seems destined to break attendance records. I was there for a few hours one day, and I can see why it still is a big draw: The fair is alive with what’s great about Indiana tradition. And, relatively speaking, it’s a cheap form of entertainment. Eight bucks for admission seems more than reasonable in these days when a movie costs you nearly $10, especially when you realize your $8…
From 1979 to 1982, IUPUI inherited three world-class athletic facilities that have since hosted Olympic trials and world-record performances by top-flight amateur and professional athletes. But that inheritance has turned into a financial albatross around the university’s neck. It’s grappling with how to pay for their upkeep and the improvements necessary to keep the facilities–and the city–in the hunt for high-profile sporting events.
Bull and bear markets are different animals, and they need to be treated differently. Knowing which market you are in is one of the most helpful pieces of information an investor can have. Realizing there are no absolutes in this business, we have to rely on an array of tools and indicators to help us reach a determination. We then have to hope that this “weight of evidence” approach proves as reliable as it has over the last 200 years….
Now, I feel like the unlucky one. For the past two years, I’ve been privileged to be part of monthly media tours of Lucas Oil Stadium. I was there as the concrete bowl began to take shape, and as those steel trusses that would frame the retractable roof were put into place. I was there as the brick exterior began to climb, and when the concourses were little more than freshly poured concrete and empty spaces. I was there when…
A New Mexico man claims an artifact in the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art’s collection was stolen from him in 1984 before it was purchased and donated to the Indianapolis museum in 1989. Artifacts dealer Robert Vandenberg says the American Indian war shirt-a long, fringed shirt made of hide-is worth as much as $200,000 and he is asking the Eiteljorg to hand it over. The museum, on the other hand, says Indianapolis businessman Harrison Eiteljorg had clear…
Now a developer is banking on a new roadway and airport terminal to attract office tenants, although some brokers familiar with the area aren’t sold on the idea. The local office of Chicago-based Verus Partners LLC finished purchasing 200 acres along the east side of the Reagan Parkway and plans to build a 60,000-square-foot, two-story speculative office building. Verus’ mixed-use office and industrial park is called GreenParke at Airwest and could be ready for occupancy by next summer. Infrastructure work…
When she reported to work at 5 p.m. on a recent evening, Taylor consulted a chart and saw she was assigned to Cheyenne, a 16-year-old mare, and carriage number 29. She backed the spotted horse out of the stall, hitched up the carriage-making sure all straps were tightly fastened-and left the Yellow Rose stables at 13th Street and Capitol Avenue. During the half-hour ride to Monument Circle, she explained the personal challenge that carriage driving posed. It wasn’t how to…
The recent episode involving former IU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson underscores how badly broken is our system of recruiting and qualifying top leaders. Reference checks by highly paid professional recruiters failed to turn up the true nature of this leader. Yes, we all were aware of his lack of character at the University of Oklahoma, but were there signs of this lack of character in his past at Montana Tech or Washington State University? One would hope the recruiters went…
John E. Huguenard is on a roll. He’s got $1 billion in active industrial listings and is on track to top his $700 million deal volume from last year. The low-key super-broker for the local office of commercial real estate powerhouse Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has closed 17 deals worth a total of $250 million already this year. And that’s no fluke: Huguenard, 45, has sold or leased more than 100 million square feet of industrial property in more than…
The marketing material for the Sedona Woods community in Fishers boasts that once word gets out, home lots are sure to sell out quickly. In hindsight, the statement couldn’t have been further off the mark. Roughly four years later, the subdivision that ultimately was to contain hundreds of homes built by Davis Homes LLC remains unfinished. And now, after the local builder ceased operations in late July, completion could take even longer. Sedona Woods at Promise Road and 136th Street…
When you’ve seen many productions at a theater (and I’ve seen many at Beef & Boards) and you’ve also seen multiple versions of a particular show (I’ve witnessed two previous takes on “The Producers” in addition to both film versions) then, when the familiar theater and the familiar show come together, you can’t help but have some expectations. That’s not to say there’s prejudgment-just some assumptions. For instance, going into Beef & Boards’ “The Producers,” I figured it would take…
Privatizing MAC worth exploring Saving cash shouldn’t be only goal The bad news: The Mayor’s Action Center-city government’s primary vehicle for responding to citizen complaints-is vastly ineffective. When nearly half the residents who call the center hang up the phone in frustration before reporting their problems, you know something isn’t working right. The good news: Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard recognizes there is a big problem with the MAC and says he wants to fix it. In late July, he issued…
