As missteps by the city’s water utility threaten to drown local ratepayers with dramatically higher bills, Mayor
Greg Ballard’s administration is exploring a complete overhaul of the system. The mayor’s initiative can’t produce results soon enough.
An ordinance that would ban smoking in enclosed spaces where it’s still allowed—primarily bars and bowling alleys—is
once again being considered by the City-County Council. And again we urge councilors to adopt the measure.
Running a professional sports franchise isn’t just a dollars-and-cents proposition.
It also requires heart. And that’s what the Fever have in abundance, from ownership to management to the players on
the floor.
Nearly 80,000 people in the city are “unbanked” and therefore lack this basic building block to financial health. A new program called Bank on Indy aims to change that.
One of the great conundrums of our time is how to maintain the most comfortable and convenient lifestyle in the history
of the human race without destroying the environment.
Melvin Simon was a businessman and philanthropist of national prominence, but the vast real estate empire he helped build
is not his legacy here.
At the NCAA, Myles Brand took
on the monumental task of striking an appropriate middle ground between academic integrity in college sports and the giant
commercial operation that athletics has become.
Sunday is the second-busiest grocery-shopping day of the week in Indiana, but there’s one product Hoosiers aren’t
allowed to put in their shopping carts that day even though it’s perfectly legal the rest of the week. That’s
because an archaic blue law prohibits carryout liquor sales on Sundays.
The solution to the property tax fiasco that swept Republican Mayor Greg Ballard into office in 2007 is making his job harder, and
it could lead to his undoing.
Indiana’s top education official, Tony Bennett, ruffled feathers last month when he proposed increasing teacher expertise
in math, science and other subjects, and stripping red tape from teacher certification and hiring of administrators.
Venzago was essentially an absentee conductor. He didn’t
live here and never seemed fully engaged with the city.
The local eateries are suffering along with everyone else, but those that have
the wherewithal are taking a chance by expanding into bargain-priced locations.
The City-County Council wisely averted disaster for the Capital Improvement Board Aug. 10 by voting to raise the city’s
hotel tax from 9 percent to 10 percent, but the razor-thin vote was another disappointing case of elected officials making
decisions based on partisanship rather than good judgment.
If Denver-based Ecolonomic Realty Group decides it wants to pursue a $25 million redevelopment of the old Winona Memorial Hospital site and presents a solid proposal, the city is in no position to turn down the tax revenue it would generate.
Corporate boards need more women, but not people such as Susan Bayh, wife of Sen. Evan Bayh. It’s not
that she isn’t up to the task. The former attorney at Eli Lilly and Co. and visiting professor at Butler University
is by all accounts capable. So we’re not surprised she regularly receives invitations to serve on boards. But
we are surprised she accepts.
A referendum this fall on Wishard Health Services’ plans to build a $754 million hospital will tell a lot about the
mood—and savvy—of Marion County voters. In this economy, and with government at all levels strapped
for cash, the knee-jerk reaction might be to reject such a proposal.
In trying times, people and businesses often have to get creative to make ends meet. The same should hold true for local government. That’s why we commend city leaders for thinking outside the box in considering two initiatives to cut costs and generate public revenue.
A state budget was passed June 30, but it’s balanced on the backs of poor children. Legislators
deserve praise for at least slightly increasing overall education funding, but because of a flawed funding
formula, urban districts such as Indianapolis Public Schools actually will lose money in the next two
years.
The legislative session that concluded June 30 with passage of a two-year budget left a bad taste in our mouths. For starters,
legislators lacked the courage to tackle local government reform—even though cash-strapped units of government
desperately need the millions of dollars in savings they would generate. In short, they put political cronyism ahead of the
interests of the state.
Lawmakers must take action but also ensure that any plan incorporates four basic principles.
